Xander

 

“What is it, kid?”

 

“We’re fuckin’ riding, that’s what. The fella who burned down Arsen—that Connor fucker—he’s gone one step too far for me, old man. He’s kidnapped my girl’s kid.”

 

“Kayla,” the old man says. “And that’s Arsen’s kid.”

 

“Is this gonna be a problem?” I ask, voice tough but nervous inside. If Christopher makes a problem out of this, I’m screwed. Ranger ’n Maxwell will help, but the old man has more pull in the club than any of us.

 

“A problem?” He sounds confused, like the question came out of nowhere. “No. I reckon Arsen would be happy you were taking care of them.”

 

“Let’s hope that’s true. I’m gonna go check out a laundromat he’s using as a front.” I give him the address. “Meet me there.”

 

“Ride safe.”

 

“Ride hard.”

 

I get off the phone and go around the apartment, quickly gathering my things, throwing on my jacket and getting my guns ready. Fucking Connor, fucking animal, sneaking in here like a coward and stealing a child. But I can’t push all the blame away. I shouldn’t’ve let my goddamn guard down. It was a stupid mistake, one Kayla might pay for in the worst way a mother can. Fuck. Fuck!

 

I ready myself and then make for the door, the murder in my chest more vengeful than any I’ve felt before, even hotter than what I felt toward Connor when I found out he’d killed Arsen. Killing a man is one thing but stealing a kid, stealing a goddamn fuckin’ kid? That’s something else. That’s something we just don’t do. We avoid civilians, at least we’re supposed to, and kids and women especially. I’m at the door when Kayla walks up next to me. She’s dressed in jeans and a hoodie, the hood pulled up, not crying or distraught but hard as though carved from stone.

 

“I’m coming with you,” she says.

 

“Kayla …”

 

She grabs my jacket and brings her face to mine. “I’m coming with you.”

 

I look into her eyes. They’re no longer sweet or delicate. Something has awoken in her. The only sign that she’s upset is the trembling of her lip, but that could just as easily be anger. She steps back and waits for me to argue, but I’m not going to argue ’cause I know there’s no winning it, not where her kid is involved, and I know that the more time we spend here jerking off, the more time Connor has to cause some real damage.

 

“Come on, then.”

 

We go down to my car and I drive us quickly to the laundromat, breaking more’n a couple traffic rules. I pull to a stop outside and jump from the car, standing in front of Kayla as we walk so that if anyone decides to fire a shot from the window, she’s at least partially shielded. Christopher, Ranger, Maxwell, and four other guys approach me, meeting me just outside the door.

 

“Fellas.” I nod. “Thank you for comin’. Will someone take Kayla round the back and keep her safe? She wants to be here, but there’s no reason she needs to be in the thick of it.”

 

One of Christopher’s men makes to move, but Kayla folds her arms. “I’m not hiding while my baby is in danger. I might be able to help.”

 

“You got a gun?” Ranger looks at her sideways.

 

“No,” she admits.

 

“I hate to break it to you, miss,” Maxwell says, his voice the icy cold it gets before bloodshed. “But in a gunfight, it pays to have a gun.”

 

“They won’t be expecting a woman,” she counters. “Maybe I can cause a distraction or something.”

 

“Is there any talking you out of this?” I ask, turning to her.

 

She looks up at me, face solid. “None.”

 

“Fuck’s sake.” I click my neck side to side. “Make sure to stand in between her and the bullets. All right, we’re going in.”

 

I kick the main door open, gun raised, checking the corners. At first it seems like the place is deserted. The men spill in behind me. But then Cormac cries from the back of the laundromat, wailing at the top of his lungs. Kayla makes to step forward but I put my arm out, stopping her. “Wait,” I whisper.

 

“Yes, wait,” Connor says, walking out with a shotgun aimed at me. A moment later, around seven of his cronies join him, all of them tooled up. Tattoo-Face is there, as well as men just as large and tough-looking as him. Gathered around Connor, they look like armored beetles gathered around a spider. Our men point their guns right back at them, bloodshed like a scent in the air, a scent I know well. “It’s so nice of you to join us. I was going to say hello earlier, but it sounded like you were having too much fun.” He licks his lips, eyes flitting to Kayla. “When she gets going, she really can be fun, can’t she?”

 

“Shut your fuckin’ mouth.” I take a step forward, gun aimed squarely at his head, other hand behind my back where I’ve stowed my second.

 

“Tut-tut.” He waggles his shotgun. “That’s not very nice behavior. Didn’t your drunk of a father teach you any manners? What about your whore mother who dropped dead after your little shit of a brother was born?”

 

“Easy,” Christopher whispers. “He’s trying to bait you, kid.” He raises his voice. “What is it you want, Connor? A man don’t kidnap a child unless he wants something.”

 

“What do I want?” He glances at the ceiling as though the answer might be there. “I’ve asked myself that question many times, especially when I was a child; I asked it then most of all. I used to think it was money, and then women, and then money and women. But now I know that more than anything all I want is for people to shut the fuck up and do what I say. Kayla was good at that, back when I had her under my spell. That’s all I want from life. So, what am I telling you lot of sweaty fucks to do? Simple. I won’t ask you to sacrifice any business. I won’t ask you to stop coming after me. All I ask is that you allow me to reunite a mother and her child. Give me Kayla and walk away today. You can come after me later, if you want. But all I require is the girl.”

 

“You’re out of your fuckin’ mind.” I take another step forward. “If you think I’m going to—”

 

“Wait!” Kayla snaps, standing at my shoulder.

 

“Get back,” I hiss out of the side of my mouth.

 

“He’s right.” She looks at him, her face softening. “Life has been so hard since we split up, and what can I expect? Maybe there were some ups and downs when we were together, but at least I knew what to expect. At least I knew that I would always be safe. And now that I have a baby I have to keep him safe. Only Connor can do that.”

 

This is a trick, I tell myself. This is some kind of ploy. Be ready. And yet the words still puncture me, feel like a punch to the chest. The words still twist me and fuck me up. Maybe it’s the just the sight of her now: walking sexily to the desk, lifting the partition, and then going over to Connor. The partition is now completely open, resting on the opposite side, a four-foot entranceway. The men around me shuffle, ready; they know what’s going down.

 

“Well,” Connor says, smiling at her. “I can guess why you’re doing this. You don’t want me to hurt your baby. But you know me, Kayla. I’m never one to turn down an offer when it comes from a lady as sweet as you. And anyway, I know just how malleable you really are. After a month or two under my thumb, you’ll do as I say. You’ve always been good like that. A real good, obedient whore.”

 

“Oh, you.” She giggles, the most sickening sound I have ever heard. “You say such—oh, oh no …” She collapses onto the floor.

 

There’s a half-second when Connor and a few of the other men lower their guns, not by much, but in life and death sometimes an inch or so can make a difference. I fire quickly, striking Connor in the neck, a spurt of blood gushing out. And then everything goes crazy, gunfire blaring all around us, men falling, blood spraying. I charge at Connor, firing a second shot which hits him in the chest. I’m lost in a blood haze, barely aware of what’s happening around me but for the constant tat-tat-tat of gunfire. I bat away his shotgun and smack him across the mouth with my pistol, and then lift him up by the neck and body-slam him down onto the floor behind some drying machines.

 

I bring the gun to his head—bullets make metallic clanging sounds as they ricochet off the machines around me—and lean close to him. “I hope that fuckin’ hurts.” I twist my thumb into the wound in his neck, causing him to shudder and let out a whining animal noise.

 

He is covered in blood, his neck and face smeared, his chest turning dark with the spreading pattern. “You think—think—that I’m scared of dying?” He grins, teeth coated in blood. “I’ll always—remember—how he screamed—your little—brother—your—little—coward.”

 

I press my gun against the side of his head. “Who did it?” I snap. “Was it you, or one of your cronies? I know it was you but was it really you? Did you get your hands dirty or did you pass it off to somebody else?”

 

His smile gets wider. “A chance to—kill an Angel? That was—all me.”

 

I pull the trigger, his head snapping to the left, his mouth hanging open stupidly. Lying there like that he doesn’t look like a spider at all; he just looks like a too-tall man who finally got what was coming to him.