Chapter 27 Goose
GOOSE
It was the nightmare of all nightmares.
Far worse than any bad dream I’d ever had. It was like one of those where you shout out for help, but nothing comes out. No one hears. No one comes to your rescue. You try to move, but you're frozen in place.
And then, when you don’t even think it’s possible, it takes a turn for the worse, and someone you once cared for steps out of the dark and proves who they really are.
Only this wasn’t a dream. This was real.
The Vault had been taken hostage by six masked men.
They moved in tight succession with no hesitation.
The two covering the floor carried AR-15s, along with the two watching the back.
The remaining two carried Glocks and currently had them pointed at Seven’s head, waiting as he emptied the registers.
The brothers and I were still face down on the ground.
They were watching us like hawks.
I caught Memphis’s eye across the room, and like me, rage was simmering in his eyes. Like me, he wanted to end this thing.
We knew better than to make a move, especially when rifles were trained on civilians. You don’t go playing hero when innocent lives were at stake. So, I lay there with my hands pressed to the floor, trying to think of some way out of this fucking mess.
Sadly, nothing was coming to mind.
These assholes moved like they owned the damn place, and I wanted nothing more than to prove them wrong. Unfortunately, all I could do was watch as they finished wiping out the registers.
The sound of crying cut through the room like a bad dream. My pulse pounded in my ears, but I managed to keep my breathing steady. The last thing I needed was to let panic creep in.
In through my nose. Out through my mouth.
In. Out.
In. Out.
All the while taking note of everything. Their height. Their builds. Their boots. The way they moved. And the one in the center.
The one who wasn’t scrambling for cash.
He stood back, waiting and watching. His rifle was hanging low. The way he moved felt familiar, but it was the way he spoke that rattled me to the core. I didn’t want to believe that it was Davis. I didn’t want to accept the fact that he’d pull something like this.
But when he motioned his hand toward the back hallway and shouted, “It’s in the office. Second door on the left!”
I knew.
There was no doubt about it.
It didn’t matter that his face was covered. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t see his eyes. I knew that voice. It was the voice of family. It was one I’d grown up with. I’d heard every day.
It was Davis.
I wished I could say it surprised me, that it felt like the rug had been pulled from beneath my feet, but it didn’t. My brother had already proven that he had no loyalty to his family or to me, and in all honesty, it didn’t even hurt.
I just felt cold and empty, like what I’d dreaded most had finally happened. I glanced over at the others, wondering if it was possible that they’d picked up on the fact that Davis was in the thick of all this.
Not that it mattered.
Brother or not, he would pay for this shit, and he would pay dearly.
But we had to find the right time.
Two men charged down the hall and into the office.
They were going to attempt to break into the safe.
That wasn’t going to happen. That damn thing was state-of-the-art.
It would take someone with a great deal of skill and patience to break through the layers of authentication, and even then, it would take time. Lots of it.
They could try explosives, but it would take a mountain of dynamite to blow it open. It was a fucking tank. It was doubtful that they could get their hands on what they’d need to blow it open. I was trying to listen when something upfront caught my attention.
The leg of a chair raked across the concrete floor, and out of nowhere, some kid who couldn’t have been more than twenty, stood and lunged for the stage. He rushed toward the leader. Only, he didn’t make it far.
The second he saw him, the man started firing.
The explosion of gunfire ripped through the club like lightning.
And he wasn’t just aiming at the kid. He was shooting anyone close to him, including Lu. She was one of the new girls, and I’d had a soft spot for her. Not because I was interested in her, but because she was a good kid, trying to make something of her life.
My stomach twisted into knots as I watched her bring her hands up to her throat.
She coughed and gasped as blood seeped through her fingers.
The girls around her started to panic and cries filled the room.
But my focus was on Lu. I lay there, and rage coursed through my veins as I watched her eyes widen and her body giving out.
Then, she stilled. Her hands fell to her side, and the life left her body.
She was gone.
Dammit.
She was just a kid.
She had her whole life ahead of her, and he’d stolen it from her.
My pulse thundered in my ears, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the whisper, You waited too long. It replayed in my head over and over as I looked up at the man on the stage. He didn’t even look rattled, and that calmness chilled me more than the blood pooling at his boots.
He remained standing in the center of the stage with his rifle still raised, smoke curling from the barrel. He’d shot and killed three without hesitation.
He wanted to make a point, and he made it.
We all could see that he wasn’t bluffing.
We weren’t bluffing either. They’d crossed a line. This was no longer a robbery. This was war, and these assholes were about to go down.
I glanced around the room, and my eyes landed on Memphis. We didn’t nod. We didn’t speak. We just knew.
It was time.
I looked over to my other brothers, seeing the same shift in their eyes, and I knew we were done playing it safe. Slowly, carefully, I shifted my weight to the side, then inched my right hand down the small of my back. Each of my brothers was doing the same.
Subtle movements masked by the chaos of trembling bodies and frightened cries. I wrapped my fingers around the grip of my gun, and my heart started pounding as I eased it from the holster. I was preparing to take my shot when everything went black.
The room was so dark I could barely see what was in front of me, but that didn’t stop me from getting to my feet. I was about to make my way to the stage when the front doors exploded open with a hard thud, and the back doors did the same.
Seconds later, the security lights came on, giving enough light for me to see Grim, Creed, and Rusty charging in through the front and Skid, Ghost, and Gash rushing in from the back, cutting off all the exits. Gunfire erupted, and I used the opportunity to take out the asshole on the stage.
It just took one shot.
One squeeze of the trigger, and he jerked backward.
The rifle slipped from his grip, and the girls screeched when the sorry sack of shit toppled off the platform and onto the ground next to them. My brothers were taking shots, too. Ghost and Rusty moved past me, dropping one of the robbers before he even knew they were coming.
The smell of gunpowder mixed with perfume and spilled liquor burned the back of my throat as screams gave way to the rising panic. Just then, I turned and caught the silhouette of my brother.
His calm demeanor from earlier was gone, and he was now firing wildly into the crowd. Memphis fired a shot, and Davis staggered mid-step. The impact snapped him back, and his rifle clattered to the floor as he dropped to his knees.
His eyes met mine as he clutched his chest and fell forward, blood immediately pooling around him. I stood there, staring at him, as the room echoed with the last few rounds before falling into silence.
Smoke hung in the air.
Cries and whimpers faded.
And the lights flickered back to life, revealing the bodies that were scattered across the floor. I held onto my weapon as I scanned the room for a moment, but there was no movement
The nightmare had hit fast and violent.
But it was over.
And my brother lay bleeding out at the center of it. I walked over and knelt down next to him, carefully rolling him over and removing his mask. As I looked down at him, I didn’t feel triumph. I didn’t feel relief. I felt numb.
He’d made a choice coming here tonight.
And we’d made ours.
“Why?” I whispered. “Why would you do this?”
I didn’t expect him to answer.
I thought he was already gone, and then, he gargled, “You took what was mine… You couldn’t leave it alone. You had to win… You always win.”
“I didn’t win shit,” I argued. “Look around. People died tonight. They died because you…”
“Just once… I just wanted to be the one… just once.”
He closed his eyes, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
This was it. My brother was dying.
I could’ve told him that he got what he deserved, but instead, I leaned forward and whispered, “For me, you were always the one. I wish that had been enough.”
I watched my brother take his last breath. I couldn’t imagine anything worse, and then, I looked up and found Presley standing in front of me with tears streaming down her face. It wasn’t until then that I heard all the sirens.
Damn. There was no end to this fucking nightmare.