“Is that a yes?” Jedd barked laughing, shoving his hands in the pockets of his cut to dig out a smoke.
I didn’t stand around to argue, mainly because a small part of me was imagining the look on Ayda’s face when we all showed up there like some kind of modern day T-birds.
I suddenly had the urge to see that face up close and personal for myself.
All day I’d spent with the boys, working around the yard, checking in on the repo unit, the pawn shop and even going back into the training room to oversee all the shit had been cleaned out properly last weekend. The last thing we needed in here was the police and a forensics team, should Hernandez’s trail ever lead back to us for reasons we hadn’t yet factored in.
Once I knew everything was as it should be, I did the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do since the whole shit with the Emperors went down. I rode solo. Despite both Harry and Jedd telling me they thought it was risky, I hit out onto the open road with no one and nothing around me but the cut on my back. I was going to the game and the boys would follow.
I was going to spend some time with Ayda and try not to think of the man I killed a week before. I was going to believe that, since we hadn’t heard anything back from Chester, we weren’t suspect number one in Hernandez’s disappearance.
It was only when I flew through the center of town again and was halted by another red light, that something else beside my own thoughts caught my attention. On the corner of the street, outside the barbers, stood Maisey Sutton.
As soon as she heard my bike slow to a crawl, her body swung around to mine, her hand on her hip as whatever she was about to say to whoever was next to her got caught in her throat. That slow, teasing smile began to crawl up that mouth of hers, and all I could think about was how once upon a time, that look alone would have had me pulling my bike over to pick her up.
Now, there wasn’t anything. Only amusement. It had been years since I’d seen her and, even though it was obvious she thought differently, those years hadn’t been at all kind. Her skin had a grayness to it that wasn’t there before, and her clothes seemed at least three sizes too small.
I couldn’t help the small smirk I returned back to her. It was there in an instant, once the realization of how times had changed hit me square in the jaw. But that humor on my face soon dropped like a lead weight to the floor when I saw who was standing in front of her, looking all shifty as she tried to bring her hair further forward around her face to hide.
Rosie.
The girl I’d thrown off me and dismissed only nights before, in favor of Ayda.
What the fuck were those two doing talking to one another on street corners?
The sound of a car horn beeping from behind had me facing forwards again, my frown growing deeper before I twisted on the throttle and tore away down the street. It wasn’t the fact that they were together that caused that unsettling niggling to start to chip away at me. It was the look of shame Rosie let slip and the way her body had turned to hide itself from me, like I could see right through whatever shield she was trying to put up around herself.
When I pulled up outside the football field, I could see Deeks and Kenny’s van in place, and it wasn’t long before the noise of the others arriving filled the air in the distance. Pulling my helmet off and smiling to no one but myself, I hooked it on the back of the bike, adjusted the leather on my shoulders and started to glide on into the high school stadium. I could feel the stares of the townsfolk as I made my way to where she usually was, and it was concentrating on both finding Ayda and keeping a lower profile than I normally would, that made me miss the most obvious thing waiting for me at the top of the stairs to the seats. When I finally looked up through wide eyes, I paused in my footing and let my mouth fall open in disbelief as Howard Sutton stared down on me, his arms folded across his chest like he was ten feet tall and a hundred pounds heavier than he actually was.
“I had a feeling you might show up here again tonight, Dreeeeew Tucker.”
I had no idea when my name had acquired all those extra vowels, and the way he said it caused me to run my thumb under my nose and look over my shoulder, just so I had a minute to get myself together instead of doing what I’d usually do.
Lashing out.
Turning back to face him, I cleared my throat, tugged up on the back of my jeans and gave him a nod. “Sutton.”
“That’s Chief of Police, or Mr. Sutton to all the convicts around here,” he said slowly.
“Okay. Chief,” I pushed out.
“Why are you here, Tucker?”
Raising my brows, I let my head tilt to one side and kept my voice low. “To watch a game of football.”
“And since when did you take such a great interest in high school football?”
“Since I got out from spending five years behind bars and promised everyone on the release panel that I would find myself a new hobby. One that didn’t involve me fighting underground or being responsible for any more deaths.”
A few patrons approached Sutton from behind, walking straight on by, but not before they cast the two of us a nervous glance on their way. As I watched them, Howard took a slow step forward, raising his chin to look up at me when he spoke.
“Let me make one thing clear. I don’t like you. I don’t trust you. I don’t want you in my town. I don’t want you near the people I know. And I don’t like you around the Hanagans.”
The mention of Ayda in any capacity had my mouth clamping shut and the muscles along my jaw twitching as I tried to remain in control. I didn’t need to say anything back to him. The look I was giving him from every dark corner of my eyes told him enough. He’d got away with speaking to me this way twice. This, right here, was the last time.
Lifting my hand to his shoulder, I slapped down on it once, my gaze dropping down as his arms came undone and he reached for his gun. There were so many things I could have done to scare him, so many threats I could have made, but just the thought of Ayda had the muscles in my neck relaxing and a small smile tugging on my tense lips before I moved to his side and whispered. “Relax, Chief. I’m not looking for a Christmas card this year. Consider me told.”
Huffing out a laugh, I side-stepped around him and began to walk away. I was pretty sure that his mumbles of threats and destruction were aimed at me, but as I shoved my hands in my pockets and made my way to the aisle she always sat on, I couldn’t find it in me to give a shit about any of it.
Especially not when I finally raised my chin to try and find her, only for those flashes of blue to find me first, and all the smiles I’d smiled that day came together to create something even bigger and brighter. All of which was aimed directly at her and yet another unexpected moment between the two of us.
I was fucking done for.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Ayda
“You’re like a love-struck teenager,” Tate said, collapsing on the couch next to me and dumping his sports bag on the floor between us. The thing stank to high heaven, and he knew it, too. He was just doing this on purpose to get a reaction.
“Tate Michael Hanagan, you get that bag out of my living room and wash that shit before it stinks the place up.” I was purposely ignoring the love part of the love-struck teenager comment. I honestly couldn’t put words to how I felt for Drew, but that word felt too soon, as though it would somehow start the dissolution of the relationship the moment I so much as thought it.
“But you’re gonna choose a movie without me and then I’ll be stuck watching some chick flick.”
“Better hurry then,” I teased, grinning as he groaned and got up off the couch. Flicking my leg out, I pushed at the back of his knee with my toes, watching his big body dip as I put on my best whiney voice. “Make some popcorn while you’re up and I’ll wait for you.”
He swiped at my leg but I was gone by the time he managed to get there. “You ate like a pig at the game and you’re still hungry?”
“Making up for lost time, kiddo. Popcorn pleas
e, the extra butter kind, or you miss out on the pick of the movie.”
Tate wandered off, shaking his head in humor or disgust. I wasn’t sure which, but I didn’t care. I was spending time with him, and I was happy rather than getting on his ass constantly. I honestly hadn’t expected to see Drew at the game for a third Friday in a row – this time with the rest of his boys in tow – but it was a pleasant surprise. It was the only three consecutive home games we’d had in years, and that was only because one of the other districts’ fields was flooded and gave us home advantage.
I didn’t care who was staring at us during the games anymore. I didn’t care who took it upon themselves to judge me and the decisions I’d made for myself. I was just enjoying it while I could. I was grasping that happiness with both hands and reveling in it. I was with Drew and his closest friends, I was watching Tate do what he did best, and I felt more content than I had in years.
Being the pushover I was, I ended up watching a movie with more explosions than dialogue. It was still a compromise because the one he wanted to watch only had old guys in it and I at least wanted eye candy if I was going to be subjected to big booms, blood and gore.
Tate fell asleep halfway through and started snoring loudly, so I kicked his thigh until he woke up and sent him to bed while I stayed to watch the end myself, oddly invested in the weird love story that had been intertwined between explosions. It was normally the kind of thing I scoffed at, but I found myself empathizing with the heroine.
Tate’s words, my sudden identification with movie girls with big boobs and bigger butts, and suddenly missing Drew as I sat there alone, all made me start digging too deep. The moment I began to put my feelings into words, I clicked off the television and stared at the screen with distaste. I’d promised myself no defining the relationship status quo and just running with it. I was happy now. I refused to look to tomorrow and beyond. Carpe diem was my new mantra in life, because I found I scared the shit out of myself if I went beyond a day.
Brushing my hair back from my face, I looked over at my phone and wondered if Drew was at the hut. He didn’t have a cell phone, which didn’t bother me in the slightest because it was always a gamble as to whose phone he used when he wanted something. I’d gathered Slater, Harry and several others’ numbers from the game. Much longer and I’d have the entire pack in my contacts list. It was the first night in a while I was spending in my own bed, and I was actually pathetic enough to physically miss him.
“Tate’s right, girl. You’re pathetic.” I laughed at myself and pushed up from the couch. Stretching out my back before picking up the popcorn bowl, empty beer bottles and heading toward the kitchen. I was more than aware I was a shitty guardian for allowing my brother a couple of beers after the game, but I didn’t honestly care. As long as no one got in our business and tattled, it really didn’t matter. He was a kid. He would have done it with or without my permission. In reality, I was his sister, not his mother, and I had to gain cool points where I could.
By the time I was through with my tidying expedition, it was so late that I was dragging my feet and hitting lights left and right as I went, grumbling about the power bill as I started to pull my shirt over my head while yawning.
The material was still hanging from my wrist when one of the shadows moved beside me. I caught it out of the corner of my eye at first – a twitch that didn’t have a place in the darkness. Then it sprung like a panther, but less lithe and more cumbersome, knocking my breath from me. I was about to scream when what I hoped was a hand clamped down over my mouth.
My immediate reaction was to kick and fight, even as a thick arm formed a bar around my waist, locking me against the body behind mine and dragging me into the hall bathroom. I clawed at the hand over my mouth, my legs flailing as the adrenaline flooded my system and my heart pounded painfully in my chest. I twisted and grabbed for the doorframe, my fingers hooking over the wood with every ounce of strength I had. I was pulled hard, the grunt of my attacker coming as I nailed the fucker in the shin with my bare heel.
“Fuck. Calm down, kid,” Deeks hissed under his breath as I yanked the shower curtain off two of the rings in my attempt to get free.
I froze for a moment at the familiarity of the sound. My heart, now hibernating in my throat, was still doubling up beats and sending the blood through me with the ferocity of a storm driven river. My head struggled to catch up with the reality of the situation as my muscles slowly came down from high alert and into the area of ready to run if necessary. As far as they were concerned, the danger was over. It was Deeks. My head, however, wasn’t as convinced.
“What the fuck, Deeks?” I ground out in an irritated whisper after his hand dropped from my mouth. He didn’t stop moving after he released me. He was soft footing it to the window and peering out of the partly open blinds, careful not to touch a thing and indicate he was in the room.
He didn’t respond to my question. He just put a finger to his lips and gave me the universal sign for ‘get the fuck down’, sending me into a crouch as I pulled my shirt back on and tugged it down in place. My heart was still galloping, and the adrenaline seemed to be ahead of my mind again because it took me a while to catch up that there was a bigger problem at hand. The false sense of security that Deeks had brought me was slowly abating and revealing an even bigger issue.
“Who?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
He gave me a look and I nodded. I didn’t need words. I just had to process it and try to deal with it before I had a panic attack and got us both killed. Only… it wasn’t just Deeks and I in this house. It was with that realization that the instinct I was still trying so hard to adapt to reared its head. The one that screamed for me to get Tate the hell out of there and somewhere safe before it got any worse. I was on my feet and had barely made it two steps when Deeks’ arms were around me and my body was pressed up against the wall next to the bathroom door.
“Where the hell are you going, kid?”
“To get Tate,” I pushed out breathlessly.
“Don’t be fucking stupid, Ayda. Kenny already got him out. They were up front watching you. They don’t give a flying fuck about your brother. You’re the target here.”
“Me?” I practically mouthed as the fear pushed through the adrenaline and false bravado. “How long were they watching, Deeks?”
“Long enough for us to eventually figure out what they were up to, not long enough to allow Kenny time to call for back up before we realized what the hell was going down. There were too many of them for either of us to do anything about it, so I snuck my fat ass in Tate’s window, locked it again and waited for you to go to bed. All we can hope for now is a miracle.”
He placed his hand over my mouth as something flickered past the window, casting a shadow to cut through the moonlight that filtered in. There was no way they could see us. I’d made sure of that because the shower was directly opposite it and it was one of those irrational things I tended to worry about.
We both stayed frozen long after he’d passed. Deeks was still behind me like a human shield, his breath moving my hair in little waves. He was worried, and that made me panic more, because Deeks was one of those people who tended to take everything in their stride.
It was so quiet I could have sworn I could hear my own heart beating. There was the occasional creak of Deeks’ cut, but other than that, there was nothing. Just the ambient sounds around us… until the scratching started outside.
It sounded like someone was pulling at the boards from the other side of the house where my room was. Then it began just outside our window, and from the front and back of the structure, until it was almost deafening. If that wasn’t bad enough, the emulated yipping started, the sound like a pack of coyotes surrounding our home. They were never in the same place twice. They moved around, bouncing from place to place and echoing through the hall. They were finally letting me know they were there, waiting for me to scatter in fear and reveal myself.
“Drew�
��s little bitch is in heat, boys. You smell that?” a voice shouted.
The sound of laughter echoed around the building, while Deeks growled under his breath like a rabid bear behind me. We were surrounded, and he knew it as well as I did.
“I got a bone she can chew.”
“You see that sweet ass she’s got on her? I call first in on that.”
I’m not sure whether I made a sound or if I shuddered. I couldn’t feel a whole lot in the numbness of my fear, but Deeks seemed to know what it was doing before I did, his confidence showing in his stature. A silent showing that he would look after me no matter what it took, and I believed him, too.
“Ignore them, kid. They’re trying to smoke you out with words,” Deeks whispered, backing up and approaching the window slowly. The concern he’d had seemed to bleed out of him the moment he started moving, but I wasn’t built for a situation like this and I was terrified. Turning to place my back against the wall, I slid down it and held my knees to my chest in a death grip as I stared at the window in horror.
The silence took over once again, and every passing second seemed to have the sound of my pulse grow louder and louder until it was like the ticking hand of a clock, reminding me how much time was passing. Deeks seemed to realize how deep I was receding into my own head and sighed, moving quietly to me before crouching in front of me, his voice barely a whisper, but comforting nonetheless.
“You listen to me, Ayda. We’re gonna be just fine, y’hear? I need you to stay low and move fast and quiet. Get dressed and grab your shoes. When the time comes, we’re gonna be running like hell’s on our heels.”
He tapped my knee and nodded to the door, his body practically crawling into the middle of the hall as he listened and waved me through. I did as he asked, rushing into my room and grappling around in the dark for what I needed. I dressed quickly with my running shoes on as I pulled my hair up into a tight bun at the nape of my neck. When I resurfaced, I was gripping a baseball bat.
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