Chapter 15
Country
My mind was racing as we sped towards the Manor.
I desperately wanted to know that Kiersten was okay, so I called her phone over and over again.
When she still didn’t answer, I tried Braylon’s phone.
Again, no answer. I sent them both countless messages, but neither responded.
They could’ve just been away from their phones or maybe they’d put out the fire and simply gone back to bed, but I had a bad feeling that wasn’t the case.
We’d just made it out of the Nashville city limits when Menace’s phone started to ring.
Hawk, Lynch, and I watched as he picked it up and looked down at the screen.
Dread washed over me the second I saw the expression on his face.
I knew right away something was terribly wrong.
He looked over to me as he said, “It’s Riggs. ”
Without saying anything more, he brought the phone up to his ear and answered, “This is Menace.”
Silence fell over the truck as he paused to listen for a moment, then asked, “Any idea how many there are?”
Another agonizing pause, then Menace asked, “What do we need to do here?”
As I sat there listening to them go back and forth, I had no idea what the fuck was going on, but if Menace’s tone was any indication, it wasn’t good. My chest tightened when he asked, “How long will it take you to get there?”
Menace listened for a few more moments, then replied, “Thanks, brother. I’ll let you know as soon as we get there.”
As soon as he hung up, Menace turned his attention to us. “It wasn’t just a fire. There are intruders, and the Manor is on lockdown.”
“What the fuck?” I roared.
Hawk sounded equally angered when he asked, “Any idea how the hell this happened?”
“Can’t say for sure. I’m guessing whoever did this used the storm to their advantage. Hard to see anything with all the wind and rain.”
“Fuck. Any idea who it might be?”
“No clue, but it’s pretty clear these guys know what they’re doing. Looks like they set the fire as a decoy. Got Braylon and Widow away from the school long enough to get inside. As soon as they figured out what was going on, they rushed in after them.”
“Wait... you said the Manor was on lockdown.”
“They are.”
“So, they’re locked inside there with whoever the hell this is?”
“It’s hard to tell. They’ve dismantled the camera feed, but Riggs seems to think there are several still outside.”
“And Kiersten?”
“Pretty sure she’s lockdown in the school.”
“Dammit!” You don’t know just how much you care about someone until their life is in jeopardy. The mere thought of losing Kiersten sent me into a spiraling panic. “We gotta get her the hell out of there!”
“I know, brother, and we will. Should be there in less than ten minutes, and Riggs and some of the Fury boys are on their way, too,” Menace tried to assure me. “Kiersten’s a smart girl. She can hold on until we get to her.”
I ran my hand over my face, trying to slow the thoughts that were racing through my mind. I couldn’t hold back my rage as I growled, “This shit should’ve never happened. Where the hell were Widow and Jackal?”
“It’s after midnight, brother. I’m sure one or both of them were down for the night.
Not sure who was on night duty or why they might’ve been distracted.
None of that matters now.” Menace’s cool demeanor remained intact as he said, “Right now, we need to focus on getting there and doing whatever we gotta do to take these motherfuckers down.”
Hawk took out his phone and called Viper to let him know what was going on.
As expected, Viper told Hawk that he would get some of the other brothers together, and they would come to give us a hand.
I was barely keeping it together as I sat there staring out the window when Lynch reached over and placed his hand on my shoulder.
“She’s going to be okay, brother. We’ll make sure of it. ”
I nodded but couldn’t say anything in return.
I was too beside myself to speak. I stared out at the road ahead, anxiously counting down the miles as we continued toward the Manor.
I was so worked up I felt like I could crawl out of my own skin.
I just wanted to get there and make sure Kiersten was okay.
When we reached the edge of the property, I noticed two cars—a black BMW and a red Mercedes—parked along the fence row.
I’d never seen them before, so I pointed them out to the others.
“That’s gotta be them. They must’ve parked here and headed in through the back field. ”
“Then, we’ll do the same.”
Menace pulled up behind the red Mercedes, and as soon as the truck stopped, we all got out and began putting on our bulletproof vests.
Once I had mine on, I started sprinting towards the tall grass.
The night air was cool and damp, and the ground was soft and muddy, making it difficult to run in my boots.
I was already getting winded when Lynch, Menace, and Hawk came running up next to me.
With all the cloud cover from the previous storms, it was darker than ever, and it felt like we’d been running for a lifetime before we finally came upon the back entrance of the Manor.
Knowing we weren’t there alone, we each slowed our pace and withdrew our weapons, being watchful of our surroundings as we continued forward. As we got closer, Menace turned to us and said, “Riggs said for us to go to the back of the school, and he’d get us in.”
We nodded, then followed him behind the mid-sized house that Kiersten had renovated into the guest quarters. Hawk led us around back where we could get a better view of the back of the school. I saw movement near the garden and asked, “You seeing that?”
“Yeah,” Hawk answered. “I see it. You think that’s them, or is that one of Kiersten’s crew?”
Before I had a chance to respond, a round of gunfire had us all dropping down for cover.
I was eager to find Kiersten and didn’t have the patience to deal with some trigger-happy asshole, so I aimed my Glock and fired.
Seconds later, the dark figure dropped to the ground and laid there motionless.
Lynch chuckled as he whispered, “I guess that settles that.”
“Damn right it does.”
Hawk remained crouched down as he motioned us forward and led us to the next house and then the next.
We were less than fifty feet away from the school when a shot was fired, and Lynch flew back and hit the ground.
Menace, Hawk, and I all returned fire, and in a matter of seconds, the shooting stopped and we all watched with satisfaction as a body collapsed to the hard, wet ground.
Wanting to make sure Lynch was okay, we all turned to our brother and found him clutching his bicep as he cursed, “Mother fucker! He hit me right in the goddamn arm. Fucking pussy shot.”
“You alright?” Hawk asked as he reached down and took his hand as I helped Lynch to his feet. “You need to head back to the truck?“
“Fuck no. I’m fine.” Lynch charged over to the body on the ground and fired off another round into the guy’s head. “Stupid piece of shit.”
“Gotta go, brother,” I huffed as I charged past him. “We don’t have time for this bullshit.”
With the others following close behind, I rushed up to the back door of the school, then waited as Menace reached out to Riggs.
As soon as he let him know we were there, he released the security lock on that specific door, then locked it back as soon as we’d made it inside.
I’d been in the school many times during my two-week stint at the Manor, so I knew the office was just through the double doors.
But I didn’t move. None of us did. We each stood there, listening for footsteps, talking, or shooting—any sign that would help us identify the location of our adversaries.
At first, there was nothing—just complete and utter silence.
Then, I heard it—the faint sound of Kiersten’s voice followed by gunshots coming from what sounded like the other side of the school.
“Did you hear that?” I motioned my hands towards the door. “She’s here. I heard her.”
Menace looked over his shoulder, making sure no one was coming up from behind as Hawk led us to the end of the hall.
Before opening one, Hawk pressed his ear to the door, listening silently for a possible opportunity for us to move forward without making our presences known—at least not yet.
After listening for a moment, Hawk turned back to me and asked, “She just called someone by the name Drake. Any idea who that might be?”
“Don’t have a clue.”
“I think he’s got Braylon, too. We need eyes on that fucking security feed.”
“I can reach out to Riggs and see...”
“There’s no time.” Hawk inched the door open, then peered through the crack. “The office has been blown to fucking shreds. Jackal is on the floor next to Kiersten’s feet, and I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”
Lynch sounded stunned as he asked, “You sure he isn’t just playing possum or something?”
“He’s got a two-foot shard of glass in his back, brother. Pretty sure he isn’t playing possum.”
“Damn,” Lynch sighed. “Poor kid didn’t deserve that shit.”
Jackal had only been prospecting for a few weeks, but he’d already made an impression on several of the guys, including Lynch.
I felt bad for the kid, really bad, but none of us had the luxury of mourning his loss—not until we knew for certain that Kiersten and the others were safe. “What about Kiersten. Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s holding her own.” Hawk kept his voice low, but I could still hear the concern in his voice when he said, “Some asshole is talking to her. Can’t make out what he’s saying, but he’s going on and on about something and he’s got his gun aimed at Braylon’s head.”
“Damn... Any others out there with them?”
“Just one other guy, and he has his gun trained on Kiersten.” I wanted to barge through those doors and kill the assholes with my bare hands but forced myself to stay put and listen as Hawk told us, “Looks like they’re stuck.”