Page 25 of Tusk's Fury

“You buried the lead, Britt. Ya should have started the conversation by telling us about this when we first walked through the door.”

I turn over the piece of paper in my free hand, my other supporting my daughter. When I read it, my knees start to buckle. Within a few seconds, Clara is guiding me to the sofa.

“What does it say?”

“It basically says that I’m screwed.”

Clara’s trembling hand reaches out to take the sheet of paper from me, and she reads aloud the words scribbled carelessly across it. “Losing one’s life is better than losing one’s virtue.”

Dropping her hand, she crumples the note before pulling me to my feet. “What the hell is going on here? I thought you said it was teenagers pulling pranks—that doesn’t sound like something teenagers would say.”

No it doesn’t. Up until today I’d managed to convince myself that it was just kids playing pranks, but now I know they’ve found me. I look first to Tex and then to Clara and say, “At first, it was just strange stuff, like coming home to find things sitting on my porch. At first, I thought it was a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gesture because I found flowers, and a basket of fruit. Then things started to get weirder. I came home to find a rope hanging from my doorknob, and another day it was a bunch of white handkerchiefs neatly spaced out on my clothesline.”

“Wanna take a wild guess as to who’s telling you to surrender and what the consequences are gonna be if you don’t?” Tex’s voice is deadpan rather than disrespectful.

I close my eyes and tell them the worst of it. “Yesterday, when I went out to get firewood, an armful of my logs had been laid out to look like a stick figure with the axe splitting open what was supposed to be the head.”

He states grimly, “And since you still weren’t understanding the message, they sent you a direct written threat today.”

I swallow thickly, holding my baby close. “Yeah, I’ve been stupid for far too long. I always knew there was a chance they’d find me, but I thought I’d be safe here. I don’t think Siege is going to like me dragging back trouble of this magnitude. He’s got family to worry about too.”

Tex takes out his phone and dials Siege, who answers right away. He puts the call on speaker.

“How’s the second honeymoon going, brother?”

“We’re with Brittany. Her life’s in danger. What do you want to do?”

“Shit! That girl causing trouble in Alaska now?” Siege says. I’m a bit upset that he thinks of me in that way, as a troublemaker. But I guess when I was a club girl I was.

Surprisingly, it’s Tex who jumps to my defense, “No, it’s not Miss Brittany causing trouble this time. There’s a bunch we don’t know about her past, but long story short, she’s got fundamentalist crazies on her tail.”

Siege’s voice turns serious, “Bring her back to the clubhouse. I’ll call in the other club officers. We’ll sort it out like we always do.”

I speak up, trying to let him know how serious it is. “This man’s got power and money. He could raise an army of God-fearing men who believe whatever he does is right.”

Siege’s voice turns rueful. “Yeah, the syndicate thought they were the shit right up until we took every single one of them down. This is no different. Come home, Brittany. We’ll protect you, like we always have. We always protect our own.”

I am almost too choked up to speak, but I manage to get out, “Thank you, Siege. Can you do me a favor and not tell Tusk what’s happened? I want to talk to him myself.”

“I’ll consider that. No promises, though. He’s a brother, and my first loyalty is to him.”

I don’t like that answer very much, so I don’t mention the baby. I just murmur, “Okay, I suppose.”

The call ends, and Tex gives me an amused look. “Any other silly questions, Britt?”

My anxiety is off the charts, but I manage a wan smile. “I guess not.”

“Pack a bag. I want us on the first flight we can get back to California.”

I open my mouth to object, but he cuts me off. “I don’t wanna hear about how that puts you on their radar. You’re already on their damn radar or else they wouldn’t be sending you threatening messages. We’re gonna need to move double-quick to stay ahead of them until I can get some reinforcements in place.”

Clara takes out her phone and starts looking for tickets. I put Victoria down in her bassinet and head back to pack our clothing. I hear Clara’s voice when she speaks because my cabin is small, and sound carries.

“Tex, babe, you’re not going to like this. The next commercial flight to California is in three days.”

“Three days?” he growls. “That can’t be right.”

“It’s true, babe. There are incoming flights every day. Outgoing flights are much less frequent. I don’t know why.”

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