Hard Run

by Sheryl Nantus

  Finn leaned back and hyperextended Smith’s arm, bringing the man up on his toes. Smith hammered again and again at Finn’s right side, laying down punches that grew weaker and weaker while Finn jabbed three times in quick succession at the leader’s face, now bloody and distorted.

  “You think you’ve beaten me? I’ll be out in six months, and I’ll come after you and your friends. And this time, no one’s walking away,” Smith snapped.

  “Yeah, I don’t think so.” Finn snatched up the pistol and pointed it at Smith’s forehead.

  The Wolf’s expression changed. His eyes went wide, his mouth falling open as blood trickled out.

  “We’re going to make sure you go to jail for a good, long time. And if you ever get out, you’ll find me at the door, waiting for a reason to put you back in again. Remember that.” Finn spun the pistol in his hand and slammed the butt grip into Smith’s head.

  Smith sagged to his knees, blood gushing from his nose and down over his goatee.

  Finn pulled the riding crop free from the Wolf’s belt. He raised it, prepared to strike.

  Smith moaned as he looked up at the switch, eyes bleary and wide. He lifted his hands slowly, painfully to fend off Finn’s blows.

  “I should beat you like you beat Robby,” Finn said. “But you’re not worth my time or effort.”

  “Finn.” Trey appeared at his side out of the dissipating smoke. He wore a black T-shirt and black pants, the Brotherhood’s working uniform. He glanced at Smith before turning back to Finn. “You good?”

  Finn drew in a deep breath.

  “I’m good.” He glared at the gang leader, beaten and broken.

  The rest of the bikers sprawled on the ground, most of them unconscious. Dylan and Ace were occupied with putting zip ties on the last two, immobilizing them.

  Finn snapped the riding crop in half over his knee and tossed the remnants at Smith. “Who was working the drone?” he asked Trey.

  “Jessie.” Trey smiled. “Over in the van.” He nudged a thumb at Dylan. “It was as much of a compromise as he could take. Woman was chomping at the bit to help.”

  “Skye.” Finn leaned over and grabbed the front of Smith’s shirt. He dragged the man onto his knees. “Where is she?”

  Smith looked at him, bleary-eyed and woozy.

  “Where. Is. She.” Finn enhanced every word with a rough shake, Smith’s head bobbing back and forth.

  “Why should I tell you?” Smith muttered.

  “Because I’m going to beat on you like a piñata until you do, and no one’s going to stop me. Want to prove me wrong?”

  Smith shook his head, his eyes already swelling shut from the beating. He spat out a gob of blood. “At the diner, Julius’s place. If my boys don’t hear from me soon, they’re going to shoot them. I’m not making that call, and you can’t get there in time. Tick, tick.” He smiled, showing reddened teeth. “You win some, you lose some.”

  Finn pushed the criminal into the dirt.

  Trey yanked out his cell phone and stared at it. “Verified. The first tracker you put down is at the cafe.”

  Jake.

  Finn closed his eyes for a second, summoning up the last of his reserve energy.

  “Finn.”

  His attention went to Dylan, who was now standing, wiping his hands on his pants. He pointed at the line of motorcycles. “We’ll let Mac know. Go.”

  Finn didn’t need any other encouragement.

  He jumped on the nearest bike and twisted the key in the ignition. Rubber screamed as he let the throttle out and spun out of the parking lot.

  …

  Robby pulled the knife out from under his sweatshirt and slid his hand behind her back, using the blade to hack at the nylon rope. She gave a hard yank and one of the ropes broke. In a few minutes, Skye pulled her hands free, untangling her fingers and keeping them behind her back, out of sight.

  Robby sighed and hugged her, keeping the knife hidden. If Jake or any of the other bikers glanced over, they’d just see a heartfelt embrace, their captives spending a few more minutes together before the inevitable happened.

  “Love ya, sis.” The whisper almost had her in tears, but there wasn’t time to get all emotional.

  He was still sweaty and feverish; whatever he could do would be limited. But he wasn’t ready to go down without a fight and that made two of them—three with Julius switching sides.

  All she could think about was Finn. He should have arrived at the truck stop with the drug-stacked car, and after that…

  She had to do something.

  Now or never.

  Skye looked at Julius and gave a careful bob of her chin.

  Julius snatched up a cast-iron frying pan and waved it at Jake. “I’m not going to let you kill them.” His voice was forceful. “I’ve let you bastards get away with enough. It stops here.”

  “What the…” Jake threw down the burger and stepped past Skye and Robby, his hand dropping to the pistol in his waistband. “You stupid idiot. I’m going to—”

  Robby threw himself at the biker, tangling himself up in Jake’s feet. The man went down in a mess of arms and legs, his hands clutching at the counter to try and regain his balance. Robby twisted, pulling Jake all the way down to the tiled floor.

  They had to be fast before the biker yelled for help or reached his pistol. Either would kill their little rebellion before it got a chance to start.

  Skye yanked her hands free and snatched up the knife as Jake twisted upright, grabbing at his pistol. She slammed it into his thigh, right to the hilt.

  Jake screamed and clawed at his leg, all thoughts of getting to the weapon gone.

  One down, two to go.

  Julius scrambled over the writhing man to stand beside the doorway.

  Sure enough, the first man charged through a few seconds later—only to be clocked by the heavy metal pan. He flew backward, the force knocking him off his feet.

  Skye wrestled Jake’s pistol free and tossed it to Robby. She went over to the second biker and took possession of his weapon while the man lay unconscious.

  Their third assailant ran right into the line of fire, both Robby and Skye pointing their weapons at him. Julius brandished the skillet again, holding it high.

  He froze before slowly raising his hands.

  Robby let out a weary laugh. “That went better than I thought.”

  Skye smiled but didn’t join him. Her thoughts flew to Finn.

  She grabbed up a handful of dishtowels and tossed them at Jake.

  “Don’t pull it out,” she warned. “Wrap those towels around the knife. They’ll remove it at the hospital.”

  She should have been frightened, terrified at what she’d done. Except she wasn’t. All she could think about was Finn.

  “Julius, tie those two up.” Skye looked at Robby. “How are you feeling?”

  He smiled. “Like crap. But I’ll live.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Finn picked up at least one state trooper as he sped along the highway, ignoring the flashing lights as he gunned the engine. Traffic was light in the growing daylight, and he stayed in the fast lane until he came to the exit for Whispering Willows, taking it at as high a speed as he could without losing control of the motorcycle.

  A red haze of anger formed around the edges of his sight, threatening to obscure his vision. All he could see was Skye and Robby, shot and propped up against the wall of the diner, bleeding to death as the bikers drove off.

  The sirens increased behind him, the number of cars doubling then tripling. Finn glanced in the mirror and saw a black SUV pick up the trail.

  Mac’s men.

  The local police pulled out from a side street to try and catch him but failed, falling into line behind Finn. He laughed. He’d been working alone for the past month, and now he was leading a damned cop parade.

  The diner was around the corner. He jammed on the brakes, the smell of burning rubber filling the air as he slowed to take the turn.

&nb
sp; The assorted police vehicles behind him had to do the same, the screeching of brakes accompanying him as he sped into the parking lot.

  Finn brought the bike to a stop and jumped off, letting it crash to the ground.

  The diner appeared as it had the other times he’d visited, the only difference being the Closed sign in the window. As he charged up the steps, preparing to kick in the door, a hand reached out and flipped it to Open.

  Finn skidded to a stop.

  Skye unlocked the door and stepped out. Her front was stained with blood, and hot terror flashed through his bones until he realized it wasn’t hers.

  “Can I take your order?” She nodded to one side. “The morning special is on biker scum. Three of them in here, sunny-side up with a side of whoop ass.”

  Finn grabbed at her, twirling her around in his arms before he kissed her.

  Skye pulled back, cupping his face in her hands. “Smith?”

  Finn smiled. “We got him. All of them.” He watched as the assembled law enforcement personnel began arriving, yelling as the locals faced the troopers who faced the federal agents, each trying to out-shout the other.

  “There’s quite a bit of paperwork to figure out, but then we’re going to celebrate.” Finn looked past her to see Robby leaning against the doorframe with Julius helping hold him up. “A lot.”

  A few minutes later, Finn sat handcuffed in the back of the Nevada State Trooper’s police car.

  Skye sat on the steps of the diner as she cradled Robby, the young man exhausted and limp. An ambulance’s siren split the air, and Finn suspected Robby was about to be readmitted to the hospital.

  Mac, their contact in the FBI, was busy standing off to one side waving his hands and talking rapidly to the other officers. It was plain they were discussing who was in charge.

  After a few minutes, Mac came over to Finn’s car, gesturing for one of the troopers to open the rear door. He ducked his head inside, sunglasses hiding his eyes.

  “We’ll have you out of those cuffs in a second.” He glanced over at the ambulance pulling in. “This turned into one hell of a clusterfuck, didn’t it?”

  Finn laughed as he leaned forward for the trooper to undo the cuffs. “You said it, not me.”

  “The people upstairs enjoyed their late-night viewing. The recordings from the truck stop are clear, good quality. No exterior microphones, but we’ve picked up the other civilian driver, and he’s singing loud and clear about the deal with Smith, where he went, and what he did, now that he’s not afraid of the Wolf taking him out and shooting him in the back of the head.” Mac looked over at Skye and Robby. “I assume we can count on his testimony as well. We’ll keep you out of the loop if we can, as usual.”

  “He’s a fighter.” Finn nodded, rubbing his wrists. “He’ll testify. As will she.”

  “So it seems.” Mac smiled. “She’s an interesting woman. Hope you’re noticing.”

  Finn laughed as he exited the car. “Hell, yeah.” He hesitated, a more serious question drilling into his heart. “Did you get all the gang members? One of them goes free, decides to take it out on Skye and Robby…”

  Mac held up his hand. “We’re sort of used to this thing. According to the records, we’ve got all of them, but I plan to leave an undercover team in place here to keep an eye on the situation for at least a month. See if anyone comes back to the clubhouse and tries to resurrect it, any suspicious characters hanging around Skye and Robby.” He paused. “We could put them in witness protection.”

  “That would be up to them.” Finn winced inside. If Skye entered the program, she’d be gone forever, hidden away under a new name and a new life. “But it’s worth talking about.”

  Mac stared at him and nodded. “We’ll consider that.”

  …

  Skye helped Robby onto the stretcher. His shirt and track pants were soaked with sweat and whatever else he’d managed to pick up during the struggle with Jake.

  “I’ll be fine.” Robby squeezed her hand as he lay back and let the paramedics begin treating him. “The important thing is that Smith’s gone.” He raised an eyebrow. “You like this guy. Finn.”

  She gave him a soft smile. “We’re close.”

  “Good. I’m glad you have someone.”

  “I only found him because I wanted help killing Smith,” she confessed.

  His eyes widened. “You were planning to kill Mick?”

  Skye nodded, fighting to keep the tears back. “I thought you were going to die. I couldn’t imagine a life without you.”

  Robby smiled. “I can’t die just yet. I think that nurse’s sweet on me. Maybe I’ll ask her out.”

  Skye stepped back as the paramedics finished hooking up an IV before loading the stretcher into the back of the ambulance.

  Robby gave her a final wave before the doors closed and the wagon raced off, accompanied by one of the black SUVs that had come in with Finn.

  She let out a sigh of relief, knowing Robby would not only be in good hands medically but also safe and guarded.

  She turned to see another ambulance dealing with Jake, who was writhing in pain on the stretcher, the steak knife still embedded in his leg. It was obvious the biker wasn’t going anywhere for a good, long time.

  The man who had been talking to Finn came over to her. “Miss Harris?” He extended his hand. “I’m Special Agent MacKenzie. I help out Dylan and his friends.”

  She noticed he avoided saying “the Brotherhood” out loud.

  His handshake was warm and strong. “While we appreciate your enthusiasm in helping take down these drug dealers, I do have to officially note you shouldn’t have been involved.” The twinkle in his eye drew a smile to her face. “Civilians shouldn’t take the law into their hands and try to deliver justice. That’s for trained professionals.”

  Skye nodded. “Duly noted.”

  “Now that the official warning’s been given, you did a hell of a job here. With Finn’s help, of course.”

  “Yes.” She glanced over his shoulder at Finn, now dealing with a female paramedic fussing over his light wounds. “And the others.”

  Mac shrugged. “It was mostly you two. We’ve raided the clubhouse and the storage unit—between what we found there, the illegal drugs in the car, and testimony from the bikers looking to make a deal, Mick Smith is going to go away for a long, long time.” He eyed her. “I hope that’s enough justice for you.”

  “It is.” She nodded. “For a lifetime. Don’t worry. I’ve got nothing planned other than helping Robby recover and getting my life back to normal.”

  “Good.” He patted her shoulder. “I’m going to send over a man to take your statement. You immediately say you’re not talking without a lawyer present. You want to go home, change your clothing, and you’ll meet us with your lawyer at the hospital because you want to be with your brother. He’ll agree, of course. Another man will accompany you to your home and to the hospital for your protection, as one did with Robby.”

  Skye played along, sensing the game going on here.

  “We’ll talk to you at the hospital. Have a good day.”

  Skye drew a deep breath as Mac walked away. For the first time in weeks, she sensed daylight at the end of the long, dark tunnel they’d all been going through—

  Only to have the hope replaced by concern and confusion as she spotted Julius being put into the back of one of the SUVs in cuffs.

  A car pulled into the parking lot, a familiar one. April flew out of the driver’s seat as soon as the engine died, dashing over to Skye.

  “What’s going on?” She hugged Skye before surveying the chaos at the diner. “I heard there was some sort of commotion here.” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “I was running late ’cause Harry and I was out after midnight and—” April caught her breath. “What’s Julius doing in the back of that car? Is he in handcuffs?”

  “It’s a long story.” Skye took her hands and squeezed. “It’s a long, damned story.”

  …
<
br />   The woman dabbing at Finn’s face clucked her tongue. “I assume the other guy looks worse.”

  He flashed back to the memory of Mick Smith face down in the parking lot, blood oozing from his nose as he lay gasping for air.

  “A bit.” He pulled away from the paramedic. “I’m good. Thanks for the clean-up.” Finn smiled, letting her turn to her next man, one of the semi-conscious bikers already strapped to a stretcher.

  Yet another car pulled into the parking lot, staying outside of the yellow tape one of the policemen was wrapping around everything and anything near the diner. Dylan got out and approached the barrier, hands tucked into his jeans.

  The sunglasses covered a bit of bruising on his cheek, but he showed no other ill effects of the recent brawl. Finn walked up to him, careful to stay on his side of the line.

  “We’re heading back to the Playground.” Dylan glanced around at the mass of law enforcement personnel swarming over the diner. “Should I put you back on the schedule for next week?”

  Finn frowned. “What?”

  Dylan nodded toward the diner. “Your job here is done. You busted the gang. The heroin trade here is gone, at least for the time being, and Skye has her brother back. What else is there?”

  Finn rubbed his forehead, wincing as he touched the butterfly bandage. “I…” He shook his head. “I need to clean things up here. Bits and pieces.” He scrambled for words, trying to sort through his thoughts.

  Dylan smiled. “I didn’t mean putting you on duty tonight. Take a day or two, finish up your personal business here. It’s time to pack things up and come home.”

  Finn glanced at the diner. “Thank the men for me. They really came through.”

  Dylan shrugged. “They were doing their jobs. Wyatt’s fine, except he’s going on light duties for the next few weeks, and Ace’s going to have Lisa fawning over him, so that’s a win. And Jessie wanted to show off what she could do with the drones. She’s no Trey, but it’s good to have someone who can run them in case he needs to get out in the field. She understands I don’t want her out with us because I’ll be too worried about her to do anything else. She’s with Ace and Wyatt now, getting ready to drive them back to Vegas.”