by Jayne Blue
On instinct, I grabbed his wrist with my other hand and started to yank. If I could take at least one of them with me, maybe I’d at least feel better when we both went to hell.
“Colt! Take my hand! Help me get you up!”
I squinted through the darkness. “Brax?”
“Yeah, hurry up, man.”
I didn’t ask questions. I felt something pop in my shoulder and tear in my side but it didn’t matter. Adrenalin fueled me as I climbed out of that stinking fetid hole. Brax got his arm under my shoulders. Then he grabbed me by the back of the shirt and while I clawed the ground, he hauled me out leaving me gasping for air and coughing for blood. I thanked God for Braxton Anderson’s beautiful Viking strength and DNA.
But I was alive. Mother fuck. I was alive.
Panting, I sat up. Brax sat gasping for air on the ground next to me. I’d never been so glad to see anyone in my life.
“Brax,” I choked out my words. “Amy.”
Coughing, he nodded. He pointed to the ground next to us. Sully and Lonnie were lying face up, bullet holes dead center in each of their foreheads. Brax’s gun was lying on the ground next to him.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said, still panting. “I got here as fast as I could. Had to wait until they were occupied with . . . that . . . before I could get a shot off.” On the word that he pointed to my would-be tomb.
I slapped him on the shoulder and squeezed him hard. “Thanks, man.”
He nodded. “Help me. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Brax hauled himself up. He started dragging Lonnie’s feet to the edge of the hole and heaved him over it. He landed down there with a sick thud. Then Brax nodded toward me, and together we rolled Sully until he went over the edge and landed on top of Lonnie.
“I couldn’t figure out another way,” he said as he grabbed a shovel and started covering them. “They were going to let you rot down there. And they were never going to go against Catman.”
Through the pain of my face, shoulder, and ribs, I helped Brax cover that fucking hole. With each shovelful, I said a prayer of thanks that it wasn’t me down there. And another one for Amy. She was with Jase. She was safe. No matter what Catman did.
When we finished, Brax leaned on the tip of his shovel, catching his breath. “We need to meet back at Kel’s house.”
“He’s okay?” I’d forgotten all about Kellan’s absence at the clubhouse.
Brax nodded. “He rounded us up last night. He had pictures of Amy. Colt, I swear to God none of us knew. Catman had a restraining order against her. We believed him. I’m gonna hate myself for that for the rest of my life.”
I reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Later.”
He carved a hand through his long, blond hair. “I swear to God. If I’d known, I would have choked that motherfucker with my bare fucking hands. I know what’s happened to this town. It’s not okay with me. It’s not okay with a lot of us. Lonnie, Sully, Tommy . . . they can follow Cat straight into hell.”
“Fuck, yeah, they can,” I said, hauling myself to my feet. Brax followed.
Brax’s truck was parked a few feet away. They’d all come together so at least we didn’t need to worry about anyone finding Sully and Lonnie’s bikes.
“Kel’s waiting back at his place,” Brax said. “I don’t know who else is there yet. Tate for sure. E.J. and Joker will probably be along. I don’t know about Mac. I hate to say it, but he was on the fence about all of this. He still wants to believe Catman, but I think he’ll come around. Without Lonnie and Sully, he’s just got Tommy.”
I nodded and reached across to squeeze his shoulder again. What Brax had just done was enough to get him killed if he was lucky. If he wasn’t lucky, it was enough to get him banished by other clubs. He might be tainted for life for killing a member, but he’d done it to save another member’s life. Mine. I’d owe him forever. I always paid my debts. And I had another one to settle with Catman. Brax gave me a knowing nod as he turned toward the interstate and sped back toward town.
I only prayed we weren’t too late.
Chapter Twenty-Five
When we got to Kellan’s house, my heart started to beat normally again for the first time. Every living club member’s bike was parked in his driveway except for Catman and Tommy’s. If they were here, they were with me. It meant I owed Kellan just as much as I owed Brax. I was no fucking diplomat and that’s what had made this so hard from the start. But Kellan had got them all here. This was almost over.
Kellan’s face sagged with relief as he saw me walk up to his front porch. Nothing needed to be said. The rest of the club gathered in his living room, and we embraced, man to man.
It was a somber gathering. We assembled around Kellan’s kitchen table, using it as a makeshift war counsel. We knew what was at stake. We knew what had already been lost. Lonnie and Sully tried to kill me. It had been at Catman’s order. Now they finally understood the monster they called president. I knew by morning, he’d lose that title too. We also all knew he wouldn’t likely go down without a fight.
“I know what it’s cost all of you to be here. If you’re here, it means you want a change. It means you want your town back on your terms and not Catman’s. Before we go a step further, you better be fucking sure.”
I heard some gruff nods and throat clearing around the table, but nobody balked. “Everybody here has already had to do shit tonight that could get them banned from the club. You understand that. You know the risks. If you’re still willing to take them, it’s time to follow through and bring Catman down. Decide now if that’s something you want to live with.”
Kellan nodded. “We know. Like you said, none of us would be here if we didn’t understand why we needed a change. This is for Duke as much as it is for anyone sitting here.” There were nods of assents and a round of “fuck, yeahs” across the table. It was all I needed to hear. I nodded back and rapped my knuckles on the table.
“I need to get word to Jase,” I said. My phone was gone. Catman probably had it. Kellan handed me his.
Jase’s number went straight to voicemail. I tried Amy. She didn’t pick up either. I slid Kel’s phone back to him.
“We need to get over there,” I said. “Until we deal with Catman, I want eyes on Amy at all times.”
Everyone agreed. “Let’s take this over to Jase’s then,” Kellan suggested. “Cat might come straight here anyway once he figures out Lonnie and Sully are unreachable.”
I hated dragging Jase any further into club business than I had to, but Kellan had a point. I consoled myself with the knowledge that by morning, the Great Wolves and Lincolnshire would be headed for a brighter future.
I climbed back into Brax’s truck while everyone else mounted up, and we peeled out for Jase’s. With each passing mile, my heart lifted. I needed to see Amy. I needed to have her in my arms. In the short time I’d known her, I drew strength from her. After tonight, I never wanted to have to leave her again.
Jase’s house was dark when we got there, and that was the first inkling I had that shit wasn’t right. As Brax pulled in, I didn’t even wait for the truck to stop moving before I threw the door open and lit for the front door. It was locked, and I pounded on it. My aching shoulder exploded in fresh pain.
My mind raced. Every nerve in my body flared with pain and the sinking knowledge that something was very, very wrong. I took a breath and tried to clear my head. Amy needed me at my best. I remembered Mrs. Dingman’s secret key. She had it hidden in a fake rock near the front porch. I looked down and there it was. Jase might have changed the locks, but he kept the rock.
We filed in through the front door, guns drawn.
“Jase!” I called out. The house was dark. I flipped on every light. There was no sound but water dripping into the sink where Jase had dirty dishes soaking. I went for the basement steps. I kicked the door open and called down again. No answer.
Kellan was right beside me. We went down together. They were gone.
&nb
sp; “Fuck,” I banged my head against the paneled wall. “Fuck, fuck!”
“We’ll find them,” Kellan said. “Maybe Jase took her somewhere else.”
I shook my head. “Then why the fuck didn’t he answer when I called from your phone?”
“He might not trust me. How does he know I’m not going to end up reporting back to Catman? He’s being cautious, maybe.”
“God, I hope you’re right.”
As if the devil himself heard me, Kellan’s phone started to buzz in his back pocket. He jumped at first then his eyes widened. He reached back and brought it out. He read the text. Whatever it said made Kellan shut his eyes and lean his own head back against the wood paneling.
He handed the phone to me. That split-second span as I reached for it seemed to happen in slow motion. I knew that moment I looked at that phone, everything would crash down around me.
It was a picture text. Jase. He was flat on his back on a green pool table. Blood poured out of a wound on his chest and his skin was gray. But worse than all of that was the vacancy in his eyes. He stared up at some unseen point, and the light and life behind them seemed drained away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Amy
As Roy shoved me from behind, I stumbled through the threshold of The Shires. The place was empty except for Tommy and now Catman, Jase and me. Ricky Malloy stood behind the bar with a blank expression on his face. He mouthed, “I’m sorry.” He kept his hands flat on the bar like he’d probably been ordered to do.
I couldn’t blame him, really. He was just as much a victim of Roy’s as anyone else in this town was. If Ricky didn’t do as Roy said, he’d shut down his business. More than that. I saw the fading purple bruise on Ricky’s right cheek bone. I met his eyes and nodded with understanding. It had probably been Tommy’s right hook that made that bruise.
“Take care of him,” Roy barked to Ricky. He gestured with his chin toward Jase, who had slumped to the ground just inside the door. His color was ashen, but he was alive. He communicated to me with just his eyes and a twitch of his jaw as he gritted his teeth.
Stay calm. Stay alive.
I gave him a slight nod back. Same goes for you. I wanted to go to him. The bullet had torn a hole in his shirt just above his right collarbone. A shoulder wound, probably. I hoped to God it hadn’t hit anything important. He winced and cried out as Ricky came out from behind the bar to help him to his feet, but he moved more or less under his own power and I took that as an unbelievably good sign.
“You’re a fucking asshole, Tommy,” Roy said behind me. He shoved me hard into a booth near the pool table. He pointed his finger at me, warning me not to move. I kept my eyes on Jase.
“He’s armed, Cat,” Tommy said by way of explanation. Ricky got Jase situated on top of the pool table. He looked like he was about to keel over but as soon as he took a few deep breaths, he seemed to recover. For now.
“He’s still a fucking cop,” Roy said. “We don’t shoot cops.”
I bit my tongue but couldn’t help but let out a hard, bitter breath. Psycho Code of Ethics by Catman Wade.
“Just once I’d like to not have to clean up a goddamn mess. You planning on killing me now, Tommy? They don’t let that shit slide.”
“Wade, don’t be so melodramatic,” Jase said. I could see the effort of talking drain even more color from his face. “The rules haven’t changed. Just call me a fucking ambulance. Amy’ll ride with me. My lieutenant knows the drill. I know the drill. You win. No mess to clean up with the department unless I actually do bleed out on this pool table.”
Roy walked up to him and shoved Jase back hard. He went down like forest timber. His eyes rolled back in his head, and his breath came out in a hard hiss. Roy pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and snapped a picture. He punched a number into his phone and sent a text.
“There,” he said. “That ought to get everyone properly motivated. Let Kellan see what happens when he starts thinking about going against his own.”
“Jase,” I called out. I couldn’t disguise the concern in my voice. I couldn’t stay calm. He pressed his lips together and fluttered his eyes open. He turned his head and looked at me. His fingers twitched at his side, and he gave me a loose thumbs up though he couldn’t manage to close his fist.
“You fuck this one too?” Roy turned back to me. “That your thing now? Fucking twin brothers? Who got what hole?”
“Fuck you,” I said. I would have said more, but I recognized something in Roy’s eyes. He’d said it to hurt me, to make me angry. But I knew he was thinking about it. He was envisioning me doing it with Jase and Colt or both. It’s what started that terrible night two years ago. He’d convinced himself that I’d cheated on him with Larry Barth. He taunted me with graphic made-up detail of what he imagined I’d let some other guy do to me.
A part of me wanted to shrink against the wall. Make myself invisible. Not again. I couldn’t go through what happened that night again. But I had to stay here and present, for me, for Jase, and for Colt. I focused on making my breathing even as I thought about Colt. His bike was parked out front, but he was nowhere to be found. Asking could set Roy off even more, but I had to know. I couldn’t pretend.
“Where’s, Colt, Roy?”
He took a halting step toward me, and I watched his right fist clench and unclench at his side. I tried not to, but I flinched. Roy saw me do it, and it made him smile.
“You worried about him? You want me to tell you pretty stories and say everything’s going to be okay? What did you think was going to happen? You think I hadn’t figured out you were stepping out on me?”
“When are you going to grow up?” I said, surprised at how calm and even my voice sounded. I wanted to scream and spit at him. Roy took another step toward me.
“We’re done, Roy. Over. I’m not yours. You don’t get to dictate anything about my life. You’re not in my life. I don’t love you. I never loved you. You’re a creep.”
He came at me. Jase grunted as he tried to sit back up. Ricky put a hand on his shoulder trying to get him to be still. Tommy’s eyes went from Jase to Roy and me, ready to react. But Roy stopped. He slapped a hand on the table, making a bar across the booth with his arm and trapping me. He touched my arm, feathering his fingers across my shoulder and inhaling like I was a piece of steak.
I straightened my back. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cower. “You have fun as that fucker’s side piece?” His eyes flashed; I stared at the dark birthmark in his left eye that had spawned his nickname. He was trying to play it cool. Stay in control. But I saw the telltale twitching of the veins in his neck.
At that moment, I saw a way out. A dangerous, deadly way out. But I wasn’t alone this time. Ricky was here. Tommy was here. Could I trust them to stop him if he tried to take things too far? But Roy thought he was in control right now. Tommy wouldn’t make another move without Roy’s say so. If Roy lost it, what would happen then? Tommy’s gun was holstered at his side now. Roy’s was too. But Jase’s gun was sitting on the edge of the bar. I’d have to get through Roy to reach it.
Jase was bleeding to death. The wound might not be severe, but the blood loss was. It spread in an ever-widening patch and soaked his shirt through and through. I had to try something.
“He’s a man, Roy,” I taunted. “A real man. They both are. Never once ran into any of the issues you used to have. You remember? I told you those steroids were going to catch up with you.” I laughed then, a bitter cackle. Roy’s eyes flashed with rage, and I knew it was starting to work by the twitching of the zigzagging vein at his temple now.
I chanced a look to Jase. It was just an instant, but my heart thundered anew. Jase looked better. Some of his color had returned, and he made a slight flicking gesture with his wrist. I didn’t catch the meaning. Stop? Keep going? Either way, I began to suspect maybe Jase’s wound wasn’t as bad as he wanted everyone else to think it was. God, I hoped that was true. I turned back to Ro
y.
“All natural, the Reddick boys are. Farm fed and homegrown. Isn’t that right, Jase?” I said it to get his attention too. It worked. First, his eyes widened as if to warn me again. I flicked mine to Tommy. Keep him there. Keep your eyes on him. I hoped he understood. I think he did. He took a breath and crashed his head back to the pool table, maybe resigned to what was about to go down.
“Smooth talker too. He’s got big ideas, Roy. Bigger than you have. Lots of things Colt has are bigger than what you have, baby. They gave that man the right nickname, that’s all I’ve got to say. Because he’s as big as a . . .”
“Shut your filthy whore mouth,” Roy spat. He took a step toward me. I slid out of the booth and turned. It put Tommy and Jase at my back, but I was three feet closer to the bar.
“Mmm.” I rubbed my hands down my side. “Such a smooth talker. Smooth tongue.” I took another step back.
“Catman, just ignore the bitch,” Tommy said. I took another step, turning so now I could see Tommy and Jase. I was between them and Roy. The bar was about five feet behind me, and Jase’s gun was right in the center.
Roy turned on me but he didn’t move any closer. I didn’t like the smile that settled on his face. “Not smooth anymore, Mouse. That Colt ain’t gonna run anymore, baby.”
My heart turned cold. There was no more time. Colt could be hurt . . . or worse. God, I couldn’t let myself think about it. I’d go crazy if I did.
“Where is he, Roy?”
“Don’t you worry, Mouse. I’ll make sure you get to see what I did to him. Maybe we’ll give it a couple of days so he gets good and ripe first.”
Oh God.
Jase stirred on the pool table. Tommy turned toward him to make sure he wasn’t trying to get up. Good. Good, Jase. Roy took a few steps backward. He dropped his left hip and hooked his thumb through his belt loop. He licked his lips and gave me a jerk of his chin.
“Maybe you need a little reminder about who I am. I still own you, Mouse. Don’t you ever forget that. I own those lips, those thighs, that sweet ass. I even own that mouth. You know it too. Bet you still dream about it, don’t you, baby?”