11. Paige
11
PAIGE
I keep as low behind the counter as I can, crouched deeper than any YouTube yoga video ever managed to get me. “What’s happening?” I whisper. “Do you think it’s the bounty?”
Poe shakes his head. “It’s the same crew that tried to grab you after work. I’m sure they’ll grab you if they get the chance, but I think this might be more about revenge for us showing them up. If they were just trying to steal you back, I think they’d’ve been a little more careful with slinging lead our way.”
Savage is next to me, so close my arm is nestled against his side. He’s totally focused on the entrance, but just being near him is comforting.
It's dark in here. The front windows have been covered up, probably so just anyone can't look in and see all the sex toys. A few of the window coverings have started to peel off over the years though, so light is seeping in and making it more like dusk, instead of middle of the night.
I shift and my hand lands on something squishy. I fling it away, not wanting to see. “Why does every place we end up have to do with sex? One more and I swear I’m buying a lottery ticket.”
“Giving you ideas?” Crank asks, amused. “Your timing could be better, but I’ll take a raincheck.”
“No!” Well, a little actually, but I’m not telling him that.
Poe chuckles. “Liar.”
“Keep it down, kids,” Savage snaps.
“What are they waiting for?” My voice trembles hard, but I can't seem to bring it under control.
“Probably passing their last brain cell back and forth to decide who can use it best,” says Crank. “I can see them moving out there.”
Poe puts his hand comfortingly on my back. “It's all good. We're gonna take care of you. Nothing we can't handle.”
He says that, but confidence can’t stop a bullet.
Crank points. “Incoming. Get ready”
“You ever shot a gun?” Savage asks.
“What? No! Never even touched one.”
“Shit. Better not give you one then. Just keep as low as you can when the bullets start flying.”
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.
“Send the girl out, and we'll let you ride home with your tails between your legs,” someone yells from behind the wall of cars. I think it might be Eddy. I recognize his oily voice. “Otherwise she’s as fucking dead as the rest of you.”
Crank makes a jerking off motion with his hand.
“Gonna answer?” Poe whispers to Savage.
Savage shakes his head. “Nah. Better that they have to keep wondering if they've got us placed right. The less they know for sure, the more advantage we have.”
“Hey, fuckers! We're talking to you!”
A rock comes crashing through the window, and I have to cover my mouth with both hands to keep the scream in. It won't help for the guys to keep quiet if I give it all away.
Poe puts an arm around me and pulls me in against him. I prop my forehead against his side. “Easy, girl. We're not gonna let them take you. It’ll be a cold day in hell when a bunch of amateurs get the best of the Outlaw Sons. We got this.”
My brain's telling me that it's just bravado, that no matter what he says, we're just three—three and a half if you count me—against who knows how many, but the confidence in his tone is infectious. I breathe very deliberately, long ins and outs through my nose while I try to absorb a little bit of it. Some of the panic recedes. I'm still a wreck, but I'm not a wreck that's about to fall to the floor and start screaming.
Poe’s hand slips under my chin. Soft lips land over my own, hot and demanding, then gone. I look up at him in shock.
He winks. “For luck.”
“You’ve got to the count of three before our patience runs out. We outnumber you fuckers, so just remember, you brought this on yourselves. One!” Eddy shouts.
Okay, that tenseness is right back. I might start screaming now. “I don't want to die.”
“Everyone dies, kitten, but today’s not your day. You’ve still got at least a few more lives left,” Savage whispers.
“Two!”
A gun goes off behind us. I’m so focused on the countdown that I can’t help the scream that comes out. Terrified that I'm going to find Crank’s body on the ground behind me, I whirl in time to watch an unknown man collapse into a rack of blowup toys. He slumps into the dusty display and pulls down several hooks worth of merchandise before lying still on the ground. My mouth fills with bile, and my nostrils flare with the effort of holding it together.
Crank motions to the body with his gun. “They found a way in through the back. Stay sharp.”
Eddy had probably been trying to distract us with the counting to give his guy time to get closer, but when it doesn’t work, he finishes the countdown. “Three!”
Savage puts his hand on my arm. He’s crouched and ready to spring. “Paige, I need you to take a deep breath, reel it in and lock it down. We’re here to keep you safe, right? So if you want to make sure we can do our job, then listen to us. Stay low and trust us. Shit’s about to hit the fan and panic gets people killed. Do you understand?” His eyes, hard as emeralds, fix me to the spot.
I nod, and acting on impulse, I lean in and kiss him quickly. A whispered hardly anything kiss. “For luck.”
Savage jerks back, surprised.
A moment of silence, and then the whole world explodes around us. I knew there were more of them, but it sounds like an army. Bullets shred the laminate floors, knock over stands full of ball gags and anal plugs, and what few shards are left in the window are shattered. Wood splinters bounce into the air as a series of bullets tear up the top of the sales counter, so close that I swear I can taste the sawdust. Poe pushes me down to the floor, then his gun barks twice. Someone out there screams, audible even through all the gunfire.
Crank is braced on one knee with dried blood smeared on his face. He’s holding his arm steady, firing shot after shot into the same general area. “Almost…”
One of their cars explodes out there, setting off a second blast and sending a wave of hot, acrid air through the broken windows and over us, into my lungs. The ground shakes, all the shelves rattle and a shower of dust is shaken loose from the ceiling.
“Got it,” Crank says and grins.
There’s a horrible scream that turns my stomach and refuses to stop. Against my better judgment, I peek over the rubble and see two of their cars on fire, and the blaze is spreading. A body was launched in the explosion and is lying still in the no-man's-land between their cars and the store. The scream is growing weaker. Poe aims, pulls the trigger, and it stops. I think in this case, it was mercy.
God, I can smell it.
I drop back down to the floor and squeeze my eyes shut. It doesn’t stop the horror, but I can almost make myself believe it’s a movie, not reality. Almost. Closing my eyes doesn’t pull the smoke from my lungs or the smell of flames and death.
A heavy hand settles on my back. Crank. “This shit's never easy, and we're fucking used to it. Do whatever you have to do to feel better. We're gonna keep you safe, hear that? Nothing's gonna happen to you while you've got us to watch you. Fucking swear it.” He rubs gently, like he's comforting a terrified pet on new year's eve. Honestly, it's probably not much different.
“Cover me,” Savage orders, moving out. Poe moves into position, following him like a deadly shadow.
I don't know if the other team is running out of men, if exploding cars is enough to scare them off, or if my guys have just killed most of them, but the hunters have become the hunted. Savage and Poe sweep the area, picking off anyone dumb enough to still be out there. Every time I hear a gunshot, there’s a little longer until the next one, until eventually it stops.
Silence.
I still stay down, not taking any chances.
“All clear,” says Poe as he comes back in. “Fuck, that was messy.”
“Coulda gone a lot worse.” Crank pushes his gun back into his belt. “The van’s fucking toast, though. We’ll have to send someone back for it and to see if there’s anything worth salvaging.”
“Anyone get away?” Savage asks.
Poe shakes his head. “Not that I saw.”
Slowly and carefully, I stand up, still half waiting for something to explode or attack. When nothing happens, I relax a tiny bit. “It’s over?”
Crank nods. “Yeah, baby.”
“Told ya they were amateurs,” Poe says with a smirk.
I look out into the parking lot and take in the destruction. Off to the side, the dead, unseeing eyes of the old guy from the diner stare blankly at me. I can remember too clearly the ugly look in his eyes when they caught me, and the reality of everything hits me at once. They’re dead. We’re surrounded by bodies. Bodies of people who wanted to kill Crank, Savage and Poe, and who didn’t much care if they got me dead or alive.
I turn around and stagger to the side, gripping a shelf for support before I throw up my breakfast over a display of disembodied, latex vaginas.