Chapter 22
Cade
We all arrived at the park at three in the morning. Ryan and Patrice were sitting in their car waiting for our signal while the rest of us staked out the place. The gang and I walked all around the park, clocking all the entrances and exits before posting a couple of people in the shadows next to them. The entire gang was in all this. All one hundred of us. If this man was coming into the park, he sure as hell wasn’t getting away. When someone fucked with one of us, they fucked with all of us.
And with Harper carrying my child, this man had officially fucked with one of us.
The park was dark and had a surprising amount of entrances and exits. Those who weren’t stationed at an exit took off their leather cuts and sat on benches, acting like homeless people or stumbling around like drunks. They peppered the entire park as Ryan and Patrice sat off to the side, right near the meeting place this asshole suggested.
But with every passing minute, I was getting more and more nervous.
“Hey, Cade. You okay?” Ink asked.
“Yep.”
“You look nervous,” he said.
“Then why the fuck did you ask if I was okay?”
“Because I wanted to see if you would admit it.”
“Asshole.”
“You know we’re gonna get her, right?”
“Blade sort of destroyed my faith in that avenue,” I said.
“You can’t blame him for what happened. You know he’s not perfect. None of us are perfect. He did the best he could. Popped off rounds. But in the dead of night without his scope, he’s practically useless.”
“Wish I would’ve thought about that sooner,” I said.
“Stop worrying. We’re gonna get her out alive.”
“If we don’t, I’m slaughtering that man limb by limb in the middle of this fucking park.”
“I don’t doubt it for a second. Just leave the bloodbath for when it’s necessary,” he said.
Time passed by, inching along as we kept watch. Four in the morning came and went, and I could see Ryan and Patrice nodding off. Of course, they’d fucking be nodding off while their daughter was being held captive. The fuck was wrong with these people? I stayed in the shadows with Ink and Blade, my gun at the ready just in case this asshole showed up early.
And just as I thought, he did.
I watched as a van pulled up with its high beams blaring. It was a black van with dirty ass trim, and I started seeing red. The mother of my child was in there somewhere. Cooped up, pregnant, and scared while she inhaled all that disgusting dust. A man got out and came around to the back, sitting in the van as he waited.
I aimed down the sights of my gun and readied myself for a shot.
But just before we gave Ryan and Patrice the signal, something happened. The van began to rock on its chassis. Holy fuck, Harper was in there. She was alive, and I jumped at the ready to go get her.
“Keep a lid on it,” Ink said. “Not yet.”
“She’s fucking in there. He’s about to open that damn-”
The van door opened and I whipped my head around. I listened as Harper screamed, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. Something about the baby? Or being hurt? I couldn't tell, but I was shaking. Seething and dripping with fury as I watched him zip tie the mother of my fucking child to the damn van door.
“We gotta get this right,” Ink said. “We’ve only got one shot.”
“I’ve got a bullet with his name on it,” I said.
I looked over at the car and saw Harper’s parents panicking. They had watched the scene unfold as well, and they were ready to go. Doc was holding them off, watching the clock tick down to five before he released them. Ryan slowly pulled his car out of the shadows and up to the van, which gave Ink and I time to wrap around to the front of the van.
Everyone had their guns trained on this man. He was none the wiser that everyone in the park was one of us. He had no fucking idea what was about to creep up on him. Ink and I got to the front of the car just as Ryan got out to approach the man, and we stopped in our tracks to listen to what they were talking about.
“You got the money?”
“It’s right here. All of it,” Ryan said. “Now where’s my daughter?”
“Where she deserves to be.”
“Give me my daughter, and I’ll give you this bag,” Ryan said.
“Not how it works,” the man said.
“I don’t even know if my daughter’s alive,” Ryan said.
Way to play it, Ryan. The first smart thing you’ve fucking done since I’ve known you.
I watched as the man raised his gun to Ryan’s head and I saw people in the shadows draw their guns. This man had a gun trained on Harper’s father, but there were eight guns trained on him. Even if Ryan went down tonight, he was not fucking getting away.
Harper was safe, even if Ryan wasn’t.
“If you stop with this fucking election, I’ll give you your daughter first,” the man said.
“Fine. The election is stopped,” Ryan said.
I snuck up behind the guy as the two of them stood at a standstill. Ryan wasn’t giving up that money, and this asshole wasn’t giving up Harper. I knew both of them wouldn’t budge until the other did, and they’d kill Harper in the process. I watched as Ink slid into the van slowly, inching his way into the back of the van as I approached the man from behind.
It wasn’t until I had my gun pressed to his temple that he tried to turn around and look at me.
“What the-?”
The van began to move as the man scrambled for his gun. Ryan tossed the bag of money behind him as everyone came out of the woodworks with their guns. I wasn’t going to shoot this man if he backed down. I wanted to see him rot in jail. I wanted to pay some fuckers off to make his life miserable for the rest of it.
But the moment he cocked his gun, I fired.
Straight between that motherfucker’s eyes.