7. Chapter 6
Jack
T he shipping container creaked as Ghost pried it open, the seal breaking with a metallic pop that echoed across the empty dockyard.
Dawn hadn’t even started lightening the sky on the horizon yet.
It was the blackest part of the night and I’d normally feel right at home.
I was the predator in the dark and thrived there.
Which is why I was so fucking uncomfortable now.
I rested my hand on the grip of my pistol.
Something felt off. The air held that electric quality it gets right before a storm.
Or right before everything goes to shit.
"We good?" I asked Ghost, keeping my voice low.
I grunted in acknowledgment, my eyes still sweeping the surrounding containers and abandoned warehouse buildings.
Six of my brothers were stationed around us, each one positioned to cover the entire area collectively.
This shipment was too important to fuck up, especially with the Copperhead threat still out there.
"Let's move fast," I ordered. "I want this shit locked down and out of here in twenty."
The dock workers we'd paid off were conveniently absent, giving us the space we needed. Our trucks waited, engines running, ready for a quick exit. Everything was running smooth. Until it wasn’t.
The comm link at my belt crackled to life. "Prez, movement at the south entrance. Three vehicles approaching fast. Cut their lights."
I snatched the radio, thumb pressing the talk button. "IDs?"
"Black SUVs. Tinted windows." The voice paused. "Fuck! They're opening up! It’s an attack!"
The first gunshot split the air before the transmission ended. I whipped around to Ghost, our eyes meeting in instant understanding.
"Heads up! Now!" I barked into the radio. "Bug, get the trucks ready to roll. Rivet, Animal, secure those fucking weapons!"
My brothers scattered to predetermined positions as I pulled my Glock from its holster, the weight familiar and reassuring in my palm. Ghost pressed against the opposite side of the container door, his rifle already up and scanning.
"How the fuck did they know?" he muttered.
"Worry about that later," I growled. "Right now we need to—"
The world exploded. The blast hit like a giant's fist, lifting me off my feet and slamming me against the container wall.
My ears rang, vision swimming as I fought to get my bearings.
The acrid smell of explosives filled my nostrils, as well as the muddy water smell of the nearby Illinois River.
This is the very reason I hated using the dock.
While we had the workers paid off, when things got messy, avoiding the police was always a concern.
Through the smoke, I saw shadows moving. Men with guns advanced on our position, but they didn’t look as comfortable as every single member of Bound in Blood did. They carried their weapons as if unsure or scared. That would be my advantage.
I shook my head to better clear it. Last thing I wanted to do was make a mistake in the heat of battle.
Surprisingly, even after getting knocked off my feet, I still clutched my pistol.
Ghost was already returning fire, his movements precise despite the chaos.
I took up position beside him, sighting down my barrel at the first Copperhead I saw and squeezed the trigger. The man dropped.
"They're coming from the south and east," Ghost called out over the gunfire. "Trying to pin us against the water."
Bullets ricocheted off the metal container with high-pitched whines, peppering the ground around us with sparks. I felt one pass close enough to ruffle my hair.
"Bug, status on the fuckin’ trucks!" I shouted into the radio.
"Ready to roll, but they've got the main exit blocked!"
"Use the service road by the old warehouse," I ordered. "Rivet, Animal, how're those weapons coming?"
"Half to go," Rivet's voice came back, strained but steady. "Taking heavy fire on the east side."
I popped around the corner, emptied my clip at a cluster of Copperheads using a forklift for cover, then ducked back as return fire shredded the air where I'd been standing.
The smell of gunpowder was thick now, mixing with the metallic tang of blood and the oily harbor water.
My heart hammered, but my mind was ice cold.
I counted my shots while giving instructions to Bug, going over the map of this place mentally until I was satisfied my brothers had the safest, cleanest route out of the harbor.
Beyond that, my only other concern was getting back to the clubhouse and Honey.
"Ghost, take three men and give Rivet covering fire. I'll take the south approach."
He nodded once and was gone, moving low and fast between containers. I reloaded, the motion so practiced I could do it blindfolded, then signaled to the two prospects crouched nearby. Their faces were pale but determined.
"On me," I commanded, and they fell in behind as I moved toward the gunfire coming from the south entrance.
We made it twenty yards before the radio crackled again. This time, it was Bug's panicked voice.
"Prez! Compound's under attack! Multiple hostiles, heavily armed!"
My blood chilled, the hair on the back of my neck standing. Honey.
"Repeat!" I snapped the command, pressing the radio to my ear as bullets pinged off the container above me.
"It’s a coordinated strike," Bug confirmed. "They hit us here as a diversion. Main force is at the compound. They breached the east fence. Got at least three brothers down."
For a split second, the world narrowed to a pinpoint. My ears roared and for the first time in my life I was scared out of my fucking mind. My woman was under fire while I was stuck at these fucking docks.
"Ghost!" I bellowed. He appeared at the end of the row of containers, rifle in hand. "Compound's hit. Take command here. Get those weapons out any way you can."
Understanding flashed across his face. "Go. We've got this."
I turned to the prospects. "Stay on Ghost. Protect that shipment with everything short of your life. You got me?" I didn’t wait for them to answer.
I moved fast, using the containers for cover.
One of the prospects I’d left with Ghost was still covering my ass, laying down cover fire so I could move faster.
I’d have to remember to praise the kid next time we had church.
My muscles burned with exertion, but adrenaline pushed me forward.
A Copperhead popped up from behind a barrel just in front of me.
I didn't bother with the gun. My knife was in my hand and then buried in his throat as he could raise his weapon.
Hot blood splashed across my knuckles as I yanked the blade free.
The bikes were where we'd left them, hidden behind the maintenance shed. I swung my leg over mine, the engine roaring to life with a twist of the throttle.
I tore out of the dock area. The wind whipped at my face, but I barely felt it.
My mind centered squarely on Honey. The image of her face rose unbidden in my mind.
Her amber eyes and soft smile haunted me and somehow worked their way under my skin.
Now those same eyes might be wide with terror, that smile replaced by fear.
The thought made my hands tighten on the handlebars until my knuckles went white.
"Hold on, darlin'," I muttered into the wind. "I'm coming."
I pushed the bike faster, the engine screaming beneath me as we raced through the pre dawn streets.
Behind me, the docks erupted in another explosion, orange flames billowing into the sky.
It wouldn’t be long before fire and EMS got there along with the police.
But I didn't look back. My brothers could handle themselves.
Right now, all that mattered was getting to the compound.
Getting to Honey.
I smelled the smoke before I saw the compound.
Thick black plumes rose above the treeline, marking my home like a funeral pyre.
The roar of my bike's engine couldn't drown out the staccato pop of gunfire as I leaned into the final turn.
Then I saw the main gate hanging off its hinges, the perimeter fence torn open like a gutted animal.
Three vehicles burned in the yard, their flames casting dancing shadows across the bodies scattered on the ground.
My brothers. Copperheads. Blood and brass mingling in the dirt.
Unadulterated rage made me give a battle roar as I gunned the throttle, blasting through the ruined gate.
Chaos reigned. The main building's windows were shattered, bullet holes peppering the brick facade.
Two of our guys crouched behind an overturned truck, exchanging fire with unseen enemies.
Another lay motionless nearby, his cut soaked dark with blood.
Then I saw her. Honey stood with Wren near the workshop entrance, shotgun in her hands, her blonde hair wild around her face.
Even from this distance, I could see the dark spatters across her property vest, blood that might or might not be hers.
My heart seized in my chest. She didn’t look hurt, but there was no way to tell until I got to her.
I skidded the bike to a halt, leaping off before it fully stopped and letting her drop where she fell.
"Cover me," I barked at the men next to me. I wasn’t even sure who was there, only that they were Bound in Blood. I didn’t wait for them to move, I charged in her direction like a raging bull.
Gunfire exploded behind me as my men put down cover fire while I ran as hard as I could in Honey’s direction.
"Jack!" Honey's voice cut through the din of battle as she spotted me. She started to move toward me, but Wren grabbed her arm, keeping her in the relative safety of the doorway. Smart girl. I also owed her one. And Ghost for teaching his ward how to survive and keep others around her safe.