by Sweet, Izzy
My father flinches at the look I give him.
Before I can even muster up the strength to ask how could you, my father explains, “He killed her when I refused his offer of alliance. Then threatened to kill you if I refused again.”
“Yes,” Alexei says with absolutely no shame or remorse. “I’m so glad you came to your senses, for Meghan’s sake.”
My father shoots Alexei a glare full of murder and his hands squeeze into fists. “Since accepting his alliance, he’s used us to do all his dirty work for him.”
“Well, not all of my dirty work,” Alexei snickers.
A look of pure disgust washes over my father’s face before he tears his attention away from Alexei and looks to me again.
His eyes are begging me for forgiveness, a forgiveness I’m not sure I can give, as he says, “I’m sorry, Meghan. I tried to send you away. Tried to—”
A sharp pain shoots up my arm as Alexei forces his finger over mine and the gun goes off in my hand.
Just like back in the church, everything seems to slow down.
My father jerks back and his open mouth goes slack. His eyes suddenly dim as if the lights inside them blew out.
A hole. A dark hole appears on his forehead.
Behind him there’s this blast, an explosion of blood and gore that splatters against the Audi’s window.
With nothing holding him up, he slumps down the car like a marionette whose strings were just cut, making this horrible squelching noise while leaving a slick trail of blood and brain matter behind him.
Horror. Unbearable horror floods through me, and everything inside me just falls out.
Then a scream pierces the air.
A scream full of shock and pain.
A scream that’s coming from me.
“He should have never tried to keep you from me,” I hear Alexei say as my lungs drag in more air to scream again.
The death grip around my hand loosens, and then the gun is pried from my aching fingers.
I start to fight the arm wrapped around my middle, fight to reach my father.
“Stop that now,” Alexei grunts, tightening his arm around me so hard I feel it bending my ribs.
But I don’t care. I don’t care what happens to me now. There’s just this unbearable need to reach my father.
To take back what I just did.
Another scream flows from my throat and it’s not enough, not enough to expel this pain inside me. Not enough to ease it even a fraction.
I start to claw at Alexei’s arm, start to fight him with this primal, feral need to hurt him, to escape him.
“Goddammit, I said stop,” Alexei snarls.
And then something cracks against my head so hard everything goes black.
19
Gabriel
What the fuck is Meghan thinking? Why the fuck would she run to them? I thought we had all this fucking shit figured out?
“Fucking hell!” Simon yells into my ear. “What the fuck is going on?”
Bullets rip into the trunk of the Lexus as I start trying to go after Meghan. God-fucking-dammit!
Hunkering down, I look behind me and watch as the state police officers raise their weapons at me.
Well fuck.
I don’t drop my rifle, but this shit isn’t looking fun,
“Simon, we’re all going to need a quick extraction,” I say into the comms, and try turning toward the Audis that are now revving their engines.
Fuck it. I gotta do something or she’s going to get away.
Standing up from the Lexus, I try to get a peek at the Audis. My view is mostly obscured by some big motherfucker holding onto Meghan.
I see Meghan’s father fall to the ground and I can feel my stomach drop with him.
“Chief is down, Brady is down. We’ve got two state highway patrols screaming at us,” Johnathan says into the comms.
“Damn them all to hell!” Simon yells. “I’m currently trying to get them under control. Do not shoot them. Respond to their commands.”
“Put your weapon down!” an officer behind me yells at my back as I watch Meghan being shoved into the back of one of the Audis.
“Simon, they’re taking Meghan,” I growl into the comms.
“Understood,” Lucifer says in a cool, quiet drawl. “Follow the officer’s orders.”
“Fuck that!” I shout and start to raise my rifle at the Audi.
“Don’t do it!” a shout comes from behind me and I can hear a quiver in the voice over all the shit that’s going on around us.
That quiver tells me that the officer is going to put a couple of rounds in me the moment my rifle raises enough to be a threat.
Fuck.
If I shoot now, I won’t have a clear shot of getting the driver and fucking Alexei. Too many variables could go wrong if I try anything. I could be shot in the back before I have a chance to hit one of the car’s wheels. I could also a get shot in the back of the head. That wouldn’t do anyone good.
Dropping the rifle, I slowly stand up from behind the Lexus. Motherfuckers. I swore I’d never raise my hands again in submission to fucking pigs.
“Kick the rifle away!” the officer screams at my back.
The black Audis slam into reverse, trying to run over Andrew as he stands in place, pointing the gun in his hand at the back of the Audi closest to him. Diving out of the way of the car, he’s as helpless as I am.
None of us can take a shot without risking hitting Meghan or the police opening up fire on us.
“God-fucking-dammit. For fucking shit’s sake, get this shit straightened,” I shout into my comms mic.
“I’m working on it right now. Do as they say for now,” Simon hisses.
“Chief’s dead, confirming it now. Same with Brady. Both have fatal shots to the head,” Andrew says over the comms.
I can see him from my view, but not what’s on the ground as the Audis tear away from us. Both heading away at a breakneck speed. One of the patrol officers starts shouting into the mic, but neither of them try to take off after the fleeing pricks.
Fucking hell, this is just getting worse.
I can’t hear what one of the officers is shouting into his radio, but I do understand what the other one is saying when he tells me to kneel down on the asphalt.
My back may be to him, but he knows better than to have me turn around on them. I’m a big guy, there’s no way of knowing if I’ve got a gun in my waistband up front or if I’d smash their fucking heads in.
“Get the fuck down on the ground,” the pig yells at me.
Shouting over my shoulder at him, I say, “The fuck I will, asshole. Go after the guys who started shooting people!”
That quiver in the officer’s voice is gone now that he saw me drop the rifle.
“Kneel on the fucking ground and put your hands behind your head, asshole! I’m going to fucking taze you if you don’t do it now.”
Turning my head to the side so I can get a good look at him, I say loud enough for him to hear, “You taze me, boy, and it’s the last thing you’ll ever do.”
“Kneel down and take the cuffs, Gabriel,” Lucifer says into the comms.
“Fuck you,” I growl back at him.
“Take the fucking cuffs now! They’ll be told to release you soon,” Lucifer orders.
“I told you I’m not going back to a cell, Matthew,” I say quietly.
For the first time in my life, Lucifer sounds worried. “I’ve already promised you won’t.”
Simon breaks through before I have a chance to respond. “The Highway Patrol have a car close to the Audis, for now they are in pursuit. But it’s only one car at the moment.”
“Good,” Lucifer says through our earbuds.
The officer not giving me orders is taking a wide berth as he draws his gun, aiming at both Johnathan and Andrew. Both men are already lowering their pistols to the ground as the original officer from Garden City starts yelling at them to kneel down on the ground.
“Th
ey got us, boss. We could shoot our way out, but I’m not sure if we’d could get away without taking a loss,” Andrew spits into the mic of our comms.
Fuck.
Slowly dropping to my knees, I say over the comms, “Do what they say. We’ll go after the Russians as soon as Simon can get us out of this.”
“I’m putting a call into the Governor’s office right now. Give me a few minutes. They’ll have to have extra cars and men there before they can haul you away. We’ll have enough time to get you free,” Simon says.
“I’m about a minute away from the scene. There isn’t a lot of traffic right now, but you guys will be causing a backup soon enough,” James says over the comms.
“Do not stop. We need to get someone after the Russians,” Lucifer says.
“What about the Chief? Who the fuck killed him?” James asks, and I can hear a hint of something but I don’t know what in his voice.
“Not our immediate concern. All we know is that it was one of the Russians,” Simon says.
The officer who’s been shouting at me the whole fucking time strides up behind me. I can feel the barrel of his gun not quite touching the back of my head. It’s got my hackles raising pretty damn fast. He’s damn lucky I don’t turn around and snatch that gun from his hands and beat him with it.
“Lace your fingers behind your head, dickhead,” the officer spits out at me.
I slowly raise my hands behind my head as I look over my shoulder and say, “I bet you you’ll be taking these cuffs off me within the next five minutes.”
He grabs my right arm and slaps a cuff as tight as he can around my thick wrist.
Pulling my left wrist down, he says, “Shut the fuck up before I shove my gun down your throat.”
“I seem to remember shoving my dick down your wife’s throat last night,” I grunt as he pushes both my arms down so he can cuff me fully.
The metal handle of his gun slams into the back of my skull and for a brief moment I think I see stars.
“Stop resisting arrest, asshole,” he shouts at me before the toe of his boot slams into my back, right where my kidneys are.
Hunching forward, I give a shout of pain. “Jesus, little dick, it’s not my fault she wanted to go ass to mouth.”
“Real funny, smart-ass, but remember you’re the one in cuffs,” he says before he kicks me in the back hard enough that I fall forward, slamming the side of my face into the Lexus.
“Stop baiting him, Gabriel,” Simon snickers through the comms piece in my ear.
“Would if I could,” I grumble as I slide down the car to land on my side.
Two long minutes go by with me lying here on the side of the road, my head accidentally kicked more than once by the power-hungry douchebag. I’m pretty sure he got pissed when I started with the innuendos about his mother and a goat. Fucking asshole is gonna die sometime soon.
Don’t give a shit what kind of problems that causes.
My head is fuzzy from the kicks, but it’s not so fucking fuzzy that I don’t think of Meghan and how she fucking ran around the Lexus toward the very fucking men who want to kill her.
What the fuck was she thinking? She said she’d be by my fucking side. Thick and thin, we’re supposed to be fucking together. Motherfucker. I’m going to punish her ass so fucking badly when I get her back.
Spankings… biting… I’ll even fuck her in it until she screams her submission.
Fucking hell, I’ll lock a damn chain collar around her neck. Chain her to the fucking house. She’s going to be on fucking lockdown when I get her ass in my hands again.
Gonna have to spank her ass for being so fucking stupid. Spank her right after I grab a handful of that hair of hers and kiss her so goddamn hard it bruises her lips.
My stomach dropped watching her being so fucking stupid, running away from me.
Fucking hell.
“Hey asshole, your dad ever tell you about the time I fucked your mom in the ass in front of him?” I shout out at the officer.
“I swear to god I’m going—” he shouts at me before the other officer yanks him away from me.
“Stop, dumbass! Lieutenant is trying to get a hold of us,” the other officer says to his jackass partner.
“So what? Where’s our damn backup?” Jackass asks.
Looking up at the pair, I start to fucking chuckle. “Bet ya the Lieutenant is going to tell you to let us go.”
“You’ll be in prison so fucking long you’ll rot,” the asshole says to me before he spits at my head.
The nice one looks over to his partner, his eyes wide as can be. “We have to uncuff them.”
“What?!” Asshole screeches.
“Official orders. We have to release them immediately. If we don’t, we’ll be subject to arrest for impeding an ongoing investigation,” the calmer one says, and from the look on his face I bet he’s just been told his career could be in jeopardy, if not more.
Now, if I was smart, I wouldn’t want to be the one who uncuffs my pissed-off ass. I’ve already been pulling my wrists apart so damn hard that I can feel the chain beginning to groan.
All those kicks to the head have pissed me the fuck off.
“Sit up, you fucking criminal,” the asshole cop sneers at me.
Rolling as quickly as I can, I growl, “Told you.”
“Fuck you,” he says, extremely pissed off about having to let us go.
Pushing my back up against the Lexus, I slowly slide my way up to my feet.
Standing up to my full height, I grin down at him before turning around to show my cuffs. “Remove ‘em, pig.”
* * *
Johnathan pats Andrew on the shoulder and jogs past the cops to catch up to me as I climb into the Lexus.
Opening the door, he drops down into the seat. “Head to Bethlehem. They’ll be there somewhere, running to get underground.”
Nodding my head, I roll down my window and extend my arm to the officer who kicked me.
Raising my middle finger to him, I say, “See you soon, fuckboy.”
“Goddammit,” Simon all but screams over the comms.
His voice is so loud, Johnathan and I both wince.
Lucifer talks over Simon’s yelling. “The Russians slowed down long enough for the Highway Patrol officer to get close to them. Then they opened up with automatic rifle fire, killing him. We’ve lost them in the ensuing traffic panic ahead and behind them.”
“You what?” I ask in disbelief.
How the fuck could everything be going so fucking wrong?
“James, what’s your location?” I snarl out into our comms.
How the fuck could we lose them so fucking easily?
“In traffic. I could jerk off and the line will probably have not moved. We’re at a standstill,” James grumbles.
“Fuck!” I shout as I pound my hands on the steering wheel.
“Everyone get off the next exit possible. We’ll guide you through the backroads to Bethlehem,” Simon says.
“They’re going to ditch the cars. Those Audis are going to be way too hot to travel in right now,” Johnathan says from my side.
“I know,” I growl, and punch the steering wheel again.
He’s fucking right, too. Alexei will dump the cars as soon as they possibly can. Those fuckers have cop killer written all over them.
Fuck. I have no clue how we can get back to locating them if they get rid of the cars.
“I want that pig who pulled them over early. We need to talk to him. Fucker needs to give me the reason he went outside of what he was told to do,” I spit out.
“We’ll make sure to bring him in. I’m trying to figure out why he would do it when the chief of police was in pursuit as well,” Simon says.
“Is it possible he’s with the Russians?” James asks.
“I doubt it,” Simon says.
“Put the word out to all our contacts that we’re on the lookout for Alexei’s dumped vehicles. Also, we’re looking for any Russian or Irish thug we
can find,” Lucifer says.
“Already on it. I’ll have their faces on fucking milk cartons by the end of the hour,” Simon says.
“Make sure you put on Alexei’s that he likes things shoved up his butt,” James says with a laugh. “Also, that Meghan could be considered a midget next to her husband.”
“You’re—” I start.
“We’re going to need all hands on this,” Lucifer says through the comms.
“We have Thaddeus arriving from Ohio in three days. Having Jude here now helps, as well. I also have a line on a new guy coming in. He’ll be good for us,” Simon says.
“Would that be Eric?” Lucifer asks.
“Yes,” Simon says.
The line goes quiet as we all begin to navigate the back roads toward Bethlehem. It’s not a tremendous distance from Garden City, but having to avoid the interstate certainly adds time we don’t have.
Fuck, if Meghan could have just fucking played this smart instead of running the fuck away from me…
Slamming my fist into the wheel again, I mutter, “What the fuck was she thinking?”
“What do you mean?” Johnathan asks me.
Looking over, I say, “She fucking ran to those motherfuckers. We had a fucking...”
I stop talking for a moment. My rage is threatening to erupt, and I can just feel it in my bones how badly I want to hurt someone.
Raising his hands in a settle down motion, Johnathan says, “I ain’t saying you don’t have a right to be fucking pissed as hell, but you might have been at a disadvantage in seeing what went down.”
Rolling my shoulders, I try to settle my shit before I ask, “What do you mean?”
“Well, let me preface this with the conversation we had right before we all got to the scene,” he says.
“Fine. Get to the point, fucker,” I grunt
“She just heard that dear old dad wasn’t right about who blew her mom to bits,” he says.
“Yeah, don’t mean she needed to run to that fucker the moment she had a chance,” I say.
Chuckling at me, I can see he’s getting ready to tell me something I missed. I just wish the fucker would get to the fucking shit I need to know before I snap his neck.
