Move the Sun (Signal Bend Series) Page 24

  But Lilli was resolute. “I won’t, Isaac. No. It brings the club way too far into this. I won’t do it.”

  He tried again. “Lilli—,” but then he realized that he was alone on the call; she’d ended the connection. Fuck. He also knew she wouldn’t pick up again if he called back. She’d made her decision. FUCK.

  “Show. Hold on. Change of plan.” Rover was in the corner, playing Galaga on one of the old arcade games. Isaac called him over. “Rove’s gonna take Ray back home and hang out with him until he hears otherwise from you or me.” He turned to Rover. “Just keep him home, buddy. That’s your job today. Get Ray home and keep him there until you get word from me or Show. Got it?”

  Rover got it. He and Show went back and roused Ray. When they got him into the van and Rover took off, Show came back to Isaac. “What the hell, boss?”

  He shook his head. “God save me from women who think they know better. Lilli doesn’t want it goin’ down in the clubhouse. She’s trying to keep us clear.”

  “I get that. She’s a good girl, but we’re not clear. No way we can be.”

  “I know.” But his woman was stubborn and sure she was right.

  ~oOo~

  By the time the club was in the Keep, surrounding the ebony table, Show and Isaac had been able to talk to Bart, Len, Victor, and CJ. All were shocked about what Ray had done and how Lilli was involved. All were dismayed at the way it bore down on a brother and sorry for what Wyatt would face. But all were in agreement that the club should not stand in Lilli’s way. Dan had been out with Wyatt, and Havoc had been out on a repair job and late back to the clubhouse, so they would be hearing of all this for the first time at the table, with Wyatt. They were wild cards. Wyatt was not. This was going to be a hard vote.

  Isaac took a moment to collect this thoughts, then looked around at the faces of his brothers. “We have a hard vote today, brothers. I need to tell you a story first, so bear with me.” Without naming Ray or Lilli, he told the story they’d both told. He watched each man’s reaction. Most had heard it once before. Dan and Havoc clearly had not, and he could tell from their reactions that they would most likely vote with the rest to stay out of Lilli’s way. But Isaac was especially interested to watch Wyatt’s reaction. He looked surprised as well, but not in the same way. Wyatt looked surprised as if a secret he’d held had been revealed.

  Isaac had been right. Wyatt had already known what his brother had done.

  When Isaac finished, he said, “And here’s why it puts us around the table today. The female pilot I’ve been talking about is my Lilli. The bastard who rigged her copter to fail is Ray Hobson. He confessed to me and Show this afternoon. Lilli is here to render justice. Because Ray is family to a brother, we need to vote on whether he remains under club protection.”

  Wyatt leaned forward, stunned. “Goddammit, Isaac. You can’t be saying you’re putting my brother’s life to a fucking vote! He did nothing to the club. This isn’t club business—or if it is, he is our business. He’s my business, my responsibility.”

  Isaac leaned forward, too. “It’s not our retaliation, that’s true. And we’re not taking it. But we have to decide as a club whether we’re prepared to defend a man who got almost a dozen men killed because he thought having a woman doing the same job as him made his dick look small. Defend him against my old lady—also family to the club.”

  There was a collective sense of shock in the room. Isaac was pushing it here; he hadn’t even talked to Lilli about this. But the stakes were high, and he had to go all in. Poker might not be his game, but sometimes he had to play.

  Wyatt virtually threw himself out of his chair. “Your old lady? How can she be your old lady? You’ve known her, what, a month? A little more? Fuck, I haven’t even seen the bitch yet! She’s no family to me!”

  Isaac was out of his chair, now, too, ready to fight. Show grabbed him. Dan grabbed Wyatt. Show urged Isaac to sit, but he would not until Dan wrangled Wyatt back into his chair. Then Isaac sat. Still standing, Show spoke.

  “Seems to me Lilli’s status is between Isaac and her, and it’s not on point. The point is this: I heard Ray confess. His side of the story jives right up with what Lilli told me. It’s a true story, boys, and it’s an awful thing he did. He got away with it, and he let Lilli take the fall. No matter what we vote, I won’t stand in the way of her justice. Nothing can bring back the men whose lives ended because Ray didn’t like a woman getting up on him.” He looked at Wyatt. “I’m sorry, brother. But you know this is how things work. A man pays what he owes.”

  Wyatt looked stricken but said only, “Vote.” Show sat down.

  Isaac went around the table. The final tally was 8 to 1. Ray had lost club protection. Wyatt stormed out of the Keep. Isaac pointed at Dan and Havoc. “Keep an eye on him. He stays put. I don’t want him doing something stupid and digging himself a hole.” Havoc went straight out.

  Dan was set to follow, but then CJ spoke up, his gruff voice filling the room. CJ and Wyatt were close. “Point him at a girl. Wy never turns down pussy, ‘specially when he’s het up.”

  Isaac nodded, knowing Ceej was right. “LaVonne’s out there. She likes Wyatt.” With one quick nod of his head, Dan headed into the Hall.

  Isaac held Show and Len back. He needed to get some things straight with his VP and SAA. Now that Lilli had refused to handle her job in the clubhouse, they had to decide how they would proceed. They talked it out fully, Show offering several scenarios. He was a long view guy.

  But Len had the simplest, and thus likely the best, take. “Why don’t we let her do what she wants to do? I say we stay out of it. If she needs help, I gotta figure she’ll ask you for it, boss. We decide then.”

  Show nodded. “He’s right, Isaac. She wants us as far out as we can be. That’s not far enough, but it’s the right call for the club. Give her the reins. She came in with a plan. Let’s let her work it.”

  Isaac knew they were right. It was the right call for the club. They would have their hands full keeping a lid on Wyatt. But Lilli was his woman. In many ways, ways he’d not thought possible until now, she was his life. He had no idea how he was going to sit back and let this happen without offering her his aid. But he’d have to figure it out.

  “Okay. You’re right. I need to call her, tell her we’re out of her way.”

  She didn’t answer. He called Rover. He didn’t answer, either. He called Ray. Strike three.

  Isaac looked at Show. “I need to know what Wyatt’s been doing since he left this room.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  As soon as she hung up with Isaac, Lilli got to work. She logged out and closed down the work she’d been doing, changed into hiking shorts, a light tank, and her terrain runners, and quickly loaded her pack—double-checking her ammo supply and attaching a silencer to her Sig. She almost ran to her car, where she fitted her M25 with its silencer as well. This was broad daylight, which had not been part of Plan A, so she wasn’t sure she’d be able to use the M25. The situation would have to be perfect to get her all the way to Hobson’s on foot with a sniper rifle strapped to her back. But she wanted it fitted just in case.

  Most likely, this job had moved to Plan B—up close and personal, with the Sig in play. That was concealed in her pack, allowing her to move freely.

  Time was way too short. Lilli had a long hike to get from a safe place for her car to Hobson’s shack of a house. Seven miles at least—and she’d have to stay low for the last couple of miles, which would slow her up considerably. If Isaac had done as she’d asked, Hobson would be there well in advance of her. She needed to book it when and where she could. She couldn’t imagine she had more than today, at best, before he’d made her.

  The clubhouse would have been the safer, for her, arena. But she wasn’t going to kill a man in the middle of Isaac’s club—it was more home to him than his ancestral land. That wasn’t even a momentary consideration. Yet now that her plans were known to the club—to Hobson’s brother—her time was sh
ort. It was now.

  She parked in the rough lot of a well-known hiking area. Nine other cars in the lot. So much for the M25. She grabbed her pack and got to hiking, moving at a trot, as quickly as she could without undue notice, while there were other hikers around. She veered off the path at her first clear chance and headed apace into woods which had become familiar to her over the past weeks.

  When she was within a couple of miles of Hobson’s place, she slowed and heeded the sounds she made. She had to be alert and ready to hide. Hobson had taken, toward the end of her surveillance, to wandering in the woods; twice she’d almost come up on him, or vice versa, and she’d had to take quick cover. One of those times, he’d passed by her so closely she almost could have touched him.

  She almost hadn’t recognized him. He was fully bearded, and it was long and unkempt, like his hair. Hair and beard had gone dully grey. He was thin—emaciated, really—and no longer had the bearing of military service. Instead, his shoulders sagged. He looked like a man carrying a heavy load of guilt. As he fucking should. It didn’t affect Lilli’s resolve in the slightest. Remorse was meaningless as long as he drew breath the men who died that day could not.

  The day he’d passed so near her, she’d struggled hard to stay still and not simply handle the situation right then. But they had a plan, and she’d needed to stick to it. Part of the plan was settling into town some before taking action. Another part of the plan was not firing an unsilenced handgun less than a quarter-mile from a working farm. Even in the country, that was an undue risk. So she’d stayed in cover and let him pass.

  That was all while Plan A had been in effect; everything had gone ass-up since then. Plan B was more guerilla than sniper. In many ways, she preferred it. Plan A would have resulted in his death, but a clean one he might not even feel. Plan B put them face to face, made sure he knew what was happening, why, and by whom. She’d told herself—and Isaac—repeatedly that it was justice she and her team wanted, not vengeance. But vengeance would be sweet if she could get it.

  Finally, she crept up to a rise over which she could see his ratty little house. It was barely a cabin, really, without even an indoor toilet. The house sat up strangely off the ground, on stilts maybe 18-24 inches high. Lilli figured the little creek that ran past it on the far side must occasionally flood, though it was barely a trickle now. A weathered board hut with a half moon in the door stood off a short distance. Outhouse. The place was a literal shithole.

  There was a dark grey van parked next to Hobson’s beater pickup. She knew that van. She pulled her camera and zoom out and took a closer look. Yes—it was the Horde van. Somebody from the club was still there. Fuck. She lay down on the far side of the rise and waited.

  There was no movement or sound for some time—twenty minutes or so—and then she heard the sharp report of a pistol. Nothing more. One shot, and then silence again. Leaving her pack tucked in a cluster of rocks and grass, she took her Sig with her and stole down to the house.

  She checked under the house as she sidled up to it—clear. The room in the middle of the house had a large window that must have gone almost to the floor. Curtains closed off all but the middle couple of feet. Her back pressed snugly against the splintered, cracked siding, Lilli tried to get a view into that room. She was barely able to make out a body lying on the floor. She couldn’t see enough to know who it was, whether it was Hobson or whoever had been here from the Horde—his brother maybe? She hadn’t met his brother. But she couldn’t see Isaac letting the brothers leave the clubhouse together.

  She had no idea whether the shooter was friend or foe. As she continued carefully along the house, she heard something—a crack or a creak. She paused and listened, trying to place it. The sound didn’t repeat. She took another soundless step—and then her feet were yanked out from under her. Her head slammed hard on the rocky ground, and the world got loud and dim. Before she could drag full consciousness back to the fore, Hobson was looming over her, filthy and covered in cobwebs, a wild look in his eyes. Her head cleared then, and she understood that he’d gone under the house to get to her. She’d been colossally stupid not to check again.

  Now he was straddling her, one hand holding down her wrist, immobilizing her gun hand. His knee pressed down on her other arm. With his free hand, he had a gun of his own under her chin.

  “You fucking gash! You come after me? Why won’t you get out of my HEAD?” He cocked the gun.

  In a flash of vivid thought, Lilli made a decision. She could try to back him down, or she could just fucking go for it. Her chances of survival here were nil, either way. One of them was dying today. Perhaps within the next few seconds.

  She kicked her legs up and put everything she had into an effort to dislodge him and come up on top of him.

  She succeeded, but he pulled the trigger. The gun had shifted in their struggle, though, and instead of going through the soft underside of her chin and into her brain, the bullet glanced off the side of her neck, taking a painful, hot gouge with it. She could feel the blood soaking her top, but she ignored it. She slammed his hand down then, and the gun skidded from his grasp. He still had her wrist in a desperate, iron grip, so she punched him hard in the side of the head. She felt something break in her hand, but she’d dazed him at least momentarily. He moved to roll her.

  He was still dazed, so the move didn’t have the power it should have. As he tried to get her back on the ground, his grip on her loosened, and Lilli took the opportunity to flip over and away. She ended up on her knees, free of him but unarmed. He’d dislodged her Sig from her hand; her right side, where the bullet had slit her throat, was going weak. She was losing blood, and the fight wasn’t helping. She was concussed. But she pulled it together, not bothering to fret about how hard it was to do so. She saw his pistol—an old Colt revolver—and stood to go for it.

  The standing did her in. She went to her knees as her vision swirled and glittered. She looked down and found herself fascinated by the dark crimson dyeing most of her top.

  It was going to be her that died.

  She didn’t even care enough to try to get off her knees.

  Hobson limped up to her. “You know what? I don’t want you dyin’ fast. You been torturin’ me for years now. I want you goin’ slow. There’s shit you owe me, cunt.” He bent down and tied something snugly around her neck, like a bandage.

  Her last thought was disappointment.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Isaac charged into the dorm room. Len had Wyatt against a wall. LaVonne was curled into the corner, cowering, her mouth bleeding heavily. Isaac spared her a glance, then turned to Dan, coming up behind him.

  “Dan—get her outta here. Get her some ice or something.” He advanced on Wyatt. “What the fuck did you do, Wyatt?”

  “So I hit a woman—back the fuck off!” Wyatt struggled hard against Len’s grip, but Len was bigger and stronger.

  Len handed Isaac a phone; must have been Wyatt’s. Isaac checked outgoing calls—none recent. He checked outgoing texts—one, to Ray. It read: get out now pilot after u cant explain go back 2 camp.

  He tossed the phone on the bed behind him. Leaning down into Wyatt’s face, looming over him, Isaac snarled, “That’s the stupid shit I wanted to keep you from doing. If Lilli gets hurt because of this, I will end you slow.” He shifted his eyes to Len. “Put him in the Room. Chain the fucker down. We’ll deal with him later.”

  Isaac felt panic. He didn’t think he’d ever felt panic before, but it was on him now, compelling him to move, move now, find Lilli, keep her safe. But he had to think. He’d tried to call her several more times, to no avail. Something bad had gone down, he could feel it in his very cells. The question was where.

  Wyatt’s text hadn’t given Ray any information about where Lilli was. Rover had taken him back to his place. Most likely, then, that was where trouble was. But he needed to be sure. His men were at his back, waiting to know what he wanted. No one had made any suggestions, not even Show. They were w
aiting for him to work it through. When Len came back from the Room, Isaac knew what he wanted.

  “CJ—you stay with Wyatt, make sure he’s contained. Show and Bart—you go to Lilli’s place. Don’t think she’s there, but I need to be sure. Be careful—she’ll be on alert and maybe suspicious of anybody but me right now. She doesn’t know how the vote went. The rest of us, we’re going to Ray’s. I think there’s trouble, and I think it’s there.” He met each brother’s eyes. “We clear? We good?” They nodded as one and geared up.

  ~oOo~

  They didn’t bother with stealth; instead, they roared up to Ray’s house and ran in, full-bore. Isaac didn’t have the patience for stealth.

  The door was standing open; Isaac was first in. Rover was lying at the far end of the short hallway, a thickening pool of blood making a crimson halo around his head and shoulders. Isaac went to him and squatted to check his pulse; the rest of the Horde fanned out to check the small house. Rover was dead, shot just to the side of his right eye. Isaac hoped he’d gone instantly.

  Len was standing immediately behind Isaac. “We’re clear here.” Isaac looked up at him, and Len nodded at Rover’s body. “You think that was Ray or Lilli?”

  Standing and turning fast, Isaac almost grabbed Len. “It was Ray, and you know it. No way Lilli would’ve shot the kid.”

  “Not on purpose, but we don’t know what went on here.”

  Isaac did. He could see it clearly. He’d put Rover on watch detail, and Ray had taken him down after Wyatt warned him about Lilli. Jesus Christ, this was a mess.

  He needed to find Lilli. She wasn’t in the house, and Ray’s car was in the yard. He knew damn well she wouldn’t have just driven up—she’d given him enough detail about her surveillance to know that her car was probably several miles away. It all added up to bad, but Isaac was convinced she had to be close. But where? Pushing his panic and worry back so that he could fucking think, he went through the narrow back door and out into the overgrown yard.