Chapter Seven

Fade

"She doesn't know anything," I insisted, my voice tight with frustration.

"Well, she fucking knows that we know something," Yarder countered, glaring at me.

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my temper in check. "You're acting like this is my fault. How the fuck was I supposed to know that Boone and Gibbs were going to gun me down at the fucking donut shop?" Yarder and Compass were acting like I was supposed to have some sixth sense.

"Well, if you wouldn't have taken off like a bat out of hell with Adalee following you, you would have noticed that someone else was tailing you," Compass bit off, his eyes sharp with accusation.

"No one else was following me," I pleaded, my frustration mounting. "I was fucking paying attention. I was looking in my rearview mirror the whole fucking way to make sure Adalee was behind me. No one else was tailing me."

Yarder shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly exasperated. "This is a fucking nightmare. We're supposed to be getting one up on Boone and Gibbs, but instead, they're striking at us again. It's only been days since the whole Anthony and Faye shit."

"What do you want me to do?" I snapped. "I told the cops I had no idea who would have shot up the donut shop. I didn't say anything that would put me on their radar." It was pretty easy to tell the cops I had no clue what happened when I really didn't know. Of course, I figured it had to be Boone and Gibbs, but I wasn't going to tell the still-wet-behind-the-ears cop that.

Compass sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall. "We need to figure out our next move. Boone and Gibbs aren't going to stop until they feel like they've won."

"We can't just sit around and wait for them to make the next move," Yarder said, his voice edged with urgency. "We need to be proactive."

I nodded, knowing he was right. "Agreed. But we need to be smart about this. We can't afford any more fuck-ups."

Yarder looked at me, his expression hard. "And what about Adalee? She's already too involved. If Boone and Gibbs know that she's connected to you, she's in danger."

"Adalee isn't connected to me," I insisted.

"Yeah, well, Boone and Gibbs don't know that. Whoever shot up the donut place just saw you and Adalee pretty much on a fucking date. They're going to tell Gibbs and Boone that you've got someone you care about, and now that is one more person they are going to use against us."

The thought of Adalee being in danger sent a cold chill down my spine. I wouldn't say there was anything between us, but that didn't mean I didn't care if she was hurt because of me. "I'll handle it. I'll make sure she's safe."

Compass shook his head. "How the hell are you going to be with her every minute, Fade? It's hard as hell for us to keep someone on Sloane, Dove, Olive, and Poppy. Now you just added Adalee to the mix."

"Again, you can't blame this shit on me. I didn't think Gibbs and Boone were going to hit again, and you two sure as shit didn't think that he was going to because you were shocked as shit when I called you with the news."

Yarder held up his hands. "It doesn't matter who the hell's fault this is. We need to hit Boone and Gibbs, and we need to do it soon."

"And how do you propose we do that?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Boone and Gibbs have been a thorn in our side that we can't get rid of. They're not going to go down easy."

Yarder and Compass exchanged a look, and I could see the determination in their eyes. "We take the fight to them," Yarder said. "We hit them where it hurts."

"We've tried that before," I pointed out. "It didn't work."

"This time, we do it differently," Compass said, his voice low and dangerous. "We gather all the intel to find out their weaknesses and strike when they least expect it."

I considered their words, my mind racing. It was a risky plan, but sitting around waiting for the next attack was even riskier. "Alright," I said finally. "Let's do it. But we need to be careful. One wrong move, and we're fucked."

"We know," Yarder said grimly. "But it's a risk we have to take."

Compass received a phone call as we continued to discuss the details of our plan, and the rest of the guys filed into church.

Everyone was on board to hit Boone and Gibbs head-on with whatever we could throw at them.

Compass walked back into church. "Russ will be here tomorrow at two. I only talked to his secretary, but she said he'll be here."

Yarder nodded. "Good. Russ is going to be the one that can give us good information on Boone and Gibbs."

We finished our impromptu meeting, and the guys dispersed. All of us were pretty shocked that Boone and Gibbs had struck again so soon.

"You sure you're okay?" Cue Ball asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

I nodded. "Yeah, man. We got down pretty quickly. Whoever shot at us wasn't that good."

"Thank god for that," Cue Ball sighed, relief evident in his voice.

I made my way back to the common room, my eyes scanning for Adalee. The guilt gnawed at me. I should never have let her follow me out to Pittsburg; now she'd been caught in the crossfire.

"You seen Adalee?" I asked Sloane as I approached her.

Sloane shook her head. "She took off about fifteen minutes ago. Garett and Mark gave her a ride back to her place."

"Was she okay?" I pressed, needing to be sure.

Sloane frowned. "Uh, well, about as good as you can be after being shot at."

This was all my fault. I should have just given her the fucking interview instead of making her chase me to get it. I had planned on agreeing to the interview after a game of cat and mouse, but we hadn't gotten that far before the shots rang out.

"They're staying at the Tripod, right?" I asked, referring to the trio of houses we kept for guests and associates.

Sloane nodded. "Yeah, I think she's in the blue one."

I cocked my head to the side. "Does telling me which house she's staying in mean that I should go check on her?"

Sloane quirked her lips to the side. "I mean, I'm not telling you not to, but I'm also not telling you it's a good idea." She winked at me.

I took that as a green light. Grabbing my keys, I headed out to my bike. The ride to the Tripod was short, but it felt like an eternity. My mind raced with thoughts of Adalee—how she must be feeling, what I would say to her, how to make it right.

When I pulled up to the blue house, I took a deep breath before knocking on the door.