Page 23 of Oz (Marked Skulls MC 4)
Chapter 29
Oz
Church was over when I heard the sound of the bikes roaring past T-Bone. The rest of the MC had gone back to work, and only a few of us still remained at the bar.
The others were deep in conversation and busy cursing the Dark Legion, but my ears pricked up. I stood up from the bar stool and went over to the window to look outside.
Of course, those bikes could have belonged to anyone, but this was the perfect excuse for me to look out at the diner. Hoping to catch a glimpse of Kaya.
But instead of Kaya, I saw the bikes parked outside the diner and I knew.
“They’re here!” I shouted, pulling out my gun. The others looked over at me while I ran out. Girth, Rodeo and Abe were following me out. Some cars whizzed by before I could cross the street. My brothers followed me as I kicked open the door of the diner and burst in.
My gut was right. Those bikes belonged to the Dark Legion, but not them alone. The Hell’s Drifters were there, too. Six in total, and three of them were holding guns pointed at three people.
Kaya, Dash and Kaya’s friend, Melody.
“Guns down!” one of the guys from the Hell’s Drifters growled when we came in. Girth, Abe and Rodeo were behind me and stepped up. I couldn’t drag my stare away from Kaya.
One of the Dark Legions had her wrist in his hand. She was pulling her arm, trying to yank herself free, but then she saw me and stopped moving.
How the fuck had this happened?
How did we not have any intel on this?
Dash was in the middle, standing with his hands up in the air. There was a deep gash on his forehead. Clearly, he’d put up a fight. There was blood gushing down the side of his face. His gun was kicked out away from him.
In just a matter of a few minutes, since I heard the bikes, so much had happened.
If only I were here instead of Dash, then maybe I could have done something.
If only Kaya would have let me stay close to her.
She was crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and her beautiful curls were matted to her face.
The others at the diner were all sitting stock-still on their seats. A waitress and the rest of the kitchen staff were huddled behind the counter. Nobody had dared to call the cops or raise the alarm. Everyone in this neighborhood was aware of the consequences of pulling a stunt like that.
“Let the women go,” I growled as I lowered my gun.
Under any other circumstances, I wouldn’t have bothered to listen to their command. But now that Kaya was involved, I was willing to do anything to keep her safe, even if that included lowering my weapon.
“What makes you think we’re going to listen to a word you have to say, pretty boy?” It was one of the Dark Legion members who had spoken up now. I didn’t know him. He’d spent too much time in hiding.
I took a step towards them, and Melody started whimpering.
“You got us in here, so now we can talk. Leave the women out of this,” I tried again and the guy narrowed his eyes. He was standing to the side of Kaya, and took his gun out of his belt.
“Every step you take towards me, I take a step towards her. And don’t make me tell you what happens when I get to her,” he hissed, and I stopped in my tracks. “And who says we got what we wanted? The Cubans belong with us, not with you fuckers. Along with the rest of the territory you gained.”
“And you think we’re just going to hand our business over to you?” Rodeo growled behind me.
“No. You’re going to hand it to us in exchange for this precious little thing,” he replied, snarling at Kaya. It made my blood boil, to see her in shock, so scared. She was doing a good job of not breaking down. I stared at her and she stared right back at me.
“We can talk shop once you let them go,” I tried again and this time the guy laughed.
“You really think we’re idiots?”
“Well, you have been living under a rock for a year now,” I retorted, which made Girth, Dash and Abe smirk. But it pissed the Dark Legion off. They didn’t like being made fun of. Especially not now when they felt like they had control of the situation.
“Quit your jokes and give us what we want, pretty boy!” the guy continued and I took in a deep breath.
“Okay, we give you what you want, but you need to let go of the women first,” I tried again.
“We can stand here and chitter chatter for hours all you like, boy, but that ain’t gonna happen. I can see you’re more concerned about this one here than your business. So, if you want her back and alive, you’re going to give us what we want or she stays with us.”
He’d stepped up closer to Kaya now, and she continued to stare at me.
“That is not going to happen.”
Rodeo was standing his ground. Lewis was not going to be a fan if we just handed over territory and contacts to them. But right now, I didn’t care about any of that because Kaya was involved.
“If we did that, it would take time. And we’re not going to start the process unless we know you’re sticking to your end of the bargain,” I said.
“Oz!” Rodeo growled, but before he could add anything to that, a gun went off. The Dark Legion asshole had shot his gun in the air.
We all had our weapons out and pointed at them. All six of them were pointing their weapons at us too. The only way we could outnumber them right now was if Lewis got the rest of our MC back here in time.
“Enough with the pleasantries. Turn around, walk out, and get us what we want. If not, we start shooting these kids one by one. Starting with your girlfriend.” He was looking straight at me and I clutched the gun harder in my hand.
What was I capable of doing if he harmed Kaya? If he even touched her?
I didn’t have an answer to that question.
“Get the fuck out of this place and get us what we want!” he growled again.
I wasn’t thinking. All I saw, was red. All I saw was his hand reaching out towards Kaya’s shoulder. Her lips were trembling. He was touching her now and I squeezed. The trigger pulled and a bullet shot out of my gun. It struck a knee. The knee of the guy who was holding onto Kaya.
Chaos broke loose and there was gunfire everywhere. I ducked, trying to run towards Kaya, but a bullet caught my leg and slowed me down. I had no idea who was shooting at whom anymore. All I could see was Kaya, and the Dark Legion motherfucker who was holding
her now.
She was screaming. She was struggling to get free from him.
Then, I saw Melody. She had broken free from her captor and she dived towards Kaya, but the man shot her. Her scream was deafening. Or was it Kaya who screamed?
I tried to run towards them, but it was Girth holding me back.
“You step anywhere close to her, and he’s going to shoot her next!” he whispered hoarsely in my ear.
Melody fell in a slump on the ground. The guy released his grip on Kaya and she fell down on the floor, covering her friend’s body with herself.
“You monster!” she screamed. Abe, Girth, Rodeo and I had no choice but to hold back. The five of them were standing guard over Melody and Kaya.
One of them stepped forward and tried to pull Kaya away and she screamed and kicked at him.
“Let her do what she wants to do,” the Dark Legion guy said.
Melody was shot in the shoulder and was lying on the ground staring up at the ceiling. If she got medical attention in time, she would make it. But I didn’t know if they were going to let her out.
Kaya was screaming and crying. I wanted to get to her, but Girth was right. They wouldn’t let me get anywhere close to her.
“Apply pressure on her wound!” I shouted. Kaya looked at me over her shoulder.
“Oz, we have to help her!” she sobbed, placing her hands on Melody’s shoulder.
The others were just standing there in silence, watching the scene that was unfolding.
“You’ve fucking hurt an innocent woman!” Rodeo raged. The Dark Legion leader turned to us now.
“None of this would have happened if pretty boy hadn’t pulled the trigger,” he spat.
“She needs to go to the hospital,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm.
“And we need our power back,” he retorted.
“We’ll do it,” I said.
“Oz!” Rodeo snarled behind me.
“Let them go. Let the two of them go, right now!” I was speaking directly to the asshole, while he stared back at me.
“And why should I believe a word you’re saying?” he asked and I gritted my teeth in anger.
