Cody still had to serve beer and clean up the great room when everyone else finally decided to turn in or pair off or whatever the fuck they planned on doing. He had the broom in his hand and he was about to put some music on the jukebox when he heard it—the distinctive “pop-pop” of rapid gunfire.

“Fuck!” He ran toward the back and threw up the floor rug before grabbing the ring and pulling hard on the heavy wooden door. It opened on a staircase, and he was jogging down it when he heard:

“Cody, grab a few and throw them up!” It was Handsome’s voice. Cody had seen him take one of the newer girls in the back room earlier. Nolan had been with him. Cody had never shared a woman but he couldn’t say the idea of it completely turned him off. At the moment, however, all that was on his mind was what the fuck was going on now?

He put the combination into the gun safe and pulled it open. He heard the footsteps behind him and turned to hand the first automatic rifle he pulled out to Pablo, who handed it to Nolan, and Nolan handed it on up to Handsome. They did that, two at a time, until all the automatic rifles were gone. Cody grabbed a handgun, made sure it was loaded, and stuffed it in his jeans. “Give me one,” Pablo said. Cody grabbed two more, handing one to him and the other to Nolan as the three men made their way up the stairs. Handsome had his phone in one hand and the big rifle in the other. “Did you call Dax? Fuck. Okay. Stay put and if they come back your way, stay low.” He put the phone down and Nolan said:

“What?”

“Rocky is up at the gate. He says two big, black SUVs stormed the gates. While one drove through, the other shot up the gatehouse before he could even get to his gun. The windows are tinted and he couldn’t see anything other than an arm dressed in black out the window. He called Dax but it went straight to voicemail.”

“He’s in town with Angel. Did they try her phone?”

Handsome tossed his to Cody and said, “You call her. I need to get out front and see where these fuckers went.” As Cody pressed in Angel’s number the guys split up with Handsome going to the front door and Nolan and Pablo to the back. Cody left a message for Angel to have Dax call any one of them ASAP and then he went to join Handsome at the front. As he passed the kitchen he saw Tank. He hadn’t known the old man was still at the clubhouse. Tank had a rifle in his hand and he was standing about five feet from the back door, ready to shoot anyone that walked through it.

Handsome was looking out through a crack in the door. It seemed quiet outside to Cody…too quiet. “I think they’re headed up to Dax and Angel’s place. They’re fucking bold—they’re looking to do battle. I’m glad the prez and his lady are out.”

“Oh, fuck! Fuck!” Cody was pushing his way out the door.

“Whoa, prospect! What the fuck?” Handsome asked him.

“Angel and Dax aren’t there but Harley is!”

“What? Who?”

“Fuck, Handsome, please just let me go! She’s at Dax and Angel’s house all alone! She’s Angel’s friend, her name is Hannah.”

“The little redhead?”

“Yes!” Cody was on the verge of turning the rifle in his hands on Handsome, respect or not. Thankfully, Handsome pushed him out the door and they both ran for their bikes. Nolan and Pablo didn’t know what was going on, but they were right behind them. Rocky knew to notify everyone else on the ranch; as they drove toward Dax’s house, which was the furthest from the clubhouse on the ranch, they passed other brothers on their way to the clubhouse. As they did, they turned their bikes around and followed Handsome and Cody.

Cody took the turn on the dirt road too fast and nearly dumped his bike. Thankfully he was able to get control back of it before that happened, but that was when he saw the black SUVs parked in front of the little white house. He opened his throttle as wide as it would go. All it would take was to hit a rock and he’d break his fucking neck, but he didn’t care. If these bastards touched one hair on Harley’s head, he was going to kill every last one of them with his bare hands. He started to downshift and slow down too late, and his bike struck one of the SUVs before he came to a stop. He just let the bike fall and ran toward the house. He could hear Handsome calling out to him and he was torn. He’d promised Dax he wouldn’t go off on his own any longer…but Harley was inside with these guys, alone…

“Cody!” He stopped and waited for Handsome to catch up. Handsome grabbed his arm and pulled him behind one of the SUVs just as the men who were now inside the house opened fire. “You’re going to get your fucking head blown off and then you won’t be able to help her, do you hear me?” Cody nodded. Handsome took a couple of shots at the house, but there were four windows on the top floor and four on the bottom so it was hard to tell where the return shots were coming from. When the gunfire settled down, the others moved into position around them behind the two SUVs.

“Who are they?” Beezy asked. “What do the fuckers want?”

“No idea, but they knew exactly where they were going when they got here. According to Cody, they have a hostage in there. One of Angel’s friends was staying at the house.”

“Fuck,” Nolan said. “So what’s the plan?”

“Nolan and Pablo, I want you to go around back…”

“I can get in the basement,” Cody said.

“What?”

“I know how to get into Dax’s house through the basement. I did it for years when I was a kid so he didn’t know I was sneaking in.”

Handsome shook his head at him. “You’re a mess, kid. Okay, Nolan and Pablo go cover the back door. Twister!” The youngest prospect of the club stepped up at the sound of his name. He was six foot five but he still had a baby face. Cody thought he looked like a cartoon character, but Dax had told him the kid was a crack shot and had no fear. Those were two great qualities at a time like this. “Go with Cody. Both of you wait until I start drawing fire again and then stay low behind the second SUV and go when there’s enough confusion that they hopefully won’t notice you. If you have to, shoot these sonsabitches. Stay alive. We’ll sort out their bodies later.”

Twister said:

“Yes, sir.”

“Cody! Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t be a hero, because you’ll probably get yourself killed and her too.”

“Okay.” Cody glanced at Twister and then looked back at Handsome and said, “Sir.” Handsome’s lips twitched at that. He’d been around for Cody’s entire life and although Cody showed him the respect he deserved as VP, he never called him, or anyone, “sir.” He had his personal reasons for it. Those that didn’t know his reasons found it disrespectful. But the guys like Handsome and Dax knew that it was how the old man made him and Keller address him, usually right before he kicked the shit out of one or both.

“Okay, get ready!” Handsome stepped out from behind the SUV and the bullets immediately began to fly. Cody and Twister got low to the ground and as soon as all the guys were returning fire and chaos ruled the moment, the two young men ran toward the side of the house. When they got to where the ivy was growing wild up the side of the house, Cody looked at Twister and said:

“Start pulling this ivy out of the way. Dax keeps it grown up like this so no one can find the entrance.” Twister and Cody pulled at the ivy, ripping pieces of it out of the ground, while the sounds of gunfire continued to deafen them. Twister was the first one to find part of the wooden door.

“Cody, I got it.”

“Good, now stand back.” Twister looked confused, but he stood up and stepped back as Cody aimed the handgun at the ground.

“What are you doing?” Cody took two shots at it and said:

“It’s locked. When I was a kid I stole the key out of the house.” Thanks to the gunfire still ringing out in the front of the house, the two shots Cody took barely sounded like anything. He reached down and pulled off the broken pieces of wood until he was able to pull up on the door. The ivy held it more firmly in place than a lock. “Help me,” he told Twister. Cody got the door up about three inches and Twister leaned down and put his hands underneath the wood, and they pulled at the same time. The ivy ripped out of the ground and the door gave way. “There aren’t any stairs,” Cody told Twister. “It’s about a seven-foot drop.”

Twister smiled and made a face that said, “Really?” It would be like a seven-inch drop for him. Cody grabbed the sides of the opening and without taking the time to lower himself slowly, he dropped to the cement floor below. He felt his knees pop, but he bounced up and looked around the darkened room. It didn’t look like whoever was in the house had found it yet. While Twister was dropping in, Cody was already on his way up the stairs. The opening in the house was in the closet floor of the extra bedroom where Cody used to sleep. There was carpeting over it, but it wasn’t tacked down, or at least it never used to be.

At the top of the stairs Cody handed Twister his guns and used both hands to push up on the door. The closet was dark, in disarray, and the door was cracked open, but not wide. He lifted the door further and pulled himself up through the hole. He reached down before he stood up and got the guns from Twister. He’d just gotten to his feet when Twister appeared. The closet was tight for them both. Cody checked the room through the slot in the door and when he didn’t see anyone, he stepped out of the closet. The room was an office now, probably Angel’s, and it was torn up. A laptop lay smoking in the middle of the floor, the monitor shattered and the keyboard in pieces. It looked like whoever was here was angry about not finding what they were looking for.

Cody gave Twister his guns back and then he held his handgun in one hand and the automatic rifle in the other as he headed for the door. He listened against it for several seconds before pulling it open, slowly, with the pistol ready. It was a hallway and he knew it well…and it was empty. He gestured at Twister to follow him and they both walked as softly as 400 pounds of men, total, possibly could. They made it as far as the front bathroom before he heard voices. There were at least two men talking and they sounded angry.

“Where is it?”

“I’m telling you, asshole, I don’t live here. I don’t fucking know where it is.”

“Call him!”

“Who, Dax?”

“No, bitch! Fucking Santa Claus. Of course, Dax.”

“I don’t have his number.” Cody heard a slap, flesh on flesh, that made him both cringe and have to hold himself back at the same time, especially because Harley let out a little cry of pain. Fuckers were going to die. He looked at Twister and gestured for him to push back against the wall opposite him. They kept moving until they were right outside of the room where the voices were coming from.

“Call his bitch then.” If Cody didn’t get a chance to kill these bastards, he was going to take pleasure in telling Dax they called Angel a bitch. Dax would destroy them. He looked at Twister and gave him a “hold up” sign with his palm and then he listened again and heard Harley’s voice as she talked on the phone.

“Angel, it’s Hannah. I need you to call me as soon as you get this, please…There are some…” Cody heard her make a surprised noise. They must have pulled the phone out of her hand. “It was voicemail,” she said.

“I got that. Do I look like a fucking idiot to you?”

Cody wondered how badly Hannah wanted to say yes. She didn’t, however. She didn’t say anything, and for several long minutes no one spoke and there was no gunfire and the silence felt more deafening than all the noise had been earlier.