Chapter 13 #2
“I’d heard you were a smart guy, but clearly, I was misinformed.
” Armor’s tone became tenacious as he informed me, “We had a tracker hidden in one of our gun crates. When we couldn’t reach Jackson, the device led us here.
We might not know exactly what you did to him, but we know you were involved. ”
As much as I wanted to tell the guy to fuck off, I didn’t have that luxury. His guy still had a gun to Gladys’s head, so I had to keep my anger in check. “We didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have done if you were in our shoes.”
“You don’t know what the fuck we’d do! You don’t know shit about my brothers or me.”
“I know you brought your brothers a long way to fight a war they have no business fighting,” I replied with no emotion.
“You killed our brother and stole our guns!”
“Your brother and his friends crossed a line they shouldn’t have, and they paid for it. End of story.”
He charged down the steps while one of his brothers kept the gun trained on Gladys. As soon as Armor approached, he reared his fist back and slammed it into my jaw, forcing my head to lob to the side. His tone was full of hurt and rage as he spat, “You sorry piece of shit!”
Engulfed in anger, Hawk lifted his weapon and was about to take his shot when I looked over to him and ordered, “Don’t.”
“That’s right,” Armor snickered. “Listen to your mighty president before your lady friend ends up with a bullet in her head.”
“What’s your plan here?” I growled.
“Well, let’s see ... First, I’m gonna kill you, and then your boys.” His sinister smile returned. “Maybe we’ll each take a turn with Granny B there and then burn this fucking place to the ground.” He nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
I was beginning to wonder how the hell we were going to get out of this fucking mess when a thunderous explosion of gunfire erupted behind Armor.
I glanced up and was surprised to find Ada standing at the edge of the porch with her double-barrel shotgun.
She’d shot the man who’d had his gun positioned at Gladys’s head, and he was now lying lifeless on the ground at her feet.
With a cold, fierce look in her eye, she stepped forward and took aim at Armor. Her hair was up in one of her bonnets, and she was wearing a long nightgown, but she looked like a force to be reckoned with as she told him, “You’s best step away from my boy, or you’s gonna be next.”
Panic filled Armor’s eyes the second he realized he’d lost the upper hand.
Not only was his guy down and no longer holding Gladys hostage, but Ada was about to fill him with holes.
Not willing to give up, he raised his Glock, but I beat him to the punch and shot him before he got a chance to pull the trigger.
As soon as his body hit the ground, Ada cried out, “Ooo-wee, Viper! I’s thought he was gonna get ya for sure.”
“Goddamn it, Ada! Folks ten miles from here could’ve heard that damn shotgun!”
“Yeah, buts you’s alive, ain’t ya?”
“Get Gladys, and you two get in the damn house!” I ordered. “Don’t come out until we come and get you.”
“You’re welcome, you ol’ mean ass.”
She shook her head and continued grumbling under her breath, then took hold of Gladys’s arm and led her back into the house, locking the door behind them. Once I knew they were both out of harm’s way, I turned to Hawk and the others and said, “Let’s finish this!”
They all nodded, then followed as Hawk led us toward the east side of the lot where the others were holed up.
As soon as the other Broken realized their president had fallen, they dropped for cover and tried to prepare for the onslaught, but it was too late.
My boys were already in position and had gained the advantage.
In a matter of seconds, a full-on battle had emerged. Bullets started whipping past me, plowing into the concrete walls, but I was too cranked up on adrenaline to care. Like a man possessed, I continued to charge towards them, firing off round after round as I took out anyone who stood in my way.
With each body that dropped dead to the ground, I gained a sense of satisfaction. As far as I was concerned, if these assholes were stupid enough to think they could invade our territory and take us down, they had it coming.
Now, they’d pay for that mistake with their lives.
The casualties were quickly mounting. Those still in the game were in full panic mode, shooting wildly in all directions while others scurried for cover as they tried to stop our advance.
They were running scared, and for good reason; their end was imminent, and they knew it.
Shotgun took out two men hiding in the back of a unit while Country took out another trying to flee.
I was still jacked up as we continued to push forward from each side, closing them in as we took cover, dodging the bullets flying through the air. I glanced around the lot, happy that only a few Broken remained.
We’d only taken a few more steps when bullets started whipping past us again. As soon as I spotted the shooter, I aimed my Glock in his direction, and with a single shot, his lifeless body fell backward onto the pavement.
I was catching my breath when I noticed Bear lying on the ground with blood pooling around his body.
Immediately, I rushed over and pulled him out of harm’s way, but I was too late.
He’d been shot in the chest and throat, and he was struggling to breathe.
I pulled him into my arms, and in a matter of seconds, my leather jacket was drenched in his blood.
Bear was still clinging to his gun in desperation, unwilling to stop fighting, and I knew then just how much the brotherhood had meant to him. With his gun still clutched in his hand, he let out his last breath.
“Fuck,” I shouted as I eased him to the ground.
The gunfire had started to dissipate, but I didn’t care. My focus was still on my fallen brother. A bullet pierced my flesh, and a stabbing pain shot through my arm, but I swallowed the burning sensation, letting my mind shut down the thoughts of how much it hurt as my anger took over.
With my gun in hand, I stood and stalked towards the final shooter, firing off a single round that immediately brought him to his knees. I shot him again in the chest, and once I was sure he was dead, I made my way back to Shotgun and Hawk.
As we stood there surveying all the Broken’s casualties, a wave of gratification washed over me. It was over. A war that never should’ve been was over.
Country and Rafe swept in from the back and a proud smile crossed Country’s face as he announced, “I think we finally got ’em.”
“Maybe, but we need to do a sweep to be sure.”
“On it.” Lynch was about to turn and leave when he noticed my wound. The bullet had just missed my vest and pierced through my shoulder, going straight through the flesh. “Holy shit, Prez. You’ve been shot.”
“I’m fine.” I motioned my hand behind us. “Unfortunately, Bear didn’t end up so lucky.”
“Damn, not Bear.” Lynch’s words were filled with anguish. “That shit’s not right.”
“No, it’s not.” I knew he was hurting over the loss of one of our own—I was, too.
Losing one of my boys hit me hard, extremely hard, and it would take us all a long time to move past it.
Hoping to give him some small amount of comfort, I told him, “But he died protecting us. That’s the way he’d want to go. ”
“Doesn’t make it right.” Lynch shook his head. “Doesn’t make it right at all.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I gave them all a moment, then said, “Look, we gotta do the sweep, brothers.”
“Yeah, we’re on it.”
Once Lynch and Shotgun left with Hawk to assess the damage, I turned to Country and Rafe and ordered, “Go check in on Gladys and Ada, too.”
Before the words had barely left my mouth, Country and Rafe were racing up the porch steps and storming inside the house.
I wasn’t surprised that Country was eager to see about them.
Gladys was his grandmother, and since his grandfather died, Country had taken it upon himself to look out for her.
I had no doubt seeing her bound with a gun to her head had fucked him up, but I knew she’d set him straight and make him see that it’d take more than a little rough handling to get her down.
My attention was drawn from Ada’s when Axel stepped over to me and leaned in, studying my wound. “We need to get you back to the clubhouse and let Doc have a look at that.”
“Got shit to do first.” I took out my phone. “Gotta get Billy in here to clean up this mess.”
Billy the Butcher was the club’s cleaner. He was the man we called any time we left a mess, and with daylight quickly approaching, this one was huge and needed to be dealt with fast. Once he’d confirmed that he was on the way, I turned my attention back to Axel. “We need to call Dax, too.”
“Why’s that?”
“I want to make sure we got all these motherfuckers. Each and every one.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Axel shook his head. “I still don’t see how we missed the fucking tracking device in those goddamn crates.”
“No clue, but I’m about to find out.”
When I turned and started towards our unit, Axel fussed, “You’re doing this now?”
“Damn straight,” I answered. “Can’t take the chance on anyone else having access to that damn tracker.”
“I got that, but damn, you’ve been shot, brother. Let us handle it.”
“Not leaving here until we find it!”
“Understood.” When we passed one of the units with a broken lock and all the contents in complete disarray, Axel shook his head and grumbled, “They made a fucking mess of the place.”
“Yeah, they sure fucking did.”
“Should’ve never happened,” Axel complained. “We should’ve just dumped them in the fuckin’ river, and then none of this shit would’ve ever happened.”
“You’re right.” I didn’t know what it was about that fucking phrase “hindsight is twenty-twenty,” but it seemed to have a recurring theme in my life. “Unfortunately, what’s done is done, and there’s nothing we can do about that shit now. Just gotta make sure it never fucking happens again.”