17. Give me 6 hours to chop down

a tree and I’ll spend the first 4

sharpening the axe.

- Abraham Lincoln

“They’re ripping apart my race track. I have to get down there and stop them!”

He shakes his head, placing his hand on my arm. “There are too many, sweetie.”

“I don’t care if there are twenty of them. I can’t afford to fix the damage they’re inflicting on my home. I won’t let them demolish what I’ve worked so hard for.”

“I get it, but we have to wait, just a little longer.”

I’m ready to argue my case more when sirens wail off in the distance. “Is that?” I gesture with my thumb toward the sound.

“Sounds like it,” he agrees.

“Thank God. Never thought I’d be this excited to see the cops before.” I release a breath and crawl toward the way we came in. Pressing my head against the thin panel, I try to listen for anything that’ll clue me in on anyone nearby. After a few tense moments, I don’t hear anything coming from the other side, so I lightly push the panel.

“Be careful,” Mercenary scowls from behind me.

“I am,” I mumble. Leaning my head out of the hole in the ceiling, I peer around the maintenance room. I pause a few more seconds to listen for talking or footsteps in the hallway. It’s hard to concentrate with my heart beating so loudly in my chest; it feels like it could burst out at any moment. “All clear,” I say, leaning back up.

“Let me lower myself first. You can jump down into my arms.”

I agree, backing away a bit more. His thoughtfulness doesn’t go unnoticed on my part. He’s willing to jump down and risk his neck. He could easily let me go by myself, but he doesn’t. Instead, he’s going to catch me in his arms like some fairytale prince. I doubt princes wear leather and ride Harleys, but clearly, mine does.

He eases through the hole, dropping lithely like a ninja and holds his arms up for me, just as he’d offered. His muscles bulge from all the exertion he’s putting on them, and it has me wanting to lick his biceps. “Ease your legs down first, babe. I’ll be able to reach them and work your body down without you getting hurt.”

He acts like I’m a china doll, but yet he forgets I flipped him flat on his ass the first time we met. Regardless, I find myself following his instructions, even though I don’t need them. But for some reason, I want to please him, I want him to think I need his guidance, and that I value it. It’s pretty damn sexy having a man that acts like a real fucking man doing man shit. He’s nothing like these weak beta males floating all over the covers of magazines right now. I don’t know what ever made them suddenly interesting, but I take pleasure in making those betas my bitches.

His thick arms wrap around my legs, carefully sliding me downward along his body. I’m breathing heavy when I come in line with his face and it’s not from nerves. It’s from his touch. He presses a tiny kiss to the tip of my nose and keeps lowering me until my feet hit the ugly scratched tile floor.

“Stay behind me.” He pulls the tranquilizer gun from his back pocket and hands it to me. I’d completely forgotten about it in my rush and then with the sex. He yanks his Glock from his holster attached to his jeans, and opens the door a crack, peeking out into the hall.

The siren outside stops and then a shout comes from the lower level. I race around Mercenary, passing my office door and around the corner. It’s reckless, but I have to see what the hell is going on below. Keeping my body pressed against the wall, I lean my head forward just a smidge until I can make out the men at the very bottom. There’s a group in the center, all their weapons pointed toward a lone cop walking into the main area.

“Put your weapons down!” The officer shouts sternly, and before I can blink, a random gun discharges a bullet. It slams into the cop, and he immediately hits the ground.

I utter a whispered, “Fuck,” just as Mercenary steps beside me.

“What is it?” he murmurs quietly.

“They just shot a freaking cop! He’s on the ground.”

“Fuck, this is bad.”

“Surely there are more police with him?”

He shrugs. “Not if it was one that’s in Viking's pocket. He could’ve been closer than the guys and stopped in to be a distraction.”

“Damn it. More like a dead distraction, the poor guy. What if he has a family?”

“Viking will help take care of them; he’d never leave them on their own.”

A roar combined of various engines comes from outside, the sound echoing in the dome shaped building.

“Hopefully that’s our backup and not theirs.”

I nod, holding my breath as moments after the engines quiet, a few bikers edge their way inside, weapons drawn. The guys below automatically begin popping off bullets like it’s the goddamn Wild West and the Oath Keepers all dodge in several directions to take cover behind rows of seats. They exchange fire as another group of Oath Keepers silently enter The Pit from the back entrance we use for deliveries.

I watch with rapt fascination. The drama below unfolds so quickly right before my eyes. I can’t seem to look away no matter the danger.

The door down the hall next to my apartment creaks opens, and Mercenary pokes his head back around the corner, Glock ready to shoot. He relaxes his gun filled hand, pointing it toward the floor to click the safety in place and leans back next to me with a deep exhale.

“What was it?”

“It’s Odin. I texted him when I pushed you up in the ceiling again, so he’d know where we were. I didn’t want to take them by surprise and have a brother shoot us by mistake.”

So that’s what had taken him so long to get in the ceiling with me, besides searching out the flashlight.

As soon as he’s finished filling me in, Odin’s head appears around the corner. “You both okay?” he asks, and we nod, our faces quickly turning to watch the scene unfold below.

“Give me the tranq gun.” He holds his hand out to me.

“What, why?” I place it in his palm.

“I’m going to see if I can help my brothers and keep a few of these fuckers alive to torture later.”

I draw in a harsh breath, knowing how true his words are. I know they won’t hesitate to hurt the rival biker club members, but I prefer to pretend to be ignorant to it all. Odin and I watch as Mercenary picks off two more guys before a few turn their heads up, looking for us. It’s enough of a distraction that the Oath Keepers have time to riddle the remaining threats with bullets.

With the cease of weapons, we’re drenched in silence. It’s so stark, it’s nearly louder than the shooting was, it seems. My shoulders drop, the muscles in my back starting to unwind from the tightness leaving my body, knowing we’re finally safe. I’m going to be sore from being strung so damn tight during this whole thing rather than from fighting.

A loud boom rattles everything in the building pulling a harsh curse from me. Mercenary yanks me to his chest, his arms wrapped around me tightly to protect me. Holding onto the railing beside us, I lean over to see a few Oath Keepers had fallen with the blast, but no one looks injured from it.

“We need to get down there.”

“The fuck was that?” Odin sputters. His mouth’s slack with shock from the explosion.

“Bombs,” Mercenary grits. “The motherfuckers have set off three since they showed up.

“Holy shit,” he curses, and we both nod our agreement. “We found the guys out front that you knocked out earlier.”

“Good.” Mercenary reloads the tranquilizer gun and hands it back over to me. I grip it tightly, afraid I may accidently shoot someone and knock them out. I don’t say it aloud, but the thought does bother me. He grabs my hand as we head for the stairs to join the others.

Odin keeps talking as we travel down the steps in a rush that lead to the delivery hall and back entry to The Pit. They take a few stairs two at a time, but my legs are too short, and I nearly have to jog to keep pace. “Torch has them tied up and waiting in the back of the truck.”

“A cop showed up; he was shot dead upon entry.”

I listen idly, concentrating on not falling and busting my ass. With one hand firmly planted to the banister, the other remains secure in Mercenary’s firm grip.

“Son of a bitch. This is going to be a big fucking mess.”

“Prez here?”

“Yeah, he’s down there.” Odin doesn’t even sound winded. What the hell do these guys do to stay in such good shape? Yeah, I can fight, but shit, it’s not like I do cardio or anything.

On the next break between levels, I run my hand through my dusty hair. Using the band around my wrist, I twist my long locks up into a topknot. This seriousness definitely calls for it.

“You okay, Chevelle?” Mercenary flicks his gaze over me as we make our way down the next flight of stairs and my hand shoots out to keep my balance.

“Honestly, I have no idea how to answer that,” I mutter, thinking over the carnage I just witnessed in the middle of my beloved race track. He gives my hand a squeeze, and both of them stay quiet after that until we make it to the main level.

“Is it clear?” Odin calls out and gets a few yesses in return.

We enter in the middle of a heated debate. Nightmare scowls, his voice raised as he drills in his point. “We need to hit these fuckers now! Enough waiting. They were here to kill more of ours, and with a big hit like this, they won’t be able to react to us right now.”

“We have to wait, brother,” Viking argues. His right hand tugs at his beard in frustration.

Nightmare flings his arms out. “Fuck waiting! I’ve been patient enough, we attack now.”

Odin interrupts, “And walk into the unknown? They could end up killing us all.”

Nightmare shakes his head, exasperated. “Man the fuck up, O. You’re the new VP. Time to see just how savage you are, brother.” He lays down the challenge, but rather than jumping on it, Odin just shakes his head.

“If it was the right move, I’d be all for it, but it’s not. We’ve left them alone for this long, and it’s throwing them off. We’ve been patient and have just picked off...how many?” He glances around, his fingers moving as he counts the bodies littering the floor. “Fifteen, at least?”

Viking agrees, confirming the count at sixteen Iron Fists total. The thought of killing sixteen people, even if they were evil, makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Odin carries on. “That’s blowback we’ve inflicted on them without them even being aware it was us doing it. They may suspect, but they have no way of proving it. Unless they were to all just show up right now or have spies in place.”

He glances at his fellow club members and then looks back to Nightmare, continuing. “You telling me that you can pull the same off by showing up at one of their clubs to get retaliation? You may cut the snake, but it won’t be the head brother. I don’t know about everyone else, but if we’re going after a snake, I want it dead. I’d rather plan to cut the entire fucking head off and not worry about it coming back around to sink its teeth into me.”

Brothers around the room murmur their agreement, and Viking gazes at his younger sibling, more like a proud poppa than a blood brother. “He’s right, Night.” The Prez agrees.

Mercenary cuts in. “What are we going to do with all these bodies? Anyone can walk in right now. I’m sure the first fucking bomb was them blowing a hole in the entry.”

Viking grunts. “You’re right, a big fucking hole’s there.” He glances at me, empathy in his gaze. He knows this place is my life. “O and Torch look for something to block the front from curious visitors. See if you can find some plywood or similar for the time being.”

They both stride off toward the front and Viking continues barking orders. “Saint and Sinner, make sure they’re all dead in here and anyone still breathing, tie them up.” He holds out some thick zip ties. The guys snatch them and take off to do as ordered.

“Nightmare, back the pickup to the loading bay door. We’ll get these bodies loaded that way.” He turns to an older man. “Smokey check supplies for the largest black trash bags you can find. We need something to wrap these bodies in. Oh, and some duct tape.”

“You got it, boss,” the old timer rasps.

“Mercenary, take your woman to her apartment to gather whatever belongings she needs. No more bullshitting around. She stays at the club until this is sorted. I knew I should’ve sent someone out here last night to get you guys to come back.”

I don’t have anything in me to fight him about it right now. My mind and body are still in shock over what just transpired here. Part of me is glad they’re here. Obviously, they have a better idea of what to do to take care of everything. I wouldn’t have a clue where to begin.

He gestures toward the back entry. “Chaos, start carrying the dead bodies to the bay door. They need to be wrapped and loaded. I’m going to find some mops and bleach buckets to get this shit show of evidence cleaned up.”

I listen to Viking still barking off orders as Mercenary leads me back to the stairs, ears still ringing from the blasts.