Sentinel

by Brook Wilder

  Becky didn’t deserve to get killed like this. No, he wasn’t gonna let Marco get away with this one.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Gary

  The ride to the Gallery was longer than I remembered. I barely got the bike turned off before I was racing for the back lot, where I knew Becky kept her car. I didn’t care if the rest of the guys couldn’t keep up.

  Becky was missing.

  True to form, Half-Pint was standing right where he’d said he would be, fidgeting with his hands. “I seen her come out the back,” he started as I descended on him. “I stayed hidden, thinking Marco was here to get Misty.”

  “Why would he be here to get her?” I asked, tamping my panic down. Was Misty involved in this?

  “They’re an item,” he said matter of factly, like everyone should know that. “They been fucking for years.”

  I doubted Becky knew that. “What else?”

  “Then I seen them come out and Becky was acting like she was surprised at what Misty was saying,” he continued as more of the Legion arrived.

  Fox came to stand right beside me.

  “Then he grabbed her and put her in the back of one of them work vans.”

  “She went willingly?” I forced out, nearly choking on my emotion.

  He shook his head. “You could see it on her face. She didn’t wanna, but I heard them talk about the baby. That’s probably why she didn’t fight.”

  “Good girl,” I murmured, turning to Fox. “We got to find her.”

  “I know,” Fox said, motioning over my shoulder. “Fan out. Search every damn place you know Marco could be.”

  Emilio stepped forward. “Use whatever you need from my men. My brother must be stopped.”

  I didn’t say anything, adrenaline running through my veins. She was going to be okay. Becky was smart. She knew how to work Marco and Misty to her advantage. We just had to get to her before they did something stupid.

  And if they did, I would kill them slowly, like they tried to do to Jared.

  Emilio’s phone rang and he stepped away to take it, coming back with a grim look on his face. “On second thought. Twitch is at the clubhouse, calling for my damn head. I have to go this time.”

  “Shit,” Fox swore. “Take the rest of the men. You’ll need them depending on how many he’s brought.”

  Emilio glanced over at me. “I’m sorry about Becky, I really am.”

  I waved him off, clenching my jaw tightly. “I’ll take who you can spare.”

  “Two, three guys tops,” Fox said as he started back to where the bikes were waiting. “I’m fucking sorry, Gary.”

  I understood. Their mess was bigger than a woman missing. I stalked back to my bike as Fox and Emilio climbed on theirs. “Good luck,” Fox said, clearly torn on what he should do.

  “Kill him for me,” Emilio said through clenched teeth as he gunned the engine.

  I nodded and he took off toward the Diablo clubhouse, the group of Legion and Diablo members following behind. Once the dust cleared, three of the Legion brothers were waiting and I gave them a nod, knowing it was hard for them to stay behind when shit was about to hit the fan.

  “I know where he took her.”

  I turned back at Half-Pint. “What?”

  His eyes shifted back and forth. “I know where he went.”

  “Where?” I asked, wondering what else this guy knew about Marco.

  “There’s this house,” he started, drawing circles with his foot in the dirt. “He’s been staying there since this shit went down.”

  “You could find it again, right?” I asked.

  He nodded and I motioned for him to follow me. If he was telling the truth, I would get him out of Greenwood, out of Nevada so the Rebels wouldn’t get to collect the bounty on his head. It was the least I could do.

  Half-Pint picked one of the bikers left to ride bitch with and I climbed on my bike. I had to find her.

  “We will find her,” one of them said, as if he could see it written on my face.

  “We got you, Kid,” the other said, spitting into the dirt.

  I said nothing, cranking up the bike instead. My damn heart had been ripped out of my chest the moment Half-Pint had gotten his words out. Just when I thought I’d put everything in order to keep her safe, the ones closest to her had blown it up from within.

  No one could have predicted that.

  Tearing out onto the highway, I barely felt the wind tearing at my face. Were we ever going to have a normal life, me and Becky? If we survived this, I was going to lock her in her house for a while, until the rest of the world forgot about us.

  On second thought, maybe longer. Hell, If I knew I could keep her there forever, I would.

  One thing was for sure, she was going to be Mrs. Becky Holmes before the month was out. I couldn’t take this shit, not being able to protect her. I wanted her to have the full protection of the Legion as my wife. I didn’t want to take any more chances, and while I knew Fox was protecting her because of her ties to the Legion, I wanted to make it official.

  That is, if we both survived this all-out war between the clubs of Greenwood.

  **

  It wasn’t long before Half-Pint had us off the main road and down a long driveway in the middle of nowhere. At my signal, we’d all killed our engines, and then coasted in on neutral in case Marco was listening for us.

  After grabbing my guns from the saddlebags, I tucked them into my waistband, addressing the other two. “I kill Marco, got it?”

  “What’s the plan?” one asked as he checked his gun.

  I thought for a minute before an idea came to my mind. “Half-Pint.”

  “W-what?” he asked, clearly frightened that I was dragging him into this mess.

  “You go up and ring the doorbell,” I answered. “I’ll be right beside you. Just ring the damn bell, let him open the door, and I will take care of the rest.”

  “Hell no!” he cried. “He’ll shoot me on the spot!”

  I glared at him. “Then what do you propose we do?”

  He chewed on his lower lip for a minute. “Can’t you just go in, guns blazing or some shit like that?”

  I ground my teeth. I didn’t want this to turn into a shootout by any means, nor did we know how many people were in that cabin waiting. And then there was Becky. I had no idea where she was in that house, and what might happen if we started shooting the place up.

  Shit, I didn’t know what to do.

  One of the other bikers, Hank, clamped a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll go around back, check things out while you take the front. If it’s quiet, we go in.”

  I nodded, glad someone else was doing the thinking. I couldn’t focus, especially knowing Becky was in there. And I knew she was playing it safe to avoid hurting the baby. Which means she wouldn’t be throwing herself at her attackers like she had in the past.

  I needed to rescue her, and if I died trying, then it would be a good way to go out.

  Turning toward Hank, I gave him a dead-on stare. “We get her out at all costs, understand?”

  “Got it,” he said, sliding one into the chamber of his gun.

  I readied my rifle and checked it for rounds. This was it. This was going to be either the end or the beginning.

  Racking the rounds into the rifle, I started toward the driveway that would lead me to Becky. I just hoped she’d kept her wits about her, knowing I would come for her.

  I doubted she would think otherwise.

  Turning back, I saw that Half-Pint was trailing us, his hands in his pockets. I wasn’t worried about him alerting Marco, not with the target on his back. “Stay out of the way, alright?” I called out, not wanting to have his death on my hands. Sure, a few nights ago I would have been all about putting a bullet in his head. But after what he’d done tonight, I’d do my best to keep him alive.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Becky

  Bad news and good news about me being in this cabin with two crazy people.
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  The good news was they didn’t see me as a threat, not even so much as to tie me up. They let me sit on the couch where I was almost comfortable, all things considered. I was glad, because the last thing I needed was for them to yank around my bad shoulder.

  The bad news was, I was in a cabin, with two crazy people.

  I couldn’t believe this. Misty was messed up with Marco. Marco was eyeing me like he was going to take me in that back bedroom and do whatever he wanted with me.

  And Misty. She was treating me like I had wounded her somehow, something I still couldn’t understand. It was like she’d expected me to be something else from me and I had ruined her night.

  Right now, though, Marco had Misty pinned up against the counter, his hands up her shirt.

  “Marco,” she purred, her eyes on me. “She’s watching.”

  Marco growled, turning to look at me. “I don’t care. Maybe she wants to join.”

  “Not on your life,” I answered, eliciting a giggle out of Misty, who pushed Marco away. I watched as she made her way over to me, perching on the arm rest next to me and twirling my hair around her finger.

  The gesture was nauseating, but I forced my face to remain apathetic.

  “Oh, come on, Becky. You know you want to see what it would be like. Marco, he’s gonna be the leader of the Cazadores as soon as his pesky brother gets out of the way.”

  Marco looked at his watch, a wicked grin on his face. “Hopefully any moment now.”

  I let Misty play with my hair, knowing if I tried anything with her, Marco would be all over me. I had to play this smart, somehow get one or both of them on my side so I could get out of here. I had no idea where we were, but I’d make a break for it first chance I got.

  “Why did you shoot me?” I asked him, determined to keep them talking.

  Marco looked surprised. “Shoot you? I didn’t fucking shoot you. She wouldn’t let me touch you.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “But they found those pictures.”

  Misty let out a laugh, stroking my hair. “They were mine, silly.”

  “Yours?” I asked. Wow, this chick was really psycho. “So, you shot me?”

  “Of course not,” Misty said, horror on her face. “I would never do something like that. Twitch shot you.”

  “Twitch?” I asked, wondering why the hell Twitch would want to shoot me.

  “Yep,” Misty grinned, all excited she knew something I didn’t. “He wanted to have the Legion come after Marco and get him out of the way, but my Marco is smarter than that. Aren’t you?”

  “I am,” Marco held up the beer he’d opened earlier. “I took my ass here and hid out until the storm blew over. Now, Twitch has everyone, including my brother, heading to the Diablo clubhouse where it’s going to be a bloodbath. And you know who will come out on top? I will.”

  “We all will,” Misty added, giving me a wink. “And we’re all going to live like one big family. Marco, me, you, and that baby.” She let out a little laugh. “That is, unless you want to get rid of it. I mean, you aren’t even the mothering type, Beck. I had all this fun planned...” she looked back at me with narrowed eyes, the humor vanishing from her face. “And you ruined it.”

  I swallowed hard, wondering exactly what kind of ‘fun’ she had planned for me. I doubted she’d really abstain from whatever it was. And it didn’t seem like the kind of thing I’d walk away from unscathed. Neither would the child inside me.

  Which was not an option.

  “What about the Legion?” I asked lightly, prodding them to keep talking. The more I kept their mouths moving, the less their brains had time to figure out what they were going to do with me. My hand twitched as I fought the urge to place it over my abdomen, not wanting to draw any attention to where I was most vulnerable.

  Marco chuckled. “What about them? They can’t tell their heads from their asses since Carry’s death. It’s only a matter of time before they implode and cease to exist. Lawrence is half the man Carry was.”

  That I doubted. Fox was more than capable to lead the Legion. And he was stronger than ever. Marco was delusional if he thought those men would just lay down and quit.

  “And if they don’t?”

  He grinned, tipping his beer toward me. “Well, then I’ll have to kill them all.”

  I burst into laughter, unable to help it. This was like one of those crazy B rated movies where some psycho threw a wrench in the plot no one saw coming. All of our careful strategizing over the Cazadores and Rebels… and it really came down to this one insane man.

  And I was in the middle of the damn movie with no earthly idea how to get out of it.

  “Don’t laugh at him,” Misty whispered loudly, tugging my hair. “He doesn’t like it when people laugh at him.”

  I winced at her assault, feeling her craziness take the dark turn I’d been expecting. Misty wasn’t the ditzy blonde everyone thought her to be. No, she was calculating, even if she wasn’t sane.

  That made her extremely dangerous.

  “I’m going to go take a piss,” Marco replied, stumbling toward the bathroom.

  I waited until he’d shut the door before I turned on Misty, allowing some of the anxiety in my chest to inspire real tears in my eyes. “Please, Misty,” I said softly, grabbing her hands. “Please help me leave.”

  She stared at me. “Why would I want to do that? You’re mine, Becky.”

  “He’ll kill me,” I urged, clasping her hands. “You know that. He doesn’t care about what we have together. He only cares about power. You and me, we could leave here and start fresh.”

  Misty eyed me. “You’re just trying to get away. I’m not stupid, Becky.”

  “I know you aren’t,” I tried again, trying to look scared and afraid. “I would never say that, Misty. Just tell me…” I paused a beat, staring into her eyes until I saw the light shift. She was waiting for what I had to say. I’d gotten her attention.

  “I want to understand the future you want for us,” I prodded.

  She hesitated and I knew she was re-evaluating Marco’s intentions.

  “Please.” I whispered. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The bathroom door opened, and I dropped her hands, hoping the seed of doubt I’d planted in her mind would grow. If I could get her to see Marco was not going to do what she wanted him to, that would make it much harder for the two of them to… have their fun with me.

  It was my only shot at getting out here without doing something rash that might get my baby killed.

  Marco drew up short when he saw us, his eyes narrowing. “What are you doing, Misty?”

  She slid off the sofa arm. “Nothing, babe. Beck and I were just talking.”

  He started toward her. “About what? What was she filling your head with?”

  Misty took a step back, her eyes widening. “Nothing! We were just having some girl talk.”

  He reached over and grabbed me by the hair, causing me to cry out as he forced me onto the floor and on my knees. “Leave her alone, you bitch.”

  “Marco!” Misty cried, covering her mouth with her hand. “What are you doing?”

  “Teaching her who’s in charge,” he growled, twisting his fist in my hair. I reached up blindly, trying to dislodge his hold on my hair as Misty started to cry, shaking her head.

  I didn’t know where this was going, but something told me I wouldn’t like it if it played out like this.

  But before I could figure out what to do, the cabin was exploding. Marco’s fist was wrenched from my hair and I fell to the floor, covering my head the best I could as gunfire erupted everywhere. I heard Misty scream through the din, tears of terror leaking from my eyes as I pressed my face to the floor. I prayed that whatever was happening, I would get out alive.

  Then, as quickly as it started, all went silent.

  “Beck! Beck!”

  Gary’s voice tore a sob from my throat, and in no time at all, I was curled against his chest, safe in his arms. He smelled like gunpowde
r and night air. He smelled like freedom.

  “Gary.”

  He frisked me. “Are you hit? Are you hurt?”

  I shook my head. Other than my scalp hurting where Marco had tried to rip my hair out, I was okay. “I’m fine.”

  He pulled back, his eyes searching mine. “Thank God.”

  “What happened?” I asked as he smoothed my hair away from my face. I was so unbelievably happy to see him I wanted to grab hold of him and never let go.