Chapter 25
Fox
I slammed my bedroom door behind me as Sydney and Gemma ran off to Hawk’s room. Snake tossed Laiken a weapon as the six of us perched at the windows. We heard the rumbling of motorcycles cresting the hill, holding the bodies of Devil’s Saints members.
But that wasn’t who was shooting at the lodge.
“Holy shit,” I said.
“Is that who I think it is?” Mac asked.
I turned my face towards my friend, my eyes dripping with sorrow as another gunshot rang out.
“I gotta call this in,” Laiken said.
“We got this. We can handle this,” Snake said.
“If I’m here and I don’t call this in, they’ll know I’m helping you guys. My patrol car’s here. I can say I was out doing some legal surveillance and shit went down. I started shooting at the guys shooting first, and that’s that,” Laiken said.
“Fine. Call it in,” Snake said. “But keep your ass close. You hear me?”
The Devil’s Saints parked their bikes and drew their weapons. They stood beside members of the KG9’s as they continued to unload their weapons into our compound. Laiken was shouting orders into a radio that was on a nearby table, and I heard her call for backup. We were instructed to only shoot if we felt someone was aiming for us, so not many of us popped off rounds as we stood at the window.
“I should’ve left a weapon with Harlow,” I said as I crouched down beneath the window.
“If she doesn’t know how to use it, it does her no good,” Mac said.
I closed my eyes as Laiken continued to rattle shit off. Snake was popping off a few rounds along with Talon, trying to pull their fire away from the back of the building. If something happened to those women, I’d never be able to forgive myself. We could easily take The Devil’s Saints. Pop them off and be done with it. But coupled with the automatic manpower the KG9’s had and we were fucking sunk.
Gunshots fired through the window above my head. I stood up and shot, covering Mac as I did so. I could hear Emery crying and Syd’s desperate pleas to calm her down, but what scared me was that I didn’t hear Harlow.
I heard Laiken shouting orders, Syd and Gemma talking, but I couldn’t hear Harlow at all.
“Laiken! We gotta fire back! Drawing their fire isn’t gonna do us a damn bit of good if they’ve got more ammo than us. We gotta take them out,” Hawk said.
“No! No one’s dying today,” Laiken said.
“Except the fucking women we’ve got stashed in the back,” I said.
“Then you should’ve thought about that, shouldn’t you?” Laiken asked.
Fucking hell. I cursed underneath my breath as Talon and I continued to skirt the edge of the lodge. As long as we could draw their fire to the front of the building, the civilians we loved in the back would be safe. But this was my mess I had to clean up. It was my fault the KG9’s were on our turf right now shooting at us. It was my fault for giving The Devil’s Saints someone to team up with. I wanted to take every single one of them out. Watch them bleed out on the side of the road for ambushing us like this.
Then, in a heartbeat, it was silent outside.
There were no more gunshots and no more splintering wood. No more crying and no more screaming. No more crashing windows and no more cocking guns.
I looked over at Laiken as she furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Laiken?” I asked in a whisper. “The fuck’s going on?”
But I didn’t have to wait for her answer to figure out what.
The front door of the lodge burst open as Beast walked through the threshold. He was holding an AR-15, ready to decimate us at a moment’s notice. Calais was beside him, grinning deviously as his eyes locked onto mine. I gripped tightly onto my gun, ready to take them out at a moment’s notice.
But Laiken lifted her hand, signaling me to stand down.
Was she fucking crazy?
“Quit being scared little fucking pussies!” Beast exclaimed. “Come face me like the men you claim to be!”
Everyone was pretty well hidden, and Syd had somehow managed to calm Gemma down in the back. I still didn’t hear Harlow, but now it was a grace rather than a worry. Laiken was between the fridge, and the wall and Mac was down behind the couch. I was in the shadows, poised right in front of them as they looked around the room. I had no fucking idea where anyone else was, and I didn’t care.
I had a straight shot right into Calais’ chest, and I raised my gun to my side to take aim.
I could feel Laiken’s eyes on me, begging me to stand down. She was shaking her head and trying to get my attention, but I knew where they were headed next. Any idiot could tell we were trying to draw their fire away from the back of the building, and Beast hadn’t been elected President of the most ruthless biker gang for no fucking reason. He knew we had people we cared about.
And just like I thought, the two of them started making their way to the back rooms.
Where Syd, Emery, Gemma, and Harlow were stashed.
My eyes connected with Laiken as I rose my gun into the air. She was shaking her head violently, ready to step out from the shadows and throw herself to the dogs. I was having a very serious talk with her after this shit was over. Once I put a bullet between the eyes of Beast and Calais, I was going to figure out why the fuck she was willing to sacrifice the people we loved to fuel her own fucking agenda.
Then, I heard sirens wailing outside.
I expected the sirens to spook Beast and Calais, but it didn’t stop them in their tracks. All it did was make them speed up their antics. They went from strutting with pride to striding across the room, and I held my ground for as long as I could. Mac was ready to pop out from behind the couch and spotted Talon in the darkness, and I could tell he was getting uneasy. Hawk came out from behind the front door, his eyes wide as he looked over at me.
I couldn’t let him go down like that. He had a wife and a kid to take care of.
I watched Beast’s hand come down on my doorknob as the sirens got closer. Fuck this shit. I couldn’t wait any longer.
I jumped out from the shadows, aiming my gun at the back of Beast’s head. Calais turned around, his eyes connecting with mine as I readied my weapon for action.
Then the gunshots started up again as I fired at both of them.