CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Ellie
“Now that Ellie is gone, we can be together.” Tammy’s voice bounced down the hall in a tone that had a crazy edge to it. I froze, deep enough in the hall that I wouldn’t be seen. Where was everyone?
“Gone?” Diesel’s voice sounded angry and cold.
I’d been in the shower and apparently had missed a lot. Why was she here? I thought she had been banned.
I had been waiting all day for Diesel to get home. I wanted nothing more than to fall in his arms the second he walked through the door. His sweet voice over the phone wasn’t enough. And now that I’d broken down his walls, I didn’t want to be without him. But it seemed fate had other plans. I just needed to find a way out of this.
I crept down the hall as quiet and stealthily as my uneven body would allow me. Voices caught me off guard and I tried my best to hide in a doorway.
“All her stuff is gone from her room. So, you must have sent her packin’. You knew I’d come back, right?” There was something off in her tone. Like someone who’d completely lost it.
“What the hell is all this shit?” Someone asked in a harsh whisper. I didn’t recognize the voice at all. “I thought we were going to get guns an’ money.” I could make out their backs just at the end of the hall and I prayed they wouldn’t turn around.
Oh gosh. The club was being robbed. I wondered how many of them were out there. Tammy must have gone out and found some people as crazy as she was. I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid to move, to even breathe. Surely, the guys would be able to take care of this. I still had no idea where anyone was.
I thought back to when I’d left to take a shower. Reagan and Jessica were in the kitchen making dinner. Well, attempting to make. Reagan was still working on her cooking skills.
“Tammy, I don’t know what to tell you. But this is a dumb fuckin’ move,” Diesel said in a low voice. “If I were you, I’d leave right fuckin’ now and hope to God that we don’t come after you.”
“But, baby,” she whined. “I came back for you. I know how you like it. I know she will never satisfy you like I can.”
Ouch. That hurt. I was insecure enough, and her words ripped through me like a sharp knife. The doubt that hung around the edge of my mind started to work its way inward. I imagined if it weren’t such an intense situation, her comment would have gotten the better of me. Instead, I quickly shook off my feelings. I needed to be brave. I needed to figure out a way to help them. I just had no idea how to do that.
Think, El, think. Maybe I can cause a distraction. But then what happens if they find me? I have more than myself to think about.
My baby. I had to protect my baby. I reached behind me and grabbed the handle of the door I was currently braced against. If I could turn it without anyone noticing, then I could hide in the room. I could give myself some more time to come up with some sort of plan, or more time to be a coward. Diesel was out there. Reagan was out there. Oh, no. Grass was out there.
Tears filled my eyes thinking about the poor boy. He must have been so scared. Slowly, I turned the handle, thankful that it wasn’t locked. I held my breath as I shuffled back into the room. But luck wasn’t on my side. I tripped on a darn shoe that was in the middle of the floor and started to go down. I reached out for anything, and that happened to be the door, which swung wide open and hit the wall behind it. I knew the loud thud wouldn’t go unnoticed. And sure enough, a moment later I was being hoisted up by a tall, skinny, man-boy that smelled like day old socks.
“Well, lookie here,” he said. The smile that spread across his face as his eyes raked over my body made my skin crawl.
“What was that?!” Tammy screeched.
“Found someone tryin’ to hide,” the man-boy said as he dragged me down the hall. His fingers dug into my upper arm and in his free hand, I noticed he was holding a gun. It all became very real and scary.
He pulled me into the kitchen. I took in the scene before me with wide-eyes. There were at least twelve men that I didn’t know standing around holding guns. On the floor, everyone from the club was bound with duct tape. All those who hadn’t gone on the run, that was. Tank’s legs were ninety-five percent taped together. He was doing his best to shield a terrified Grass with his body.
Tammy stood in the middle of the room with a gun to Reagan’s head. Reagan stood stoic as ever. And in that moment, I wished I was as brave as her. I wished I had even a fraction of the strength that she had.
The guys that went on the run were standing on the other side of the room, Diesel a few feet in front of them. But I didn’t see Axe. I looked around again as slyly as I could. I still didn’t see him. Maybe he would be able to do something. I just had to keep my cool until then.
That was when I noticed the table to my left. All the guns of the brothers were in a pile, filling up most of the top. There were a few knives on there too. My gaze swung back to Diesel. I couldn’t even look at Tammy. My stomach turned and it took everything in me to keep the bile down.
“She’s still here?” Tammy asked, unhappily.
“Yes, she’s still fuckin’ here. She’s my Goddamn woman and she’s carrying my baby,” Diesel said, rage pouring off of him.
“No, no. This is not going to work at all.” Tammy started to stomp her foot like a spoiled child not getting their way.
“This bitch is crazy, I didn’t sign up for this,” the guy holding me whispered to the person beside him. The other guy looked exactly like the one holding me.
Tammy’s arm swung around, her gun now aimed at me. I was shaking and I saw Diesel’s face fall with sadness and panic. The guy released his hold on me and took a few steps away. I guessed he wanted to make sure he didn’t get shot.
“I’ll take her away, then you’ll be mine.” She smirked at me. “I should shoot her for gettin’ me kicked out, anyway.”
“No!” Diesel roared. “You’ll never replace Ellie. No one can. Don’t think for a fuckin’ second that you would even come close. I’ll kill you myself if you hurt her.”
“Fine,” she replied, sounding almost bored. She tossed Reagan away and her body fell to the ground like a limp ragdoll. Then Tammy turned her gun on Diesel. She took three steps towards him, the clicking of her heels on the floor echoing loudly in the silent room. “If I can’t have you, then no one will.” She cocked her gun and my heart sped up.
“Aw, shit. Naw,” one of the thugs said from across the room. But it didn’t faze Tammy.
Diesel’s eyes shot to me and I could see everything so clearly. I read him like an open book. He was sorry. He was sad. And he was regretful. I couldn’t let this be the end. I needed him. No. I wanted him. I wanted my life with him and our baby.
Something inside me snapped. Before my brain could catch up with my actions, I was moving forward and grabbing a gun off of the table. It was Diesel’s. I had been there long enough to recognize each of their guns. They were as different as their personalities. The different metals, handles, and sizes. I knew nothing about guns, therefore I had no idea what each one was. But I knew each one was about as individual as a tattoo to these guys.
An angry fire started in me, burning from the inside and working its way out. Down my arms and fingers, until I found myself holding the gun tightly and raising it towards Tammy.
“You did this to yourself, you fucking psycho cunt! I didn’t do a damn thing to you. You will not take him away from me!” I yelled, my voice tight and cracking.
All the fear and rage boiled to the surface. She had just threatened my life. My child’s life. And then she was ready to take the man I was pretty sure I was in love with away from me. She was going to kill him right in front of me. She had come in and messed with the people who took me in, even when the person I came there for didn’t want me there at the time. The people who showed me love and what it was like to be part of a family. They showed me what it was like to have friends who were selfless. I couldn’t stand by and let it happen. I may not have been aware of what I was doing because all rational thoughts went out the window the second she pointed the gun at Diesel.
Tammy turned to me, a shocked expression on her face, and before she could point her gun at me, I fired.
Her face morphed into some strange expression, the shock mixing with fear and anger. The red spilled out over her abdomen as she brought her hand up to touch it. Her fingers became soaked with the sticky substance. But I didn’t stop there, I fired three more shots, this time hitting her in the chest. The holes making an upside-down triangle over her breast.
Before I could fire again, strong arms came around me. One arm went around my waist, while the other wrenched the gun from the death grip I had on it. Diesel’s familiar scent filled my nose and I wondered how I didn’t even see him move from the other side of the room. Then Axe was there, taking the gun away from Diesel’s hand.
Well, now he shows up.
My brain wasn’t working quite right. The thoughts I had were not normal, or maybe they were too normal.
Tammy’s body hit the floor with a heavy thud. I watched her limbs crumple beneath her as she went down. I knew there were sounds around me, I could hear muffled screaming but I couldn’t make out anything. All I could hear was the blood whooshing through my ears. I could feel Diesel’s chest vibrating against mine and his lips moving against my ear. But I couldn’t make out the sound that followed.
Then it hit me. I didn’t know what shocked me more, the fact that I had just shot and most likely killed someone or the fact that I had just spit out such vile words. The first time I had ever cussed and it was hateful and loud. Not to mention in front of everyone I cared about. But I meant every word of it. And if I were being honest, it felt almost good as it bubbled out of me. I knew the fact that I had shot Tammy should have sent me into more of a shock. The only thing that I could guess was my brain still wasn’t processing right. Only time would tell.
The world came crashing back to me and it was all horribly loud. My ears were ringing and I could hear Cal barking over the sharp noise. He was taking control and I sensed this was not what anyone would have thought would happen. The whole thing was really messed up. My legs were shaking, and if it weren’t for Diesel holding me up, I would have been on the ground.
He crushed my head into his chest, as he turned his body slightly. I could no longer see Tammy’s body on the floor but I knew that image would be forever burned in my mind. I did that. It all felt unreal. I knew I had pulled the trigger, but I didn’t feel like I had. My body was numb and so was my mind.
“Get the fuck outta here,” Cal hollered over all the noise. “If I ever see your fuckin’ faces again, you will be dead men!” His voice was gravelly and tight. “Leave your fuckin’ guns!”
There was a clattering of metal hitting the floor. Then the squeak of sneakers scurrying across the floor in all different direction as each of them tried to find the fastest way out of the building.
That was when the pain hit me.
“Oh!” I screamed as I doubled over to ease the stabbing feeling in my stomach. My eyes moved to focus on the body pouring blood all over the floor.
I did that. Oh, God, I did that!
The pain worsened and dragged me to the ground. Diesel tried his best to hold me up, but I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball.
“Baby,” Diesel said, panic heavily laced in his voice.
“No, no, no!” I screamed as Diesel pulled me gently into his lap.
“Shhhh,” he whispered into my ear as he soothingly ran his hand over my hair.
“Fuck! Get her in the car,” Loch barked. “Get her to the hospital!” I wasn’t sure if he was talking about me or Tammy. But I had a feeling there was nothing that could be done for her, and that it was me he was more concerned about anyway.
“I don’t want to lose this baby, Diesel,” I said looking up into his eyes. I could see the pain shining through his icy color. Tears pooled in the corner of his eyes and it broke me a little more. “I know you’re unsure of us and maybe you didn’t want this, but I don’t want to lose her.” I could feel my own hot tears streaming down my face.
Then the world went black.