by Jordan Marie
I go to start my bike when my phone vibrates.
Dragon. I don’t want to talk to him. It’s been a good fucking day. I don’t want his shit to ruin it. Still, I answer. If he starts his crap, I’ll hang up.
“Yeah man.”
“We got trouble, man. Freak was checking cameras for the safe house before running some routine maintenance on our system and there were two men sneaking around the garage.”
“What the hell do you mean sneaking around? What about the alarms?”
“We backed the cameras up, seems there is a third man with them. He disabled the fucking alarms.”
“What the fuck! You said that place was solid!” I growl, panic at the thought of Carrie being in danger pounding through my system.
“I don’t fucking know how they knew where the alarms were, I just know he disabled the entire fucking system. I’ll make heads roll about that later. For now we got bigger fucking fish to fry, you feel me?”
“Fuck, please tell me Crush got the sons of bitches.”
“Crush was in the garage and the two men split up and surrounded it. They both went in, and when they came back out there was no sign of Crusher.”
“Fuck!” I yell.
“We’re on our way, but you need to get Six and get your ass out there. You’re closer. Watch your back, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“You call Six, he’s already in the club. I’m not waiting. I’m heading out now.”
Dragon’s arguing when I hang up the phone. I don’t know what he said and I don’t care. I need to get to Carrie. I break every traffic law coming and going to get back to the house. I have one gun and I’ve been keeping it locked up in the house. I haven’t looked at it since the night I accidentally hurt Carrie. I don’t carry one, because ex-cons aren’t allowed that privilege. I’m not about to tempt fate just yet. Still, I know that Drag keeps a safe with emergency weapons hid in the garden shed out back. I turn my bike off and leave it at the bottom of the long drive. I don’t want to take the chance that I will be discovered before I make my move. I should check on Crush, but Carrie is my first concern. I can’t think past her.
I sprint to the shed, trying to stay away from direct view of the windows in the house, not an easy task. I manage somehow and make it to the shed. I breathe a sigh of relief when I find the old, bent up safe hid behind the wall of hoes, shovels, and rakes. Inside are three, thirty-eights and a box of ammo. I grab one, loading it quickly. I stuff about ten or fifteen bullets in my pocket. I’m hoping to find all of the motherfuckers together, but who the hell knows. I don’t have the best of luck.
With a deep breath, I take off for the back of the house. I’m betting that he will have Carrie either in the living room or kitchen. With that in mind, I know I don’t want to use the front door. Damn place doesn’t have a back door and that’s fucked up. I search what I know about the house and quickly decide to get in through Carrie’s bathroom window. It’s at the back of the house and the farthest away from the kitchen. I pray I can get in quietly. I need surprise on my side. I sure as hell don’t have much else.
I make it to the window and it’s locked. I figured it would be. I reach in my pocket and pull out my knife. I suppose carrying a pocket knife might be bad for an ex-con too, but I’m thankful I never worried about it. I angle the longest part of the knife’s blade where the upper and lower window meets. I attempt to trip the lock. I try ten fucking times. TEN! Way too many when my woman could be inside dying. I close my eyes, take a breath and try to steady myself. Then I try again. Finally! On the second attempt I manage to slide the lever over and it unlocks. I raise the window as quietly as I can.
Once I get it open enough to slide in, I stop and listen. When I don’t hear anyone coming towards the room, I take that as a good sign. I slide my knife back in my pocket, heft myself onto the window ledge, and pull myself up. I manage to push through the opening, but I scrape my side on the corner of a wooden chest that’s beside the window. Fuck! That hurt. I can feel the sticky wet drip of blood on my skin. I don’t bother to inspect it. I have no time.
I carefully make my way through the hall. I can hear talking in the kitchen. The voices aren’t overly loud, so I can’t really hear what they’re saying, until I get closer. I hide behind the half wall that divides the kitchen and living room.
I smell the odor of gun powder mixed with the coppery scent of blood in the room and my heart stalls. I almost lose it, until I hear Carrie’s voice. She’s alive.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh don’t be so naïve. We’re beyond these dramatics by now, Carolina.”
There’s a man’s body lying on the floor, on his back. His face is turned towards the kitchen, but I see enough to know that the man is dead. I turn my attention back to my woman. I can hear the terror in her voice. I want to go straight in right now, but I know I can’t. When I stand up, I have to have my gun ready and aim. I won’t get a second chance. So, I need to be careful. It kills me, but I remain where I’m at.
“Why did you kill them?” Carrie says her voice quiet and full of sadness.
“Kill who? Go on now, don’t leave me hanging now,” he says and I can hear the sick delight in his voice. I’m going to enjoy killing this motherfucker.
“Never mind, I know.”
“Enlighten me.”
“You killed my parents to get even with me,” she whispers and the guilt in her voice physically hurts me. I pray she can hold on for just a few more minutes.
“Bingo. You’re smarter than you look. Which is sad really. That means you have brains and can cook. Such a waste.”
“You’re sick.”
I hope she doesn’t cause him to lash out at her. I need her to hold on and stay safe for me. I hold my breath and peek out over the corner where the wall stops.
An older man is sitting at the table facing my way with Carrie’s back to me. He’s got a gun in his hand, motioning it around while he’s talking.
“Tell me, were your parents proud of you? Were you close?”
“What?”
“My son and I were very close. He was all I had in the world and he was taken away from me. Taken away, because of you.”
Fuck…this would be the unknown Phoenix…Dragon said he felt like things would happen soon. I wish he had been wrong.
“He tried to rape me!” Carrie defended. Just hearing that word kicks me in the gut and makes my hands shake. Now is not the time for a panic attack. I beat that shit back down. I hate feeling like this.
I hear a loud sound of a hand connecting with flesh. I peek around the corner and see that Phoenix has laid the gun down and smacked my woman. The hit was so violent, her head is thrown back and her chair scrapes backwards against the floor, almost tipping over. I don’t even think about it. I should. I would have liked to make him hurt more, for the hell he has put Carrie through—to make him suffer for touching her. I don’t, I stand up and aim my gun.
He looks at me in shock, but before he can even get a word out, I shoot the motherfucker in the head. He goes backward with a crash as Carrie screams. I walk further in the room, my gun still trained on the man. When I step to the chair Carrie is sitting in I feel her arms going around me. Her face buries into my side, muffling her cries.
I look down at my enemy. Blood is leaking from his head and it looks dark against his pale skin. His eyes are open. He’s not coming back. Still, I shoot the remaining five shots into his head. There’s probably nothing deader than dead, but it can’t hurt trying for it. Every time I shoot, Carrie jumps. I wrap my free arm around her and hold her to me. When the chamber is empty I put the gun on the table and wrap both arms around her, pulling her up to me.
“Shhh… I got you, Care Bear. I got you.”
26
Carrie
I got you Care Bear, I got you.
The words echo in my head and Jacob holds me. I’m shaking like a leaf on a tree as he subtly shuffles me so I’m hugging his front now
instead of his side. I wrap my arms tight around him. I know he’s protecting me from seeing the body. I don’t really want to see it, so that’s fine with me. I hold him tighter and breathe in his scent. I want to forget everything that just happened, but something is stopping me.
“Jacob?”
“Yeah, Care Bear.”
“He said he was going to kill me.”
“I know baby, but you don’t have to worry anymore. He won’t hurt you ever again.”
“I know but he…”
“I told you baby, you don’t have to…”
“Jacob! He has a bomb at least I think it’s a bomb,” I exclaim and I can hear the wild panic in my voice.
“Carrie…”
“Under his coat, Jacob! We have to get out of here!”
Jacob lets go of me to investigate. I look over his shoulder when he bends down. I don’t want to look at the dead guy, but I have to know if that is really a bomb. Jacob moves the coat back and the small timer device now has only a minute showing. Jacob grabs my hand, and pulls me to the door.
“Run!” I stumble to catch up because of the force he uses to get us through the door.
“Alexand…”
“Drag said Crush was in the garage! GO CARRIE!” He yells and I take off running as soon as I clear the door. Jacob must have decided I didn’t move fast enough, because he picks me up in his arms and takes off running.
We’ve almost made it to the garage when an explosion rocks and vibrates around us. Jacob is propelled downward from the force of the blast and we hit the ground. He braces himself so I’m not crushed beneath him. Even more, he uses his body to shield me. This is a man. This is the type of man you love for life. This is a good man. Please God, let me keep him.
My ears ring and sound becomes distorted either because of the loud noise of the blast, the gunshot or maybe both combined. Jacob is asking me if I’m okay, but it sounds like his voice is in a dark hole and being filtered before it gets to me. I can barely make it out.
Dragon and several others come running toward us. I look at the house and the entire right side is in flames. The roof is caved in over the area we just left.
“Bull! Where’s Bull?” Dragon growls when he makes it to us.
“Bull? What are you talking about? You only mentioned Crusher being in the garage?” Dancer responds, motioning over to where Poncho, the club doctor and a couple of the other boys are.
“Dani said Crush called Bull this morning and asked him to come watch Carrie while he did some things. We went back and checked the cameras. They picked up Bull getting here right after you left. It looked like they met outside and Bull went in the house while Crusher went on in the garage.”
“No one was here when I woke up,” I respond, feeling a sense of dread come over me. Could the man already have killed Bull?
“I didn’t see anyone in the house either,” Jacob adds. “Only rooms I didn’t check were the hall bath and the second bedroom.”
We all look back at the house engulfed in flames and I get physically sick to my stomach. The thought of Bull trapped in there…
“Fuck, let’s go around back. Maybe we can get in through a window,” Dragon orders.
“The bathroom window in Carrie’s room is already open, it’d be our best bet, plus it’s furthest from the main blaze.”
Jacob stands up and he and Dragon start running towards the other side of the house.
“Be careful!” I yell, but I don’t think he hears me. I start to follow them, maybe I can help them somehow. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up to see Freak.
“Where are you going?” Freak asks.
“I need to be close by in case they need help getting Bull out.”
“Dragon and Dance can handle it and Gunner and Frog are there too. You stay here where it’s safe. If you get closer to the house, you’ll just distract them.”
I don’t necessarily agree, but I give up trying to go after them. I don’t want to do anything that might distract Jacob and get him hurt.
In the distance I can hear sirens.
Freak leads me over to the garage. I look back at the house not wanting to leave Jacob. I want to see him the minute he gets free…
“We’re getting company, is Crush going to be okay?” Freak asks.
“Shit! There would have been less questions if we could have taken care of Crush at my place,” Doc says.
I turn around to see a very pale Alexander, a white bandage stained with red blood on his chest, up close to his shoulder. Dani is standing close by and there are tears in her eyes. It could be nothing, but it seems like more. I finally decide it is my imagination, since she makes no move to touch him.
“Shot in his chest, but you could tell the man either didn’t know what he was doing, or was in a hurry. If Crush hadn’t hit his head on the fall down he wouldn’t have been out of commission. It went straight through, so there was a lot of blood, but it was clean.”
“Shouldn’t you be glad an ambulance is here to take him to the hospital?” I ask confused. The others say nothing.
Alexander gives me a weak smile. “I’ll be okay, Red. I’ve had worse.”
I don’t think I believe him, but I’m too worried about Jacob, Dragon and Bull to say anything else.
Please God, let them be okay.
27
Dancer
I make it back to the window. I can’t see fire in the room itself, so I jump in without wasting time. I hear Dragon fall in behind me. There’s smoke, lots of fucking smoke, but no real flames. It seems the blaze has been limited to the site of the homemade bomb. Thank fuck it was a homemade bomb and small. It took out half of the kitchen and started a fire, but had the man been a professional, there would have been nothing left.
You can’t see a damned foot in front of you for the smoke and haze. I’m holding my breath and I’ve got my arm up over my mouth and nose, but soon I could be in real trouble.
I feel my way through Carrie’s bedroom and out into the hall. I can hear Dragon behind me, but I can’t stop to check on him. I have to hurry. If Bull is in here, there’s a limited time to get to him. He’ll die of smoke inhalation. Hell, I can already feel the burning in my lungs. I make it to the hall bath first.
“Bull!!!” I call out, but can’t find him anywhere, even with the low visibility, had he been in there I would have.
That only leaves one room. Holding onto the wall I make my way to the spare bedroom. The door is locked. I use my shoulder and ram it, Dragon joins in and it breaks away from the frame and opens up. Lying on the bed is Bull. He’s unconscious, that much is clear. Still, even through the smoke I can see the blood. A fucking lot of blood coming from his head! I don’t have time to inspect him further, I grab him in a fireman’s hold and start back the way I came. Dragon leads the way to our escape route, none too soon. The heat is closing in on us and you can hear the crack of wood all around. We need out of here before the whole damn place collapses on us.
“Damn Bull, you are a big motherfucker,” I say to no one in particular, as I struggle to carry this hulk of a man.
We make it back to the bathroom much quicker, but by now the flames have spread and they are reaching out towards us like deadly hands. The creaking of weakening beams becomes louder.
Dragon helps me carefully get Bull out the window, handing him out to Gunner and Frog. He then insists I go out the window first and since we’re both coughing like little bitches, I don’t argue. He plows out just seconds behind me and we drag our tired asses from around the house and back to the garage.
I see Carrie the minute I turn the corner and she runs straight at me. She’s a damn mess, but at the same time so achingly perfect. She is the answer to every dream I’ve ever had.
I grunt as she connects with my body at full force. She wraps her arms around me and I grab hold of her ass and lift her up. A second later her legs are locked at the back of my ass.
“I was so worried,” she whispers against my lips
. I push into her mouth kissing her hard. My throat is burning and dry but I do not give one damn. I need this. Our lips break away slowly and I give her one more chaste lip touch before pulling away completely.
“Care Bear. I’m okay.”
“I love you, Jacob.”
The words give me the familiar kick in my gut and a speeding heart. They also bring me a feeling of joy. I can’t stop myself from kissing her again—this time with everything I’ve got inside of me. Our tongues dance and mate and then war with each other, fighting for dominance. Even the taste of smoke can’t stop the flavor of Carrie from coming through. This woman is better than a drug. She’s like pure air and I need her to survive.
“Bull?” She asks and I shake my head, because I don’t know.
I’m jealous which is fucked up seven ways to Sunday. My brother is in bad shape, even I could tell that through the smoke. Yet, here I am jealous because my woman is worried about him. Hell, I’m worried about him. I grab her by the back of the neck and turn her face towards me.
“Give me the words.”
She looks thoroughly confused and I understand, because I am too. Still, she takes her hand and moves it along the side of my face. With her other hand, she places it over my heart and applies gentle pressure. The warmth of it is enough to calm the heavy beating.
“I love you, Jacob.”
“Sir, we need to check you over,” I look over my shoulder and there’s a paramedic standing behind me.
“I’m fine, see to my brother.”
I don’t want to be bothered. I want to stay with Carrie. It’s weak and totally the wrong time to be feeling shit, but crowds trigger panic attacks. I do not want to have one of those surrounded by strangers and having my brothers here would make that shit worse. I hold on tightly to Carrie’s hand. Can she tell how it shakes? I look at her face, but she just smiles. I pray I’ve kept it hid.
