When Samantha stirred, I reached over and kissed a trail across her jawbone to her lips. A little moan escaped her when I covered her mouth with mine. When I pulled away, she smiled up at me. “Good morning,” she said.
“Good morning to you.”
“What time is it?” she asked as she stretched her arms above her head.
“Not sure. Power must’ve been out most of the night.”
“That sure was some storm.”
“Yeah, it was.” I cupped her buttocks and squeezed one of the cheeks. “Of course, it was pretty nice riding it out with you riding me.”
Sam grinned. “I would have to say it’s the best way I’ve passed the time with the power out.”
My phone rang on the nightstand, and I reached over to get it. It was Rev. “Hello?”
“I need you to come up to the clubhouse.”
“What’s shaking?”
“The storm knocked out the security system last night, and I’m a little worried about a security breach.”
“You mean you’re a little paranoid.”
“Smart-ass. Just get up here.”
“Fine. I’ll be there in ten.”
When I hung up, Samantha peered curiously up at me. “Something wrong?”
“Just Rev being a worrywart. He needs me up at the clubhouse,” I replied as I flung off the sheet.
“I should probably get ready for work.”
“The bathroom is all yours.” I pulled a T-shirt over my head. “Come up and say good-bye.”
Samantha smiled. “If I have time, I will.”
“Make time,” I said.
“Okay, Caveman. I will.”
As I hopped into my jeans, I thought about how much I was starting to enjoy her little nickname for me. “See you in a little while.”
She gave me a wave as she went into the bathroom. After heading out of the house, I pounded down the porch steps. Gazing left and right, I checked to see if there was any damage to the compound. Everything looked pretty good. There were only a few large tree limbs scattered around.
When I got inside the clubhouse, I found Deacon and Rev sitting at a table with Boone and Mac. “So you got all the officers out this morning, huh?” I asked as I slid into a chair.
“I got the alerts about the system being down last night, but there was nothing I could do about it in the storm,” Boone said.
“What are we looking at?” I questioned.
“The wired fence along the perimeter was down for the night. It went out even before the power did. The cameras turned off around the time the storm blew in.” Boone sighed. “We were pretty fucking vulnerable for most of the night.”
“I think we each need to take a portion of the property and check for any breaches,” Rev said.
Deacon nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
Just as we rose out of our chairs, the front door blew open, and agents poured into the room. I didn’t have to see the backs of their jackets to know they were ATF. “All right, everyone freeze, and put your hands in the air!”
“What the fuck is this about?” Deacon demanded.
The agent trained his gun on Deacon. “I said put your hands in the air!”
“Okay, okay.” He reluctantly threw his arms over his head.
The crowd parted, and an older agent with salt-and-pepper hair stepped forward. He flashed his badge at us. “I’m Agent Peterson with the ATF. We have a warrant to search the premises on suspicion of harboring illegal guns.”
Rev shook his head. “I’m sorry to waste your time, but you won’t find any guns here,” he said politely.
Agent Peterson stepped forward to stand toe-to-toe with Rev. “Really? Then can you explain why we received a tip this morning that the Raiders were in possession of a large stockpile of illegal weapons?”
Deacon and I exchanged a look. Who in the hell would call the ATF with a bogus tip on us? Then it hit me. “Eddy,” I grunted at the same time Deacon did.
“I’m sure it’s just a mistake. Someone playing a joke on you,” Rev argued.
Agent Peterson sneered at Rev. “You boys must think we’re a bunch of dumb fuckers. You and I both know you’ve been running guns out of here for at least thirty years. You’ve always been one step ahead of us until now. And this time, you’re going down.”
Two agents ran in from the back. “Sir, we’ve located the weapons down in the warehouse.”
A murmur of disbelief went up among all the Raiders in the room. Rev whirled around and stared at me and Deacon. His face had paled. In a strangled voice, he uttered the words we were all thinking. “Eddy fucking set us up.”
Agent Peterson reached out to take Rev by the arm. He brought his hands behind his back and cuffed him. “Nathaniel Malloy, you’re under arrest for being in possession of illegal firearms with intent to sell.”
Other agents stepped forward to start handcuffing the rest of us. At that moment, the back door flew open again. But this time an agent was ushering in Mama Beth and Samantha. I grimaced at the sight of them, especially Samantha. I never, ever wanted her to see me like this.
“What’s going on?” Mama Beth demanded.
Before anyone could answer her, Agent Peterson abandoned Rev and went charging toward them. “Agent Vargas, what the hell are you doing here?”
I glanced from him to Samantha. “Agent Vargas? What is he talking about?”
Samantha’s eyes pinched shut as if she were in pain.
“Vargas, I asked you a question,” Agent Peterson demanded.