We were all quiet.
“Then it looks like we’re going hunting,” Eli said quietly.
“You don’t have to—”
“Shut it, Chief,” Lu interrupted. “Even if you weren’t making googly eyes at the woman, none of us would leave her to the wolves.”
“Especially not to these particular racist wolves,” Wilson added.
“I’ll call HQ and put us on leave,” Forrest said. “We’ve all got time coming anyway.”
“Thank you,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Shit.”
“We’ll end this,” Lu said, patting me on the shoulder awkwardly.
“Heads up,” Forrest said, lifting his phone into the air. “It’s Siah.”
“Nothing’s happening here,” Josiah said as soon as Forrest put him on speaker phone. “And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. Somethin’ ain’t right. It’s too fuckin’ quiet. No one’s comin’.”
“Wait it out,” Eli replied.
“Of course,” Siah said. “We aren’t goin’ anywhere. But, I’m tellin’ you, man, no one’s even watchin’ the house.”
“You sure?” I asked.
“Positive. I can feel a sniper’s stare from five hundred yards away. There’s no one here.”
“Fuck,” Lu breathed.
“Stay until mornin’ and then head our way,” Forrest ordered. “Make sure no one’s followin’.”
“Will do,” Siah muttered before hanging up.
“Was anyone followed?” Wilson asked, looking around the group.
“Of course not,” Eli replied.
“No,” Forrest said.
“I rode the bike,” Lu said. “Unless they were riding, too, no way could anyone have followed me through traffic. I practically had wings.”
“I didn’t see anything,” I added. “And I had Casper and Cam watching my back.”
“They must’ve seen you leavin’ the house,” Forrest said. “Know you’re not there. Doesn’t mean they know where you are now.”
I nodded. It was past midnight and I was dragging ass. Part of me wanted to stay in that room and go over everything that Wilson had uncovered with my own eyes, but the rest of me just wanted to lay down for a bit. After years of working with the man, I knew I wouldn’t see anything that he hadn’t. The guy had a photographic memory and the ability to make connections like no one I’d ever seen. Okay, that wasn’t true. I’d seen Casper do the same thing. It was fucking weird.
“I’m going to stay at it,” Wilson said as we all began to move around. “See what else I can uncover tonight.”
“I’ll stay up with you,” Eli replied. “Got some television to catch up on.”
“I’ll assume you want to use one of my screens,” Wilson grumbled. “Fine. Take the one on the far right. It’s the least accessible when I’m at my keyboard.”
“You mean you have to turn your head to see it?” Eli asked, deadpan.
“Yes,” Wilson hissed. “Now stop talking so I can work.”
As Lu, Forrest, and I filed out of the room, we met Casper and Farrah in the hallway.
“Hey,” Casper said. “Was just comin’ to find you. Any news?”
I filled him in as we strode back toward the massive kitchen.
“So you’ve got the names of his highest in command,” Casper said when I’d finished. “That’s good.”
“Any information is good,” I replied. “But this shit will get us nowhere. Just because we know who they are doesn’t mean I know where they are or what they’re doin.’”
“Chances are, those men were loyal to the father, not the son,” Casper said, rubbing his chin. “Wouldn’t be pleased with that particular patricide.”
“Assuming they know,” Forrest replied. “Which they probably don’t.”
“So, maybe we need to make sure they do,” Casper said.
“Again,” Lu said tiredly, “if we knew where they were, that would be a possibility. Maybe. But we don’t. Those men have pretty much disappeared.”
“On the compound?” Casper asked.
“Probably,” I replied.
“They stole one of our trucks,” Casper told me, his tone grim. “Didn’t sell the contents.”
“That’s fuckin’ fantastic,” I replied sarcastically.
“Only one,” Casper said, like that made it any better. I knew exactly what the Aces bought and sold, and that kind of firepower in the hands of an adversary was not a good thing.
“We’re not going to figure out anything more tonight,” Lu said, stretching her arms above her head. “Let Wilson do his thing and we can meet up again in the morning.”
“Works for me,” Forrest said. He looked at me. “I’m gonna head out for a bit—get Cecilia those antibiotics.”
“Thanks.” I turned to Casper. “Fill Cam in?”
“I’ll do it in the morning,” Casper replied. “He already crashed for the night.”
“I swear,” Farrah said, wrapping an arm around her husband’s waist. “We raised a bunch of weaklings. Who goes to sleep before midnight?”
We went our separate ways and I grabbed a bottle of water for Cecilia before going upstairs. She’d been in bed for hours already, but I knew she’d be up with the baby throughout the night. When I opened the door to her room, she was already awake.
“Hey,” she said softly. “How’d your meeting go?”
“It went,” I said, closing the door behind me. “Wilson’s digging deep, but finding anything out takes time.”