by Addison Jane
Judge moved closer, one of Simon’s lackeys stepped back, moving out of his way.
I saw the realization hit my ex-husband. It was awkward and tense as Simon bared his teeth in a smile. The smile of a man who was finally beginning to understand that he’d screwed up.
“You got to them,” he stated as he watched his men slowly back away.
Each for their own. He was no longer calling the shots, and they were ready to flee.
I felt Slider move closer to me, one of his hands curling around my arm. I leaned into his body, seeking his comfort and reassurance that we were going to get out of this alive.
Simon was outnumbered. He’d made too many mistakes, and now he was about to pay the price. Unfortunately, while the odds were now in our favor, Simon was still a federal agent. They were trained for high-pressure situations and taught to never back down. He would fight, I knew it.
“We realized that you didn’t want anything more to do with the FBI,” Leo stated, moving up to stand next to Judge, glaring at the man who had made the last few weeks a living hell.
“FBI?” Isiah roared, his body moving toward Simon as though he was going to strike out. His man held him back, inching him slowly away from the chaos that was about to ensue.
Leo ignored the man, he didn’t care for him right now. “Trying to get the Bureau to take you off your assignment was pointless because the small amount of information that you were feeding them was good.”
“So we hit you where we knew it would hurt,” Judge said, a small grin forming above his beard. “Fortunately for us, Angelo is a well-respected man, and because of that, your men were forced to listen to what he had to say.”
Simon didn’t speak. I could tell that his mind was racing, he was trying to process his options. If he went to jail, there would be no protection for him there. It wouldn’t take long for word to get around that he was a federal agent and more than likely responsible for the time that some of those criminals were serving.
He would be killed, and God knows what else would be done to him in the name of revenge.
“It’s time to go,” Judge said, but I could see the careful way he moved, trying not to startle the cornered animal.
“Seems like it is,” Simon stated calmly, his eyes moving across the room until he reached me. They stopped, and while I was expecting to see some kind of remorse for his actions, there was none.
Suddenly I felt Slider’s body come across mine, and I was swept into his arms.
Gunfire filled the barn, the sound echoing in the large space and the distinctive sound of bullets zipping through the air caused me to scream. Slider ran with my body in his arms and his head down toward an open door, my body shaking with each pound of his foot against the dirt floor.
Blizzard and Camo leaped out of the way, both to avoid the spray of bullets and our bodies as we barreled past them, out into the fresh air. My body was released, dropping me into the long grass. Unable to brace myself with my hands, my shoulder hit first, a sharp pain shooting through me. I cried out in pain, unable to move for a few seconds as I fought the urge to vomit.
When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Slider on his knees a few feet from me, his hands hanging limp at his sides and his eyes staring at me with a look I couldn’t recognize. I saw his eyes flash, and a smile twitched painfully at the corner of his mouth before he fell forward, not even attempting to catch himself as his face drove into the dirt.
“Slider!” I cried out, struggling through the pain and wiggling toward him. “Slider!”
Blood pooled on his back, running down the sides of his body, staining the white patches across his back a sickening red.
“No, no, no,” I whispered between sobs as I wiggled my body closer to him. “Don’t die, you’re not going to die.”
I tore at the cuffs around my wrists, desperate to free them. All I could think about was how I needed to put pressure on the gunshot wounds to keep his blood from flowing out. But it was useless. The more I wrenched, the more I could feel them ripping at my skin, my own blood seeping down onto my hands.
I threw my body over his, using my torso and my arms to press against the bullet holes, desperate to stop the bleeding, hoping that it would help. I expected to feel him sucking in air, forcing his body to breathe, but there was nothing. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak.
I could hear footsteps pounding around me, people yelling, calling out to their brothers. I tucked myself against Slider’s body, crying into his shoulder as people yelled and screamed around me. More shots were let off, and the thump of bodies resonated on the ground below me, but it had all just become a blur. There was nothing I could do anymore.
“Leo!” I faintly heard Optimus yell. “Fuck!”
I didn’t move, I stayed right there, frozen in place. I just wanted the pain and the noise to stop. I wanted Slider to breathe again, I wanted to go home and pretend that this had never happened. It wasn’t meant to be this way. His life wasn’t supposed to end with him laying in the dirt.
“Hadley, God no.” His voice was like a shockwave through my body, and I suddenly allowed myself to breathe, releasing a loud sob.
“She’s alive!” Leo yelled before I felt his arms come around me from behind, lifting my body. I yelled and fought against him. “Hadley it’s me. Baby, it’s okay!” He tried to soothe me as I struggled in his arms.
“He’s dead!” I cried, my body finally losing its fight as I said the words that I didn’t want to believe we’re true. I slumped, relying on Leo to keep me from falling to the ground. “He’s dead, Leo.”
“Someone get these cuffs off!” he called.
I heard movement and the jingle of keys. The pressure on my wrists was released, the pain I could no longer feel. I was numb.
Leo appeared in front of me, his face looking down, his eyes like they were searching for signs of life.
“He’s dead,” I whispered, strangely calm.
“I know, baby.” His voice broke as he hooked his hands under my ass and lifted me. I climbed him, wrapping my shaking legs around his waist and tucking my face against his neck. “I know.”
I placed Hadley in the backseat of one of the SUV’s, it took me a few minutes to get her to release the death grip she had on me, and I offered her as much comfort as she needed. But what I needed, was to remove the blood from her body.
My mind told me it wasn’t hers, but my heart needed it gone. Losing her would be too much, I needed reassurance that she was still here, breathing, and alive.
Camo rushed over and tore off a piece of his T-shirt. He found a water bottle in the back of the car and soaked it before handing it to me. I started with her face, smoothing it over her features and washing away the red stain on her skin. She sat still, staring straight ahead as I cleaned her off.
She was like a zombie.
I knew the feeling.
Seeing someone that you cared about, killed, was never an easy thing to get past. I’d seen my fair share of it to know that she’d have nightmares for a long time after this.
Slider was dead.
There was nothing she could have done, I know that for a fact because if there was, I don’t doubt that she would have attempted to save him. That was just who she was, always putting the people she cared for first, even if she risked her life in the process. Telling her that she couldn’t have prevented what happened would never wipe away the vivid memories or give her any peace of mind.
She would still feel the pain.
It would hurt, and sometimes it would feel like she was suffocating.
But I knew that I would do anything I could to breathe the air into her lungs when she felt like she was going under. She was my woman. I would protect her with my life, I would give her my life.
Just like Slider, I’d watched the second in which Simon had made his decision. He knew he wasn’t getting out alive, and the only way he was going down was to take Hadley with him, knowing that it would cause more pain.
I’d b
een too far away.
In my heart, I thought for sure, that I was going to lose her.
Slider knew that too, and he had sacrificed himself in order to save her.
“Why’d he do it, Leo?” she asked so quietly I almost missed it.
I continued to wipe the cloth over her bare arms. It was soaked, drenched in my brother’s blood. I clenched it tightly in my hand, before tossing it out onto the grass. I turned back to Hadley, her swollen puffy eyes watching me cautiously. There was a slight bruise coming up on her cheek.
“Why’d he do what, baby?” I asked, brushing the blood matted hair away from her face.
“He knew,” she answered, her eyes drifting to outside the car. “He knew that Simon wouldn’t miss. He knew he would get hit if he put his body in front of mine.”
I thought it was obvious, but Hadley was struggling to get her head around it. “He put you first,” I told her. “He did what any of us would do, put ourselves on the line to protect one of our family.”
“He used it as an out!” she cried, shoving at my chest. “He knew he was going to die anyway!” I wrapped my arms around her flailing body, she fought me, pounding her fists against my chest. “It didn’t have to be this way,” she screamed.
My brothers rushed toward the vehicle as I pulled Hadley out, cradling her against my chest.
Judge and his boys watched from a safe distance. I could tell they wanted to help, to comfort her as she broke down, but they allowed her the space to crash, knowing that I was there.
My heart broke as she finally gave up her fight and her body fell limp in my arms, sobs wracking her body. I dropped to the ground, and she straddled my lap, clutching to my body like a lifeline.
My brothers stood around us, a sign of support. I looked up, finding the eyes of my president, filled with complete devastation.
“I need to take her home.”
He nodded without a second thought.
Judge tossed me the keys to the SUV we’d just been sitting in. “Take it, I’ll bring your bike back.”
I lifted my chin in thanks, and Blizzard helped me to my feet when it became evident that Hadley wasn’t going to let go. I bundled her into the passenger’s seat and took a look over my shoulder. Eagle and Wrench were crouched down next to Slider’s body. I wanted to go to him, I wanted to tell him how much I owed him for protecting Hadley.
“We’ll bring him home so everyone can say their goodbyes,” Optimus said, drawing my attention.
I nodded before making my way around the vehicle and leaving my brothers and Judge and his boys to clean up the mess that had been created.
Hadley was my priority, and I knew every man there understood.
Walking into the clubhouse, the women’s eyes all widened.
I hadn’t been able to clean all the blood of Hadley, and while she was finally walking on her own, she was in a daze, tears flowing freely every few minutes.
Chelsea raised a hand to her mouth, moving forward but I held up my hand. “Can you call the doc? She needs checking over.”
“Leo…” Chelsea whispered, the question in her voice screaming loudly within the room as they all held their breath.
They wanted to know whose blood it was.
“Slider,” I answered, my voice cracking. I shook my head, hating that it had even been a question.
“No,” Chelsea said, stumbling back against the bar.
Rose caught her in her arms, Skylar moving a bar stool underneath her and patting her arm softly. They all cried for their lost friend, their arms wrapped around each other in comfort. I started to move Hadley up the staircase before Rose called out to me. I turned as Hadley continued up, forcing one foot in front of each other.
“Is she going to be okay?” Rose asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, trying to wake myself up to the reality that I’d just lost a brother and one of my best friends, a man I’d known for years and years. We’d been through so much shit and always pulled out the other side. But this time we weren’t so lucky, and now, he was just gone.
“I hope so,” I told her, hanging my head. “The boys won’t be long, and they’re gonna need you girls when they get back.”
“Of course,” she said quietly.
I jogged up the staircase after Hadley, finding her stripping off her clothes in my bathroom. The shower was already running, the room slowing filling with steam. I put my hand in to check the temperature, the water scorching my skin.
“Fuck,” I cursed, playing with the temperature gauge.
“Leave it,” Hadley snapped, grabbing my arm to pull me away.
“Baby, that’ll burn your skin. It’s too hot.”
She shook her head furiously. “I need it hot, I need to wash this off me,” she said, running her hands over a light stain of red that still remained on some parts of her arms, her face and in her hair.
I pulled my shirt over my head before dropping my jeans to the floor. “Come on,” I said, holding out my hand to her as I stepped into the cubicle. She placed her shaking hand inside mine and followed me in.
The space was small and cramped, but I didn’t care. I needed her close, I needed to feel her hot skin and her pulse against me, a reminder that she’d made it back alive. Not completely unscathed, but alive.
She winced as the hot water hit the abrasions on her wrists. The handcuffs had cut through her skin, leaving it raw. I rubbed soap all over her body, careful not to get it into her wounds. They would need to be looked at and covered with antiseptic.
“Leo?” she asked softly as I turned her body and moved my hands over her back.
“Yeah, baby.”
“What happened?”
I sighed. She wanted to know what had gone down with regards to the FBI raiding the clubhouse.
“Judge finally found the evidence that he needed to bring Simon down. Simon had been stashing funds in an off shore account. He was making a cut of everything the Shadow Syndicate made and not telling either party,” I explained. “When Angelo made contact with one of the men, he learned about the merger with the Syndicate and the Lenthums. The FBI wanted to take down both of them as Isiah Lenthum is high on their list of men that keep evading prosecution, and this was finally their chance to get him on something.”
I moved her body underneath the spray of the water, washing away the soap from her body. It coated the bottom of the shower in a strange shade of orange. I shuddered as I watched the remnants of Slider’s life swirl down the drain.
“None of the agents that showed up knew what was going on except for Melanie, the lead detective,” I continued, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “The second that you were gone she stopped everything. There was a tracker on the car you were in, we were meant to follow you and put a stop to everything before it got out of hand.” My hands stopped moving, and I hung my head, knowing that things had not gone according to plan and because of that, I’d almost lost her.
She turned, her red eyes looking up at me. “Something went wrong,” she stated, her voice croaky.
I nodded. “One of the guys who was part of the operation was on Simon’s payroll…” I clenched my fists, “…he made a call to the main office where another guy managed to scramble the signal before we could get a firm location.”
“How did he do all this? Why didn’t these men just speak up and say something?” she asked, her anger flaring. “They must have known what he was doing was wrong?”
I brushed her wet hair away from her face, cupping her face in my hand. “He had money and power, Hadley. If bribes didn’t work, he had the Shadow Syndicate behind him, ready to do anything he ordered. He threatened their families and in some cases, he followed through. And when that kind of pressure is put on…” I forced back the burn of tears that threatened to break through my defenses, “…people will do anything to protect the ones they love.”
She sobbed loudly, and I wrapped my arms around her small frame, pulling her against m
y body as the water sprayed over us.
I wanted to say something to comfort her, tell her that he was in a better place. But it wouldn’t help. We were all mourning Slider’s death, and nothing could be said to fill the hole that we would feel inside for the rest of our lives.
The pain would slowly ease, but we would never forget today.
Doc came and looked over Hadley, and with the adrenaline beginning to wear off, I could tell that she was in more pain than she was letting on.
The grazes around her wrists would heal, she may be left with a few small scars. The proof that she had fought back. Her shoulder was dislocated from where Slider had dropped her and had to be popped back in. We’d filled her with enough drugs to try and numb the pain without killing her, but I could still hear her cries in my head as Doc had popped it back into place.
I closed the bedroom door softly behind me, bracing my hands against the door frame and hanging my head between my arms. She would be out for the next few hours, the painkillers hopefully giving her body time to relax. I could tell that the guilt was already beginning to eat her up inside. Slider had told her that the doctor had only given him a short amount of time left to live, that the cancer had progressed too far now for him to survive through it.
I can’t imagine what he’d been feeling. Being in the military, I knew the feeling of walking into a situation, knowing that there was a chance you wouldn’t make it out alive. It was scary, it made your heart race, and you did whatever you possibly could to fight for your life. You made sure your shots were perfect, you made sure that you had your head in the game. You relied on your men to stand by your sides and fight with you, knowing that you had them at your back was empowering.
But what would I have done if someone had told me, look, you won’t make it out of this alive? It’s over. You’ll be killed with complete certainty, and it will be slow and painful. Your body will be pushed to its limits and tortured until it can’t take it any longer, and your heart just gives out. All this will happen while your family stands to the side and watches. They’d want to help, but nothing they do would change the outcome. You’ll see the pain in their eyes every day as they watch you wither away to nothing, and you’ll wish that there was a way to ease both of your heartache.