by Brook Wilder
He was completely exposed, standing in the middle of the field by himself and unarmed.
“Fuck!”
The expletive exploded out of his mouth as he watched the guns being drawn and aimed. He was so full of panic and fear for his friend, and anger at Capone and his insanity and violent streak, that he didn’t notice it at first. But once he did, a glimmer of hope broke through the despair riding high inside him.
Only Capone’s inner circle of thugs had pulled out their weapons. The majority of the gang was still sitting astride their motorcycles, looking on uneasily. And a lot of those uneasy glances were directed not at Charlie but at their leader.
The tension grew almost unbearable and time seemed to stretch out for an eternity, even though Preston knew it had been only a few seconds at most before he was hurrying out of the car. He sprinted to the back seat, opened the door and dragged Knox out with him, even though his brother tried to protest.
“Wait!” Preston shouted, rushing forward with a recalcitrant Knox in tow. “Just wait a fucking minute, all of you!”
He stumbled as his brother dragged his feet, obviously wanting to be anywhere else but there, in the middle of a deadly gang meeting, with several guns now pointed in their direction.
“Look, Knox is here!” Preston kept going, making his voice sound as strong and unconcerned as possible, “He’s right here in front of you. Obviously, I didn’t kill him.
Though I definitely thought about it a few times over the last couple of days.” he added under his breath.
“Hey, I heard that!”
Preston rolled his eyes at his brother.
“Good. You were supposed to. Now cooperate, so we can all get out of here alive.”
“Just, stop right there! Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot. I swear I will!”
Preston looked up to see Capone’s right-hand man, the one he’d stopped before, waving a deadly-looking pistol. It was aimed straight at him and his brother.
Preston held up his hands and elbowed Knox. After a grumble, Knox followed suit. They both stood there, Preston barely breathing as he looked around the gang. He saw recognition dawn on their faces as they saw Knox, and then suspicion towards Capone and the lie he’d told.
“Look, it’s obvious that there was some sort of… mistake… made,” Preston finally said, unable to take the claustrophobic silence any more. “You all thought I’d killed Knox. Though why you’d believe I’d kill my own brother, I don’t know. You all know me. And you know Knox! He’s here. I didn’t betray the crew! I would never betray my family!”
Preston looked out over the gathered gang members and could see his words take effect. He could see the way they idled farther away from Capone and shot more angry looks at the president. There was a murmur that started to spread, a demand for answers from the crew. And Capone saw it too.
His face crimson and suffused with rage, Capone surged forward.
“Liar!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted the accusation. “You’re a fucking liar, Osbourne! You are a traitor! We all know that’s a fake! That’s not your brother. You killed him!”
Preston reeled back in shock. Out of all the responses he’d expected, that hadn’t been one of them. He also hadn’t expected the amount of pure vitriol and madness that was shining in Capone’s gaze as he glared murderously at him.
Preston could see that Capone’s own men were just as shocked as he was by their leader’s display of insanity, and many of them shared uneasy glances as if they weren’t sure what to do.
They were caught even more at odds as Capone stumbled forward, screaming again that Knox was a fake. That he was a ghost or a puppet. That Preston had somehow orchestrated this whole think because he secretly wanted to take over the gang.
All Preston could do was stare on in shocked disbelief at the madness that spewed from Capone’s lips. He looked desperately around at the crew, silently imploring them to stand up, to do something, anything, before the entire place exploded into violence.
But he could see it in their eyes. The fear that Capone had fostered for years and years, his deadly reputation. No one wanted to go up against him. Especially with his inner circle now eyeing everyone with suspicion, even members of their own gang.
Preston wracked his brain to try and figure out what to do. What was the best course of action to get through this alive and unharmed on the other side? But the answer eluded him.
It was clear to him, and to many of the crew members, that Capone was totally insane. The situation was growing more unstable by the minute. He had to try and diffuse the tension before it blew.
“Arthur, please, listen to me,” Preston pleaded, walking forward with his hands still in the air. “I don’t want to be leader of the Devil’s. I’m out of the gang, remember? I’m out for good. I swear.”
For a brief moment, Preston saw a flicker of understanding break through the madness in Capone’s face, but a second later his features twisted into a grimace of insanity once more. Moving faster than Preston thought possible for the big man, Capone leaped forward and shoved his new second-in-command, taking the gun from his hands before aiming it straight at Preston’s chest.
He heard a car door open and turned just in time to see Olivia rushing towards him. His heart shattered in his chest, knowing there was no talking his way out of this one. He couldn’t keep her safe. It was all over now.
Fuck.
Chapter 28
Olivia couldn’t stop moving. She was still struggling to get her seatbelt unbuckled when Charlie had ducked out of the car and then, less than a minute, later Preston followed after, dragging a grumbling Knox behind him.
She was still trying to get the damn seatbelt unstuck as she watched everything from the front seat of the car. She grew more and more irritated because she couldn’t hear what anyone was saying. From her vantage point, she couldn’t see much either, but it was easy to pick up on the tension that permeated the air. She breathed it in with every inhale.
Olivia let out a sigh of relief when she finally got the damn strap unbuckled and flung it off her, but that sigh stuck in her throat when she leaned forward just in time to see Capone stumble forward, grab a gun from another gang member, and point it straight towards Preston.
She didn’t think. She just reacted. Olivia jumped out of the car and sprinted to his side. Preston glared at her, she could see the fury in his blue gaze, but she ignored it.
“Together, remember?” she said quietly, still trying to regain her breath. “You promised me.”
“Damn it, Red. This really isn’t the time.”
Preston broke off the curse to shoot her another glare, but that one rolled off her back the same as the last.
“I really think it is,” Olivia answer calmly, brushing invisible dirt from the front of her jeans. “I told you I would stand by you in this. That you wouldn’t have to deal with this alone.”
“I’m dealing with it just fine, thank you very much.”
“Are you really?” Olivia asked, arching a brow as she slid a pointed glance towards Capone.
He seemed just as shocked at her appearance as Preston had been and it had thrown him off guard for a moment. Hopefully, that was just the amount of time they needed to figure this thing out. Otherwise, they were screwed.
“For fucks sake, Olivia. Can you please go back to the car?”
“No.”
“This is not up for debate.”
Olivia sent Preston a saccharine sweet smile.
“You’re right. It’s not.”
“Jesus Christ, you are the most pig-headed, stubborn, insane…”
“Don’t you think we’ve got more important things to deal with than your little domestic dispute?” Knox said, interrupting.
Olivia gave him a nod.
“He’s right. This is no time to argue.”
Olivia drew in a deep breath. She’d been fairly successful at keeping her fear at bay. Seeing Preston in danger had helped. She’d j
ust reacted. But now the reality of the situation fully hit her.
She stared around at the half ring of men arrayed on their motorcycles in front of them. If she had to guess, she’d say there were at least fifty gang members, maybe more.
“Fifty to four,” she said softly, “Not great odds.”
“More like terrible, Red,” Preston snorted softly, then shot her a pleading look. “Please, Olivia, I need you to be safe. Please, for me. Will you go back? Hide while you can.”
For a second, she was weakened by the plea in his voice and the love she could see shining in his eyes. But that was exactly why she needed to be there. He’d already given up. She could see it there too, just beyond the love. He had walked into that field fully expecting not to walk out of it again. Well, damn it, she was going to make sure that he did.
“I’m sorry Preston. You can be pissed off at me later. But, for now, let’s just figure out our next move.”
“Don’t you understand? There is no next move,” he growled in frustration.
“Of course, there is,” Olivia said bravely. “There’s always a next move.”
She grabbed Preston’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze, staring out at the angry bikers and the sea of guns pointed at them.
“We’re not dead yet. That’s all that matters.”
“Not for long,” Knox chimed in, glaring at Capone.
Suddenly, he started marching forward. Preston reached out to stop him, but Knox shook of his brother’s grasp.
“You think I’m a fake Capone? I’m not! I’m as real as they come! I can prove it! Go on, ask me anything Knox Osbourne would know! Go on, then. Ask, damn it!”
Capone stared at him in wide-eyed shock and, for a moment, he looked like he really was looking at a ghost. The gun grasped in his hand wavered a moment and his mouth opened and closed like a fish as he tried to figure out what to say.
“That’s Knox! That’s the real Knox. I would know him anywhere, the bastard,” a voice said from the group of bikers.
Knox let out a lopsided grin. He tilted two fingers to his forehead in a sarcastic salute to the speaker.
Capone whirled around and many of the members ducked hastily out of the way of the gun still clenched in the man’s meaty fist.
“Who said that!” Capone screamed in sudden rage. “Who the fuck said that!”
No one answered. Still caught by the mad rage, Capone spun back around to face Preston. The madness was still there, but the rage vanished as quickly as it had come. When he stared at Preston now, there was an icy calculation to his gaze that chilled Olivia to the bone.
“You. You did this. You turned them against me. It was your plan all along. I know it,” Capone said, his voice as icy and calculating as the look in his beady eyes. “You always wanted to be in charge. You always wanted my power! Well, you’re not going to fucking take it. These men belong to me. I OWN THEM! And I own you too. All of you.”
It all happened so fast that Olivia didn’t even have time to react. She saw Capone raise the gun and point it straight at Preston’s heart. She saw his finger pull on the trigger and felt the explosion of the gunshot firing as if the bullet had actually hit her.
She reached out one desperate hand, Preston’s name screaming from her lips, as the bullet tore through the air.
And just before it could hit Preston, Knox was there. He shoved Preston out of the way, taking the bullet that was never meant for him.
Knox fell to the ground with a gurgling cry of pain and Preston launched himself at Capone. He wasn’t the only one. Several of the crew members had jumped forward to pin Capone and knock the gun from his hands. A few other gang members were restrained as well.
Preston bent down slowly and picked up the fallen gun with a terrible deliberateness. He grasped the handle of the weapon and aimed it point blank at Capone’s sweaty forehead.
Olivia shivered at the awful look in Preston’s eyes. It was the look of death.
Chapter 29
Preston’s finger trembled just a hair’s breadth away from pulling the trigger and ending the miserable piece of shit’s life. Capone glared up at him, his face red and poring sweat that soaked him all the way through. Not Preston. Preston felt like ice. Like a vast, frozen tundra had settled inside him, freezing away all emotion and all mercy. Not that this asshole deserved mercy. Capone didn’t even know the meaning of the word.
Everything that had happened to him, to Olivia, to his brother, all the pain and heartache that they’d lived through, could all be put at this man’s feet. Capone had caused it all.
Suddenly, Arthur smiled, a smug expression that was far too satisfied for someone who had a gun pointed to their head.
“Go ahead. Kill me. Do it. I know you want to do it. Kill me.”
He snarled the last words and they were so tempting that Preston could feel his finger twitch even closer to the trigger. But he knew that, if he pulled that trigger, there would be no going back. He would go to prison. He wouldn’t see his little girl again. He wouldn’t see Olivia.
It took more strength than Preston thought he possessed to take a single step back.
“No.”
“No?” Capone said on a laugh. “You’re more of a coward than I thought you were, Osbourne. Just a spineless coward.”
“No, I’m just a better man than you could ever be.” Preston forced a smirk to his lips as he raised the gun once more, “Have fun in prison, Capone. You’ll rot in a cage for the rest of your life. I’ll make sure of that.”
Capone’s eyes widened just moment before Preston brought the butt of the gun down against the side of his head. Arthur crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Preston took a step back and looked around at the rest of the gang. Several of Capone’s inner circle had already been restrained and two men were busy tying up Capone as well. No one looked at him, which was just as well. He wasn’t in the mood to be very forgiving at the moment.
One by one, the Devil’s Martyr’s got back on their bikes and left the field. They would leave Capone and the rest for the cops to find, eventually.
“Preston.”
Olivia’s voice, soft and trembling with tears, called to him and when he turned it felt like all the air had been kicked from his lungs. She was kneeling on the ground next to Knox. His brother was laying on his back, unmoving. There was blood soaking through his shirt and staining the dust a ruddy red underneath him. There was a lot of blood. Too much blood.
“Knox!”
Preston rushed to his side, taking Olivia’s spot as she rose to give him space. Preston reached down, trying desperately to stem the flow of blood, but the pressure made his brother cough, more blood streaming from the corner of his mouth.
“Hey Pres. How’d I do? Pretty good, huh?” Knox spluttered the words through a grin.
That smile cut straight through Preston, tearing him to shreds inside.
“Knox, don’t… don’t try and talk okay? An ambulance will be here soon. We’ll get you all patched up and then…”
“And what, Preston? Spend the rest of my life in jail for murder? That was never my plan, brother.”
Knox was still grinning, talking like he didn’t have a bullet hole blown through his chest. Preston wasn’t even sure how he was speaking, let alone smiling up at him like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“You’re dying, Knox.”
“I know,” his brother said with a shrug, “And you’re not. It’s a fair trade off, don’t you think?”
“No. Not at all, you bastard. Not fair at all.”
Preston held his brother’s hand so tight his own was shaking. Or maybe that was the pain that made his hands shaky. The agony of losing his only family.
“I’m not your only family, you idiot,” Knox said.
Preston must have said the words out loud and never even realized. Knox looked past him, over Preston’s shoulder, to where Olivia was standing a few feet away, watching with tears in her eyes.
“Sh
e’s your family now. You’re going to need each other more than ever. Take care of each other. And don’t fight as much, damn it. Life is too short to fight so much.”
Knox grinned on that last one and a terrible stabbing pain filled Preston’s chest like a hot poker.
“I love you, Knox,” Preston whispered the words.
“Course you do,” Knox said with another smile, but his voice was faint and barely audible now. “Love you too, brother. Take care of my niece, too. Tell her… Tell her that her uncle died a hero.”
“I will.”
Preston forced the words out through lungs that were on fire. His whole body burned with agony as Knox let out one last rattling breath and grew still. Preston couldn’t let go of his hand. He couldn’t move. He just knelt there, frozen from shock and pain, and for the first time in his whole life he leaned forward and cried for one of his family.
