by Franca Storm
Fear.
Despite my reassurances, she was terrified for me, terrified of losing me, of losing what we had.
I hated seeing that from her, feeling that from her. I couldn’t really blame her either. Sure, she had a lot of inner strength and she was no stranger to the workings of her father’s brutal world. The issue for her was that she’d seen the state of me the last time I’d undertaken a mission similar in nature to this one. She’d been up close and personal. I’d almost fucking well died. It wasn’t something I could deny, or have her forget.
But I had to do this.
My earpiece buzzed with an urgency that was running hot in my veins.
I tapped it, answering, “Wraith.”
Scott’s impatient rumble came down the line, “What’s the hold up? Ain’t got word from you and it’s been three goddamn hours.”
I narrowed my eyes in frustration at the scene across the street. Four dozen bikers were convened outside, right in the open, ripe for the fucking picking.
Their annual get-together was well underway. They were stunting, barbecuing, smoking what looked like a hell of a lot more than just tobacco and a bit of marijuana. The liquor was flowing freely, too. They weren’t on guard in the least. They’d become foolishly cocky.
After what they’d pulled on our territory, they should be locked down with crazy-ass security measures in place.
But they really seemed to believe they were untouchable.
And it was about to cost them everything.
The issue I was running into, though, was that Knox Price hadn’t ventured outside. Not once.
I shifted my weight on my shooting platform, my muscles burning from remaining rigidly still for far too long. Not only was I too old for this bull now, I was majorly out of practice. “I can’t get a lock on Knox,” I reported. “He hasn’t ventured outside into my field of fire.”
“Jesus Christ.”
Normally ice-cold during an operation, it was a testament to how personal and trying this was for Scott. His stress was showing through. He was incredibly anxious and micromanaging intensely, determined to know every detail of what was going on, to have everything spelled out clearly and concisely to him. No room for mistakes.
“Well, what the fuck’s he doing? Sitting in his office doing goddamn paperwork?”
I rolled my eyes. Speculating would achieve nothing. “We need a distraction to draw him out.”
“Well, you firing at them, ain’t gonna do that, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“It’s not,” I gritted out, my agitation growing. His shortness, him being so obviously rattled wasn’t helping the situation at all. And it wasn’t helping me. Knowing what I had to do was already twisting my gut. The only way I could go through with it and not fucking choke in the process, which would get us all killed, was to lock down all emotion.
I had to draw on the cold, calculated killer mentality.
But his emotion coming at me was making that incredibly difficult.
“All right,” he spoke. I heard him drawing in a breath, clearly trying to calm himself. “I’m gonna pull a Trojan Horse.”
Unfortunately from our years working alongside one another in the SF, I knew what that meant all too well.
“The risk is too high,” I warned him.
Our club brothers were waiting in the wings with him, a quarter of a mile back from my position on the roof of an abandoned gas station down the street from the Rogue Riders MC compound, at a truck stop just off the highway. I’d hightailed it from there on foot, knowing the roar of my motorcycle would have given me away immediately.
Scott went on, “I’m gonna claim I wanna strike a deal with Knox and—”
“He’s not going to buy that.”
“He will if it’s to strike a deal for my baby girl’s life. Gonna make him believe I’m giving myself up for her. Gonna tell him I’m tired of this bullshit war, that they got way too close to Ash the other day and I can’t be letting that happen again, so I’m doing whatever I can to keep her safe.”
It was possible that Knox would buy that. He knew how much Scott cared for Ashley, that she was the most precious thing to him in the world. He wouldn’t have gone after her if he didn’t get that. But it was still majorly risky.
“All right,” I conceded. There wasn’t much choice. He was the Prez, the leader of this op. Plus, it was beginning to look like Knox was never coming out of the compound. Scott could definitely give him that push.
“Wait on my signal, yeah?”
“WILCO.”
A small chuckle came from him. “Fuck, after all this time? So much for putting all that behind us. Old habits die hard, brother.”
“Yeah. Yeah, they do.”
We disconnected.
And then I waited.
Every second that passed had me growing more on edge. While my hide had great observation, field of fire, ballistic advantage to avoid any potential counter-sniper fire, and the fire escape offering a perfect back door route to move into an alternate standing position on ground level, it was lacking in terms of concealment and cover. I hadn’t had much choice. It was the only location at least four-hundred-yards away from the enemy, the roof of an abandoned gas station across the street.
Knox had chosen a great location for his clubhouse. Off the beaten track, nothing and no one around for miles. A fine place to conduct any number of illegal activities. Unfortunately for him, it offered us the same advantage with our takedown. No interference, no witnesses, and, thankfully, no collateral damage. I abhorred it when the latter couldn’t be avoided. It was brutal and a bitch to reconcile. I’d never taken on a job involving the takedown of innocents. But, sometimes, things happened. Awful, reprehensible things that could never be forgotten.
After several minutes had passed with me silently praying that I’d finally witness Knox walking out in the open through my scope, a sudden commotion had me pulling back. I lifted my head carefully above the tiny two-foot-high concrete parapet that surrounded the entire roof. Limited cover, indeed.
Scott had arrived.
Now we could get this mission on the fucking road.
I really didn’t have the patience for this that I used to. Not only did I not want to be doing this anymore, the stakes were too high for my liking.
Ashley’s life.
The lives of all the club brothers.
Failure wasn’t an option. This had to go off without a hitch. Unfortunately, I knew the likelihood of that was next to none.
Still, what else could I do but try?
I had to protect the woman I loved with everything at my disposal.
I wouldn’t let that fucker and his guys touch her. I wouldn’t let them destroy Scott and the club.
No matter what I had to do, tonight the Rogues would take their last breaths.
My earpiece buzzed again. With a tap, I accepted the transmission, the sound of the bikers cursing and stomping towards Scott at the closed gates to the Rogues clubhouse blaring through my ear. He was keeping the line open to keep me in the know.
Scott ignored the comments and threats tossed his way and gestured at the prospect manning the gates. “Tell him Spartan’s here to make a deal.”
The kid moved to open the gates instead. Oh no.
Scott held up his hand. “Think I’m fucking dumb? I ain’t going in there. Get the old man out here.”
“You’re dying either way.”
“Not until I got this deal in the bag. Want my baby girl protected when I’m buried. So, get the fuck on it and bring that bastard Prez of yours to me.”
A creepy laugh sounded in my ear, making me cringe. I watched through the scope as Knox stepped out, holding his hand up to his guys. They all took a few steps back and cleared a path for him to meet Scott at the gates. “Chill, brother,” he said, derisively.
I watched Knox open the gates and start patting Scott down, searching him. “Don’t trust nobody else to do this. They don’t know your tricks like
I do,” Knox told Scott.
I fiddled with my earpiece, shifting to another frequency, one that patched me into Deviant, Wrecker and Anarchy, the three go-to brothers on this op. “Advance,” I ordered. “Move in hard and fast. No mercy.”
“Copy that,” Deviant answered quick, then disconnected just as speedily, getting that we had a tight window to pull this off.
Three minutes.
I kept Knox in my sights, centered down the barrel of my high-powered rifle.
I watched him come away from Scott with a flip knife, keys, and his .45. Damn him. He’d had the balls to go in armed. He really was operating on emotion right now. He never would’ve made that call back in the day. It ran the risk of it being turned against him.
Sure enough, what I’d been concerned about happening, happened.
That despicable smug smirk flashed on Knox’s face and he flipped the gun, took aim at Scott, and cocked it, ready to blow a hole through his throat. “You really think I’m gonna bind myself to some deal when I can get what I want right here and now without any of that?”
“Enemies or not, we got a code.”
Knox scoffed. “That always was your problem, your weakness. It’s how your Old Lady ended up buried, how I blindsided you. You still think I’m the man you knew before that bitch got in your head and screwed everything up. The club, you softening, my plans getting fucked over.” He lunged forward, pressing the muzzle to Scott’s temple. “That man you knew is long gone. That shit that went down changed me. Forever. Ain’t no coming back from crossing that line. Once evil’s made, it can’t be undone. It’s like death. Real fucking permanent.”
“Don’t believe none of that,” Scott told him.
Knox laughed that sick, demented laugh again and stepped back. “You know, you’ve got me feeling sorry for you. All this time, everything between us, and you’ve still been hoping you’d get your best brother back, huh?” With his free hand, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a cell phone. “For old times’ sake, I’ll let you have some last words.” He held his phone out, showing Scott the screen.
Through my scope, I could see every detail. My blood ran cold.
Scott growled. “How the fuck did you—?”
“Get your baby girl’s number? Lou.” He jerked the phone at Scott. “So, here. Take it. Call her and say your goodbyes.”
I tightened my shot, my voice cold and detached as I relayed to Scott, “I have the kill shot.”
He shook his head. “Nah, this is personal.”
“What?” Knox snapped, confused, because he had no idea Scott was really talking to me.
What the fuck was he playing at? I knew it was personal, but we’d agreed he’d lock it up for the bigger picture, for Ashley’s sake, his club’s sake. Clearly, I’d miscalculated.
And we were all about to pay the price.
I fingered the trigger.
It was now, or never.
My rifle was sighted directly at the target. One clean shot through his skull and he’d drop cold.
I ignored everything else around me, blocking out their continued argument, the sound of tires screeching into the area, knowing it was the cavalry finally joining the party.
Everything was primed. I wasn’t going to allow Scott’s sudden change of heart to screw with all of that. I’d take the shot, then I’d pick off every last one of them that I could, our boys taking out any who managed to evade me and retreat back into their clubhouse. Then we’d burn the place to the ground.
But then a sound I’d programmed myself to react to instantly, even in the throes of the deepest sleep, shattered everything.
I eyed my phone lying beside me, my eyes widening when I saw the bright-red flashing alert filling the screen.
“Fuck,” I muttered, snatching it up quickly and scanning the details.
I’d had Jesse set it up for me. Hell, he hadn’t just installed it, he’d created it from scratch. It was part of the services he’d provided to me that’d helped me become a ghost and remain as one. An app that served as an early-warning system, informing me when any branch of law enforcement was within a certain range of me.
I pushed up off my stomach and set about packing up, as I spoke into my earpiece, radioing Scott, then Deviant and the boys with the same message. “Abort. Feds. Abort and evac ASAP.”
I hurried down the fire escape and landed in a crouch, quickly adjusting my rifle for ground firing, as I lined up my shot at Knox again. I couldn’t leave until I knew Scott was out of the woods.
In the few seconds that it’d taken me to switch positions, Knox had lowered the gun. He stood barking at his boys, gesticulating wildly for them to take the hell off.
But as Knox’s guys hurried to their bikes, a voice rang out, one that stopped me dead in my tracks.
“Contain them!”
I watched, my heart leaping into my throat, as a very familiar figure hopped out of one of the Iron Kings MC trucks.
Jesus fucking Christ. No!
Deviant gave her a chin lift. They’d planned this? Together? Behind mine and Scott’s backs? How the hell?
With Deviant’s orders, the boys formed an obstructing line in front of the bikes, blocking off the Rogues from escaping.
The sirens were piercing through the area, coming ever closer.
Every instinct in my body usually had me running like hell by now.
But it was all being transcended by my love and worry for one woman.
Instead of turning and running from the law, I ran toward the proverbial fire.
I was fast by most men’s standards, but in those moments, I ran faster than I ever had.
I couldn’t get there fast enough.
By the time I skidded to a stop right in the thick of it, my lungs were burning from the extreme overexertion. All I could manage to choke out was one word.
“Ashley.”
30
~Ashley~
HE LOOKED PISSED.
More than that, actually.
There was something odd in his eyes, something I wasn’t used to seeing at all.
Fear.
He was terrified for me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he demanded, his gaze darting frantically all around, his locked and loaded sniper rifle at the ready, moving in a rapid arc around me, covering me.
It was chaos all around us. The Rogues were running every which way. Iron Kings stood, their guns drawn, blocking the way to the assholes’ bikes, so some of them were trying to find another escape route on foot. They weren’t going to have much luck. Our boys knew what they were doing.
“Finn!” I snapped, in an effort to snap him out of his state of hypervigilance.
His gaze locked with mine, his eyes wild.
I reached out and cupped his cheek. “Baby, you need to go. Now. The Feds will be here any moment. Cops wouldn’t cut it for these assholes. They’re wanted for so many despicable crimes. I handed all the evidence Jesse had compiled over to them in exchange for immunity for all of Iron Kings.”
“You did this?”
I merely nodded. I couldn’t waste time getting into it with him now, not with the Feds so close. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do the same for you. You’re a ghost. No one’s supposed to know you’re alive. It’s better that way for you, because I really don’t think they’d pardon—” I stopped short at the pain lancing across his features. “You know what I mean.”
I tapped his shoulder when he didn’t say another word or make a move to run like hell.
He was still covering me. It seemed to be his only focus.
I slapped his arm, jolting his attention back to me. “I get that this is how you have to do things when you’re in the field on a hard mission, but I need you to hear my words, baby.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
Relief filled me as I realized I had some of his attention now. I squeezed his hand, my eyes boring into his, needing to ram it home to him. “I can’t lose you. Not to anyone, or anythi
ng. Please.”
“I can’t leave you here in the thick of it. I can’t.”
I shook my head, imploring him, “Run. Like. Hell.”
It looked like he was about to fight me some more.
But then a large hand landed on his shoulder from behind. My dad rounded him, coming to stand before us. “I’ve got her, Finn. Go, brother.”
“You knew about this, too?” Finn demanded.
My dad gave me a look. “No fucking clue.”
“It was a good plan,” I argued.
“The danger’s way too much, Ash.”
“Sorry to interrupt this sickening family reunion, but this shit is over with right the hell now.”
I spun to see Knox Price with half a dozen of his guys at his back, the most dedicated ones, clearly, because they were the only ones not fighting against the Iron Kings club members to get to their bikes and take off like bats out of hell.
The worst part, though, was the .45 he had aimed my way.
If he missed, or couldn’t get off a shot, there were six more pistols at the ready flanking him.
“The Feds will be here any second,” I warned him.
“The shit they’ve got on me, taking your life won’t make a bit of difference, little bitch.”
Finn growled and stepped into my path, blocking my body completely with his.
His sudden move had Knox reacting, firing off a shot.
I screamed when I heard Finn grunt and stumble back into me, blood spurting as a bullet tore through his arm, forcing him to drop his rifle.
“This is why I can’t let my guard down,” Finn admonished me through gritted teeth against the pain.
“Baby!” I cried.
I reacted without thinking, snatching up Finn’s rifle, then firing a shot off at Knox.
Blood spurted from his arm. I’d shot him exactly where he’d shot Finn.
“Shit, Ash,” my dad exclaimed, quickly ushering us behind the cover of a truck, just before Knox’s dedicated followers retaliated with a hail of bullets.
“Let me see,” my dad called over the sound of gunfire.
It started to let up quickly and I wagered that our boys had interfered and defended us. They wouldn’t let my dad take heat like that.