21. Eagle
EAGLE
Standing on the edge of the quarry, I looked down into the massive crater they’d dug, observing the road that circled its way up and back to the surface.
Our group was hidden behind enormous piles of discarded material that looked like a small mountain range.
The sun was just peeking up over the horizon, making me look down at my watch.
The first train would be coming any minute now—our first test to see if this plan would work.
We’d scouted the whole area before we settled on this place to keep ourselves hidden as we lay in wait so we’d know if anything changed.
Dax had somehow managed to fall back asleep, using my little brother’s lap as a pillow.
I knew she was more anxious about this than she was letting on, though she did an amazing job of hiding it.
Her focus was laser targeted on making this work, having gone over the plan with everyone at least four times since we got to the quarry.
I don’t know how Picasso managed to get her to settle down, but she was out the moment she stopped, and he started to comb his fingers through her hair.
After our fuck session, she passed out and slept a few hours but then kept waking up, tossing and turning like she was crawling out of her own skin.
It finally came to the point where Void and I fucked her back to sleep.
It worked for the last two hours, but from that point on, I was awake, keeping watch over her.
I understood the pressures that came with leading a group of people who were dependent on you for everything.
If the Hidden Empire fell, it would leave a massive power gap, and I knew whoever took it over wouldn’t keep her people.
They would clean house, ending lives or crushing others no longer having the work they once did.
The train whistle as it approached had me lifting the binoculars in my hand to see the train in question was running right on time.
Turning on my heel, I jogged back to the crew waiting for my signal before we got closer to where the branch line sectioned off to come to the quarry.
“Look alive, everyone,” I bellowed once I was close enough. Even though we assumed we were far enough away not to spook the Mad Dogs, I didn’t want to send out a flair letting them know we were here just yet.
The speed at which Dax leaped to her feet made me question if she’d even fallen asleep. Picasso was right on her heels as he motioned for me to give her the binoculars. She climbed up one of the mounds and used it to give her enough height to see the train tracks.
“You know, little hell cat, I do know what a train looks like,” I called up to her, feeling the need to get her to relax just a bit.
Her answer was to flip me the finger, all while scoping out the area around us.
I chuckled, still amazed she was the one person who could do shit like that and not have me bite their head off.
She was an equal to me, and even though I loved all my brothers who led the Phantom Saints with me, I didn’t think they were on the same level as me.
They understood it for the most part, but when it came to making the final call about something, it would always be me calling the shots and being responsible for what happened after.
The others got off scot-free when shit hit the fan with the rest of our crew, and that was how I wanted to keep it.
My little hellcat, on the other hand, was a pint-sized powerhouse who might be more of a badass than I was when it came to leading her people.
This is the reason I let her lead this battle, but I knew things would take some adjusting once the dust settled, and we’ll have to find a way to rule our kingdoms side by side.
“Alright, everyone to their places!” Dax ordered as she slid down the gravel pile.
Her gray-blue eyes lit with the fire of battle, making me want to bend her over my bike and show the world she was my woman.
Shaking my head, I knew I needed to be focused and on the ball to make sure when this battle went down, their blood seeping into the dirt would be the only thing left of them.
It’d taken us a good hour to find the best places for us all to hide in plain sight through the abandoned buildings and other rubble left scattered about.
Seeing as we didn’t have any movement from the Mad Dogs, I didn’t think this would be the right train, but we had two more to go later today.
I hoped for the sake of my balls trapped in leathers it wouldn’t be the last train at the hottest time of the day, but it would be smart if that’s when they did plan it.
No one would want to be lying in wait when the sun could fry an egg on a rock.
The ground started to rumble as Dax, Wes, and I hid just inside an abandoned tool shed with the door cracked slightly so we could have a clear view of the breakaway track.
The sound of the train rattling on the tracks was deafening, but it was nothing compared to the horn as it blew right as it passed the quarry.
Dax turned to give a knowing look, and Wes nodded in agreement.
There would be no other reason to blow the horn here when there wasn’t a crossing for cars or people around or another train meeting the same line.
It had to be a signal for the Mad Dogs to assure them their goods were on this train, or this conductor was fucking with us.
If the Mad Dogs knew we were coming, it would only be smart to think we’d be lying in wait.
A loud screeching sounded as brakes were being applied to the last car on the train as it jerked loose from the rest of the line as it caught on the breakaway.
The car continued its screeching as it rolled to a stop off the main track and out of the way.
Everyone knew to stay hidden until Dax gave the signal to attack or clear out back to our hiding spot, so we waited, watching to see what happened next.
It felt like the longest game of chicken I’d ever played, and the stakes for this were higher than most knowing the Mad Dogs had a large group of people to back them up.
How many they could gather with only two or three days’ notice was what’s going to make or break this battle.
I knew Wes had a message ready to be sent if we needed backup and another group of the Empire’s people just over the border into Nevada.
The fifty people we had now were hard enough to hide.
I couldn’t imagine how we’d do it with the full one hundred.
“Why do I get the feeling we’re sitting in the middle of a trap?” Dax asked as she turned to look at us.
I could feel Wes tense next to me. “We knew that could be a possibility, but tell me what you think triggered this feeling?”
She started to pace, chewing on her thumbnail as she sorted through her feelings.
“The first train is too easy, so why would they want it to be first thing in the morning? If anyone was going to try and catch them, that’s when they would sneak out here like we did.
Marco is their supplier, and I have this feeling he’s one dude who likes to control all aspects of his goods.
It doesn’t do good for business if your distribution keeps losing the goods, and you get no return on it.
Also, there’s the train horn, this is the normal transport for them.
Why would they need an alert? They should already know what train it’s going to be on. ”
It was almost as if lighting struck her as she froze, fear blazing in her eyes as she bolted for the door, shoving it wide open. “It’s a trap! Everybody get back! Get the fuck out of here!”
Her voice pierced through the silent morning air, but it seemed her realization came too late.
The force of the blast slammed into me, knocking me to my knees as I fought to get my feet under me.
The ground rumbled as more charges when off around various buildings, making it impossible to get out of here without another blast going off.
These motherfuckers had played us, and we walked right into the trap.
There never was a drop point here, it was all set up to reel us in.
“EAGLE!” Dax screamed, whipping out her gun and got off two shots before I felt pain bloom in my chest.
My brain tried to catch up with what was going on, but the pain with every breath I drew told me I was in deep trouble.
The world started to shake, and then the next thing I knew, I was face down in the dirt.
With each breath, I sucked sand into my mouth and nose making breathing even harder as it coated my tongue.
Someone kneeled next to me, rolling me over as I watched the sun crest over the mountains in the distance.
Dax was shaking me and saying something, but I couldn’t really understand, my ears still ringing from all the explosions.
She grabbed my face as angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and she kept trying to get me to do something, but I couldn’t focus.
Breathing was so painful, and all I wanted to do was close my eyes.
The next time I opened my eyes, I saw Dax fighting off a group of guys with a large dog drooling on the back of their leather vests.
I must have lost time again because when I refocused, Dax was leaning over me, blood splatter on her face, her hand sticky as it touched my cheek.
Then my hearing snapped on, and I heard her, my little hellcat.
“Don’t you fucking die on me, you bastard.
No way in hell am I giving up one of the men I love, do you hear me? ”
Did she just say she loved me?
I tried to lift my hand to cover hers with my own, but my body felt like lead.
I licked my lips and tried to speak, but a shadow crossed over us.
There he was, a hulking beast of a man with a bald head, beard braided, and a nasty scar around the outside of one eye.
The leader of the Mad Dogs in the flesh—Mastiff.
Before I could utter a word, he shot me, causing Dax to start screaming and turning to fight who dared to hurt me.
Mastiff was faster and slammed the butt of his gun into the back of Dax’s head, making her drop like a pile of lifeless bones.
Rage filled my body, and somehow I managed to get to my knees as Mastiff tossed Dax over his shoulder, patting her ass like he had the right to. “Don’t you fucking touch her!” I roared.
Mastiff looked at me over his shoulder with a smirk. “What are you gonna do about it? You’re halfway dead already… maybe I should just put you out of your misery.”
“She’s mine!” I snarled, going for my gun. “No one touches what’s mine.”
“She was yours… now she’s mine. You should know how it works.
It’s what you did to us when you chased us out of California.
Karma’s a real bitch, isn’t she? Say hello to hell for me when you get there,” Mastiff said with a wave of his hand as he sauntered off with the only thing that mattered in my life—my queen.
Raising my gun, I took aim but not before two more shots hit me in the back, making me cry out before getting kicked back to the dirt.
“Learn to fucking lose like a man,” someone snapped before a wad of spit hit my face and a boot ground into my hand that was reaching out for Dax. Then the world went black.