Page 78 of The Oath We Take

But she found her confidence as her calls progressed. Sheriff Radcliffe, the fucker that he is, got both barrels. I heard her tear a strip off him, suggesting Main Street has some version of video security and that he should already have collected it so he could learn more about the perpetrators.

Butcher:Well, someone knows something. They’re always one fucking step ahead of us. I’m gonna lose my shit. How’s Em doing?

It’s been bothering me too. How did they know where we’d be? How did they know we wouldn’t be in town to defend it?

Me:Last heard, she was rallying that town committee she and Quinn are on, trying to organize the businesses to band together.

Butcher:That’s my girl. I’ll catch you later.

“I need to go back,” Ember says, stepping out of the house. “I’m feeling useless trying to fix this from all the way out here.”

“It’s not safe.” I stand and slip my phone into the back pocket of my jeans.

She shakes her head, then looks up at the sky. “What else are they going to do to me? They can’t burn my bar down twice.”

I reach for her, and she steps into my arms. “If burning down your bar were the worst they could do, I’d agree with you. But they could kill you, Em. These people don’t mess around. And they are one step ahead of us, right now.”

“Then I need a different plan. Somewhere else to sleep. Whatever it takes. But my people are in town, and I shouldn’t need Jada sending me photos of the inside of the bar. I feel like a coward. That’s not how leaders lead. Surely you can understand that.”

I press a kiss onto the crown of her head. “I wish I didn’t, but I do. Still, it’s not safe.”

My phone rings and I pull it from my pocket. “It’s Wraith. Give me a second.”

When I answer, I ask, “What’s up?”

“You alone?” Wraith asks.

I step toward the direction of the river, away from Ember. “I am now.”

“You doing okay? You took in a lot of smoke yesterday.”

The river is moving slowly, the level low. The river rocks have absorbed so much of the sun’s heat, there is a haze over them. “I’m fine. Just trying to figure out how they could know we were going to ride out last night and leave the town vulnerable. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Fuck,” Wraith mutters. “I’ll double-check all the new prospects we have…make sure nothing is amiss. I mean, it could just be a freaky coincidence.”

“Times like this, I wish we had someone like Vex in New Jersey. We should add it to the list of recruits we’re looking for. I want to check bank statements of everyone, see if someone is getting paid. I hate to go down conspiracy theory traps, but I can’t believe this is an accident.”

“Hate to think it might be someone closer to us than a new prospect. But let’s keep this between us, yeah? Just in case.”

Something comes to me. “We changed our plans at the eleventh hour. Target A for target B.” I speak in code, hoping Wraith catches my meaning. “You think that’s how they knew we planned to be away from town, but didn’t know where? How they knew the bar would be vulnerable without us around?”

“I mean, possibly. Is Ember okay?”

When I turn around, I see that Ember is in the process of loading up Lemmy with her saddlebags. “Fuck. Gotta go. She’s intent on heading back to the bar, like, right now.”

“She’s safer where she is.”

“Yeah, well, tell her that.”

Wraith chuckles. “She gets that willful streak from Butcher. You should keep her there.”

“Yeah, because Butcher would love me tying his daughter to a chair to keep her here.”

“Good luck.” With that, Wraith hangs up.

There’s determination in her stride as she returns to the house to grab something.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

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