“I know, okay?” I snap. “I get it, Enzo.”
“I’m goin’ to see if I can help. Don’t move.”
He disappears, and I sit on the sofa, even as Elias walks out, bleary eyed and looking at me. He pauses, and then gives me a nod before walking out the front. Great, now I’ve woken them all up. I grit my teeth and wait for them to return. They do about twenty minutes later, all of them coming inside, without Joel.
“Did you find him?” I ask.
Madden shakes his head. “No, he was gone by the time we got there, but we found his shit. There was a sleeping bag, a few items, and the light that you saw. My guess is he has been comin’ in at night and slinkin’ around. Probably has nowhere else to go. Then, he obviously hides durin’ the day. Clever, I’ll give him that.”
He’s been staying here this whole time?
I shiver.
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
“Nothin’,” Rhett mutters. “He’s not goin’ to come back now, at least not for a few days. We need to deal with this, so my ranch and my customers aren’t at risk. We’ll finish this tomorrow night.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling a little guilty.
“Don’t be.” Rhett shrugs. “Can’t help that he’s a fuckin’ psycho. Enzo will walk you back to the cabin.”
“She’s stayin’ here,” Enzo mutters.
“Faye is alone, I don’t want her alone,” I protest.
Enzo exhales. “Fuckin’ fine, then I’m stayin’ there.”
He’s pissed at me, and I get it. What I just did was stupid.
I honestly didn’t think Joel would be just lying in the woods waiting for me, though. That’s some kind of dedication. Not even I thought he was that determined. Now, I am worried about what he’s capable of. I thought for sure he’d not go to extremes, but now I’m not certain of it. Maybe he would hurt me if it meant getting what he wants.
“Let’s go,” Enzo says, picking up a flashlight.
“Gun,” Rhett orders.
Enzo nods, disappearing and coming back out with a gun tucked in his pants. My eyes widen.
“You don’t think we’re riskin’ him still bein’ there, do you?” Enzo asks me.
I shake my head.
We leave and head back to the cabin, unscathed.
Enzo and I fall asleep that night with little said to one another.
I guess he really is upset with me.
I can’t say I blame him.
I just want this to be over now.
“GIRL, WE BETTER NOT end up in some ditch murdered because your psycho ex gets hold of us. I hope these guys know that they’re doing,” Chev says as we walk into the local café that is holding an open mic night. It’s called Wildflowers, and it’s run by some friends of Rhett’s.
“I’m sure they’ve got it covered, but just in case, how good are your persuasion skills?” I say, lightly.
Chev gives me a look. “Well, I’m pretty annoying, so I think I could definitely talk him out of it before we made it to the ditch.”
I laugh. “He hates too much talking, you’re safe.”
“I hope this just ends quickly so we can enjoy our night,” Faye says, looking around. “This place is bangin’”
“Bangin’?” Alice laughs. “I haven’t heard that saying in such a long time.”
I grin.
Neither have I.
We walk into the awesome café and Rhett, Lei, Enzo, and Lake go right over to where a group of bikers are sitting by a booth. I stare at them, eyes wide. “Mother of mercy, those are bikers? Oh lord. Lord take me now.”
Chev’s eyes widen too. “Take me first, oh my.”
“I seriously was expecting hairy old dudes.” Faye gasps. “Those are gods. Oh.”
“Let’s go over there, I want to introduce myself, maybe one of them will steal and never return me.” Alice sighs.
We all walk over to the group, and I can’t help but run my eyes over the gorgeous men sitting at the table. There are no women with them, they’re all on their own, but their eyes move to us, and I honestly don’t know where to look. I fidget before giving an awkward wave. They are strong, intimidating and oh, out of this world spectacular.
“June,” Rhett says, waving a hand at the group. “These are the guys helping us tonight. This is Riggs, President and man in charge.”
I stare at Riggs, and my knees get a little wobbly. Holy hotness. “Hi,” I squeak. “Thanks for helping me.”
He nods, giving me a small grin. “No problem.”
“We’re goin’ to give you a rundown on the plan,” Rhett goes on. “Then you can go about your night until we’re ready. Good?”
I nod.
“We’ll go get a drink,” Chev says, and the girls all walk to the bar.
“Here’s how it’ll go down,” Riggs tells me. “Got men who will plant drugs on your man, don’t need to know how we’re goin’ to do that, just got to trust us. I’ve got a favor from a local cop; he’ll have backup and be waitin’. We’ve organized a deal in the parking lot tonight, but we’re not goin’ to show for that deal. You’re goin’ to walk outside, your man is goin’ to follow you, and then the cops are goin’ to do the rest. They’ve been instructed not to arrest you, but they will arrest him. After that, you don’t need to know what will happen to him, you just need to be assured that he won’t bother you again.”