by Cat Mason
“Hammon doesn’t have Rebel,” Levi says, aiming his gun at Jace. The expression on his face changes, turning sinister. “I do.” The gun goes off with a loud bang that explodes in my ears. Jace grunts, his body falling forward onto the area rug in the living room. The gun he was holding skates across the floor before disappearing under the couch.
“Jace!” Scrambling across the tile floor on my hands and knees, I try to get to him. “Jesus, Levi, what are you doing?”
“Straying from the plan,” Daniel announces, yanking me back by my hair.
“Let me go!” I scream, grabbing onto the corner of the island with both hands. Tears spring to my eyes when he yanks again, my fingers losing their grip. “You can’t just let him die on my fucking floor.”
Releasing his hold, I land hard on the tile, my hip and hardly recovered shoulder taking the majority of the impact. Towering over me, his scrutinizing gaze raking over Jace. “Unfortunate.” He clicks his tongue. “Quite like the man who was shot outside my home.” The satisfied smile nearly splits his face. “What was his name, Levi?”
“Like it matters,” Levi deadpans.
“You son of a bitch,” I spit, the vision of Huck’s lifeless body lying on the pool table making me see red.
“Such vile words from pretty lips.” Bending down, he grabs onto my hair, yanking so that I am forced to my feet. “He put that fire there, didn’t he? The man who has been warming your bed,” he sneers, his face hardening. “I wish he could be here to watch me extinguish it.”
Cupping the back of my head, he forces his mouth to mine. Tensing, I bite down on his lip before stomping on his instep as hard as I can. “It wasn’t falling in love with Colt that gave me strength,” I inform him. “It was leaving you.”
“Love,” he huffs angrily. “I hardly doubt anything you feel for that man is love, and whatever you may think you feel is incomparable to the depth of my own for you.”
“The only thing I feel when I look at you, Daniel, is disgust,” I spit. “And regret.”
“You were nothing before me,” he roars as I struggle. “And there is only one way you will ever truly leave me.”
“Time to move,” Levi announces, yanking open the curtains to check the street. “Guaranteed someone called in that gunshot.”
“Once again, your foolish actions have rushed my timeline, Mr. Fowler,” Daniel says, forcing me to move. “Come, darling.”
Spotting the skillet in the dish drainer, I make my move and grab the handle. “Go to hell!” Swinging as hard as I can, I hit Daniel in the face. His head bounces off the corner of the island, before slamming to the tile. Throwing down the skillet, I leap over his body and haul ass for my bedroom.
Locking the door, I rush around the side of the bed, heading straight for the pistol I keep strapped to the side of my nightstand. “Open the door, Henley.” Levi’s voice is calm and terrifying. Turning the knob, he taps on the door. “There’s nowhere to go.”
“Shit,” I hiss, finding the holster empty. My phone falls from my pocket, landing at my feet when I turn to look for something else to use as a weapon. My eyes widen and I silently send thanks up to whatever little guardian angel kept this little bastard from breaking during my fight with Daniel.
“Henley!” Levi shouts impatiently. The door flies open, smacking hard against the wall. Stepping into the room, Levi stares me down. “Looking for this?” Holding up my pistol, he prowls toward me. “Rebel has a big mouth. She told me about the gun and the knife you keep in the basket beside the bathtub.”
“Damned mouthy bitch.” I hold up my hands, hoping he isn’t as insane as Daniel. Maybe there are a few brain cells in his head that I can reason with. “Please tell me you didn’t hurt her.”
“Of course not,” he says, taking the phone from my hand and tucking it into his pocket. “I’ll take you to her right now, if that’s what you want,” he offers, steering me up the hall. “As long as you don’t give me any shit.”
“What about Daniel?” I ask, knowing there is no fucking way he would go for that. The last thing he would ever do is give me something I want. Not unless it benefited him to do so.
Wrapping an arm around my waist, Levi presses the barrel of the gun to my cheek, turning my face. Daniel lays on the floor, unmoving. “Is he?” I ask, the words lodging in my throat.
“Yeah,” he grounds out, pressing his lips to my ear. “Now you owe me a lot of fuckin’ money.”
“Oh God.” I freeze when we reach Jace. My heart clenching at the thought of the club having lost another member in all this mess. “Please, Levi.” Whipping around, I look up at him, searching his eyes for any of the man I thought I knew. “Let me see if Jace is still alive. Call for an ambulance, at least. He’s just a goddamn kid!”
“Shooting him and that old bastard was the highlight of my week,” he snarls, spinning me toward the door. Laughing, he kicks Jace’s hip. “See, he’s as dead as Hammon.”
“Guess again, motherfucker.” Grabbing Levi’s ankle, Jace rams a switchblade into his calf.
“Ah!” Levi screams, dropping the gun and falling on top of Jace.
“Run,” Jace grunts, landing a punch to Levi’s jaw.
Taking off up the hall, I don’t look back, no matter how badly I want to. Rounding the corner, I jolt when I hear Levi shout my name. “Shit,” I hiss, shoving open the door to the stairwell.
The lights in the stairwell barely put off enough illumination to see the steps. Grabbing onto the railing, I move down them as quickly as I can, while at the same time trying to listen for Jace. Or Levi. Ready to hide if need be.
At the bottom, my heart is shattered to find the doors have been chained shut. “No,” I argue, yanking on the damn lock, willing it to open. Pressing my forehead to the metal door, I close my eyes tightly. “No,” I bite out, kicking it as hard as I can. “Help me!” I scream, kicking it again. “God fucking damn it!”
“I’ve got you now, bitch.” Levi grounds out, throwing me to the ground. Straddling my thighs, he wraps his hands around my throat, squeezing so tightly it blurs my vision. Balling my fist, I punch his injured leg. He hisses out a breath, his hands falling away from my throat, giving me a chance to breathe. “Fuckin’ whore!” he shouts, bashing my head into the floor. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
Then his fist connects with my face and everything goes black.
Twenty-Two
Colt
The road in front of Henley’s building is lit up with the flashing of police lights. The fear that has been churning in my gut since Jace stopped answering texts is realized. Hammon came after my girl. Screeching to a stop at the barricade they have set up, I leap off my bike. Shoving the plastic piece of shit out of my way, I charge toward the building. “Hey!” a female officer shouts, coming around the front of a car. “You can’t go in there. This is a crime scene.”
Ignoring her, I head inside, my only focus on getting to Henley. The stairwell doors are wide open, a chain dangling from one of the interior handles. “Fuck,” I hiss, spotting the smeared blood on the ground. “Henley!” Fucking frantic, I take the stairs two at a time. “Henley!”
Hitting the top of the stairs, I run up the hall toward her apartment. The door opens, a gurney is pushed out, white sheet covering what I know is a body. Pressing a hand to my chest, I silently demand it to keep beating. The minute it is close enough, I yank it down, blowing out a sigh of relief when I see Hammon lying there, instead of my girl.
“Henley!” I shout, shoving around the piece of shit and the poor bastard pushing. “Jace!”
Inside the apartment, it looks like a goddamn bomb went off. There is glass all over the floor, along with what used to be an end table busted into about a dozen pieces. Blood stains the carpet and some of the tile in the kitchen. “Where the hell is she?” I ask, spotting Dobbs at the far end of the kitchen island.
Looking up from the paperwork in front of him, he shakes his head. “She’s not here.”
&
nbsp; “I figured that out when she didn’t come fuckin’ runnin’,” I say, having no time for this shit. “Where is Henley?”
He blows out a breath. “We think Fowler has her. We’re talking to the roommate now.”
“You fuckin’ think?” I hiss through gritted teeth. “How ‘bout you tell me what you actually know.”
“Last I checked I don’t report to you, Trent,” he barks, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ll remember that if you wanna continue the conversation here, and not at the station in a cell.”
“I think we both know you don’t have the power to put my ass in cuffs, old man. Unless I give it to you.” Meeting him toe to toe, I stare down my nose at him, ready to put this motherfucker on his ass if I have to. “Which I sure as fuck won’t. My priority is Henley. She’s what matters. All that fuckin’ matters. And I’ll kill every single motherfucker who gets in my way of gettin’ her back. That clear enough for you, Sheriff?”
Dobbs nods in understanding. “Guy walking his dog saw your man and Fowler approach a parked car. Said your girl went on into the building. Calls came in about screaming and a gunshot sometime later. When we got here, Hammon was dead and the Kennedy kid wasn’t much better off.”
“Jace is alive?” I ask, thankful for some good news.
“Barely.” Dobbs squeezes the back of his neck. “Looks like your girl put up a hell of a fight. Kid, too. From the looks of it, Fowler was hurt in the struggle.”
“You put an APB out on the piece of shit?” Stone asks, coming up behind me.
“About an hour ago. State Patrol spotted his truck headed out of town. Lost him right before Thurmond Lake.”
“He lives in this building too, right?” Stone says, yanking his cell from his pocket.
I nod. “Down the hall.”
“Looks like he’s been watchin’ her for a while,” Dobbs mutters. “Whole damn place is full of photos and notes on her schedule. Lots of shit about her involvement with the club. Her relationship with you,” he adds, nodding to me.
“And that piece of shit is on your payroll,” I growl, shaking my head. “You gave him a badge and a gun. Protect and fucking serve.”
“You think I’m happy about this shit?” His face turns red, the vein in the side of his neck bulging. “Guess again, shithead. That fucking prick is going to make my life hell. I’ll have investigators crawling up my goddamn ass for weeks over this bullshit.”
“An investigator enema is the least of your fuckin’ worries,” I ground out, ready to adjust his priorities for him real quick.
“Where’s Rebel?” Stone asks, looking around the room. “We need to talk to her. See what she knows.”
“Her bedroom,” Dobbs tells us, jerking his chin toward the hall. “Maybe one of you can convince her to go get checked out. She’s fightin’ Jackson tooth and nail over goin’.”
Not answering him, I head straight for Rebel’s room at the end of the hall. Sitting at the foot of her bed, she picks at the white afghan wrapped around her. The fucker that was with Fowler the night Henley was hurt, stands in front of her, speaking softly. “Let me take you to get checked out, Rebel.”
She sniffles. Wincing, she brings her fingers up, pressing them to her nose. “I’m fine.”
“Reb—”
She looks up, her bloodshot eyes hardening. One side of her jaw is swollen, her nose clearly broken. “He slapped me around a little. Tied me up. I was laying right there, listening, while those bastards attacked my best friend.” Pushing to her feet, she lets the afghan fall to the bed. “I’m here. Fine. Safe. Get your ass out there and find Henley,” she bites out, shoving at his chest.
“Fowler say anything to you?” I ask before the guy can come back with something that will probably get him punched in the face by this chick.
Shaking her head, Rebel looks to me. “Not to me. But I heard Levi fighting with Daniel about money before Henley got home. Daniel was angry because Levi killed the wrong guy. Levi was demanding his cash.” Her eyes fill with tears. “And if Henley really did kill Daniel,” Rebel covers her mouth with her hand.
“Then he won’t hurt her,” I say, knowing where her head is going. “He’ll use her for leverage to get what he wants from me.”
“Colt,” she chokes out, tears falling down her face.
“Get your ass to the hospital,” I tell her, turning for the door.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Dobbs blurts, nearly slamming into me when I charge into the hallway.
Baring my teeth, I shove around him. “To end this.”
Twenty-Three
Henley
The zip-ties binding my wrists cut painfully into my skin, their bite increasingly painful when I flex my fingers. Blinking away the exhaustion, I watch as Levi limps the length of the hangar. “Everything I did,” he rants, throwing up his hands while pacing like an expectant father in the delivery ward. “Helping Hammon set up your brother, paying off inmates to jump him, all of it for nothing.”
“You helped him frame my brother?” I ask in disbelief. “What the hell did he ever do to you, Levi? How could hurting Donnie help anything?”
“Money.” His answer is immediate. “And Hammon promised me I’d get Dobbs’s job when he retires. Not that it matters now.”
“You really think that there’s no cost for causing this kind of destruction in someone else’s life? It’s all unravelling for you, Levi. I only hope I’m there to see when it all comes ‘round for you.”
“Shut the fuck up!” he roars, charging toward me.
“When Colt comes for you.” Smiling, I ignore the pain from the split in my lip. “He’s gonna rip out your heart for what you’ve done to me. To Huck. Jace. I promise you, Levi.” I narrow my eyes, watching fear flash in his. “Your breaths are numbered.”
“Funny you should say that, sweetheart.” Yanking me to my feet by my shirt, he slams me into the wall. I hiss out a breath, my body sore from Levi’s assaults over the last few hours. His hand slides up, fingers wrapping around my throat. Balling my fists at my back, I force myself to stay calm, refusing to give this bastard the satisfaction of watching me struggle. Staring down at me, his chest heaves with pent up rage and frustration. Two things he has enjoyed taking out on me. “Do you still count yours?” Leaning down, he gets in my face, a satisfied smirk tugging at his lips. “I feel your heart racing. You’re on the verge of panic. I can fucking smell it.”
“Go to hell,” I seethe, swallowing the anxiety clawing its way up my throat. “I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction.”
“We’ll see about that.” Letting me go, he shoves me back to the ground. I land hard on my ass, pain from hitting the concrete radiating up my spine. There isn’t one part of me that doesn’t hurt. Though none of it compares to the ache in my heart.
I can’t help thinking of Jace, my heart sinking at the thought of him lying there on my living room floor. How he continued to fight to help me, even when he was bleeding out. And Rebel. Levi never took me to her like he said he would. He ignores me when I ask where she is and no longer acknowledges if she is even still alive.
At this point, all I do know is that things are unravelling at a rapid pace. If I want to make it out of here alive, I need to keep my wits about me and look for an opportunity to get the upper hand.
Pulling my phone from his pocket, he turns it on. “For your sake, I hope you’re as important to him as you say, bitch.”
“Taunting Colt is a mistake,” I say, knowing exactly what waits for Levi, no matter what he does at this point. He has dug his hole, and the walls are starting to crumble in on top of him. “You’re just a fly caught in the web. Colt’s the spider waiting to finish you off.”
“Quiet,” he grits out, pressing the phone to his ear. “You’ll want to listen very carefully to what I’ve got to say, Morrison,” Levi says calmly, his eyes trained on me. “Henley’s life depends on it.” He pauses. After a minute, he steps forward. Pressing a button on the phone, he squats down and
shoves it into my face. “Sit up and speak like a good little bitch.”
Swallowing hard, I wet my lips. “Colt?”
“He hurt you?” Colt’s voice lacks its usual calm. The rage laced in each word he says, while not meant for me, sends shivers down my spine.
“I’m fine,” I breathe, closing my eyes.
“You’re a goddamn dead man, Fowler,” Colt warns, his tone cold.
“Be prepared,” Levi fires back, narrowing his eyes at me. “If I die, I’m takin’ her with me.”
“What do you want, asshole?”
Levi smiles victoriously. “Two million dollars,” he replies without even taking a minute to think about it. “A car with fresh plates, and you in exchange for your precious Henley. Her life for yours.”
“Done,” Colt’s reply is equally quick. “When and where, motherfucker?”
“No!” I shout, struggling against the ties. “Don’t listen to him, Colt!”
Levi’s hand cracks across my face. “Shut the fuck up,” he spits, shoving to his feet. “She fell in love with you here,” he continues, speaking into the phone now. “Watched it with my own eyes.” Facing the doors, he stares out at the lot. “I think that was the final straw for Hammon. No matter what we did, no matter the lengths he went to, trying to bring her close again it continued to backfire on him. I told that stupid bastard, all he did was push her right into your waiting arms.”
I push back the tears. My mind going back to that day. Though, I remember it differently. “It was always supposed to be Colt,” I interrupt, shaking my head. “That wasn’t the day I fell in love with him. It was the day I realized I’d run out of reasons to fight it.”
Levi spins on his heel to face me, his face empty and emotionless. “Be here in two hours. Come alone or she’s dead.” He hurls the phone at the wall, smashing it. His eyes snap to mine, satisfaction and anticipation filling them. “Start countin’ those breaths, bitch.”
