by Zoey Parker
Number Three watched his comrade fall to the ground and dove down to his side to help him out, but it was pretty obvious it was too late.
I jerked Number One’s arm down, bending it the wrong way and forcing him to drop the gun. I quickly spun away from him and grabbed the gun. My back against the car, I aimed at One, then at Three.
“I’m leaving,” I told them. “Either one of you tries to stop me, you’re going to be on the ground like your buddy there. Got it?”
One raised his hands up, showing me he was unarmed. Three stayed on the ground with Two, who wasn’t responding to anything, much less to my threat. I started to back away from them, sliding myself along the back of the sedan until I was past the rear bumper.
I had no choice but to run. By taking out one of Fang’s men, there wasn’t a safe place to hide in this town. I had to leave. I had to get the hell out of Dodge, but I froze. I could have turned right then. I could have high-tailed it out of there. I could have run across the alleyway, jumped the low wall of the parking garage, and I could have disappeared into the darkness. But I also knew that turning my back on those two men would have been a deadly mistake.
“Take out your guns,” I told both of them, assuming they both had guns under their coats. I knew Number One did.
They both slid their hands into their coats and pulled out their handguns, holding them up in the air over their heads.
“Alright, good,” I said. “Now, drop them and kick them over here towards me.” I wasn’t used to being involved in standoffs like this. It felt like I was on TV or something.
They obeyed, just like the bad guys on TV did. Men who worked for my boss were the bad guys. What did that make my boss?
I bent down, keeping my eyes on them as I reached for the guns with my free hand. I grabbed one, stuffed it in the waist of my jeans, and then reached for the other.
“You forgot something,” Number One said.
“What do you mean?” I stopped what I was doing and put both hands on the gun as I stood back up. “What did I forget?” I asked again.
“You forgot one of us,” Number Three said.
I looked at One, Three, and Two lying on the ground. Then, I glanced at the car. The driver side door stood open. How did I miss that?
I stepped away from the car, turning to point my gun at the open door while keeping the two men in my sight.
“Where the fuck is your driver?” I asked them.
“Right here,” a voice said behind me, and as I turned around, something hit me. I didn’t know what it was, but there was a bright white light in my vision, and everything went hazy after that.
I didn’t go out immediately. I felt a couple of strong arms catch me as I fell. They went under my shoulders and wrapped around in front of me to hold me up, not letting me fall completely.
I couldn’t see. I blinked a couple of times, but my eyes didn’t want to open back up. I closed them against the blurry world around me. I tried to listen as the men who had me talked, but their voices were muffled. I heard someone laugh. Then I heard the doors closing around me. It sounded like there were too many doors for the car.
Then, I started falling, except I was falling sideways, and the darkness washed over me as I realized we must have been driving away from the apartment building.
I’m sorry, Cole, I thought as I finally lost the fight and gave in to the darkness behind my eyelids.
Chapter 16
Cole
The address we’d been given as Fang’s hideout was for an old boarded up office building downtown. It was a squat little brick building with an awning over the front door and a metal staircase leading up to a second story door on the side. The back of the building was set against a wall separating that lot from the next. There was an old faded sign on the front of the building advertising a grocery store.
I waved my hand, signaling to the guys to circle around the building. We were still in the old industrial section of town, so everything was vacant, or at least it was supposed to be. I pulled up underneath the awning with Dante and Gage on either side of me. We killed our engines and sat listening for a minute before climbing off the bikes.
“This was where all the factory and warehouse workers would come to cash their checks, I bet,” Gage said, eyeing the building.
“You still remember when it was open, don’t you?” Dante joked.
“I was a kid when this place shut down,” Gage told him, shutting him up.
“Alright, you two. This is where Fang is supposed to be hiding out, so let’s keep it professional until we’re out of here,” I told them, swinging my rifle around in front of me.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s here right now,” Dante said.
We approached the front door and stood on either side of it. The only sound I could hear was the purring of all the motorcycles waiting to be given the word to close in on this joint. I looked at the guys.
“I don’t think so either, but we’re going to be careful either way. They could just be waiting for us. What do you think, Gage?” I asked.
“Who cares what I think? Let’s just go in. If we see anybody, we take them out. If not, well, your girl better hope they’re still here and didn’t get tipped off,” he said, looking me dead in the eye.
“I’m right there with you,” I told him.
I kicked the old wooden door. The lock exploded, and the door flew open into a dark, musty room. The air that escaped was rank and caught all three of us off guard. I shook my head while we all coughed away the heavy stink that fell on us.
“They’re definitely not down here,” I told the guys.
“If they are, they can stay down here,” Gage said.
“I promise you, anyone in there isn’t going anywhere any time soon,” Dante added.
I chuckled at his comment and nodded to the side of the building. We quickly rounded the corner with our guns drawn. Gage took the stairs first, leaving us to cover his back on the way up. At the top of the stairs was a metal landing with a couple of chairs sitting along the brick wall past the door.
The door on the second floor was much sturdier and had a slot at eye level, allowing whoever was inside to look out before admitting anyone.
“Shall we knock?” I asked my partners.
“Be my guest,” Dante said.
We stepped aside and pressed ourselves against the wall, hoping to be out of range if anyone opened the slot. I banged on the door with the butt of my rifle and ducked back to the side. We waited. No one answered.
I was starting to get the feeling that we’d been had. I could see by Gage’s face that he was thinking the same thing. Either we had bad information or someone had ratted us out to Fang and his men. I had a feeling I knew who that was, even though I would have been reluctant to admit it to the guys.
I knocked again.
When there wasn’t a response the second time, Gage stepped in front of the door and shot the lock with his revolver. What was left of it fell out of the door, and he slid it open.
“After you, sir,” Gage said, stepping aside and holding out his arm to invite me into the building.
We walked into a large, mostly empty office. It was dark, but enough light crept in around the corners of the boarded up windows that we could see the desks and chairs all facing each other.
I stepped back and hit the light switch. Fluorescent office lights in the ceiling came on and let us see the room clearly. The walls had wood paneling along them. The desks were old, probably left over from the last legitimate owners of the building.
“Check the desks,” I told them.
There were three desks. Dante and Gage went to the ones on either side of the room. I went to the one along the far wall, facing the door. Behind it was a cork board with a single picture tacked to it. I pulled the picture down and looked at it.
“Guys, they knew we were coming,” I announced, holding up the picture of me for them to see.
“You’re kidding me,” Gage said, sla
mming one of the desk drawers closed.
“We both tried to tell you,” Dante said, standing upright.
“Let’s go through the desks anyway, but I can almost guarantee you we won’t find anything useful,” I said. I opened every drawer in the desk I assumed was Fang’s. I had no idea who the other two would have belonged to. I didn’t know anyone else in his organization other than Sasha, and I was pretty sure she didn’t have a desk.
Gage kicked over his desk.
“Hey, brother, calm down. It’s just a desk,” Dante said.
“It’s not just a desk. It’s Cole,” Gage complained.
I knew what he meant, but I kept my mouth shut. There was nothing I could say to him at that point that wouldn’t make things worse. I turned my attention to a file cabinet and opened each drawer, knowing already that they were going to be empty.
“Nothing?” I asked the guys.
“Not a damn thing,” Dante said.
I crumbled the picture of me and dropped it on the floor.
“Looks like your girl sold us up the river,” Gage said, stepping in front of me. “You going to bring her in?”
“Not now, Gage.” Dante put a hand on his arm and tried to push him aside.
“Yes, now. I got my ass kicked for this chick because Cole thought he was getting an old lady out of the deal, but she just turns out to be Fang’s little snitch.” His breath was hot in my face.
“Do you want to get your ass kicked again, Gage?” I asked. “Because this time, you’re earning it on your own.” I pulled my gun off of my shoulder and set it on the desk.
Dante stepped between us and pushed both of us away.
“Nobody is getting their ass kicked here, guys. Both of you back the fuck up. We have a job to do here, and it looks like we’ve been had. I don’t think anyone will deny that. Right?” He looked back and forth between us, making sure we agreed with him.
“Okay, good,” Dante continued. “Now, the question is, where do we go from here?”
I ran a tired hand through my hair and sighed. I knew exactly what needed to be done, and I felt like such a jackass for not handling it sooner. I’d let that beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed thief steal something more valuable than my drugs this time around. She’d taken my integrity, and it was a good thing I was starting to catch on before she stole my heart with it. Of course, I couldn’t mention that last part to the guys. They never would have let me live that one down.
“From here, I need you, Gage, and everyone to go back to HQ. Get the basement ready, because I’m going back to my apartment to pick up our girl,” I said.
“Your apartment? She’s at your apartment?” Gage started again. “Jesus H. Christ, Cole, no wonder you can’t get it together, brother. How was it?”
“Fuck off, Gage,” I said, grabbing my gun and heading towards the door.
“No, really, was it worth selling out your MC?” he asked behind me.
“You know what? It was. And if her answers satisfy me back at HQ, it’ll happen again. So don’t think I’m going to bring her back for anyone to lay a finger on her, got it?” I snapped, turning around and getting right back in Gage’s face.
“Yeah, brother, I got it. I read you loud and clear,” he said. “You’re a punk,” he added, laughing and walking around me.
I laughed, too. I couldn’t fight with him anymore. I had to laugh it off or else I’d knock his block off.
I stopped at the door and looked back in while the guys walked down the stairs outside.
“Hey, is it possible we’re missing something?” I called out to them.
“Like what?” Dante asked, stopping on the stairs.
“I don’t know. I feel like there’s another room or something here,” I added. My eyes probed the back wall, looking for a door or panel in the wall that wasn’t quite in place. I didn’t see anything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling we’d missed something.
“That’s just disappointment that you’re feeling,” Gage called up to me from the pavement. He looked up and shielded his eyes against the sun.
“I guess so,” I said with a sigh. I left the light on as I closed the door, not really admitting defeat, but coping with a setback.
“Come on, let’s go so you can get Sasha and bring her back to HQ before she runs,” Dante said as I started down the stairs.
“Oh shit.” I stopped and looked at him, realizing why we’d been had.
“What is it?” Dante asked me.
“Remember what happened when we left her alone at HQ with Andre?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dante said as the realization dawned on him as well.
“What happened?” Gage asked. “I missed it.”
“Yeah. Look, she tried to escape, but someone besides Fang tried to pick her up. It wasn’t pretty, and I bet that’s what’s happening right now,” I said as I ran down the stairs.
“You really think her boss has it out for her?” Gage asked, running over to his bike.
“Yeah, I think so. She was caught, brother. She walked right into a trap when she came to HQ the first time. Bosses like Fang don’t take too kindly to stuff like that, so when she finally got in touch with him, he sent a few of his goons to get her. They didn’t look like they were a welcoming committee either,” I explained.
“Yeah, but we showed up just in time and killed two of them. We wounded the third, and no one really got a look at the driver,” Dante added.
“How much do you want to bet when she called Fang to let him know we were on the way, he sent some more goons to pick her up at the apartment?” I asked.
“You want us to follow?” Gage asked.
“Not yet,” I said. “Get everyone back to HQ. You two get the basement ready for her. I’ll call you if anything’s wrong.”
“Alright, go,” Gage said. “You need to get there while there’s still a girl to pick up.”
The three of us gunned our engines at the same time and started pulling away from the building. Dante and Gage rode off in one direction, waving their arms to collect the guys who’d parked in neighboring properties to keep their eyes on the hideout.
I sat and listened to all the engines roaring, breathing life back into this dead portion of the city. It was a beautiful sound. I revved my engine and watched as motorcycles started pouring out onto the streets.
Then, I spotted someone who wasn’t with us on top of one of the other buildings.
Chapter 17
I didn’t have time to signal anyone, and no one else saw him. He had a gun, and I watched in shock and horror as he knelt down behind it to take aim at one of my guys. A shot rang out, and I saw one of our newest members take a nasty fall. A couple of guys riding near him were obviously shaken by the incident, as they lost control of their bikes as well.
Then, shots rang out from another direction, from the parking garage some of our members had just pulled out of. I saw a couple more bikes go down as we were ambushed. The guys had no chance to get out of the way. We were just getting picked off left and right.
Then, shots rang out behind me, and I pulled the bike back underneath the awning, knowing anything they were shooting could have easily pierced the thin sheet metal over me. I pulled a bandana out of my back pocket and tied it around my mouth and nose. I ditched the bike and ran inside the building, listening to the hail of bullets raining down mercilessly outside.
I pulled out my phone and texted Andre back at HQ.
Ambushed! Under fire right now.
Send backup? he texted back.
No. Hunker down, I told him. I’ll text you when we’re safe.
A moment later, Dante rode up to the building and ducked inside with me. The air wasn’t as heavy and rank as it had been earlier when we first arrived.
“How many down?” I asked him.
“I don’t know. I saw five, maybe six go down before I circled around to come back for you,” he said.
“That was dumb. You should have gone back to HQ and wait
ed for me. Andre knows I’m here.” I held up my phone.
“Gage was right behind me, but I think he went the other way around. We were trying to scope out how many shooters there were,” Dante continued.
Just then, Gage pulled up and coasted into the parking lot in front of the building. Just before he reached the awning, though, he sprang back from his bike and flipped over behind it, sending it crashing into our bikes while he lay limp and lifeless on the ground right in front of us.
