Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Stuck somewhere between try harder and why bother.
—Bernice to Hux
Hux
“What are you going to do?” Sage asked.
I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Take her to some warm weather.”
“Arkansas isn’t warm.” Sage laughed. “But it’s warmer than here.”
“I got her a little buddy heater and a hell of a good mask,” I said. “We’re going to keep her warm.”
“She’ll love it,” Birdee said. “We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone.”
I looked over at my grandfather. “You sure you have it in you to keep the butcher shop open?”
“I do.” My grandfather rolled his eyes.
“I got the store,” my mom added.
I looked at her. “Well, let’s hope, seeing as it’s yours.”
My mom sniffed.
“Go.” Katana placed her hand on my arm. “Give her a good week.”
Leaving was imperative.
One, because Bernice needed a break from here.
She was terrified to go outside.
She was terrified to go back to work.
She had a panic attack every time she had to get into her truck.
Every day she forced herself to go to work, but she freaked out so badly that by the time she got back home, she did nothing but sleep for a solid nine and a half hours.
She was barely eating.
She wouldn’t even watch our shows.
It was time to get her out and get a break in her.
Plus, after careful searching, we were fairly sure that Randel Conway was still in the area.
Though the FBI didn’t know that.
They didn’t know any of this happened.
We’d kept it a secret, per Bernice’s request, so that her brother didn’t have to go back to jail.
We wouldn’t have let that happen, but her request aligned with our thoughts as well, so we’d kept our mouths shut.
At least with the cops.
And we’d done some digging and found that no cameras or anything had found Randel leaving the area.
Hence, us knowing he was still around.
He probably wouldn’t be able to stop until he had her.
To get that, he’d have to stay in the area.
Which was also why I was taking her out of the area.
We were headed to Arkansas for two weeks.
To a place that she’d offhandedly mentioned when we’d first started seeing each other.
I’d seen the research on her laptop a few weeks ago, after she’d mentioned it, and the concept of searching for diamonds seemed right up her alley.
With the weather here miserable and a serial killer on the loose, Creed and I had gotten together and decided that this was the best course of action.
Getting her out for a couple of weeks.
Then searching like hell for Randel fucking Conway.
I hoped to hell that they found him.
I was tired of seeing Bernice live in fear.
“On that note,” I said. “It’s time for me to go get my girl up.”
Half my family and half the club were in my living room.
Bernice had moved in with me the day she’d gotten released from the hospital, and she hadn’t left since.
Koen had pulled all of his crews off other jobs to get my place finished before Bernice was out of the hospital. Then we did an industrial deep clean so that there wasn’t a speck of dirt or dust anywhere, even in the air vents or the cracks of the walls.
In the hospital, Bernice had helped decide on paint colors and fixtures.
When she’d gotten home, we’d moved into the master suite, which was where she was at that moment.
She hadn’t been sleeping well, and since it was Saturday and she didn’t have to get up to go to work, she was still asleep.
But not for long.
“We’ll get everything figured out from here,” Eddy, Weaver’s wife, promised. “And I’m sorry about the crumbs in the seat of the truck. I should’ve cleaned it before giving you the keys.”
I waved her off. “We’re grateful that you’re allowing us to borrow it.”
Weaver and Eddy had just come back from a road trip of their own to the Pacific Northwest.
They’d gone to see the Bridge of the Gods on the Oregon state line.
“Gassed up and oil changed,” Weaver said, tossing me the keys. “We’re out of here.”
I’d given him the keys to Bernice’s truck to use while we were gone.
And hopefully, to make it seem like we were still here…
Everyone left shortly after, except for Creed and Birdee.
They waited until the room was completely silent before Creed said, “We’re going to find him.”
I nodded, chest tight. “I hope so. She’s going to keep living in fear until we do.”
Creed slapped me on the shoulder. “Take care of her, man.”
I looked my good friend in the eyes and promised, “I will. With my life.”
He grinned. “I know.”
Then I was alone.
I headed into the bedroom and woke my future wife up.
Though she didn’t know that she was my future wife, yet.
She would when we found a damn diamond.
The moment I found one—which I damn well would—I’d propose.
I just didn’t realize how damn hard it was to dig through the fucking dirt looking for a needle in a haystack—or a diamond in a field of dirt.