CHAPTER TWELVE
Brand
Gunshots.
A whole bunch of rapid-fire gunshots rang out just as I was about to kiss Cami again. My first thought was to protect her. So I dove, plastering her body under mine, trapping us both right in the middle of the shop.
Fuck!
What was I going to do?
I could tell that I was outnumbered and it would have been dumb-as-fuck to try and pull out my handgun and start firing back. And it wouldn’t have been good to get up and try to make a run for it. I was stuck and if I was being honest, I was a little scared. Not because I was getting fired at, but because Cami was here. I felt like I would die right there if anything happened to her.
Bullets whizzed passed us, shattering everything around us. One grazed my shoulder and I did my best to bite back the pain.
Her body was shaking underneath mine. And who could blame her? I was sure she’d never heard gunfire in real life, let alone been in the middle of it. They weren't after her, that was clear. I was to blame for all of this and poor Cami was an innocent getting trapped in the middle. I hated myself right then. I put her in this position.
The night went quiet but I didn’t dare move. Car doors slammed and tires squealed and I prayed that we were in the clear. I stayed on top of her another long moment, just to be sure.
“You okay?” I asked like an idiot because of course she wasn’t.
She didn’t answer. Instead, her hands came up and gripped my sides, her short nails sinking into my skin through my thin shirt. My fingers tangled in her hair as I leaned back and cradled her head. Her eyes were wide with panic and her breaths were short and choppy.
“Cami, answer me, please. Say something. Give me a little nod to let me know you’re with me.”
I needed to know she was alright.
“You aren’t hit, are you?” I started to shift back so I could look over her body in search of any blood, but her arms wrapped around my back, holding me to her. “Breathe for me, okay? Deep breath in and then let it out.” I did just what I said, trying to get her to mimic me.
It took her a second, but she finally did. She opened her mouth and gulped in air like she had never needed oxygen before.
“Brand?” she asked, her eyes suddenly snapping to mine.
That was good, at least she didn’t seem like she was going into shock. That I could work with.
“I’m here,” I whispered.
“Were…those…guns?” she attempted to ask in between breaths.
“Yes. I’m not going to lie to you because, well, there’s really no point. Those were automatics being fired at us, but I think they are gone now. Can you let me up so I can check?” I tried and succeeded at keeping my tone calm and even.
“No,” her head shook frantically back and forth, but I didn’t lose her eyes. “What if they aren’t and something happens to you. No.”
In spite of the fucked up situation, I smiled.
“I won’t be long. I need you to stay low and crawl to Blade’s room, okay? I’ll come get you once I make sure we are clear.”
“O-okay,” she sputtered out.
She was still shaking and clearly scared. But who would have blamed her?
A million things ran through my brain but I didn’t have time to process any of them right now.
I leaned back and at my head jerk, she rolled over onto her hands and knees and began to crawl to Blade’s door. Once she was inside and the door was closed, I got to my feet, gun in hand, and scanned the area.
The shop was fucked and as pissed as I was, that wasn’t what was important right then. I made hesitant steps toward the front. All of the front glass had been blown out and was shattered all over the floor. Outside the streets were quiet, but I doubted it would be that way for long. Someone was bound to hear all the noise and I had a feeling the cops were around the corner.
I needed to get Cami out of there before that happened. I also needed to call my brothers and get them down here. I had no idea who the fuck just opened fire on the shop but we needed to figure it out like right fucking now.
Fuck.
This.
Night.
I’d finally gotten to the root of what was holding Cami away from me and someone had to go and ruin it. I was sure that after this she’d never even want to see me. Fuck my life. Like for real. How many times could I be handed a shit sandwich and be expected to take a bite?
Fuck.
It.
All.
Seeing that we were in the clear, I ran to get Cami.
She was crouched down between the far side of the chair and his five-drawer toolbox.
“It’s clear. They’re gone,” I said holding my hand out to her.
Without hesitation, she grabbed it and all but threw herself into my arms. I didn’t have to think twice about wrapping my arms around her and holding her as tightly as possible against my chest.
“Oh god! You’re bleeding.”
Her fingers moved to my shoulder, but stopped short before they actually touched the open wound.
“I need to call my club. And I need you to get out of here. Okay? Can you drive?” I knew the answer to that before I even asked. She didn’t need to be driving anywhere, but it wasn’t like we had a bunch of options right then.
Then there were lights bouncing off the whole place. Red and blue. And I knew we were screwed. There hadn’t even been the warning of sirens, and that should have been my first clue that something was wrong. I jumped up onto Blade’s chair, tucked my gun away on the top of one of the thick frames he had holding some weird piece of “original art,” or so he called it.
“Come out. Hands up,” someone called from out front just as I hopped down.
“Do as they say and it will be alright. I’m right here with you. Just tell them the truth,” I said taking her hand in mine and giving it a little squeeze.
It was the best solution here. We hadn’t done anything wrong and it wasn’t like Cami knew anything about the club. Her truth would have been the best thing for all of us right then.
We walked out, hands raised by our heads, and I did my best to shield her from the bright spotlights that lit up the front. Cops came rushing in and surrounded both of us like we were the ones in the wrong. I didn’t see Connor and I wondered if asking for him would raise suspicion. I decided it was best to keep my mouth shut until I was able to talk to Iron.
Shit.
I wished I’d had time to at least send him a text.
Cami and I were taken out of the shop and to two separate cars. I was forced into the back of one while she was free to calmly take a seat. Not that I was complaining. All my worry was for her right now. They could kick the shit out of me as long as they didn’t treat her like a criminal.
A man approached me in a suit. This wasn’t an average cop and I had a feeling my night was about to go from ruined to fucked.
“Brandon Reed.” He paused giving me a smartass smirk. And it didn’t slip past me that he knew my name without seeing my ID. “You’re under arrest for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.”
The fuck?!?!
Um, no.
We didn’t deal in drugs. Not any kind. Sure, there were a few brothers that smoked a joint every now and then but we absolutely did not tolerate, let alone sell, anything else. Right then, I knew I was fucked, and as I looked into this guy’s eyes, I knew he wasn’t playing fair. This was some motherfucking power trip. Some way to crack down on criminal organizations.
“Where is O’Shay?” I ground out because I knew, somehow, that shit was about to go from living hell to burning inferno.
“On unpaid suspension, pending an investigation. Anything else I can inform you of, biker?” The suited man said and it was almost as if the word ‘scum’ hung in the air after his question.
“Let her go, she didn’t have anything to do with this,” I said on a resigned sigh. Because it was clear that this guy was here to take me down. And even if I didn’t believe him, two cops chose that moment to walk by carrying evidenced bags that were full of shit that I knew wasn’t in that shop twenty minutes ago.
My eyes moved to Cami. She was already looking at me, panic clear in her sweet gray eyes. She knew this was all wrong, whatever that cop was telling her, but she wasn’t sure how to save me.
The cop helped her up and ducked his head as he whispered something to her. She looked at his shoulder, and if she could have seen through it, she would have been looking straight at me. With a quick shake of her head and her arms planted almost on his chest, she answered whatever he had said.
“You have the right…” the cop recited the Miranda rights as he moved to cuff me. My focus was on Cami, who watched on in horror.
I wished more than anything I could tell her this wasn’t true. That I wasn’t exactly the criminal they had made me out to be. But then I realized it didn’t matter. Because, drugs or not, I was a criminal. I was on the wrong side of the law, I wouldn’t even try to tell it otherwise. And Cami, well, she deserved better than a guy like me.
The door slammed closed but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I silently pleaded and begged, but I had no idea if she understood my unsaid meaning. The car rolled off, with me sitting helplessly in the back and I my eyes refused to look away from her. The fear clear as day on her tear streaked face. Then the car turned, and I no longer had eyes on her because the buildings cut off my view. I hated everything right then but I knew I needed to keep calm. There were a million things going through my brain. The most important one was that I’d left her unprotected. And for that I felt a rage like no other work its way through my body.
What if whoever did this knew about her? What if they followed her home? What if I got free of this nightmare to find out that they’d killed her? It would all be on me and I fucking hated that I couldn’t do a damn thing about it right now.