“Is he breathing?”

Jackal blinked up at the ceiling, seeing Stump bent over him, filling his vision.

“Of course. She just rattled his brain.” Viper tried to lift him.

“Give me a minute.” Jackal was going to lose the small amount of food he had forced himself to eat.

“Whoa, brother, you need a breath mint.” Stump’s face disappeared from his sight.

“Ready?” Shade’s face took his place.

“Yeah.” Jackal let Shade and Viper lift him. Swaying a bit, he took a minute to feel steady on his feet. Then Jackal nodded his head for them to let him go.

A series of explosions went off in his head.

“Give him a chair.”

Viper moved so Shade could slide a chair under him.

“What did she hit me with?” Jackal held his hand to his aching head.

“Your plate.”

Shade’s muffled voice had Jackal wanting to look up, but he knew he would vomit if he moved.

“That bitch took him out!” Stump chortled. “If she weren’t your woman, I’d marry her.”

“Where did she go?” Jackal asked as the men sat back down at the table. He couldn’t make up his mind whether he wanted to know to protect himself or kill her.

“She went to say good-bye to Lily and Beth.”

Shade’s amusement had Jackal wanting to hit him with another plate on the table.

“I’m going with her,” Genny announced, standing in the doorframe of the dining room.

“Genny, don’t go.” Winter placed an arm around her shoulder.

“Penni offered me a job as a caterer for the band the night my house exploded. I’ve thought it over, and I think it’s the best for me.”

“Where will you live?”

Winter’s tearful voice had Genny’s face crumpling.

“I’ll be living on the bus with their other workers. Right now, I don’t want to live in another house or apartment. When I’m ready, I’ll find another place to live. I have no ties, so I can live wherever I want to.”

“You have ties. Willa and I will miss you.”

“I can Facetime you and Willa, and I can see you when Penni comes in to visit. I can ride in with her.” Genny sounded positive, but the pain in her eyes showed it was a lie. When Genny left, she wouldn’t be coming back. “I need to go and tell Penni I’m going to take her up on her offer and pack my bags.”

“I’ll come help,” Winter told her.

The two women exited the room, leaving them all staring after them.

“Does this mean that we’ll have to start doing chores again?” Ember broke the silence.

Raci ran out of the room, crying.

“Do you want me to stop her?”

Viper shook his head at Shade. “No. Tell Alec to watch her. I’ll add her to the payroll.”

Jackal took a drink of his water. His head began to feel like it was attached to his shoulders again.

“I have to go get showered and changed. Don’t let Penni leave before I can talk to her.”

“No, you’re going to stay away and let her leave. I need your head on straight until we can get the cartel taken care of. Then you can chase after Penni,” Ice ordered.

Jackal managed to stand up despite his swimming head. He glared at Hennessy. “I should have killed DJ myself. I knew he was a fuckup; you knew he was a fuckup—hell, DJ knew he was a fuckup. The only reason we’re all in this position is because I didn’t kill him when Ice told me to.”

Hennessy started to lunge toward Ice, but Jackal pushed him back down.

“I knew DJ was going to drag you down. I lost my brother”—Ice smacked a hand on his chest—“when you turned your back on the Predators.”

Hennessy relaxed back in his chair. “I couldn’t leave him.”

“And we couldn’t let him stay. You have your own club now. You’ve learned a hard lesson, one Viper and I already learned. A weak link will destroy your club. You can’t break the chain if it’s made of steel.”

“I can’t handle this deep shit. I’m gonna go change my jeans.” Jackal walked through the dining room.

“Lunch ready?” Max asked as he swerved out of Jackal’s way when they passed on the landing. “You smell and look like a vampire pissed on you.”

“Penni cooked lunch.”

Max gave him a pitying look. “She try to kill you again? Brother, when you gonna understand that bitch wants you dead?”

“When she marries me, you can be my best man,” Jackal said half-jokingly.

Max took out his wallet, taking out a card and handing it to him. “Call her.”

“Who is she?”

“My life insurance agent. Take out enough for me to bury you. If not, then fuck her. At least she won’t kill you.”

“I like to live dangerously.”

“How do you think being dead will feel?”

“She wouldn’t seriously try to hurt me.”

Max looked at him incredulously. “How’d you get that blood on your forehead?”

“Penni hit me with a plate.”

“You sure you don’t want me to ride her out in the mountains and leave her?”

“She’s a bad Penni; they always show up,” Jackal wisecracked.

Max slapped him on the back, knocking him into the wall. “Keep your sense of humor. You’re going to need it.”

“Which jackass is making all that fucking noise?” Mag bellowed from inside the room.

Max went pale, running down the steps like a bear was chasing after him.

“Lord, what have I done to deserve you sending me to live with this pack of heathens?” Mag lamented. “Heavenly Father, call me home.”

“Lord, either you answer her prayer, or I will.”

* * *

Jackal was jerked awake when the alarms blared throughout the hallways. He jumped out of bed, already dressed, reaching for his gun. He then ran from the room.

Jackal almost fell down the flight of steps when he saw Mag on the landing.

“Why in the hell aren’t you in your room?”

“You worry about your own sorry ass, and I’ll worry about mine!” the old bitch mouthed off to him.

He was ready to throw her over his shoulder and carry her back to her room when Cash came running up the steps, tossing Mag a rifle.

“First man who comes out the door I don’t recognize, I’m gonna blow their heads off! I ain’t afraid of no damn cartel. I was raised to shoot at revenuers when they came snooping around.”

Cash took his place on the landing next to her, telling Jackal, “Go on downstairs. I’ve got the upstairs covered.”

Jackal saw the three Porter brothers running up the steps. He expected them to line up beside Cash, but they didn’t.

Dustin stopped on the last step, the step down was Greer, and the next step down was Tate. Dustin and Greer braced their shotguns on their shoulders. All three were aiming at the door. Rider stood by the door with a pistol in his hands.

Jackal ran into the living room. He was going to take the spot behind the pool table, but Train and Razer were both there with AKs. Therefore, he hastily took a spot behind the bar where Drake, Hennessy, and Cruz were.

Viper came out of the swinging door from the kitchen. “As soon as we open the door, Knox and Stud’s men will block them in the parking lot so they can’t escape. Both basement doors are locked down. The Predators have the kitchen.” He took a quick glance around the room. “Rider, open the door and let the sons of bitches in.”

Jackal aimed his Glock at the door, watching Rider open the door. The men running into the room didn’t know what hit them. They made it past the entryway before they started being gunned down, the sound of gunfire deafening.

A few turned back toward the door, but men coming in blocked their path. Others tried to run into the dining room, and the sounds coming from there showed they had met the same end.

Viper kicked the bodies to the side, opening the way to let men inside. Blood blossomed on Viper’s leg then, showing he had been hit.

Holding his position, Jackal shot the man as he was lifting his gun to shoot Viper again.

Jackal then moved from behind the bar, kicking more bodies out of the way, positioning himself next to Viper. “Get behind the bar.”

Viper didn’t move, shooting at more coming in through the door. Then Jackal and Viper moved backward as the bodies fell.

One man came in, terrified, and tried to grab Rider. As they struggled, Tate put a bullet in his skull.

When those outside stopped trying to get inside, the Porters, Rider, and Viper moved toward the door, going to them.

Jackal waited inside with the rest of The Last Riders, checking to make sure those littering the floor were dead. Those who were still living had their guns removed and were lined against the wall, moaning in pain.

Viper came back inside, limping. “That’s the last of them. The DEA is here. Train, call Shade; tell him it’s over. We won’t let the women up until we have the mess cleared.” Viper had moved the women into the basement last night. “Anyone who doesn’t want to have their guns checked for ballistics, give them to Drake. He’ll stash them until the DEA leaves.”

Jackal handed Drake his weapon, and several others gave theirs. Then Drake went to the kitchen, coming back with an armful of guns before going up the steps.

“Show me where you’re putting them. You have your hands full.” Tate took his brothers’ shotguns, following Drake.

“You need to go to the hospital to get that leg checked out.” Jackal gave Viper a bar towel to stem the blood soaking his leg.

“Train will patch me up. I’m not leaving.”

“Suit yourself.” Jackal shrugged, raising his hands in the air as the DEA agents came in with raised guns.

It took four hours before Viper let the women come upstairs.

Jackal went behind the bar, taking a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet under the bar. He was surprised it wasn’t broken with the amount of bullets that had hit the bar from the front.

Train went to the kitchen, coming out with paper cups. Jackal poured all the men a drink.

“Fuck, the television has a crack on it,” Rider complained.

“None of the liquor was broken, but your TV is fucked.” Jackal took a drink of his whiskey before pouring one for Ice.

“That’s because Viper had a sheet of steel running through it.” Rider took several bottles of beer out of the cooler behind the bar, placing them on the bar for the men to reach.

Jackal and Ice stared at the men, taking the whisky bottle and passing it around, instead.

“I told you that you had to step up your game. That’s a five-hundred-dollar bottle of whiskey,” Jackal chided Ice.

“How many bottles does Viper have under there?”

Jackal poured himself a cupful. “I saw three or four.”

“Slip them out here and put them in my saddlebags. As soon as the shit clears, we’re out of here.”

“If you’re going to steal from a man, at least wait until I can’t hear what you’ll be taking.”

Ice took the whiskey back, pouring some in Viper’s cup. “Call it a parting gift. I was going to take the TV.”