“Cade? You in there, brother?” Although muffled, he recognized the voice behind the door.
“Jagger?”
“Yeah. I’m with Zane, Gun, and Sparky. We got the prospect with us, too. He finally showed some initiative. He tracked you down with a GPS he put in all the new phones. Now he’s doin’ something with the door panel, hooking it up to his laptop.”
“I’m hacking into their system,” the prospect shouted.
“Hurry the fuck up. We got a rescue operation to perform.”
The door slid up with a smooth whir and then clanged into place. Cade stepped out into the hallway and heaved a sigh of relief.
“You forgot this, brother.” Jagger held up his cut.
Although his hand itched to take it, he didn’t move. “I’m going after Mad Dog.”
“Not without us. We’re a team. Brothers. No one gets left behind and no one goes out alone.”
Cade swallowed past the lump in his throat and shrugged on his cut, indulging himself for the briefest second by smoothing his hand over the cool leather. “I don’t get it.”
“You don’t have to make a choice. Whatever path you choose, we will always have your back. Just like you had ours.”
He needed to hear those words. With all that had happened he had lost sight of what was important. This was why he had joined the Sinners. Honor. Brotherhood. Loyalty. Men who would stand up for him. Men who always had his back.
His club.
His tribe.
Jagger nodded at the prospect who was detaching his computer from the panel. “If he hadn’t followed you, we wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint where you were so fast. The GPS lost you when you went into the building.”
Cade glared at the prospect. “You followed me?”
The prospect shrugged. “Lost my old man when he went out on a job without someone at his back. Figured you might need some help.”
“He left so fast, he forgot to put on his cut,” Jagger said, his lips quivering at the corners.
“Rule violation.” Gunner’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “Not wearing his cut. He’ll pay a penalty for that in blood.”
“And he followed a senior patch without permission.” Sparky winked and Cade fought back a smile. There was nothing the brothers enjoyed more than hazing a prospect.
“Suicide,” Gunner muttered. “Fuckin’ suicide.”
“I’d call it plain stupid,” Zane cuffed the prospect on the head. “Disrespecting the cut is an automatic kick-out. Leaving the clubhouse without permission is a night in the dungeon with Dax followed by a kick-out.”
“Maybe I’ll just shoot him,” Gunner said as they followed Jagger out of the cellblock. “Put him out of his misery.”
Jagger looked over his shoulder and glared at the prospect. “He also left his computer on. Penalty for wasting energy is death and an ass-kicking from me.”
“No point kicking his ass if he’s already dead.” Sparky patted the prospect’s shoulder. “I think he has value. and it’ll be more fun to kick his ass and hear him scream. He finally showed some spine. It would be a shame to break it too soon.”
The prospect choked back a gasp, and Gunner snorted. “Dead or alive, an ass is an ass to me.”
Cade followed his brothers up the stairs, still trying to wrap his head around the incredible turn of events that meant (1) he was free; (2) he had his cut; (3) the Sinners were going to help him take down Mad Dog; and (4) he had been saved by a fucking prospect.
Time to give something back. “I think our prospect needs a name.”
“Geek.”
“Nerd.”
“Gigolo.”
Jagger stopped at the door and gave Cade a puzzled frown. “Gigolo?”
“Lookit him. The ladies will be falling all over themselves when he walks into a bar wearing his colors looking like some kinda frickin’ biker movie star.”
Everyone turned to stare at the prospect.
“You’re jealous,” Gunner said. “He’s younger and prettier than you. You’re afraid he’s gonna steal your girls away.”
“He’s welcome to them.” Cade stepped out into the cool, dark night. “Only one girl I want. But I need someone to take up the mantle, otherwise there are a lot of good titles out there that will be lost.”
“How ’bout Hacker?” Sparky tapped the prospect’s laptop. “He’s not much use in the field, but he sure as hell knew his stuff when it came to finding you and getting into that system—”
“Don’t forget the screensaver.” Gunner cut him off. “Pretty damn cool to have our patch on every piece of tech in the clubhouse.”
“Vote,” Jagger called out from his bike. He’d parked between two police cars in a brazen show of sticking it to the cops.
Everyone lifted a hand.
“Hacker it is. Now let’s go save an old lady and kick some Brethren ass. The rest of the brothers are waiting for us.”
TWENTY-SIX
I will let nothing stand in the way of justice. I will never hold back in the pursuit of revenge.
SINNER’S TRIBE CREED
The first notes of White Stripes’ “Icky Thump” filled the room and Dawn stared at Jimmy. After everything that had happened, she was back where she started, except this time she was twenty-six instead of sixteen, and when she danced, it wouldn’t be with fear and humiliation feeding Jimmy’s ego. She had a confidence she’d never felt before. She had people who cared about her. And she had a man who would do anything to keep her safe. But first she had to save herself. But she needed a gun.
Dawn kicked out one leg and twirled around the pole, checking out the room for weapons and an exit. A low hum from the street muffled the pelvic-throbbing beat of the music, and she paused midstep. What was that noise? She looked to the front door and a few bikers did the same.
Thunder? The rev of an engine? The roar of a train?
The sound grew louder.
“What the hell is going on?” Jimmy pushed Gail off his lap and pointed at the biker nearest him. “Go. Find out.”
By now the sound was unmistakably that of a vehicle in full acceleration. Jimmy reached for his gun. The front door crumpled and the side of the building went with it, the sheet-metal-and-wood-frame structure collapsing under the weight of the massive black SUV barreling into the building. The clubhouse groaned under the impact. Pictures fell from walls. Beams crashed to the floor. Bikers shouted. Someone fired a gun.
Dawn ran. She didn’t care who was in the vehicle or why it had come through the wall, but it was a chance of escape and she wasn’t about to lose it.
The driver’s-side door of the SUV swung open and Cade stepped out of the vehicle, his face a mask of fury. Using the door as a shield he sprayed bullets across the room, covering Dawn as she ran toward him. Cold, determined, calculating, he moved with confidence and purpose, scattering the Brethren in a shower of steel.
Dawn hit the vehicle running and reached for the door just as two pit bulls came racing through the hole in the wall. They went straight for Cade, knocking him to the ground. Cade lost his weapon as he fell. “Run, Dawn. Get the fuck out.”
Like hell I will. She dropped to the ground and rolled under the vehicle, staying behind the wheel well as she reached for Cade’s gun. She dragged it toward her by the handle, struggling with its weight. Okay. It was some kind of submachine gun. Not quite the same as her little .22 but she just had to pull the trigger.
Cade struggled with the dogs. One of them bit his arm and he cursed. The other clamped its jaws firmly around his leg, and Dawn slid her finger over the trigger, hoping a few rounds would scare them off.
“Heel.” Jimmy’s voice echoed through the clubhouse. He snapped his fingers and the dogs released Cade. “Not so brave now, are you?” He crouched beside Cade with his weapon pointed at Cade’s head while the dogs salivated beside him. Dawn couldn’t see Jimmy’s face but she could imagine the smirk. He always smirked before he hit her.
“Up.” Jimmy barked the
command and Cade heaved himself to his feet. Dawn shifted closer to the edge of the vehicle, and one of the dogs growled. Damn.
“You picked the wrong fucking brother and the wrong fucking club to mess with when you got involved with my old lady.” Jimmy’s voice slid through her like ice. “Shootin’ you dead is gonna be too easy. Your death is gonna be nice and slow. I’m gonna film every minute of it and send it the Sinners so they know what’s coming for them.”
“I think you better be worried about what’s coming for you.”
Dawn drew the gun close to her chest. The dogs barked. A furry black face appeared under the vehicle and she slid back. The SUV rocked above her. Was someone inside?
“Hiding, love?” Jimmy raised his voice loud enough for her to hear. She could see his boots just in front of her. The same boots he’d used when he’d kicked her repeatedly in the stomach, trying to make her lose her babies.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you. Just in case you feel left out, you’re gonna suffer, too.”
Dawn leaned up on her elbows, shoved the gun between her breasts and fired. Jimmy screamed. The gun whacked her chin on recoil and her head jerked back, hitting the undercarriage with a painful thud.
Jimmy fell to the ground and into Dawn’s line of sight. His weapon dropped to the side. “Jesus fucking Christ. The bitch just shot my fucking toe.”
The vehicle rocked again and the rear passenger door opened. Feet scuffed the concrete floor beside her. But she didn’t have time to worry about what was going on. Jimmy was down, unarmed, injured, and for the first time vulnerable. She steadied the gun between her breasts and slid her finger over the trigger. This was it. The moment she had dreamed about for ten years. The end of Jimmy. She would finally be free.
* * *
Cade heard the SUV door open. This was it. Gunner was out. Sparky and Zane would be right behind him. It was the end of Mad Dog. And he was going to be the one to pull the trigger. He threw himself forward and grabbed Mad Dog’s weapon. Then in one swift move, he rolled, aimed, and fired.
In that moment three things happened.
First, two more shots were fired, each from a different gun. Mad Dog fell backward, his hand to his chest.
Second, as Mad Dog fell, a bullet from a fourth gun hit Mad Dog from behind, a clean hit through the neck that slowed only when it pinged off the hood of the SUV.
Third, four people yelled, “I got him.”
Gun at the ready, Cade surveyed the scene. Curiously none of the Brethren ran to Mad Dog’s aid. Even the two dogs that had so obediently heeled at his command left him to lick the face of an old geezer lying on the floor with a gun pointed where Mad Dog’s neck used to be.
“I got him.” Dawn slid out from under the SUV.
“I got him,” the old geezer yelled. “Right through the fucking neck.”
“No fucking way.” Gunner lowered his weapon. “I got him.”
“No, I got him,” Cade said. “Hit him in the leg.”
“That’s just the old injury from when I hit him in the leg.” Dawn glared and then sucked in a sharp breath. “Why are you lowering your weapons? We’re still outnumbered.”
“Not for long.”
As the last word left Cade’s lips, the Brethren dropped their weapons. He turned and smiled at the Sinners pouring through the wrecked wall on either side of the SUV.
His brothers.
His club.
And … What the fuck? Benson?
Talk about ruining the moment.
“Dawn!” Benson stared at Dawn aghast as he walked over the rubble. “What are you doing with that … weapon?”
“Shooting people.” One hand on her hip, she held up her gun. Cade snorted a laugh. Damn, she was a sight in that tight red dress, dirty and torn, her hair tangled, scratches and bruises on her arms and legs. But with that weapon in her hand and the triumphant smile on her face she was beyond beautiful to him.
“Actually she was shooting toes, not people, but she did a good job. She’s better at shooting toes than tires.” He looked over at Benson and lifted an eyebrow. “We got business together, Benson. A little matter of locking me up in jail and trying to steal my girl. You got anyone you want to call before you die?”
Benson’s mouth tightened. “Your girl.”
“Mine.”
Benson’s gaze swept over Dawn, lingering, and then his shoulders slumped. “She’s definitely a Sinner.”
Dawn put her arm around Cade and leaned her head against his chest. “Cade’s Sinner. I am sorry, Doug, but this is where I want to be.”
“I wanted so badly to save you,” Benson said wistfully. “My sister was taken by a biker gang when she was fourteen. We never got her back. I joined the police thinking I would make a difference and something like that would never happen on my watch. I think I lost perspective, and I might have gotten a little carried away.”
“You went to fucking crazy town and back.” Cade shoved his weapon in its holster. “Even coming out here alone … all kinds of stupid. You always gotta have someone at your back.”
“I get it. I’m sorry, Dawn. I won’t bother you or the Sinners again.” He turned to go and Cade gestured to Tank to cut off Benson’s retreat.
“You don’t get off that easy. Locking up a Sinner is serious offense, but ’cause you were looking out for my girl, I’ll give you a choice. I beat the shit out of you, break your fucking arms and legs, and dump you in a ditch outside of town, or you can be the Sinners’ eyes and ears inside the police station. Sheriff Morton did a fine job for us, and was paid well for his trouble until he got greedy, so now there’s a vacancy that needs to be filled.”
Benson shrugged. “It’s not really a choice, is it?”
“You always have a choice.”
“He’s being nice to you.” Dawn’s lips tugged at the corners. “He would usually smash your vehicle, too.”
“And burn down his house.” Cade brushed his lips over her forehead. “But I got my girl so I’m in a good mood.”
“I kinda like my vehicle,” Benson said. “And my arms and legs. You’ve got yourself a mole.”
* * *
“I got the girls.” Cade pulled Dawn against his side after Tank and T-Rex escorted Benson back to his police car. “They’re safe at the clubhouse.”
Dawn exhaled a relieved breath and leaned against SUV. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how worried I was about them. But the clubhouse? Two little girls? Really?”
“Dax is with them.”
“Dax? The torturer?”
“He’s got his own kids. He knows how to have a good time.”
“I’m sure he does.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Probably dissecting frogs and shooting at squirrels.”
Cade growled low in his throat. “Made me hot watchin’ you shoot Mad Dog from under the SUV.”
“Everything makes you hot. You’d probably have me naked and over the hood of the vehicle if I’d done more than shoot him in the toe.” She had been bitterly disappointed after Zane checked Jimmy’s wounds and pronounced Old Mick the winner of the shoot-out.
“I think you should put down that gun and we’ll let the boys finish doin’ what they’re doin’ with the Brethren and I’ll show you just how hot your toe shooting made me.”
Dawn glanced over at Old Mick and Jagger, deep in conversation while Doc Hegel tended to Old Mick’s wound. Around them, Sinners kept watch on the disarmed Brethren, while others searched the clubhouse, and still more guarded the doors.
“I think they aren’t going to be doing anything to the remaining Brethren other than taking their weapons and offering them a choice of patch-over or death,” she said. “Mad Dog’s supporters are already gone. The usual rats fleeing a sinking ship.”
“We’ll hunt them down. Guaranteed.”
She tightened her arms around Cade, drinking in the warmth of his body. “That was a pretty damn awesome rescue. Very Cade. Lots of drama. No sneaking around or hiding in the shado
ws. Just straight plowing through the wall in an SUV like an action hero.”
“I know something else I want to plow into. Hop in and I’ll take you back to the clubhouse and show you what else an action hero can do.”
“You’re filthy.”
“And you love it.”
“I love you,” she said. “But the filth is a close second.”
* * *
“What’s this?” The skin on the back of Dawn’s neck prickled when she saw the duffel bag packed on Cade’s dresser. She’d checked on the girls and showered in the grimy clubhouse washroom to wash away all traces of Jimmy, easing the tension from her body. Now, freshly scrubbed and dressed in one of Cade’s shirts, her anxiety returned all over again.
“You’re going on the road so soon?”
“Shhhhh.” He cupped her face between her hands and brushed his lips over hers. “I got a coupla things I got to do that can’t wait. I’m taking T-Rex, Dax, and the prospect with me.”
She tried to pull away, but he was too strong, his hands too firm, his lips too soft. “Where are you going?”
He smoothed a hand over her forehead. “Better if you don’t know.”
“I want to know where you’re going.” She shoved him back against the door. “I’ll be worried, Cade. I worried when you were up in Whitefish, but at least I knew where you were. Tell me. Now.”
“You trying to turn me on, babe? ’Cause I’ll let you know a secret. That fire of yours, when it gets going, makes me hot like nothing else. Nothing a biker likes more than soft and sweet with a sassy inside.”
“Cade…” She moaned when his hands slid down to her ass, pulling her hips against his hardened length.
“I want to love you, babe,” he whispered in her ear. “Let me love you tonight. I promise you won’t regret it.”
She answered him with a kiss, her arms around his neck, her breasts pressed against his chest. “Love me. Then tell me where you’re going.”
“I’ll tell you where I’m going to as soon as you strip off your clothes.” Cade settled himself on the bed, hands behind his head, legs spread, the quintessential alpha male.
“I’ve never stripped for anyone, Cade. Not after leaving Jimmy.”
The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, Books 1-3 Page 64