Chapter 19
Nineteen
HITTER
H alf an hour prior…
“Alright, brothers, this is the place. The warehouse might seem empty, but we don’t know how many people are in there,” Swift whispers as we make our way through the woods to the side of the abandoned warehouse.
“I want half to take the back and half to the front. Be cautious. If they shoot, I don’t want any more blood coming from our brothers,” he tells the group. I look around at all my brothers, who are willingly risking their lives for my woman, and shake my head. I know my next move is risky and stupid, but I don’t give a fuck.
“No more lives are going to be risked because of me and mine,” I tell Swift, looking him dead in the face. I know the minute my words hit him, and he knows my plan.
“SOMEONE GRAB HIM!” he bellows, but I’m too fast. Before anyone can move, I make it out of the trees and run to the building. Loki comes right at me from my right with a wide smile, practically skipping.
“Make it hurt, brother. I have to follow Prez’s orders, but I understand why you need to do this. We both know if I get back up, you won’t be going anywhere,” he tells me with that fucking twinkle in his eye again. This fucking guy worries me sometimes. Right now, what’s important is I know my brother has my back.
He’s loyal to this club and his Prez, but also a loyal friend and brother through all else. He’s going to be really pissed about this later , I say to myself. Pulling my arm back, I hit him with enough force to knock a weaker man out for hours. I know it will only put Loki on his ass long enough for me to get to my destination. I can hear Swift’s feet coming close behind me.
He doesn’t want to yell and give our position away, but he wants to slow me down. Honestly, if anyone, he’d be the only one who could catch me. Unfortunately for him, my woman being in danger, and so close, has adrenaline racing through my veins faster than he can put one foot in front of the other. I make it to the door just in time, wrenching it open and stepping inside.
The first thing I see is an empty chair with ropes around it and a person dressed fully in black, including a black ski mask, lying on the floor, not moving. Quickly, I scan the rest of the room until I zero in on the man who took my woman. The motherfucker is dragging her toward a staircase in the back of the warehouse. He’s a fucking dead man walking.
When his eyes meet mine, they go wide in shock before he curses and starts dragging Izzy toward the stairs as I make my way toward them. I can’t let them make it up those stairs. God only knows what is up there, and he doesn’t have a gun yet, which is probably in that room. It would already be pointed at my head if he had it on him.
“Take your fucking hands off my woman!” I yell when he jerks her arm too roughly.
“Shit, how did they find us? Rick, grab the other bitch…. What, where the fuck did she go? She was right there,” he shouts, panicking, and I look at the floor where the downed figure was lying. He’s right; there’s no one there. I wouldn't believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. How did she get past me with no one hearing or seeing her?
I look up and see another guy running into the room. I lift my gun and shoot him dead between the eyes.
“CASON!!” Izzy yells.
“I’m alright, Angel, just getting rid of the trash,” I tell her, looking back and seeing the fucker hiding behind my woman but still dragging her.
He’s cussing Izzy out and still trying to maneuver farther away from me, but I keep pace.
“I will throw her ass over this rail if you don’t back the fuck up,” the guy says, jerking her again.
“I told you I’d find you. You better watch how you’re handling my woman; you leave even a bruise on her arm, and I’ll tear yours off with my bare hands,” I growl.
“He’s not lying. He will tear it off,” Izzy says, and while I want to laugh at her feistiness, I also need her to stay safe. Right now, smart-mouthing the guy holding you hostage isn’t staying safe.
“Let her go. Now!” I shout as they make it to the top of the stairs. They are about to go through the door, but I’m hot on his heels. Hell fucking no, no way a door is going to keep me from getting to Izzy.
I hear my brothers come in cautiously, and they get an eyeful of our situation. One wrong move, and he could send Izzy flying over the rail at the top. It’s a significant drop and the last thing we want to happen.
“Fuck this. You can have her,” he says, letting go of Izzy’s arms. I sigh a bit in relief until I see Izzy’s determined face before she grabs the guy’s arms and pulls back with all her might. They both hit the railing just as I see the pain register and cross Izzy’s face.
“Get your hands off me, you bitch,” the dead fucker says before giving Izzy one more hard shove.
Steps away, I watch in horror as Izzy is thrown off the side of the rail and falls straight to the ground.
“ISABELLA!!” I yell, reaching for her but coming up empty-handed. A noise I’ve never heard in my life comes from me before I turn, putting a bullet into the fucker’s gut, knowing it will be a long, slow, painful death. I take a deep, shuttering breath and shut my eyes tight, knowing I need to turn and look for Izzy. My heart is shattering into pieces. I’m not sure I can handle the image of her on the ground when I go to open my eyes.
“Brother, she still has a pulse. We need to get her to help. NOW!” Grim says, and that puts my ass into gear. I run down the steps, jumping over the rail and sprinting to my woman. I go to reach for her, but Grim pulls me back. Loki’s there to hold one of my arms while Grease holds the other.
“Let me fucking go,” I yell, fighting their hold.
“Listen to me, brother. I know you want to get to her, but if you move her right now, it might hurt her worse after that fall. We don’t know what injuries she has. We need to be careful,” Grim tells me, making me pause and take a deep breath. The last thing I want to do is hurt her worse. Grim calls in a favor with another doctor at the hospital, Dean, who shows up minutes later. He’s helped us in the past to cover up some of the other shit we’ve gotten into.
“Someone pull the SUV up to the front door,” Swift yells, and Beau rushes out the door.
“Damn, man, what the hell happened?” he asks, knowing he won’t get an answer.
“I need your help to get her up and into the SUV. Did you bring the gurney I asked for?” Grim asks.
“Of course,” he says, and one of the other prospects heads out the door, returning moments later with said gurney.
“She fell from the very top. We have no clue how bad it is. I don’t know if she’s broken anything, so be careful. I need someone with steady hands to hold her neck completely still as we lift her. We don’t want to move it too much just in case it’s broken or cracked,” Dean directs us in his crisp, no-nonsense doctor manner. I head toward her head when Loki puts his hand on my arm.
“I’ll do it,” he tells them.
“The fuck you will. I’ll take care of my woman,” I growl.
“You are shaking, brother. That’s your woman, I get it, but you know I have the steadiest hands of all of us. Just like I would never do anything to hurt one of my brothers, I would never do anything to hurt Izzy. She’ll be safe in my hands, brother, I promise,” he tells me, and I know he’s right, but damn if it doesn’t piss me off. I don’t trust myself to talk and actually agree, so I nod instead.
“Alright, y’all ready?” Grim asks, and when Loki and Dean nod, he counts. “On Three… One. Two. Three.”
They lift Izzy’s lifeless body up and onto the gurney before rolling her out. The seats are laid down in the back of the SUV, and they strap Izzy down before sliding her into the vehicle. I climb in beside Grim, who sits at the side of the gurney. It’s crowded as fuck, but ask me if I give a shit. There’s no fucking way you can keep me away from my woman.
Looking down at her, it all registers, and I lose it.
“I’m so sorry, Angel. I promised to protect you, and I let this fucking happen. I failed you,” I tell her, letting my head drop. No one tries to talk to me, and we ride in silence as I contemplate life without the woman of my dreams. I know one thing for certain: if my love doesn’t make it, my soul will cease to exist.
There is no life without my woman. If she goes, I will follow right behind her.