Give Me War

by Kate McCarthy

  Renny’s gaze turns hard, my announcement making him unhappy. Good. I keep going.

  “You were fun. A distraction. You made life easier to bear at a time when I was going through something heavy. But Jared…” I allow everything I feel for my husband pour out in my words. “He did something no one else ever did.”

  “And what was that?”

  My eyes burn. “He didn’t give up on me, even when I tried to fight it. And I tried to fight it because I knew he was it for me the moment I opened the door and he stepped through it, walking right inside my heart like he always belonged there.” Renny’s gaze hardens further. “I wasn’t ready for the kind of forever I saw in his eyes, but now that I have it, I’m never letting go. Never.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Kermit gasps, eyeballing Renny as he pushes the heel of his palm down on his gunshot wound, his face red. “She just fuckin’ shot me and you’re arguing about love and that one time you stuck your dick in her?” A growl reverberates through his chest. “Just grab the gun and shoot the bitch.”

  A buzzing sound fills the room and Renny reaches behind him.

  “Hold it right there,” I bark, shifting the gun back to him, but he doesn’t hold it right there and my finger wavers on the trigger, wondering if I could pull it, if I could actually shoot my ex-boyfriend.

  “I have to take this,” he tells me as he pulls a vibrating phone from the back pocket of his jeans with painstaking care.

  “Put the phone down, Ren, or I’ll put a bullet in you.”

  He ignores me like I’m nothing but a pesky fly in the ointment of his day and checks the screen with a frown.

  “Ren,” I warn, though he seems to know I’m struggling to shoot him because he answers the phone regardless of my threat. He puts the device to his ear as if he isn’t in the middle of a crazy standoff with his kidnapping victim. “Yeah?” he says.

  Someone speaks, but it’s not loud enough for me to hear.

  Renny looks at me as he answers, “Yeah.”

  I try again, my voice rising. “Put the phone down or I’ll shoot it from your goddamn hand!” I’m not sure if my aim is actually that good though. Maybe I might miss and get his face. That would be bad.

  “Yeah it is,” Renny says into the phone, my threat sliding off him like water off a duck’s back. “How did you get this number?”

  He pauses again, listening.

  “Yes—”

  “Ren,” I interrupt, but he keeps talking.

  “—she does.”

  More listening.

  “Yes,” he says again, pausing. “No. I can’t tell you that.”

  The voice in his ear rises, but I still can’t hear the words.

  “No,” Renny says. “You need to back off.” Another pause. “You just need to attend the meeting like planned and do what the fuck you’re told to do. Evie stays here. The safest place for her is nowhere near you right now.”

  There’s a yell in Renny’s ear, loud enough this time for me to hear it. “Put Evie on the goddamn phone!”

  I know that voice. It’s Mitch.

  “No, I’m not putting her on the phone. You heard her speak. She’s fine.”

  “Mitch!” I cry out.

  “I’m hanging up now,” Renny tells him.

  “Don’t come!” I shout at my brother-in-law, knowing I’m just the bait. They want the Valentines out of the picture, and there’s only one way that could happen. “Please don’t come for me! Don’t!”

  “You heard her,” Renny says and hangs up, tucking the device away.

  Another vibration fills the room, only this time it’s not coming from Renny’s back pocket. The sound increases, louder and louder, until I feel it in the walls.

  Foreboding travels down my spine.

  “What’s that?” I ask, even though I’m pretty sure I know.

  Kermit growls out in pain as he struggles slowly to his feet. I train my gun on his left leg this time. “That,” he says, a malevolent smirk lining his lips as he turns his gaze to Renny, “is Grudge.”

  Renny pales before my eyes. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

  “The meeting.”

  He shakes his head. “The meet isn’t here. This is the safe house.”

  “That’s what you think.” His smirk only gets wider. “Rat.”

  Renny seems to freeze in place. Not a single muscle moves as the vibrations turn from a steady buzz into a thundering roar.

  Rat?

  His eyes close briefly before he opens them again. “How much do they know?”

  “Enough.”

  “How much?” Renny roars.

  “Everything. This ain’t no safe house, and those Valentines ain’t stupid. Grudge said those fuckers would figure out where we stashed her.” His lips peel back in a sneer. “Gonna take all of ya out in one hit, startin’ with you.”

  I suck in a breath. Oh shit.

  “Gotta say,” Kermit adds, not done. “I didn’t want to believe all the shit Grudge was tellin’ me because you were my brother, but my eyes are now open.” The biker jerks his head at me. “You wanted that bitch armed. You basically put your gun right in front of her face, practically beggin’ her to snatch it up, thinkin’ it wouldn’t blow your cover. But I ain’t ever seen you be that careless before. You just ain’t careless. Until now. You’re a dirty fuckin’ snitch, Lorenzo Rossi, and you’re as good as dead.”

  Kermit’s revelation knocks the wind right out of me.

  My gaze turns to Renny.

  His eyes meet mine. “We need to get out of here.”

  He’s on me in two quick strides, taking the gun from my hand. He did it before I could blink. He did it in such a way that I knew he could have done it earlier had he wanted to. He was just humouring me.

  I thought I had control of this situation, but it turns out I’ve been kidding myself.

  Renny swings the gun toward Kermit and fires off a single shot. Blood sprays out from the biker’s forehead as he slams back against the open door before dropping to the floor, dead. Bile rises and snags in my throat.

  “What the fuck?” I bleat, trying to come to terms with the knowledge that Renny is not who I thought he was. Not by half. “You’re a federal agent.”

  He tucks the gun in the back of his jeans, not answering, and tugs his phone free once again. I watch as he goes to his recent calls and hits dial on the number at the top of the list. Putting the phone to his ear, he waits for an answer, then speaks. “Stay away if you want her to survive the day, Valentine.”

  He ends the call and the thundering roar of motorcycles has reached the house. The noise vibrates through the floor.

  Renny snatches my hand and I’m yanked out of the room and down a hall.

  “Wait.” I jerk back against his hold. “What about Angel?”

  There’s a slight hitch in his step, barely there and gone. It’s something small and yet something that feels big, something I don’t have time to ponder as he answers me. “Angel is a Viper. She can handle herself.”

  “She told me there’s going to be war.”

  He shoots me a glare over his shoulder as I’m dragged along behind him. “They want the Valentine’s outta their hair.”

  “I know that already,” I snap, tetchy with fear.

  “They’re done with business gettin’ shut down. They want to take out all three. Mitch. Travis. Jared. They think it’ll send a big message. Don’t matter to them who they have to go through to get ‘em.”

  My stomach churns. I’m collateral damage. “Me.”

  “You.”

  We reach the end of the hall. It opens up into an open living space and kitchen. There’s a lot of pine, giving off an eighties vibe. Renny pulls me through all of it at a blurring speed but the rumbling of motorcycles is too close. They switch off, allowing us to hear the sound of heavy boots already thumping up the stairs to the door. We need another exit.

  Renny shoves at me, pushing me back the way we came, but the door opens with a bang.
“Fuck,” he snarls.

  Panic climbs my throat. There’s no fighting our way out of this. A sense of impending dread washes over me and I want to sink to my knees and weep.

  “Brace, babe,” he orders, his demeanour cool as a freaking cucumber as he pushes me behind him and into the wall. Fuck me. Renny is Snoop Dogg. How did that happen? When did he become such a badass good guy? “This is gonna get ugly.”

  A large biker dude appears in the doorway. His sideburns are the biggest I’ve ever seen, bigger than the lamp chops we ate for dinner two nights ago, and his moustache is so long and thick I wonder how he manages to eat. His eyes are flat and I shiver as the chilly waves of evil roll right off him, coming toward us in waves. The patch on his cut says President. Another patch proclaims him as Grudge.

  The big man takes in the scene, which is basically Renny with me shoved behind him, eyes peering out over the wide breadth of his shoulders. He gives Renny his attention, not bothering to beat around the bush. “Knew you were a Fed.”

  Renny says nothing.

  “You had the cop stink about you.”

  Bad vibes permeate the air. Renny remains cool. “What are you doin’ here, Grudge?”

  He grins. “You mean, besides taking out the cop trash?”

  Renny says nothing again.

  “Got a meetin’.”

  “It’s not supposed to be here.”

  “Sure it is. You just didn’t know that.” He reaches behind his back and brings out a gun. Three more bikers step in the room, flanking Grudge. “Now you best move.”

  “I’m not movin’.”

  “Evie, sweetie,” Grudge calls out. “Come here.”

  Renny shifts, pressing me back further, a silent order for me to stay put.

  “Come out, babydoll,” he croons. “Otherwise I’m going to have to put a bullet in your cop friend here and you don’t want that to happen, do you?”

  I don’t.

  I really don’t want that.

  I shift a little.

  Renny feels it, and barks, “Do not move.”

  Grudge cocks his weapon. “Come out, come out, little Valentine bitch.”

  “Stand down!” Renny yells.

  “Renny,” I whisper, and shift out a little further.

  He feels it and pushes back into me even more, and I remember watching him tuck his gun into the back of jeans.

  Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus, I chant in my head.

  I go for the gun, silently sliding it free.

  Renny turns his head, murmuring, “When I tell you to run, you take the gun and you fucking run.”

  I know in that instant he isn’t planning on running with me. His plan is to give me a head start. The realisation chokes my throat and my vision blurs. I woke this morning wanting to tear the man apart limb from limb, but now … I’m terrified for him.

  “That’s enough!” Grudge barks, fed up. “Hand her over.”

  “Over my dead fuckin’ body.”

  “That can be arranged.”

  “Run,” Renny growls over his shoulder at the same time Grudge pulls back on the trigger. The enormous blast hits the room like a lightning strike.

  Renny jerks back against me and I smell it. The blood. Bile climbs my throat. “Renny!” I cry.

  He pushes off of me and dives at Grudge. The biker gets off another shot. Renny jerks again before taking the man down with him.

  Oh shit.

  Oh no.

  I take aim at one of the bikers beside the wrestling men—the tall, wiry dude with a patch that proclaims his as VP, his name Atomic. He sees me swing the gun and ducks, charging at me.

  “Evie, for fuck’s sake,” Renny gasps, throwing a punch. It’s not a good one. It’s weak. He’s haemorrhaging blood all over the floor. His eyes meet mine for a split-second, and I see he’s losing. Fading. The light is already leaching from inside him and I can’t fucking breathe through the horror of it. “Run,” he mouths at me, before Grudge throws a punch that stills him.

  I turn and run.

  6

  JARED

  The previous day …

  We step outside the gallery and I come to a stop, knowing I’m fast losing control. I swipe my hands down my face, drained and anxious.

  Mitch takes hold of my arm, pulling me around until he’s right in my face. “We’re going to get her back.”

  “We don’t even know where she is!”

  “Or why they took her,” Coby adds. He appears to be doing a better job of locking his own shit down but I’m not fooled. His hands aren’t steady. At all. He seems to realise and shoves them in his pockets.

  “I’ve got a fair fuckin’ idea,” Kelly declares, his expression grim as he joins our huddle. “Between you guys and the cops,” he says, waving at all three of us, “the Vipers are hurtin’. Business is not booming. Their reputation in the drug trafficking trade has taken a massive hit and they can’t move forward right now with you shuttin’ down all their shit at every turn. Word on the street is that they are done.”

  “So now what?” Coby barks.

  “They’ll want to make a deal,” Mitch tells us.

  “So we just sit back and wait for them to call? Fuck that!” I explode.

  I start for my car, not waiting for them to follow, and not waiting for a break in traffic to jog across the road. Horns blare. Tyres screech. My hand slaps down on the hood of someone’s car as I skirt around it. I’ve already got my keys out when my phone vibrates from the back pocket of my jeans.

  I tug it free, reaching the driver’s side door, Kelly, Coby, and Mitch, right on my heels. The screen displays No Caller ID.

  Mitch’s eyes drop to the device. “Looks like we didn’t have to wait long.”

  I hit the green button and put it on speaker. “Valentine.”

  “Jared Valentine?” asks a gritty voiced man.

  “Who is this?” I growl.

  “You know who it is.”

  “Grudge,” I reply, a hard edge in my voice.

  “Well how ‘bout that. You do know,” he says.

  There was a small part of me holding onto the hope that this was all some idiotic misunderstanding but Grudge’s call has shut that down. Fear crashes over me, almost putting me on my knees.

  Kelly curses softly and tips his head, his hand going to the back of his neck. Mitch’s hands go to his hips and his jaw locks tight. Coby’s eyes go cold, his fingers curling into fists.

  “Looks like you misplaced somethin’ valuable this mornin’, Valentine.”

  My knuckles whiten around the device in my hand. “Where the fuck is she?”

  “You’ll get her back soon enough.”

  “Anyone who puts their hands on her is a marked man. You hear me?”

  “That a threat?”

  “Bet your ass it’s a threat.”

  Grudge chuckles. “You think I’m gonna take that seriously? You’re a family of fuckin’ cops. You take a Viper down they’ll still put you away.”

  “If you think I’m not willing to cross that line then you’re wrong.”

  “I’d pay to see you behind bars.”

  “Are you done talking shit?”

  “Better lose that tone, Valentine. We do have your lovely, in case you somehow forgot.”

  My teeth grind together. “What do you want?”

  The flick of a lighter reaches my ears. That Grudge is casually lighting a cigarette while turning my entire life upside down makes me want to punch him so hard he never gets up again. He inhales and exhales deeply before he speaks. “We want off your radar.”

  “That’s never going to happen.”

  He coughs a gritty sound. “Then I’ll make the call and you can say goodbye to your old lady.”

  “A minute.” I look around the men in my huddle. They all give me the nod. “Fine. You’re off our radar.”

  Grudge laughs, deep and booming. It peters out and he coughs again. “Your word means nothin’ to me, Valentine.”

  “Then what
do you want?”

  “We want a meet. We got conditions.”

  “Fine. We meet now.”

  “Tomorrow. Christmas Day. Then we’ll hand your old lady over. It’ll be our gift to you.”

  “Now.”

  “Tomorrow,” he reiterates. “Just you and your two brothers. No one else. Nine a.m. We’ll message a location. You miss the meet, we keep your bitch as a fuckin’ souvenir.”

  Grudge disconnects.

  “I don’t like this,” Mitch mutters.

  “Really? What part don’t you like?” I retort, my tone snide and frustrated. “The part where the Black Vipers have my wife? Or the part where they expect us to turn a blind eye to their drug trafficking bullshit? Or the part where they think they can hold her until tomorrow?”

  His hand grips my shoulder and I shrug him off. “Fuck off, Mitch.” I stalk away, breathing deep, eyes turned toward the ocean.

  “Get him under control,” I hear Kelly mutter, “or I will.”

  Coby steps up beside me, his gaze also going to the ocean. “That sonofabitch has my sister.”

  My throat burns.

  “My little sister.”

  I take a few more deep breaths.

  “She’s all I have.”

  My head dips down, then it turns to Coby. His eyes are red and he keeps swallowing as if there’s something lodged in this throat that won’t stay down. It pulls me from my pathetic little tantrum and I turn around, walking back to my car where Mitch and Kelly stand waiting. Coby follows. “We need to get her back before that meeting.”

  The big Sentinels biker grunts. “Agreed. Don’t trust those fuckin’ Vipers. That meeting is a trap.”

  “They don’t want us to stand down,” Mitch says.

  Coby looks at me. “They want to take all three of you out.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Kelly interjects.

  “Then we need a goddamn plan.”

  “I got a plan,” Kelly tells us, then his phone rings, giving us all a start like a bunch of damn rabbits.

  I swipe a hand down my face as Kelly tugs it free from his back pocket and steps away to answer it, barking, “Fox,” into the device.