“You okay!?” Texas asked.
He reached for my shirt and pulled me up to my feet.
“That’s Maya. We have to find her,” I said.
“Let’s kill these bastards first,” he growled.
But that wasn’t where my focus was.
Every time wood splintered, Maya cried out. My eyes focused as I ran on my feet, making my way into the woods. I heard men yelling. Gurgling on their own blood and falling to the ground. Asher and his men rattled off in my ear. Something about their body count and how we were going to be quickly swarmed. Someone said something about ten men coming in our direction. Stone roared for me to get my ass into gear.
And I was.
Getting my ass into gear as I chased after her.
“Maya!” I exclaimed.
“Notch!?”
“Maya! Keep yelling! I’m com—”
“Ah!” she shrieked.
The sound sent shivers up my spine. Automatic rifles peppered the woods, embedding themselves into the trees with their rounds that practically exploded. I covered my head as I searched for Maya. I ducked behind every tree and rock, trying to find her as her screams echoed off all corners of the woods. Fucking hell, it felt like they never ended.
I pulled the gun from my side and turned around, shooting anyone who came within ten feet of me.
“Maya! Where are you!?” I roared.
“Notch. Help,” she whimpered.
She had to be close. There was no way in hell she wasn’t.
“Fucking woods,” I growled.
I ducked behind a tree and popped out every time I had to shoot. If those men got past Stone and the rest of them, they sure as hell weren’t getting passed me. I knew where their guns were pointed. They were aiming for Maya. And while our cover had been completely fucking blown, no one was getting to her.
No one but me.
With every man I downed, Maya cried out. With every bullet that made it a little too close to home, she screamed my name. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. And when I finally found an opening to continue running, I searched for her.
Because the only thing on my mind was getting her to safety.
I navigated the woods in a zig-zag pattern. I marked my initials on trees with the butt of my gun so I knew where I’d been. And the deeper back I went into the darkness, the more the gunfire fell behind me. Stone and Asher must’ve had a handle on the situation, because bullets no longer made their way back to me.
Then, I heard it.
“Notch?” Maya asked helplessly.
“Oh, holy shit. Maya.”
I ran to the petite pair of legs poking out from beyond a rock. I slid down into the dirt, taking stock of the woman in front of me. I squinted my eyes, trying to see her as best as I could. And even without a strong light source, I saw the bruising on both of her cheeks. The swollen eye she had. The way she held her arm.
“I think—I think someone—”
“Here, it’s okay. I’m right here. Let me take a look at it, yes?” I asked.
“Notch, someone’s com—”
I pulled my gun from my holster at lightning speed and shot behind me. I’d heard them coming. And I didn’t even have to look back to put a damn bullet between their eyes. Maya gasped as the gunshot rang out, and the man groaned as he fell to the ground, soon no longer breathing. I cupped Maya’s cheeks and forced her to look at me. To not pay attention to the Hell raining down around us.
“Focus on me. Nothing else. Got it?” I asked.
And when she slowly nodded, I began clocking her wounds.
“Are you nauseous?” I asked.
“I was, but not anymore,” she said.
“Does your neck hurt?”
“It does.”
“What about your shoulders?”
“Notch, just—”
“Maya,” I said curtly.
Another set of footsteps made their way for me and I picked up my gun. I turned to my right and put two bullets in the man’s gut before he fell to the ground. Every sense I had was on high alert. Everything around me seemed muted and accentuated, all at the same time. My heart thundered in my ears as my hands danced around Maya’s body.
“Does this hurt?”
“What about this?”
“Tingling or like knives?”
I rattled off questions and slayed men who came in our direction. Other than the mild concussion I was afraid of and the bruises on her face, she was okay. Even though she smelled like piss. That alone made me want to set her brother on fire at a stake. But when I removed her hand from her arm, I saw why she winced in pain.
“Is it bad?” Maya asked breathlessly.
I rolled up the cuff of her sleeve and sighed with relief.
“You’ve only been grazed. Though, in some respects, that hurts more than actually being shot,” I said.
“How is that possible?”
“You really want me to do into the specifics now?” I asked, grinning.
She scoffed. “How can you joke at a time like this?”
I cupped her cheeks. “Because I thought I’d lost you. And I’m just so happy to look into your eyes again.”
Then, with the approaching footsteps behind Maya, I reached for my gun and put a bullet between the eyes of the man approaching us.
“You’re good with that gun,” she said.
“And you’re good with my heart,” I said.
Without warning, the gunfire ceased. I whipped my head up, taking in the eerie silence that fell across the patch of land we were annihilating. My heart stopped. My veins froze. I had no idea what the fuck was going on, but the only sound I had in my ears were the crickets of the night.
“Stone? What’s going on?” I murmured into my intercom.
“We need you. Now,” he whispered.
“What’s happening?” Maya asked.
I shook my head as I helped her up, scanning the woods around us. The darkness was thick. The only reason I knew where to go was the fact that I’d walked in a semi-straight line. Even with my zig-zagging. I picked my gun up off the ground and holstered it, then tucked Maya underneath my arm.
“Come with me,” I said.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. But it’s not good,” I said.
“That’s him, isn’t it?” Asher asked into the intercom.
“Who? Who are you guys seeing?” I asked.
Then, as Maya and myself started softly through the woods, Bronx’s voice came alive in my ear with shock, hurt, and anger.
“Detective Woolf,” he said flatly.
“The detective just came out of the warehouse with Harry,” Stone whispered.
24
Maya
“Maya! I know you’re out there! If you just come here, then all of this will be over! You have my word, sister of mine.”
As Notch and I approached the edge of the shadowed forestry, he slipped his hand into mine. He locked our fingers together and held me at his side, already answering my brother’s plea for me. Not that I’d step out into the light anyway. I knew what would happen. The second I stepped out, someone was prepared to take me out. I was naive, sure. I thought the best of people, of course.
But I wasn’t an idiot.
Mostly.
“Don’t go. It’s a trap,” a man beside me murmured.
I looked over at him and found a stone-cold face looking down at me. A face sitting atop a massive man that had bloodlust in his eyes and a snarl on his lips.
“Stone’s right,” Notch said.
“Wait, his name is actually Stone?” I asked softly.
The man beside me chuckled as my brother’s voice rang out again.
“If you come, then the Lost Boys and these Celtic Rider bastards can go free! You have my word,” my brother exclaimed.
I flinched, which caused Notch to hang onto me tighter.
“He’ll slaughter all of us. I know you want to believe the best of yo
ur own flesh and blood. But even you said it yourself. He isn’t the brother you grew up with anymore,” Notch said.
I looked over at Notch and my heart slammed against my chest. I wiggled my hand out from his and he quickly grabbed my arm. Men surrounded me. Creating a blockade so I couldn't get away. I pleaded with Notch silently to let me go. To end this, once and for all.
“Please,” Notch said.
“Did he just beg her?” someone murmured.
“Your brother’s lying,” Stone said.
“But what if he’s telling the truth?” I asked.
I heard a collective sigh wrap me up as I slid away from Notch’s grasp.
“What if he wants me so badly he actually is willing to let all of you guys go?” I asked.
“We came out here for you,” Notch said.
“No, we came out here to end this,” Stone said.
“Fine. I came out here for you. You know damn good and well he isn’t telling the truth, Maya. For once, will you just listen?” Notch asked.
But I’d never been good at that. It was one of my mother’s complaints all throughout my childhood. I was more stubborn than anything, and I’d stop at nothing to make sure I got my way.
Which meant I’d stop at nothing to make sure Notch was safe.
“Thank you for everything,” I whispered.
Then, I slipped through the wall of men around me.
“Damn it, Maya! Stop!” Notch exclaimed.
The men wrestled with him as I walked out of the shadows.
“Ah, and the prodigal sister returns,” Harry said.
“Stop this,” I said softly.
I stood in between everyone. The Celtic Riders at one end, my brother and his cronies in front of me, and the Lost Boys behind me. Notch still wrestled with them. Grunting and cursing and whispering harshly for me to come back. I still had hope, though. I still had hope I could talk to the little boy I’d grown up with. The little boy that had become so lost, so helpless, and so scared.
I saw the fear in my brother’s eyes. Even as the detective beside him raised his gun at me.
“No!” Notch roared.
“Harry, you can stop this. All of it. What are you getting from this? What has this pursuit really been over?” I asked.
“Shoot her, Terry,” my brother said.
My eyes slowly gravitated over to the man standing at his side. The detective the boys must’ve been talking about. His sad eyes looked me over once before his lips parted in shock. His hand trembled. The gun physically moved with every muscular twitch his body afforded him.
He was hesitating. And maybe I could appeal to that.
“I don’t know what my brother has you wrapped up in, but it isn’t worth it. It isn’t worth your reputation and your career. I think you know that,” I said.
His gun faltered one last time before he slowly lowered it to his side.
“I’m not shooting an innocent girl,” Terry said.
“This wasn’t the deal, detective,” my brother spat.
“Nor was it the deal to kill women,” Terry said.
I looked over at my brother and saw him turn his body toward the man with the gun standing at his side.
“You want these motorcycle assholes gone just as much as I do. That was the deal. To take them down by any means necessary. You heard the man yourself. They chased this girl out here! You want the first hit to their gut? You’ll put a bullet in that woman’s chest,” my brother said.
“I don’t want them gone. I just want my daughter back,” Terry said.
I furrowed my brow as I looked back at the guys. Notch’s pleading eyes looked at me as Stone held him back. There were three other men standing around him. Men I didn’t recognize. All equally as massive, with just as much fear and hesitation in their eyes as the detective.
I slowly panned my gaze back to my brother and drew in a deep breath.
“Just stop, Harry,” I said.
His eyes whipped over to me as he drew his own gun.
“Fine. If no one has the balls to do this, then I will,” he said.
“Like you did with Mom and Dad?” I asked.
“What?” Terry asked.
My brother’s gun faltered in his hands as tears welled in my eyes.
“It’s over. You have nowhere else to go. Nothing else to do. Just… listen to me. For once,” I said breathlessly.
Then, everyone cried out as Harry whipped his gun around, pointing it at Terry.
“Our deal is fucking over,” my brother said.
“Harry, stop this,” I said curtly.
“You’re a goddamn pussy, you know that? I stuck my neck out for you with my damn boss. I put my own ass on the line to reassure him you were worth the investment. Worth the time, when my boss wanted me to put a bullet in you months ago,” my brother said.
“Harry!” I shrieked.
“But you can’t separate family from the job long enough to do what needs to be done. However, I’m a giving man. A family my myself, once upon a time. So, I’ll give you one last shot,” my brother said.
“Maya, run!” Notch exclaimed.
“Shoot. The fucking. Woman,” my brother snarled.
My body felt crooked and unstable. The men struggled behind me again as the moonlight cast glares on the detective’s own tears. He looked back at me with sorrow in his eyes as he dropped his gun to the ground, giving up all hope of whatever it was he set out to accomplish.
“You’re a piece of shit,” my brother hissed.
Then, his weapon aimed itself at me again.
I closed my eyes, knowing what was about to happen next. I tilted my head toward the sky, ready to receive my offering if it meant Notch’s safety. If it meant the safety of all the men who had gotten so lost in whatever it was they were fighting about. Guns, ownership, or money. I didn’t care. I just wanted it to stop. For them. For my brother. For Notch.
For the man I loved.
A gunshot rang out and my entire body tensed. I braced myself for the inevitable, waiting for the pain to crash over me. Waiting for the darkness to shroud me. But it didn’t come. All I heard was something falling at my feet as my eyes fell open.
And when I looked down onto the ground, Terry laid there. Bleeding, groaning, and holding his stomach.
“No!” I exclaimed.
Another gunshot rang out and I whipped my head up. As I raced to the detective, my brother’s eyes went blank. Blood trickled down his forehead. Down his nose. Down to his lips. And when he fell to his knees, face first into the dirt, I scrambled for his body.
Until someone wrapped their arms around me.
“Harry! No! Please!” I roared.
“Come on, Maya. Come on,” Notch said, grunting.
“Harry!”
Everything else was a blur. Someone moved the detective’s body. The muffled sounds of gunshots rang out around me. Notch dragged me back to his bike and tossed me on it, jamming a helmet down onto my head. Covering up my tears and my twisted, contorted face. I reached out one last time. Trying desperately to get back to my brother. Because I didn’t see a lost, fully grown man lying in a pool of his own dusted blood.
I saw my little brother lying there. The young boy I used to climb cherry blossom trees with. The young boy I splashed around in the pool with. The young boy who walked me to school and fended off the bullies that tried pushing me around because I was always the runt of the pack.
My entire family was dead. And for what?
Some gang?
The next thing I knew, we were all tossed into a van. Notch was at my side, and the detective groaned at my feet. I looked over at Notch and saw him lips moving, but I couldn't hear the words coming out of his mouth.
All I saw was him keeping pressure on the wound in the man’s stomach. A wound that bled out and covered my feet with blood.
As the world slowly came back into focus, the detective began sputtering. He coughed up blood that splattered my shirt. My face. My hair. I dipped do
wn to my knees, pulling the man’s head into my lap. Trying to make him comfortable as the van twisted and turned.
“He needs a hospital,” Notch said.
“Tell her something for me,” the detective said hoarsely.
“Wh—what?” I asked breathlessly.
“Tell Hayley something,” the man said, coughing.
“Who’s—who’s Hayley?” I asked.
“Stone’s fiancée,” Notch said.
I watched the man’s eyes widen as he wrapped his hand around my wrist.
“Tell her… I al-al-al—”
I bent down, placing my forehead against the detective’s. I cradled him as best as I could while Notch did everything in his power to stop the bleeding. But we all knew it wouldn't be enough.
Including the man driving.
“Try again,” I whispered.
The man cupped my cheek as he coughed blood into my face.
“Tell my daughter… I always… always loved her. And that I’m-I’m-I’m… I’m proud of-of her.”
The van came to a stop and the doors flew open. Stone yelled for Hayley. For the woman that was his fiancée and apparently the detective’s daughter. The doors of the back of the van flew open and a beautiful, curvy woman appeared. With terrified blue eyes and wondrously-wavy hair piled on top of her head.
I slid out of the way, trying to give her some space as she cried over her dying father.
“Hey, Daddy,” she said, sniffling.
“Princess,” Terry choked out.
I slipped out of the van, standing there. Watching this intimate moment as if it were a train wreck.
“Daddy, what happened to you?” Hayley asked softly.
“I got lost,” he said, coughing.
“That’s okay. We all get lost. I was lost for a while, remember?”
“You were always an adventurous one. Just like your—your mother.”
“Please, don’t die,” she said, whispering.
“I’m sorry for—the pain. The—the lies. I-I-I—just wanted you—you safe. And—and my heart. It was so—”
“It’s okay, Daddy. I know. I know. Save your strength, yes?”
“I love you, my sweet Princess,” he whispered.
Notch: The Lost Boys MC #4 Page 15
