“God. Fucking. Dammit.” Reb roared. “I'm still in Lexington waiting on the fucking part. I'm on my way now. I'll be there as soon as I can.”
I ran to my room, grabbed my Glock, put on my shoulder holster, holstered the gun in it, then got my Smith & Wesson, tucked it into the back of my pants, grabbed my Ruger, put it into my ankle holster, strapped it on and ran like hell to Pred's bike.
I tore out of the driveway like a scalded dog. The fucking barn was twenty miles outside of town in a remote area. It was Devil's favorite torture location. Please God, don't let me be too late. The ride felt like I was in slow motion, although I was pushing Pred's Harley XR 1000 for everything it was worth, hitting 120 miles an hour several times.
I had enough presence of mind to stop a quarter of a mile away, and I just prayed that it was far enough that Devil hadn't heard the pipes. I hit the ground running hell bent for leather. As I approached the barn, I had my Glock in my right hand. I saw Devil's bike, a cargo van, and our Suburban.
I ran up to the side of the barn to a small outside door that most didn't pay attention to. But it was in good working order, I made sure of that. I hadn't ever wanted to be trapped in there while Devil was interrogating someone. I didn't trust Devil enough not to work something out with the cops to set me up. So, I always had to think five steps ahead of him. But I fucking didn't see this coming.
There was an inch gap around the door allowing me to look in, and what I saw about brought me to my knees. He had Colt and Cale strung up by their arms. Their toes were barely touching the ground. Spawn and Acid were working the boys over. And Jennie, god fucking damn that bastard, he had a gun against Jennie's temple and was making her watch our sons being beaten.
I could hear her cries over the sounds of the hits.
“Devil, please, do what you want to me, leave them alone, oh god, please leave them alone.”
“I want you to watch, bitch. I want you to see when the life leaves the eyes of those bastards of yours.” Devil growled at her.
I eased the door partially open; it didn't matter which way I looked at it, the way it stood right now, I wasn't sure I could save Jennie. She was screaming now, begging them to stop. She started looking around, I knew she was trying to find some way of helping the boys out.
Come on love, come on love, look over here, I mentally chanted over and over. And thank God, she finally did. She didn't so much as act like I was there. I motioned to the floor and she blinked her eyes at me. I had one shot at this. I needed to take out Devil first, since neither Spawn nor Acid had a gun out. I knew that could change in a heartbeat, but it was my best option. Just as I was about to fire, a gun went off, and Jennie dropped to the ground. I fired two rounds into Devil's gut, and he dropped, then I turned slightly and fired a shot into Spawn's thigh.
~*~
Mia
After ten minutes or so when Viper hadn't come back, I called his phone. Fuck, now his was going to voicemail. I ran out, got into my Camaro and drove to the house. The Suburban was gone, and it looked like the front door was open behind the screen door. I got out, flew to the door, went inside and was met with dead silence. I made my way through the house but there wasn't anyone here. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw the note on the island.
When I read it, the bottom dropped out of my stomach. Oh. Fuck. No. He had our babies and Jennie went to try to stop that bastard. She couldn't have been thinking clearly, because I knew that once Devil had her, he would kill them all. Thankfully, I knew where the barn was. I ran into our bedroom, went into the closet and saw the gun safe open. I hadn't fucking thought to look in the closet on my initial run through of the house.
I pulled out Viper's .22 pistol, the one with the serial numbers removed, and stuck it in the back of my pants. I also grabbed his extra Glock. Always take backup just in case, he'd always tell me when he would leave to go on a run.
I ran back to my car, jumped in and headed towards the barn. I pushed my baby, hitting 130 miles an hour. All I could think of was getting to Jennie, the boys, and providing back up for Viper. I saw Pred's bike about a quarter of a mile from the barn and realized Viper had left it there so Devil wouldn't hear him coming. I pulled over not far in front of the bike and took off running.
I couldn't see Viper anywhere, but I could hear the thuds of someone being hit and I could hear Jennie screaming for whoever was beating the boys to please stop. God, it hurt hearing the terror and anguish for the boys in her voice. I slipped up beside the open doors of the barn, slid down low, and as unobtrusively as possible, looked around the edge of the door.
What I saw made me sick. Devil had a gun to Jennie's temple and was forcing her to watch Spawn and Acid beat Colt and Cale. The boys looked in pretty rough shape. I didn't see Viper anywhere and all I could do was pray he was at another entrance.
Different scenarios of what to do raced through my mind. And the only thing I could come up with was to shoot Acid first and hope like crazy that distracted Devil enough to make him move away from Jennie slightly. I knew Viper was ready for anything, so I eased up into a standing position then turned and shot Acid in the head.
The sound of my bullet was still in the air as I saw Jennie fall to the dirt floor. Viper’s two shots hit Devil in the stomach, and he fell to the ground clutching his gut, then Spawn was shot in the leg, he dropped clutching his thigh. This all played out in a matter of seconds. Then, Viper was running to Jennie, screaming her name. I walked closer to Spawn, kept my gun on him and watched as Viper checked to see where Jennie was hit. If she was dead, I'm not sure how Viper and I would make it. Jennie was our everything.
When I heard her voice, I damn near dropped to my knees sobbing in relief.
~*~
Viper
When I turned to fire at Acid, I saw he was down on the ground with a bullet hole in the side of his head. Then, the only thought running through my mind was getting to Jennie. As I ran to her, I saw Mia run into the barn. I kicked Devil's gun across the floor before I fell to my knees beside Jennie.
God, please, God, please, let her be alive. I couldn't lose her, I just couldn't.
“Jennie, talk to me love. Love, please, please talk to me.”
“Viper,” her voice came to me faintly. “What happened?”
“Where are you hit, Jennie?”
I started running my hands over her head, when I didn't feel any blood there, I continued down her body, but couldn't find anywhere she was hit.
“I'm not hit. The boys, Viper.”
I helped her up and ran to the boys.
“Colt, Cale, can you hear me?”
I got two moans. Thank God.
“Hurts, Dad,” Cale whispered.
“Colt?”
“Fuck, Dad. I think my ribs are broken.” Colt muttered as he groaned in pain.
“Give me a second and I'll have you down. Jennie, put your arms around their waist and help ease them down to the floor while I lower them from the hoist.”
I quickly searched Devil and didn’t find another weapon then ran over to Spawn real quick and patted him down, I found one gun and a knife and tossed them in a corner away from everyone.
“Mia, keep your gun on Spawn. Devil might not be dead yet, but he isn't going anywhere.”
I ran over to where the rope was tied off and started slowly letting the rope out of the pulley system. Jennie wrapped her arms around Cale as carefully as possible and helped lower him to the ground. Then we did the same thing with Colt.
I heard Devil groaning, then heard him say, “You bitch, you killed my boy.”
I glanced over at Mia who was giving Devil a smile evil enough to rival Lucifer's own.
“Your fucking son is only shot in the leg. Besides, I didn't shoot him.”
“Not him you fucking bitch. You killed Acid.”
I did a double take, fuck, I hadn't even thought in all the drama of the situation that Mia was the one who fired the other gun.
“Aww, was that your son, Devil
?” her words came out viciously.
He coughed and groaned, “I'm going to fucking kill you for that bitch.”
“I'm not sorry at all that I killed your son. I need to kill this one as well. Then we will have rid ourselves of all the evil that you have spawned upon this earth.”
“You stupid bitch. Rebel is still alive,” he was gasping for air now. I could hear the blood gurgling in his throat.
“You got that right, old man.” Rebel said as he stepped into the barn, Hatchet behind him.
“So the joke is on them,” Devil gasped out.
“That's where you're wrong old man. I may have your DNA in me, but in every sense, Viper is my dad. The sickness that courses through you, doesn't course through me.”
He gave Devil a cruel smile.
“However, that being said, I do have one thing left to do, old man.”
We all watched as Rebel pulled up his pants leg and took out a knife from it's ankle sheath. As he bent over to stab Devil, I stopped him.
“Reb. Son, stop. I don’t want you to be the one to kill him.”
“Pops, I want to be the one to end his sorry life.”
I knew it would bother Jennie to see Reb kill Devil even after all the evil Devil had done to us.
“And I’m asking you, Son, to let me be the one to do it. I’ve earned that right. Besides, he’s not going to last much longer anyway, not the way he’s bleeding out with those gut shots.”
“Well at least my fucking wish is coming true and I'm getting to watch him die. Die you old bastard, die.”
As if Reb’s words alone were enough to finish him, Devil gasped once, blood gurgled out of his mouth, he gasped again, his body froze up then went limp. He was gone. I should have felt ecstatic, but I still didn't know where those fucking books were.
“Jennie, how bad are the boys?” I asked.
“I think we need to get them to the hospital.”
“Reb, Hatchet, help me get them in the Suburban. Then, Mia and Jennie can take them to the hospital. Jennie run open the back doors of the Suburban.”
After getting the boys in the vehicle, I asked Mia, “Please tell me that is the .22 with the serial numbers removed.”
“It is.”
“Thank god.”
I turned to Reb, “Grab the .22 and watch Spawn. If he attempts to get up, shoot him in the other leg.”
“Gladly.”
“Mia, go over to the water spigot and wash your hands, the soap is by it. Wash them several times to get the GSR off. Then use your hand sanitizer on them. As soon as you can, go home, take your clothes off outside, go in and take a shower, then put on some gloves and put the clothes in a trash bag.”
After Mia was through washing her hands, I walked out to the Suburban as she was getting into it. I leaned in through the window, to look at the boys. Both looked at me and attempted to smile.
“We're fine, Dad. Hurts like a motherfucker though,” Cale commented.
“Yeah, Dad. We'll be okay, and I agree with Cale, I hurt like a motherfucker.” Colt added.
I noticed Colt wasn't taking very deep breaths, he was probably right and had cracked or broken ribs. I just hoped that was the least of their injuries.
“Tell them that the boys were jumped by some kids and beaten. If anyone asks you boys, you tell them exactly that, some boys jumped you because your old man is in an MC. Tell anyone who asks that you aren’t telling who jumped you. Got me boys?”
The boy chorused, “Yes.”
“Call me as soon as you know something. If it’s going to take a while, I'll be there as soon as I can. But it will be a little later. If there is anything seriously wrong with the boys though, let me know and I'll tie Spawn up and come on to the hospital.”
Mia and Jennie nodded their heads.
“Jennie, give me the wipes and a pair of the rubber gloves out of the glove box.”
After getting the wipes and gloves, I said my goodbyes then walked back inside the barn.
“Well, Spawn, what to do with you? That is the question,” I murmured as I glanced around to Devil and Acid.
“I should kill you, and very well may, there's only one thing that will save your fucking ass.” I told him.
“What's that?” he growled.
“Where are the books?”
“What books?”
“Reb, shoot his other leg.”
“No, no!” Spawned screamed. “I'll fucking tell you where the books are.”
“You better hope you tell me the truth, because if you don't, I'll kill you slowly and painfully. If you do tell me the truth, then we might work out a little deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“The books first.”
“The old man kept them in the shed out behind the trailer. You have to move the refrigerator and under it is a small concrete slab. You need to move the slab and the books are in a safe in the ground. Devil has the key on him.”
I walked over to Devil's body and patted him down. I found his keys and took them out of his pants pocket, in his inside cut pocket was one of the books. I took it out and put it into my cut.
“Reb, go get them. I'll wait here with Spawn. Hatchet ride Pred’s bike back to the house, then go check on BamBam and Cotton. Cotton was supposed to be watching Cale’s school. He would have called me when Cale didn’t show up, but he didn’t. Find him and make sure he’s okay. Let me know if he’s hurt. Then I want y’all to be ready for Church.” I said as I handed Devil’s keys to Reb.
“Alright, Pops.”
“Sure thing, Vip.” Hatchet said as he took Pred’s bike key from me.
While Reb was gone, I went and picked up Devil's gun from where I had kicked it. I knew he carried the same type of Glock I had used to shoot him with. I broke his gun down and removed the barrel, then I broke mine down. While I had left the outside serial numbers on my gun, the ones on the barrel were filed off.
I put on the gloves then cleaned both guns with the wipes, then put the .22 caliber pistol back together. I put the Glock back together putting my barrel in Devil’s gun and his in mine. I went to Devil, wrapped his hand around the .22, stuck his finger through the trigger and shot it a couple times outside the open front doors of the barn.
I then went to Acid and repeated the procedure, only this time using Devil's Glock. No one would ever know that I was the one who shot Devil, not after switching the barrels around. Spawn was the only one who might possibly ever say anything, and he watched the whole thing in silence. But I had a way of ensuring he’d keep his mouth shut. I then removed the President patch off of Devil's cut and stuck it in my pocket.
After Rebel pulled back up, he came into the barn carrying about twenty books.
“This was all that was in there.” He dropped them onto the floor.
I walked over, picked one up, opened it up and started thumbing through it. Fuck. This thing was so detailed, I'm surprised he didn't have when everyone shits and pissed in it.
“Motherfucker,” Rebel murmured as he looked through one. “He has every fucking thing on everyone in these.”
Spawn finally broke his silence, “Yeah, he said it was his insurance policy.”
I looked over at Spawn, “You do realize he has shit in here that you've done as well, right?”
“What the fuck?” Spawn sputtered. “I don't believe you.”
“Believe it, brother.” Reb spit out sarcastically. “November tenth, 1996 – Spawn delivered guns – Hell's Thunder MC.”
“Holy fucking shit. That motherfucking asshole. He told me there wasn't anything that I had done in them.”
“Well, he did what he did best, lied.” Reb stated.
“Reb get his gun and knife. Spawn, you'll get them back later. Also, get the books and take Mia's Camaro home. I'll drive my Blazer and meet you there. After I clean up, I’ll be heading to the Clubhouse and taking those books with me.”
Reb handed the Blazer’s keys to me after removing the Camaro keys off the keyring.
“Okay, Pops. See you at home.”
I waited until Reb was back in the Blazer and leaving before, I spoke to Spawn. “Alright. Spawn. I'm gonna tell you what's going to happen. I’m going to give you two options. Agree and live, don’t and die. You choose.”
I then proceeded to tell Spawn what exactly was going to happen. He agreed obviously. I then sent out a text for an emergency church in an hour and a half's time.
“You shot clean through?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you walk out to the van or do you need help?”
He got up, “I can walk.” He proceeded to make his way to the van, start it and leave.
I knew he could just go get another gun, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't bother, not when what was about to happen benefited him greatly. I probably should have killed him and may regret not having done it at some future time. But for now, it would make what was about to happen easier for some of the Brothers to handle.
As I made my way out of the barn, I looked at Devil one last time. I was so fucking happy to see that bastard dead. He had put us through hell for over twenty fucking years.
“I hope you enjoy hell, you bastard,” I spit out towards him.
Then I turned and left. It was almost over. One more thing to do and I would be able to leave with my family and Brothers. I was ready to be done with this mess and the SoSMC.
~***~
Chapter 17
The measure of a man comes down to moments, spread out like dots of pain on the canvas of life. Everything you were, everything you'll someday be, resides in the small, seemingly ordinary choices of everyday life... Each decision seems as insignificant as a left turn on an unfamiliar road when you have no destination in mind. But the decisions accumulate until you realize one day that they've made you the man you are.
~Kristin Hannah~
Viper
February 13th, 1998
As I watched the Brothers enter Church, it was still hard to register that it was almost over. All I have done with the club for the past twenty-four years was try to protect Jennie, her sons, and my Brothers, the ones who didn’t want any part of Devil’s deprived activities. Even though we had tried to live our lives by not letting the threat of Devil disrupt us to the point that we never enjoyed anything, it had been hard at times, knowing that it was always hanging over our heads.
Viper (Angel’s Rebellion MC: #1) (Angel's Rebellion MC) Page 23