Sierra

 

Gunner stood silently by the car, listening to whoever was on the other end of the line. He stuffed the phone in his pocket and turned back to me after a moment. I could see in his face that something was troubling him.

 

“What is it?” I asked.

 

“She wants me to bring you up there,” he said.

 

“Okay, and?” That didn’t seem like enough reason for him to look so dejected.

 

“She said if I don’t, she’s going to start shooting my men.” He looked back at the wall of bikers between us and Coyote’s people.

 

“Okay, take me up there,” I told him. I started sliding out of the car, but he put his arms up in my way.

 

“No. I’ve got it under control,” he insisted.

 

“Obviously not,” I argued. I pushed him aside and stood up out of the car.

 

“Get back in the car,” he pleaded.

 

“Are you trying to order me, Gunner? That’s cute.” I gave him a quick kiss on his lips. “No, I’m going to turn myself over to Coyote so she doesn’t try to kill your men”

 

I started to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm and held me back.

 

“She’s going to do that anyway,” he told me. “I can’t let her have you, Sierra.”

 

“And why not?” I asked. “If you let her take me, I can help you find the diamond.”

 

“It’s not about the diamond,” he said.

 

“It’s always been about the diamond, Gunner. You want it back from her, and if I could steal it from you, it should be a piece of cake to take it from her,” I reminded him.

 

He pulled me to him and put his arm around my waist.

 

“No, it’s not about the diamond, Sierra. I didn’t come up here and put my men at risk for a diamond.” He kissed me. Our lips worked together slowly, sensuously. His tongue probed my mouth.

 

I pushed him back and pulled away from his embrace.

 

“What are you telling me?” I asked.

 

“I mean I came here for you, Sierra,” he said. “You are worth more to me than that diamond. I can’t let you go, not even for it.” His eyes loomed over my face. I stared into them like I was staring into the night sky. He meant it. He wasn’t just talking.

 

“Then let me help you get the diamond back.” I patted his chest and started to walk away, walking towards the line of people standing between the bikes and cars.

 

“At least let me walk you up there.” His eyes sparkled with a plan as he caught up to me and stepped in front of me quickly.

 

“That’s the Gunner I know,” I said, smiling. “You’ve got a plan, don’t you?”

 

“Baby, I’ve always got a plan. How do think I made it this far?” He winked and twisted my arm behind my back.

 

“Okay, now it’s getting a little kinky,” I joked.

 

“You just keep thinking that,” he said. “But walk.” He pushed me up through the crowd of his men.

 

Every single one of them had a gun drawn and ready to go. It would have been interesting to watch these two organizations battle it out in the middle of the highway. They were both ruthless and fearless. One had even named themselves from how ruthless and depraved they were. The other had remained nameless for years.

 

“Oh good, you chose to comply,” Coyote said as we walked up.

 

“Where’s the diamond?” Gunner barked at her.

 

“That wasn’t the deal, now was it? The deal was that you would bring her to me, and I wouldn’t kill your men. Am I right?”

 

The automatic rifle in Coyote’s hands dwarfed her body. I assumed that was the rifle that had unleashed the gunshots we heard earlier. Though she stood in front of the headlights of the purring motorcycles behind me, she was still silhouetted against the headlights of her cars.

 

“Now, send over what’s mine, and I will let yours live,” she continued in a commanding tone.

 

Gunner had stepped up beside me, holding my hand behind my back. He interlaced his fingers with mine at that point and gave me a curious look as he considered what he was about to say to her.

 

“I can’t let you have her,” he said to Coyote. “She’s not yours anymore.”

 

“Fine. You want her? Have her.”

 

She raised her gun and shot at one of the guys standing to the side. I watched in horror as he crumbled to the ground. I watched in horror as no one did anything. That was unacceptable. These men behind me often called each other brothers. I had heard Gunner refer to them as his brothers on several occasions. But brothers didn’t stand by and watch while one of their own bled out due to a gunshot wound.

 

I pulled away from Gunner’s grip on my hand and ran toward the fallen biker. I heard Coyote laughing as I ran. I knelt down next to him on the ground and picked him up in my lap.

 

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

 

“Derek,” he said in a weak, raspy voice. He squeezed my hand when I grabbed it.

 

“Alright, Derek, you’re going to make it through this, okay?” I didn’t know what compelled me to help this complete stranger, but I couldn’t just ignore him. Maybe it was because no one else was doing anything. Maybe it was because Derek, as a member of The Immortal Devils, was an extension of Gunner, and Gunner had just dropped a bomb on me.

 

He had put himself into a unique position in my life. He was just supposed to be another fucking mark, and here he was trying to make himself more than that. And, dammit, I wanted him to be. Derek, bleeding out through his black t-shirt, offered the promise of a distraction from all of that.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Gunner snapped behind me.

 

“I’m taking care of one of your men while everyone else stands around staring at Coyote like she’s some goddess,” I yelled back.

 

“Why, thank you, Sierra. I didn’t think anyone had noticed,” Coyote said. “You can learn a lot from her, Gunner,” she said, turning her attention back to him.

 

“Alright, what’s the game here, Coyote?” he asked. I watched him take a step towards her.

 

“What do you mean?” Her tone said she knew exactly what he meant, that she was just playing stupid to get him to say it.

 

“I mean, your top thief comes flying away from your mansion like a bat out of hell with a wound on the side of her head where you smacked her with the diamond, and now you’re standing here trying to get me to give her up. What gives, Coyote? You really don’t want her back, do you?”

 

“You’re right, Gunner,” she admitted. “I don’t want her back. Well, not to keep anyway.”

 

“Then what the fuck are you getting at?” His voice became forceful.

 

I turned so I could watch them better. He hadn’t even drawn his piece yet. He was still standing in front of her with bare hands while she held an automatic assault rifle in her hands, with her men standing around them, also holding automatic weapons. Yet, Gunner was approaching her without any way of defending himself.

 

“You still with me?” I asked Derek, looking down at the man in my arms.

 

“I am,” he groaned. “I’m trying to listen.”

 

“You should probably watch your language when you address me, Mr. Kaye,” Coyote said in a threatening tone. “Remember, I’ve already put down one of your men, and I’ve got more firepower on you right now than all of your men combined back there. So I think you should treat me with respect.”

 

“Coyote,” he sighed, exasperated, “it will be a cold day in hell before I treat you with respect.”

 

“That’s fine, Gunner. In the meantime, I’m going to start shooting your men myself.”

 

She nodded at one of her men and looked over at another member of the MC. A large bald man in a suit shouldered his rifle and walked over to grab the guy she pointed out.

 

“Get your hands off of me,” he said, backing away from Coyote’s goon.

 

“No, you’re coming with me,” the bald suit insisted.

 

“That’s enough, Coyote,” Gunner said.

 

“Do something, brother,” said one of the men standing next to Gunner.

 

“You know what? I’m going to do something for you,” said another. He took a step towards Coyote.

 

“Gentleman,” she said suddenly, “I’d like you to refrain from doing anything hasty.”

 

She waved one of her dainty hands over her head and signaled to a few of her men to surround the guys standing in front of her with Gunner. They all had their guns drawn.

 

“This must be embarrassing,” she said, and I could see the smug smile spreading across her face while she talked. “These men trust you with their lives, Gunner. Actually, I think that must be more embarrassing than what you’re facing right now, you know? They’re being forced to realize they put their trust in an incompetent fool who can’t even win against a little girl.”

 

“If you’re going to do something, Coyote, fucking do it,” Gunner snarled at her.

 

“I need to get up,” Derek said, pulling on my arm as he tried to climb up to my shoulder. “I need to help.”

 

“No,” I said, “you need to relax. Let everyone else handle this.” I wasn’t even trying to comfort him anymore. I was too enrapt in what was going on in front of me to pay him much attention.

 

“Alright, I’ll do something,” Coyote continued, gesturing to the man pulling one of Gunner’s men with him.

 

He walked the man up and pushed him down on his knees in front of her. Everyone’s attention was turned to the man kneeling before her, but I was watching Gunner. He had a hand behind his back, reaching under his vest.

 

“I’m going to execute each one of your men this way until you surrender your little girlfriend to me,” Coyote said.

 

“Please don’t,” the biker begged on his knees. I thought I would never hear one of Gunner’s men beg like that, not after what I’d heard about them.

 

The Immortal Devils were supposed to be the toughest of the tough, the baddest of the bad. They weren’t supposed to feel fear or regret, or anything else weak like that. His men composed nightmares with the way they tortured their victims. Yet, there was one of them, right in front of me, on his knees, reduced to a blubbering idiot. And no one looked like they were going to do anything.

 

Meanwhile, another one of the MC’s members was bleeding out on me in the middle of the road. I looked around us. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t been interrupted by traffic yet. Of course, if I had seen anything like the scene all around me, I would have turned around and left. I definitely wouldn’t have tried to pass through. No detour would have been too far out of the way to avoid driving through this confrontation.

 

Gunner and his men stood in front of Coyote with guns drawn on them by men who surrounded them. All of the men standing around them in suits, however, had their attention squarely on the man on his knees in front of them. They weren’t watching as Gunner’s men reached behind their backs, presumably grabbing their guns.

 

As I watched, time seemed to freeze around them. Coyote stared down at the man sitting with his face at the end of her rifle. All of her men seemed to relax while they watched and waited for her to pull the trigger. Their guns lowered just a little while they waited. Gunner’s men seemed to be the only ones moving as they pulled their guns out from behind their backs.

 

“Not today, Coyote,” Gunner announced, and I saw that they all had their guns drawn. They turned and pointed them at the men standing behind them. Each one had a gun in someone’s face.

 

“You can’t stop me,” she said.