Page 26 of The Paths We Cross
We have been going on short walks in our neighborhood for a few days now. The weather has given us a slight reprieve, so everyone has wanted to spend as much time outside as possible. Everly had to convince me that she was healed enough to be this active, though.
We walk onto main street and turn toward the local coffee shop, The Drip. Everly had never stopped in until a few days ago on our walk. Now, she’s wanted it every day. I may have created a monster.
As we walk down Main Street, my head is on a swivel. We haven’t had any issues lately, but I know that could change at any moment. My eyes scan the opposite side of the street and land on someone peeking out from the alleyway. My jaw clenches as I take in the leather cut of a Devil’s Knights member.
As much as I want to run over there and beat the shit out of him, I can’t put Everly and Hazel at risk. “Let’s get into The Drip,baby,” I tell Everly softly. “Don’t look around, but we’re being watched, and I need you both somewhere safe.”
I feel her stiffen beside me, but thankfully, she keeps moving. We keep our pace and walk the rest of the block, stopping when we get to the coffee shop. I open the door for Everly and lift the stroller into the shop, letting the door close behind me.
The windows here are tinted, so no one can see inside. I hand the stroller over to Everly and grab my phone from my pocket, tapping on Axel’s number before I press my phone to my ear and stepping over to the window to watch the Devil’s Knights member.
“Yeah?” Axel answers.
“I need you at The Drip,” I tell him as my eyes lock on the man in the alley. “There’s a Devil’s Knights member watching us. He doesn’t know that I saw him yet.”
“Fuck,” he grunts. “I’m a minute out.”
I hear a door slam on the other end of the line and then the roar of his bike before he hangs up. The coffee shop is bustling with the early Saturday morning crowd of people I know, so I’m comfortable leaving Ev here while we handle this. We pick an empty table, and I help her get situated with Hazel while I wait for Axel.
Everly’s worried gaze meets mine when we hear Axel’s bike come down the street. I pull her into my arms and hold her tight, feeling her body relax against mine. Axel walks into the coffee shop and nods at me. He saw the guy, too.
“Stay here,” I murmur into Everly’s hair. “I’ll be right back.”
I kiss the top of her head and break our embrace. I walk toward the door and look back at them one more time. She gives me a tight smile and then I walk out the door.
We don’t want to spook the asshole, so we walk down our side of the road and don’t look at him. When we walk far enough down the street to be out of his line of sight, we cross to his side and quietly make our way up the street. I see his head poke out as he eyes the coffee shop and the dumbass isn’t very good at his job, because we walk right up to him and grab him.
I wrap my arm around his neck and Axel pushes him back. We lead him to the back of the alleyway, away from prying eyes. He tries to fight us, but Axel and I are big mother fuckers, and he doesn’t stand a chance.
He thrashes as I apply more pressure on his neck and then his body goes limp as he passes out. “Call a fucking prospect and tell them to bring a cage,” I mutter as I toss the asshole to the ground.
Axel makes the call and says that Levi will be here in a few minutes. He turns to watch the entrance to the alley. “They’re getting pretty obvious.”
I sigh as I look down at the idiot. “I know.” The guy looks to be about five foot eight and one hundred and sixty pounds. He’s got dark hair and a scar that runs down the side of his face, dissecting his eyebrow. “Do you really think this is all about Travis?”
Axel turns to me with a frown. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
I shrug. “I don’t mean that it has nothing to do with Travis, but is this all because he didn’t set them up in Silver Springs? It feels like it’s more than that.”
“We’ll find out,” he murmurs as one of our vans pulls into the entrance of the alley.
Levi backs in and stops right in front of us. We open the back doors and toss the asshole inside with one of our otherprospects, Ace. “Take him to the clubhouse and tell Grayson what happened,” I order them before slamming the door shut and heading back towards the coffee shop.
I’m desperate to get back to my girls, which is evident by Axel running to catch up to me. We burst into the shop and find Everly and Hazel sitting safely at the table we left them at. Everly’s shoulders sag in relief at the sight of us and I know the relief of seeing them is evident on my face.
Axel’s words are a blur as I rush toward them. Everly stands and I pull her into my embrace. Right where she’s supposed to be.
“You’re safe,” she rasps into my chest.
“Always,” I tell her. “Let’s start walking home. We need to get to the clubhouse to deal with this.”
She nods her head, and we grab Hazel’s stroller, leaving the coffee shop empty-handed but whole.
21
EVERLY
This is the first time I’ve walked back into the clubhouse since we moved out a few days ago. It’s bustling with the same energy it always has, but the mood is different; more somber. Everyone knows that we were being followed by a Devil’s Knights member and that Rowan and Axel captured him.
