Chapter One
“Like hell we will.” Hot Rod growled. “This is our home, our stronghold. We can close the mountain down if we choose to but as Marauders, we don’t turn tail and run from anyone.”
Bouncer nodded and looked around the room. “I agree with Hot Rod here. He’s right. We’ve defended this place before and we can do it again.
Areille shook her head. “Not against people like her, you can’t.
Ricco might have been tough but Lily is going to go ballistic on your asses.
Not only that but she’ll probably bring her father Eduardo along with her, looking for Ricco and if you can’t hand him over her dad will set fire to this place and he won’t care who dies.
He wants his pound of flesh from Ricco. And if he can’t get that, he’ll just start killing until he’s satisfied. ”
Boomer crossed his arms over his chest about the same time Bouncer did. Now, you could tell they were brothers who weren’t going to take any nonsense from anyone else.
Tracker and Spider just shook their heads.
“Well crap, now you riled them up.” Titus snickered. “Lord help us all.”
Areille looked around at them all and snapped, “Did you forget that Lily’s boyfriend has a plane? He could fly over any barricades you have on the road, put a rocket down on this place and wipe you guys off the map.”
Bouncer shook his head. “We’ve got weapons that will prevent that.
We can always blow him out of the sky if we need to.
” He nodded at Hot Rod and said, “He’s our Sargent at Arms, he’s also ex-military and he can fire a rocket launcher.
Plus, this place is called Lookout Mountain for a reason, girl.
We got a couple of towers no one can see until it’s too late.
Hot Rod and a couple more guys will man the towers and we’ll be ready for anything coming our way. ”
Areille shook her head as her tears sparkled in her eyes. “I still don’t trust that family and you shouldn’t either. You saw it. Ricco’s army was forced to serve him and he was small fry compared to his sister.”
Hot Rod shrugged. “We meet shit head on, little girl. We won against the Taliban and guys that would see us dead. They used all kinds of shady shit to kill us. Roadside bombs and diversions to bring us out under machine gun fire. Some of us came home a few years ago from a war in the sandbox and this place has come to mean more to us than the places we grew up in. We may not be blood but we’re a family all the same.
” He paused and looked around the clubhouse.
“This place has become our home and every single jack of us would fight to protect this piece of land.”
Bouncer nodded and added, “Like Hot Rod said, we may not be blood but this place has become home to whoever lives here. Hell, many have tried to come and take this land away from us but they won’t succeed. We got our own way to protect ourselves. If they want a fight, we’ll give them one.”
Jep wrapped his arm around her waist.
Just that touch from him calmed her fears.
Arielle slowly nodded her head. “I get it, but I just want you to know how ghetto these people can be. I know you’ve heard about the evils of the cartel.
Well, they’re the same kind of shitheads.
” She took a deep breath and told them what she knew about the Sanchez family, “Eduardo raised his children to just take what they wanted, take first and ask like never. His children have been bullies all their lives. It wasn’t Gabriel taking over Ricco’s territory but Ricco moving into Gabriel’s run.
He knew it and so did Gabriel. Eduardo arranged for Gabreil to be there that night, in the bar, I mean.
Not that he knew it was going to be blown to hell.
Then the police that were at his front door that night were ones he had on his payroll and let’s just say Eduardo wasn’t happy with the news.
That video? That was just the beginning of Eduardo’s rage.
The next morning, both cops were found dead in the street.
Their bodies were riddled with bullets and they were found lying in pools of their blood.
Everyone said it was Eduardo himself who shot them as they were the bearers of bad news and I think those reports were correct. He’s become unhinged.”
“Well, that isn’t our fault.” Titus shook his head. “That’s on Ricco’s shoulders, not ours.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I know but Eduardo wanted Ricco’s blood for himself.”
“And Ricco would still be alive if he hadn’t tried to kill you. Again, that’s his own doing, not ours.” Boomer growled.
“I am just warning you that you better get ready for the fight of your lives,” Areille told them. “Because Eduardo and Lily are going to bring hell to your mountain.” Then she turned and buried her face in Jep’s chest.
He held her close as he looked at his brothers and shook his head.
Ridge, Hot Rod and Titus along with several others in the club growled.
“Let them come,” Hot Rod stated. “We have more than one way to chase intruders off this mountain and we will fight back.”
Just then, they all heard Jep’s computer pinging alerts.
Jep turned to stare at the camera views.
He saw movement but he couldn’t get a good fix on any particular person.
He looked up at Bouncer and Titus. “We got someone out there moving quickly, making their way closer to the clubhouse. No idea yet who it is but they are bypassing the blockage we got.”
“Well hell, let’s get out there and stop them before they get here.” Bouncer growled. “Remember men, we aren’t looking to start a war here, bring ‘em back alive and breathing if you can. It’s too early for Eduardo and Lily to be here yet, but you never know.”
Hot Rod, Ridge and Titus nodded then accepted the earbuds Jep handed out. “I’ll try to lead you right to the intruder. But be careful out there, I don’t have eyes on anyone yet.” As they moved off Jep reminded them again, “Just be careful out there and remember the traps I’ve got set up.”
Hot Rod growled. “You catch me up in one of your slings and you won’t have a sling anymore bucko, that’s all I got to say about that.
” He stood six foot six and was the size of a small mountain.
Very imposing as if he might be a bodyguard or a bouncer.
Everything about him was intimidating except for his emerald-green eyes.
They reflected all his emotions and were unique. Now those very same eyes glared at Jep.
Jep just stared back. He looked unafraid as he knew Hot Rod could be temperamental. “Man, I just make ‘em. I showed you all where they were. That’s all I can do.”
Hot Rod scoffed then he and the others slipped out the back door. Eventually, they slipped into the woods, searching for the intruder they had spotted on the camera. The woods were dead quiet and the darkness hid anything that chose to remain just out of sight.
Hot Rod and the others knew how to move quietly. Uncle Sam had taught them well and as he made his way west of the property, he could almost feel eyes on him.
As he moved through the darkness he knew this area was trapped out but like Jep had said, he knew what to look for so he could avoid the traps the MC had set.
He just hoped whoever was out there with them didn’t know what to look for.
Then he heard it. The whisking sound of a sling being set off and the air around him being disturbed.
He also heard the sound of panic but it was quickly muffled as if the person caught in the trap knew he couldn’t make any noise as he was caught.
Hot Rod knew Jep’s slings couldn’t be brought down without help from someone else. Oh yeah, he knew that from firsthand experience. That’s why his words before they left the clubhouse made perfect sense.
Hot Rod texted Titus to say they found whoever was out here and they were caught up in one of Jep’s slings. Hot Rod put his phone away and began searching for the trapped person. His footsteps were careful and silent but his ear picked up on a woman’s voice not far from where he stood.
As he got closer, he could see the sling in motion, the figure caught in the web was small and looked like a female but Hot Rod couldn’t believe that. He got closer.
The woman caught in the trap snapped her head up to glare at him.
Hot Rod was only a few feet away now and he had stopped and just stood there as he viewed her predicament.
“What are you looking at, you big bully?” She growled.
Hot Rod just stood there staring at her.
Finally, she sneered. “Are you going to get me out of this or just stand there gawking at me?”
Hot Rod scoffed and asked, “And why should I help you at all?” He growled. “What are you doing here anyway? In fact, how the hell did you even get here? We’re going to be at war soon with a very nasty group and this isn’t the time to be wandering this mountain.”
She laid against the web of rope she had gotten caught up in and then she nodded. “Yeah, I know what’s coming here and it’s my fevered wish that you guys will win this war. I just came here because I wanted to see it happen. I wanted to personally see the end of that family with my own two eyes.”
Hot Rod frowned. “What the hell? Why are you so interested in that?”
“Because the Sanchez family deserves no less than final annihilation.” She growled. “Preferably in the most painful ways possible.”
Hot Rod raised an eyebrow at her words and then he shook his head. “And why would you be so happy at that prospect? Are you always this bloodthirsty?”
The woman sighed then she shook her head. “No, I haven’t always been bloodthirsty but that family deserves every ounce of hate I can muster in my tiny heart. They’re the worst of the worst and they have done enough damage in this world to earn a quick rush into hell’s own fires.”
“And who are you to judge them?” he asked her softly.
A look of rage passed in her eyes as she didn’t answer him.
Finally, she explained it, “I’m someone who has seen their wickedness up close and personal. One of the many that has suffered by what they did and who they are.”
“What does that mean?” he asked as he studied her.
Silence covered the clearing again.