Chapter Twenty-Five
Bowie
We’d already cleared two of the outhouses with relative ease. Me and Atlas had always made a good team, Enforcer and Sergeant at Arms, working as one, breaking skulls and taking names, just like old times.
The officers lived in the apartments, so taking them out made me all warm and fuzzy inside, and that was me all over these days—warm and fuzzy.
When I thought back to the man I was just three years before, I cringed.
That man was dead inside, scared to get hurt, and terrified of connecting with anybody. Except everybody needs human connection, and I found mine by railing through half the women south of Rock Springs.
Until Layla and Sunny came along and straightened my ass out.
The day I killed Layla’s abuser, I vowed it wouldn’t end there. There was more to her torment than just Robert Henderson Junior. The men who gave him the drugs, the same ones he tried to sell my wife to the day he kidnapped her, were also on my shit list.
The Burning Sinners.
I couldn’t help shaking my head at the irony of their club name, especially since I knew what Kit and Blade had in store for them.
Fuckers were about to get toasty.
In the meantime, I wanted to work out some pent-up aggression. I’d been feeling stressed lately, what with planning war against a bunch of child trafficking perverts; I needed either a massage or a fight. My Doe had one of my sons strapped to a tit more often than not, so straddling my hips and rubbing my back wouldn’t work logistically.
Hence the breaking of skulls.
Adrenaline pounded in my ears, and my blood rushed through my veins. My skin hummed, and my fingers squeezed into fists at the prospect of more carnage. We still had two more buildings to clear, and going by the movement I caught through the windows, these particular Sinners knew their day was about to get well and truly fucked.
I was at Atlas’s six when the gunfire rang out.
A bullet whizzed so close to my temple that I heard the whistle as clear as day, so by the time Atlas bellowed for us to get down, I was already diving for the ground. I lifted my weapon to the window and aimed before firing off two shots.
Silence fell, followed by a solitary piercing scream.
“Fuck,” Atlas muttered from my side. “There’re women in there.” He rose into a crouch. “We’ll have to clear the place without firing our weapons.”
My fingers flexed, and a smirk twisted my mouth. “Good. I was just thinking how I needed to work some aggression out.”
Atlas fell onto his hands and knees and began to move toward the outbuilding. Rising to a crawling position, I followed, keeping an eye on the window as I went.
We’d have to use our heads with this one. I’d disabled the shooter at the window, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more hiding out inside. Add on the fact that there were women and maybe kids in there, and we’d have to slow our roll instead of going in all guns blazing.
We made it to the door and flattened our backs against the wall.
“What do we do now?” Atlas asked, his head swiveling to face me.
“I don’t fuckin’ know,” I clapped back. “I thought you had a plan.”
Atlas grimaced. “Shit. I thought you had a plan.”
Cursing under my breath, I took in the building, trying to work out where we could sneak in and catch any lingering Sinners by surprise. “What about that side window?”
“It’s probably locked,” Atlas muttered. “But I guess it’s worth a try.”
Silently, we moved, backs against the wall, around the side of the outbuilding. My heart hammered in my chest, and my palms felt clammy with nerves, but I knew the adrenaline rushing through me also sharpened my senses.
We approached the small window, and Atlas pushed on it. “Locked,” he declared.
“We could break it,” I suggested.
Atlas’s lips twisted as he thought. “They’ll be alerted by the noise of the glass shattering.”
“Not if we drown it out.” I pulled my cell out of my pocket and clicked on Abe’s number.
It rang once before the call connected, and Abe’s voice asked, “You okay, Son? Saw you and Fat Ass hit the deck. He went down so hard I thought he’d bounce on his gut.”
My lips twitched. “We’re good. Found a window we can get through so we can clear the last outbuilding, but it’s locked up as tight as Fort Knox. We need to break it without the fuckers inside catching wind.”
“Gotcha,” Abe replied. “I’ll round up a few of the boys and start shootin’. Gimme a minute.”
“We’ll be waiting, brother,” I advised him before ending the call and sliding my phone back into my pocket. “Abe’s sortin’ it. Hold tight—” As the words left my mouth, a cacophony of loud gunfire filled the air.
“Now,” I ordered, giving my brother a nudge.
Atlas took a step toward the window, turned, pulled his elbow back, and drove it straight into the glass, making it shatter. He pushed most of it through, then, with his gun, he cleared the shards poking from the windowpane until it was safe enough for us to climb through without it flaying our skin off.
Atlas poked his head through the window before craning his neck to say, “Clear.” Then he placed his hands on the bottom pane, hauled himself up, and jumped through.
“Come on,” he ordered from inside.
Glock still in hand, I leaned on the wood and vaulted through the opening, landing on both feet inside the building. My head turned left to right, taking in my surroundings.
We stood in what once was a small utility room. The washer and dryer looked to be from the seventies and probably hadn’t been used since then, seeing as they were covered in thick cobwebs.
Old, musty clothes lay in a pile on a closet shelf. The place had been used as a dumping ground because a stack of old furniture sat in the corner, along with what looked like a broken vacuum cleaner.
Atlas moved toward the door, listening for sounds. “It’s quiet,” he murmured with a shrug. “I can’t be bothered with all this cloak-and-dagger bullshit. Let’s just go out there and bash some heads in.” He pulled the door open and stuck his head outside before glancing at me over his shoulder. “Clear”
Silently, we crept out into a shabbily decorated hallway, the carpet so filthy that my boots stuck to the fibers. The smell wasn’t great either, the smells of rotten food mixed with the stench of acrid BO almost making me balk.
We poked our heads inside rooms as we passed them, looking for Sinners as we swept from the middle of the building to the front where the shooting came from. Then, as we got to the last room, we slid our backs to the wall, listening to the sobs and sniffs coming from inside.
Atlas looked at me and whispered, “After three?”
I jerked a nod of assent.
“One. Two. Three…”
We both turned to face into the room, guns pointing to the middle. “Don’t fuckin’ move,” Atlas bellowed, then his shoulders slumped, and he murmured, “Shit.”
It took a few seconds for my eyes to get used to the dim light. The shadows cleared, and I blinked at the scene in the room. Four women sat naked against the wall, crying and shivering and shielding a young girl who couldn’t have been older than a teenager. Blood splatter was everywhere, and the Sinner I must’ve shot just minutes ago lay on his back, his face a mangled mess of blood and flesh.
“Please don’t hurt us,” one of the women pleaded.
“We’re here to help,” I said softly, moving slowly forward and holding my hands out defensively. “We’ll get you out of here.”
“There’s three more of them,” another one of the women whispered urgently. “They ran out to hide when that one—” she jerked her head toward the dead biker “—got shot.”
“Where would they have gone?” Atlas asked as quietly as his booming voice would allow.
“Kitchen.” Her arms tightened around the young girl. “They’re armed.”
Atlas nodded. “Have you got any clothes?”
“Some,” she replied. “But not enough for all of us. They kept us naked…” her voice trailed off, tears filling her eyes.
I slipped my cut off and pulled my tee over my head, handing it to her. Luckily, I’d put a wifebeater on underneath it this morning to keep me warm in the early morning ride. I took that off too and handed it over, waiting while Atlas did the same.
“Thanks,” she murmured, taking the clothes and immediately dressing the younger one before handing the rest to the other women.
I put my cut back on, watching Atlas follow suit, then looked around the room, eyes settling on the broken window. Jagged shards of glass hung from the top pane. We’d cleared the other window just fine because it was small. The one in this room spanned most of the wall, and the glass hung dangerously. We couldn’t clear the glass without the proper tools, so that exit wouldn’t work.
“We’ll have to get ‘em out the front door and hope for the best,” Atlas muttered as if he’d read my mind.
I looked out the window into the deserted courtyard. “I don’t like it.”
“We just need to get ‘em to Abe, and they’ll be safe,” he assured me. “We don’t gotta choice.”
I nodded, my lips thinning unhappily at the prospect of putting the women—and especially the girl—in more danger. My heart sank when I realized that in another life, it could’ve been Layla and Sunny naked in this room. If we never got together and my Doe was left vulnerable, God only knew what would’ve happened to my girls.
The thought spurred me into action. I crouched down and held my hand out for the girl to take. “Come on, sweetheart. I’ll get you safe.”
She remained tucked into the other woman and shook her head furiously.
“I’ve got two daughters,” I murmured softly. “They’re both younger than you, and if anything happened to them... well, I hope there’d be somebody who’d get them safe.”
Her head turned curiously, and I caught a flash of her frightened brown eyes. “I’m fifteen. My name’s Eva,” she whispered.
“I’ve got Willow, who’s one, and Sunny, who’s eight now,” I told her. “Sunny’s a handful.” I jerked a thumb toward Atlas. “See this big goof?”
Eva nodded, her eyes slanting toward my bud.
“His name’s Atlas,” I murmured. “Sunny has a bit of a lisp, so every time she goes to say his name, she calls him Assless. It’s a running joke between me and my brothers, and he says he hates it, but really, he loves the attention.”
A faint smile played around her mouth, and I took the opportunity to hold my hand out again. “Come on, sweetheart. I’ll get you outta here and keep you safe.”
She paused briefly, then slowly extended her arm and grasped my hand.
My jaw clenched when I felt her icy, clammy skin. The poor thing was frozen despite wearing my tee. The Sinners had kept this kid like a caged fucking animal, and they were gonna die for it.
With a newfound sense of determination, I hauled Eva up and swung her into my arms. “Keep close to us,” Atlas ordered the other women, who had all stood, too. “If you hear gunshots, you get down and stay down.”
We turned for the door, and I froze at the big, bald fucker wearing a Sinner’s cut standing at the door with his gun pointed at us.
A couple of the women cried out in fear,
My heart sank into my ass. “Fuck,” I said under my breath, placing the girl in my arms gently back on her feet.
Atlas, who stood directly in front of the guy, took a step toward him. “Put the gun down, dude, and I’ll tell my friend standing behind ya not to shoot your head off.”
The Sinner’s mouth stretched into a knowing grin. “Yeah, right. Your invisible friend. The only fucker behind me is our prospect, and he don’t gotta gun.”
“Yo, Titch,” a familiar voice called from the hallway.
Titch craned his neck and visibly gulped. “What the fuck—?”
A loud boom ricocheted through the ether, and the Sinner crumpled to the floor.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Atlas boomed, watching Mason stroll into the room. “Are you fuckin’ crazy? Iris is gonna have my goddamned balls for this.”
“Why?” Mase asked, his eyebrows pulling together curiously.
“Err, you just killed a man,” Atlas drawled sarcastically. “She’s gonna think you’ll need a fuckload of therapy for Christ’s sake. Don’t think I’m paying for that shit. Never asked you to blow a hole through some asshole Sinner’s chest.”
“He was gonna shoot ya,” Mason argued.
Atlas sniffed haughtily. “I had it under control.”
I brought a hand up to my mouth, trying to hide my smile, and then my heart kicked into overdrive as I heard distant shouts.
“Let’s fuckin’ go,” Atlas ordered, stepping over the dead Sinner and making for the door. “Get these poor bitches outta here before the others come for us.”
The women followed, and we all headed toward the front door.
“We’re coming back to kill ‘em,” I told my bud determinedly.
“Yip,” he replied. “But we can’t do what we need to do and look after the girls. Let’s get ‘em to Abe before we use the Sinners as target practice.”
We burst out the door and bellowed for everyone to run. Taking the girl’s hand, we sprinted toward the courtyard. Shouts went up from behind us, and I craned my neck to see three Sinners standing at the door, raising their weapons.
I dropped Eva’s hand and yelled for her to keep going while I came to a stop and twisted my body. Raising my gun in both hands, I aimed for the enemy and fired. My chest contracted as one of them hit the floor.
More shouts filled the air.
I looked around to see Sinners coming toward me, and a bad feeling slid through my gut. Still, I turned toward the one closest to me and fired my gun again, ducking as a bullet whizzed past my head.
“Bowie!” Atlas bellowed. “Get down! Prez is pickin’ ‘em off!”
My eyes widened as I watched a Sinner hit the deck, followed by one standing next to him. They were dropping like flies, but it didn’t mean I could stop firing on them.
I sank to the ground and twisted my body toward the outbuilding we’d just run from. I aimed and fired, watching one of the dudes sink to his knees, holding his chest. More gunfire rang out, and I craned my neck to see Atlas shooting at more Sinners who were approaching.
Hearing more yells, I almost cried out in relief as I watched my brothers take up their positions. Another man went down from a silent shot—probably my pop—while an all-out gunfight began.
“Run, Bo!” Atlas ordered. “We’ll cover you.”
I got to my feet, bent double, and sprinted for the nearest cover, which happened to be an old, abandoned car sitting about thirty feet away. Bullets pinged off the ground by my feet, and I cursed out loud, my heart hammering so hard I thought it’d explode inside my chest.
I’d had experience with a GSW, and it wasn’t something I wanted to go through again, purely because it hurt like a bitch. Also, Doe would kick my ass, and my Sunshine would be on me twenty-four seven. I loved my girl, but she was a lot.
The car got ever closer, and a tiny part of me started to believe I’d actually get out of this shit show in one piece until I approached the old Ford. My throat clenched as a guy in a Sinners cut stood from behind the car, pointing a weapon at me.
My heart burned in my chest, and my steps faltered while my life flashed before my eyes at an alarming rate. My stare fell on the trigger of the guy's Colt, and I watched him begin to squeeze slowly.
As I looked up, my gaze caught on the hill where Dad was sniping from. A tiny flash caught my eye, and the Sinner about to kill me sank down behind the car.
My heart jerked, and pure, unadulterated relief whooshed through me.
I scrambled for the vehicle, pointing my gun down at the shooter in case he wasn’t entirely dead. I needn’t have worried. The fucker lay in a massive pool of blood, his eyes wide open, staring unseeing at the sky.
My cell rang, and I jumped slightly before reaching into my pocket and grabbing it. I shook my head when I saw who was calling, stabbing the green button and holding it to my ear. “Pop?”
“You okay, Son?” Dad rumbled.
“Yeah,” I said, dropping to my ass beside the dead body. “Thanks to you.”
“Time to stop fuckin’ around,” Pop muttered. “Just heard from Cash. Bear, his lieutenants, and Henderson’s army are five minutes out from the clubhouse.”
I smirked. “Bring it.”
“Stop dillydallying, asshole,” Pop ordered. “The fuck you doin’? You could’ve taken that cunt out yourself.”
My eyes rolled right again. “More fun when you do it for me.”
“I’ll take out the key players and leave the rest for you boys. It’ll take me five minutes to get to you, and then we need to roll out and back the boys up.”
“Breaker ready?” I asked.
“Bombs are planted all around the house. Kill those fuckers, drag ‘em inside, and get your asses back to the gates before Kit and Blade blow the place up. Mac will be there in about a minute to pick up the girls and kids.”
“Kids?”
“Yeah,” Pop muttered. “They’re Bear’s and his LT’s kids. Five of ‘em. A baby girl, two toddlers, a ten- and twelve-year-old.”
“Jesus,” I muttered. “Poor little things have had a lucky escape. Wonder how long it would have been until they sold them, too.”
“One of the women told Atlas she overheard negotiations for the two oldest,” Dad bit out. “I know who their dad is. I’ve got my own plans for him, Bowie. Right, chop chop, Son. Get this shit under control. I’ll be there soon.”
Before I could reply, the line went dead.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket, turned toward the fray, and peeked over the top of the car, shaking my head at the full-on gunfight happening around me. Our plan from the get-go was to come here, stall, and let their officers believe our clubhouse was vulnerable.
Tick, tick, fucking tick.
I stuck two fingers in my mouth and let out a piercing whistle. Within seconds, the air was filled with them, a collective sign that the Speed Demons were about to move on to the next phase.
Operation Burn a Sinner.
Not the best play on words but it did the job.
The men’s whistling was suddenly drowned out by the rat-tat-tatting of an M240 machine gun and shouts and screams of pain filled the courtyard. I stood from my position, aimed my Glock at a group of Sinners running for the outbuildings, and fired.
One went down, followed by the other as Atlas sprayed them with bullets from his machine gun. My eyes slid to At, and I couldn’t help busting out a laugh when I saw the crazy bastard had tied a bandana around his head and was doing his best Rambo impression, aiming the machine gun and rapid firing with a loud rat, tat, tat.
He threw his head back and bellowed, “I fuckin’ love my life!”
And as I aimed my gun and my jaw clenched determinedly as I took out another Sinner, I couldn’t help but think, Yeah, Atlas, me too.