“Ilara, I’m not feeling safe. Will you please send one of the prospects to the drugstore to ride home with me?” I shivered, and it wasn’t from the rain.
Instantly her voice got serious. “Are you safe in the drugstore or your car?”
“I’m in my car.”
“Why don’t you feel safe?” I could hear murmurs in the background. She must still be at the clubhouse with the other ladies.
“Someone left a threatening and confusing note on my windshield. I can’t tell if I’m being watched or not.”
“Do you have a gun with you, like your dad told you to carry?”
“I do.”
“Okay. Stay there. Keep your doors locked. If someone approaches you, show them that damn gun. If you have to, shoot their ass. Hopefully, they’ll leave you alone. Help is on its way. Bye.” She hung up before I could say thank you. I took out my gun and laid it in my lap. I swiveled my head around and even behind me, to make sure no one was paying any kind of attention to me. My stomach churned. I prayed they’d be able to get here quickly.
I fidgeted as I waited. Everyone who came out of the store or walked by, I scrutinized. I was trying to see if I knew them. As I waited, I thought about the note. Who in the hell had written it? Whoever it was, they knew what Merrill had done, and they thought he was in the right to do it. Who would have that kind of knowledge of him? He always tried so hard to project this image of a saint. They also seemed to know or suspect what Mom did.
It was maybe fifteen minutes later, when a truck pulled into the parking lot. Out jumped Outlaw, Bear, Slash, and Payne. Mitch was behind the wheel. Outlaw ran over to my car. I was out and crashing into his arms. Dad was impatiently standing behind him. There was still drizzle coming down, but I couldn’t care less. Outlaw kissed me.
“Baby, Ilara told us you got a note and didn’t feel safe.” I nodded. He reluctantly let go, so my dad could hug me. Slash and Payne were busy looking around us.
“I did. It’s in the car. Outlaw, it said some things that no one should know about. Please, I can’t stand being out here. Take me home.”
“We will. Let Outlaw drive your car. You get back in the car. Did you get what you needed?” Dad asked me.
“Yeah, I've got it. Thank you for coming. I might have overreacted. I just didn’t feel like I was safe to drive. I was shaking.”
Outlaw tugged me out of Dad’s arms and back into his. I saw them both frown at each other. I smothered my laugh. “Come on then, let’s go home. We can talk about this there and read the note,” Outlaw said.
In a matter of a minute, I was strapped into the passenger seat in front and Dad got in the back. Outlaw was behind the wheel. We pulled out and headed toward the compound. Outlaw drove one handed, so he could hold my hand. He tried to calm me down.
“Baby, everything will be alright. We’ll figure this out and handle it. What you need to do is relax. Tell me what you came to get?”
I looked back at Dad and then at Outlaw. Should I tell him or wait? “I got some ointment for Caeden and Corinne. They’re teething.”
“Honey, we know that’s not the reason you came. The ladies said you were planning to go anyway and didn’t want to send a prospect. Why wouldn’t you? Don’t you trust or like them?”
“No, no I trust them. I just didn’t want them to pick this up and then be talking about it.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and I opened my bag. I took out the one box in there. Outlaw glanced over to see what it was. He looked, turned his head back and then snapped his head around to look at me again. I saw it had registered what I held. His mouth hung open. I heard my dad chuckle.
I was holding up a damn home pregnancy test. I hurried to explain. “I didn’t want them to think I was pregnant. I’m not. Or at least I don’t think I am. My period is late, but after the accident and stuff, I expected it to be. However, I was asked if we were going to have kids today and it got me thinking. What if I’m pregnant.?”
Outlaw was breathing fast. I started to worry. Was he not wanting kids? “How? How could you be? You’re on birth control.”
“I am, but I didn’t have it while I was in the hospital. When I got out, I started them again, but I never thought about making you…” I stopped talking. It felt funny to be doing it in front of my dad.
He must have understood because he chimed in. “Honey, you can tell him this when you’re alone, though I think it’s great if you are. You two need to talk about the future and kids and stuff. Right now, pass me that note.” I gratefully put away my test and handed Dad the note. I watched Outlaw. He was staring off in the distance, not saying a word. My heart sank. He didn’t look thrilled at the idea. Shit, I'd better just be late.
Dad swore when he got done reading the note. Outlaw glanced at him in the mirror. “Read it to me.” Dad did. By the time he was done, Outlaw was pissed too. “Son of a bitch. Tarin, do you have any idea who would have been a confidant of Mercer’s?”
“Hell, I don't know. He had a bunch of guys and some women he referred to as friends. I don’t know if he trusted any of them enough to do that. I want to know what’s on the disk,” I told them.
“So do we. When we get to the compound, we’ll look at it. Depending on what’s on it, we might have to call the guys back into church. The ones who didn’t come with us are waiting at the clubhouse until we get back,” Dad told me. Outlaw had gone back to being silent.
I didn’t say anything else. The remainder of the drive was made in silence. When we pulled through the gates and parked, I was out of the car. I was using a walking boot for this last week or so. I gimped toward the clubhouse, carrying my bag. I was starting to fume.
Why the hell was he so bent? If I was pregnant, it wasn’t because I did it to myself. He’d been as eager to have sex as I was. He didn’t think to ask or put on a damn condom! He caught up to me as I yanked the door open. “Hold on, Tarin. Why didn’t you wait for me to get your door?”
“Because I’m a damn adult and I can take care of myself and anyone else I want to,” I snapped. He gave me a startled look. I kept walking. Dad hadn’t lied, everyone was at the clubhouse, waiting. They started talking all at once. Outlaw gave a shrill whistle.