Raina came toward him with her gloves still on. She put one hand against the back of his head, checked his face quickly, and then stepped away so he could breathe. "You did exactly what you needed to do," she said. Eli shook his head, because he did not want the moment turned into a story about heroism. He had been frightened and had run with his mother. That was all.
"You kept moving," Raina replied. "That was enough." She looked toward Darla, who had climbed off Garrett's motorcycle and was standing beside the truck. Mother and son crossed the yard toward each other without speaking, and when Darla put her arms around him, Eli finally began to shake.
They stayed in the main building while the deputies separated witnesses and photographed the damage near the workbay.
Boon sat at the other end of the long table with a bandage around his forearm, regarding it with the annoyance of a man whose tools had been put away before he finished a job. He had been struck by falling equipment during the confusion, but the medic who checked him said the injury was minor. When Eli asked what had happened, Boon shrugged and said he had chosen a poor place to stand when everyone else started moving.
Darla did not release Eli's hand until she had to sign her first statement. Raina remained nearby, occasionally answering a factual question but not attempting to speak for her. The distinction was important now. Darla knew more about the people who had threatened her than anyone else at the compound, and her knowledge belonged to her, however badly everyone wanted to protect her from the burden of using it.
The officers identified the two men detained near the workbay as contractors who had been hired through several intermediaries. One had a prior record for intimidation, the other for property offenses, but neither appeared to understand the full history of Caleb Mercer or the investigation involving Voss. Presser had tried to leave the property when the returning riders arrived, then stopped when a patrol unit entered the driveway. He asked for an attorney almost immediately.
Raina later told Eli that the club had done the part it could lawfully do: protect people from an immediate threat, call for help, and preserve evidence. The decisions about charges and cooperation would belong to investigators and prosecutors. Eli found that less satisfying than the simple movie ending in which the bad men were stopped forever, but more believable. His father had been killed by people who lived in the spaces between what was known and what could be proved.
The sound of the attack followed Eli into the night. Each time someone opened a door, he felt the first involuntary jolt of fear before he recognized the person's face. Darla noticed and asked whether he wanted to sleep in the small guest room beside Raina's apartment rather than at the clubhouse. Eli said yes, and she accompanied him until he was settled beneath two heavy blankets.
"You were frightened," Darla said as she sat in the chair beside the bed. Eli stared at the ceiling. "I still am." She nodded as though the answer relieved her.