“Yes, a good, solid family who doesn’t trade her daughter off to some mountain clan to be used for breeding. A good, solid family who doesn’t lie to her son about who his father is. Or who thinks about her kids first over herself. Who makes sure her kids are cared for before she drinks herself into oblivion.”
Jesus. “Yeah, baby.”
She got quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t know if I could love him as much as they could.”
Being Red, she probably could. She was the type of woman who could look past how he was created. But it still might bother her some days more than others and would that be fair to the kid?
And if she decided to have more kids in the future, would she treat him differently than kids she actually chose to have? She might not mean to, but in reality, it was a risk.
Like Red, that baby was an unwilling participant in what the Shirleys decided was Red’s and his fate. They forced her to become pregnant with him and by doing so, forced him to be born.
He just hoped the kid never found out his sperm donor was some inbred goat fucker. Sig hoped he took after his birth mother in looks and smarts but without the red hair. That might be a dead giveaway to any Shirleys who remained after the MC was done with them.
And they needed to be done with them. He needed to get on Trip and Judge about it. They couldn’t wait much longer. They couldn’t keep waiting to close on that fucking crematorium.
He was trying to keep his patience about it, but it was a fucking struggle. And without any kind of outlet to relieve his tension he was ready to fucking snap.
Autumn groaned as she pushed herself up from the couch. Even though she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure because the pregnancy wasn’t typical, Dr. Carly was pretty confident she was now thirty-eight weeks along. Which meant she only had to wait about two more weeks before he would be born. Hopefully.
She’d be fine if he decided to make an appearance today.
He.
At the last appointment, she’d asked the doctor if they had picked out a name.
She said she had, but she wasn’t jinxing anything by saying it out loud. That made Autumn smile.
She had met Carly’s husband, Matt, only once. He’d stopped in during last week’s check-up to introduce himself. He had been in uniform at the time, which made Sig struggle to keep his mouth shut.
When Officer Matt Bryson extended his hand to Sig, assuming he was the father of the baby, Autumn thought Sig was going to spit on it instead of accept it.
He didn’t, to Autumn’s relief, but he didn’t accept it, either.
It was sort of a compromise.
The pounding on the door sounded again and she cursed at Judge’s impatience. He knew she was huge and was slower to get around.
But, hey, he was bringing her a whole bunch of food from Dino’s Diner so she shouldn’t bitch. She had given Sig a huge list before he left to do a repo. But just an hour ago, he texted her and said Judge would drop the food off, instead. Sig had to do a tow job for Dutch as a favor after he did the repo, so he’d be back later than expected and asked her to save him some of the loaded fries.
She made him no promises in that regard.
More pounding, even louder this time. “Okay, Judge, I’m coming! Sheesh.”
When she made it to the door, with one hand on the key she’d left in the lock, she leaned forward as best as she could with her big belly in the way and peeked through the peephole.
“Oh shit.” Her heart began to race. “Oh shit!” With a hand griping her stomach, she spun and began to look for her phone.
That wasn’t Judge outside her door.
Fuck! It wasn’t any of the Fury members at all!
She frantically moved about the room. What the hell happened to her cell phone?
Then she heard it.
A noise that froze her in place. That seized her heart. That sucked every last molecule of oxygen from her lungs.
Even though the door was metal, the frame was not. And it couldn’t withstand the force they were using on it. It gave way.
The lock had been useless all along.
She’d never been safe there. She’d been given a false sense of security.
That had been Sig’s mistake.
She should have left town right away. She should’ve kept running at the bottom of that mountain and never stopped.
Not for Sig. Not for anyone.
And that had been her mistake.
“Oh shit.” She was afraid to turn around.
The front door was her only avenue of escape.
And they were coming through it.
With burning eyes, she grabbed her stomach with both hands, dropped her head and whispered, “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”
Because she would not survive going up that mountain again.
They didn’t tell him.
They didn’t fucking tell him.
They waited until he was done with that fucking tow for Dutch and had come back to the farm with the wrecker.
Because they didn’t want him to go up there alone.
Because if he had known, he would have.
Instead, he had no idea how long Red had been up there.
No fucking idea because they could only guess.
Judge had told Trip what he found when he brought Red her food. Then Trip got everyone else together.
Everyone but him.
Trip said he didn’t want Sig flipping the fuck out.
But that wasn’t good enough.
It wasn’t.
Trip should’ve told him immediately.
Trip should’ve told him that the Shirleys knocked out Easy who was guarding the end of the lane, then drove up to the bunkhouse without anyone to stop them.
Everybody had been gone.
Including Sig.
He’d left her alone, thinking she’d be safe.
She wasn’t.
He’d been wrong.
So fucking wrong.
Judge said the only way they could’ve known where Red was at on the farm was by watching. And there were plenty of woods and buildings on the farm where they could hide and do so.
Those motherfuckers spied on them. On her.
They had planned for the right moment.
They had waited for the right time.
And when it came, when all his brothers were gone, doing the shit they needed to do, taking care of the responsibilities they had, those fuckers moved in.
And they fucking stole her.
They fucking stole her.
He promised her she’d be safe.
He fucked up.
Again.
There was no way she could run this time, not in the condition she was in. She needed them to get her free this time. She needed them to go up there and steal her back.
Because the Shirleys were not keeping her.
They were not taking that kid.
They weren’t getting anything but dead.
As soon as he had parked the rollback, he received a text from Trip to come straight into The Barn.
And when he did, every fucking member of the Fury was there. Waiting.
His gut had twisted when he saw their faces.
What they couldn’t hide.
And Stella’s face was ravaged. Her eyes were red, her nose was swollen and tears slid unchecked down her face.
And that woman was tougher than any other woman he knew.
It was seeing her that almost made him fall to his knees right there. On the floor in that barn.
Somehow he’d kept himself on his feet and they circled him, blocked him from running to the nearest exit. Blocked him from jumping on his sled and riding to that compound as fast as it would take him.
Trip was talking, Judge was talking, all of them were talking.
They were talking and not doing a fucking thing.
But he heard none of it.
All he saw was Red.
That shed.
That breeding benc
h.
And the image on the ultrasound.
They were not getting her.
They were not getting that fucking kid.
“Everybody can’t go,” someone was saying. Maybe Trip.
Sig’s head was spinning so hard, he had a hard time concentrating on the discussion.
“Need everybody available,” someone else said. Judge. “Gotta go in quietly. They’re heavily armed. And they’ll be expectin’ us.”
He was tired of all the talk, they needed to act. And they needed to do it now.
“Someone’s gotta stay back with Easy. He might have a fuckin’ concussion.” He had no idea who said that and he didn’t care. His only concern right now was Red.
“Think they’d cut that kid outta her? Would they do some fucked up shit like that?”
“My guess is that they waited ‘til she was almost due to get her back. Who knows, maybe they’ll let her go once she has it.”
Sig’s brain exploded and he screamed, “We’re not waitin’ ‘til then! We’re doin’ this now!”
“Yeah, brother, we’re not waitin’,” Trip said, way too fucking calmly.
Why the fuck wasn’t he freaking out, too? If it was his woman, he’d be losing his shit. He wouldn’t be standing around just jawing.
Sig scanned the circle of Fury members, beginning to focus. Starting to realize once they had a plan they could move. “The first one we’re starting with is that inbred leader. That motherfucker Vernon.”
“The leader would be good. Cut off the head of the serpent and let ‘em scramble,” Judge agreed.
“And his cousin-son, Tomlin,” Sig added. “And that cunt Anna. Vernon’s wife-sister. She’s dead, too.”
“Sure you wanna take out a woman, Sig?” someone asked behind him and he didn’t care who.
“That fuckin’ cunt deserves everythin’ Red got. She’s lucky I don’t strap her down to that fuckin’ bench and rip her a new goddamn asshole.”
“Jesus, Sig,” Trip whispered. “Ain’t doin’ that shit.”
No, Trip would never let him do that shit but if it was up to Sig... That bitch would pay. Get the same thing done to her as was done to Red. “A fuckin’ quick death is too good for ‘em. And lettin’ their spawn live means they might do shit like this again. Thinkin’ they all need to die.”
“Can’t kill ‘em all. Gotta do it quietly. Takin’ out a couple will go unnoticed by the pigs. We wipe out that whole mountain and someone’s gonna notice,” Deacon said.
Judge nodded. “Agreed. We take two or three out, ‘specially the leader, they’ll think twice about fuckin’ with us again. Give ‘em a warnin’ showin’ that’ll be what they’ll deal with in the future if they don’t.”
“They fuck with us again, they’re all goddamn dead,” Dutch growled. “Ain’t playin’ a game of back and forth with those assholes. This is once and done. We show ‘em a taste of the Fury and make sure it’s a taste they don’t like.”
“Who’s goin?” Ozzy asked.
“Me,” Sig said. “I’m fuckin’ goin’.”
“Not if you don’t keep your shit together, you ain’t, brother. Can’t go rippin’ in there and gettin’ us all killed,” Judge said.
“Yeah, need to do this quick and quiet,” Trip agreed.
“Who’s got military trainin’ besides Trip?” Deacon asked.
“Nobody needs fuckin’ military trainin’ to go up there and slice some goddamn throats!” Sig yelled. They needed to move now and stop all this fucking talking.
Red was up on that mountain and who the fuck knew what the Shirleys were doing to her while they were down there jerking on their dicks.
“Dutch, you stay with Easy. Get ‘im to the hospital if it’s needed,” Trip ordered. “The rest of you are goin’ up there. Dodge, you’re stickin’ with Stella. You got me?”
“Got it.”
“Got one goal and three targets.” Trip the biker was gone, a Marine in his place. “Goal’s gettin’ Autumn out of there alive and in one fuckin’ piece. Targets are Vernon, Tomlin and Anna Shirley. Soon as one of us locates Autumn, that person’s gettin’ her the fuck outta there and to Stella and Dodge who’ll be waiting down by the road in Stella’s Jeep. Dodge, want you armed. Stel, you wait with him and need you to get Autumn the fuck away from there as soon as possible. You get her to the doc if you need to. Do not fuckin’ wait for us to come back down that mountain. You just go. She’s priority.”
“Trip,” she whispered, her face now pale.
“Gonna be okay, just need you to stick to your orders, yeah?”
Stella nodded. “Okay.”
“The rest of us is gonna fan out and then close in like a noose. One of those fuckers shoots at you, take ‘im out. They shoot, they die. Make sure you bring whatever weapons you got. Guns, knives, clubs, what-fuckin-ever. Don’t give a shit if it’s legal or not. You got shit I don’t know about on this property that’s illegal, grab it. Then after this is over, it’s gone. You get me?”
A few grumbled yeahs were heard.
“Try not to shoot anyone if possible ‘cause of ballistics. Unless you got a shotgun. Then it don’t matter.”
“We done talkin’ ‘bout this shit?” Sig yelled, his fingers curled into fists and pressed to his thighs. He was soon going to barrel through the circle of men surrounding him and head up that mountain on his own.
Trip grimaced. “Yeah, brother, we’re done. Know you can’t have weapons, but know you got some, go get ‘em. You’re ridin’ with me.” He began to walk toward the front of the barn. “No sleds. They’re too loud. Gonna park the cages at the bottom where there’s a pull-off, then hoof it up the mountain together. You hear me?”
This time a loud roar of yeahs went up and most of their brotherhood headed for the bunkhouse to get ready while Trip and Stella headed out the front.
“Everyone meet at the house in five. Then we roll,” Trip shouted over his shoulder.
Thank fuck.
Sig headed out to one of the sheds where he kept Razor’s Sig Sauer, an old Beretta, his oversized buck knife and a blackjack hidden. He hid everything on his person, then headed to the farmhouse to meet up with Trip.
He was ready to fucking roll.
Chapter Nineteen
Sig snuck as quietly as he could through the woods near the shed, Judge on his heels. Trip probably put the big man with him to make sure he didn’t go rogue and just take out everyone up there.
“Fuck,” he muttered. The door was still hanging open like the last time he saw it, but he leaned inside anyway to check to make sure it was empty.
“What the fuck is this?” Judge asked in a low, quiet voice.
“Just what you think it is,” Sig answered.
The club’s enforcer pointed a small LED flashlight into the building and took a peek inside. “Get the fuck outta here. This was where she was kept?”
“That ain’t the half of it, brother.”
“Jesus fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“This whole fuckin’ mountain needs to be dynamited.”
“Fuckin’ got any?” Sig asked. “’Cause I’m all fuckin’ for that.”
“Even if I did, blowin’ this whole place up might catch unwanted attention.”
“No shit. But might be worth it.”
“You landin’ in prison for fuckin’ life won’t help Autumn.”
Sig shook his head. “Thought I was helpin’ her. Them snaggin’ her proved I wasn’t. Shoulda took her elsewhere.”
“Your goddamn self-fuckin-pity right now ain’t helpin’. Just shut the fuck up about it and let’s keep lookin’. Where else?”
“She said Vernon and Tomlin lived in the main house. Anna should be in there, too, unless they’re all in hidin’. And if they are, we’re fucked. They could be anywhere. Sure they got all kinds of hidey-holes up here and maybe even bunkers.”
“Not thinkin’ they’re that smart. And their stupidity makes ‘em think they’re some kinda militia, whi
ch they ain’t. They’re just a bunch of inbred hillbillies with guns,” Judge said, then added, “Which don’t mean they ain’t dangerous, they are. Stupidity will get you killed.”
“Yeah.” He was pretty sure the Shirleys had won their share of the Darwin Awards.
“Trip, Rook and that Shady motherfucker were headin’ to the house.”
“Yeah, with the shed empty, hope to fuck they got her in the house. For fuck’s sake, she better still be breathin’.”
“And if she ain’t? Then we’re findin’ that dynamite,” Judge told him.
“Yeah.”
Fuck, after the Fury imploded and the survivors scattered, Sig never cared about anyone in his goddamn life except his baby sister, Syn. And only because he felt sorry she was born to their whore mother. Then he lost track of his sister the last few years during his last stint in that New York prison.
So, yeah, he’d cared about his sister and now Red.
He tried to protect both of them. He did his best for both of them.
But he failed Red for sure.
They never should’ve gotten their hands on her. Never.
And that was all his fault for letting his guard down.
If she survived this...
He would hand her his belt and she could beat him until he paid the fair price for failing her.
He would accept every strike no matter how hard it was because he’d deserve every fucking one. If she handed that belt off to someone else who could hit harder than her, someone like Judge, he’d be okay with that, too.
Whatever pain she endured during this, he needed to endure the same.
After clearing the barn and a couple other small outbuildings, Sig and Judge stuck to the edge of the woods—not out in the open and not where there may be booby-traps—and headed toward the main house.
They stopped when they saw a dark figure ahead of them hunkered down behind a junk car.
“That one of ‘em?” Sig asked, having a hard time making out whoever it was. And it turned out, that person was bent over someone else.
“Looks like that Shady motherfucker,” Judge muttered under his breath.
Blood & Bones: Sig (Blood Fury MC Book 2) Page 26