Amber entered the kitchen and smiled at me. “Charlie’s down for a nap,” she said.
“In that case, we should figure out what the fuck we’re going to do.” I called everyone together and filled them in on what had happened. Thea moved toward Amber and held her hand through much of the discussion, and I thanked whatever lucky star had brought her into our lives.
In particular, I related how Tom had been feeding Leo information about my location but stressed that he had come clean on the matter and no-one was to hold a fucking grudge. To my amazement, Tom stood ramrod straight under their gazes, giving me a little hope that we could pull off a trap for Leo after all.
“What’s the plan?” Lucky said and paced back and forth. “We hiding out and bringing him here?”
“No. Beside the fact that Jameson’s friend was good enough to rent us the place at short notice and I’d hate to see it suffer any fucking damage, it’s too big, and Leo might suspect an ambush. We need somewhere that Leo would associate with us, but also somewhere he wouldn’t expect to find too many brothers hanging out.”
Rex cleared his throat and nodded. “Bono’s is small. It’s secluded, so that minimizes the risk of collateral damage. There’s only one road in and out. We know the area and surrounding woodland and could easily watch the property without being seen. Above all, it’s small enough to think you wouldn’t have much of a guard.”
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with any of you using your own homes,” Amber said. “What if things go wrong? He’ll know where you live.”
“He already knows where I live.” Bono looked to Thea. “But it is close to your place.”
“He knows where we live too,” Cane added.
Thea sighed. “It is a good location,” she said, addressing Amber and squeezing her hand before turning to look at Cane as though wanting to say more.
“What is it?” he asked. “Don’t worry. Any fucker who tries to come near our home is a dead fucker.”
Thea smiled and rubbed her belly, a habit I’d seen her taking up more and more as her baby grew inside her. “It’s not that. I just... I just think there are too many things that can go wrong. It could be too easy for him to run into the woods and hide.”
“Thea’s right,” Bono said. “There are too many variables that can go wrong.”
“What are our other options?”
No-one answered, but Cane walked over to Thea and sat beside her. He whispered something in her ear and when she whispered back, he smiled.
“The floors open to everyone,” he said loud enough for us all to hear and making sure to stare each of the brothers down should they dare to suggest otherwise.
“What is it, Thea?” I asked.
“I was just thinking of how it’s Sunday and Midnight Anchor closes at 10 pm.”
I thought about the bar for a moment. “It’s too obvious, Leo would consider the possibility of Amber being there.”
As Cane glared at me for not jumping to act on Thea’s idea straight away, she continued, “That’s why it’s perfect. It would be somewhere logical for Amber to be. He would also be able to get someone there before closing to check out how many brothers were on site, and also confirm when they leave. It would be easy to make them think that everyone leaves and just Cherrie, Greg and Amber remain.” She turned to Cane and shook her head. “Although now I say it out loud, I don’t think we should put either of them through it.”
“I think it has merit,” Jameson said.
“I agree,” Bono added. “We’d be able to position ourselves remotely and observe the bar, closing in when the time is right.”
“I think Greg and Cherrie would want to help.” Cane pulled Thea in for a side hug and kissed her head. A wave of nostalgia hit me, and I couldn’t help staring at them for a while. They were so incredibly happy together and Cane had become the person he was when we were kids and before Dad died. He was still a broody fucker, but more and more often I saw him smile and heard him laugh. I often wondered if it was Cane who rescued Thea or the other way around.
“Let’s go with it,” I said. “We just have to work out the details. If it doesn’t work and Leo doesn’t show, we’ve lost nothing but time.” I didn’t add that time might be something we had very little of.
Amber nodded. “I should be there. If this is going to work, then I need to be seen.”
“Fuck, no!” Cane said at the same time as I said that it wasn’t going to happen.
“We have little choice. If one of Leo’s men doesn’t see me inside, he’ll have no reason to approach.”
“I’ll do it,” Lucky said, causing more than one raised eyebrow. “We’re about the same height, even if our build isn’t exactly the same. If someone sneaks me in there with a blonde wig, sunglasses, and a blanket covering me, he’ll never know the difference.”
Rex laughed and shook his head. “You got a blonde wig lying about the house.”
“No, but Ma does. She wore one to a fancy-dress party a few months back.”
“I don’t know,” I said, worried that it might not work.
“Would you prefer to use Amber as bait, or Thea, or Cherrie. There are a hundred and one women we could ask. Hell, I’d bet one of the dolly-girls from the club would do it for a price.” When I didn’t answer, Lucky sat forward and clenched his fists. “Is that the way you wanna fucking play this?”
I almost growled in frustration, but knew he was right. It was Lucky or no-one. Even if I’d be willing to put some other woman in Amber’s place, she sure the fuck wouldn’t.
“It’s our best bet,” Jameson said.
“It’ll fucking work too. I didn’t get the name Lucky for nothing.”
“No, you got that cuz you’re lucky every time you find some dolly-girl willing to fuck you,” Rex said, smiling.
“Damn right, I fucking am. Every single night.”
Rex picked an apple from the countertop and threw it at Lucky’s head. Lucky caught it and took a big, sloppy bite. “Lucky score’s again,” he said through a mouthful.
“We have a location, and bait,” I said, nodding to Lucky before placing my hand on Tom’s shoulder. “Now all we have to do is figure out when it’s best for Tom to trigger it.”
The rest of the meeting was spent with more planning. Jameson and Lucky headed out first to call at Lucky’s Ma’s and collect the wig. Bono followed not far behind them to contact the brothers and let them know something was going down and we’d need their help.
Chapter Twelve
Amber
The plan was simple enough. Thea, Charlie, and I were staying at the safe house with Rex and a couple of brothers keeping watch. Lucky would act as bait while Caleb and around twenty to thirty other brothers hid in the industrial area around the bar to pounce should Leo show up.
They’d been careful to arrive at the safe house separately and were just as careful leaving. Their initial plan was to head to the clubhouse. Then they’d arrange for a large gathering of the brothers to look like they were there while sneaking out to lay in wait.
“Promise me, you’ll stay safe,” I said to Caleb, as I slipped my arm around his waist.
He and Cane were the last to leave, and while Cane was saying his goodbyes to Thea, we had popped upstairs to check in on Charlie, who was still asleep and blissfully unaware of all the crazy goings-on.
I was reassured by their planning and the fact that Caleb was no longer going after Leo alone, but that didn’t mean a well of fear hadn’t settled in my stomach like a lead weight.
“I promise, I’ll be back before you know it.”
I shook my head, pulled the door closed, sealing Charlie away and safe from everything, and fell into his arms. “This feels like we’ve been planning premeditated murder.”
“I’ve no plan on it coming to that,” Caleb said, although he did so just to reassure me. “We’ll arm ourselves and approach things with caution. Leo needs to pay for what he’s fucking done to you, and for the threats he made. But
his Dad and mine were friends once, and I know that the idea of killing him doesn’t sit right with you. I’ll give him a chance to hand himself in to the police and confess everything. Although, I may have to break every fucking bone in his body before he agrees.”
“I just... something doesn’t feel right. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“I’ll be fine.” He wrapped his arms tight around me, rested his cheek on the top of my head, and sniffed.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Smelling you. You always did smell so fucking good. You know I kept buying your mango scented shampoo even after you left?”
“You did?” I asked, but realized that I’d used it to wash my hair in the shower at his place. “You never used it when we were together.”
“I never needed to. I had you to sniff anytime I wanted.”
I smiled. “For such a big and hard man on the outside, you have a very squishy center.”
“Everyone has a squishy center. That’s why we build up the hardness on the outside to keep it safe.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. Throughout the day, I’d managed to talk to both Cane and Thea, and they had said the last twenty-four hours had softened Caleb. Cane said he’d seen him smile for the first time since I left. I was glad that Caleb was becoming the man I knew him to be again, but a part of me wanted him to still have that solid and angry exterior. Maybe that was what he needed to get him through the night and back to me and Charlie. Tears formed in my eyes as I worried about what might be. I hadn’t been this scared since he’d left to find his dad’s killer, and that had only been one man he was up against and not the entire Feral Sons. They’d talked and talked about it being Leo they were setting a trap for, but everyone knew he wouldn’t come alone.
“I’d better go,” Caleb said and lifted my chin to kiss me. “I’ll make sure Rex keeps you updated.”
“You’d better,” I said, and we both went downstairs.
Neither Cane or Caleb had their motorcycles with them, so they jumped in Thea’s jeep and pulled away from the house.
Rex stood with us by the front door as we waved goodbye. “Right,” he said as soon as they’d driven out of view before showing us an earpiece communication device he was wearing, as well as something that looked a bit like a large battery pack clipped to his belt. “It’s not guaranteed to work given the range, but I may be able to keep up-to-date with events in real-time and keep you in the loop. In the meantime, I want you both to stay in the house.” He motioned over the two other brothers staying behind. “This is Stan and Billy. Stan will be stationed by the front door and Billy the back. I’ve been checking out the sweet security system they have here and I’m going to turn it on. If anyone pops a window or opens a door, we’ll all know about it instantly.”
“Do you think that’s likely to happen?” I asked.
“Not really, but Caleb doesn’t want us taking any chances. If you hear an alarm, I’ve checked out the building and found a crawl space at the back of the walk-in wardrobe in the master bedroom. It won’t be easy or comfortable,” he said looking at Thea. “But that’s where I’ll need you to go. I’ll make my way there too, and ensure you’re concealed.”
“I think you should leave,” I said to Thea.
“I don’t. Cane would fucking kill me,” Rex said.
“The matter isn’t up for debate.” Thea grabbed my hand. “Where you stay, I stay. You know the brothers. They’re just being overly cautious anyway. Nothing’s going to happen.”
That well of dread in my belly turned into a fucking bolder. I wished I had Thea’s faith that everything would be fine, but nothing had ever worked out the way I wanted it to. Why would tonight be any different?
My heart beat way too fast as I followed her through the house. Thea was lovely and it was great that she’d defeated her demons, but mine were still out there.
“How do you cope?” I asked as we moved into the kitchen. The place had fast become the epicenter of the house. A place where we could gather and keep busy.
“What do you mean?” she replied while taking one of the barstools.
Her eyes drifted toward the back door. I followed her gaze and noted Billy stationed outside. He’d pulled one of the garden chairs next to the door and sat on it with his head leaned back against the wall. Some sentry he’d make if he fell asleep.
“Sophia told me what your stepbrother did to you. I think she wanted to reassure me that things would get better. That you were okay, and I would be too.” My breath hitched, uncertain if I should continue or if dredging up the past would be too painful for Thea. “Did he... did he really torture you?”
Thea reached out and grabbed my hand. I’d noted over the last few days that she was more tactile than most people are with strangers. It surprised me, but also had a strange way of making me feel as though I could open up to her.
“Daniel was not a nice person,” she said after a moment. “I feared and hated him in equal measure for years. There are some nights I still have nightmares, some nights where I hear a noise downstairs and worry for the briefest of seconds that it might be him. Then I remember, he’s gone. The only power he has is to instill a remembered fear. He had so much power over me in life, I’m determined that he will have very little over me in death. It’s not a matter of coping, it’s a matter of allowing myself to live free from his influence.”
“Sophia mentioned that he died. Maybe it’s easier to move on because you know he can’t come back.”
She smiled. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s because Cane killed him, and I know he’d do the same to anyone else who ever tried to hurt me or our baby.”
I tilted my head and looked at her. She really was stunning. With thick brown hair and large green eyes. Even with her tall stature and pregnancy belly, she seemed almost fragile. But there was a steely glint in her eyes that made her look older than her years.
“Sophia never told me that Cane killed him,” I said.
“She didn’t know. It’s not exactly something I spread around.”
“I guess not.” I sighed and looked out the window. Dull, gray clouds filled the sky and it looked like it might rain. “Caleb said he’ll give Leo a chance to turn himself in. Do you think he will?”
“Do I think Caleb will give him a chance or do I think Leo will turn himself in?”
“Either. Both.”
“Caleb will do whatever you want him to. As for Leo, I’ve never met him, but from the little I know, I doubt he would willingly go to the police and confess anything.”
“I don’t know. Caleb can be quite persuasive when he wants.”
Thea raised an eyebrow and laughed. “I’m sure he can be.”
I laughed back. At that moment, my phone rang.
“Hi Sophia,” I said, having seen her name on the display before I answered.
“Hey, chica. Just wanted to see how you’re doing.”
“I’m great. I’m actually here with Thea.” I glanced at her and smiled. She asked me to give Sophia her love, which I did.
“I take it everything is still A-Okay with Caleb and Charlie.”
“Better than I could have ever imagined. You were right, I should have come clean years ago.”
“Ah, well. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I am known to be right on occasion.”
I laughed. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Me? Never. I take it this means you have a plus one to my wedding. That’s if you think it’ll all be over by then.”
“It’ll be over. Caleb and his brothers are out right now seeing to it.”
“That is a relief,” she said, and it was clear she was telling the truth from the tone in her voice. “Mom and Pop are making friendly with these bikers watching our every move like hawks, but Ben’s starting to feel like a caged bird.”
I sighed. “I am sorry about that,” I said.
“He’ll get over it.”
“Tell him it will be all over soon.
”
The kitchen door opened, and Rex came in carrying Charlie. “Look who I found up and around,” he said.
“I gotta go, Sophia. I’ll call you tomorrow. Hopefully, your bodyguards will be gone by then.” With that, I ended the call, stood, and reached my arms out to hold my sweet baby-girl. “Good afternoon, Charlie-baby. Did you have a nice nap?”
“Play outside,” she said. “Uncle Rex motorcycle.”
My skin tingled at her words and a strange lightness came over me. Charlie had gone from having only me, Sophia, Caroline, and Franc in her social circle to now having Uncles coming at her from all corners.
“It’s going to rain,” I said. “We have to stay indoors. Shall we go and find something to watch on cable?”
“Peppa,” she said and wriggled in my arms to go down. “Aunt Thea, Peppa.”
Thea giggled as Charlie pulled her from the stool and dragged her from the room. “What’s Peppa,” she mouthed back at me.
I rolled my eyes. She’d find out soon enough and have to watch it five times a day for anywhere up to the next six years.
Chapter Thirteen
Caleb
After leaving the safe house, Cane and I headed straight to the clubhouse. He drove as it was Thea’s car, but my skin prickled. “Could you go any fucking slower?” I asked.
He smirked and glared at me out of the corner of his eye. “As a matter of fact, I fucking can. Would you like me to?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Cane laughed but didn’t change the speed he was driving. I turned my attention out the window, knowing that keeping to the speed limit was probably the best course of action. Clouds drifted together blanketing the sky. That’s all we needed: rain.
“Looks like we’re gonna get wet.” Cane gave me a double-take before noting where I was looking. He laughed again and shook his head. Fucking juvenile.
I decided to ignore him and switched on the comms unit Rex had given me. The crazy fucker carried a set of five in the trunk of his car and had dished them out to each of us before we left. Only Lucky had to go without, but he was with Jameson and could stay in touch through him if necessary.
Forever Midnight MC Collection: Books 1-3 Page 23