Chapter 24 #2
Autumn silenced me with one swipe of her arm, a proud smile warming her features.
“You’ve done your job well. There’s nothing more to be done.
No kids running around and destroying everything they touch.
No weeping women staring at the women their men had probably screwed long before they were ever together.
Everyone has a drink, and there's no chaos to be found. Just take a minute.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I confessed, dropping my head on her shoulder and finally noticing what she’d seen on her arrival.
Everything was in order and somewhat calm.
It was nice to know that Drew’s trust in me was well placed and I was up to the task as his old lady.
I wasn’t sure how long this lull in the chaos would hold.
In fact, I was pretty sure the moment the doors to the war room were thrown open things would turn into absolute disrepair as questions were thrown out.
I took a moment to absorb everything around me.
If there was any doubt in my mind that this group of men had a plan in place for any contingency that was now destroyed.
The machine that was The Hounds of Babylon had a thousand moving parts, and every single piece knew what was expected of them, all the way down to the prospects who were out walking the perimeter like soldiers walking the front line.
The patched members, who appeared to be doing nothing more than standing around and talking, were—upon closer inspection—actually making plans for fortifying the walls and organizing places for people to sleep.
No matter how things appeared on the outside, each and every person was doing what had been tasked to them—including things as mundane as replacing empty liquor bottles and beers from the stockroom. The whole thing made me feel lazy for sitting.
“How is Sloane?” Autumn asked quietly so the women close to us couldn’t listen in.
I heard the deeper meaning to that question underlying the simple one.
The implication of the Nav’s involvement in Sloane’s attack wasn’t something I’d considered when I’d explained the situation to Sloane and Tate earlier.
Looking back on my interaction with them even now, I knew that was a stretch.
“She’s dealing with everything as best she can,” I said cautiously and lifted my head to meet Autumn’s eyes.
“When I mentioned the Nav, she didn’t even blink until she realized that she needed to be in lockdown with us.
I’m going to go ahead and say whoever this Rifleman is Drew saw, he wasn’t a party to what happened to her. ”
Chewing her bottom lip in thought, Autumn nodded.
“It would have been a stupid move on their part. She’s not just protected by the club, she’s the chief’s daughter.
I would like to say I couldn’t see their charters decision makers going that low, but I don’t know much about the club or their members.
I just know our guys would never do that to a teenage girl. ”
Nodding my agreement, I took another glance around the room as my leg tapped with all the nervous energy that was bundled inside of me.
“I agree. I can’t see the Navs sanctioning an attack on a teenage girl, especially not the daughter of our police chief.
It’s just asking for trouble. They’d be pulled over on sight.
Seems like a hassle they’d rather do without. ”
“Which leaves a big question mark over who she’s protecting and what they have over her.”
“And isn’t that a huge thorn in our sides?
It feels like those walls are suddenly closing in on us again, Autumn, just when things were starting to calm down.
If something happens now, the town and all the trust we’ve built with them will go to Hell.
” It seemed like a petty thought to have in the grand scheme of things.
Lives were on the line here. Our futures were possibly being threatened, and there I was concerned about what light was being cast on us from the town.
The only explanation I had was the waves of chaos still swirling in my head.
Before Autumn could so much as formulate a reply, Libby rushed toward us giving me a sweet I need something smile.
“Everything okay?” I inquired before she had time to say a word.
“That depends on your interpretation of the word.” Libby snorted but smiled again in an attempt to show she was joking. “Nothing to panic about, just the kids getting restless. Sloane mentioned snacks, and I volunteered.”
“That much fun?” I teased.
“I swear, being in that room is the best form of birth control there is. And you can quote me on that.”
“Considering you’re dating my kid brother, I’m very happy to hear that.
” I pushed up from the couch I’d been sharing with Autumn, and she nodded in understanding.
If something came up while I was grabbing the pantry keys, she would take care of it.
There were no words for how much I loved that woman.
Libby and I took our time heading to the back of The Hut and wound our way to Drew’s bedroom so I could get the keys from my bag.
I’d put a lock on the pantry door after the midnight raids became utterly ridiculous.
I knew who the worst offenders were, and breaking in had become a game to most of the guys whenever the mood struck.
The incursions had started after a threat to lock the doors from me, which had instigated even more thievery and left us with absolutely no food one night—as well as a huge mess in the kitchen for me to clean up.
So I’d put a lock on the damn thing and left the challenge unspoken.
If someone got in, they’d earned the plunder in my opinion.
Everyone else had to hunt me down for the keys if I forgot to unlock the damn thing in the mornings—a rod I’d made for my own back.
Libby leaned against the jam of the door as I dropped my ass on the bed and started to dig for my keys. My purse wasn’t even that big, which made the stab of the envelope against my hand all the more compelling. I’d never kept much in there, so the cumbersome envelope was out of place.
“Ayda?” Libby asked.
“Oh, sorry.” I dug for the keys and unclipped the one for the pantry, which had a skull and bones keyring and tossed them to her. Libby snatched them from the air and smiled at me, not reading my strange mood.
“I hold the power of sustenance.” She rattled the key and gave an exaggerated evil cackle accompanied by a small dance.
I gave a dutiful laugh, and that was enough to send Libby on her way, while I pulled the plain security envelope from my bag and stared at the strange words written in the same scrawl as the other note.
Bullets don’t take corners.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
It was much more cryptic than the last message and more insidious, too. Bullets don’t take corners was an asinine statement designed as a warning of sorts. Were they saying that the danger was in plain sight? That seemed too little too late if they were referring to the Nav Rifleman.
He’d already been seen.
I was still puzzling the riddle out when the din of noise from the main room disappeared and left my ears ringing in the unexpected silence. There was only one thing that could cut through the noise like that: the guys had come out from their isolation.
I stuffed the envelope into my bag and left the room, rushing to the bar and pushing the strange warning to the back of my mind. Some things just needed my attention more than others.