41. Chapter 41
We’re already more than halfway back to the clubhouse and I’m seriously on edge. I’ve seen three blacked out SUVs driving around and I swear that one follows us for a while. My body automatically tenses even further as we roll through the intersection where those fucking Black Plague assholes plowed into us and kidnapped Levi and Reaper earlier this summer.
We clear the edge of town and ten minutes later, when we turn onto the road that leads to our clubhouse, the hairs on the back of my neck rise and I look around, but I don’t see anyone.
“Something’s not right,” Mary says quietly as she looks around.
“Got the same feeling, Siren. But what the fuck is it?”
I’m about to say something else when I hear a tire blow out and my truck swerves.
“Fuck, hang on, Siren.”
Gritting my teeth, I grip the steering wheel tighter as I try to keep my truck under control, but then I hear a second tire blowing out, and I swear under my breath. Where are those fuckers hiding?
A phone rings and Mary digs in her purse for it. “It’s Thor.”
“Put it on speakerphone,” I grit out
“Patch, see if you can limp along to the gate and don’t stop until you get to the back of the clubhouse. Some of our guys are fanning out, trying to locate these fuckers.”
“You got it, P—”
I’m interrupted by an explosion of some sort, and then we’re rolling. Mary screams and I pray like fuck that she isn’t seriously injured by this shit. Her injuries have been healing nicely since she isn’t constantly getting beat up all the time. My head slams against the window, and for a few moments, black dots dance across my vision, but I fight it. I will not leave my Siren vulnerable.
As soon as we stop rolling, we land on our side, my side to be exact. I rip off my seat belt, hissing through the pain in my shoulder, and climb toward Mary who’s frantically clawing at her seat belt.
“It won’t unlatch, Luke!”
Reaching into my pocket for my knife, I once again hiss in pain and out of the corner of my eye, see my shirt starting to turn red with blood. Fuck, I hope it isn’t anywhere near the major arteries in my shoulder area.
I’m almost done cutting her free when her window explodes, sending glass raining down on us. Fire licks at my forearms and a couple of spots on my forehead as I try to shield Mary as best as I can from the glass.
She cries out as someone tries to drag her out by her hair. A moment later, a second hand latches onto her arm as he tries to hoist her out, but the seat belt prevents him from yanking her out of the truck.
“Hurry the fuck up and grab the bitch, Bren,” someone hisses right as I grab the fucker’s arm that’s wrapped around her bad arm, twisting it forcefully, making him to let go of Mary.
“Quickly, cut through the rest and stay down and out of sight,” I tell her as I hand her the knife.
The asshole tries to reach out for her again, but I grab him and land a punch to his temple, dazing him enough that I can push him off and then climb out through the busted window. My palms flare in pain and I’m sure I cut them up by getting out of the truck so quickly. I hadn’t bothered to make sure all the broken glass was cleared, not wanting to send more cascading down on Mary.
A different guy is helping up the one that I’d punched, though a sick satisfaction courses through me that the fucker is royally dazed and probably has a nasty concussion. He can barely get his hands under him and he’s struggling to get to his feet. I launch myself at the newcomer, tackling him to the ground and raining my fists down on him. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a third guy trying to beat in the windshield to get to Mary.
Shit!
The fucker uses my distraction against me and lands a blow to my chin that has my vision dancing again, but I refuse to succumb to it.
Three more figures appear through the smoke and dust, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I recognize Axe, Loki and Colt charging in to help.
“Colt, Beast, help Mary!” I yell as the Axe helps me with the other fucker who still can’t get his feet under him. We need these assholes alive to question them.
Bullets whiz by us and I curse as one narrowly misses me, but the guy I’m holding screams out as it buries itself into his arm. Fuck, I hope the others can find where those fuckers are and take them out. Landing a hard right hook to the fucker’s face, I’m thankful when he passes out.
A hiss pulls my attention toward my truck and my eyes widen at the growing pool of gas on the ground.
“Axe, take this fucker,” I yell out as I shove the guy’s limp weight toward him.
The guy who initially grabbed Mary is gone and I hope like fuck our guys have him and that he didn’t get away. Beast disappears into the smoke with the body of the guy who had been trying to kick in my windshield slung unconscious over his shoulder. Colt’s almost got Mary out of the truck and I rush forward to help her before those assholes decide to hit my tank or their bullets create a spark that ignites the spilled gas.
As we help her to the ground and she leans on Colt, I quickly look her over, thankful that she doesn’t seem to be seriously injured.
“Wait! My bag and purse,” Mary cries as she moves to try and get back in the truck.
“I’ll get them, Siren. Colt, get her to safety.”
His face hardens, knowing who I’m trusting him with and also, how fucked he’ll be if anything happens to my woman. He gives me a chin lift before picking up Mary and running off through the smoke and dust from the explosion.
Hopping up, I open the truck door, snagging Mary’s purse and just as I flip open the center console, I hear it. A barrage of bullets bounces off the asphalt and I can hear the pings of them hitting the bed and the roof of my truck. I bite through a hiss as I feel a sharp pain sear through my thigh, and I hope it’s just a graze. Though, I should be thankful it’s just that since I’m ass up in the air right now.
Grabbing the backpack, I hop back down and as I stuff Mary’s purse inside the backpack, I pause for a moment, using the truck as a cover until the bullets die down a bit. When they taper off, I run in the direction Colt took off in.
As I clear the smoke and dust, I realize the explosion hit us maybe a few hundred feet or so from the gate. Some of my brothers are using some old bulletproof shields the club got their hands on way back in the day before we turned fully legit. They’re fanned out in a circle around the entrance to the gate as they rain down bullets on whoever they see in the woods on the opposite side of the road. Not to mention I’m sure our Russian duo are picking off anyone that tries to step foot on the asphalt from their eagle’s nest atop the clubhouse. But with being this close to the gate, there’s unfortunately nothing really for me to hide behind as I race toward the compound. As I run, I notice a few motorcycles that were caught in the explosion, their mangled bodies lying on the ground, but none of them look like I’d be able to grab them and ride the short distance back.
More bullets whiz by as someone shouts from the forest. “Get that fucking biker scum! I want his head on a platter for what he’s done!”
I don’t recognize the voice but with how loud he’s yelling, I know our security system will have caught it so long as it hasn’t been destroyed yet. I grin darkly when I see a few of my brothers changing their aim and shooting toward where the voice came from. Hopefully, we can nab some of the assholes hiding in the woods.
Relief flows through me when I see Bear and Dragon heading my way with an extended bullet proof shield. It’s like three normal shields put together, but it requires two people to carry it, one on each end, since it’s so much heavier than the others. As soon as I’m close enough, Dragon’s arm reaches out and pulls me in between them, his shield taking a bullet that would have most likely have hurt like hell or possibly even put an end to me.
I must have been the last one that needed to get to the clubhouse, because as soon as the three of us make it back to the rest of the group, everyone starts inching their way back behind the gate. We stay in place as the bullet and bombproof reinforced gate closes and I breathe another sigh of relief.
Someone runs over to us, and I turn, relieved to see it’s Colt. He must have gotten Mary to safety.
“She’s inside and safe. But instead of going down into the panic room with the others like I wanted her to, she flat out insisted she’s going to help Doc while he digs a couple of bullets and some shrapnel out of Phoenix’s shoulder and side. He got caught in the explosion while trying to get to you guys.”
“Fuck,” I hiss out. I’d really prefer she was down with the others, but right now, being at Doc’s side might be the next best place for her.
He hands me a couple of extra clips, and after double checking my gun, I pocket extra clips as we wait to see what the assholes will do.
We back up further from the gate but don’t lower the shields. Their bullets bounce off the gate and after a few moments, several curses come from the forest.
“This isn’t over yet, you fucking biker scum! We will get what belongs to us! Everything that belongs to us! Even if that means we kill every single one of you to get what’s rightfully ours!”
I growl, along with several of my brothers, at their words. Mary and her children are not things. They don’t belong to anyone. While I claim them as mine, that doesn’t mean I own them like these assholes think they do. They are mine to protect and love.
The assholes make a whole fucking lot of noise as they walk through the forest for people who are theoretically wanting to sneak around to get the drop on us. Either that or since we already know they’re there, they don’t give a fuck anymore.
A few moments later, the sound of car doors closing reach us and then multiple engines starting up before driving off. It’s then that I remember that we weren’t the end of our caravan.
“The guys with the last van. Did they make it through?” I ask Colt, and my chest tightens when he shakes his head.
“They were about to turn onto the road when they saw your first tire blew out and changed course. Thor called Ethan and told him to hide out in town until he was told otherwise. Bones, Razor, and Smithy were ordered to go with him. The rest of the guys rode in to help you and Mary. If there’s anything else in Mary’s belongings that could give us tips on what the fuck is going on, he didn’t want the cargo falling into these fucker’s hands.”
Fuck, he’s right.
If whatever was in that floor safe is why Nikos and Mary were targeted, they could try to hit that van thinking it could be in one of the boxes inside.
This is turning into a major clusterfuck.