by Kara Parker
But when you’re in it, you can see that it had once been a house. You can see where the living room was; there’s a big, crumbling fireplace right in the center of the wall. Past that room, and through a still standing doorway is the kitchen. The trap door to the bunker is in the kitchen. The hinges are hidden near the wall and the handhold just looks like a worn-away piece of the floor. It’s so well hidden. The only reason I found it was my footfalls sounded different when I stepped on it.”
Grace nodded and said, “And this meeting starts at nine, you’re sure of that?”
“Yeah. I remember it being strange since bikers aren't known for getting up early. But it makes sense: you take the leaders out to the bunker while the foot soldiers are sleeping. This way we have no idea what’s hiding in our own backyard.” He shook his head. He had been a fool so many times as a Screaming Eagle. He had been used and lied to and looking back he wanted to kick himself for not noticing it earlier.
“These woods back here are thick. That concerns me,” Grace said, a worried look crossing her face.
“Yeah, the Screaming Eagles parking lot is the only way to get here,” Falcon said.
“But if we park a dozen cruisers in the parking lot of their own clubhouse, they are going to know something is up. They’ll warn the boss and that will give him time to get away and we don’t want that.”
“You and me,” Falcon said as he looked into her eyes. “You and me ride in on your bike. It will be early; no one will be on watch. We can ride up like we’re any two members of the club and then sneak back to the bunker. We can surprise Ernie and hold him while a team takes the clubhouse.”
“Will he be alone?”
“Probably not. But the people with him won’t be his old and trusted lieutenants. All of the men he promoted are in jail. He’s desperate for leaders in the gang. Whoever is with him will be green and we’ll have the element of surprise.”
“Green bikers are still dangerous bikers,” Grace countered. “They might panic and do something stupid.”
“They might, but we’ll have a SWAT team pulling up into the parking lot. We’ll be the ones in charge; they’ll do what we say.”
“It will have to be meticulously planned and we’ll have to do it in such a way that none of the Screaming Eagles see us coming. Two waves make that harder,” Grace said. “Two waves are two opportunities for mistakes.”
“Then we won’t make any mistakes. Look, you and I go in first, there’s no way to screw that up. We’ll both have helmets and we can wear something that blends in. We’ll just look like a biker and his old lady coming home from a rough night and that’s if anyone sees us. It’ll be early, early for bikers anyway; everyone will still be fast asleep when we roll up.”
“And hopefully they’ll be fast asleep when the SWAT team comes in.” She was still shaking her head and looking at the map like it had personally disappointed her in some way. “I don’t like that there’s no real road back to the bunker. Maybe we can take the chain down.”
“It’s grown into the two trees it hangs from. We’d have to cut it and these are thick pieces of chain. It might take a blowtorch to break them and that will definitely call attention to us. Do you not trust me?”
“Of course I trust you,” Grace answered with a flick of her hand. “You’ve been living in my house for a week. If there had been a moment for betrayal I think we passed it a while back. The woods make me nervous. There are a lot of places for people to hide in the woods.”
“Wow, I never would have thought you would be the kind of girl to hate nature,” Falcon teased.
“If it gets in the way of my job, I hate it.”
“But what do you think of the plan?” Falcon asked.
“It’s a good one,” Grace said with an appreciative nod. “You’ve given me so much good information, Falcon. I would have been lost without you.”
“You would have done all right...”
“No, I wouldn’t have. You told me about the apartment, and after they promoted you I got another huge score. The captain keeps telling me I’m doing an amazing job, but it’s all thanks to you.” She looked up at him through her lashes and he remembered the other Grace. The Grace from yesterday who was nothing but passion and sweat and sex. How could she be those two opposites, a tough cop and sex demon, rolled up into one perfect woman?
“Thanks,” Falcon said, turning away to put the cups in the sink. He didn’t know what to do with such honest praise; no one had ever given it to him before.
“I need to run this past my boss, but I don’t think he’ll have any problem with it. We can move tomorrow. You and me first and then the SWAT team. It’ll be the worst double feature the Screaming Eagles have ever seen.” She smirked as she rolled up the map and left to get dressed for work.
Tomorrow. It seemed too soon and an eternity away all at once. Falcon shook his head as he loaded the cups into the dishwasher. How many times had he told himself that this would be it, this would be the last thing, and then something else would come along? He was like the boy who cried wolf, and he was desperate to know if this was going to be the last time. If this would end it.
The last week in Grace’s house had felt like some mirage, a glimpse into a different life he could have had. A life with a nice house and beautiful woman, a life with all of the things he wanted. He could move Sophie in, have her own room with Little Mermaid wallpaper. She could spend the night and stay with him for weeks at a time. He could be a real father and have a real life and a real family.
But it wasn’t real. This wasn’t his life and this wasn’t his home. He couldn’t stay here and after tomorrow he couldn’t have anything to do with Sophie or Grace. If this encounter with the Screaming Eagles was really the end, then Falcon needed to be sure he was ready to say goodbye.
Chapter Forty-Three
“Are you ready to do this?” Grace asked. They were standing in her garage, her beautiful motorcycle sitting between them. They were about to go straight to the Screaming Eagles’ headquarters, just the two of them. Grace had spoken with her boss who had given his approval for their plan.
Falcon had been left out of the conversation entirely, something he did not enjoy. But it still wasn’t safe for him to leave the house. The Screaming Eagles kept upping their bounty on him; it was over forty thousand dollars the last time anyone had heard. There was no way to ensure the police station would be safe. There could be informants in there, or people watching the door. He understood why it had to be done, and he agreed with the decision, but it was still hard for him to sit at home while Grace did all the work.
He had spent the day pacing in Grace’s apartment, occasionally taking a break from pacing to lift some weights. Grace had been gone all day and all night. She had come home around two in the morning and then had been planning from there. They each had about two hours of sleep and now they were ready to go.
“I’m ready,” Falcon said, crossing his arms and nodding. “I know you’re worried because there’s a lot in the air, but I know we can handle this.”
“Okay,” she said. Falcon got on the bike first and Grace slid on behind him.
She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder for a quick minute. Falcon handed her a helmet and he slipped his on, as well. It felt good to have her on the bike behind him. It felt good to have her body pressed against his, her arms wrapped around his chest. He liked this; he missed this. They hadn’t ridden together since their trip down the coast. They should have ridden together more.
He roared out of her garage and felt sunshine on his hands for the first time in a week. The sun was bright and the sky was blue and there was a soft wind pushing through the warm air. He could smell honeysuckle and the scent of freshly cut grass. He could see children playing on the sidewalk and couples walking hand in hand. He had missed the outside world. It was like he had forgotten that there was a world outside of Grace’s house and the Screaming Eagles.
He drove down the reside
ntial streets and then took the first entrance to the freeway. He sped up once on the fast moving road. He pushed the bike to seventy and then eighty and then kept it there, not wanting to get pulled over on the way to his bust. He sped past cars and trucks and he felt his resolve strength.
He had no qualms about ending the Screaming Eagles; he was ready to do it. But he already had so many false starts. He already convinced himself once that he was done and, yet, here he still was. The plan was for this to be the last time, his one last big bust, but the plan had been messed up so many times that there was no way to know if this would work.
They exited the highway and drove down the long, empty street that led to the Screaming Eagles’ headquarters. It was tucked far back out of the city, far away from any houses or businesses. It was quiet and out of the way and the Screaming Eagles had taken full advantage of that.
As he approached the clubhouse he looked for any guards or anyone on watch, but there was no one. Falcon shook his head; Ernie was so hell-bent on capturing Falcon that he had forgotten to fortify his own base. The boss must never have considered that Falcon would come back for them. They must have assumed he had fled or gone into witness protection. No one was going to see them coming.
They pulled into the parking lot without incidence. The clubhouse was dark and all the windows and doors were closed and covered. No one was watching them; no one was looking for them. It was early in the morning and everyone was still asleep in bed. Everyone but the boss.
They parked behind a dumpster, hiding the bike behind piles of stinking trash bags. Together Grace and Falcon hurried into the thick woods. They were quickly swallowed up by the foliage. The forest was so thick Falcon could barely see the clubhouse behind them and he was hoping that meant the people in the clubhouse couldn’t see him.
Falcon led the way. Half-crouched over he hurried past trees and over large boulders towards where he knew the ruins of the old house stood. He avoided the path, worried Ernie or someone else might see them coming. Grace was behind him. She was surprisingly silent in the forest, slipping through branches like a tree nymph. Next to her Falcon felt like a lumbering and clumsy giant; it seemed like he could hear his every footfall as it crunched against dry leaves or snapped a twig.
It appeared in front of them like a mirage. The stone and wooden remnants of the house where so long ago a family had resided. Falcon knelt next to a tree and Grace came over next to him and together they surveyed the ruins. Over the sound of the occasional bird call Falcon could hear voices. He focused on the noise; he couldn’t make out what they were saying, but he thought he could hear three distinct voices speaking quietly in the ruins.
Together he and Grace moved slowly and silently, peering through the foliage and continuing on until they could see three men standing in a circle in the remnants of the kitchen. They still couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they had a good look at them.
Ernie was standing with his back to them, next to him were Marco and Rubio. They were standing in a circle with their arms crossed, looking at the floor or the sky above them. None of them looked happy. Ernie was gesturing wildly with his hands and they could hear him yelling.
Falcon looked over at Grace and she looked back at him. He signaled to her that they should make a break for the wall. They retraced their steps until they were out of sight of the three men and then, taking one last look, they ran from the forest to the building, pressing their backs against the crumbling stone wall.
His heart was pounding, but he wasn’t afraid. He felt focused and ready. Adrenaline was pumping through his body and he felt like he could see every vein in every leaf, could smell the different plants around him, and could hear squirrels and chipmunks as they scrambled about the forest floor.
He glanced back at Grace and she gave him a curt nod and he led the way, advancing on the three men. Next to him the wall had crumbled to nothing and as silently as he could Falcon stepped up into the house and hid behind a remaining wall as Grace followed him. They were in the living room; the boss was on the other side of the wall.
“I want Falcon!” He heard the boss shout. “I can’t have people betraying me and working with the cops. One person does it and then everyone else thinks it’s okay. We need to send a message: you cross me, I kill you.”
“I think you should let Falcon go,” Marco said quietly. “This is getting crazy, boss. You’ve offered fifty thousand dollars for his head, but we don’t have fifty thousand dollars. We need to make more money.”
“We can do both,” Ernie spit. “And if you can’t do this, Marco, I will find someone who can.”
Falcon looked at Grace as she took out her nine millimeter. She handed her other gun to Falcon. They both checked and made sure they were loaded and with one last deep breath and a look at each other Falcon and Grace stormed into the kitchen, their guns drawn.
“Don’t move!”
“I will shoot you!”
Ernie, Marco, and Rubio stared at the three of them, their jaws hanging open.
“Get on the ground! You’re under arrest!” Grace said.
But none of the men moved. Ernie’s face had a look of uncontrolled fury; he was staring at Falcon with murder in his eyes. He balled up his fists and then looked from Falcon to Grace.
Chapter Forty-Four
“Holy shit, you are working with the cops,” Marco said. “You know there are people out there who think you’re innocent, right?” He shook his head in disgust and spit on the floor.
“You’re a fucking traitor, Falcon,” Rubio said shaking his head from side to side.
“I’m not saying it again, get on the ground!” Grace shouted taking a step towards the three men. “Don’t even think about it,” Grace said as Marco’s hand hovered over his gun. “Keep your hands up!”
Sirens echoed through the forest and the three men turned to look towards the clubhouse as the realization spread over their faces.
“Tell the men in there to surrender,” Falcon said to the boss, staring him right in the eye. “There’s no need for them to die needlessly.”
“They won’t be dying needlessly,” Ernie answered. His voice was low and dangerous and Falcon could see Ernie’s beady little eyes as he searched for some way out. “They’ll be dying for the Screaming Eagles; they’ll be fighting for their brothers and their loyalty. Don’t try to understand it, Falcon. You’re a traitor. You only think about yourself. Those men aren’t dying because of me. They’re dying because of you, because you’re a traitor and you sold them out.”
Falcon tightened his grip on the gun. He had the other man in his sights, the gun was aimed right at his chest. This could all be over so quickly, just a couple of pulls on the trigger and the boss would be done. But Falcon forced himself to relax. He didn’t want Ernie to die; he wanted Ernie to go to jail. He wanted that man to spend his life in a tiny cement box. Falcon wanted him to never see the sun again.
Grace and Falcon were staring down the other three, but no one was moving. This might not end as cleanly as Falcon had hoped. Without warning Ernie dodged right and hid behind Rubio’s bulk. Falcon aimed, but he didn’t want to hit Rubio to get at Ernie. He was trying to think about what to do next when Ernie suddenly pushed Rubio forward. Marco fired two shots that went wild as the larger man fell forward and Ernie raced from behind him. Falcon aimed and fired at Marco sinking two slugs in the other man’s chest. But while he was distracted Ernie had run towards Grace and tackled her to the ground.
Falcon spun around and aimed his gun at Ernie, but he was too late. Grace was on the ground staring at Ernie who had a gun pointed right at her face.
“Stop thinking you’re smarter than me!” Ernie screamed at Falcon, but his gun was still aimed at Grace. “You cannot beat me. You will not beat me, you stupid idiot!” Ernie was shaking all over his gun was rattling in his hands, but he was close enough to Grace that his aim didn’t matter.
Grace’s eyes flicked from Ernie to Falcon and he could see t
he fear in her eyes; she was trying to hide it, but her bright green eyes showed him everything.
“It’s over, Ernie,” Falcon said advancing on the other man. “The cops are coming; no one is getting out of here alive. They know about the bunker.”
Ernie’s head turned to Falcon’s and his eyes went wide. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know there’s a bunker door about two feet from where you’re standing and there are enough drugs and guns and evidence down there to take you out. I know and the cops know. It’s over.”
“I say when it’s over!” Ernie screamed. “Do you have any idea how much work and planning I’ve put into this. This is a lifetime of work and I’m not letting some foot soldier traitor take it all away from me!”