Chapter Twenty
Sniper
“W e can’t let this shit stand.” Rebel stood and banged his fist on the table, his face was red with anger. “Those motherfuckers cannot get away with this!” Rebel was fired up, but the truth was that we were all fired up after the information Redneck Jeff shared.
The Black Vultures needed to pay for trying to take one of us out, doubly so for trying to take me out. “Do you have a plan or are you just whining?” Diesel’s lips tugged into a straight line, but amusement sparkled in his eyes.
Rebel flashed a cocky grin and dropped back into his seat, satisfaction written all over his face. “I’m glad you asked.” He looked to Slate and said. “We do have a plan.”
Slate nodded. “And we’ve already started executing it.” He watched Diesel and Rocky carefully, increasing the tension in the room as only he could.
“You gonna make him ask for every fuckin’ step,” Rocky grumbled. “Just get to the goddamn plan.”
Slate snickered to himself. “Rebel went back to chat with Redneck Jeff to apologize for our boy Sniper putting a blade to his neck.”
“Don’t need no one apologizing for me,” I muttered.
Rebel rolled his eyes. “It was just an excuse, settle down.” He shook his head and turned back to the room at large. We weren’t at church so this was an unofficial meeting, but everyone who was available was present. “Anyway I might have let it leak that we were expecting a big shipment of guns from a really important buyer so that we could retaliate on The Black Vultures.”
I smiled. “Redneck Jeff won’t be able to resist selling that information.”
“Exactly,” Slate chimed in. “Thankfully the Shit Can Inn doesn’t protect their Wi-Fi, so it was easy as fuck to listen to every word.”
Diesel, along with the rest of us, sat up straight. “He sold the info to The Black Vultures?”
Slate nodded. “Not just that. He overheard Rebel bitching about us not having enough available men to handle the shipment the way our Prez wanted.”
“Yeah,” Rebel said. “Their Prez was pissed off and worried about our ability to handle such a big deal at that now defunct truck stop behind the old Strip.”
My heart pounded as the plan came into picture. It was the perfect fucking set up. “You think they bought it?”
Rebel nodded. “Once they found out that Falcon died from his injuries, they were foaming at the mouth to catch us while we were at a disadvantage.”
Falcon cleared his throat noisily at that statement.
“Sorry bro,” Rebel said with a grin, and looked around the room before his gaze settled on Diesel. “So?”
“So, tell us this plan you two have concocted.” Diesel mostly looked amused as he sat back and folded his arms.
With a satisfied smile Rebel and Slate tag teamed the details of the plan to retaliate against the Black Vultures. It was a good plan and all that was left was logistics.
“All right,” Diesel began with a serious expression. “Sniper and T-bone will drive the truck we’ll use to receive these nonexistent guns and transport them back to the clubhouse.”
T-bone’s gaze met mine and I nodded.
“We’ll need a dozen guys inside the truck while me, Rocky, Maverick, Hawk, and Rebel will show up as the skeleton crew with me. It’ll look as if we only brought seven brothers to the buy. Was that what you guys had in mind?”
Rebel nodded. “Fuck yeah.” His gaze shot to me. “They won’t get away with trying to kill one of us.”
“They’ll pay for tryin’,” I said with absolute certainty as my trigger finger itched beneath the table.
Mutters of agreement sounded around the table, and the energy in the room changed and grew charged with anticipation of what was to come later tonight.
Rocky pounded on the table to get everyone’s attention. “Since the buy meeting is at ten, everybody needs to be here by nine. Sober, so we can deal with these fuckers.”
The room emptied out quickly until it was just me, T-Bone, Rocky, and Diesel. Even Slate had gone to check on his woman.
“We need more intel,” I said into the silent room, my mind still on who was bankrolling Ethan.
Diesel nodded his agreement. “We need somebody who knows what the fuck is goin’ on. Feel me?”
I nodded as excitement roared through my veins. This was the part of the job I excelled at. Not just following orders but executing them to perfection. “Understood.” I stood and left the room, as I walked through the bar, I noted all of my brothers hugged up with their women, some with their families. As I headed towards my room, towards Katey, Diesel’s voice rang out.
“Lockdown rules in place until morning,” he called out.
I grumbled. It was a necessary evil, but I knew it’d go over with Katey about as well as anything else had. Still, she was my responsibility, and I needed to let her know what was expected of her tonight.
I opened the door and found her flat on her back on the bed, legs crossed at the ankles and her hands clasped over her stomach while she stared unseeing at the ceiling. “Katey.”
She didn’t move, didn’t blink or give any other indication she heard me.
I really thought we’d made progress and not just because of the good sex, but because I just fucking thought we had. “There’s something I need to take care of tonight,” I began, my voice low and serious.
Her hands twitched imperceptibly. “You found Ethan?”
“Not yet. This will get us closer to finding him but most of us will be gone so the clubhouse is going on lockdown.”
She sat up and her gaze locked on mine, fear flashed in them for a moment before she banked it. “Yeah okay. I’ll, uh, call Cal and see if I crash with him. Otherwise I’ll figure something out.”
So much for that progress, I thought to myself. “Katey, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“If you’re closing this place down, I have to find somewhere to go.” Her tone indicated I should just know that.
“You are my goddamn wife,” I spat out. “You stay here. Go out and mingle with the other women and you’ll learn all about lockdown. Just don’t go anywhere. Do not, under any circumstances or for any reason, leave this building. Got it?”
She snorted. “No worries on that since I have no place to go.”
“Falcon and a few of the other guys will be here to keep you safe,” I said, ignoring the self-pitying tone. I almost told her what was happening tonight, but I stopped myself and I couldn’t say why.
She nodded slowly. “I’ll be right here.”
“Katey,” I sighed heavily, on the verge of losing my patience. “Go out there and mingle. You’ve been alone for too long.” I saw the weight of the loneliness she carried even if she didn’t.
“I’m fine Sniper. You don’t need to worry about me.” Her expression was blank as she said the words without an ounce of feeling.
“Well I am worried dammit, and this isn’t good for you. They’re nice women and even if you don’t plan on being here long, it’s good to have a few people to talk to.” I grinned. “I know you have everything a woman could ever need in a husband but just try, yeah?”
Her lips kicked to one side in amusement. “Fine, I’ll try.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed her or not, but all I could do was take her at her word. “Thank you.”
Katey’s lips parted and then snapped shut. “You’ll be careful, won’t you?”
“I’m always careful, honey. You don’t have to worry about me.”
She flashed a sad smile. “Yeah, well I am worried dammit,” she joked, tossing my own words back at me.
“I’ll be careful. I promise.”
She wrapped her arms around her waist and nodded absently, but the tension around her mouth was a dead giveaway that she was worried. “Katey?”
She shook her head as if she was trying to talk herself out of something. “You don’t have to do this, do you? I mean if this is all about Ethan, you can just call it off… right?”
I frowned. “Having second thoughts?”
She nodded and then shook her head. “Yeah, I mean why should you or any of your friends get hurt because of me? I’m not… I mean, I can’t let you do this.” She shook her head again. “I… can’t let you do this.”
This woman was actually going to be the death of me and not how she meant. How could she be so blind to her own worth? I crossed the room and took her hands in mine. “First let’s get one thing clear, you can’t let me do anything. And you are worth this, goddammit. You are worth more than you know and I’m gonna do this. We are gonna draw that fucker out and make him regret tormenting you.”
She kept shaking her head. “Don’t do it Sniper. Please.”
“It’s as good as done, wife.”
“But what if someone gets hurt? Falcon nearly died because of me.”
Shit. “He’s alive because of you. He was shot because a man couldn’t accept ‘it’s over’ at face value.”
She grinned. “Who knew you were so progressive.”
I smiled back. “Who knew you gave a damn,” I replied, throwing her words back at her.
She rolled her eyes just as a sigh rushed out of her. “Just be safe. Please.”
“I will. Promise,” I whispered as I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lush lips. I froze and stared at her, shook off whatever that odd feeling was that coursed through my body and headed back to the door. “Stay here.”
“Nowhere to go. Remember?”
“Except hanging with the old ladies,” I called back and left our bedroom and the feelings I had that I had no fucking clue how to deal with. I headed outside instead of the bar, needing to get my head on straight before tonight. I couldn’t afford to be distracted.
I took a few minutes just for myself, breathing deeply while I cleared my mind of everything except tonight’s mission. It was exactly what I always did before it was go-time, in the military and in the MC. Focus was what kept us all alive, it was how we managed to do the shit we got up to and make it home in one piece, so that’s what I did.
Cleared all thoughts of Katey from my mind.
All thoughts of her rat bastard ex pushed down until this mission was over.
Focus on the current mission and deal with the next after. It was how I functioned.
“Yo Sniper, you ready?” Rebel called out to me from the doorway, a curious expression on his face.
“Yeah,” I grunted. “I’m ready.” My phone said it was almost nine and my head was clear, so I let out one last sigh and turned. “Let’s do this shit.”
***
Just after half past nine we were on the road and headed for the fake gun buy meeting. Traffic was light since we’d taken the route that went around Vegas instead of straight through it. The mood was quiet and serious, not even Gio dared joke as we all got ourselves into the headspace of what had to be done tonight.
Men would die tonight, that much was certain. The Black Vultures had tried to take out one of our own and they’d nearly fucking succeeded, which they had to pay for. If they showed up tonight—and they would—it would be in the hope of catching us off guard and ill equipped to fight back. They wanted us gone, wiped off the game board so that they could take our territory, our customers, and our influence.
Not on my fucking watch.
The parking lot felt like exactly what it was—once a busy hub for truckers and other road warriors, now abandoned and long forgotten. T-Bone and I sat in the truck, the taller vehicle allowed us to see the Black Vultures before they arrived. “Look alive,” I shouted. “Incoming.” I flashed the headlights to let Diesel and the guys on bikes know that trouble was imminent.
T-Bone knocked on the truck to let the guys inside know it was showtime.
And then we waited.
They rolled into the parking lot as if they owned the goddamn place, smug as they dismounted their bikes and strolled towards our brothers. Smoky, their Prez, led the small group, but I noticed more bikers pulled up behind the truck to box us in.
They fell right into our trap.
Less than twenty feet separated the Steel Demons and Black Vultures. Maverick pulled out his weapon first and fired a shot, clipping one of them in the shoulder. That one shot started it all, bullets flew across the parking lot in all directions, and they scattered like cockroaches.
T-Bone and I looked at each other and then jumped from the front of the truck just as the rest of the MC burst out of the back, easily handling the half a dozen bikers behind us until their bodies were bent over their bikes, limbs twisted painfully.
Gio crawled underneath the truck and set up his shot, picking off the Vultures that arrived in a truck meant to steal our product, and he did it with a mischievous smile.
The parking lot was a chaotic mess as bullets flew all around, but as I settled my breathing in the midst of it all, I saw the first signs of retreat. Smoky slowly walked backwards but with each step his stride grew longer, moved faster until he was back at his bike.
Not today asshole.
I hurried my steps to head him off before he jumped on the bike and took off. Thankfully, he was moving so frantically he dropped his keys. Twice. We needed at least one of these assholes alive, and he was the best source of information which meant I had to get to him first.
“Don’t take another fucking step,” he said when he saw me, pulling out a forty caliber that was too big for his small body. “You heard what the fuck I said!”
I kept moving towards him just at a slower pace. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I stopped five feet from him and slid my index finger in place onto the trigger.
Smoky raised his gun and aimed it at me. There was a gleam in his eyes, but it died quickly when a bullet went straight through his belly. He looked shocked as if he never expected to get shot.
I spun around to find T-Bone wearing a smug grin.
I wanted to ask him just what the fuck he thought he was doing but two Vultures advanced on him, and I didn’t have time to do anything but act. His eyes widened when I raised my gun and shouted at him. “Down!” I squeezed the trigger four times, putting two bullets in each of the Vultures, watching with a smile as they fell instantly to the ground.
There weren’t many left. We still needed someone to give us answers so I scanned the parking lot until I spotted just the man who could provide them. He was a scared little bitch, running away and looking over his shoulders every few seconds to make sure none of his men saw him running off. The rest of the Vultures who remained were in a fight for their lives, trying to do just enough damage that they could get away without suffering more damage.
I followed Roach in the shadows, catching up to him just before he made it to his bike, completely oblivious that he had a stalker. I stepped up behind him and hooked one arm around his neck tugging back to knock him off balance. I nestled my forearm under his chin and applied pressure until he was a limp weight in my arms, and only then did I relax.
Tonight I would get my fuckin’ answers.