I felt Hadley tense, and my hand moved to her leg, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“So we play an epic game of catch me if you can,” Tally said, the Troy VP speaking up for the first time. “We shuffle her around. Different places. Different states. Different towns. It’s easy for him to bring an army and attack one place, but if he can’t pinpoint exactly where she is, he’s going to have to spread his resources thin.”
It was a good idea, solid.
Optimus looked to Hadley. “You know him best.”
Hadley nodded. “Tracking wasn’t Simon’s expertise. He would have to call in other sources, and if he used the Bureau, Judge would be able to find out quickly and hopefully get a warning to us so we could move.”
Op looked around the room, waiting for anyone to speak up if they disagreed or had something better up their sleeves. Satisfied, he nodded. “Looks like we’re playing hide and go seek.”
I knew Optimus hated to run from a fight, but he was a smart leader and one that knew when there were too many unknowns that it wasn’t worth the risk.
“First stop, Troy?” Kit asked.
“Sounds good, man,” I agreed. “Give us a little extra time to sort out our next step.”
“Leo, Hadley, stay,” Op ordered. “The rest of you, out.”
My brothers filed out, Blizzard, Optimus and Kit staying with us.
Hadley moved from my lap, taking the chair beside me that Kev had just vacated.
“How you gonna handle this, Leo?” Blizzard asked. “I know you wanna go with your girl, but you have another little girl who desperately needs your attention right now.”
I gritted my teeth. He was right. Macy was still scared, leaving her now would be almost cruel, despite the fact that she would probably be a lot safer if I left her with Carly.
“We’ll take her with us,” I answered, looking over at Kit. “At least to Troy, just so it gives us some more time to help her to see that she’s safe.”
“I’ll talk to Oz. I’m sure he and my mom would love to have you guys at the house with them. Might feel a little more homely than the clubhouse,” he explained.
I nodded, blowing out a slow breath. “Thanks, bro, that’d be awesome.”
“You’re gonna need to get a new truck,” Op said with a silent smirk. “We’re thinking about using yours for target practice out the back.”
“Fuck no,” Kit protested. “I’ll have that shit for parts for the auto shop if you’re just going to blow the fucker up.”
I laughed. “You can get it down there, it’s all yours. Insurance is gonna pay out for it, but not for a few weeks so one of you fuckers can lend me yours until then.”
I had enough money to go pay for a new truck. More than enough actually. I definitely wasn’t strapped for cash. But the boys were looking to head out in a couple hours back to Troy, and that would be cutting things fine.
“Take mine,” Blizzard offered. “Rose has her car to carry Jay around, and it’s older, due for an upgrade anyway. Just don’t let Hadley drive.”
He looked over at Hadley with a smile, she wasn’t so amused and raised her middle finger at him. “I was dodging bullets.”
“With the amount of holes in that thing, you would’ve thought you were trying to catch them.” He laughed.
She looked over at me. “Now I’m an Old Lady, can I punch your brothers?”
I smirked. “If they deserve it.”
She turned back to Blizzard and wiggled her eyebrows. “Hear that?”
He laughed harder, pushing back his chair to stand. “You’ll have to get through Rose.”
“She hears your smart mouth, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be right there beside me,” she called as he walked out of the room, laughter booming in the hall.
Optimus looked over at Kit. “Remind me again why the hell we choose these kinda women to be with.”