“I think the most important thing is to keep you safe.”
She turned tear-filled eyes to AJ. “You two will do that. I have every faith in you.”
Yeah, because they’d done such a great job of that just now. AJ exchanged a glance with Pax, who nodded. They’d fucked up and left Teresa alone. That wasn’t going to happen again.
“Let’s get this cleaned up and get you back.”
“But what about the Fists?”
“The Fists aren’t who were worried about right now,” Pax said. “You’re our first priority.”
They cleaned up the RV and took it back to the house. AJ called General Lee to let him know what had happened to Teresa, and to his RV. Grange was way more concerned about Teresa’s safety and didn’t care at all about his RV getting shot up, which was pretty much what AJ had expected him to say.
Pax had walked the grounds around the RV and collected bullet shell casings. They also took pictures around the scene and scoped out the area for footprints or anything else the shooter might have left behind, but as dry as it had been around there, the ground didn’t yield anything—or the shooter had done a damn good job covering his tracks. They weren’t going to alert the local police about the shooting for various reasons, mainly because they wanted to keep their identities on the down low, but also because they didn’t want the local cops in on in this. The fewer people involved, the better, and AJ and Pax could handle the investigation.
There were no prints on the shell casings, which didn’t surprise AJ. Whoever went into the woods to shoot at Teresa knew to cover all his bases. Someone knew what he was doing, which meant he’d gone into this with intent.
After they’d gotten back to the house, Teresa went into her room to unpack and take what she notified them would be a very long, very hot shower. AJ figured she just needed some time alone to process and unwind.
Pax was outside grilling steaks. AJ brought two beers out and set one on the table next to the grill. Pax lifted the bottle in salute. “Thanks.”
“So what do you think?”
Pax took a long swallow and set the beer down, then flipped the steaks over and closed the grill lid. “I think if whoever was shooting at Teresa had wanted her dead, she’d be dead.”
“Agreed. He was trying to scare her.”
“And us, trying to get us to take her and go.”
Pax nodded and picked up the bottle, turning it over and over in his hands. “Someone knew how to handle that weapon, and Teresa isn’t trained to dodge bullets. The chair she was sitting in was at least twenty yards from the door.”
“He’d have gotten her on the first shot. She was a sitting duck from his vantage point.”
“Yup.”
“Which means we’re close—or she’s close—to figuring out something.”
Pax frowned. “But why not kill her? Why just scare her away? I mean, wouldn’t that solve the problem of her possibly identifying who killed Larks?”
AJ shrugged. “Maybe. But scaring the hell out of her and getting her to run is a lot less messy than a dead body. A dead body brings in the cops. This was an easier solution because it would have gotten her—and us—to back off.”
“You’ve got a point there.” Pax lifted the grill lid and flipped the steaks. “The question is, what do we do about it? Do we protect her, take her out of this, or do we stay and see it through?”
“We stay and see it through, of course. I’m not going to be shot at only to turn tail and run.”
AJ’s gaze shifted to the doorway where Teresa stood. She wore gray sweatpants and a white tank top that hugged her breasts. He wanted to kiss her, make love to her, hold her close and keep her safe so nothing bad would ever happen to her again. But he also knew he couldn’t lock her away from bad things forever. “It’s dangerous for you here.”
“Whoever it was shot at me to scare me, didn’t he? He could have killed me if that’s what his intent was.”
Pax scooped the steaks onto a plate. “Figured that out during your long, hot shower?”
She took the plate from him. “As a matter of fact, I did. Nothing like a hot shower and a good cry to clear your head.”
Pax kissed her forehead. “Feel better now?”
She tilted her head back and smiled at him. “Yes. Now let’s eat. I’m hungry.”
AJ shook his head. She’d been shot at today and she still managed to have an appetite. There was no doubt the woman had inner strength even she wasn’t aware of.
She went inside and AJ and Pax followed. While they ate dinner, they strategized what steps to take next.
“Like you said, if this guy wanted me dead, I would be, right?” She waved a forkful of salad at both of them.
AJ looked to Pax, who turned to Teresa and nodded. “Yeah. Your chair was too far away for you to get to safety. Anyone with a half-decent aim could have taken you down in one or two tries.”
She pursed her lips and nodded. “I should have realized that right away. Maybe I’d have had my wits about me then.”
“I think in your situation any one of us would have thought the same thing—that someone was trying to kill you. You did the right thing.”
“This pisses me off. I don’t like being threatened.”
“Which means you don’t want us to take you home,” Pax said.
“Oh, hell no. We came here to find the guy who killed Larks. Obviously we’re close to doing that, and someone tried to scare the shit out of me today so we’d go away.”
“Honey, you were threatened today to scare you off,” Pax said. “Next time it might be the real thing. You understand what I’m saying?”
She lifted her chin. “I know that. I’m still not leaving. They’re not going to make me afraid again. I won’t hide anymore and I won’t be a victim anymore.”
“Pax and I will make sure you’re not left alone again.”
She turned her gaze on AJ. “You can’t protect me twenty-four hours a day, AJ.”
“For as long as we’re with you, we can.”
“Okay, so now what? I don’t want to be held prisoner in this house.”
That’s exactly what AJ wanted to do—keep her here, where he and Pax could watch her.
Teresa must have guessed where his mind was because she leveled him with a stare that should have frozen him solid. “Don’t even think about it, AJ.”
“It’s the only way to protect you.”
“I’ll just have to take that risk. You can’t keep me prisoner here.”
“She has a point, AJ. The only way to flush this guy out of hiding is to put Teresa out there. Once he sees she hasn’t been run off, he’ll come after her again.”
AJ shot a glare at Pax. “Exactly. He’ll come after her again.”
“And we’ll be there to protect her this time.”
“You know as well as I do there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to protect her one hundred percent of the time.” AJ turned to Teresa. “We can’t promise you that. You have to know this.”
She gave a curt nod. “Understood. I can’t hold you responsible if something happens to me.” Then she laid her hand on his arm. “Any more than I hold you responsible for what happened to me five years ago, AJ. You have to let that go.”
She knew. Somehow she knew about his guilt over her rape. “I don’t feel . . .”
“Yeah, you do. I don’t know why, but I can tell you feel that somehow you should have been here to prevent it.”
He shrugged and stood, walked out back and breathed in the cleansing night air.
Teresa followed, wrapped her arms around his back and laid her head against him. “AJ, you can’t control everything in your universe. You weren’t responsible for those two guys raping me. That’s on them, not you.”
He turned and looked at her, needing her to see, to understand. “If I hadn’t left—”
“It undoubtedly would have happened anyway. You don’t know for sure, so let it go. I don’t blame you for it any more than I blame Joey or any of the other people in my life who might have been there with me that night, who might have in some way been able to prevent it from happening. No one can change it.”
The words sounded hollow in his head. He knew Teresa meant them, but he would never forgive himself for what had happened to her. He should have been there instead of dumping her and running off.
“Okay?” she asked, sliding her hands down his arms.
“Okay.”
“So let’s get me out there so the bad guy will show his ugly face.”
AJ WEIGHED HEAVILY ON TERESA’S MIND AS SHE WENT TO WORK
that night. She could tell from the look on his face that he still felt guilty about what had happened to her all those years ago, and nothing she said to him was going to change his mind.
Frustrating, for sure, but she was going to have to let it go for now. Later, when they had more time to sit and talk, she’d convince him otherwise. Now they had to concentrate on luring out the guy who was so eager to scare her away he was willing to shoot at her to do it. Being back at her job might make her visible enough to bring him out of hiding. She was at the front bar again, where everyone coming through the front doors could see her. AJ and Pax blended into the crowd so well she had no idea where they were, but she knew they were there, just like she knew she wasn’t out of their sight for a second.
Even Russ and the Thorns had come in and hung out for several hours. Russ had found AJ, who had filled him in on what happened. After that, Russ made it a point to stay, had told her they were all concerned about her safety and would make sure to back up AJ and Pax in keeping watch over her. But the Thorns stayed out of sight, too, since they didn’t want the Fists—or the guy gunning for Teresa—to spot them.
She felt safe in her cocoon of bodyguards, so she went about her business of serving drinks and interacting with her customers. Pax had told her not to leave her post unless one of them was with her. After the scare she’d had earlier in the day, she wasn’t about to argue with him. She was independent, not stupid, and she stayed on guard, scanning every face she served. Had it been the bald guy with neck tattoos who had shot at her, or someone entirely different?
She wanted to save her brother, but she also wanted to come out of this alive.
So when the Fists strolled in as a group, she tensed and gripped the edge of the bar, ready to duck in case someone pulled a gun as they walked by. Which was a ridiculous thought. They weren’t going to shoot her in this bar. It was packed. Too many witnesses. Still, she couldn’t help her sweaty palms and knocking knees as the Fists strolled past her bar, and she had to force herself to keep her head up and focus on every face.
She almost missed him, had almost given up on him being there. She had to do a double take when he walked by, because his bald head was wrapped in a do-rag. But there was no mistaking those specific neck tattoos or the faint scar that ran through one side of his neck.
It was him, the guy who’d killed Larks. She didn’t want to tear her gaze away from him as he boldly walked past her, but she had to alert AJ and Pax. She scanned the crowd, found Pax, and motioned wildly with her eyes toward the guy. Pax nodded and swiftly moved toward her.
“Which one?”
“He’s wearing a black do-rag with white skulls. His neck tattoos are a tribal pattern, swirling up almost to his jawline and down his chest, and the scar on the left side of his neck that cuts through the tat. He’s wearing a leather vest, no shirt underneath, sleeve tattoos on both arms, too.”
Pax swiveled and viewed the area. “Got him,” he said over his shoulder. “Stay put.”
Excitement and nervousness interfered with Teresa’s ability to do her job. Customers leaned in wanting drinks. She filled orders as fast as she could, but her gaze split to where Pax met up with AJ and they made a circle around the place, no doubt trying to corner the guy. Teresa lifted on her toes, trying to find the tattooed guy, but he’d gotten lost in the crowd somewhere.
Ten minutes passed and Teresa was beginning to think AJ and Pax had lost him, but Pax finally returned to her bar.
“What?” she asked.
“The Fists left and their friend went with them. We caught sight of them climbing on their bikes and taking off.”
Dread felt like a rock in her stomach. “You didn’t get him?”
“AJ and the Thorns are going after him.”
Russ came up next to Pax. “I sent the guys to go with AJ.” He turned to Teresa. “Pax and me are staying here with you.”
“Why?”
“Because this might be a trap set to leave you unguarded,” Pax said. “We’re not going to let it happen.”
“Okay. So we wait for—what? To hear from AJ? Are they going to just follow them or catch them or what?”
“They’re going to follow them, and hopefully once they stop, AJ will alert the authorities and bring this guy in.”
She shuddered in a hopeful breath. Maybe this was going to be over soon. Maybe Joey would be free.
Russ slid his hand across the bar and squeezed hers. “Stay focused. It’s going to be okay.”
She nodded and squeezed back. She’d known Russ as long as she’d known AJ. They’d all been friends forever, since they were kids. Russ was like family to her; he’d seen her through some rough times. She’d leaned as hard on him during that dark period in her life as she had on her brother—probably more so because she’d needed some distance from Joey after the rape. Joey had been so damn guilt-ridden about the whole thing that she’d pushed him away, had needed space from him because she couldn’t breathe. But Russ had been there for her, to hold her hand and tell her everything would be okay, even though he’d seemed as hurt by what had happened to her as everyone else had been. He’d watched over her and kept people away when she wanted some time alone. She didn’t know what she would have done without him and the other Thorns.
And now he was here watching over her again. It was good to have friends, especially now when all she could do was watch the clock on the wall and hope and pray that AJ and the others were safe. They had no idea what they were riding into.