Mac's Destiny (Charon MC Book 8)

by Khloe Wren

  Emma had been a young, confused woman who’d sadly not gotten the chance to learn from her mistakes. No one, myself included, had ever laid any blame on Donna or Keys for what happened. The blame was firmly on Sledge’s shoulders for the whole thing.

  “Donna, there wasn’t a damn thing about that situation that was your fault. You’re not still feeling guilty over that, are you? Is that why you’re always so fast to help me?”

  My gut tightened that I’d been nothing but someone Donna had felt she had to help. I risked a glance in her direction and caught the sad smile that crossed her expression as she watched Cleo.

  “Maybe to start with it was. Hell, maybe it still is part of it. But it’s not the main reason. I like you, Zara. I’d like the think we’re friends. And Cleo is such a little doll. I love spending time with you both. I hope I haven’t ruined that with overstepping earlier today.”

  Grateful she wasn’t only here out of guilt, I leaned over to bump my shoulder against hers. “We’re good. And thank you for all your help while Mac’s been away. I really do appreciate it.”

  “Just an idea on why your emotions might be a little all over the place, but have you spoken to anyone about what happened at Marie’s Cafe?”

  I frowned and glanced at her again. “No. Why?”

  “Honey, you were held at gunpoint. Shots were fired around you as you lay on the floor of the cafe. Just like what happened back in Galveston. That kind of thing is bound to hit some triggers for you, and then Mac getting dragged away to deal with club shit so soon after? You’re allowed to need a minute to process it all.”

  “Huh. I hadn’t really thought about that. But you’re right. In a way, the shooting in Galveston was different. Thankfully I wasn’t stuck under a dead man this time.”

  With a dash of humor in her voice, Donna spoke. “Bet you wish you had Cindy there that first time too, huh?”

  That made me chuckle. “I’m so pissed off I missed seeing her come in all Harley Quinn like she did. The men were trying to be mad at her, but I could tell from their voices they were impressed as hell.”

  “She got the job done, that’s for sure.”

  I let out a sigh. “When Mac gets back, I’ll talk to him about it. Decompress. Hopefully that’ll help me get level again. This emotional ping pong is wearing me the hell out.”

  “Good idea, and I bet it is. Has the Doc told you when they’re releasing Cleo yet?”

  I shook my head. “They were waiting to see if she needed another round of meds. She’s looking so much better already, so I’m hoping she won’t need any more and we can get home before too much longer.”

  “Hopefully. Let me go see what I can find out. If you want, I’ll come home with ya’ll?”

  I smiled up at her as she stood. “That would be great. We’ll order some pizzas and load up a movie or two.”

  I didn’t want to sleep tonight, I wanted to watch Cleo to make sure she remained okay, but I didn’t say that out loud because I knew as well as Donna did, that my narcolepsy wouldn’t allow me to do it.

  “Sounds like a plan. We’ll take shifts watching your girl so we can both get some rest before morning.”

  Tears pricked my eyes again as she ducked out past the curtain. Yep, I might be pissed off that Mac was out of touch with me when I needed him so much, but I really couldn’t stay mad with the club when they’d brought people like Donna into my life.

  I suspected she was onto something with the shooting at the cafe. I hadn’t really thought about it, hadn’t really had time with how hectic everything had been since it had happened. Maybe I’d talk to her more about later tonight. See if that helped me feel better tomorrow.

  Chapter 7

  Mac

  The half hour it took to break the fucker felt like hours. Jazz wrote down every detail that spilled from his lips once we did. By the time he started talking, he was so far gone he babbled every fucking thing in his head. We had pages of information we needed to go through. I doubted all of it was even true. He’d been a fucking mess by this point.

  I was actually tempted to leave the fucker alive. He’d spend the rest of his days in an institution, a lifetime of suffering inside his own skin. But no, that would raise too many questions about how he got to be in the condition he was currently in.

  “Blade, you end him.”

  I figured he’d earned the right to be able to put him down. When he put the tip of his blade to Sabella’s chest I called out to him.

  “No bone damage.”

  “I know. Got my name for a reason. I know exactly where to slice.”

  Sabella didn’t react to the sight of the knife about to dig into his flesh at all. That’s how far gone he was, too much electricity through his body and brain having done its job. Blade ran his fingers over Sabella’s chest, locating ribs before he drove his blade in between two and straight into his heart. Seconds later, the bastard was dead.

  “Let’s do this. All the bodies need to be in their car. I’ll grab the gas. Make it fast, men. We got people to save. Jazz, research those addresses for us. Give me a list of the most likely location he’d have held women.”

  I kept my eye on Blade as we got them moved. He was on edge and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to hold him back. I understood where he was coming from. I remember how it had felt knowing that fucker, Sledge, had taken Zara and I hadn’t known where they were. I also remember how I took off as soon as I did know. So far, Blade was sticking to the plan, but I knew that wouldn’t hold. At some point, he’d go AWOL.

  When we had the van loaded up and in the drive ready to head out, Eagle and I headed back to the cabin and car and lit up the fires that would cover our tracks. The flames shot up fast and hot due to all the accelerant we’d poured over everything. We sprinted for the van and Arrow hit the accelerator the moment we had the doors closed.

  “The wind changed on us about ten minutes ago, the fire is heading this way now. Between what we just did and the wildfire, our tracks should be covered.”

  “It’ll be interesting to see how the authorities play it once they figure out Sabella is one of the bodies in that car.”

  I agreed with Arrow. The next few days we’d be watching the news like hawks.

  “What did you find out on those addresses, Jazz?”

  He put in an address to the GPS for Arrow as he spoke. “I sent them through to Keys and he’s sent back which one he thinks is the most likely to be what we’re after.”

  Because by the time he gave us address, he was rambling and none of us were sure what addresses were what businesses. Jazz did the right thing pulling in Keys, our resident tech guy. He’d probably hacked into a satellite or some shit to go look at the addresses.

  “Blade, what’s the deal with this cop you got to take the victims?”

  “We go in first and clear it out, then I’ll call her. I’ve got some payback to do before we have the boys in blue there to curb our fun.”

  I scrubbed a palm over my face. This was going to be a long day and I had no clue who was going to be left standing at the end of it. Blade was now a wild card who could change the game at any moment. But I couldn’t knock him out and go in without him. I knew what he was feeling right now, and I knew he’d never forgive me if I didn’t allow him to do this.

  By the time we parked down the street from the warehouse Keys was certain was our target, we were all back in the zone. Armed up and ready to fight. No tranqs this time, only live ammo all around.

  “Arrow and Eagle, you go ahead and take out any guards. When you send me the all clear, we’ll come in.”

  With nods, they slipped free from the van and jogged down the street. It was late afternoon but I wished it were night. With the cover of darkness, their jobs would be a lot easier. Although the smoke did give us some cover. It wasn’t as thick here as it had been at the cabin, but it was still heavy in the air. Blade shifted in his seat.

  “Soon, Blade. We need to do this right so we don’t end up with m
ore causalities than necessary.”

  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to find his girl alive or not. If what Sabella had told us was the truth, she’d been put through hours of the worst abuse a woman could be put through. At a guess, if she was alive, she’d be wishing she wasn’t by now. More images flickered across my mind, not just of my sister’s dead body but also of Zara’s as we’d found her. Hanging from a hook, naked and whipped raw from her shoulders down over her ass. She still bore the physical scars from that day, and we both bore the mental ones. The possibility that there were women and fucking children being put through that same thing just up the road from us was doing my head in. But like I’d told Blade, we couldn’t simply storm the place. We were no doubt outnumbered in this situation, and those men didn’t care about the women and kids they had under their control. They’d use them as shields in a heartbeat.

  My phone beeped with the all clear message from Arrow.

  “We’re good to go in.”

  Jazz had moved to the driver’s seat when Arrow had left earlier and now he started the van up and drove us toward the warehouse. We parked away from the entrance, to lessen the chances of anyone inside hearing the engine. Then we were jogging over to where Eagle and Arrow had their weapons trained on the side door.

  “Took out four men guarding the exterior. They weren’t on high alert.”

  “They were too easy to take out. Bastards weren’t paying any attention to their surroundings.”

  “That works in our favor. If they’re not expecting trouble, we should be able to slip in and get this done quickly.” I paused to take a deep breath. “You all know the plan. Watch your backs, stay safe and let’s get this done.”

  Blade went up to the door and swung it open to reveal an empty hallway. We all fell in behind him, except for Jazz, who stayed outside to cover the exit for us. My heart was pounding in my chest like it used to do when we were on a mission over in the Middle East. I thought my days of doing this shit were over when I retired from the USMC, had been happy to put it behind me. But to keep innocents safe, I’d do it time and again without hesitation. If I could spare even one woman from the hell my sister was put through leading up to her death, I’m there to help.

  The first door we came across was locked with a heavy slide bolt lock, Blade slid it across and after checking we had him covered, swung the door open. We’d put Blade out front in the hopes that when we found Sabella’s men, they’d recognize him and not shoot straight away, thus giving us time to put them down without getting injured ourselves.

  The smell that rushed out over us was horrific and left me struggling to not gag as Blade cursed. The small room had maybe a dozen kids and teens all jammed in there. They were all naked and dirty. I tried not to focus on the dried blood that was mixed in with the filth on them. In the seconds it took the rest of us to shake free from our shock, Bank took control and moved past Blade into the room.

  “Don’t be scared. We’re here to help you. But before we can take you out of here, we need to lock you back in for just a little bit longer, okay? We need to take out the men who put you in here, then we’ll be back to get you out of here.”

  One of the older teens detangled herself from the younger children she was holding to her.

  “If you’re really here to help us, give me a weapon. They could come back while you’re gone.”

  Bank looked to me with an eyebrow raised. Fuck, I didn’t want to arm the kid but I couldn’t deny the point she made. I unstrapped one of my knives and step forward past Bank to hand it to her, handle first.

  “I really don’t want to have to hurt you, so please don’t turn that on any of us. We truly are here to rescue you.”

  This kid had steel in her that was for sure. She nodded as she took the weapon. We left the room and when I glanced back to her before Blade re-shut the door, I saw her standing strong with a death grip on that knife of mine as she stared back at me.

  Without another word, we kept moving down the hallway. The sounds of men enjoying sex filled the air. Fuckers were cheering and having a grand time by the sounds of it, and Blade was about to levitate with all the rage pouring off him. We reached the door that, from the noise level, had to be where the men were.

  “Everyone loaded and ready?”

  I glanced at all the men to see everyone was locked and loaded, weapons on the door.

  “Do it, Blade.”

  He shoved the door open hard and fast and the thunder of gunshots filled the air as we all took our shots. None of us fired aimlessly, we carefully chose our targets before we squeezed off rounds, dropping the men who surrounded a woman on a table. The last man standing pulled the woman up against his front, a knife to her throat as he shielded himself behind the woman he’d just been violating. Blade’s agonized scream tore through me as he raced forward, completely disregarding his personal safety. I was on him in seconds, holding him back as I spoke into his ear.

  “Stop and think. He’ll kill her.”

  The noise that came from his throat reminded me of a wounded, dying animal, but I didn’t release him. Blade obviously hadn’t noticed what Eagle was doing, and neither had the fucker holding his girl hostage. Eagle used the commotion that Blade caused to slip around the perimeter of the room and get behind Sabella’s man. Before the fucker knew what hit him, Eagle slammed a knife into the back of his neck. He dropped, dead, and Eagle caught the barely-conscious woman in his arms before she could fall with him. I released Blade the moment I saw the life leave Sabella’s man’s eyes and he was across the room and taking the woman from Eagle in moments. With her cradled against him, he sank to the floor, stroking her face as he rested his forehead against hers. He was whispering to her but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  Arrow came up next to me. “We need to clear the rest of the building. There’s gotta be more women somewhere, and I’ve got no idea if there’s more men in with them.”

  “I know, brother. Give me a minute.”

  I moved over to Blade and crouched beside where he sat on the floor with his girl now unconscious in his arms. She was in a bad way, her body battered more than my sister’s had been when she’d been murdered. I had no clue if she was still alive. Slowly, I leaned over and pressed two fingers to her throat, moving around, looking for a pulse.

  “Don’t say it.”

  She’d just died in his arms. And he knew it.

  “I’m sorry, brother. But we gotta keep moving. We need to find the other women and any other men who are here. We can lock you in here and come back for you—”

  He cut me off with a shake of his head. “I want blood for this. No way am I fucking going to sit this one out.”

  On shaky legs, he stood and rested his girl gently on the table before pressing a kiss to her temple and whispering something too quiet for us to hear. My eyes stung at the agony he was feeling. It was too close to the pain I felt after my sister’s murder and both times Zara was taken from me. I briefly squeezed his shoulder before I turned and left the room.

  Taking point, I led my team the rest of the way down to the end of the hallway. Reaching for the door, I held my breath, unsure if I was ready for what was waiting us. With my gun up, ready to fire, I shoved the door open and took in what I found. Thin walls had the space within this main area of the warehouse broken up into small cubicles. There were curtains on each one, but only a couple of them were closed. The open ones revealed naked women cuffed to beds.

  Using hand gestures, I indicated the need to clear out the closed off spaces. Since there were no men on guard, I guessed those who should have been guarding had all left their posts to go get busy with Blade’s girl. We each lined up with a closed curtain and I counted down with a hand in the air from three to one. At once, we all tore back the curtains at the same time, shooting the fuckers we found with one shot to the head.

  A couple of the women shrieked at the sounds of the gunshots but most of them were too far gone on drugs to react. Or too beaten down to care. Lea
ving the women for now, we continued to sweep the entire space, looking for more of Sabella’s men. All we found was an office with way too much paperwork for my liking. We also found a handful of handcuff keys in there. Once we established that there were no more active threats we went back to the women and after I passed around the keys, we started unlocking their cuffs.

  “Blade, call in your contacts. Bank, go get Jazz and get those kids and bring them here.”

  Blade walked away with his phone out as Arrow came over to me. “What do you want to do with this place?”

  “I was thinking if we can get all the women and kids out in the parking lot, we can light this shit in the office up, burn it all so whoever is left of Sabella’s crew can’t restart this operation back up. I’d love to burn the whole fucking place to the ground, but that’s not feasible, or safe.”

  Blade strode back into the room. “She’s given us twenty minutes to get outta here. She’s going to call in for a bus and ambulances for the women and kids. We need to be gone before then.”

  The kids came in behind Blade, with Jazz bringing up the rear. Three of the kids ran for separate women that we’d just freed. My heart hurt for every one of these kids and women. Fuck. The more women we freed, the more kids went running. When I noticed the eldest teen didn’t even go looking, I went over to her and the closer I got, the tighter her grip got on the knife, to the point her knuckles were white. Reaching over my head, I pulled my t-shirt off and held it out to her. Her eyes went wide before narrowing on me.

  “Take it. I mean you no harm. We’re here to rescue you all, not hurt you.”

  She snatched it from me and without taking her gaze off me, slipped it over her head, keeping my knife firmly in her grip as she threaded her arms through the armholes.

  “Is one of these women your mom?”

  The glint of rage in her eyes had me holding my hands up. “I was only asking so I could help you find her if she was.”

  The kid was killing me. She was clearly strong and she hadn’t let these bastards break her. She reminded me so much of Zara. Even naked and beaten, she stood tall, ready to go into battle.