Page 85 of Wicked Shadows
“Fine. She’s all yours,” Nutcrusher ceded. “It is strange, though, how protective you are over a girl you don’t even know.”
“I’m protective over this entire play we’re making. You screw it up, you screw me over. Any man who screws me over ends up without a fucking head.”
“You two can’t take a joke for shit,” Bone chimed in. His easy laugh was meant to lighten the mood in the room. But the nervous edge to it contradicted his intent.
“We can take a joke just fine. None of this was fucking funny, though.” Nick adjusted his stance but kept his gun arm hidden.
Nutcrusher moved away from Shadow and Elle, back toward Bone. Shadow sensed they were refortifying their positions, moving back into attack mode by aligning their combined force. Bone pulled his hands from his front pockets, giving Shadow a quick glimpse of something in his hand. He began walking toward Nick, palming something suspicious.
Nick’s keen eyes homed in on Bone’s movements. His fingers gripped his gun, and he mentally prepared for a shootout. The problem was his conscience got in the way. He made a note of where every woman stood and the likelihood she’d be hit in the cross fire. Bone and Nutcrusher wouldn’t care about collateral damage. Nick’s gaze drifted to Shadow, and he caught the tail end of a secret signal.
Shadow slid two fingers across his throat.
Their cover was blown.
Though Nick saw it coming, he remained in place and let Bone think he had the upper hand in his surprise attack. Bone lifted his hand to Nick’s face and pumped the sprayer several times in quick succession. Nick threw his hand up, forcefully knocking Bone backward while wiping his face with his other arm. Bone, shocked Nick wasn’t unconscious on the floor, was temporarily confused and didn’t see Nick’s right hook until it was too late. His head jerked violently to the side, his feet stumbled under his shaky legs, and he went down to the ground. Nick drew his gun and held it on Bone.
Shadow corralled the ladies and rushed them into the kitchen area, toward the door to the garage, and out of the line of fire. He turned in the doorway, ready to fight to the death. With his gun in his hand, he faced Bone and Nutcrusher, resisting the urge to shoot them both in the head, take Elle home, and be done with the entire farce.
“What the fuck was that, Bone?” Nick roared, testing whether their covers were truly blown.
Bone pushed up to stand and glared at Nick, his face hard and angry. “We all know what you are, pig. You and your friend here. At least one of you is undercover. I don’t really care which one of you is the rotten pig and which one isn’t—or if you both are. Our orders are to kill you both, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“You two think you can take us?” Shadow asked, the first genuine smile in weeks covering his face. “By all means, let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Everyone just calm the fuck down. Why would you accuse me of being undercover? I’ve ridden beside you for the last two years, had your back countless times, and you’ve repeatedly insulted me. What the fuck have I ever done to you?”
“You’re the one who put my little brother away. You are an undercover cop, and you had him arrested at that bar almost two years ago. We never had one problem until you joined.” Bone’s face turned beet red, anger and hatred welling up inside him.
“It wasn’t him,” Axle said, entering the room behind Bone. “It was me.”
“You?” Bone whirled around, his jaw slack and his eyes wide. “You’ve been with us for years.”
“And I have so much shit on you, I could put you away tomorrow and you’d never see the light of day again.”
Bone roared with thunderous rage. He moved with lightning speed and drew his gun on Axle. In an instant, Axle’s gun was out, and he fired at Bone first. Bone dropped to the floor, narrowly missing the bullet that passed by his head. Nutcrusher pulled his gun and began shooting, the adrenaline flowing out of control, making his hands shake and the bullets fly indiscriminately.
“Get out of here, wait in the garage,” Shadow yelled to the ladies.
Once they were out of harm’s way, Shadow moved beside Nick, behind cover. “We can’t let them shoot Axle, man. We have to take them out.”
Nick nodded. Uncertainty clouded his eyes, but his sense of right and wrong won. If that meant revealing his true identity, he could live with that easier than knowing he’d let a fellow agent die in his place.
What seemed to take hours had literally only been seconds. The events escalated so quickly, Shadow lost count of the number of shots that had been exchanged. He raised up from behind the overturned table and aimed his gun at Axle. When Nutcrusher saw Shadow’s movement, a broad smile of victory covered his face. Shadow knew Axle had taken all suspicion off Nick and him.
When Nutcrusher turned his gaze back in Axle’s direction, Shadow adjusted his arm and his cross hairs. Directly on Nutcrusher’s temple. He centered and squeezed the trigger, incapacitating him instantly.
“You want Bone, or want me to take him?” Shadow whispered to Nick while Axle and Bone continued to exchange fire. Screams of terror emanated from the garage, echoing off the high ceiling with every shot.
“I’ll take him. I’ve hated that guy for two fucking years.”
Nick eased around the table and crouched behind a chair, lining his sights up with Bone’s head. While Axle had him occupied, Nick pulled the trigger. Just as the bullet left the barrel, Bone dropped his extra clip and bent to grab it. The shot whizzed by, obviously coming from a different direction. Bone jerked his head up, his eyes met Nick’s, and the disgusted expression on his face confirmed he knew Axle wasn’t the only undercover officer. Nick’s choice was gone—he couldn’t let Bone live and expose them to the other 300 chapter members.
Axle sprinted to a new position and squeezed off another shot. The bullet hit Bone’s shoulder. He spun around and fell to the floor with a howl of pain. Axle moved closer and fired another shot just as Bone rolled behind the door. Silence filled the clubhouse one heartbeat too long.
“Bone! You can’t hide from me for long. Come out here and face me like a man, you pussy!” Axle yelled.
“Move to that side and check. I’ll take the other. Let’s get this motherfucker.” Shadow took a covering position beside the door, and Nick joined him on the opposite side. With precision and determination, Shadow slowly pushed the door open to give Nick a better view inside. Not seeing Bone in his field of view, Nick moved farther into the room, his gun drawn and his senses heightened.
