Gunner

 

Coyote had already shot one of my men, and she had another on his knees in front of her, his face only a couple of inches from the end of her automatic assault rifle. I knew if she pulled that trigger, she could obliterate him before he could even touch the ground.

 

She had surrounded the five of us with her men. They stood with their guns drawn on us, but my guys had turned the tables on them already, turning and drawing their weapons to hold them at bay. I had my gun trained on Coyote. If she tried anything else, I was going to have to put her down.

 

“I have a better idea, Coyote,” I told her, taking her attention off the man in front of her again.

 

“I’m listening,” she said.

 

I lowered my gun like I was taking it off of her, but I was just aiming at her hands instead. If she insisted on trying to shoot my brother on his knees in front of her, I was going to shoot the gun away from her. Or I was going to try to, at least. It all came down to which one of us could pull the trigger first.

 

In the meantime, I also wanted to convince her not to kill anyone and to pack her men up and leave.

 

“You keep the diamond, pack up your people, and get the fuck out of here,” I told her. “If you do that, we won’t kill every single one of your men.” We had the upper hand again, no matter how many people she wanted to pretend she could execute.

 

“That’s kind of the idea, Gunner. I’m keeping the Sun Stone. You’re going to hand Sierra over to me, and I’ll pack my men up to leave. Then, if you’re really lucky, I won’t blow your girlfriend’s fucking brains out right here in front of you,” she threatened.

 

“If all you’re going to do is kill her, I’d rather take her with me, if it’s all the same to you.” She liked to play, too, just like Sierra, but she wasn’t nearly as fun.

 

“Get up,” she said to the member kneeling in front of her.

 

I watched as he looked at her, then at me, to see if it was okay or if it was some kind of trap.

 

“It’s okay,” she said. “Go on, get up. I’m not going to shoot you. Go on back over there and stand in line with everyone else.”

 

He ran off to take his place in front. I glanced over and saw that everyone had their guns drawn. Coyote’s men stood in between the cars and SUVs she’d driven out there. Some of them even lay on top of the cars, pointing guns at my men. I looked over to see that all of The Immortal Devils present stood with their guns drawn and aimed at Coyote and her men.

 

“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses,” I told her. “No one has to die. You go on about your business, and we’ll do the same.”

 

“No way,” Duncan called out. “Gunner, we’re getting that diamond back,” he said.

 

“No, we’re not,” I told Duncan. “You just hold your guy right there. Let me handle this.” I spoke out of the side of my mouth, keeping an eye on Coyote the whole time.

 

“So, tell me something, Gunner,” Coyote said. “Was she good?”

 

“What?” I asked, caught off guard by her bold question.

 

“Was Sierra any good in bed?” she asked again.

 

“I don’t think that’s relevant right now, do you?” I asked.

 

“Well, you want to defend her for a reason, don’t you? So, I think it’s very relevant. Besides, you have quite a reputation in the bedroom, Gunner. I know you guys spent a lot of time together, so you had to be sleeping with her,” she persisted.

 

“Coyote, what the hell are you doing?” Sierra hissed from where she sat with the MC member her former boss had shot.

 

“Oh, can it, Sierra. It’s common knowledge. I’m sure all his men know he was sleeping with the woman who stole the Sun Stone from him. Actually,” she said, turning to face me again, “Gunner, how does it feel to know that the woman you were sleeping with was only using sex to get her hands on the diamond? I mean, that’s got to be a pretty shitty feeling to know that you let getting your dick wet get in the way of guarding a very valuable jewel.”

 

“You know, Coyote, I learned something in this situation,” I replied.

 

“What’s that? Please enlighten me.”

 

“I learned that there is more to life than just work,” I told her. “There’s so much more to life than constantly trying to advance in this little game we’ve been playing. Your little thief over there taught me that I’ve been neglecting real relationships with people for this. This right here. You, your people, the MC, all of us standing here with guns drawn. I’ve been sacrificing real connections with people so that I can continue to expand an organization that does this.”

 

“I’m sorry, Gunner, is there a point to what you’re saying?”

 

“There is, Coyote.” I took a deep breath because I was about to drop the bomb on everyone. And I knew I was probably going to take a lot of shit for the words that were about to come out of my mouth, but I didn’t care.

 

“I didn’t come here for the diamond,” I told her.

 

“That’s good, because you’re not getting it,” she retorted.

 

“I came here to get Sierra back. We were going to storm your mansion and kill anyone we had to. I mean, you know how we do things,” I explained.

 

“I do,” she said with a smile. “It’s a shame you and I haven’t been able to work together, because the stories I’ve heard, Gunner. They are delicious.”

 

“Well, anyone who got in our way was going to be murdered,” I continued. “Then, when it was all said and done, I was going to ask your number one girl to come with me. I’m not trying to take her from you as an employee, Coyote. I’m just trying to take her as my own.”

 

“That’s a beautiful sentiment,” she said after a thoughtful moment. “But she’s coming back with me. I’m going to have to let her go, Gunner, but I’m not letting her go with you. She’s brought you with her because of the way she manipulated you. Now that she’s made herself a target, she has to go. You understand, I’m sure.”

 

“No, I don’t.” I shook my head. “Those are small-time, street thug tactics, and you’re supposedly better than that. So, no, I’m not letting her go with you.”

 

“That’s fine.” She raised her gun and pointed it at Sierra. “I’ll just shoot her here,” she said.

 

In my head, I saw her squeezing the trigger and taking Sierra out right then and there. In reality, however, my fingers were faster, and I squeezed the trigger first. I let off one quick shot to her hand, and I watched as her automatic rifle fell to the asphalt at our feet and she grabbed her shooting hand with the other.

 

I was aware of the chaos I had caused while gunshots rang out around us. I ducked instinctively as bullets whizzed by overhead. Coyote hissed and ducked back between the cars, into the darkness behind the headlights. I tried to pursue her but someone quickly jumped down from atop the cars.

 

“Where are you going, little man?” the tower in front of me asked.

 

“It looks like I’m going through you,” I said with a smile. I tried to plant a fist in his chest, but that didn’t work. I just came away with a sore hand.

 

I brought my pistol back out and planted a couple of bullets in him instead. He fell down beside me as I stepped around him to follow Coyote.

 

“Gunner,” I heard Sierra calling, sending chills through my spine.

 

I backed up and turned around to see her sitting on the ground with the lifeless body of one of my members in her arms. Another of our members knelt down in front of her to help with the man Coyote had shot the first time.

 

I approached slowly while I watched one of my brothers help pull the body off of her. Surely, I thought, Sierra had dealt with death before. It struck me as odd that in our business she could have gotten away from having to handle a dead body until now, but there she was, freaking out that someone had died in her arms.

 

I looked around her at the carnage as The Immortal Devils took out Coyote’s men viciously. I watched as many of my guys simply shot the men coming at them in suits. A few automatic rifles let out peals of gunfire, but for the most part, any gunshots I heard came from us.

 

There were Immortal members fighting with their bare hands. No matter how many men we took down, though, there seemed to be more of them coming out of the darkness behind the headlights of Coyote’s cars. It looked like there were a couple of large trucks carrying men, but I couldn’t have been sure from where I was standing.

 

There were fewer of them than there were of us, and they didn’t seem too eager to get rid of us. It was astonishing that they didn’t take out more of my men with their automatic weapons. It really only should have taken a few quick blasts to eliminate the majority of my men, but they were standing their ground and taking down her men left and right.

 

Soon, the noise of gunshots stopped. The sound of footsteps running across the tops of her cars and across the pavement stopped. The shouting voices as men went at each other’s throats stopped, leaving just a steady hum of men making sure their brothers were okay.

 

I looked around between the cars and the motorcycles. I heard the hum of Coyote’s vehicles and the steady purr of the bikes filling the darkness around me as my men stepped up to see if there was anyone left to come after them.

 

I watched as Sierra stood up, covered in the blood of one of my fallen brothers, and I felt my heart beat harder at the sight of her emotional response to the situation. I put my gun back under my belt behind my back and ran to her.

 

“Are you okay?” I asked her as I took her into my arms.

 

She nodded with tears in her eyes and wrapped her arms around me, holding me against her body for comfort. I felt how tense she was, and how it wasn’t letting up as we embraced. I stepped back and took her face in my hands.

 

“We’re going to get out of here and you’re going to be fine,” I told her in a matter-of-fact tone. “Okay?”

 

She nodded again.

 

“Duncan,” I called out. He was standing with his back to me, making sure there wasn’t anyone coming.

 

“Yeah.” He backed up to me, keeping his eye out for any additional backup.

 

“Get her somewhere safe and out of the way,” I told him, putting a hand on Sierra’s shoulder and pushing her close to him. “I’m going to keep looking for Coyote. She couldn’t have made it far with her hand blown off, but I need to find her.”

 

“Yes, sir,” he said, putting an arm around her and walking her away.

 

“Venom,” I yelled, and he appeared beside me in an instant.

 

“Yeah, boss.”

 

“Make sure everyone’s okay. Check on the bikes and make sure everyone is ready to ride. I’m going to find Coyote, and then we’re going to her hideout to find the diamond, alright?” I nodded at him, sending him into the crowd of Immortal Devils standing around putting their guns back under their vests.

 

I had the girl. There was nothing that was going to stop me from getting the diamond back now, but I wondered what awaited us at her mansion. Coyote was ruthless, and her men had tried their hardest to come after us on the road. She had probably learned her lesson, but as I started down between the cars again, I drew my gun anyway, letting it guide me in case she wanted to try something stupid.