Chapter Twenty-Nine
HIS LADY’S MOUTH curved into a real sultry smile, not the fake one she’d flashed at his father, and knew he’d forgotten one absolute truth.
“Wait.” Elias stared into her beautiful eyes as he rested his head against his biceps.
“You have a plan. How could I forget you always have multiple plans going in that beautiful, big brain of yours?”
She hurried to reposition the cuff key so she could use it. Iona slipped the key into the lock and twisted it. The handcuff popped open, losing its grip on her wrist. She turned to the other cuff and was soon free of the restraint. She turned to Elias and freed him from the handcuffs.
He sank to the floor, unable to keep his legs steady. Man, this was so embarrassing. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“Don’t be. The shame is your father’s.”
“Ten seconds,” Seth warned.
“Copy.”
A slow, painful smile curved his mouth. His teammates were here. He should have known they’d insist on coming to the party. “Should have known.”
“Yeah, you should have. We don’t leave a man behind.” Iona reached down to her boot and withdrew a Sig from the holster at her ankle. “And by the way, Elias. I’m not your weakness. I’m your strength. Together, we’re unstoppable.” She handed the weapon to Elias.
Oh, yeah. He was toast. Iona was his greatest strength. “What about you?”
“Crusher needs to learn a few things. I have plenty of weapons, and I’ll have more when our teammates arrive.”
Seconds later, Seth and Violet rushed into the room with Noah close behind. Violet slid the mike bag off her shoulder and set it on the floor beside Elias.
The medic whistled. “Buddy, you’ll be colorful for a while.”
He grimaced. Not what he wanted to hear. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“How much time do I have, Seth?”
“Not as much as you want. I can give you two minutes, not one second more.”
“I’ll take it.” She knelt beside Elias. “Give me the rundown fast, Elias.”
“Ribs and back are the worst. Can’t breathe deep.”
“What about your shoulder?”
He scowled. “Yeah, about that. Sarge knew about the injury even before he ripped my shirt off. The doctor will have to repair the damage again. I’m pretty sure all my stitches popped during the beating.”
She examined that area and nodded. “You’re right about the stitches. Let’s hope Sarge didn’t do further damage during his work.” Violet paused. “Who’s Sarge?”
He inclined his head toward the body nearby.
Violet glanced at him, then turned back. “Nice work, Iona. What else, Elias?”
“I have a couple of molars on the left side that are loose.”
“They should be okay in a few days. From the size of Sarge, you’re lucky you don’t have a broken jaw.
” Violet unzipped her mike bag, pulled out alcohol wipes, gauze pads and surgical tape.
After a quick patch job on his shoulder, she tossed the remaining supplies back in her bag.
“That’s all I can do for the moment. When we’re on the jet, I can replace the stitches, or you can let Sorenson do the work in Bayside. ”
Elias grimaced. “Wait for that sadist to work on me? No, thanks. I’ll take my chances with you and your needle.”
She patted his knee. “As soon as we’re wheels up, I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks, Vi.”
“Thirty seconds,” Seth said.
“We’re finished. You can help him to his feet. Be careful of his shoulder. I’ll have to work on it on the jet.”
“We’ll do our best, but the priority is getting him to safety,” Noah said. “That means taking him out of this compound as fast as possible.”
When Violet scowled and looked as though she intended to argue with her husband, Elias held up a hand. “He’s right, Violet. I’ll be fine. Let’s go before my father returns.” He had a feeling his father was waiting in the shadows to confront him.
Seth turned from the door where he’d been keeping watch. “Iona, you and Violet lead the way since Noah and I have Elias.”
“Copy that.” Iona slipped a comm device into Elias’ ear, then glanced at her medic. “Ready?” She received a curt nod in response.
Between them, Seth and Noah maneuvered Elias to his feet and draped his arms across their shoulders.
Pain ricocheted through his body as he was once again upright.
It galled Elias to admit he would have hit the floor if not for his friends’ support.
“Go,” he said, his tone grim. He wasn’t ready for the fight to escape his father’s compound.
Still had to be done. Otherwise, he and Iona and their teammates would die.
Not happening on his watch. Elias refused to allow his father to destroy the life he’d built.
“If the pain becomes unbearable, we can take a break,” Violet said, glancing over her shoulder.
One look at Seth’s and Noah’s faces told him stopping to rest wasn’t an option. So, he’d deal.
Iona took the lead, checking the corridor for signs of the enemy.
When she gave the all-clear signal, the three men moved in sync into the corridor steps behind her.
Each of them held a weapon in their hands, including Elias.
He was determined to do his part to protect his teammates while they helped him back to the jet.
At the end of the corridor, Iona peered around the corner, but drew back quickly as bullets pummeled the wall across from her. She held up three fingers.
Great. Three bogies to take out. “Let me lean against the wall so you can take care of this,” he whispered to his teammates.
Noah glanced at Seth, eyebrow raised.
He nodded, and they eased Elias against the wall. From this position, he could watch their six with Violet.
Iona gave a hand signal. The other operatives closed their eyes and covered their ears.
She tossed a flashbang into the corridor, and seconds later, the device exploded in a cacophony of sound and a blinding flash of light.
Taking advantage of the enemy’s temporary disorientation and blindness, Iona, Seth, and Noah shot the enforcers standing between them and the door to the stairwell.
Once again, Seth and Noah draped Elias’ arms across their shoulders and followed Iona to the stairwell door. She peered inside, then gave the all-clear signal and stepped into the stairwell.
Gunshots were heard around the compound along with explosions, screams, and shouted orders. Elias scowled, recognizing his father’s voice above the others, commanding attention. “My father is out there.”
Seth glanced at him. “The team has orders not to kill him, Elias.”
“Don’t put those restrictions on them. Tell them to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves and us. My father made his choice. He can live or die with the consequences.”
Seth tapped his comm device. “You heard the man. Do what’s necessary.” He glanced at Iona. “Go.”
She opened the door a crack, then signaled the other operatives and pushed the door open wide. Using her shoulder to keep the door open for her teammates, she kept her weapon up and ready.
A member of the MC barreled into the open reception area with a weapon up and ready to fire. Seeing the operatives, he aimed his Glock at Iona. Elias shot him in the heart.
Iona smiled at him. “Thank you.”
Elias inclined his head. He’d do much more than shoot a guy to keep the love of his life safe.
“Heads up,” Seth said. “Company.”
“How many?” Iona asked.
“Too many.” He tapped his comm device. “We could use a hand in the clubhouse.” The response had him scowling.
“When you clear out the nest of vipers, then. Don’t take too long.
” Seth looked at Iona. “About fifteen Reckoners pinned the rest of Echo unit down. They’ll make their way to us as soon as they can. ”
Iona peered through the glass, her expression grim. “The Reckoners are like a plague of locusts. They’re everywhere.”
“We’ve had worse odds,” Noah said.
But rarely. Elias exchanged a long look with Iona and gave her a slight nod. He was with her and had her back no matter what plan she implemented.
“Pull back to cover for the grenade launcher,” Iona ordered. “Seth, give me an opening. Ten seconds.”
Seth aimed his weapon at one of the large windows and pulled the trigger. The glass shattered.
As she counted down, Iona readied her weapon and aimed dead center of a group that had paused for instructions.
When the count reached zero, she gently pulled the trigger.
The grenade exploded in a flash of light and a roar of sound.
When the chaos ended, half of the bikers heading for the clubhouse were dead and the rest were injured.
Somewhere close, Eddie screamed curses at the group, ordering them to attack the invaders. The members of his MC still alive in that group struggled to their feet and lumbered and limped toward the clubhouse.
Noah growled. “This is insane. They’re sitting ducks. One of us could take out all of them before they reached the door.”
“Welcome to the world of Eddie Knight,” Elias said, bitterness coming through in his voice. “Nothing and no one matters more than his wishes.”
“Take them down.” Seth raised his rifle to his shoulder. “Non-lethal shots, if possible.”
Less than a minute later, the remaining members of the MC were down, most writhing on the ground. A few lay motionless in the stillness of death.
Seconds passed, then Iona groaned. “More MC members.”
Seth frowned. “How? The Reckoners’ roster isn’t that large.”
“Eddie must have used his favor card with Dutch because I recognize several Blackthorn Riders we tangled with earlier. The rest of them are wearing Blackthorn cuts and colors.”
Elias shook his head at the waste of life, all because his cousin was currying favor with Eddie. No matter what he thought, Eddie wouldn’t win this fight.
“Take them down.” Seth raised his rifle, aimed, and fired.
When the smoke cleared, the Blackthorn Riders lay scattered on the ground alongside the Reckoner group. Elias looked at the faces of the fallen and the injured. Eddie Knight wasn’t among them.
Was Elias surprised? Nope. His father always looked out for himself first in any situation.
The leader of Echo unit tapped his comm device again. “Anybody get eyes on the weapons and ammo?”
I’m looking at it right now,” Grant said. “It’s loaded inside a tractor-trailer, ready to go.”
“The FBI will be happy we found the weapons and ammo,” Noah said. “All we have to do now is make sure it doesn’t fall into enemy hands before the feds confiscate it.”
“No problem.” Seth tapped his comm device again. “Z, tell the boss we found the weapons and ammo. He needs to get the feds down here to take possession of it because we’re not waiting. Elias needs medical help.”
“Copy that.” Seconds later, Zane said, “Done. They’ll be on site in less than ten minutes.”
Elias rolled his eyes. Nice to know they were close enough to retrieve the stolen property but refused to lend a hand in the cleanup of MC members.
“Let’s get out of here,” Noah murmured, his gaze scanning the area. “I don’t think the MCs are finished. I’d rather not find out if I’m right.”
“Agreed.” Seth draped one of Elias’ arms over his shoulders again, as did Noah.
Together the group headed for the back door of the building, with Iona in the lead. “Teagan, are we clear?”
“For the moment. There’s another contingent coming. You have two minutes to exit the compound.”
“Copy that.” Iona pushed the pace toward the back of the compound.
Elias kept his weapon ready. Alert to every move Iona made, he was the first to see the shadow emerge to her right and aim a weapon at her. “Gun!”
She dropped and did a forward roll into a crouch, her weapon up and aimed at the man.
It took Elias a split second to recognize their opponent. Of course. Why wouldn’t he let this go? “Get out of the way, Dad.”
Eddie laughed, gesturing around them. “I don’t think so, Elias. You’re outnumbered, son.”
More men emerged from the shadows with weapons in their hands, then still more behind them.
Elias’ gut knotted. This wasn’t good. Fortress could handle two-to-one odds easily. What he didn’t want was for his friends to be killed before Fortress took down the Reckoners.
“Give it up.” Seth aimed his weapon at Eddie, center mass. “We’ve already taken down close to a hundred of your MC members and Blackthorn Riders. You’re finished, Eddie.”
He smiled. “These aren’t the only MC members left alive. More wait outside the gates.”
Elias assessed his father. His words might be true. Then again, they could be a total lie. He was a consummate liar.
Without looking away from Elias, Eddie said, “All of you point your weapons at the beautiful Iona.”
With those words, his father changed the game.