Leave a Trail

by Fanetti, Susan

  Which meant that the Horde was on alert. Even though the town sentiment toward the club had chilled, their duty to keep order was unchanged. They’d taken on that responsibility long ago, when the police department had folded for lack of funding. The mayor continued to look to them to do that work, and the town business owners paid them to do it. That their days of universal respect and esteem seemed to have come to an end did not change their responsibility.

  But it sure didn’t make it easier.

  Today was a “goodwill” day for the Horde. They were out in force, manning their usual barbecue stand and walking through the crowd, making a concerted effort to be warm and friendly. Not that they weren’t usually. But it was a lot harder to be friendly when it was one-sided, and they were all noticing the chill.

  The Horde with families brought their families. Isaac had Lilli and the kids along. Show and Shannon were, as usual, hand in hand—Shannon was about five months pregnant or so and looked twice that size. They were having twins, something they’d only found out recently. Show had started wearing a permanent expression that was lost in limbo somewhere between ecstatic, bewildered, and terrified.

  Cory had come with Nolan and Loki. Len and Tasha had ridden their bikes in together, which always caused a stir. She was the only old lady who rode. Lilli apparently knew how, and had once owned a pretty badass sportbike, but as far as Badger was aware, she only rode bitch now.

  Badger had brought Adrienne and was enjoying walking through the stalls and the crowd with her, their fingers linked together. She was beautiful, dressed on this warm Saturday a lot like she’d been the day he’d met her: little denim cutoffs, a filmy top that showed a little slice of belly, her cowboy boots, and her jewelry. She wore a lot less jewelry these days than she had back then. Then, she’d had bracelets practically up to both elbows and rings on all ten fingers. Now, she wore a few bracelets on both arms and three rings on each hand. She said she’d gotten out of the habit of accessorizing so heavily when she was teaching in Asia.

  In the past, when she’d visited in the summer and the weather was even warmer, she’d worn a silver bracelet that snaked around her upper arm. He hoped she’d still wear that—that thing was hot as the sun. And these days, when she turned him on, he could do something about it.

  She’d been subdued since she’d talked to her father last, when he’d told her she had to come home. Obviously, she hadn’t left, and he had, so far, done as he’d threatened, refusing even to take her calls. She stopped trying after about a week. That was a few days ago, and, honestly, she was doing better now. Calling, leaving increasingly sad voice mails, and waiting to hear back and been clawing hard at her. Giving up was making things a little easier, he thought.

  She talked to her brothers, but they wouldn’t talk about their father. So Adrienne, it seemed, had really lost her father.

  Badger couldn’t believe it was true. He was sorely tempted to ride all the way to New York state and convince that asshole how bad a mistake he was making. But there was another part of him that was, he was ashamed to admit even to himself, glad. He liked that there was less pulling on her, drawing her away from Signal Bend, away from him. For years, he’d been her friend mainly from afar. Now she was his girl, and he wanted her to stay put.

  But she was sad, and he didn’t like that. Even if it did help him to feel strong, after he’d been so weak and pathetic, strung out and violent. She’d taken care of him. Now he was taking care of her, and he liked that very much.

  She roamed the grounds with her camera while he did his turn in the barbecue booth. As soon as he was free, he went looking for her. He found her at the St. John’s booth, where church ladies were selling quilts and other old lady stuff. It looked like she was taking close-ups of a quilt hanging on the side of the booth. Or something. He walked up behind her and laid his hand on her back. Not startled at all, she turned and smiled. “Hi.”

  “Hey. I got sprung. You hungry?”

  “I could eat.”

  As he pulled her away toward the food area, Badger saw that Havoc’s mother was working the booth. Havoc’s parents—well, his father, really—had been active in turning people against the Horde, speaking out several times, at town meetings, at Marie’s, even at Havoc’s funeral. Seeing Havoc’s mother, Badger didn’t know what he should do, but he decided on politeness. Politeness came easily to him.

  “Hi, Mrs. Mariano.”

  She smiled sweetly, genuinely. “Hello, Justin. And Adrienne, right? You’re Shannon’s girl.”

  Adrienne held out her hand. “Yes, ma’am. Adrienne Renard.”

  “Nice to meet you, honey. I’m June.” Then she seemed to see something behind them, and her face took on an aspect of shock and sadness. Also something like…hunger. “Oh,” she whispered. She glanced around her as if she was about to get caught doing something bad.

  Badger looked, too, and saw Cory and Lilli walking down the path, their brood with them. Cory was holding Loki, who was ten months old and starting to walk. He was pitching a minor fit now, obviously not into being held.

  Loki was Havoc’s son, born two months before he died. Thus, Loki was Mrs. Mariano’s grandson. Badger didn’t know much about what was going on between Havoc’s wife and his parents, but he knew that Mrs. Mariano didn’t get much chance to see her grandchild. Mr. Mariano wouldn’t allow it.

  “Cory? Honey?” she called out.

  Badger pulled Adrienne out of the way, but he didn’t go far, just in case the situation went south. Because Cory looked over, and about one thousand different expressions hit her face simultaneously, none of them friendly.

  “Cory? Please?”

  Lilli put her hand on Cory’s arm and said something; after a couple of seconds, Cory nodded. When she turned and came toward the booth, Lilli hung back, but she gave Badger a look. Badger and Lilli had been through some real shit together, and he knew how she thought. He knew that look meant You and me, we’re keeping this cool.

  He bent his head close to Adrienne’s ear. “Babe, step back a bit.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I’ll explain later, but there’s something happening that could get a little hot. Not big, but some drama.”

  She nodded and did what he asked.

  Although Loki had been yelling and squirming, something must have changed in the way Cory held him, or the vibe she gave off, because he’d gone still. He was a cute kid, with Havoc’s light olive complexion and black eyes. He had dark, curly hair. Badger had no idea whether Havoc had had curly hair; he’d shaved his head for all the time he’d known him. But he was a loud, rambunctious kid, definitely taking after his old man in that regard and already giving Princess Gia a run for her money in the attention-seeking department.

  When Cory got up to the booth, she said, her voice flat and calm, “Hello, June.”

  Mrs. Mariano started to cry. “Can I hold him? Oh, hi, sweetie. You are the spittin’ image of your daddy. Cory, please. Can I hold him? Please?”

  They were drawing a crowd. The other church ladies, three of them—horrible gossips all, with sharp, nasty tongues—were lined up behind Havoc’s mother, watching avidly, without any compunction about intruding into this scene.

  Other people around were stopping to watch, too. Although a lot of people from out of town were at the Fest, and they moved on unconcerned, the townspeople knew all the business there was to know, and they were all interested. Badger caught Lilli’s eyes again, and she gave a subtle shrug. There was nothing they could do about the looky-loos. This scene was playing out in public.

  Cory nodded and handed Loki over the booth’s counter. June took the boy and clutched him to her chest. Loki fought immediately for freedom, but his grandmother wasn’t letting him go. She held him close and sobbed.

  Having collapsed completely following Havoc’s death, even trying to kill herself, Cory had taken a long time to come back to life. Havoc had died in September; now it was May. She was working again, and she was out in the worl
d again, but she was different. Maybe she always would be. A light had gone out, maybe forever. She watched Mrs. Mariano hold Loki and weep, and she could just as easily have been watching grass grow. Her face showed no emotion or interest at all.

  Lilli walked up to the booth, leading her own son, Bo, by the hand; Gia followed behind, looking both curious and bored. Lilli put her other hand on Cory’s back. “I’m sorry to intrude, but a crowd is drawing up. If you want, I can take you someplace where you’ll have some privacy?”

  Cory turned to her friend. “No.”

  At almost the same time, Mrs. Mariano said, “No, I can’t. But thank you, honey. For letting me hold him for a minute. He’s beautiful. So like his daddy.” Sniffling, she handed him over. “Bye, Luke. Be a good boy.”

  “Loki. He’s called Loki.” With that, Cory turned and walked away. Lilli cast Badger a reassuring look and followed.

  The crowd dispersed. Havoc’s mother turned and was swallowed up by a ring of hugging church ladies. Adrienne pulled on Badger’s arm.

  “I feel gross that we stood and watched that. Like all those vultures. Why didn’t we go?”

  “I’ll tell you as much as I can later. The reason we stayed is to diffuse it if it got too hot. The Horde doesn’t need a scene like that.”

  “Is that because Havoc died?”

  “It’s because of the way his parents acted afterward. Here’s not the place, babe. But tonight. I promise.”

  “I don’t mean to be nosy. I hate that we saw that. But everything in town seems to be tangled up with the Horde in some way, and I feel like I need to understand better.”

  “Tonight. For sure. Right now, let’s just eat, okay?”

  She nodded, and he pulled her under his arm and led her to lunch.

  ~oOo~

  He was just standing up to throw away their trash when two shots rang out nearby. Without bothering to think, he shoved Adrienne under the picnic table. “Stay down! Stay there!”

  She didn’t fight him at all, not until he didn’t join her. When he stood, pulling his piece from under his kutte, she cried, “Badge, no!”

  “Stay there, babe. Do not move. I gotta go.” He trotted in the direction of the shots, trying to see in three-hundred-sixty degrees.

  When he cleared a row of booths and ended up in the fairway, he stopped short and backed up to cover. The sight that had greeted him needed time before it would make sense. He looked around the corner of the booth he’d taken cover at. Yeah, he’d seen what he’d thought.

  At the Horde booth was Havoc’s father, holding a revolver. Isaac, holding his arm, blood oozing through his fingers. Lilli, holding a 9mm, aimed at Mr. Mariano’s head. And the whole scene circled by Horde, all of them aiming at Mr. Mariano. Shannon and Cory corralling the kids, both women hunched over the little ones. And Cory was also holding fast to Nolan, refusing to let him go.

  So much for the goodwill campaign.

  He did a head count. Len wasn’t there—he hoped that meant he was elsewhere and not lying on the ground in the booth. There had been two shots.

  “Lilli, stand down.” Isaac’s voice was strained but strong. It looked like he’d only been shot in the arm, but he was bleeding heavily. Badger thought the bullet might have hit an artery or something.

  “Fuck you, Isaac. I have had it with people shooting you.” She stepped between her husband and Havoc’s father, her gun still raised. “You put the fucking gun down now, old man. Or I absolutely will put a bullet in your head.”

  Instead, Mr. Mariano straightened his arms, shifting his aim purposefully to Lilli. But his hands shook; Badger could see that from where he stood. That might account for Isaac not being dead right now.

  “Lilli! Fuck!” Isaac reached for her, but she shook him off easily, her eyes not leaving Mr. Mariano. Too easily. Yeah, he was losing too much blood. As if to confirm Badger’s conjecture, Isaac dropped to his knees.

  Intent on Mr. Mariano, Lilli reacted to Isaac’s fall but didn’t turn. Badger realized that the whole scene was frozen. As long as Havoc’s crazy old man wouldn’t back down, nobody could do anything. But he was outside the scene. With no sign of Len, and Isaac maybe bleeding out in front of the whole town, Badger made a call.

  Trust, right? It was all about trust. Trust in himself first of all. So Badger put his gun away, and stepped out into the fairway.

  “Mr. Mariano!” Badger yelled it, keeping his voice as friendly as he could, as though he were hailing a friend across the street. He spread his arms out, to show he was not a threat.

  The only person of note who turned to his voice was the person he’d called to. In that second of Don’s inattention, Lilli did one of her fancy Bruce Lee moves. She spun and put her boot—a heavy, black Doc Martens—in Havoc’s father’s face. He went down, the gun falling from his suddenly drooping hands.

  In the chaos that followed, Show and Tommy jumped onto Mr. Mariano, keeping him subdued. Zeke, Dom, the Prospects, Double A and Thumper (Davey’s new road name) worked on crowd control. Knowing Adrienne was safe and away, Badger ran over to check on the women and children. Once he was sure they were okay, too, he went to the focus of the crisis: Isaac.

  Lilli had pulled off her shirt, leaving herself in no top but a tight white beater, and was winding the shirt around Isaac’s arm. The blood soaked the fabric as fast as she could wrap it around his arm. Isaac was conscious and coherent, but going pale. They needed Tasha.

  “Where’s Tasha? Where’s Len?”

  Show looked up from where he’d bound Havoc’s father’s hands with a bungee cord. “She went back to the clinic. She got a call about a sick kid. Len took the van to pick up more ice.”

  “We don’t have the van?”

  Show shook his head.

  “Fuck the van!” Lilli yelled. She tossed Double A her keys. “Just drive mine up the fairway. Now!” Double A ran off.

  Isaac was fading, leaning on Lilli. Show squatted down in front of him. “Hang in there, boss. What do you want to do with Don?”

  “Let him go.” Show’s head swiveled sharply at Badger’s words, and Badger couldn’t believe he’d said them out loud—said those words, out loud, while Isaac might be dying. Again.

  “You shut up, asshole. Didn’t ask you.”

  “No, Show. Talk, little brother. Why?” Though his voice had weakened, Isaac’s eyes were clear.

  He trusted himself to say what he was thinking. “Because he lost both his kids. He’s an asshole, but he lost them and he blames us, and he’s right to. Because he’s a broken, bitter old man. Because we lost sight of being the good guys and we need to find it again. Because it’s mercy.” His heart was beating so hard his ribs felt bruised, but the words came smoothly out, with the ease of rightness. Maybe even righteousness.

  “Fuck that.” That was Lilli. She had a death grip with both hands around Isaac’s wounded arm, but she was paying keen attention to their discussion.

  Isaac gave her leg a flaccid pat with his good arm. “Not your call, Sport.”

  Though she gave her old man the kind of look that should be registered as a deadly weapon, she shut up.

  “Show?” Isaac looked at his VP.

  Show regarded Badger with narrowed eyes, then sighed. “Yeah. He’s right. I’ll talk to him—warn the fuck out of him—and we’ll take him home.”

  “Okay. Wise man, Badge. This gettin’ shot business sucks ass.” Isaac closed his eyes just as Dom drove up with Lilli’s SUV.

  They got Isaac in the truck with Lilli, Dom, and Double A. The rest of the Horde watched them hurry down the fairway, the crowd making way. Badger turned then, on his way to Adrienne, but Show blocked his path, towering over him. Badger looked up and said nothing. Show virtually never talked to him or acknowledged him at all anymore, even at the table. This interaction between them in the past fifteen minutes or so was more talking than they’d done since Show had thrown a table across the Hall to get to him.

  “If Isaac dies, Mariano dies, too. Your ‘mercy�
� ends there.”

  Badger nodded.

  Show continued to stare, and Badger continued to hold himself steady.

  Then, with a single, abrupt nod, Show muttered, “Okay,” and turned in the direction of the women and children, where his pregnant old lady was waiting.

  Not sure what was ‘okay,’ Badger turned in the other direction and went to Adrienne.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Adrienne had crawled out from under the picnic table when the people around her had stopped hiding and begun to relax. But then she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to find Badger, but she was still afraid.

  “Adrienne? Sweetheart?” She turned at the sound of Badger’s mother’s voice and ended up being swallowed in a hug. After a good, hard squeeze, Badger’s mom set her back and looked her over with a concerned mother’s eye.

  Darlene Ness was tall and thin like Badger. Adrienne guessed her to be in her mid-fifties or so. A little older than Show, but not much. She had very wrinkled, leathery skin, as if she’d spent all her life in the sun—which she probably had—but even so, she didn’t look much older than what was probably her real age. Her eyes—the same fantastical shade of green as Badge’s—were bright and lively, vivid with sweetness, and that was probably why she didn’t look older.

  “Are you okay, sweetie? We saw you under the table. I know that was scary.”

  “Yeah—scary. I’m okay. I’d like to find Badge, though.”

  Badger’s dad stepped up. “Did he tell you to wait here?” She nodded. “Then best do so. We’ll wait with you. Looks like the excitement is over, at least.”