Chapter 14 Paper Cuts
Paper Cuts
I gripped the steering wheel too hard, my white knuckles ready to burst through my skin if I didn’t ease up.
“You worry too much.”
I turned to glare at my brother sitting in the passenger seat, looking far too comfortable.
“I told you to stay home.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said, tugging on the sleeves under his suit jacket. “Matt would be a fool to pull something here.”
“It’s the first time you’ve been out in months. Foolish? Yes. Unlikely? No.”
He rolled his eyes and opened the car door. “Let’s go before these assholes grow a brain and change their mind.”
Groaning, I stepped out of the driver’s seat and joined Daniel’s stride toward the club where we were set to meet. Four members of our security team fell in line behind us, giving us the numbers as they flanked our sides.
It was just after midnight, and the place still had a line of people wrapped around the building. Stepping up to the bouncer at the door, Daniel gave him our names, and he immediately moved aside to let us through, much to the line’s disdain.
Inside, the music boomed throughout, and the dim lighting mixed with neon body paint on every half naked dancer created the wild atmosphere I usually aimed to avoid.
But with deals like these, the best place to meet was always in a very loud, very crowded but still private area. The feds could never hear shit, and they preferred not to strike in crowded places with too many civilians at risk of rogue bullets.
This club wasn’t very big inside, but it would provide enough cover for tonight.
A blonde woman appeared at my left, her black stilettos and hot-pink dress matching the decorum a little too perfectly.
“This way, gentlemen,” she said with a smile, waving us to follow her.
She led us around the dancing crowd toward a private booth where Luis Montero waited next to his cousin, Theo. Both men stood as we approached, the guards surrounding their booth looking slightly on edge the closer we got. I kept my smirk to myself.
“The Davis brothers!” Luis called enthusiastically. “I’m glad you guys could finally make it. Please, sit.”
Daniel and I took both outside seats of the booth, crowding the cousins toward the middle and keeping an easy out for ourselves. The rest of our guards stood just outside the booth, their eyes focused on the ocean of people in front of them.
“What are you drinking?” Luis asked, beckoning at an approaching server.
“Vodka tonic,” Daniel answered, eyeing me from across the table.
“Rye and ginger,” I said, causing Daniel’s lips to snicker.
Over the years, I’d developed a strong taste for ginger that I just couldn’t quite shake.
After the server left, Luis relaxed into his seat while Theo remained just as stiff as he observed Daniel and me from across the table.
“So let’s get right to it,” Luis said. “I understand you’re in need of a new middleman.”
“Word has it you slaughtered the last one. And his family,” Theo commented.
Daniel smirked. “Yes, well, dismembering our brother tends to have that effect on us,” he retorted.
“Well, good thing we’re not in the business of murdering our business partners,” Luis chimed in. “Just moving their product for them.”
Our drinks were then set down on the table, the server quickly scurrying away and out of sight.
“How soon can you move it?” I asked, folding my hands over the table.
“Depends on how much we’re talking.”
“About 1,200 pounds,” Daniel answered.
Luis let out a slow, low whistle before he turned to look at Theo, who just shrugged.
“Once we secure the logistics, maybe as soon as next week,” Theo stated.
I nodded, satisfied with his timeline.
“Now, what do—” Gunshots rained over his voice, the sounds of screams and panic instantly overtaking the music. The crowd scattered like ants, which made it difficult to locate the source of the damn gunfire.
And then a break in the crowd revealed the last fucking thing I wanted to deal with. The same fucking thing I had warned Daniel about.
Matt moved through the dispersing crowd, a gun in his hand, flanked by eight more gunmen.
“Daniel fucking Davis!” he roared over the chaos.
God-fucking-dammit.
Moving quickly, I lifted my leg and shoved the table of our booth down to the floor, ducking just as bullets flew over our heads. Crouching behind for cover, I drew my Sig while Daniel, Theo, and Luis followed suit.
The rest of our guards scattered around the booth, ducking for cover as they began to return fire. Matt and his men quickly hid behind the bar while the rest of the screaming crowd pushed their way toward the exits.
My eyes caught Daniel’s, knowing damn well he could see my “I told you so” face.
“What the fuck is going on?” Luis shouted over the gunfire.
“Disgruntled ex-business partner,” I answered, cocking my gun and turning to take aim at the bar.
When the gunfire finally died down, I took my opportunity.
“What are you doing here, Matt!” I shouted.
Silence followed as everyone waited for an answer on what the fuck he was thinking coming here like this.
“You fucking know why!” he shouted back, the anger in his voice wild and unrestrained. “Give him up already!”
I shook my head, scowling at my brother for causing this goddamn mess. “Never gonna happen, Matt.”
“Then I’ll end you both!” he roared, reaching over the bar and firing.
I felt a spray of something wet splash against the side of my face as more gunfire ensued. Jolting to my left, I saw red beginning to pool into Daniel’s shirt.
“Fuck,” I growled, reaching for him to quickly find the source of the bleeding. “Where are you hit?” With Luis and Theo returning fire over us and bullets flying everywhere, I couldn’t hear shit.
“My chest,” Daniel groaned, a tight grimace across his face.
Fuck!
Yanking off his jacket, I ripped the tear of his shirt so I could see the entry wound but found no exit wound. Bundling his jacket, I pressed it against his chest as tight as I could.
“Fuck!” Daniel roared as he lifted his Glock and started immediately shooting around the table.
“Stop!” I shouted, grabbing his hand to lower his gun. “Hold this before you bleed to death, you fucking moron.”
He groaned as he reached up with his other hand to press the jacket against his wound. He wasn’t much good in this fight now. We needed to get him to Sid before he bled out, but we weren’t going anywhere with bullets spraying all over the place.
The heavy metal barrier bolted to the underside of the table wasn’t strong enough to hold back this much gunfire. We needed to move quickly before its integrity gave out.
I pulled out my phone and texted Scott the code for immediate backup. I’d sent him on a nearby errand earlier, but he knew he was always on call, and he was always eager to engage.
Pocketing my phone, I peeked out from the table and fired three quick headshots, dropping three of Matt’s gunmen. Two more of ours hit the floor, evening the numbers on each side. But if we didn’t get out of this position, none of it would matter.
“Luis, we need to move now!” I shouted through the chaos as splinters of the table shattered around us.
“Agreed,” he snarled, taking out another one of Matt’s men. He glanced behind him, nodding behind the booth. “If we can get over the booth, there’s a back exit! But it’s on the other side of the room!”
Fuck.
“You and Theo take the table! I’ve got Daniel!”
Grabbing my brother around the waist, I pulled him up while Theo and Luis lifted the table to keep us covered.
“I’m not a fucking invalid, Darren,” Daniel growled at me.
“Shut up.”
I tossed his ass over the booth just as I felt a piercing sting tear right through my side. Ducking behind the booth, Theo and Luis followed, dropping the table behind them. Staying low, I peered around the side of the booth to find the rest of our guards had scattered throughout the room.
“We need to fucking end this before there’s nothing left of my club,” Theo growled, raising his arm to fire three more shots and ducking back down.
“What we need to do is end Matt right here, right now,” Daniel grumbled as he slumped against the back of the booth. Shit.
“Is this seriously going to be the cost of doing business with you two?” Luis shouted angrily as he reloaded his gun.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t act like this isn’t par for the course, Luis. You were involved in your own shoot-out just last week.”
He grumbled under his breath as he turned back around to continue firing, but his agitation was just as valid as mine.
I wanted to avoid this, but after tonight, I knew I could no longer wait for Matt’s sanity to return. But I had one last shot to change his mind. One last ace in the hole. I pulled out my phone and sent Matt his final chance to back down.
With a slight break in the gunfire, I shouted Matt’s last hope of survival.
“Kayla is alive!”
Five long hard seconds followed as I waited for my reveal to sink in.
“Ceasefire!” Matt finally called out.
When silence befell, Matt raised his gun and slowly stood from behind the bar.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
I followed suit, raising my gun and standing off at an angle. “Kayla’s alive, Matt. And I can help you find her.”
He glared at me. “Bullshit. How the fuck could you possibly know that?”
“She was seen at a pawn shop in Arizona. Not too long ago. I saw the security tape myself.”
“Prove it!” he snarled.
“Check your fucking phone!”
Matt kept his aim as he pulled out his phone, tapping through the screen. I watched his brow rise, and his eyes lit up the second he hit play.
“Drop the vendetta, Matt, and we can go get her back. Together,” I offered, hoping it would be enough to finally end this shit. But I knew damn well it wouldn’t be.
When he finally raised his head, his eyes were crazed.
“Your lying bitch of a wife said she was dead!” he roared, making me squeeze my gun a little tighter.
“She was mistaken, asshole!”
He shook his head, turning his eyes back to his phone. “No! She knew. She knew, and she fucking lied!”