Chapter 26 Grudge #2
Feet planted in the gravel, curls a mess, and mascara down her face, she’s beautiful.
“Always fucking loved you,” I whisper. Because if this is it, that’s the last bit of closure that I need.
“Baby lawyer,” Gulch says, looking at her back, down over her ass. “Looks like you’ve got a weak spot, Prez. That’s useful information.”
There’s no point running. I know Lucy’s athletic abilities, and there is no way we could outrun or outgun them, but I pull my gun out of its holster, hoping the threat of at least one of them going down might alter the odds.
“You’ll stay the fuck away from her. Hurt her and my club will come down on yours until there isn’t a single one of you left. We’ve done it once and we’ll do it again.”
Lucy shudders in my arms but takes a deep breath before she turns to face him. “I called the police. I described each one of you to them and took photographs that have already been sent to people I know,” she says bravely.
Gulch’s face changes and he moves closer.
“Take one more step toward her,” I say, my voice cold and flat, “and you’ll find out just how useful your teeth are when you don’t have a jaw to put them in.”
“If you shoot Grudge,” Lucy says, “you better shoot me, next. Because I swear to God, I will make sure I hunt down, arrest, and try every last damn one of you.”
The air crackles with tension, then Gulch looks directly at my woman. “Little Lucy De Bose. Your father was working on some…things for us. Been hearing through the grapevine he’s going to have some difficulties following through. You’re going to fix it for us.”
“That’s nothing to do with me,” she says.
“Ah, but it is,” Gulch says, as someone pistol whips me from behind but without the force to render me unconscious. I drop to my knees. “We won’t stop until we get what we need. This would be so much easier if you just cooperated. I can be nice to those who play nice with us.”
“I am not responsible for my father’s debts,” Lucy says.
Gulch chuckles. “You don’t get to decide that. Get him.”
Their attack lands, but glances off the side of my head, causing enough of a hit that I slam forward into the truck. In the tussle, I’m forced to let go of Lucy, and Gulch steps in, grabbing her from me.
Nameless, with the knife removed and blood pouring from his hand, and Pink grab both my arms, forcing the gun from my hand and me to remain on my knees.
“No,” Lucy screams. “Don’t hurt him.” She kicks and fights in Gulch’s arms, and I force myself to my feet. They once said Samson’s strength was in his hair. If that’s true, I find and channel it.
I raise my elbows as I stand, tossing Pink and Nameless to the side. “Put. Her. Down.”
A bullet flies by me and hits the side of the truck. But nothing is going to stop me from getting to Lucy.
Gulch’s face changes as I run straight at him. He drops Lucy, stumbling backward as he fumbles his gun. Once he raises it, he fires straight at me, and I dip just in time for the bullet to whizz past my ear.
“You’d better kill me, now, because I’m going to kill you for putting your hands on my wife.”
Lucy lays supine in the snow, a gash on her head to fight with the bump from yesterday. The sight of blood on her face does nothing to temper the anger burning through my veins.
In the distance, I hear vehicles. We haven’t heard a single one since the Rebels arrived. It’s either the police coming in without their sirens, or it’s my brothers.
Either way, I almost sag with relief.
“Well, shit,” Gulch says. “Looks like the cavalry is coming.” But he raises his gun to fire again.
There’s the single crack of gunfire, and Gulch suddenly yells as he drops his weapon.
Blood drips onto the pristine snow. I look around, because that shot sure as fuck wasn’t me. Nor was it Lucy, who is dizzily trying to get to her feet while she holds a hand to her bleeding forehead.
Pink has made it to their truck; Skater lies prostrate on the truck bed. No Name sits in the back of the truck, some dirty cloth wrapped around his hand while applying pressure to one of Skater’s wounds. He revs the engine and reverses rapidly to Gulch.
“Gulch,” Pink shouts. “Get in.”
Using their distraction, I bundle Lucy into the back of my truck.
“This isn’t over, Grudge,” Gulch says, cradling his hand. “You’re wearing a dead man’s crown. And every man who has ever worn it has bled for it until there’s nothing left.”
I drop to the ground and scramble around to find my gun. The first truck to appear on the road contains Atom and Wraith.
Then, Taco runs from the direction of the river. “They dropped me off so I could come at you from the side.”
“Fucking perfect shot,” I say.
Quickly, Gulch’s crew commence their reverse out of the clearing, scraping past Atom’s truck as Atom tries to veer out of the way.
Wraith jumps out of the truck and blows the rear tire.
But I focus on Lucy. She’s shivering, and I’m not sure if it’s adrenaline, fear, or cold. Or a mixture of all three.
I climb into the truck, cradle her face, and kiss her temple. “You’re okay, Bug. You’re safe, now.”
The gash on her head looks a little gnarly, and it’s only when I pull my phone out to call Butcher, to see if Greer can fix her up, that I notice the trail of blood from my hands. My fingerprints stain her cheeks with red.
“Your knuckles,” Lucy says with a gasp. “Oh, Zach. We need to get you seen to.”
“Let’s get you taken care of, first.”