Page 29 of Fox (Road Rebels MC 4)
“Laiken! We gotta fire back! Drawing their fire isn’t gonna do us a damn bit of good if they’ve got more ammo than us. We gotta take them out,” Hawk said.
“No! No one’s dying today,” Laiken said.
“Except the fucking women we’ve got stashed in the back,” I said.
“Then you should’ve thought about that, shouldn’t you?” Laiken asked.
Fucking hell. I cursed underneath my breath as Talon and I continued to skirt the edge of the lodge. As long as we could draw their fire to the front of the building, the civilians we loved in the back would be safe. But this was my mess I had to clean up. It was my fault the KG9’s were on our turf right now shooting at us. It was my fault for giving The Devil’s Saints someone to team up with. I wanted to take every single one of them out. Watch them bleed out on the side of the road for ambushing us like this.
Then, in a heartbeat, it was silent outside.
There were no more gunshots and no more splintering wood. No more crying and no more screaming. No more crashing windows and no more cocking guns.
I looked over at Laiken as she furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Laiken?” I asked in a whisper. “The fuck’s going on?”
But I didn’t have to wait for her answer to figure out what.
The front door of the lodge burst open as Beast walked through the threshold. He was holding an AR-15, ready to decimate us at a moment’s notice. Calais was beside him, grinning deviously as his eyes locked onto mine. I gripped tightly onto my gun, ready to take them out at a moment’s notice.
But Laiken lifted her hand, signaling me to stand down.
Was she fucking crazy?
“Quit being scared little fucking pussies!” Beast exclaimed. “Come face me like the men you claim to be!”
Everyone was pretty well hidden, and Syd had somehow managed to calm Gemma down in the back. I still didn’t hear Harlow, but now it was a grace rather than a worry. Laiken was between the fridge, and the wall and Mac was down behind the couch. I was in the shadows, poised right in front of them as they looked around the room. I had no fucking idea where anyone else was, and I didn’t care.
I had a straight shot right into Calais’ chest, and I raised my gun to my side to take aim.
I could feel Laiken’s eyes on me, begging me to stand down. She was shaking her head and trying to get my attention, but I knew where they were headed next. Any idiot could tell we were trying to draw their fire away from the back of the building, and Beast hadn’t been elected President of the most ruthless biker gang for no fucking reason. He knew we had people we cared about.
And just like I thought, the two of them started making their way to the back rooms.
Where Syd, Emery, Gemma, and Harlow were stashed.
My eyes connected with Laiken as I rose my gun into the air. She was shaking her head violently, ready to step out from the shadows and throw herself to the dogs. I was having a very serious talk with her after this shit was over. Once I put a bullet between the eyes of Beast and Calais, I was going to figure out why the fuck she was willing to sacrifice the people we loved to fuel her own fucking agenda.
Then, I heard sirens wailing outside.
I expected the sirens to spook Beast and Calais, but it didn’t stop them in their tracks. All it did was make them speed up their antics. They went from strutting with pride to striding across the room, and I held my ground for as long as I could. Mac was ready to pop out from behind the couch and spotted Talon in the darkness, and I could tell he was getting uneasy. Hawk came out from behind the front door, his eyes wide as he looked over at me.
I couldn’t let him go down like that. He had a wife and a kid to take care of.
I watched Beast’s hand come down on my doorknob as the sirens got closer. Fuck this shit. I couldn’t wait any longer.
I jumped out from the shadows, aiming my gun at the back of Beast’s head. Calais turned around, his eyes connecting with mine as I readied my weapon for action.
Then the gunshots started up again as I fired at both of them.
Chapter 26
Harlow
I was hunkered down in Fox’s bathtub, but I could hear a little girl crying in the next room. The gunshots were flying every which way, but the only thing I could focus on was the fear in that little girl’s voice. If she kept crying, they would come looking for us. They would find us, and they would kill us, and there would be nothing any of the guys or that woman could do about it. I felt my heart slamming into my chest. The shattering glass caused me to yelp, forcing me to clamp my hand over my mouth. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as the gunfire began to move, no longer slamming into the bedroom so close to me.
But the little girl was still crying.
Without thinking, I slipped from the tub. The darkness was heavy, and I slowly inched the bathroom door open to see what was going on. Fox’s room was a mess. Holes in the mattress. Splintered glass all along the floor. There was a chair in the corner that looked more like a put-together toothpick than a chair. I could hear the muffled sounds of someone sniffling as soft voices wafted from just beyond Fox’s bedroom door.
Did I take that chance?
Did I try to go make sure they were okay?
I crawled on my hands and knees, biting down on my lower lip as my skin ran across bits of glass and shards of wood. I reached for the doorknob to the bedroom door and slowly inched it open as gunfire continued to ring out. People were shouting and scurrying about, and I could hear motorcycles revving heavily outside. But the hallway was dark and empty, so I took the chance.
I got to my feet and ran into the bedroom adjacent to me.
I shut the door behind me as the gunfire grew frantic again. I dove behind the bed, covering my head as I eyed the bathroom door. I could see it cracked open, just enough for me to peer inside and see some movement. There were two people in the bathroom, and I knew it had to be them. The woman with the kind smile who ushered me into Fox’s room in the first place and her little girl.
I sucked back my tears of fear as I crawled to the bathroom door. I inched it open and heard someone draw in a sharp breath. I knew they were scared. I knew this woman was probably getting ready to defend her child at all costs. If I wasn’t careful, she probably had something she could whack me over the head with.
So, I held up my hand and waved.
“What in the world are you doing?”
I felt someone grab my wrist before I slid into the bathroom. I reached back and kicked the door shut behind me as darkness encompassed the room. I could hear the little girl sniffling. I could hear her whimpering with fear. I got to my feet and stepped into the bathtub with the two of them, feeling someone small cuddle up to my leg.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I said. “Everything’s gonna be all right.”
“Harlow, right?”
I looked up to where the voice was coming from and saw a pair of eyes staring back at me in the darkness.
“Yes,” I said. “What’s your name?”
“Sydney. Guys call me ‘Syd.’ This is Emery, Hawk’s daughter.”
“Which one’s Hawk?” I asked.
Gunshots rang out again in droves as we ducked into the tub. I threw my body over Emery while Syd threw her body over mine. I could feel her back heaving with sobs. She was latched onto her mother’s leg, tugging at her pants as I tried to comfort her and keep her quiet. We had to get her calmed down. If those men outside heard us, they would co
me for us and use us as leverage.
At least, that was how I thought it would work.
“Show you later,” Syd said with a whisper.
It seemed like the gunfire would never stop. The bedrooms were torn to shreds, and I was scared they would come back and fire off more bullets. There wasn’t much surface area to protect us any longer, which meant if they came back for a second round we stood a higher chance of getting hit. Emery was shaking beneath me as Syd began to crawl out of the bathroom, and I grabbed her hand to try and get her to stay.
“There’s a room with no windows in the very back. Way down the hallway. We gotta get down there. It’s the only way we’re gonna survive this,” Syd said.
I drew in a deep breath, trying to find the courage I had before. I gathered a shaking Emery in my arms as we started out of the bathroom, trying to keep low to avoid attention. Everything had fallen silent again, and no one was making a sound. I was peppering kisses along Emery’s cheeks, cooing in her ear to get her to calm down. Now more than ever, she needed to be quiet. She could cry during the gunfire because it covered her sounds, but when it was silent like this, she needed to settle herself down.
Otherwise, they would come for us.
We poked our heads out into the hallway as the eerie silence descended. At first, I thought it was over. Until I heard footsteps walking around outside. Sydney took my hand while I clung to Emery with all my strength and we darted down the hallway. Making our way into the darkness and stopped just shy of a door. We opened the door and got inside, locking it behind us before we sat on the bed.
The darkness in that room was thicker than I’d ever known darkness to be.
But we were safe.
I passed Emery over to her mother as I began to draw deep breaths. I wasn’t sure what to make of the silence, but something told me things weren’t over yet. I had been so preoccupied with Emery and her tears that I hadn’t noticed tears spilling down my own face. I fought the urge to sniffle as I drew in a shaky breath, trying to keep my wits about me as I wiped at my face. Where was Fox? And Emery’s father? And the rest of the guys? Shouldn’t they be calling for us? Telling us, it’s okay to come out. I felt my stomach rolling with nerves for the first time since I’d slipped from Fox’s room. I felt like I was going to vomit. Like I was going to pass out on this floor at any second.
