Chapter 26
Harlow
I was hunkered down in Fox’s bathtub, but I could hear a little girl crying in the next room. The gunshots were flying every which way, but the only thing I could focus on was the fear in that little girl’s voice. If she kept crying, they would come looking for us. They would find us, and they would kill us, and there would be nothing any of the guys or that woman could do about it. I felt my heart slamming into my chest. The shattering glass caused me to yelp, forcing me to clamp my hand over my mouth. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as the gunfire began to move, no longer slamming into the bedroom so close to me.
But the little girl was still crying.
Without thinking, I slipped from the tub. The darkness was heavy, and I slowly inched the bathroom door open to see what was going on. Fox’s room was a mess. Holes in the mattress. Splintered glass all along the floor. There was a chair in the corner that looked more like a put-together toothpick than a chair. I could hear the muffled sounds of someone sniffling as soft voices wafted from just beyond Fox’s bedroom door.
Did I take that chance?
Did I try to go make sure they were okay?
I crawled on my hands and knees, biting down on my lower lip as my skin ran across bits of glass and shards of wood. I reached for the doorknob to the bedroom door and slowly inched it open as gunfire continued to ring out. People were shouting and scurrying about, and I could hear motorcycles revving heavily outside. But the hallway was dark and empty, so I took the chance.
I got to my feet and ran into the bedroom adjacent to me.
I shut the door behind me as the gunfire grew frantic again. I dove behind the bed, covering my head as I eyed the bathroom door. I could see it cracked open, just enough for me to peer inside and see some movement. There were two people in the bathroom, and I knew it had to be them. The woman with the kind smile who ushered me into Fox’s room in the first place and her little girl.
I sucked back my tears of fear as I crawled to the bathroom door. I inched it open and heard someone draw in a sharp breath. I knew they were scared. I knew this woman was probably getting ready to defend her child at all costs. If I wasn’t careful, she probably had something she could whack me over the head with.
So, I held up my hand and waved.
“What in the world are you doing?”
I felt someone grab my wrist before I slid into the bathroom. I reached back and kicked the door shut behind me as darkness encompassed the room. I could hear the little girl sniffling. I could hear her whimpering with fear. I got to my feet and stepped into the bathtub with the two of them, feeling someone small cuddle up to my leg.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I said. “Everything’s gonna be all right.”
“Harlow, right?”
I looked up to where the voice was coming from and saw a pair of eyes staring back at me in the darkness.
“Yes,” I said. “What’s your name?”
“Sydney. Guys call me ‘Syd.’ This is Emery, Hawk’s daughter.”
“Which one’s Hawk?” I asked.
Gunshots rang out again in droves as we ducked into the tub. I threw my body over Emery while Syd threw her body over mine. I could feel her back heaving with sobs. She was latched onto her mother’s leg, tugging at her pants as I tried to comfort her and keep her quiet. We had to get her calmed down. If those men outside heard us, they would come for us and use us as leverage.
At least, that was how I thought it would work.
“Show you later,” Syd said with a whisper.
It seemed like the gunfire would never stop. The bedrooms were torn to shreds, and I was scared they would come back and fire off more bullets. There wasn’t much surface area to protect us any longer, which meant if they came back for a second round we stood a higher chance of getting hit. Emery was shaking beneath me as Syd began to crawl out of the bathroom, and I grabbed her hand to try and get her to stay.
“There’s a room with no windows in the very back. Way down the hallway. We gotta get down there. It’s the only way we’re gonna survive this,” Syd said.
I drew in a deep breath, trying to find the courage I had before. I gathered a shaking Emery in my arms as we started out of the bathroom, trying to keep low to avoid attention. Everything had fallen silent again, and no one was making a sound. I was peppering kisses along Emery’s cheeks, cooing in her ear to get her to calm down. Now more than ever, she needed to be quiet. She could cry during the gunfire because it covered her sounds, but when it was silent like this, she needed to settle herself down.
Otherwise, they would come for us.
We poked our heads out into the hallway as the eerie silence descended. At first, I thought it was over. Until I heard footsteps walking around outside. Sydney took my hand while I clung to Emery with all my strength and we darted down the hallway. Making our way into the darkness and stopped just shy of a door. We opened the door and got inside, locking it behind us before we sat on the bed.
The darkness in that room was thicker than I’d ever known darkness to be.
But we were safe.
I passed Emery over to her mother as I began to draw deep breaths. I wasn’t sure what to make of the silence, but something told me things weren’t over yet. I had been so preoccupied with Emery and her tears that I hadn’t noticed tears spilling down my own face. I fought the urge to sniffle as I drew in a shaky breath, trying to keep my wits about me as I wiped at my face. Where was Fox? And Emery’s father? And the rest of the guys? Shouldn’t they be calling for us? Telling us, it’s okay to come out. I felt my stomach rolling with nerves for the first time since I’d slipped from Fox’s room. I felt like I was going to vomit. Like I was going to pass out on this floor at any second.
Then, we heard a thundering crash.
In an instant, Syd grabbed my hand. She tossed me into a corner, my back knocking up against another door. I turned around and fiddled with it, ripping the door open as the three of us barreled inside. A startled cry came from behind the shower curtain, and Syd rushed over to the tub. She pulled it back revealing the other woman I saw huddled in the tub.
“Gemma!” Syd exclaimed, and they hugged each other tightly.
I backed up until I could feel the cool bathroom counter against the small of my back, my hands trying to scramble for anything I could use to defend myself.
Just in case someone found us.
I heard Emery whimpering again. Sniffling and trying her best to conceal her sobs. I reached out to where the small voice was coming from and found her head, petting it to try and relax her. I moved closer to the shaking little girl as the darkness surrounded our bodies. Shielding us from the evil that was just outside our bedroom door. I placed a chaste kiss on Emery’s cheek as another tear slid from her face, then I maneuvered my lips to her ear.
“I promise you, everything’s gonna be okay,” I said in a whisper. “Your mother and I are going to protect you.”
I gathered the girl from Syd’s arms so she could take a rest. We were leaning against the bathroom counter, trying to make sense of the sudden silence. But then a voice boomed out. A loud, unadulterated voice that caused me to cling to Emery even tighter.
“Quit being scared little fucking pussies!” someone exclaimed. “Come face me like the men you claim to be!”
“Beast,” Syd said with a whisper.
“Who?” I asked.
“Beast. The President of The Devil’s Saints. That’s his voice. That’s who’s shooting at us.”
I felt my blood run cold at the mention of that club’s name. Them? The people my father were defending were the ones doing this. Shooting up some club lounge and wreaking havoc on a place where women and children were stashed. These were the ‘innocent men’ my father was defending!?
I felt bile rise up the back of my throat.
These were the people my father was defending. These were the people my father had been defending his whole life. These people who had ridden up on their motorcycles and were unloading round after round into a building were the same people my father was trying to claim as innocent. They weren’t innocent. They were monsters! If my father knew what the hell they were doing right now, especially to me, he would have a fucking heart attack. Did he even know where they were right now? When he left the house for ‘work,’ had he gone to meet with these guys?
Holy hell. Was this something my father had helped to orchestrate?
I shook the thought from my head. I couldn’t imagine something like that ever happening. The more that man’s voice boomed out, the tighter I clung to Emery. I felt my own body shaking from the reality of my father’s profession and what he had been doing my entire life. I trusted him. I painted him as a hero. I worshipped him and revered him and loved him unconditionally. I allowed him to take me on wild goose chases and treasure hunts and stick me with bodyguards.
This was why he stuck me with bodyguards.
Because the men he defended in court were doing shit like this.
I felt Syd wrap her arms around me and pull me close. Emery wrapped an arm around my neck and an arm around her mother’s. The only thing we had going for us was the fact that the light at the end of the hallway was out. Our room door was shrouded in thick darkness, and if we were lucky, those assholes wouldn’t travel down this far.
But my heart was hammering too loudly in my ears to convince me that we were going to be okay.
I didn’t stop the tears that ran down my face. I didn’t try to stop my body from shaking. I was never in any danger with Fox. He wasn’t the threat. It was my father. My father and his antics for defending people like this. If he had stepped aside and let the DEA or whoever else put this fucking club away, I wouldn’t be in this situation right now. I wouldn’t have bullets whizzing by my head and a child stifling her sobs in my neck. My father tried to convince me that men who looked like Fox were the enemy. He tried to convince me that they were the bad guys and that men like him were the good ones.
But that wasn’t the case. Fox was the one who had thrown me into his room. Who was willing to do anything in his power to protect me from the mess he had created with his world.
But my father?
H was the one responsible for this. He was the one that allowed the circumstances for this to be orchestrated. As far as I was concerned, he was just as guilty as the men firing bullets into this place.
And my father wasn’t doing a damn thing to stop it.
Suddenly, another gunshot went off. Only this time, it wasn’t muffled by the outside walls. I jumped at the sound as three more rounds fired off. Gunshots that could’ve only come from the outside. I grabbed Emery and held her close to me, then grabbed Syd’s wrist and tugged us all towards the bathtub. We gathered in and pulled the curtain, hunkering down as silent prayers fell from my lips. There was a loud crash that thundered to the floor, shaking the ground underneath us as my lips moved silently. I prayed to God and bartered with my own life. My own strength. My own soul.
Get us out of here alive, and I’ll do whatever it takes to bring them to justice.
Get us out of here alive, and I’ll listen.