“Switch your comms unit on,” I said to Cane.
He shifted in his seat and did so. Rex said he’d tested them, and they were all working, but it wouldn’t hurt for me to check and be sure.
“Can you hear me?” I asked Cane. Before he had the chance to come back with some smart comment, I added, “through the fucking earpiece.”
He grinned as though reading my mind but confirmed he could. I nodded and we switched them off again. Rex had advised us all to turn them on at 7 pm to conserve battery power.
By the time we pulled up at the clubhouse, around twenty other brothers were already there. These were the members of Forever Midnight who would stay here and make it look like I was too. Both mine and Cane’s bikes were amongst those parked outside.
A wave of dread roiled my stomach when I stepped from the car and the first droplet of rain landed on my face. We made a show of standing and chatting with a couple of brothers outside for a while, just in case Leo had some other fucker on his payroll watching me.
Inside, we moved through the crowd of brothers. Their heads turned in our direction, each ready and waiting to help where needed. I deliberately asked those with family or loved ones to stay here. And Bono had arranged for volunteers out of the rest. A few had been asked to go to Midnight Anchor and hang out. Greg and Cherrie would serve them alcohol-free beer, but they were to make it look like they were drinking. Others had been given strict instructions to stay away from the place as well as timeslots for pickup and transportation. We didn’t want a truckload of Forever Midnight at the bar or on the road headed in that direction.
After a few conversations and the swift decline of more offers of help, I took a deep breath and grabbed Cane, who’d met up with Bono amongst the crowd, and the three of us went to my office.
“Everything set?” I asked.
Bono nodded. “Jameson just called. He and Lucky made their way into the bar and to the spare room upstairs. They are going to make it look like a woman and guard are in the room through the curtains.” He moved to the window ledge and perched on its edge.
Despite the burst of sheet rain that now fell from the sky and rattled the window, the day was still warm, and the air conditioning system blasted waves of cool air around the room. I wasn’t looking forward to hunkering down in the rain and laying in wait, but I wanted this over and done with. We all did.
I sighed, opened the drawer on my desk, and pulled out the key to the gun cabinet fastened to the wall. I fucking hated using guns. It wasn’t our style. But we couldn’t expect the Feral Sons to operate by the same standards we did and would need them for back-up.
“I’ll take the SIG,” Bono said, opting for his old service weapon.
“That leaves the Glock for you and the Ruger for me,” I said to Cane while handing out the guns as well as some flashlights.
“Let’s get this fucking over with,” said Cane.
I nodded and we slipped down the back steps. We avoided the crowds, but the deep rumble of their voices vibrated through the walls. We slipped all the way down to the basement level where a concealed hatch led to a small tunnel. We hadn’t used the thing in years. It came in fucking handy for my Dad and the other club members back in the day though. Back when the activities of Forever Midnight were not always on the up and up. Cobwebs and a dankness clogged the air, and dust particles flickered in the light from our flashlights. We had to crouch, and our shoulders brushed up against the walls as the tunnel wasn’t built for men the size of us.
“Fuck,” Caleb said as a spattering of debris, caused by the activity of people and vehicles above, dislodged from the ceiling and landed on his head.
I stifled a laugh. He was never any fucking good in tight spaces. That’s why he loved living in the mountains so much.
He attempted to stand upright and banged his head, cussed, and dropped his flashlight in the process.
Bono turned back and shone the light of his own flashlight in his face.
“You done?” he asked when Caleb finally stopped cussing. “Or you gonna carry on until every fucker in a hundred miles hears you and comes to check out what the hell’s going on?”
Cane only growled at him in response. There weren’t many people who could get away with talking to him like that. Bono was lucky he counted amongst their number.
After about ten minutes, we emerged into the pouring rain a fair distance away from the clubhouse.
“What took you so long?” Cherrie said as she stuck her crazy pink-haired head out the window of Greg’s pick-up and flashed us a devilish grin. “Damn near thought I’d turn to a dried-out old husk before you boys showed up.”
“Cane thought it would be fun to have a hissy fit in the tunnel,” I said while jabbing him with my elbow.
“I’ll give you a fucking hissy fit,” he said while Bono smiled.
I chuffed, and shook my head, rushing to jump in the pick-up before Cane decided he was fucking in charge and stole the front seat. Seconds after I’d closed the door, Bono and Cane hopped in the back seats.
“Tom doing okay with Greg?” I asked Cherrie.
“You bet he is.”
Greg had been pretty fucked up by Thea’s stepbrother and it had slowed him down. He was in his late sixties now and not as quick to heal as he once was. But he was still one hell of a fucker to be reckoned with and would make sure Tom played his part the way he was meant to.
I leaned back in the car seat and enjoyed the calm before the storm. We were thirty minutes out from our meeting spot, where Cherrie would drop us to meet the other brothers.
Throughout the ride my emotions churned, and images flashed in my mind like fucking pulsating lights set to drive me insane. My head pounded along with the rain and the incessant swish of the wipers set my nerves on edge. Despite the worry that hardened my gut for Amber and Charlie, it felt good to be out with a clear purpose with my brothers. Too often, I spent my time checking over business records or dealing with petty fucking disputes. Tonight, we moved as one with a clear purpose, something we hadn’t done since rescuing Thea from her family. We were out to get Leo. We had direction. All we had to hope was that the fucker showed his face.
I gave a wry chuckle. I may look like I’d driven my bike into a tank as Lucky put it, but I’d landed a far few punches on Leo’s mug before he’d turned tail and ran, so I was betting he wasn’t exactly a fucking pretty picture himself.
“You all think this is gonna work?” Cherrie said after a moment.
“It’ll work,” I said. “As soon as I give the word, Tom’s set to call Leo and tell him he saw me at the clubhouse—”
“And how’s that gonna work exactly when you want him to go to the bar?”
I smiled. Cherrie had a heart of gold, but she had the patience of a black mamba and could be just as aggressive when confronted. “He’s also gonna tell her that my friend Amber Gerald, was staying out at the bar and that I’d asked him to call in to see her. When he got there, she was resting so he’s going back in the morning.”
My stomach rolled. It wasn’t much of a plan, but we couldn’t be sure that anyone had seen the disguised Lucky arrive, but they would see Tom. A cop tends to stick out, and his having been there would add weight to the story.
“You’re thinking Leo’s gonna show to stop Amber from talking,” Cherrie said as she signaled off the main road and turned into a parking lot a block away from the bar.
“That’s the plan.” Not much of one I admitted to myself again, but I thought Leo would buy it. He was never the smartest fucker in any room.
Chapter Fourteen
Caleb
“Fuck. I’m fucking going insane. This is driving me fucking insane.”
It was 9:30 and there was no sign of Leo or any other fucker from the Feral Sons.
I banged my fist on the wall where I crouched in the cover of the parking lot, hiding from view on the third story with Cane and ten other brothers. Bono had left us to take up another vantage point with the same
number again. The bar pulsed with fucking music that set my teeth on edge. Around eight Forever Midnight club members were inside, and another two milled about under what little cover there was in the bar’s lot. Normally, you’d see more people hanging about, but even though the rain had eased a little, it had driven everyone inside.
I cursed my fucking luck and wished that we’d given Greg Cane’s comms unit. Then I’d know what the fuck was going on, but there was no way he could have used it without being seen anyway.
“Report, Cane.” Bono’s voice sounded in my earpiece. “You seen any movement yet?”
“Nothing yet,” Cane reported.
Fucking right there was nothing yet. I would have at least expected one fucker to be checking the place out. Tom had made the call as planned over an hour ago. It shouldn’t have taken that long for Leo to mobilize his men.
“Rex,” I said, fearing the worst. “You still with us?”
“I’m here,” he said, but his voice was overlaid with static. “But the weather is causing some interruption.”
“Everything good your end?”
“All good and locked up tight.”
I nodded even though I knew he couldn’t see me. I wanted to ask him to put Amber on the comms, but an irrational fear that if I did our cover would be blown made my heart burn. Instead, I never took my eyes from the bar.
After a while, people started to emerge. They milled about by the door, their minds muddled by alcohol, drugs or both. Not a single fucker seemed likely to report to Leo. Most could barely stand up straight. Slowly they moved away. Some jumped in cabs when they arrived. Other’s banded together with designated drivers, driving away with music blaring from their speakers to rival that still coming from the bar. Their cars rumbled to life and tires squealed as they pulled away.
Greg usually ran a tight ship and never let any fucker leave in their car if they’d had too much to drink, but I guess our minds were all on something else tonight.
My brothers were the last to leave, but still, we watched, and we waited. A light came on in an upstairs window and I noted the silhouette of a top of a head that looked like it had long hair. I had to admit, if I didn’t know it was Lucky, I’d be fooled into thinking it was a woman, but I wasn’t sure I’d be convinced it was Amber.
“The bar’s empty.” Jameson’s voice sounded in my earpiece. That meant only he, Lucky, Greg and Cherrie remained inside.
A rumble followed his message, and a burst of rain followed suit as the heavens opened.
“Fuck,” Cane said. “I can barely see two feet in front of my face through this fucking shit.” The overcast sky had darkened further with nightfall. That, along with the rain, made it almost impossible to see anything.
“Bono. You still got eyes on the door?” I asked.
“Negative. Visibility’s reduced.”
I sighed and huffed out a breath. “We’re gonna have to change positions. Stay low and move in small groups, keeping an eye on the building when you can.”
The sky rumbled again and the hairs on the back of my neck bristled as the rain and wind picked up. If Leo had two fucking brain cells to rub together, he wouldn’t come out in this shit. He had until morning for the weather to change, and as far as he knew, Amber wasn’t going anywhere.
I was about to curse my fucking luck and settle in for the long haul when Cane nudged me and nodded along the road. “We’ve got company,” he said.
A spattering of light flickered through the rain and I realized the rumble I’d heard wasn’t thunder. It came from bikes. From the headlights, I counted six motorcycles, but it was fucking impossible to see if Leo was amongst their riders.
Hot burning anger built inside me as they drove straight up to the bar and stopped their engines. They hesitated for a moment and through the haze it looked as though one of them was on the phone. From the shape and size of him it could have been Leo, but I couldn’t be a hundred percent fucking certain. My main concern at that moment in time was that someone had rumbled our plan and was letting him know. But the phone soon went away, and the fuckers dismounted.
“We’re on the move,” I said. “As soon as they’re all inside. We block the exits and enter.”
I steeled myself. The muscles throughout my body strained and tightened. As I’d told Amber, I may not be planning to kill Leo — I had every intention of offering him the chance to turn himself in — but I sure as fuck was expecting to.
I turned to look at Cane and he nodded. His determination reflected my own. We raced down the stairwell. Although it provided some cover, it was open to the elements, and puddles of rainwater mingled with others of piss. The fucking place stank. We ignored the stench and sped down the concrete steps before halting at the door below. I opened it a jar and poked my head out. The rain had eased in the brief moments of our journey and I was able to note that we’d arrived just in time to see the bar door closing behind the last fucker. They’d gone straight in the main entrance. And seeing as I knew there was no fucking way Greg hadn’t locked it. They had to have broken the lock.
“They’re inside,” I said through the comms to Bono.
“On our way,” he answered. “Where are you?”
“We’re leaving the lot now.”
“Don’t be seen,” he answered as though it was my intention to fucking fire off a ticker-tape parade to announce our arrival.
After one final check to make sure the coast was clear, we slipped into the street, being sure to keep to the shadows.
“Any action your end Jameson?” Cane asked.
“Nothing yet. But I can hear movement in the bar.”
“Be ready,” I said.
“We’re in position,” Bono said as I hopped on the pavement and motioned to Cane to take up position on the other side of the door. The lock was busted open and it gaped a little, but not enough to see inside. Given the time they’d had, the Feral Son’s had to be beyond the small greeting area that led into the main bar area by now.
As Cane and I drew our weapons, our other brothers separated into two groups behind us and followed suit. After Cane nodded to signify he was ready, I let Bono and Jameson know we were going inside.
Cane nudged the door open with his foot. We entered the bar, covering each other’s backs. The light overhead bathed the confined space in light.
“We’re in,” I whispered into my mouthpiece before asking two brothers to stay behind to cover the door.
I stayed restrained, waiting for Bono and Jameson to respond before charging forward. Even though adrenaline pumped through my body at the fucking speed of light, my heartbeat thundered in my ears, and I wanted nothing more than to charge headlong into the bar and take Leo out, I had to keep my head for Amber’s sake. Instead, I quietly edged toward the main door, leading to the bar and waited for Jameson and Bono to report they were ready to move in.
When Jameson said he had them in his sight and that Leo was among them, I gave the order to close in and swung the second door open.
As soon as I did, all fucking hell broke loose.
Chapter Fifteen
Caleb
Leo and his men didn’t know which way to turn, but without hesitation, they opened fire. Cane rolled and flipped a table. A bullet impacted the wood above his head, causing it to splinter. I scrambled into the room, taking cover behind another table. More bullets hit the mirror and bottles lining the wall behind the bar. The room filled with the sound of breaking glass and the sweet sickly scent of liquor.
I peeked around the edge of my table. Leo and his fuckers were nowhere in sight. But the trajectory of their bullets told me they were close to the restrooms. As the thought popped in my mind, I worried that they’d be able to make it out the small windows inside, but I knew that was impossible. They were too high to gain easy access to and too small to squeeze through.
Everything became still, and the only sound was my breathing.
“Come out and fight me like a fucking man,” I called into the t
oo-quiet room.
Leo laughed. “You’d fucking like that wouldn’t you.”
“Yeah. I fucking would, you pussy.”
“Always trying to prove how much better you are than me.” I looked to Cane, and he shrugged. Neither of us had a clue what the fucker was talking about.
“Caleb doesn’t need to prove fucking shit,” Cane said. “He’s always been better than you.”
Leo laughed again, but this time there was a bitter tone to it. “Yeah, so my Pa told me,” he snarled.
I looked to the floor and stared at the ugly blue diamond pattern on the carpet until it made my head hurt.
“Is that what all this is fucking about,” I said “Trying to prove something to your dead fucking Pa? All this trouble has been over some fucking petty insecurity issues you have about not being good enough.”
“FUCK YOU, FUCK MY PA, AND FUCK NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH.”
His voice sounded more and more agitated and footsteps echoed around the room. I leaned around the edge of the table to try and get a better view.
A shot rang out.
A bullet grazed my arm but missed any substantial target.
“I AM FUCKING BETTER THAN YOU. I fucked your girl to prove that. Thought that would fuck you up. But her leaving did that better than I ever could.” Leo laughed, and I realized just how crazy and unhinged he really was. “It’s been pitiful to see how far you’ve fallen in the last few years. If Pa had lived to see the man you became, he’d see how pathetic you’ve always been.”
My mind fucking whirled. Years of problems over some petty jealously. When I thought of what he did to Amber, I wanted to pound his fucking face. The crazy thing was, in his fucked-up mind, he thought that made him a better man than me. His definition of a man and mine were way fucking different.
I growled and my muscles tightened. It was time to end this.
Forever Midnight MC Collection: Books 1-3 Page 24
