“Maverick, go check out the back room while I go out and check the shed,” I ordered. “Stitch, see what you can come up with in the front rooms.”
They both nodded and watched as I headed out the back door. There was an eerie silence as I walked toward the front door of the shed, sending an excited chill down my back. I reached into my back pocket for my gun and then pulled the door open. As I stepped in, it took my eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness, but once they had, I was sickened by what I saw. An entire wall was covered from floor to ceiling with pictures of Sara. My eyes slowly roamed over the large collage of photos as my mind tried to comprehend what I was seeing. Some of the pictures had been taken years ago, while others looked like they’d been taken just a few days ago. Each picture was more personal than the last. It was bad, but it got worse… much worse. I continued to walk further into the shed, and when I was just about to reach the back wall, all the breath rushed out of my lungs. It was Cassidy. Thousands of pictures of her were plastered all over the wall. Some of them had been taken as recently as last week. Panic surged through me as I stared at all the different photos of her, realizing for the first time he had been watching her for months and without any of us knowing; not only had he been stalking Sara again, he’d also become obsessed with Cass… my Cass. Fuck.
I shouldn’t have hesitated. I should’ve left right then and warned them it was worse than we’d thought, but I didn’t. I was too caught up in the horror of what was in front of me to even move. When I finally stepped out of the shed, a blazing pain pierced through my lower back. The blast forced me to the ground, writhing in agony. I’d been shot before, but nothing could compare to the burning pain I was feeling at that moment. I could feel the life rushing from my veins as Derek dropped down beside me.
“I told you I’d have my revenge,” he spat. The coward didn’t even have the courage to face me. “You thought you could just take what was mine and get away with it?” Ensuring that the deed was done, he fired his gun again, shooting me for the second time as he said, “Wrong, motherfucker. Today, I take back what’s mine… all of it.”
I watched as a black SUV pulled up in front of the house. Derek rushed toward the passenger door and jumped in. He’d used a silencer on his gun, giving him just enough time to pull out of the lot before Stitch caught sight of them. Stitch raced toward the vehicle, firing off round after round as the truck started down the curvy road. I could hear the gunfire, but I had no idea what was happening. I tried to stay awake, needed to stay awake, so I’d know if he’d gotten Derek, but the darkness was consuming me, making it impossible for me to hold on. Just as I heard a thunderous explosion, everything went black.
Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. I did what I could to push it to the back of my mind by busying myself in the bar, but every time one of the brothers walked through, it only confirmed my suspicions. Distress was written all over their faces, and none of them were talking, which worried me even more. I absolutely hated they wouldn’t share what was going on, but it was nothing new—club business was never shared with the women. I just had to deal and move on. It was almost ten o’clock, and I hadn’t heard anything from Cotton—no call, no text… nothing. If it weren’t for the girls showing up at the bar tonight, I think I would’ve lost my damn mind.
“I’ve never seen Guardrail like this,” Allie whispered. “It’s freaking me out.”
Remembering the look on his face when he charged through the bar earlier made my heart sink with the weight of my worry. I wanted desperately to ask him what was wrong, but I knew it was no use. I looked over at Allie and said, “Guardrail is great at what he does. Just give him some time to get it sorted.”
“What exactly does he have to sort?’ Henley snapped. “I just don’t get it. Why won’t he just tell us what’s going on? It’s obvious something’s wrong.”
“And it’s not just him,” Emerson piped in. “They are all acting like they’re ready to blow.”
“I can’t take this. What if something happened to Maverick?” Henley spoke softly with tears filling her eyes.
“Stop. We aren’t doing this. If we start the ‘what if’ game, it’s just going to make things that much worse. The guys will be back in a day or so, and then we’ll have a better idea of what’s going on,” I lectured.
“She’s right,” Allie said. “We’ve got to have a little faith here and trust that everything will work out.”
Trying her best to change the subject, Allie turned to Emerson and asked, “When are you planning to head back to school?”
“I was planning to head back tonight, but …” she trailed off. She took a drink of her soda, then said, “I’ll probably just head back tomorrow.”