Shadow Chapter
Shadow:
I was nervous as we rode the last stretch to Cambria’s house.
Earlier, after church, Wrath and a few of us had a call with Brae and Loki.
She assured us she’d get Cambria to agree to come to our compound.
She warned she wasn’t sure of our reception, but Cambria would go.
Then she advised us to get someone over there, since she knew we’d insist on escorting her, and it might take her friend time to get packed and things in order to leave.
It was decided, despite the risk of her hating my guts, that Ryder and I would go.
We’d gotten our things packed, in case we had to stay a night or two, brought our weapons and extra ammo, just to be safe, then headed out.
We weren’t able to talk during the ride, so it left me plenty of time to think about what I’d say to her when we met and how I would apologize for what I’d done. Crusher stayed behind to work on the online stuff. I wouldn’t get much time to do it until after I returned, and we didn’t want to wait.
The neighborhood we rode into was a smaller one, with older homes that were smaller than a lot of the newer builds surrounding it. These houses were more like cottages or small ranch homes. It was after dark, so no one was outside, although it was only seven o’clock.
The house we pulled into the driveway of was a blue cottage.
It was cute and had a homey feel. I could see there had been lots of flowers planted outside it during the summer.
Some remnants remained in the flower beds.
We parked our bikes and shut them off. For the time being, we left our overnight packs on our bikes. First, we had to get through the door.
Walking up the short sidewalk, I stared ahead at the door.
There was a light shining around the edges of what appeared to be drapes.
I couldn’t see inside. Good. The porch light was on.
I rang the doorbell. As we waited, I kept wondering what my reception would be like. Had Brae told her who was coming?
“Turn around so I can see your backs,” a woman’s muffled voice yelled through the door.
We slowly did it. When we faced forward again, there was the rattle of two locks, then the door cracked open.
In the light, I saw Cambria staring back at us.
Christ, she was even more beautiful in person.
My quick glimpse of the rest of her had her moving up higher on the desirability meter.
She had a banging body to go with that face and hair.
“Hello, you must be Cambria. I see you’re expecting us. May we come in?” Ryder asked politely.
I heard him say it, but I was busy cataloging her.
She was a little over average height. Her body was nothing to complain about.
Her clothes were tight enough to see that she had wide hips, a tucked-in, defined waist, and a decent bust, even though her hips were bigger.
There was plenty for a man to hold on to and explore. I liked a woman to have curves.
She opened the door wider and stepped back to allow us inside.
As I passed her, I inhaled and caught the delicate scent she wore.
Or maybe it was her. It was fresh, like summer, and I swore it held a hint of peaches.
She closed and secured the door behind us.
I was happy to see it had a deadbolt. She pointed to a small living room to the right.
“Please, come in and have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. I heard your bikes. I hope the ride was a good one. May I get you anything to drink? Eat?” she offered.
“Water would be nice, but I’m not hungry,” Ryder told her.
“Water,” I said back.
While she went to get it from the kitchen, which we could see from our vantage point, Ryder and I took off our boots.
“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” she called over to us.
“Ma’am, yes, we do. You have carpet in here. We know better than to walk on carpet in these boots,” Ryder said.
When we were free of our footwear, we went and sat on the loveseat. She came hurrying over with three bottles of water and a plate of cookies. She put them on the coffee table in front of us before dropping into the chair. She was being gracious, but I saw the strain around her mouth and eyes.
“Thank you. I think introductions are in order first. I’m Ryder. I’m the enforcer for the Pagans in Oconee,” he told her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ryder,” she said, holding out her hand.
As they shook, I tried not to glare at their joined hands. When they were done, her eyes settled on me. Here goes everything. I slowly held out my hand. She was reaching for it when I said, “And I’m Shadow. I expect you know who I am.”
There was the ever slightest hesitation in her hand before she finished stretching it out toward me. I wrapped mine carefully around hers. It was soft and small, and the warmth seemed to radiate up my arm. I gave it a slight squeeze. Her grip back was more forceful.
“Yes, I know who you are,” was all she said. I reluctantly let go of her hand.
“Please help yourself. The cookies are homemade. I made them yesterday. I’ve got to admit, Brae told me you were coming less than two hours ago.
I haven’t fully processed it. I know you’re here to take me back to your compound, but I need tomorrow, and maybe part of the next day, to get things in order.
My mail has to be handled. My house needs to be secured.
I need to pack and you know, do things.”
“We understand, and we’re prepared to stay until you’re free to go. We know this is a massive disruption in your life, but we want to make it as easy as we can, and thankfully, your work, Shadow told us, is done ninety-five percent online,” Ryder told her.
Cambria gave him another smile, and that was what made me shake off the silent mime routine. He couldn’t help but notice how attractive she was. I caught him slyly checking her out.
“Do you have any in-person meetings with clients planned for the next few weeks? I know that there are times you probably have to meet face-to-face,” I interjected. Her gaze came back to me.
“I don’t, but if I get new inquiries, which do happen, then most want to meet me first. Even if my current clients referred them to me,” she replied.
“If those occur, we’ll have to figure something out.
The key is to move you before anyone knows where you currently live, so they can’t follow you to where you’re going.
And to keep you out of public as much as possible.
If those meetings were elsewhere, we could talk about you going.
However, we have no clue where all the followers of your dad are,” I reminded her.
“Please, refer to him as Garen if you must speak of him. He stopped being my dad the moment he killed my mom and tried to kill me.” Her tone was firm, yet not nasty.
“Of course, I’m sorry. I should’ve thought of that,” I said.
“Thank you. Okay, it’s too late to do much tonight. I can pack, send out some emails to clients, and handle having my mail forwarded online. That way, no one has to travel this far to pick up my mail. Most of it is electronic, but sometimes I do get important stuff sent that way,” she continued.
“The mail is an issue. If someone is skilled, they can find out where you forwarded your mail to. It’ll lead them straight to you,” I threw out.
“Then how do you suggest I get it? Send someone here every week to pick it up? They could be followed back to your compound,” she pointed out.
“True. I have a post office box in Gordon, about forty-five minutes from us. I use it from time to time. I’ll give you that address, and you can use it. It’s not a big deal to send a prospect to check it a few times a week,” I offered.
“A-a-alright. I’ll do that. Thank you,” she replied, then shifted her attention back to Ryder.
“I’ll try to get everything done tomorrow in time for us to leave and not get to your compound at midnight.
But if I can’t, then we’ll leave first thing the following morning.
I don’t want to keep you from your work and anything else you have at home.
I expect your girlfriends or wives would appreciate you being gone the shortest time possible. ”
“No worries about that. We’re covered on the work front, and I don’t have a girlfriend or wife,” Ryder informed her with a smile.
“Neither of us does,” I hastily added.
“Still, you have a life to get back to. You missed dinner, no doubt. I can cook something. Is there anything you don’t like?”
She was trying so hard to be a good hostess amid this shit, and doing it for the man who was responsible for her trouble. I ached to speak to her alone so I could apologize.
“We could eat. Why don’t you pick a place, and Ryder will go pick it up? The only thing he can’t carry on his bike is drinks. Everything else should fit in his saddlebags, unless you want an extra-large pizza. That’ll have to ride on his lap.”
I sent Ryder a look. He gave me a chin lift, showing he understood what I was up to.
“That sounds good. No use in you cooking. We’re all tired.
I’ll eat almost anything, and I know Shadow will, too.
You pick. Maybe somewhere that’s a favorite of yours.
You can tell us what’s best to eat,” he told her.
There was a bit of back-and-forth as she tried to persuade us that cooking wasn’t a big deal, but we held firm.
Finally, she brought the menus from the kitchen to two places.
One was a Chinese restaurant, and the other was a burger joint.
Both had a variety, and it all looked good to me.
Ryder was the one who selected the burger joint when Cambria refused to choose.
From there, we made our selections swiftly. He called it in.
“They said twenty-five minutes, but those time estimates are rarely accurate. I’ll go ahead in case they get them done early. I’ll be back with hopefully warm food,” he said, rising to his feet after hanging up with the restaurant.