by Sierra Rose
"Yeah, but which kind remains to be seen!" Caroline Wren spat as she moved up beside Dennis and lifted a pair of binoculars to her face. I had to smile. Carline didn't even bother concealing her identity. She wore her navy blue ATF jacket on her back. She was borderline cocky, and not well liked, but the bitch got stuff done. Quickly.
"Maybe we'll both get lucky," Andy said optimistically.
"Morrison's got nothing to do with this..." Caroline murmured as she continued to peer out the window.
"No, I mean luck. Like dumb luck, good luck, bad luck..." Andy said as he rambled on, but when it became apparent that Caroline wasn't listening to him, he griped, "Ah, never mind..."
Caroline turned back and smiled at me. "Nice work, Dane. You drew him out. Now what the fuck are we going to do about Selene? What’s the next part of your lovely ad hoc plan?"
“Oh fuck. Some of them are on the move.” Dennis moved back from the door and turned. “We need to move out. Raphael is still out front, losing his shit, but the others are headed back into the house. I don’t like it. Doesn’t feel right.”
I turned and opened the back door of the shop and stepped out into the chilly night just in time to watch a black Porsche Cayenne rip out of the driveway of the Black Heart Motorcycle Club.
Caroline yelled from inside the shop, catching all of our attention. "Shit! Mateo Delgado is on the move. Don’t lose him!"
Chapter 15
Lucky
“What was that?” Viper asked as he heard the shots ring out into the night sky as we all pulled over to the side of the road just outside of town.
I looked into the distance darkly as I replied, “I don’t know, but I sure as hell am going to find out.”
I revved my vintage Harley to life as his brothers in arms followed me out of Pritchard Lane in a hurry. Leaving the worried father back at his trailer sucked like hell, but there wasn’t much else we could do. Something was going down, and the Stone Wolves were the only ones who were brave enough to figure out what the hell was happening in the middle of our town.
Every club in town had their own share of shady dealings but for the most part, but the Stone Wolves tried to protect Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania. Even if the gun shots were not a direct threat on one of their own, the shots disrupted the peace in the tiny mountain town, and we took that very personally.
While the other men were annoyed at the disturbance, I carried a heavy weight in my heart. There was something wrong. I just knew it. I couldn’t get my damn phone to work due to letting the battery drain out, but I knew I’d have a text message from my girl telling me that she needed me. I cursed myself and prayed like hell that everything was okay with her. I didn’t just want her in my life, I needed her.
Winding the curves of Potomac Glenn Pass, we roamed from the deep forest and into the streets of Pleasant Valley as we chased after the gun shots that had cried out over our town. I hoped that no one was injured, but if someone was, at least let it be a Black Heart. Any of them but Selene.
Shit, Lena. Please be okay, baby.
My heart hammered in my chest, and dread filled every part of me. I sped ahead of the other members of my MC, trying to chase down the reason for the gunfire moments before. It had to be near Rafael’s place, which only meant one thing. Someone was probably dead.
***
Us Stone Wolves roared in a neatly lined pack as we swerved through the streets. I could hear a lot of commotion occurring on Poinsettia Road, and it was no surprise. It was where I’d assumed the shots had rang out from in the first place.
"C'mon... Trouble's a brewin!" Rusty Grier yelled out.
"Big fucking surprise there," Knife complained with a stern look on his face.
"Shut up and let's go. Let's handle this," I responded and let my angst fuel my resolve to see the situation through to the end. Raphael needed to be brought down. Dane’s people were taking too fucking long, and I was done playing games. Selene was soon to be my wife, and she lived in constant danger due to her damn dad. It was time to bring closure to everything. She might hate me for it, but in the long run, it would be well worth it.
Turning the corner on the Poinsettia Road, we found Raphael Delgado standing in the middle of the street with a rabid look in his eyes. He was yelling like a mad man at the closed up flower shop, which caused my lip to turn up in a smirk. The old bastard was losing it. Plain and simple.
I turned my attention to the garage as a black car raced past us like it was being chased by the cops.
Raphael moved to the side and turned his attention on me. Rabid anger was all I could see. I gave him a cool expression to chew on, which seemed to only piss him off more. His lip lifted in a snarl, but his eyes were only for me. He knew. He had to have known about me and Selene.
Was it an invitation? Or a dare? Whatever it was, I was most certainly up for the challenge.
Just then, Knife revved his motor as he snuck up on Delgado, chasing him back into the Black Heart clubhouse.
"Fucking chicken shit," Snake complained as he lit up a cigarette. But just as the ember was lit, a ferocious roar ripped from the yard of the Black Heart MC clubhouse.
"Aww shit... What do we have here?!" Rusty asked with a hungry look in his eyes.
"Trouble," Rigg said as he sucked air through his teeth.
I held back and watched as six bikers pulled out of the parking lot of the clubhouse. Each of them eyeballed my MC with deep hostility before they ripped out of sight on their motorcycles.
"Assholes,” Rigg grumbled.
"C'mon. We're following..." Knife said as he sped after the gang with two of the Stone Wolves riding his ass. The rest of the bikers set up shop at the end of the road, just waiting for something else to happen, but not me.
With the rest of my brethren out of earshot, I hung back, giving the white van a sideways glance. Parking my bike in the middle of the road, I hopped down and banged on the backdoor of the van three times.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dane’s voice rose up behind me, scaring the shit out of me. “What the fuck are you doing here, and why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone? Shit. Why do you even have one?”
“Sorry, Mother.” I moved back as Dane jerked the door open and crawled inside. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“The sting operation went down tonight.” Dane turned to face me as he lifted a set of headphones to his ear. His complexion was off, and I’d know him long enough to know that he was sick with fear.
“The sting operation? Tonight? What the hell is going on, Dane? Where is Selene?” I demanded to know.
“Fuck man, get in here and shut the damn door,” Dane moved past me and looked down the street. “Good. My team is hidden and Delgado seems to be back in his house. Crazy mother fucker. I hate that guy more than I have ever…”
I cut him off. “Dane. What the hell is going on?” I rolled shoulders as I let my stress roll down my back. “I heard gun shots, and my damn phone is dead. I’m freaking the hell out! Talk. Now.” Panic threatened to consume me. He had seconds to spill it.
“Give me your damn phone.” Dane took it and plugged it in before sitting down. “Look, the DEA was ready to move with this thing. I didn’t have a choice on trying to push it. I texted you ten fucking times and you never answered. Selene was out here and decided to help out by wearing the wire.”
I tried to listen, but the minute my phone let out a short beep to let me know it was back to life, I was frantic.
Pulling up my text messages, I let out a long grown. “Fuck. There’s nothing from her on here. Is she in trouble or am I just making shit up? I feel like something’s wrong. I’m going in there.”
My best friend’s eyes darted to the floor as he swallowed hard. “She's in trouble, Luck. Real deep shit trouble. Her father knows about you and her. From the sounds of it, Dante and her got into it. They’re using her as a pawn to get to you and the other members of the Stone Wolves MC from what I can tell.”
“Got into it... What do you mean got into it?” I asked darkly. I wanted to kill that big mother fucker years back when he started to show up a bit too often around my girl. If he’d touched her or harmed her in any way, I was going to enjoy killing him slowly.
“It sounded like she was being thrown around,” Dane mumbled and let out a long sigh.
“Mother fucker!” I screamed as fury burned through me. “I’ll fucking murder him! Are they still in the house? Can you hear her on the headphones?”
My sanity threatened to run away from me, and I almost felt bad for Dane. Having to deal with me wasn’t going to be easy or pleasant. I wanted my girl by my side. It was the only place I could keep her safe.
Dane answered quickly, his words tumbling out of his mouth, “But it's Selene, man. She fought back. You know she can handle herself.”
“The fact of the mother fucking matter is, she shouldn’t have to! This is her family! They used her to get to me! Raphael Delgado used his own daughter to get ahead in this war. And why didn't you go in there?” Dane looked at me with a look of total shock. “And blow everything? I don't want her getting hurt, but I also know that we have a lot more to lose if they find out what she's been doing!”
“Do they know about the wire?” I tried to calm myself, but it just wasn’t working.
“Yeah, Dante found it,” Dane admitted as a dark look crossed his face.
A heavy sigh escaped me as my vision darkened. “Fuck! That is worse… so much worse! They think she's a rat. They’re gonna kill her, Dane. We’ve gotta get her out!”
Dane had a troubled look on his face, far more than he should. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
“Where is she, Dane? Where is my girl?” I asked in a strained tone of voice. My sanity was slipping out of sight and I needed to know that Selene was okay.
Dane appeared reluctant to answer until I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and got in his face. “Dane! You've been my boy since grade school! Where the fuck is my girl?”
Rubbing his face as the stress of the situation caught up to him, Dane replied, “In the trunk of Elec's car, I believe.”
Chapter 16
Selene
I tried to scream as Elec shoved me into the trunk of his car, but the metallic masking tape prevented me from forming any comprehensible words. A minute after my father had lost his shit in the middle of the road, the sound of motorcycles filled up the night. The Stone Wolves were headed our way, and with them had to be my man. I’d tried like hell to get free from Elec, but all that earned me was painfully tight tape around my hands and my mouth.
A muffled scream ripped from my throat. It only served to piss off my cousin further, but I couldn’t help it. Being thrown in a damn trunk was terrifying. I had never been a victim, but tonight it looked like I’d be playing the part more than once.
“Shut up!” Elec screamed as he slapped me clear across the face. The men in my family had little to no class. I’d never really witnessed them hitting a woman that they cared about, but it seemed to be the go-to punishment when they were upset. I couldn’t help but wonder how many times my mother had endured my father hitting her. The thought crushed me.
Tears streamed from my eyes as I glared up at my cousin. Elec. I’d had always loved him more than any of the others. I knew he was crazy, and troubled, but despite all of that, he was family and a bit of an outcast. His father had been so bad to him that it was a wonder that the man could even walk or speak, but he did both with efficiency.
Having been nothing but kind to him, his brutal treatment toward me tore my heart in two. I expected most of the others to be assholes, but Elec had helped raise me. He was mean most days of the week, but protective, often acting like a second father figure to me.
“Stop looking at me like that.” He brushed his fingers down the side of my cheek. “You’re making me feel like shit. You know I love you, Sel. You’re like a fucking sister to me, but this club is everything. These guys are my brothers. And you betrayed us. You fucking gave yourself up to a Stone Wolf. And you were caught wearing a wire. Why? You were raised better than that. I know you were. I was there helping do it.” He shook his head and let out a long breath as he pushed at my chest, forcing me back down..
A rumble from outside the garage quickened my heart, but seemed to only put Elec further on edge. Whatever kindness I’d seen in his face a few minutes before was all but gone. A darkness took its place and a dull emotionless expression moved across his face. One that I recognized all too well. As I stared up at my cousin, fear ripped through me.
The only thing I could do was watch him go through with closing me in the back of the car. Weariness rolled over me, and I laid back and cried out again.
Smacking his teeth together as he spoke, Elec spoke softly, “It’s nothing personal, Sel… It’s business. You’re a pawn in a dangerous game. We told you to stay out of it. Don’t play with the fire, because you will get burned. We tried to protect you. You chose a dangerous man. You brought this all on yourself, Selene. You should be ashamed. We’ve known… We’ve known for a long time, Selene, about you and Lucky. You’re a pawn, Selene… We needed you to get to him.”
There was no remorse in Elec’s gaze. There was no kindness in that moment. In the dark of the garage, Elec bent down. He lowered himself closer to my ear and whispered roughly, “And trust me Sel… we’re gonna get him.”
I shook as Elec’s breath grazed my neck. The thought that my family would take Lucky away from me for good was absolutely horrifying, and yet I knew it was going to happen some way, somehow. Things as great as me and Lucky didn’t last. My life had proven that time and time again. I needed to warn him, to tell him to just leave me be and not fall into the trap they were setting. He’d never listen, but I needed to try. I’d forced him out of my life just after we first met, and for one miserable year it had worked, but just as lovers are supposed to do, we came back together, stronger and more passionate than ever.
“Hey… don’t bother screaming. Ain’t nobody going to hear you back there anyway.” He smirked coolly at me, his lips curling up in a taunting manner.
I wanted to smack the smug look clear off of his face as rage burst through the center of me, inciting energy that I didn’t think I had. I began to twist and turn, only to get a strong push to the chest once more. Elec placed his hand on the door, and in one swift movement, slammed it shut with a bang.
Before I could get out another scream, my whole world went dark.
Chapter 17
Lucky
“What the fuck do you mean she’s in the back of Elec’s car?” I pushed at my friend’s chest as I started to lose my grip on reality. I was done sitting around. “I’m out of here, Dane. I have to find her.”
I was murderous. I could taste the blood of the Black Hearts on my tongue, and I hadn’t even drawn my weapon yet. I opened the door to the van to find six DEA agents and four ATF officers. They were arguing among themselves as I crawled out and crossed my arms over my chest.
“What cars have left this place?” I yelled above the roar of their conversation.
“Just Mateo’s. We think Elec has Selene, but his car’s still here.” An older blond woman answered quickly. The authority in her voice left me feeling a tad bit better about the fact that Selene was still within reach.
I had no clue what shape I would find her in, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting her to safety. I would figure out the rest when I knew what the fuck I was truly facing.
“I’m going to get her.” I pulled my pistol from the back of my jeans and moved toward the house, only to be pulled back.
“No. We need to stick to the plan. She’s still here, and you barging in there is just going to mess up everything we’ve been working so hard for, Luck.” Dane tugged on my arm for good measure, but I pulled from his grasp.
“Alright. I’m listening. What’s the plan now?”
Silence took over as they all stared at me with wi
de eyes.
“What are you all looking at me for? Don’t you have a plan?!” I barked as irritation pumped through me. We should be in the damn garage getting my woman free, but instead we were all standing in a circle as if waiting for brilliance to strike.
“Well…” Dane said reluctantly as he crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t continue his statement when I gave him a nasty glare.
“Yeah? I’m waiting…” I said impatiently.
“Our plan involves you pretty heavily…” Dane responded, casting me a nervous look just before his eyes averted toward the ground. “Our plan relies on your full cooperation.”
“Does Selene know anything about this plan?” I asked.
“It was a Plan X, so to speak. If everything went to shit… This was our plan. But no, she doesn’t know about it, and obviously you don’t, either. We really didn’t think it would come to this.” Dane glanced around, and I couldn’t help but almost feel sorry for him. These other agents, who were much more seasoned than him, were letting him take the lead.
I was ready to slash my way through a horde of bodies to get my woman back, and yet, they were right about one thing. Selene was safe for the minute. Terrified most likely, but safe. Still, I was done with the bullshit.
“Spill the shit now, Dane. My life is in that car right now.” I growled for good measure.
Every second they wasted was a moment they could be fighting to get her back. Where I understood the need to rally, these people acted like they needed a fucking platform to speak from to actually choke out what the plan was.
“We had taken into consideration the fact that her family might turn on her eventually…” Rhonda Lacey (or so her badge on her jacket labeled her), one of the ATF officers, finally spoke up. “We just didn’t think it would be this soon. It definitely throws a wrench into our operation here, but I am certain we have enough to bring federal charges on at least forty-seven members of the MC.”