“Always quick to lay it on the line,” he comments. “While I appreciate that, there are some things I should make clear.”
“We’re listening, Parrish,” Pipe says.
“Yankovich is watching every woman associated with the club. His parting words to me were that Reina looks good holding my son. That means right now there is a strong possibility he has a man parked in front of my house. It also means, there’s likely one parked in front of each of yours as well,” he turns to Blackie. “It means, if Lacey is showering, he’s watching.” His gaze settles over Pipe. “It means, when Layla serves her children supper, he’s watching.” He looks at Riggs. “When Lauren pushes that boy of yours on a swing, there’s a man watching them.” Next, he turns to Deuce. “He’s watching Ally too, probably reminiscing about his time with her.”
Deuce’s jaw clenches and Stryker fists the back of his cut.
“Now, if you’re riding with me, we round them all up and put them on lockdown at my house. Someone needs to stay behind and watch over them.”
“I’ll stay,” Needles offers.
“I will to if you need a second but, I want this motherfucker too,” Bas says.
“Needles, you stay. Bas, I’m going to need you to direct me,” Jack replies.
“I’ll stay with the woman,” Bianci offers.
Sighing, Artie crosses his arms.
“My men and I are at your disposal. We’ll protect your family.”
Jack nods his head in appreciation before turning back to the club.
“If any of you want to walk, now would be the time to do so. If you have a shred of doubt, if you think I’m too crazy to fulfill my duty as the leader of this club, now is the time for you to leave. Take your fucking cut off and go. I won’t hunt you. I won’t kill you. This is your pardon but, it’s the only one you’re ever going to get so use it wisely.”
My eyes drift over the faces of the men I’ve come to call my brothers. It’s hard to believe that I’ve seen every one of them smile at one point. That they are capable of jokes. It’s hard to fathom that they aren’t natural born killers fueled by the ice in their veins. And, as they all step forward it’s inconceivable that they’re all not fucking crazy like Jack.
“We’re doing this my way,” Jack announces, sweeping his eyes around the room. “You don’t ask questions, you just do as you’re fucking told.”
“The Bulldog is coming out, aye?” Pipe questions.
“He’s hungry,” Jack responds before continuing. “No bikes.”
“What are we going to do? Fly?” Riggs questions, pulling the sunglasses from his face.
“You ever drive a bus before?”
“Do I look like Ralph fucking Cramden?”
“Saddle up Ralphie boy, today’s your lucky day. Now, go pull them off the lot. We’re going to need two. Maybe, three.”
Riggs rolls his eyes but walks over to the peg board and grabs the key ring for the buses before jogging toward the lot.
Jack turns to Pipe.
“How deep did you bury those pipe bombs?”
Lifting an eyebrow, Pipe crosses his arms against his chest.
“What’re you asking me, Parrish?”
“Would it be quicker for you to craft some more or are the ones you took out of here accessible?”
“Jesus, fuck, what are we doing?”
“Answer the question, Pipe,” Jack growls.
“If I got three guys digging, we’ll get them out in under an hour but, they’re in Staten Island.”
“Then, I guess you better get your ass over the Verrazano,” Jack mutters, pointing to Stryker and Cobra. “You two go with him.”
Next, he turns to Deuce.
“A couple of weeks ago, you and I had a talk,” he starts. “You get what I asked of you?”
“I’ve been carrying it around in my back pocket waiting for this day to come,” he replies. Jack smiles at the response.
“Very good,” he praises. “Now, grab every fucking weapon you can find and load those buses.”
“Where do you want me?” Blackie questions.
“Riggs can’t drive two buses, you drive the other one.”
“I belong with you,” he argues.
“No, you don’t. If something happens to the both of us where does that leave the club? You drive the bus.”
“What are you driving?”
He juts his finger toward the ambulance.
“9-11 what’s your emergency? I got a dead Russian.”
Blackie nods.
“Impressive, Parrish.”
“Never doubt me, brother. I may be a fucking lunatic but, I’m a manipulative motherfucker at heart,” Jack claims before turning to me. “And, then there was the man of the hour left standing on unsteady legs.”
“You’re riding with me,” he says, advancing toward me.
“I’m ready when you are,” I retort.
“You’re lucky I quit smoking,” he says, waving a hand in front of his nose. “No one light a cigarette around this kid, you’ll blow him up.”
“You poured gasoline all over me.”
“Are you waiting for an apology?”
“Nope, just stating the facts. In case you forgot,” I reply.
My tone may be brazen and maybe I’m being naïve but, I don’t think Jack intends to kill me. For whatever reason, I trust Jack Parrish. I trust him to help me bring back Kelly safe and sound. The revelation of who I am is hurtful and my deceit another knife in his already wounded back but, he’s not like Sally. He’s not looking to teach me a lesson. Beneath the crazy, is a man who understands people make mistakes and while forgiveness may not be his strong suit, he knows when it’s warranted and when it’s not.
Stepping away from me, he turns to the paramedic removing a bullet with a pair of pliers. To the father kneeling over his son, holding his hand. Closing the distance between them, Jack stands behind Wolf and lays a hand on his shoulder.
“Take care of your boy,” he tells him.
I watch as Wolf glances up at him.
Brothers.
Not by blood but by choice.
“I’m sorry for lying to you,” Wolf croaks.
“I’m going to bring your niece back,” Jack promises. “I’m going to end this shit Cain left us all to die in and then we’re going to talk. You and I, we’re going to lay Cain to rest,” he adds, dropping his hand back to his side.
Glancing around the room, he draws in a deep breath and reaches into his pocket. Pulling out the orange prescription bottle, he unscrews the cap and knocks back his daily dose of Lithium. Tossing the empty bottle across the room, he claps his hands together.
“Let’s ride,” he shouts.
-Forty-
LINC
Leading us out of the garage and into the lot, Jack orders Bas to ride with us. The three of us squeeze into the front seat of the ambulance. It takes him a minute to acclimate to the emergency vehicle and truth be told, he looks completely out of place behind the wheel of anything much less an ambulance. Before we roll past the gates, he hands me his phone.
“Yankovich is going to call with the location where he wants to make the exchange.”
“The exchange?”
“You for your girl,” he clarifies.
“When did he say he’d call?”
“An hour.”
“It’s going to take longer than that to get to Purchase,” Bas tells him.
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Jack taunts. “You’ve never ridden bitch to the Bulldog before have you?”
“Can’t say that I have,” Bas mutters.
“Saddle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride to hell.”
Taking off with the two buses riding behind us, we make a pit stop in Staten Island to retrieve the pipe bombs, Pipe buried before heading to the devil’s lair. Jack’s plan seems promising but again, I can’t be sure I’m thinking straight.
All I keep picturing is Kelly’s face.
Not knowing the details
of how she was taken is driving me mad. It’s hard to remain positive. To not imagine her being tortured like Savannah. Knowing Yankovich is even more ruthless than Sally doesn’t help the situation and my mind starts to run wild. I think about the day I was discharged from the hospital and all the things I learned he did to the women my brothers love. How can I think he’ll spare her? That I’ll be enough to quell his thirst for pain and suffering.
“Don’t let him smell your fear,” Jack says, pulling me out of my head.
“What?”
“If you let him think you’re at his mercy, he’ll chew you up and spit you out. Make him believe you don’t give a fuck.”
“How do I do that?”
“Think about your girl,” he says simply. “Think with your heart,” he adds, pausing for a beat. “She’s got that Scotto blood,” he continues thoughtfully. “That makes her a beast.”
I don’t know if I’d call Kelly a beast but, she is resilient like her uncle. She’s a natural born fighter.
My little troublemaker.
My wild card.
She’s the one that’s invincible.
I remind myself of those things over and over, throughout the whole ride to Purchase, New York. I chant them in my head when the gates to the mansion come into view and I picture her pretty face, smiling at me when Jack flicks the switch on the dash for the sirens.
It’s a ride like no other.
The telltale sound of our pipes is nowhere to be found.
All that blares are the sirens.
Red and blue lights flash, illuminating the mansion and announcing our arrival.
Rolling down the window, Jack presses the call button on the intercom. A voice sounds in a foreign tongue and Bas leans over Jack.
“We’re responding to a call of distress,” Bas says.
More Russian bullshit sounds as a response.
Bas turns to Jack.
“The kids,” he mutters.
“We were told there are two small children inside that need medical attention. Now, if you don’t open the gates and let us respond to the call, we will have to call the authorities,” Bas says, shrugging his shoulders. A moment later the gates slide open and Jack steps on the gas.
“Pray,” he demands, speeding up.
“Whoa, what are you doing?” Bas shouts, bracing his hand on the dashboard.
Jack doesn’t reply. Instead, he slams his foot all the way down. The needle on the speedometer jumps as he drives the ambulance through the front door of Yankovich’s house.
“Get out,” he shouts.
I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline in my veins, the need to get Kelly back or simply instinct but, I climb out of the ambulance. The buses come to a stop and I follow Jack as he runs toward them. We take cover behind the bus as Blackie starts dispersing weapons. I’m not talking Glocks and pistols. I’m talking AK-47’s. It seems only fitting to break out the Russian developed assault rifles for Yankovich.
As we position ourselves, Yankovich’s men start firing at us and Jack commands us to take cover and to stand down. Pipe emerges from the bus with Deuce. Being banged up from the ordeal with Brantley, the original Knight instructs Deuce on how to ignite the handcrafted bombs that got him his road name.
“Go,” Pipe roars.
“Wait a minute,” I shout over the gunfire. “You can’t blow the house up if Kelly is in there.”
“Quiet,” Jack commands.
Before I can argue, Deuce sends the first bomb flying through the air. It smashes the window but doesn’t go off.
“Are they defective?” Jack growls.
“Give it a minute, Parrish,” Pipe calls over his shoulder. Handing Deuce another one, the first one erupts inside the house. Flames dance through the busted window as the second bomb goes off. Four more follow suit before the mansion is lit in hues of amber.
My knees buckle as I stare up at the three-story monstrosity. Pain shoots through my bad leg, threatening to drag me down. Before I fall, I feel hands start to tug at my clothes.
“What’s going on?” I question as Jack pulls my cut from me and Blackie pours a bottle of water over my head.
“More,” the vice president demands. Stryker hands him two more bottles. Blackie continues to pour water over me as Riggs hands me his jacket.
“Throw it on,” he shouts.
“You can’t go in there with the gasoline on you,” Jack growls.
“Shit,” Bas screams.
“What is it?” Jack calls.
“The kids,” he says, pointing to the second floor where a young woman stands on a balcony holding her two small children against her as the flames dance behind them. I lift my head at the sound of their cries for help and swallow the bile in my throat.
“Jack?” Blackie questions.
“Get the kids,” he barks. “You and Bas go save those fucking kids. The rest of you, follow me.”
When Jack Parrish commands you to follow him, your feet don’t wait for your brain to send the message. They do as they’re told—crippled and all—they charge into hell and because they’ve been trained by a descendant of Satan, they dodge and dance around the flames like a professional.
However, our feet aren’t the only part that’s been trained. We can sense a predator and hear a bullet heading straight for us. We’re practiced shooters who know when to take cover and when to pull the trigger. Like, Jack’s crazy is methodical so is the art of killing.
And, kill we do.
Busting into the burning sanctuary of the devil himself, we fire away. The bullets spray wildly, dropping one dirty Russian after another.
Suddenly, the gunfire settles and all that sounds is the crackling flames engulfing the house.
“Yankovich,” Jack screams, his voice echoes off the burning walls. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he calls, leading us into another room. “Come on cocksucker, come play with me!” he demands.
“Jack, what if he’s not here?” I shout. “What if he took Kelly somewhere else? He never called.”
Ignoring me, he leads us down a long hallway.
“Oh, Vladimir,” he sing-songs. “Come on you fucking pussy. What’s the matter? I’m not a little girl so you don’t want to play with me?”
The temperature heats and the stench of chlorine drifts past my nose as we walk further down the hallway, toward the only closed door in sight. Reaching the end, Jack turns to Riggs and lifts a finger. Then, another. As he lifts the third, Riggs lifts his leg and kicks the door open. The air changes instantly and we’re immediately suffocated by the humidity of the solarium. The sharp scent of chlorine hangs heavy in the air, burning my eyes.
“Parrish,” the enemy calls.
“The one and only,” Jack says, passing the threshold.
Before I can enter the solarium, I realize why he’s lured us here.
“No, no, no!” I shout, pushing my way past the brothers standing in front of me. Stepping next to Jack, my eyes dart around the room searching for Kelly.
Naked and tied to the diving board, her eyes find mine. She struggles against the ropes. Against the gag covering her mouth.
“There he is,” Yankovich says. “The son of the man who betrayed me.”
Tearing my eyes away from Kelly, I stare at the monster.
“That’s right,” I gulp. “Here I am.”
Stepping forward, I spread my arms wide and offer myself to him.
“Take me,” I say. “Make me pay for his sins but, let her go.”
“Linc,” Jack growls. “Did you forget who is running this show?”
“Did you forget, Parrish?” Yankovich counters.
“Right now, your kids are probably burning to death and you still think you’re in control?” Jack fires back.
“You think you’re here because you’ve outsmarted me? That’s almost comical,” Yankovich sneers.
“Why is this motherfucker still talking?” Riggs growls.
“And who do we have here?”
&
nbsp; “I’m the man who’s going to take a shit on you.”
“Before or after we watch the young girl die?” he asks, rolling up his sleeves.
“Jack, what’s the plan here?” Riggs whispers. “Are we going to play roulette or are we going to kill this fucker?”
“Our father who art thou,” Jack replies, closing his eyes.
Not willing to chance Kelly’s life on Jack’s sanity, I decide it’s time to finally take matters into my own hands but, before I get the chance to, glass flies everywhere as two dozen men charge through the windows shooting.
Having dropped my gun when I offered myself to Yankovich, I try my best to get out of the line of fire. Bullets whiz past my head and I keep my eyes on Yankovich. Slowly he moves closer to the diving board. Leaning over it, I watch him touch Kelly. His hand starts at the column of her neck and travels south. He plays with her nipple and though I can’t hear her scream, I know she tries to.
Yankovich lifts his head and his eyes find mine.
He’s baiting me. He wants me to come to him.
Bending his head, his eyes remain locked with mine as his tongue snakes out of his mouth and licks her skin.
Staking a claim.
Pissing on my territory.
Call it what you want.
His lips quirk devilishly and he pulls her to her feet. Sliding his hand down the front of her body, he cups her pussy and grinds against her.
I don’t walk, I run.
Or at least I try to.
But, my legs give out and I fall flat on my face as Yankovich pushes Kelly off the diving board.
I scream in pure terror as her body falls into the water. Everything around me fades.
The bullets.
The men firing them.
The predator laughing at me.
I scramble to my knees and hiss through the pain as I crawl to the edge of the pool. Reaching the end, I throw myself in and send a prayer up to God.
Jack is right, only he can save us now.
-Forty-one-
KELLY
If I never feared the water and had learned to swim, I am certain this is still how I would die. Like Linc was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, so was I. My father was defenseless against the water. Whether he knew how to swim or not, I don’t know but, if he could, he never had the chance. Trapped in his car, he couldn’t save himself.
The Nomad Series-Collectors Edition Page 126
