by L. P. Maxa
All heads snapped toward her. Molly gasped and Madden jumped to her feet, her eyes as round as saucers. “Are you joking right now? That’s not funny, Corey, we’re in a safe room with no way out.”
Corey took a deep breath, wincing as she shook her head. “Not kidding, not even remotely. I, um, was having some back pain throughout the day and I thought maybe it was normal pregnancy stuff. I’m not due for another three weeks and you know, we had this murder planned.”
“Corey. Are you telling me that you’ve been having contractions all fucking day? And now your water broke?” Madden looked like she was close to having a small stroke. Not that Pen could blame her. Corey and her precious baby girl really did have shit timing.
“Yep. I think I am.” Corey’s voice cracked. “And I’m feeling a little emotional, so if you could not yell at me right now, please.”
Molly crossed the room to sit by Corey’s side, taking her hand in hers. “Oh wow, are you crying?”
Corey nodded, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. “I’m having my daughter in a safe room while my husband helps kill a violent criminal who enjoys beating on women and children.” Molly handed her a tissue from the stack of napkins in the center of the table. “There’s a lot going on, internally, you know?
“Okay. Okay. It’s okay.” Madden clapped her hands together once, jumping into gear. “I’m a nurse. I’ve helped deliver babies before. I can do this.”
Her words knocked something loose in Pen’s brain. She shook her head, clearing the remaining funk from being locked in here while her mate fought someone to the death. “Me too. I’ve assisted in plenty of births.” She moved about the kitchen, looking for some of the tools they would need.
“See? We’re totally fine.” Madden took the hand sanitizer Pen had found under the sink in the bathroom. “Now, take off your pants and spread your legs.”
Corey snorted, and then started to giggle. “Sorry, I’ll try to be serious.” She bit her lips together, but more laughter bubbled out. “We’re close, but not hand-in-my-vag close.”
Madden shrugged, cocking her head to the side. “Well, we’re about to be. I need to see how far you’re dilated, preggo.” She held up her hand. “They’re clean, and smaller than your OB’s. So. There’s that.” Corey nodded and they helped her move down to the floor in the living room where Molly had quickly made a pallet with all the pillows she could find.
“Holy hell, Corey, you’re fucking seven centimeters.” She sat back, her face incredulous. “How much pain have you been in?”
“It hurt, like a lot, but I get a break every few minutes so…”
Madden raised her voice, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How long have you been in active labor?”
“I don’t know. Stop yelling at me.” Corey leaned back, burying her face in Molly’s arm. She closed her eyes, tears leaking out the sides.
Pen felt bad for Corey, but she also felt a little bad for Madden. If Corey was already seven centimeters, there was a good chance Maddi was going to have to deliver her best friend’s baby. Talk about pressure.
Madden grabbed Pen’s arm and hauled her away from where Molly was currently pulling deep breathing exercises out of her ass to help calm Corey down. “I’ve only helped deliver babies, I’ve never done it without a doctor present.”
Pen winced. “Me neither.” She straightened. “But I did deliver a goat once, and I did that all by myself.” There had been no one else around when she’d found the momma goat struggling in her little pen. She’d seen other villagers do it, so she’d stepped in to help. “I had to push the baby back in and straighten one of its legs out.”
“Well, let’s pray that we don’t need that skill tonight.” They walked back to Corey, and Madden began rubbing Corey’s feet, and then her calves while smiling like a crazy person. “You’re going to be okay, preggo, both of you are.”
Molly gathered Corey’s dark hair in her hands, fanning her neck. “Maddi is going to have to come up with a new nickname for you soon.”
Madden wrinkled her forehead. “Why?”
“Well, after tonight she’s not going to be pregnant anymore.” Molly gestured to the fact that Corey was currently in labor.
Madden threw her head back, laughing. “I don’t call her preggo, like because she’s pregnant. Is that what everyone thought?”
“Uh, yeah.” Molly nodded, glancing at Pen to make sure she wasn’t alone.
“I call her prego, like the spaghetti sauce.” Madden smirked, patting Corey’s thigh. “During a game of truth or dare I dared Corey to eat an entire jar of the stuff.”
“Which I did.” Corey held her hand up, interjecting the story.
“You certainly did.” Madden started giggling. “And then she threw it allll back up on her little junior high crush. What was his name?”
“Ryan.”
“Ryan, that’s right.” Madden pursed her lips. “I wonder what ever happened to him?”
“I think he became a chef.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Baze
Baze was in the hallway, peeking around the wall, watching while two men tried to open the patio doors. They failed, and then part of the back deck blew up. Baze’s eyes went wide, glancing behind him to Linc. “How long has that deck been rigged to blow?”
“I don’t know.”
“We all walked out there at some point today.” Baze made a what-the-hell face.
“I told you that kid was crazy.”
Jace was crazy, but so were they for that matter. They were whispering back and forth while two men were bleeding out on the back patio. Maybe this was part of pack mentality too? You took on the characteristics of the people you surrounded yourself with. And currently, Jace was running the show.
“Two left, right?” Baze peeked around the corner again. “Franklin and one more of his henchmen?”
Linc nodded, agreeing with his count. “That means it’s time for me to go.” Linc held up his hand for a high-five and then made his way up the stairs.
Baze and Linc were supposed to watch and make sure that the two men who had split off from the group didn’t make it into the house. Once it was clear they weren’t going anywhere, Linc was supposed to go upstairs with Keller and Dom. Keller was in position on the landing, like a sniper. It was his job to take out any men who weren’t Franklin.
Baze moved farther down the hallway, sliding into the bathroom across from Jace’s office. The office where Jace and his twin were currently sitting, waiting for their father. Jace had wanted to end it all by himself, but Jasper refused to let him.
Baze took a deep breath when he heard the first gunshot ring out. Keller must have hit his mark, because after that, Franklin spoke. “All right, son, you did it. You got me alone, now come out and face me like a man.”
Baze opened the bathroom door, watching Jace’s office like a hawk. Would he come out, would they both come out? Would Baze really be able to let Jace walk into his living room to kill his father?
“You know how I feel about hiding, little fox.” There was a pause, and then Franklin’s voice rose, booming through the house. “It’s such a disgusting weakness. But it’s what you’re good at, I suppose. That’s what this fortress is, right? Just one giant fucking hiding place.”
Baze’s phone vibrated in his hand, the secure group message Jace had set up for the guys. It was Linc.
Keller has a clear shot.
Baze wanted to tell him to take it. His thumb was hovering over the keyboard, moments away from replying. When the office door opened and Jace stepped out, Baze locked eyes with his beta and watched as he calmly adjusted his shirt collar and then turned on his heel and strode down the hallway like it was a fucking runway. Baze followed after him, staying quiet and a few steps behind.
“I wasn’t hiding, I was waiting.” Jace stood across from his father, their postures mirror images. “Took you long enough.”
“Yes well.” Thunder boomed outside
, rattling the windows. “I wanted to make a dramatic entrance.”
Jace scoffed, a smirk on his face. “You had to wait for me to let you in.”
“Your little pyrotechnics were amusing, but none of my men are dead. They’re all still outside, waiting to pick the rest of you off.” Franklin smiled. “One by one.”
Jace chuckled. “Oh you poor man, you don’t actually think my systems are down, do you? I know that all four of your men are bleeding on my lawn as we speak.” Franklin’s smile fell, only slightly. If Baze had blinked, he’d have missed it. “And that vehicle full of bodies you saw going down the mountain earlier? They were an optical illusion.” Jace had filled an Uber with blow-up dolls and sent it back to campus before the rain came.
“I figured your little team wouldn’t leave you to face the big bad wolf all on your own.” Franklin frowned, like he felt sorry for his son. “And the storm did seem rather convenient. So I made sure to bring more men than I thought I’d need.”
Baze froze. There were more? Where? He grabbed his phone, about to text the others to warn them, when shots filled the air.
“Those men?” Jace nodded, speaking loudly over the gunfire. “It sounds like they met Matias.”
“So this is it then? Send me off with those two pathetic rent-a-cops you have stationed in town? Pin me with murder and whatever else you and your sorry excuse for a pack dug up?” He laughed humorlessly. “Is that why you took my money? Get rid of me and set yourself up for life?”
“I don’t need your money.” Jace smiled, wide. “I donated it to a shelter for abused women and children.” He took a step toward his father. “And as far as turning you over to the Feds? We both know there’s not much use. You’ll lawyer up, and pay people off, promising them money you no longer have of course.”
Jasper crept up beside Baze, his finger to his lips, telling him not to say anything. He pulled a gun from the back of his pants, clicking off the safety.
“What’s the plan then, son?”
“I’m going to kill you.” Jace took another step forward, and then he reared back and punched Franklin in the face. He stumbled back, but he didn’t go down. “Except I’m going to knock you around a bit first.” He hit him again, but when he went in for a third time, Franklin ducked and then landed a shot to Jace’s gut that had him doubling over.
Baze stood, ready to step in, but Jasper grabbed his arm, halting his movement. “He needs to do this, he needs to exorcise a few demons first.”
They watched as Jace battled his father, both of them swinging and connecting until everything in the room was broken and they were both dripping blood from their hands and faces.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Penelope
Madden took a deep calming breath. “This is the fastest labor in the history of labors, Corey.”
“Please don’t start yelling at me again.” Corey shook her head, speaking in between her panting breaths. Pregnant Corey was kind of a hard-ass bitch. Laboring Corey? Super emotional.
“She’s not.” Molly sent Madden a glare, warning her to be nice to their friend. Their friend who was currently dilated nine fucking centimeters.
“How are we on time?” Madden whispered to Pen, trying to keep Corey from hearing.
Pen checked her watch. “It’s been about fifty minutes or so, that door should be opening soon.” Whether their guys were okay or not, Grimes and Brooks would be here to let them out.
“I feel like I need to push.” Corey was crying at this point, but so was Molly. Probably because Corey had a death grip on her arm. “It hurts and I need to push. Okay? I need her to come out now. This isn’t fun, you guys, it hurts and I’m not in a hospital and I don’t know if Dom is alive or not. And this is really starting to suck.”
“She’s having this baby in here.” Pen turned to the left, looking down at Madden, who was positioned between Corey’s legs. “We are out of time.”
Madden nodded her head, over and over like she was trying to psych herself up. “I can do this. I have to do this. I don’t have a choice, right?”
“Right.” Pen squirted more hand sanitizer on Madden’s now bloody hands. They had used the whole bottle by this point. “I have the blankets in the dryer, and I have scissors to cut the cord.” Why wouldn’t Jace put a washer/dryer combo in his saferoom? Why wouldn’t he prepare for people to have to stay in here long enough to need to clean their clothes?
“When you see the head, you know, come all the way out. Get the blankets.” Pen gave Madden the thumbs-up and then winced when she lifted the throw they had over Corey’s lap. Having a baby was messy, and kind of gross. Pen kept waiting for the beautiful miracle of life part to happen, something to redeem the whole process. “Okay, Corey, during your next contraction, you can push.”
“Are you sure? You aren’t going to drop her, are you?” Corey was crying profusely, tears streaming down her red face. Her dark hair was plastered to her neck.
“I won’t drop her, I promise.” Madden leaned over, whispering to Pen. “They’re so slippery when they come out, put your hands underneath mine in case I drop her.”
“Okay, I feel a contraction.” Her face screwed up in pain. “I’m going to push now.”
“Good. Push.” Molly screamed when Corey screamed, probably from the pain in her arm.
Pen and Madden screamed from the sight of their friend’s body being stretched beyond capacity.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Baze
Franklin stumbled back from Jace’s last hit, catching himself on the long coffee table that lay in partial shambles on the floor. He reached for his gun, but Jace was there in time. He kicked it, sending the weapon sailing across the room.
Franklin put his hands in the air. “You finally got to hit me back, son, how does it feel?” Jace shook his head, refusing to answer. “The thing you’ve yet to realize is, you’re exactly like me. You’re cold, you’re calculated, you’re meticulous, and no matter how many people you surround yourself with, you’re better off on your own.”
“I’m not you. I’m not,” Jace screamed at Franklin, blood flying from his mouth.
“You learned all this because of me, because I taught it to you.” Franklin’s arms were wide, encompassing the house and everything in it. “I molded you to be the man you are today, I’m the reason you’ve made it this far.”
“You’re wrong.” Jace shook his head, his arms heavy at his side. “I’ve made it this far despite you, not because of you.”
“You are me.”
“No. I’m nothing like you.” Jace was yelling into the night, not only trying to convince his father he was wrong but also trying to convince himself that he was right. That he wasn’t like his father, that he was his own man. A good man. “You’re a monster.” He grabbed the gun from the back of his pants, aiming it at his father.
Franklin laughed loudly, like he found this whole exchange amusing. “Pointing a gun at your old man? Who’s the monster here?”
“Looks like that would be me.” Jasper stepped out of the shadows and fired three rounds straight into Franklin’s chest. The man dropped instantly, lying unmoving by the light of the fireplace.
Jace collapsed onto the ground, exhaustion taking him over. He peered up at his twin. “Why did you do that? I was going to kill him.”
“You are nothing like the man who raised you.” Jasper knelt down next to his twin. “And I refuse to let him make you think you are.” He put his hand on Jace’s head, kissing his hair briefly. “You already have enough demons, bro, I can carry this one.”
Jace hung his head, the sound of him crying filling the room. It was finally over. The battle that he’d been fighting since birth had come to an end in the middle of his living room at the hands of his twin. Jace didn’t have to fight anymore, and the relief had to be overwhelming.
Baze stepped into the room, looking up as Dom, Linc, Keller, and Riley made their way down the stairs. Matias came in through the glass doors, covered wit
h more blood than any of them. They all stood there for a moment, absorbed by the silence. Even the storm had passed.
“Grimes and Brooks will be here any minute.” Jace stood, wiping his eyes. “We need to decide what we’re going to tell them.”
“Seems to me like we were hanging out, minding our own business, when Franklin and his men came to kill us all.” Dom shrugged, like it was so simple.
“Jace tried his best to hold him off until the Feds could get here, but Franklin pulled a gun.” Riley spoke softly, his eyes trained on the dead body in the corner. “If it wasn’t for Jasper, Jace would be dead.”
“I’m a motherfucking hero, boys.” Jasper grinned, clapping Riley on the back.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Penelope
Pen ran to the dryer, pulling out the warm blankets and then making it back to her friends just in time to watch their littlest pack member come into the world. There it was, the miracle that made all the pain and suffering worth it. “She’s so perfect, Corey.” Pen was smiling through tears.
“One more push, like, a small one, okay? Don’t like shoot her out or anything.” Madden nudged Pen with her shoulder, signaling her to put her hands out in case the baby slipped through her hands.
Corey cried out, pushing one final time. Madden caught the baby like she’d done it a hundred times before. And then Pen helped suction out her nose and mouth with the turkey baster she’d found in the kitchen. You know, in case one wanted to roast a bird in the safe room.
The baby let out a tiny wail, the sound making them all smile. She was alive, and she was okay. Corey was doing okay, and their hour was almost up.
They’d made it, but had everyone else?
Madden laid the baby on Corey’s chest. The one thing they didn’t have was a good clamp, but Madden assured them that they could leave the cord attached for a few minutes safely.
“Okay, girls, time-out is over. I hope you thought long and hard while you were…holy fuck. Is that a baby?” Linc stopped short, his face a mask of confusion and horror.