Lance

 

“What are we doing?” Flash asked, waiting for my word. He sounded tense. I knew how he felt—I thought my heart might explode from the tension. I was stiff from waiting behind the car, too.

 

I looked from one side to the other to be sure everybody was in place. They waited for my word to charge the room. Slate gave me the thumbs-up from his position. I could hear him breathing in my ear. He was excited, ready for action, just like everybody else.

 

I wondered if any of them felt as desperate as I did.

 

“We can’t wait anymore,” I said. “This is crazy. We have to go in.”

 

“What about the people he’s waiting for?”

 

“I want at least three people on both sides watching out for anybody coming in. I want you to fire off a single shot when you see anybody, and I mean anybody, approaching. It shouldn’t take long to get the girls from him if he’s alone. I think he is. I haven’t seen anybody else.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“I’m going in first, though.”

 

“I don’t want you going in there alone,” Flash warned.

 

“It doesn’t matter. I go in first.”

 

“You need backup.”

 

“Then you’ll need to be fast, won’t you? I’m gonna kick the door in and hope I take him by surprise. That’s all we have right now. Surprise. Okay?”

 

Silence.

 

“I said, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Flash said. He didn’t want to agree, but he didn’t have a choice.

 

“Good. I’m going in.” I took two, maybe three steps toward the room when a car pulled into the parking lot. Its headlights lit up the lot as it got closer.

 

“Shit!” I scrambled off to the side of Jamie’s car, leaving it between the new car and me. I hoped the driver pulled up on the other side, or I was fucked.

 

“We waited too long,” I muttered.

 

“No, we didn’t. Now we know who we’re dealing with. Just wait for them to come outta the car.”

 

I waited, and was relieved when the new car pulled up on the other side of Jamie’s. I ducked, going to the back of the car again. Waiting for the driver to get out.

 

“Who is that?” Slate muttered.

 

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “But it’s just him. He’s the only person in the car.” We watched as a short little guy got out of the car, looking like he just rolled in a pile of shit. My nose wrinkled. He’d better not try to touch either of them.

 

“He looks like the type who would sell women, doesn’t he? Probably couldn’t pay a woman to touch him,” Slate muttered under his breath.

 

“What are we doing?” Flash asked again. He sounded more panicked this time. The short guy waited outside the room after knocking on the door.

 

“We’re waiting to see what he does,” I said.

 

“We know what he’s gonna do, damn it. He’s gonna take them.”

 

“Right, and The Scarecrow probably has a gun. We gotta be careful.” That wasn’t like me. The old me wouldn’t have waited. If it was somebody else’s kid, somebody else’s woman, I wouldn’t have stood there, watching. I would’ve rushed the room, gun in hand, ready to blow somebody’s brains out. My priority was making sure neither of them got hurt. We could take that little shit with no problem, but I didn’t want The Scarecrow holed up with the two of them and a gun. If he knew we were waiting, he’d keep them both, if he didn’t shoot them right away.

 

The door opened, and a man stepped outside. “That’s him,” Slate muttered in my earpiece. “That’s The Scarecrow.”

 

“You’re sure?” I asked.

 

“Yeah. I’ve seen him before.”

 

The two of them talked, and I watched the little guy hand a stack of bills to The Scarecrow. I wondered which one of them the money was for. It might have been for both of them. My stomach turned.

 

They went inside.

 

“Lance! We’ve gotta to!” Flash’s voice rang in my ear.

 

“I don’t want to put them in any more danger,” I insisted.

 

I heard screaming. That was all I needed.

 

“Let’s go!” They didn’t need me to say it twice. We all took off at a run from all directions, guns drawn.

 

The door flew open, and the little guy came out. He was holding a kicking, screaming thing. Gigi. I screamed, too, and that got his attention. He stopped, then looked at me running at him from behind his car. He looked left, looked right, saw my crew coming for him. He lunged for the driver’s side door.

 

“Don’t you fucking dare!” I went for him, gun to his head. “Let her go!”

 

“Get off! She’s mine! I paid for her!” He yanked his arm out of my hand. He still thought he could get inside the car. I pulled the gun away from his head just long enough to fire a shot into the air, the pressed it harder against his skull. I looked at Gigi for a second—she was fighting still. Kicking, punching. That was my girl, all right.

 

“Let her go,” I growled. “Or I’ll put a bullet in your fucking head so fast you won’t know what happened. Put her down.”

 

He dropped her. She landed on her stomach. My instinct was to go for her, to pick her up. I stopped myself. I had to hold onto him. No way I’d let him drive out of there.

 

“Run!” I tried not to scream at her. I didn’t wanna scare her. “Go to the guys! Go!” She scrambled to her feet and took off. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it wasn’t over yet. I held the buyer against me with an arm around his neck.

 

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” I growled.

 

“It’s not personal!” He trembled. It sounded like he was gonna cry.

 

“You worthless piece of shit.” I didn’t shoot him, but I did bring the butt of the gun down hard on his head. He fell at my feet like a pile of bricks.

 

The rest of the club was at the door, standing at either side. “Lance!” Flash waved me over. I wondered why nobody went inside, then I saw what he was so careful of when I looked through the door to the inside of the room.

 

The Scarecrow. He stood there with a gun in his hand, pressed against Jamie’s head. He held her up—I could tell she was barely conscious, knees loose, feet dragging on the floor. Her head lolled from side to side. When it did, I saw blood on the front of his shirt. From her. Something screamed inside me. I glared at him, gun in my hand. My finger itched to pull the trigger.

 

“I’m coming out with her,” The Scarecrow hissed. “I’m gonna get in my car, and I’m gonna drive the fuck away. You’re not gonna stop me, or I’ll blow her head off. I swear to God I will. She doesn’t mean shit to me.”

 

“Let her go,” I said.

 

“No way. Give it up. Say goodbye. She’s gone.” He sneered and walked to the door. I didn’t have a choice—I had to back up, let him come out.

 

I walked slowly, talking to him as I did. “You don’t need her. You can have all the money you want. I’ll pay Rae’s debt.”

 

“Oh, you know about that?” He laughed. “She’s a lying bitch. So she’s still in town? I’ll deal with her, too. I don’t like people getting in my way.”

 

“Leave her alone. You did enough to her.”

 

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

 

“Like making her fuck you, telling her it paid off her debt. You’re slime.”

 

“Don’t tell me what to do. She was okay for a while, but I got tired of her bullshit. Bored with her, too. So I told her I want my money. She was smart, trying to keep the kid away from me as long as she did. I got through to her, though. I always do.”

 

He snarled at me, still walking. “Let her go now, and we can forget about this.”

 

“Don’t tell me what to do.” His hand moved, pushing the gun against Jamie’s head. She groaned, but her eyes stayed shut. I looked from her to him. He sneered at me.

 

“I’ll give you anything,” I said.

 

“You don’t have enough money to give me what I want. You don’t have shit. Besides, she already said she’d pay me a hundred grand to let the kid go.” He looked at the ground, where his partner was slumped over.

 

“He’s out. He won’t know. Come on. Hand her to me. You’ll still get your money.”

 

“Fuck you.” He sneered again. His eyes moved back and forth, looking at the rest of Fury’s Storm. We circled around the open door.

 

“There’s nowhere to go.”

 

“Sure there is. You’re all gonna back off and let me through with her. I’m gonna drive away.” He sounded panicky. I couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t shoot her out of panic and run. He was that desperate.

 

“Last chance, man. You can get away with this if you let her go.”

 

“No way.”

 

“Fine.” I held up my right hand, two fingers pointed to the sky. A gunshot. A scream of pain. The Scarecrow dropped the gun after Slate shot him in the hand.

 

I rushed him, pushing him off Jamie. I caught her in my arms as she collapsed.

 

“Oh, baby,” I whispered. She was still bleeding from the back of her head. Off to my left, inside the motel room, Scarecrow was getting worked over by a couple of my guys. A couple more took care of the dealer, then carried him into the room. They laid him on the bed and tied him up. Scarecrow was tied up, too. Both of them were unconscious.

 

Jamie moved in my arms. She opened her eyes, looked up at me. Then she jumped, fighting me, trying to get up.

 

“Gigi! Gigi!” She screamed in a hoarse voice.

 

“Shh. She’s fine, she’s fine! We have her.” It took me saying it over and over for her to understand. She relaxed, then closed her eyes. I brushed the hair from her forehead and looked around. Flash came over to me.

 

“How is she?”

 

“I don’t know. In shock, maybe. What’s that look like?”

 

He shrugged. “No idea. If he hurt her, she might be. Do you think she should go to the hospital?”

 

I looked at her. She was muttering something. “Yeah. I think so. Shit.” I looked up at him. “First, we’ve gotta get outta here before the cops show up.”

 

“I don’t think this is the kind of place where people call the cops when there’s trouble,” he pointed out.

 

“Yeah, well, I don’t wanna take any chances.”

 

Jamie came to, sitting up. She shook her head, looking around. “What happened?”

 

“You’re fine. Everything’s okay now. You were sorta unconscious.”

 

“Gigi?” She looked around. I heard a cry, and Gigi came running from the middle of the group of guys. She threw herself into Jamie’s arms.

 

“You were so brave! You were so, so brave, sweetheart.” Jamie cried, tears running down her face.

 

As much as I loved seeing them together, safe, we couldn’t hang out forever. “Come on. Let’s do this back at the clubhouse.”

 

“My car…” She pointed. I didn’t know if I should let her drive with the hit she took. I didn’t wanna leave evidence there, though.

 

“Are you okay?” I asked.

 

She stood up, shaking her hands out, her legs. “I’m fine. Really. I want to get out of here.” She stared at me. Her eyes were focused, she sounded clear. “Come on. You’re right. We have to leave. The cops can’t know this happened to Gigi. They’ll try to take her away.”

 

She was right. I let her get her back from the room to get her bag, while I held Gigi’s hand.

 

“You’ll have to take her,” I said.

 

Jamie nodded. “I’m fine. It’s not even a long drive. Come on.” She held out a hand for Gigi, and they walked to the car together. The rest of us went for our bikes.

 

Before I pulled away, I placed a call to the cops about two known criminals in room two thirteen.

 

***

 

Riding back to the clubhouse was much better than riding to the motel. I kept a close eye on Jamie’s car, staying close behind. She waved once or twice to let me know she was okay. I saw Gigi turn around and wave.

 

They were my life. End of story. I would never let either of them go again.

 

Flash opened up a few bottles of whiskey when we got back, but I wasn’t interested in drinking. I watched Jamie and Gigi from the other side of the room—I wanted to give them space, since I didn’t know how they felt, but I couldn’t let them out of my sight either. Once or twice, guys walked by with a shot for me. I waved them off with a smile. I didn’t need to drink. And I didn’t wanna dull my reactions by drinking either. Even though they were safe, we were all safe, I didn’t feel that way. I still worried. I almost felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It couldn’t be this good. I couldn’t have a happy ending. Could I?

 

Flash saw me standing there and stood next to me.

 

“It’s okay,” he said. “Everything’s okay.”

 

“I don’t know if I’m ever gonna feel like it’s okay again.” I looked at him. “Would you? If that was your kid, your woman?”

 

He shook his head. “I don’t know, man. That’s why I don’t have either.” We both chuckled a little. He got serious, though, looking at them. “This is our life. You have to decide if it’s worth it.”

 

“If what is? Them?”

 

“No, this.” He looked around. “This is it. Our world. She has her own world. Gigi could be part of either world—she’s young enough. What do you want for her? What do you want for you? Do you wanna worry about them all the time because some other club from outta town wants to take your turf? Or because you pissed somebody off?”

 

“It’s not like that anymore. It’s peace time.”

 

“Will it always be?”

 

I looked at Gigi. She was holding on to Jamie for dear life. Jamie was bruised, bleeding.

 

“I’ll keep it that way for them. That’s how this will work.”

 

Flash slapped me on the back with a smile, walking off to drink with a couple of the guys. I felt better than I had before. That was the answer. If she wanted me, I would do everything I could to make it so I never had to worry about her.

 

I walked into my office so I could be alone for a minute. As I did, I said another prayer. My second in twenty years. Thank you, God. I’ll do whatever needs to get done to deserve them.

 

“Hey, Lance.” I looked up, surprised to hear Rae’s voice. She sat on the sofa by the wall. I looked around—what did she take? She chuckled. “It’s cool. I didn’t take nothin’. I didn’t even look around. Check me out if you wanna be sure.” She opened her backpack, taking things out to show me she didn’t have anything that belonged to me.

 

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t have anything there of any value except the computer, and she couldn’t fit that into her shitty backpack.

 

“You got them back.”

 

“You wanna see her?” I asked. Not that I would let her within twenty feet of the kid, but I had to ask.

 

She looked toward the closed door. “Nah. It’ll just confuse her. But she’s okay?”

 

“Physically, yeah. She’s fine. They didn’t do anything to her.”

 

“Oh, thank God. I was so scared.” She swiped a hand across her face, and I really looked at her for the first time since I walked in. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her face was blotchy and swollen. She was crying—a lot. Maybe since we left her there. I forgot all about her.

 

“Why’d you hang around?” I sat across from her, on the edge of my desk.

 

“I had to know. I could’ve exchanged my ticket, but I had to know she was safe. After you left…I thought about killing myself. I’m not tryin’ to get your pity or nothin’. I really thought about it.”

 

“What stopped you?”

 

She shrugged. “I didn’t want her to know I went out like that.”

 

I nodded. It was fair. I didn’t believe it—I didn’t believe a word she said, ever, but it was a good excuse. I wondered what she really wanted. Why would she hang around there when she knew I hated her? What if I never found Gigi—if I got back and saw Rae there, I would’ve killed her. It was a risk, sticking around. She had to want something.

 

She looked at me, and the way her eyes went narrow told me she had something on her mind. I knew it.

 

“I think you and me have some talkin’ to do,” she said.

 

I only nodded. “I think you’re right.”