Guts & Glory: Hunter (In the Shadows Security Book 3)

by Jeanne St. James

  “You have no right to have him. Never will.”

  “Got him now. That stupid bitch won’t get him back, either. Told her that she’d lose him forever if she didn’t show up alone.”

  “That was never gonna happen.”

  “Shame gotta kill my own boy because the bitch is so fuckin’ selfish and doesn’t listen for shit.”

  “That’s never gonna happen, either.”

  “You talk big for not having control of the situation.” Taz tilted his head and stared at him across the barn. “You stick your dick in that cunt? You have to teach her a few hard lessons, too, for not doin’ what she’s told? She got a temper on her. A wild spirit that needed to be broken. She was a tough one to break. Like a bitch who is pliable. Thought she was that, found out I was wrong. Didn’t mean to plant my kid in her, didn’t want to be stuck with a mouthy bitch who didn’t know how to serve her man.”

  Hunter pressed his lips together to keep from snapping and his fingers curled at his sides. He had his knife on his calf, his Sig tucked in his waistband holster, but he didn’t need those.

  His hands were all he needed. He just needed to get close enough. Problem was, Taz had Leo tied to a chair, his mouth gagged. Frankie’s son was crying, his face almost purple, his eyes swollen, probably from endless tears, snot was running down his chin.

  It took everything Hunter had not to rush Taz and kill the motherfucker in front of the three-year-old. Rip the biker’s throat right out of his neck and then shit down the cavity.

  The other problem was, Taz stood behind Leo and was using him as a shield. The third problem was, Taz had a fucking knife in his hand. They stood about twenty feet apart so Taz could raise that blade before Hunter could get close enough. The wide blade held a razor sharp edge and would cut through skin like butter.

  Hunter had to keep his head or things could go sideways fast.

  He wished Brick was set up with his rifle and could take a head shot through one of the barn’s broken windows. However, he had no way to get a message to Brick to see how far out he was.

  Plus, Leo might end up wearing blood splatter. Three or not, that could be a memory which might never wash away. What the kid was dealing with now was bad enough.

  Hunter needed to handle this carefully. Smartly.

  But Leo’s bloodshot eyes were focused on him and Hunter wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not, but he swore he heard a muffled “Danny” coming from behind the gag made from a bandana.

  Fuck, little man, hang on. “Gonna make a deal with you.”

  Taz snorted.

  Hunter continued, picking his words carefully, “Do right by your son. You take me, you tie me to that chair. Got Frankie’s car outside with a car seat, strap Leo in it so he’s safe, then come back and do what you want to me. I took out a lot of your MC members. It’s me you want. Not Frankie, not Leo. I helped wipe your whole club out. I’m the one who’s been looking for you. You want me. I won’t try nothing funny. I’ll do it willingly, just to see Leo be safe. I’ve lived a life, he hasn’t. He should get that opportunity. Don’t take that from him.”

  Offering himself to be tied up went against every grain in his body, his mind screamed at him it would shatter forever if he was ever restrained. But if Hunter was lucky, it wouldn’t get that far. He had to fight the panic, the fear.

  “Know you an’ your fellow Shadows,” he sneered that last word, “hunted us down, took us out. You think I’m the only one left. That might not be fuckin’ true. Ain’t sayin’ it is, ain’t sayin’ it ain’t. You’ll never know because I’m gonna take that deal. You wanna face your maker today, that’s on you. It was gonna happen anyway, you’ll just make it easier. I get you, I get my boy. I eventually get that bitch, too.” He lifted the knife to Leo’s throat, pressing it against the boy’s skin.

  Hunter held his breath. While it bothered him Leo was tied to the chair tightly, he was sort of relieved, too. The kid could be wiggly, and he didn’t want Leo accidentally moving and cutting his own throat. It was bad enough he was sobbing loudly behind the gag.

  “Gonna listen an’ listen good. You got any weapons, you throw them over here.”

  Hunter lifted his hands up, palms out. “Got a gun at the small of my back. Gonna grab it and toss it your way. Got nothing else. Didn’t prepare for this.”

  “Do it slowly,” Taz warned.

  Hunter nodded, pulled his Sig from the holster and tossed it toward Taz. It landed to the right of the chair and Taz pulled it closer to him with his foot.

  “Now, fucker, you’re gonna get on your knees. Fingers interlaced and to the back of your head. Ankles crossed. Just like the pigs had me do when they arrested me for tryin’ to teach Sussy a lesson.”

  Hunter kept his eyes pinned to Taz as he lowered to his knees and did what Taz ordered.

  “Don’t move. You make the smallest move, this kid is done. You got me?”

  “Got you,” Hunter spat.

  Taz leaned over and grabbed Hunter’s gun, flipped off the safety and tucked his knife in his boot. He aimed the Sig at Hunter’s forehead as he grabbed zip strips that were laying nearby. The shit he’d used to restrain Leo to the chair.

  Fucking motherfucker.

  Hunter felt a familiar burn in his chest, a tightening that was affecting his breathing. He tried to shake it off, but he could already feel those plastic ties tightening around his wrists and ankles. And that plain fucked with his head.

  However, now was not the time for that.

  He needed to think clearly and, if possible, two steps ahead of the asshole who was approaching him with those plastic ties.

  Hunter jerked up his chin. “Once you got me restrained, you take him out of here, so he doesn’t witness what you do to me.”

  “Needs to learn to be a badass.”

  “He’s three, motherfucker.”

  “Know how fuckin’ old he is. I fucked his mother and made him.”

  Hunter gritted his teeth, biting back everything he wanted to spew in his fury.

  “You move, you eat it, and he gets to watch. That’ll keep you cooperative.”

  Taz was right about that. He needed to get the fucker to take Leo out of the barn, so while he was gone, Hunter could work on getting free of the ties.

  He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it in time, but he would as sure as fuck try.

  If he failed at it, he failed Leo and Frankie, too.

  Every muscle froze in Hunter’s body as Taz cuffed his hands behind his back just like the cops did. The man had plenty of first-hand knowledge of being arrested and cuffed, his criminal record proved that.

  He forced himself to keep breathing as the plastic ties tightened, cutting into his skin, pinning his wrists together. Taz gave the ties an extra jerk.

  Hunter’s heart pounded in his throat, his temples throbbed, the blood rushed into his ears. He struggled not to fight Taz looping the ties around his ankles and tightening them until he was hobbled. Then he used more zip strips to restrain Hunter’s bound wrists to his tied ankles.

  He was done.

  Done.

  Trapped.

  Unable to breathe.

  His vision was narrowing dangerously, and he fought it.

  Keep your shit together, soldier, a voice screamed inside his head. Failure is not an option.

  “Take him out,” Hunter wheezed. “Take him out.”

  “Fuck you, asshole.”

  Despite the roar in his head, the darkness that circled his vision, he watched Taz cut Leo free from the chair, but kept him gagged as he carried Frankie’s son out of the barn.

  As soon as Taz’s back was to him, Hunter reached for the knife strapped on his calf. But because Taz had bound his wrists to his ankles, he couldn’t reach it. However, he could reach his boot and he used paracord as laces. If he could get one lace free of his boot in time, he could use it to saw through the zip tie.

  Problem was, he knew he’d be cutting it close. Friction sawing wasn’t quick, esp
ecially when he had all his limbs bound tight.

  Fuck.

  He couldn’t give up. He needed to fight the panic and remain focused.

  He pictured Frankie. He pictured Leo.

  They were his motivation to keep his head on straight. To keep fighting.

  But time was ticking, and he didn’t have enough of it.

  Which became evident when Taz walked back into the barn before Hunter could free the lace completely.

  He slowed his motion but continued to work at it, hoping it didn’t attract Taz’s attention.

  Hunter tracked Taz as the man pulled his knife from his boot, but left Hunter’s .40 tucked into the front of his waistband.

  Taz stopped about five feet in front of him, his feet planted wide, a smile on his bearded face and pure evil in his brown eyes. “Think you’re a hero, sacrificin’ yourself like that for my boy. For that bitch. Too stupid to realize I wasn’t gonna hurt him. Gonna raise him. And I’m gonna make that bitch pay. Nothin’ you can do about it since I got you trussed up like a pig and I’m ready to gut you. You took out my brothers, now it’s time I take out you and yours.” He spun his knife in his hand and his smile got even bigger. “Once I take you out, gonna wait for the rest. Sure they’re ridin’ in like the cavalry. Loyal as fuck, but stupid, too. Think you can best me, but, asshole, I’m one of the last ones standin’. There’s a reason for that.”

  As Taz stood there, Hunter concentrated hard to keep the darkness at bay. He studied the piece of shit before him, wondering how in the hell Slade was so different from his brother before him.

  Slade’s life started just as shitty as Brandon Bussard’s did. They had the same blood running through their veins.

  Slade found the Marines, then boxing as an outlet, and eventually a good woman.

  Taz was just...

  Running footsteps coming from the back of the barn snapped both of their heads up.

  Hunter breathed in relief when what Taz called the “cavalry” arrived but was surprised at their approach.

  Until he saw who it was and what she carried.

  Holy fuck!

  At Frankie’s blood-curdling scream, Taz spun to face her, his arms coming up in a defensive position, but he was too late. She already had her feet planted and put her whole body behind the swing of the wood bat. The strength of that impact splintered it when it made contact with Taz’s head.

  Frankie cried out in pain and dropped the shattered remains. A spray of warm liquid had splattered all over Hunter. He knew what it was immediately because Frankie wore it, too.

  Taz was also losing it at a rapid rate as his body folded like an accordion and crashed to the floor, one side of his skull crushed in, leaking brain matter and blood. An eyeball hung from its crushed socket.

  Holy fuck.

  Frankie’s chest was heaving, and she was gripping her hands together while wincing. Yeah, that impact had to hurt and not just Taz.

  “Frankie,” he barked, but she was staring at the crumpled remains of the father of her child.

  The man she just took out with one fucking good swing.

  “Frankie!” he yelled again. He needed her to listen, get her out of her own head and turn her attention to him.

  She slowly lifted her sightless eyes to his.

  “Get me the fuck out of these bindings.”

  She stared at him like he wasn’t there, like he didn’t exist. Then he could see it plain as day when she mentally shook herself free.

  She reached for the knife Taz dropped.

  “No!” he shouted. “Don’t touch anything. Grab my knife on my right calf.” When she didn’t move fast enough, he yelled, “Now, Frankie!”

  Her body jerked forward, then her face changed, and she rushed over to him, pushing up his pant leg and freeing his knife.

  “Cut me free.”

  “I might cut you.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Just cut me free.”

  He didn’t care if he had to bleed, he just needed his freedom. And he needed it now.

  He held himself still as she sawed at the bindings, only nicking him a few times.

  He took a full breath of air as the last plastic tie fell free and he surged to his feet, grabbing her face in his hands.

  Her beautiful face was splattered with that bastard’s blood and she had put it there.

  “I want you outside now. Go to Leo. He’s in your car. Take my knife and carefully remove his gag and any bindings that remain. You keep your shit together, Frankie. Don’t let him see you shatter. You got me?”

  She nodded, her face already starting to morph.

  He held her face firmly to keep her from looking at Taz. “Frankie, keep your shit together. For Leo. You can break down later when he’s not watching. Not now. Your son needs you. He needs you in one solid piece, not in a million shards. Are you getting what I’m saying?”

  She nodded.

  “Say it.”

  “I get it.” Her voice held a shake, but he had to trust she’d keep it together.

  He shoved her face into his chest and her arms automatically circled his waist. He held her there with a hand to the back of her head, shuffling her around and toward the nearest barn door. One away from the carnage she created.

  While he was proud of her for doing what needed to be done, he was disappointed she put herself in danger and was afraid she’d be scarred for life from her actions.

  Things could’ve ended up differently.

  She could’ve been dead.

  Leo could’ve been dead.

  And if that happened, Hunter might as well be dead because in that moment, in that sliver of time, he realized he couldn’t live without either one of them.

  His roots weren’t grounded in the earth; they were grounded in Frankie. They were grounded in Leo.

  He was rooted to them.

  The only thing he now feared worse than being trapped, was losing the two best things that had come into his life. The two people who meant the most to him.

  He could have lost them both today.

  He needed to deal with the immediate problem, then he’d deal with that.

  When he had her just outside the door, he stopped. “Soon as Steel gets here, he can drive you and Leo home. Get yourself cleaned up, get him settled as best you can. Keep your mom close. I’ll be there when I can.”

  “I have my mom’s car.”

  “We’ll get it back to her. Got plenty of manpower on the way. You worry about you and Leo. I’ll worry about the rest.”

  She went to step away, but she stopped and turned back to him. “Hunter...”

  “Yeah, baby?” he asked softly.

  “Thought I was going to lose you both tonight.”

  Same here.

  He heard the hiccup and knew she was about to lose it. “Hunter...”

  “Yeah,” he breathed, struggling to keep his own shit in one piece.

  “I love you.”

  Fuck, that didn’t help. “I know, baby. Wait for Steel. Take care of your son,” he said softly. “He needs you.”

  I need you. And I love you, too.

  She stared at him through the dark for a second longer, then turned and walked away.

  Hunter closed the barn door behind him and pulled out his phone. He dialed Mercy’s cell, which was answered with a grunt.

  “Clean up in aisle five.”

  “Made a mess?”

  Hunter took a breath and stared at the splintered bat in a dark pool of blood. “Not me,” Hunter muttered.

  After an extended pause... “Who?”

  “Frankie decided to try out for the big leagues.”

  “Fuck,” Mercy grunted.

  Hunter gripped the back of his neck and twisted. “Yeah.”

  “She hit a home run?”

  “Out of the fucking park.”

  “Damn,” the man mumbled. “We’re not far out. Should be at your twenty in about five.”

  “Put Steel with Frankie and Leo. Leo knows him. Steel needs
to get them home and squared away until I get there.”

  “Maybe you should take them. Leave Steel with us to clean up the mess.”

  “I need to stay because I’m thinking we should bring the cops in on this one.”

  “Why?” Mercy barked into the phone.

  “They know Taz had Leo and put out an Amber Alert. They’re out searching. Gonna be hard to explain that we just found him unharmed and Taz happen to slip away. Frankie did what she had to do to save me and her son. She’ll get some hard questions, the DA will do a little digging, but in the end, that shit will roll right off her.”

  “Not sure that’s smart. Media will get involved. Her name will be plastered all over the news as the woman who clubbed her baby’s daddy to death.”

  That was fucking true. But Hunter was trying to figure out how to shield Frankie from dealing with the aftermath. She would get questioned by the cops either way. They would do an investigation since a felon kidnapped a child, even if it was his own son.

  Mercy continued, “Let me think on it. We’ll be there shortly. We’ll come up with a solid plan that keeps everyone out of cuffs. But the less attention on any of us, the better. And that includes your woman.”

  Your woman.

  “And if you say she ain’t your woman, I’m gonna club you with that fucking bat when I get there.”

  Hunter pinned his lips together. “Won’t say it then.”

  “Good. Need to talk to Slade.”

  “And Diesel.”

  “Fuck,” Mercy grunted. “We’ll call D after we figure out what our plan is. No point in getting the boss man in an uproar.”

  “I’ll call Slade.”

  Silence greeted him.

  “I’ll call him,” Hunter repeated. It was the least he could do.

  “Yeah,” Mercy finally said. “Think we’re here. Christ, if Walker hadn’t pinged your fucking cell phone, it would’ve been near impossible to find this place. Sometimes he’s worth keeping around.”

  Before Hunter could answer, the phone went dead.

  He heard the powerful roar of Mercy’s SUV on steroids. As well as another vehicle.

  The fucking cavalry had arrived.

  Chapter Twenty

  Hunter stepped outside of Frankie’s house and went to stand in the middle of the yard where no one would overhear him.