He didn’t give her the chance.“You don’t answer the door.”Another beat.“You don’t go anywhere alone.”
Goldie crossed her arms.“I don’t really get a vote, do I?”
“No.”
She sighed.“I figured.”
I looked over at her.She didn’t seem angry.Annoyed, sure.Maybe frustrated, but not angry.Like some part of her already knew Twister was going to make that decision before he opened his mouth.
Twister looked at me again.“If she needs clothes...”
I nodded.“I go with her.”
“If she needs anything from her apartment...”
Another nod.“I’ll take her.”
“We don’t know if it’s compromised.”
“I know.”
“So you don’t go alone.Take at least two others with you.We are stronger together.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
He looked around the room one last time.“This isn’t a treasure hunt.”
Hodge sighed dramatically.“There goes my afternoon.”
A couple of the guys chuckled.
Twister ignored them.“We aren’t chasing tunnels because we’re curious.”His gaze swept across every patched cut in the room.“We’re protecting what’s ours.”
Nobody argued.
Twister reached down, folded the blueprint carefully, and slid it back into the envelope.“One more thing.”
Everyone looked at him.
“If The Ledger’s been planning this for decades...”He paused.“...they’re not going to stop because we figured out one piece of the puzzle.”His eyes landed on Goldie.“They’re going to come looking for what they lost.”
I felt Goldie tense beside me just enough for me to notice.
Without thinking, I rested my forearm on the table between us.Not touching her.Just...there.
Twister looked at me one last time.“Keep her alive.”
I didn’t hesitate.“With everything I’ve got.”
Goldie turned her head toward me.For just a second, all the fear I’d seen in her since she’d walked into the clubhouse eased.
Then she looked away, and the room started moving.
Chairs scraped across the floor.Men gathered paperwork.Assignments were already turning into action.The meeting was over.
The hunt had just begun.
Chapter Six
