Chapter 23
LUKE
“Coffee?” Maria asked, holding out a paper cup filled to the brim with black, steaming liquid.
“Thanks.” The first sip scalded my tongue, but I took another anyway. Caffeine was about the only thing keeping me standing at the moment.
Now that my heartrate was back to normal and the fear that had driven me through the night nearly gone, I was close to crashing. I would later, when I was home. When Scarlett was home.
I glanced over my shoulder into the hospital room where she was sleeping. The faint rays of dawn crept through the window. The light cast dancing beams on the waxed floor.
Scarlett’s hair was damp and twisted into a knot on the white pillow. I’d insisted they wash the blood out after stitching the cut at her crown. The feather she’d had tied behind her ear was on the bedside table, next to my keys and wallet.
“How is she?” Maria asked.
“She’s got a concussion. She’s exhausted. But she’ll be fine. The doctor wants to keep her here for a few more hours, just to be safe.”
When she’d passed out in my arms outside the Warrior clubhouse, I’d panicked. There’d been five ambulances in the lot, all having arrived after the gunfire had ceased. But instead of calling for the EMTs, I’d hauled Scarlett into my arms and driven her to the emergency room in Ashton myself.
The doctors had checked her from head to toe, but other than the wound to her head, she was fine. The Warriors hadn’t touched her from what I could tell. She was tired. She’d been terrorized. But she’d recover, which was more than I could say for others after the events of last night.
Five Warriors had been shot and killed in the clubhouse raid. Two agents had been shot, though neither had been fatally wounded. The Warriors not being treated for their wounds at this very hospital were all in custody.
Maria hadn’t fucked around.
After she’d sat down in my living room yesterday, I’d listened to her plan.
In truth, it was a lot like the one I’d had in my head.
Except instead of Dash, Emmett, Leo and me forcing our way into the Warrior stronghold, probably dying along the way, she offered up the power of the federal government.
She already had a large team here. Maybe it was because Ken Raymond had been killed. Maybe they’d already been preparing for a move on the club. I didn’t ask.
My only request was to come along.
Maria had agreed as long as Dash, Emmett and Leo stayed behind. They protested, of course. They threatened to ride to Ashton anyway. Then Maria hit them with the logic they couldn’t refute.
This was a federal raid.
If the Tin Kings came to Ashton, they would paint targets on their backs. Better to let the FBI take the blame and save themselves any repercussions.
So the guys had stayed behind while I’d driven to Ashton.
Fifty FBI agents. Twenty from the DEA. And me.
“What’s next?” I asked, stepping back and leaning against the wall.
Maria had shown up at the hospital ten minutes ago, but before we’d talked, she’d insisted on getting coffee first.
She took a similar stance to mine on the opposite wall. “Next, we put them away.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Hopefully with video evidence.”
My stomach dropped. “Scarlett’s?”
“Maybe. But if I can get enough without it, I’ll move ahead. Keep her out of it as much as I can. No promises, but I’ll try.”
“Appreciated.” The less Scarlett was involved, the better.
“The prosecutors might ask to depose her about her abduction, but kidnapping is the least offensive charge on the docket. We’re going to focus on the video surveillance we found at Tucker Talbot’s home.” She raised her coffee cup. “Good tip.”
In addition to raiding the clubhouse, the judge had granted Maria a warrant to search for Scarlett at five personal residences—Tucker’s and his senior leaders’.
Maria had ridden with me to Ashton yesterday afternoon. We hadn’t talked much. She’d been busy coordinating her team, already in Ashton, from the road. But when she’d told me about the warrant, I’d suggested she search for video evidence.
Emmett had been right after all. Tucker had been recording the activities in the clubhouse to use against his men should they get out of line.
The son of a bitch would sink himself. Good.
“How’s Birdy?” I asked.
“Last I heard, she was still in surgery.”
“Think she’ll make it?”
A wave of sadness crossed Maria’s face. “It doesn’t sound good.”
“Sorry.”
She nodded. “Part of the job. Doesn’t get easier.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I shook my head. “Tell me this. Did they come to my neighborhood for Birdy? Or Scarlett?”
“We’re not sure. Maybe they knew Scarlett was next door and they came to shut Birdy down before anyone could stop them.
Maybe they’d just figured out where Birdy was.
She’d been undercover with Ken from the beginning.
As soon as Ken was killed, we got her out of Ashton.
I wanted to send her back to our field office in LA, but she refused to be reassigned. ”
“Can you tell me about Ken? Was that even his name?”
Maria shook her head. “I can’t tell you much.
He worked for years to get in with the Warriors.
Finally did about ten months ago. Ken was going to smuggle them guns and ammunition.
Black market stuff. I don’t know what went wrong.
One day, he reported things were good. Tucker and a couple others had come into the range to do some shooting. The next day, he was gone.”
“Did he have family?”
“Just Birdy,” she said.
“The two of them were together?”
“Partners in work and partners in life for over twenty years.”
“Damn.” I could imagine how Birdy felt, losing the person who owned her heart. She’d wanted to keep fighting, to punish the ones who’d killed her partner. And now she was fighting for her life.
Birdy had disappeared to the safety of my neighborhood, much like Scarlett, but the Warriors had still found her.
“Keep me posted.”
Maria nodded. “Will do.”
Scarlett showing up at Birdy’s door had probably been lucky timing.
Or maybe she could have stayed locked in my house and I still would have come home to find her gone.
Regardless, when the Warriors had shot Birdy, then taken Scarlett and Cass, they’d given the FBI enough to go to a judge and request those warrants.
“What’s the danger here?” I asked. “To Scarlett. Will they come after her?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” she said. “Not a single Warrior wasn’t arrested. Even the ones not at the party were taken into custody. But they’ve got allies. Tucker’s lawyer is already fighting to get the video evidence dismissed.”
“Will he get out?”
“Doubtful. I’ve got a team poring over the video footage. There’s a lot, so I don’t know exactly what it shows, but fingers crossed, it’s enough.”
That relieved some of my fears. Some. “Should Scarlett be in witness protection?”
Because if Scarlett was headed in to witness protection, then I’d be going along with her.
“I don’t know if Tucker Talbot has any plays left,” Maria said. “But—”
“No.” Scarlett’s faint voice drifted from her room.
I shoved off the wall, spinning for the door to find her sitting up in the bed, her blue eyes clear and bright.
She had the feather in her hand and was slowly dragging the pad of her index finger along the vane.
“You’re awake.” I crossed the room and dropped a kiss to her forehead, then pulled up the chair I’d been sitting in all night to the bed, putting my coffee aside.
Scarlett took my hand in hers, holding it on her lap, then looked past me to where Maria stood in the center of the room. “I’m not giving up my life after I fought so hard to take it back. I’m not going into witness protection.”
“You could be in danger,” Maria warned.
“Tucker doesn’t stand to gain anything but revenge by killing me. You have other evidence, right? I’m just a piece?”
Maria nodded. “That’s right. And even if you testified, it would be one of many nails in his coffin. But I’ve been watching Tucker Talbot for years. He’s a vengeful man.”
“If I disappear, he wins.” Scarlett looked to me. “I won’t let him win. I’ll take my chances.”
“Scar—”
“No, Luke. No more hiding. If Tucker decides to come after me, I’ll fight. I’ll keep fighting.” She let go of my hand and brought hers to my face. Her thumbs stroked across my cheeks. “This is worth fighting for. Us.”
I closed my eyes, giving one of her palms the weight of my head. “If he does come after you, he’ll have to get through me first.”
“And me.” A spirited voice preceded its owner. Presley breezed into the room. “Get out of the way, Rosen, so I can hug my sister.”
I chuckled and stood. “Yes, ma’am.”
Presley flew into Scarlett’s waiting arms, the sisters holding each other tight.
Shaw was close behind his wife, carrying a tote bag with what looked like fresh clothes and shoes. “Hey.”
“Hi.” I held out my hand to shake his.
When Shaw and I had first met, he’d had this movie-star shine, a natural charisma that drew people in. It was still there, but since he’d moved to Clifton Forge permanently, I didn’t see the man on-screen when I saw his face. I just saw a friend.
We hadn’t hung out since Scarlett had moved to my house. And as Presley and Scarlett continued their hug, I knew that was about to change. Those two would be inseparable.
Maybe Shaw and I would have a chance to go fishing again. He was a good guy to have on the river. Didn’t hook me in the eye. Didn’t talk much either.
Though given how unlikely I was to let Scarlett out of my sight, the ladies would be coming too. We wouldn’t catch a damn thing. Those two would chat the entire time.
I couldn’t wait.
Shaw set down the tote bag and stood at my side, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned in and lowered his voice.
“Later, not today because that would be cruel, I’m going to remind you of the night you refused to let me get Presley.
And later, because again, it would be cruel to say today, I’m going to call you a hypocrite and laugh in your face. ”