Farrah’s hand was on the pistol in her lap when I re-entered the room.
“How’s it going?” I asked, leaning down to kiss Cecilia’s bent head. Olive was nursing sleepily, and I breathed a sigh of relief that at least that was going okay.
“She’s still quiet,” Farrah said cautiously, her worried eyes meeting mine. “But we’ve got the baby settled now, so that’s good, all things considered.”
“That is good,” I said, sitting down carefully next to CeeCee.
The slice along her ribs was superficial, thank Christ, but I couldn’t imagine how badly it had hurt. The thought of how scared she must have been made my skin crawl, and watching her stoically let Forrest stitch it had been one of the worst moments of my life.
“How you doing?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her back. I let out a breath as she silently leaned against me for support, her head resting on my shoulder.
The door opened, and Farrah’s head jerked up, her hand back on the pistol.
“Just me, Ma,” Cam said, coming into the room. “You can put that thing away.”
“I think I’ll keep it where it is,” Farrah retorted.
“You’re surrounded by armed men.”
“So was Cecilia,” Farrah reminded her son darkly.
A few minutes later, Casper came in, Eli behind him.
“I left Forrest and Lu out with the others,” Eli told me, leaning against the closed door. “I can fill them in.”
“What’s going on?” Farrah asked, looking from one person to another.
“You know what’s goin’ on,” Casper said with a frustrated grunt. “Can’t stay here.”
“We aren’t,” Farrah replied. “We’re leaving in a couple hours.”
“And takin’ half the club with us?” Casper said. “Possibly the man that let that motherfucker in to terrorize my daughter?”
“Our daughter,” Farrah muttered.
“We need to find out who the fuck it was before we leave,” Cam said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No,” I said firmly. “Not with your sister and the baby here. Not with your mom here. We don’t have the time and we don’t have the fucking resources.”
“So what’s your big plan?” Cam shot back.
I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t have a goddamn plan.
“Well,” Eli drawled from the door, “I have an idea.”
Casper looked at him in surprise, like he’d forgotten Eli was there.
“We’ve got three rigs,” Eli said quietly as he stepped further into the room. “You two stay on your bikes. Me and Lu take mine. Forrest takes his. Farrah rides with Cecilia and Chief.”
“And how does Lu switching rigs change a goddamn thing, exactly?” Cam asked.
“You didn’t let me finish,” Eli said with a short bark of laughter.
* * *
Two hours later, we were loaded up and almost ready to head out.
“You sure, man?” Chunky asked Casper as they stood next to the long row of motorcycles. “Seems like a bad fuckin’ idea to leave with no backup.”
“I’m sure,” Casper said, reaching out to shake the man’s hand. “Best bet is to keep shit as quiet as possible. Drawing attention to us with a big convoy of bikes is just gonna put a bullseye on our backs.”
Chunky nodded slowly. “I’ll take care of shit here,” he said quietly, as if Casper’s decision was finally coming into focus. “I’ll keep you updated. You let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Absolutely,” Casper said. He moved toward where I’d been eavesdropping and slapped my shoulder as he passed me.
“You ready?” I asked as I turned to follow him to the trucks.
“Don’t like it,” he muttered. “But I don’t see a better way.”
“On that, we agree,” I said.
I climbed into the truck and checked on Cecilia. She was crammed into the back seat again, surrounded by the car seat and baby supplies, but she didn’t seem bothered by any of it. All of her attention was focused outside the window.
We were quiet as we pulled out of the front gate.
“This better work,” Farrah said, her shoulders stiff as she stared out the windshield.
“It will.”
Fifteen minutes later, Eli and Lu pulled away from the caravan with Cam following behind them. Five minutes after that, Forrest did the same. Then it was just us, Casper following behind as we headed north.
“Take care of my granddaughter,” Farrah whispered, leaning her head back against the headrest.
When I looked back at Cecilia, her hand was resting inside the empty car seat and tears were rolling down her cheeks.
* * *
Four hours later, we stopped for gas. Farrah and Cecilia stayed inside the truck as planned, and I hurried through the motions so we could get back on the road. Inside the cab was eerily silent, and as I waited for the tank to fill, I pressed my hand to Cecilia’s window. When she looked over, I pressed my lips against it in a kiss. Her lips curved up slightly as she rolled her eyes. I considered that a win.
I jerked in surprise as Casper came jogging around the pump.
“What’s up?” I asked, my head snapping up to scan the surrounding area.
“Found ’em,” Casper said, out of breath. “Rose came tearin’ through the gate not twenty minutes ago.”
“No shit?”
“No shit,” Casper replied, nodding. “On their way to get Mack now.”
“That’s good news,” I said with a grin. “They’re okay?”
“Far as I know,” he said, slapping me on the shoulder. “I’m gonna let Farrah know.”
He rounded the truck and I looked over to meet Cecilia’s eyes. She smiled with her mouth, but the rest of her face and body practically radiated a mixture of fear and helplessness. I had a feeling that any relief about finding Rose was being completely overshadowed by the fact that Olive was probably a hundred miles from us by now.
We’d agreed to go radio silent until we met up that night, and I knew it was absolute torture for Cec. I had to admit, it wasn’t real fun for me, either. Not knowing where Olive was, how she was doing, or if the plan would work was really wearing on me. It also didn’t help that our truck was technically the bait truck. Anyone who didn’t know what we’d done would assume both Cecilia and Olive were with me, driving north to the clubhouse in Eugene.
Only our small group knew she was in a box on the passenger seat of Forrest’s SUV. Not the safest way to travel, but we were pretty much beyond that worry.
“Let’s head out,” Casper said, meeting me back at the pump. “Got a lot of road to cover before we get there tonight.”
“You think this’ll work?”
“Pretty damn sure,” Casper replied. “Long as they don’t try to ambush us on the road. Only a few people know about Poet’s place on the coast and the security is prime. Even has safe room.”
“Haven’t felt like I’m being watched since we left the clubhouse,” I said quietly. “It can’t be that easy.”
“It might be,” he said with a shrug. “They think we’re headed to Eugene—and a straight shot up I-5 means we’d have to drive right through the territory they’re controlling. No need to follow if they know we’re headed right for ’em.”