30. Dax
DAX
It took us forty-five minutes to get back to the compound, and as we approached, I asked the pilot to fly around the whole property to get a feel for what was happening.
We hadn’t beat the Mad Dogs, but my backup was there and trying to hold them off from breaching the fence since they were in trucks and SUVs and not bikes.
The Mad Dogs also had some tricked-out trucks with weapons that only could have been from Marco.
One busted pickup truck rolled in, and a machine gun was strapped down in the back of it.
“What the fuck is that?” Picasso demanded as he looked out the small window.
Flipping the channel on my headset to one that was linked just to the pilot, I gave my orders. “Get us over the top of that truck. I'm going to pay them a little visit. Did Brian stock what I asked him for?”
“Yeah, Dax, it’s all under the floorboards and the panels. You should have everything you need, including that gear.”
Tossing off the headset, I shoved out of my seat, pulled the handles up to the floor paneling, and revealed all the supplies Brian thought we’d need.
Learning from Eagle, I passed out bulletproof vests, not willing to chance losing any of them.
Next, I handed out handguns, then rifles along with ammo.
While everyone got suited up, I used the distraction for me to slip on a harness that would let me repel down from the helicopter.
On a whim, I’d talked one of the ex-military people who worked for me into teaching me how to do this, knowing it might come in handy in my line of work.
That and I was just a fucking adrenaline junky, if I’m being honest with myself.
The repel system was all set and ready for me to clip in and launch myself out of the helicopter, so I had to time this right, knowing the guys would try to stop me.
Pleased that all my holsters were refilled along with a fresh set of knives, I knew I was ready. Looking over at the pilot, I gave him a thumbs-up, and he nodded, getting into position and allowing me to get by the door and clip the line onto the front of my harness.
“Dax… what are you doing?” Wes yelled over the noise since I didn’t have a headset on anymore.
This caused the others to look at me just as the pilot gave a thumbs-up that I was good to go. “I just thought I’d deal with our little gun problem,” I explained as I yanked open the door.
“Little demon, don’t you dare step one foot outside of this helicopter,” Void bellowed as he stood, body tense, ready to make a move on me any second. “There are other ways to do this.”
“Not any that are as fun,” I shouted back before I gave them a salute and pushed back from the platform and let the rope flow through my fingers.
A roar could be heard coming from the helicopter, letting me know I was going to be paying for this stunt sometime later. The other thing it did was catch people's attention, causing them to pause in the fighting for just enough time for me to put on the brakes and land in the bed of the truck.
“Hi,” I chirped before whipping out my gun and shooting the man running the machine gun.
This action got everyone moving and fighting again.
Dropping down on my back in the bed of the truck, I just smiled and laughed to myself.
“That totally worked.” I giggled. Popping up on my knees, I shot the driver through the back window which then caused the truck to speed up and aimed to crash into two of my crews’ vehicles holding the line.
The battle was happening out in the back of the property, where there was massive open space, Cognac and I had scoped out.
It seems the Mad Dogs had tried to slip in the back and take us by surprise, assuming those of us in Vegas were already dead.
How shocked as shit they must have been when the Phantom Saints were ready for them and fighting back.
It seems nothing was going to plan for the Mad Dogs.
Knowing my ride was ending, I stood up and climbed on top of the cab crouching, waiting for the right moment.
It felt like that moment in Star Wars when Luke had to make the timing just right or he’d fuck everything up.
In my case, I’d just die and be horribly mangled—I really should have thought this through better.
People were shouting at me from all over the place, telling me what to do or just to jump, but I was too far into the enemy’s side.
If I just dove off the truck, I’d be in deep shit.
My goal was to get close to my people, so I had someone covering my ass when I went flying off this truck.
Just as the battered truck was going to slam into the pair of SUVs, I leaped off, channeling my inner superman as I soared over the vehicles.
Just as I was going to roll into my landing, a body appeared and cushioned my fall, taking us to the ground with a whump.
“Fucking hell, woman! For such a little person, you sure pack a punch,” Mutt groaned under me.
“Holy fucking shit! What were you thinking, Dax!” Tilly demanded as she pulled me up off her husband and then shook me like a rag doll.
“You could have been killed, you fucking idiot. You’re supposed to wait for the helicopter to land before you get out of it, not leap into a sea of angry killer bikers! Wait, are you covered in blood?”
My head was starting to pound with all the shaking and rapid-fire questions she was throwing at me without giving me a chance to explain.
“T, I think it’s best if you let Dax go for a second… she’s turning green,” Gator suggested as he walked up behind Tilly.
She released me, and I swayed on my feet a moment before I could get my center of gravity. “Wow, you could have just said you missed me, Tilly, no need to be so aggressive.”
“Why you…” Tilly tried to charge at me, but Gator held her back.
“Ladies, I don’t think now is the time to be doing this. We kind of have something else to deal with,” Mutt interjected.
That cooled us both off as I took in my surroundings.
I was in the center of a semi-circle of black SUVs and trucks my team drove over here, giving a buffer before the property’s fence.
Part of the fence was down as it seemed someone in a beat-up Bronco took down a section before they could stop them.
“What’s keeping them from moving to another part of the fence and attacking there?” I asked Tilly’s husbands.
Gator’s brows rose as if surprised by the question. “This is the only section that doesn’t have active land mines in this area. On either side, it’s one wrong step, and goodbye goes your leg.”
“Fuck, the mole,” I grumbled. “It’s the only way they could have known that. Where the fuck is that old man, Dante!” I hollered, knowing he had to be around here somewhere.
Tilly frowned at me. “What mole? Who are you looking for?”
“Remember I told you someone was going to be showing up asking questions?” I asked, looking around the space, the crack of guns and the ting of it hitting metal sounding around me. This was war, and I needed all the players to do their part, including Cam’s father.
“Sure… wait, do you mean Peter? He showed up two days ago saying he was Sprocket’s grandfather, and he’s been looking for him for ages. I knew the job you were on was important, but he showed me the DNA results from one of those ancestor websites that connected them.”
I rolled my eyes. We’d told him he couldn’t use Cam or me, but we didn’t say anything about the others, and this would absolutely get him on the grounds.
This group loved their family if they had any.
I’ve seen some who even have grandparents who live with their wives and kids, totally abnormal for a typical MC crew.
“Yeah, that asshole is who I’m looking for,” I said, craning my neck, trying to find him disguised as an old man.
“He won’t be here. All the women and children are in a safe house on the other side of the property with a route to get off property if they need to,” Mutt shared. “I only remember because he was kicking and screaming the whole time that we’d need his help.”
Snorting, I could picture it now. “Sounds right, but just so you know, he wasn’t wrong. Can we send someone to go get him?”
“Who is he really?” Gator asked, arms crossed over his chest.
“He’s my father, Dante Black, the famous art thief and con artist,” Cam answered as he and the others joined us, his eyes lasered on me, anger brewing in them.
I was in so much trouble.
“Ah, seeing as you guys are back, I’ll go get him,” Mutt offered, and with a nod from Picasso, ran off, leaving me to deal with my men.
I knew Tilly and Gator wouldn’t stop them since they most likely would agree that I’d done something to be in trouble for.
“Little rebel,” Sprocket growled.
Throwing up my hands, I stopped them all. “Can we deal with this first and deal with my punishment later?”
Sprocket narrowed his eyes at me. “So you’re aware you did something that would warrant punishment?”
“Ah… by your standards, yes. Not by mine, just so we’re clear on the matter,” I informed him.
“That will have to do for now,” Sprocket said, turning to Gator. “What are we dealing with?”
Gator raised a brow and motioned with one hand toward what was going on behind the vehicles and where our combined men were shooting. “I thought you knew since you warned us.”
“Not the time, Gator,” Picasso snapped. “Tell us what you need and how we can end this bullshit once and for all.”
“Well, Dax took out the biggest danger that was picking us off way too fast. Now we just need to clean up the rest,” Gator explained.
A smile broke out on my face. “Oh, this is my favorite part. I love a good game of hide and kill… more people should try it.”
Tilly’s mouth popped open in surprise at my words, but I didn’t stick around to see what she had to say. Running off, I slid over the hood of one of the trucks and dropped down into a crouch position behind another beat-up car the Mad Dogs had brought.