by Jamie Begley
“Call them. I’ll lock the door.” If Killyama felt threatened, then they needed to worry. Sex Piston trusted her instincts.
Moving toward the door, she stopped at the sight of a man walking in the door with a gun in his hand.
“Dale, what are you doing!?” T.A. took a step forward, but Crazy Bitch took her arm and pulled her back.
“What do you think, you stupid bitch? I told you that I wasn’t done with you. Did you think that biker watching me was going to protect you? Hell, Killyama was better. The one that you sent to replace her won’t be watching anyone anymore.” He smirked.
The door opened again and Joker came in. Momentarily, relief flew through Sex Piston until shock replaced it when she saw the gun in his hand before he turned and locked the door.
“Get them in the back so no one can see them through the windows,” Joker ordered.
“Who’s going to see them?” Dale snickered, but motioned for the women to move toward the back of the shop.
“Traffic may be getting slowly through, but we lost too much time waiting to see if someone was going to come in behind her.” Joker nodded his head toward a pale Lily who hadn’t turned her chair around to face the men. Instead, she was watching them through the mirror with terror-filled eyes.
“Move it!” Dale ordered.
Killyama took a threatening step toward the men until Joker pointed his gun at her.
“Take another step toward me, you psycho bitch, and I will shoot one of them and Dale will kill you. Now move that ass of yours.”
Killyama froze before turning and walking toward the back of the shop.
Sex Piston, Crazy Bitch, T.A. and Fat Louise started to follow Killyama. Lily sat frozen until Joker went to her, pulling her roughly to her feet and shoving her toward the other women. Sex Piston grabbed Lily’s arm before she could fall.
“Are you all right?” Sex Piston asked her.
Lily nodded her head, walking silently with the other women. When they were at the back of the salon in the small break room, Sex Piston knew it wasn’t looking good for them. Both men’s hatred was obvious as they stared at their exes with self-satisfied smirks. Neither one of the bastards could hold a job down, but they were proud as shit that they could hold them prisoners with guns. Both were too chicken shit to try to take them on without the lethal weapons.
“I’ll watch them while you go get the money out of the register,” Joker told Dale who then left the room.
“Joker, don’t do this,” Crazy Bitch said, trying to reach the man she had lived with for over a year. Sex Piston could have told her it was a lost cause, and his harsh words to her friend proved her correct.
“Do what, Crazy Bitch? You couldn’t dump me fast enough when Stud and his men took over our club. You didn’t care that you dumped me in front of my brothers. Why should I give a crap about you and your friends?”
Her friend tried to pacify the vindictive man. “I was going to call you to try to work things out.”
“I don’t want your crazy ass back. Hell, the only reason I put up with you was to keep a roof over my head. It would have been easier to work a ten-hour shift than to fuck around with you. Thanks to Sex Piston’s money I won’t have to do either for a while.” The dumbass was actually bragging about being a lazy ass. Sex Piston wished she had the bat they kept in the backseat of their car. The bastard would be more than injured. The fucker would be dead.
“I don’t keep much money in the register, just enough to make change. I wasn’t leaving cash in my drawer for some lazy fuck to come in and rob me,” Sex Piston told Joker, seeing her remark angered him. She was trying to draw his attention as Killyama tried to edge closer to him.
“She’s telling the truth. She only has twenty dollars in the register,” Dale said as he walked back into the room. He angrily walked up to T.A. “I thought you told me she had all kinds of money sitting around.”
T.A. stared back defiantly. “Ever hear of bank deposits?”
Dale lifted his hand with the gun in it and smacked her across her face. T.A. fell back against Lily who did her best to keep them from both falling. She was unsuccessful and they both fell to the floor hard.
“Get up!” Dale screamed, pointing the gun at T.A. “I didn’t set half the town on fire for twenty dollars!”
“You started the fire?” Crazy Bitch asked.
“It’s kept the cops busy, hasn’t it?” Bending down, he grabbed a handful of T.A.’s hair and pulled the struggling woman to her feet. Lily rose slowly to her own feet, the cape around her tearing slightly as she stepped on it to regain her footing. She put out a trembling hand to smooth her hair away from her terrified face. Sex Piston noticed a lump on the side of her forehead from where she had hit her head when she had fallen.
“What are we going to do now?” Dale asked, moving backward to Joker as he carefully kept the women in his view.
“She’s going to take you to the bank and withdraw some cash. If she tries anything, kill her.” Pointing the gun at Sex Piston, he made his threat clear. “I’ll kill one of these sluts every thirty minutes until you’re back.”
Sex Piston’s blood ran cold at Joker’s threat.
“Let’s go.” Dale motioned Sex Piston out the door.
Her thoughts raced as she tried to figure out a plan to free her friends. In her car they kept the bat, but the chances of her actually grabbing it or the weapons Killyama had in the trunk weren’t very high when he had a gun pointed at her.
“Move your ass. And, Sex Piston, you try any shit with me and I’ll make sure that I kill you then kill every one of those bitches waiting for you to come back,” Dale ordered harshly.
Sex Piston gave him a cold glare as she slowly started to walk out of the room. “You always were a dick, Dale. You think I’m stupid enough that I haven’t already figured out that you’re planning on killing us anyway?”
The expression on his face confirmed her worst fears.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’ll get you money,” she gave in, figuring that she stood a better chance getting Dale alone than cramped into the small back room with two guns pointed at them.
It was better if they separated. Maybe one of them would be able to manage to escape. She caught Killyama and T.A.’s eyes, passing the silent message.
Sex Piston spun on her heels and walked to the front of the store, leading Dale through the empty shop. Unlocking the front door, she searched the parking lot with a quick glance.
“Lock the door back up,” Dale ordered. Sex Piston took her shop keys out of her pocket.
“Move,” she demanded him to get out of her way before turning back toward the door. After she locked the door, he jerked her away and pushed her toward her car parked on the side of the building. The parking lot was pitch black as she carefully walked so that she wouldn’t trip in her high-heeled boots.
She opened her car door, forcing Dale to take a step back.
Hearing a shuffle, she looked over her shoulder to find Stud’s arm around Dale’s neck from behind, holding him still while Shade took the gun out of his hand. Shade pointed the gun at Dale while Stud pressed against Dale’s throat until he passed out. Stud let him fall to the ground.
Bear moved out of the shadows, picking up Dale as the other brothers from the club came out of the darkness.
“Put him somewhere and leave two men watching over him,” Stud told Bear.
Sex Piston watched as they carried Dale off before turning back to Stud and Shade.
“You okay?” Stud asked.
She nodded, barely able to keep herself from throwing herself into his arms. She had learned to be tough long ago. Right now, she needed to keep her mind on her friends who were still in danger.
“Joker has the others in the back of the shop, Stud. He has a gun pointed on them,” Sex Piston told them.
“We know.” Stud grimly moved toward her to take her in his arms, holding her close. Sex Piston allowed herself a moment to relax against hi
m.
“How?”
“Lily. We’ve been listening in on her cell phone,” Shade answered.
Sex Piston thought of the cape around her, which would have hidden all her movements.
“Thank God.” If she had removed the cape, then Joker and Dale would have taken the cell phone away. No one had thought of Lily having a cell phone in her pocket concealed by the large cape.
“Stay here.” Stud released her after giving her a tight squeeze.
“I’m going with you. I can go in the door first and distract him,” Sex Piston argued.
“You’re staying here,” he demanded, turning away, but she reached out and grabbed his arm, forcing him to listen to her.
“You’ve never been inside my shop. He has a gun on my friends. You go through that door first, then Joker might shoot. Please, Stud.” It took everything she had to plead with him. Any other time, she would just do what she wanted, but she wanted Stud to trust her enough to know what she was doing.
“Let her go. If he starts shooting in a small room, any of those women could be hit by a bullet. If she could get his back to the door, then we can take him,” Shade said grimly.
Stud hesitated before nodding his head.
Sex Piston went to the door alone and unlocked it. Holding it open, the men moved silently into the shop. They moved behind the counter, trying to keep their reflections from the mirrors. At Shades nod, she walked toward the back of the shop, trying to beat down the panic flooding through her veins. She was aware Stud and Shade were maneuvering themselves closer to her.
Stud had a gun in his hand while Shade’s remained empty, but the deadly look in his eyes made him every bit as frightening as Stud who carried the weapon with expert ease. Sex Piston released a long breath, letting the tension flow from her body. She had to be strong for her friends and for Lily. She had two deadly men at her back and numerous brothers converging on her shop.
She wasn’t that same girl who had faced numerous challenges on her own; she hadn’t been for a long time, but had never let herself truly realize it before. Strength and resolve shone on her face when she stepped into the doorway to face Joker.
He jerked the pistol toward her. Her eyes went to the others in the room. Joker had been amusing himself since she had left. She had been right; he had no intention of leaving any one of them alive. Crazy Bitch was on her knees on the floor; her lip bloodied and a bruise forming on her cheek. Killyama was holding Lily protectively; the cape she had been wearing was now gone and her hand cradled in the other one was a mangled mess.
T.A. and Fat Louise had separated and were standing on opposite sides of the room. Sex Piston knew they were waiting for the opportunity to attack Joker. None of her crew showed fear—they never had.
“Looks like you’ve been busy, Joker.”
“Where’s Dale?” he asked, his eyes going to the doorway behind her.
“He said to tell you to go fuck yourself, and took off,” Sex Piston taunted the man.
“You’re lying!”
“No, I’m not. When we got outside, he took off.” Sex Piston shrugged, looking at T.A. “I always told you he was a pussy.”
Sex Piston could see that Joker was torn in whether to believe her or not. Evidently, his doubt won out because he moved toward her. Sex Piston tried to move to the side so that she could get his back to the door, but Joker was too lost in his anger. Reacting violently to Dale’s supposed departure, he grabbed Sex Piston, but before he could hit her, which was his intention, Killyama was on him. She had picked up one of the break chairs and crashed it down on the back of his head.
Stud and Shade were already running into the room, but Sex Piston couldn’t get out of their way fast enough in the small room to keep Joker from blindly reacting. He fired his gun into the crowded room. It was the first time Sex Piston actually heard her crew scream in terror.
Shade managed to grab the gun away from Joker. Turning the gun to point directly at him, he fired a bullet into the side of Joker’s abdomen.
“That will keep you busy.” Shade’s voice was as cold as his ice blue eyes.
Sex Piston looked around, praying silently. Her eyes went to Crazy Bitch who was getting to her feet. Lily shakily scooted closer to Fat Louise as T.A. rushed over to them. Fat Louise was lying on the floor, blood pouring from her leg. T.A. grabbed some towels from the shelf to try to stop the bleeding, and Lily sank down next to her, taking her hand with her good one. Her other hand fell uselessly to her lap.
Bear and Pike came in the door. “The state police are outside and an ambulance is on the way,” Bear informed them.
Sex Piston went to her friend, going down on her knees beside her. Fat Louise’s eyes rose to hers. Sex Piston’s eyes watered, but she fought back tears.
“You’re going to be okay,” Sex Piston told her.
Fat Louise nodded, trusting her friend’s judgment without question. She always had.
The women finally moved away as the ambulance technicians came through the door. It was too cramped in the small room, so everyone was forced to move outside to the shop as they worked on Fat Louise and checked on Lily who was turning pale. The red rubber band on her wrist, that was definitely broken, was a reminder that she might not be handling the situation as well as she seemed. The ambulance had removed Joker from the room to deal with his gunshot wound.
Two State Troopers came into the shop once the technicians cleared out. One approached Sex Pistol, asking questions, while the other went to Shade. She answered all of his questions as quickly as she could, wanting to be near her friend. Finally satisfied, the officer moved on to asking T.A. the same questions they had just asked her.
Killyama moved toward her when she saw the trooper turn to T.A., but Shade stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the officer questioning him.
“I saw you putting yourself in front of Lily.” His hard face stared at her friend. “Then you tried to take that bastard out before we could touch him. You still want that ride with Rider, it’s yours.”
Killyama’s face broke into a vindictive smile. “I’ll take you up on that, Shade.”
Shaking his head, he turned back to the man questioning him. The trooper had just finished questioning Shade when a stretcher with Lily on it was rolled out. He quickly followed them out the door, his facial expression daring anyone to try to stop him.
“I might have been wrong about that man,” Killyama said.
“I doubt it,” Sex Piston said. She had felt the tension in Shade when Lily’s stretcher had rolled past. The man’s muscles had bulged as his hands had clenched at his sides. The man was a ticking time bomb, and Sex Piston was grateful that The Last Riders were the ones that had to deal with that loose cannon.
Stud’s arm circled her waist from behind. “You ready? The technician said you can ride with Fat Louise.”
“Thanks, Stud.” She turned her head, kissing him on his jaw before moving away to the ambulance that Fat Louise was being rolled into. She was confident her friends would lock up the shop after the police cleared out.
Climbing into the ambulance, she took a seat on the bench next to Fat Louise’s stretcher. Her head turned and she saw the relief in the pretty gold eyes before they closed against her pale cheeks. Fat Louise was their weakest link, but sometimes their strongest. She was a total screw up at times and yet, whenever anyone needed something done that no one wanted to do, Fat Louise always came through.
She was the one that knew the most about what Sex Piston had gone through when she had been bullied in middle school because she had experienced it herself before Crazy Bitch and Killyama had taken her under their wing.
The ride to the hospital was short and she became increasingly concerned when she heard over the intercom—in which the drivers of the two ambulances talked to each other—that Lily had lost consciousness. The lights on the ambulance behind them began blaring and then gaining speed while theirs slowed so the other could overtake them, speeding away.
Fat Louise and her stared at each other, worried about Beth’s sister. She was a sweet woman who Beth obviously worshiped and had raised since their parents’ death.
The ambulance pulled into the hospital and they rolled Fat Louise’s stretcher from the vehicle, telling Sex Piston to do the required paperwork then wait in the waiting room. Sex Piston wanted to argue, but knew it would do no good.
Giving her friend a quick word of encouragement, she went to find the check-in counter, which was easy to do since the commotion hit her when she walked in through the sliding doors.
Utter chaos was taking place in the form of Shade, who was trying to get inside where the patients were being treated. Two security officers were holding him back, threatening to place him under arrest.
“Shit.” Sex Piston rushed forward as he slammed the men together, knocking them on their asses.
“Shade,” Sex Piston tried to intervene then thought better of it when she saw his face.
The sliding doors opened behind her and Stud, Viper and Razer entered to find her trying to deal with a crazed Shade.
Razer and Viper took on Shade while Stud helped the security guards to their feet. Taking them to the side, she could see him talking quietly to them. Razer and Viper were both attempting unsuccessfully to stop Shade from going into the room where Lily was being treated. Shade shook off Viper then rounded on Razer, throwing him up against the wall, his forearm pressed against Razer’s throat.
“I’m fucking done. You hear me, Razer?” Razer managed to nod his head against the pressure Shade was exerting against his throat. “That woman in there could die. I haven’t even been able to touch her yet, feel her against me, or even fucking kiss her because I’ve let what little conscience I have left, and my friendship with you, stop me. No more. You deal with Beth however you want, but I’m done with everyone telling me to stay away from her. Do you fucking understand me?” Again Razer nodded.