Page 37 of In Death, Love Survives

TWENTY-TWO

Nova

“Wolfe, I’m so sorry, hunny.”

He strokes my back as I lie on his chest. My finger traces along the outside perimeter of the new tattoo he got to represent our love. It should still be covered with a bandage, but I can’t help but love the way it looks.

“Baby, it was me too. I missed the note. I went crazy knowing what was going on and thinking something bad had happened to you. Having no idea if someone took you or if you left for good.”

“We have to talk.”

I lean up, and the blanket covering my chest falls against his. Wolfe grins sheepishly as he looks at my breasts and then back up to my eyes.

“Then I think we better get dressed because otherwise, I’m going to take you again.”

I smile widely but then hop out of the bed quickly.

“Showing me your ass naked isn’t helping.” He groans.

“Teasing you for later.”

Wolfe gets out of bed and starts to look for a new shirt in one of his drawers. I slip on a blue crop top and matching blue skirt.

“When I was at my apartment, Ryan called me. Dr. Owens.”

Wolfe stills with his back to me.

“I tried not answering, but his calls were getting through. He told me that there was a prison break at Roper State, and Sam is one of the ones who got out.”

Wolfe flips around, and I see the anguish written all over him.

“You know.”

“Not about Ryan but about Sam. It’s part of the reason I was losing my mind, unsure of where you were.”

“That makes so much sense.”

“I was going to tell you. I just don’t have much to say yet.”

“Yeah, well, Ryan was saying that he thinks it was orchestrated by Crawley.”

“The warden?”

“Yeah, to get you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, Crawley must not be happy still about you getting out.”

Wolfe paces in front of me and then stops.

“Why Sam though? It doesn’t add up. That’s too specific.”

I gulp.

I do have a theory about this, one that I haven’t shared yet with anyone.

“I think Crawley knows about my past. I have a file, too, you know? I leave suddenly, and on the same day as you, and so Crawley must have gone fishing for why.”

“We should have handled it differently. Fuck. Nova, I’m sorry. That does add up.”

“I think Crawley found my file. Figured out it was Sam Snow and then sent him after us.”

“Fuck,” he groans out.

“And that’s not all.”

“What else?”

“I think Sam’s part of the Vipers.”

Wolfe goes to stop me, but I put my hand up.

“Listen. The attacks have all been targeted. They haven’t been random at all. This Vipers club is new, and a bunch of misfits from what you’ve told me.”

“Yeah.” He sighs.

“I think Sam is part of the whole scheme. I don’t know why or how he’s involved, but I feel in my gut that he is.”

Wolfe holds onto my shoulders and looks me dead in the eye.

“Let’s get to the clubhouse. We’ve got to hold a meeting.”

“Sure thing.”

“Wolfe!” Caleb’s voice shouts right as the front door slams shut.

Wolfe takes my hands, and we hurry out of the bedroom and into the living room to see a frantic Caleb.

“A warehouse fire has broken out. Not one of ours, but there’s a message for you. We have to get there quickly.”

“Let’s fucking go.”

The scene around us is a fucking mess.

“Wait here,” Wolfe says to me.

“Not a chance. Remember last time?” I say while jutting my hip out and placing a hand on it.

“Come on then,” he says, chuckling.

Wolfe, Caleb, and I rush into the warehouse. Flames are shooting up all around us, and we only have a few minutes until the fire department gets here. We’re always rushing around in the nick of time.

Caleb hands each of us a bandana to try and avoid breathing in all the smoke.

“Over here,” he shouts.

On one wall, there’s a message written out in black paint.

Wolfe Walker + Nova Fletcher. You’re both going to die. - VMC

“Fuck,” Wolfe breathes out.

Vipers Motorcycle Club.

Fuck is right.

The flames are rising around us, and we have to get out of here as soon as possible. The message has been received. Sam Snow is going to try and kill us.

“Let’s get out of here,” Caleb shouts.

“Head on out,” Wolfe answers.

Caleb starts to jog out of the warehouse.

“Come on, Nova.”

I toss my bandana to the ground, and Wolfe and I follow Caleb.

“Let’s fuck them up,” I say.

Wolfe holds onto my waist and grins.

“Fuck yeah.”

Taking my hand, he pulls us out of the warehouse. We get far away, and the familiar sound of sirens wails in the distance.

We hop into Caleb’s waiting truck, and he takes off down the road.

“To the clubhouse. We need to have a meeting,” Wolfe orders.

“I’ll start calling around,” he answers.

I lean into Wolfe’s side and rest my head on his shoulder. We’re both in the front of the cab.

“I have a plan.”

“What’s that?” he asks.

Caleb and Wolfe make eye contact briefly, and then both look at me.

“Move everything out of your shipping warehouse at night. Plant the seed with Toby that you’ll be a town over, making a transaction. Something like that. Then, when they get inside of it, we set it up in flames.”

“Baby, that’s a lot,” Wolfe says.

“No, hunny, that’s a ticket to freedom.”

Caleb snorts and picks up speed.

“You left Toby alive, right?” Wolfe asks Caleb.

“Yep,” he answers.

“Fuck. Maybe it’s good plan.”

“We don’t have to kill them in it. I could call the cops, you know. Set it up as a trap,” I offer.

“A trap,” Wolfe repeats.

“Yeah, that way our hands are clean. Sam’s an escaped prisoner, so the police will be searching for him. They’ll take the bait.”

“She’s right,” Caleb says.

“It is a good idea,” Wolfe admits.

“And weren’t you talking about going legit? Maybe it’s time after all,” Caleb continues.

“Maybe. Let’s see how this goes.”

“We’re burning it down,” Wolfe states.

I’m in the next room, but they’re all talking so loudly I can hear everything they’re saying.

“There has to be another way,” someone says back.

“Nope,” Wolfe answers.

More shouting erupts as they debate Wolfe’s plan.

I lean forward and hang my head in my hands as Wolfe’s voice booms through the entire clubhouse.

“We fucking vote. That’s how it’s done. But you know I’m right. This is the best plan of action.”

The roaring chatter dies down.

“We move everything at night. After this meeting, Caleb and I will go talk to Toby. Then we get that fucker to lay the groundwork down, and the plan will be in motion. This fucking mess will be over with once and for all.”

Silence fills the room.

“He’s right. We all know it,” Ted says.

“It’s going to be worth it in the long run.”

“So, we’re running scared?” someone asks.

“What about this is running scared? It’s protecting our shit. We’re resolving this shitstorm.”

I sit upright and wait for what’s to come.

Another long pause.

“Fuck. Alright,” the man says.

I haven’t completely gotten to know all the brothers well enough to distinguish their voices. There are over twenty of them in the room right now.

“Let’s vote,” Wolfe says.

One by one, each brother says yes as they go around the room. Not a single no.

I get up and walk over to the kitchen, waiting for Wolfe to come out.

This is what we wanted. What we need to happen.

I pull out a bottle of water from the fridge and chug it back. Pacing around the kitchen, I hear the sound of chairs being pushed back from where the brothers are meeting.

I still and grip the half-empty water bottle in my hand. The door swings open, and the first person out is Wolfe.

“Nova angel.” He beams as he quickly walks over to me.

“Went well?”

“Fucking fantastic.”

He scoops me up in his arms and swings me around in a hug.

“I’m so happy for you.”

Wolfe sets me down on my feet and takes my hand in his.

“For us.”

“Right. For us.”

“For our future.”

“I love you.”

“I fucking love you, baby. Let’s get out of here. We have a plan to hatch.”

We begin walking quickly toward the front door. I toss the water bottle into a nearby trash can.

The other brothers gather around Caleb, who is telling them what to do next.

“What about Caleb?”

“He’ll be out in a few. Ted will handle the next steps for him.”

“Where are we going exactly?” I say, walking out the door.

“To The Lodge. Toby will be there.”

“After everything?”

“Yeah, it’s a crazy world we’re in.”

“But why? You guys… scared him, right?”

Wolfe laughs loudly as we approach Caleb’s truck. The door opens, and I turn around to see it’s Caleb.

“We didn’t really hurt him. You don’t need to be worried about any of that. He’ll want to prove his loyalty to us or to the Vipers.”

Caleb unlocks his truck, and I hop into the back seat as Wolfe climbs up front this time.

“Ready?” Caleb shouts.

He opens the truck door and piles in too.

“Let’s get this plan going.”

We step into The Lodge, and it’s packed, which is to be expected in a small town on a night like this. As we walk in, a few faces nod in our direction, including a bartender.

He gets to work making us a round of drinks before we even approach the bar.

“He’s here. Back left corner,” Caleb whispers.

We finally reach the bar, and a couple of men immediately walk away to give us space.

“Let him come to us,” Wolfe says.

I take a seat on a barstool while Caleb and Wolfe block me in. The bartender slides over our drinks.

Picking up my glass of wine, I turn around on the barstool and notice that Toby is looking over at us nervously.

“I think he’s already coming,” I whisper and then take a sip of my wine.

Wolfe nods before leaning over me and picking up both of the beers. He hands one to Caleb and then takes a sip of his own.

“He’s coming,” I singsong.

“Good,” Caleb answers.

“Fucking easy,” Wolfe says.

“He looks nervous,” I say.

“He should be,” Wolfe answers with a grin.

Toby walks over to us with his hands in his pockets and his head mostly down. He makes eye contact with me for just a moment before dipping it once again.

“And here,” I murmur.

I twirl around in my seat to face the bartender. The men can talk to Toby about it. I’m just the innocent girlfriend, after all.

“Hey, Wolfe. Caleb,” Toby croaks.

“Toby. What are you doing in our bar?” Wolfe asks.

Toby doesn’t answer.

I know he’s nervous after everything that happened.

“We’re just messing with you,” Wolfe finishes.

“Oh, right. Okay.” Toby stumbles to get the words out.

“Unless you’re keeping more secrets from us?”

“No!” Toby shouts.

Caleb laughs in the background.

“Then let’s say, no hard feelings on either end. How about I buy you a drink?” Wolfe asks.

“No, you don’t have to do that.”

“Nah, I insist. Beer?”

“Um, yeah, sure.”

Wolfe turns around, and the bartender is already pouring another beer. He must have been listening in too.

Frankly, how anyone isn’t listening to this is beyond me. I’ve learned that word travels quickly around here. There’s no way snippets haven’t gotten around about what’s happening between Toby and the rest of the club.

The bartender hands Wolfe the beer for Toby. This time, I spin around to watch Toby. As Wolfe hands it off, Toby looks at it skeptically, and Wolfe notices his hesitation.

“Not going to kill you in front of all these strangers,” Wolfe says.

Toby starts waving his hands around frantically.

“No, no, of course not.”

He takes the beer and immediately takes a gulp.

“See, nothing to be worried about,” Wolfe says.

“Hi, Toby,” I say.

Toby pulls the drink away and gives me a tight smile.

“Hi, Dr. Fletcher.”

He winces.

“I’m still Dr. Fletcher. It’s okay,” I answer.

I haven’t felt like that Nova in a while. It’s a reminder that I need to get back to my roots and remember why I became a doctor after all of this is over.

“How’s it been?” Caleb asks.

“Fine. Just got a job over at the auto shop off Mercher Street,” Toby answers.

“Great spot.”

“Yeah, it’s going okay.”

Toby takes a large gulp of his drink.

“How about you all?” Toby asks reluctantly.

“Good. We have a large shipment arriving tomorrow. Going to solve so many of our problems,” Caleb answers vaguely.

This piques Toby’s interest.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Going to be our largest one of the year. Maybe in a couple of days, you can come by, and we’ll talk about really resolving our differences,” Wolfe says.

“Oh wow. That would be…” Toby starts.

He takes a deep breath.

“Yeah, that’d be cool.”

“Alright. Two days’ time. Come by in the morning, and Caleb here will hook you up.”

“Thanks, man.”

Toby looks back at the group he came in with.

“I’m going to head back. I’ll see you then.”

“See ya,” Wolfe says.

Toby disappears back to his group with an extra skip in his step.

“Do you think he’ll take the bait?” I ask.

“He may say he wants to join us, but whatever this tie is to the Vipers and Sam, he’ll go that route.”

Wolfe takes a sip of his beer as I gaze up at him.

“You seem so sure.”

He pulls his beer away and sets it on the bar, keeping his hand on it.

“Baby, you leaving me? That I was fucking losing my mind over, not knowing what was up or down. But Toby here? He’s an open and shut case for what he’s going to do.”

I look over to Caleb, who’s stepping away to talk to someone, then back to Wolfe.

“Tomorrow then.”

Wolfe tilts his glass toward mine.

“Tomorrow we set the world on fire.”

“I can cheers to that.”

I clink his glass, knowing that tomorrow, one way or another, this will all be over.