Christ.
He wouldn’t blame her if she hated or distrusted men for the rest of her life. Someone had to step up and protect her, to be on her side. “She ain’t goin’ with them.”
Trip’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Why the fuck not?”
“Red,” he answered.
“What the fuck d’you mean Red?” Trip asked, his brow pulled low.
“Think they got her as a breeder.”
“Fuck,” Trip muttered. He poked his head into the van. “We don’t got time for this. You a Shirley?”
Her hand squeezed Whip’s forearm even tighter as she shook her head.
“You related to the Shirleys?”
She shook her head again.
“Were you bein’ held against your will?”
She nodded, more silent tears rolling down her face.
“Your family know you’re here?”
She shook her head again.
“You got anyone lookin’ for you? Family? Someone?”
“We don’t got time for this, Trip,” Judge warned sharply as the van shook violently again from another blast. The detonations were getting closer.
Another huge blast immediately followed and it was so strong that Trip had to hang onto the van to remain on his feet.
When debris started raining down on the van, Trip ducked and covered his head. “Fuck! Gave this kinda shit up when I left the fuckin’ Marines!”
“We gotta go,” Judge urged. “Prez, get back in the van. Cage, go with Castle and tell him to follow us down the road a bit. We’ll regroup there where the fiery depths of hell ain’t rainin’ down on us.”
Trip slammed the side door shut and jumped back into the passenger seat. “I’m sure the pigs are gettin’ plenty of calls by now, so head in the opposite direction of the farm. Pull into one of the fields off County Line Road.”
With a nod, Judge hit the gas and the van shot forward.
Whip couldn’t see shit since the back of the crematorium van didn’t have windows. But within five minutes, he could feel it go off road and Judge turned off the lights as soon as it did. Within a few more feet, he stopped, shoved the shifter into Park and shut off the engine.
Easy opened the side door from the inside and they all climbed out between the two vans to regroup and take a fucking breath.
“Change of plan, Castle,” Trip told the prospect. “Bones is goin’ with you instead of Scar.”
“Not a problem, prez.” Castle nodded. “We’ll get the job done.” He glanced around. “Where is Scar?”
“Not here,” was Trip’s abrupt answer.
Castle didn’t question that like the valuable prospect he was. “Want us to head out now?”
“In a minute, I gotta address the occupants first and then you can go. Like we said, no stoppin’. Drive the speed limit. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. You get stopped, you’re fucked. You got six women restrained in there. And let’s not mention transportin’ kids across the state line.”
Federal offenses right there. Castle and Bones might not see the light of day ever again if they got caught. But they couldn’t say no to the job, not if they wanted to remain prospects.
“What about the missin’ kid?”
“We got her and we’re gonna deal with her. She don’t belong with them.”
Once again, Castle didn’t question his president. They needed more prospects like him and less like Scar.
They thought Scar would be an asset. He turned out to be a liability. A hard lesson to learn, but one that wouldn’t be forgotten any time soon.
Trip opened the side door of the clan’s van and leaned in. His voice was loud, clear and left no room for negotiation as he addressed the six gagged and bound women. “Pay careful attention… None of what I’m gonna say’s a suggestion. It’s a fuckin’ warnin’ you best heed. You come back here, we’ll hit that mountain again and not save any of you or your kids. You got me? You tell your leaders we’ll not only take out that mountain again, we’ll start hittin’ every branch of the Guardians of Freedom. So, you tell whoever is the Grand Poohbah of your little cult that Pennsylvania’s now and forever off limits. Without exceptions. This state’s closed to the Shirleys and any member of the Guardians of Freedom. If I even get the slightest whiff that any of you stepped over the Pennsylvania border, we’re comin’ for you all with no mercy. All of you. Not just the men. Every fuckin’ one of you and the offspring you produced. You’re all headed to the compound in Ohio. Don’t care where the fuck you go from there, just not back here. Nod if you understand.”
Silence surrounded them for a few moments.
“They nod?” Whip impatiently asked Shade, who stood in a spot where he could see inside the van.
“Yeah,” he murmured.
Trip slammed the door shut as two back-to-back blasts came from the direction of the mountain formerly known as Hillbilly Hill.
Whip glanced in that direction and saw a red glow lighting up the night sky. What might be first thought of as clouds were actually billows of smoke. The fire had started. What the explosives didn’t destroy, the fire would.