by Alexa Riley
“I have to say, baby, I think they look better on me.” A bark of laughter escapes me, leaving behind a burn. Who knew a laugh could feel like it was ripping your heart out? But I guess when you know it could be your last with the person you love, it's bittersweet.
I can’t help but smile at the smug look on his face. It is one of the reasons I love him, it’s part of why I gave him my tags even If I’m not going to be around to see him wear them. He never has shame when it comes to me, he doesn’t care when people poke fun at him for being on the back of my bike or that I’m a better shot than him. He’s always just so smug that I’m his, so it’s clear he won. Hell, he might not want to wear them after the day is over but they are still his. Even if I never gave them to him they are still his and I want him to have something of me.
“They really do,” I agree, leaning in to kiss them. I’ve had them so long it will be weird to not feel them around my neck anymore.
“I’ll see you tonight, I’ll bring dinner over and some of my stuff. It’s a bitch going back and forth.”
“All right,” I agree, knowing I won’t be here when he gets back.
“You really okay with this? I know my place is a little bigger but yours is closer to the club.”
It breaks my heart more, talking about this. Planning out a life I know I can’t have with him.
“It’s perfect, but I don’t have to help you move.”
“How about I move everything, and when I’m done you just do all the work in the bedroom that night.”
“Deal,” I say, wishing he could really get to collect from me.
“See you tonight, send me some more of those dirty pics to help me get through the day,” he says, grabbing my ass and stealing another quick kiss.
“That’s you who does that.”
“Oh, maybe that is something you should work on.”
“Not happening.”
“You know what happens when you tell me no, baby.”
Flashes of him tying me to the headboard and making me beg him to take pictures of me flash through my mind.
“I’ll think about.”
“Can you think about it when you’re holding one of your guns? Because you naked holding one would probably hold me over for a year.”
“Vincent.”
“You’re right, I don’t want you getting naked at the range without me. I’ll take some tonight.”
“Will you just kiss me and tell me you love me?”
Before I know it I’m in his arms with my legs around his waist. “You never have to ask for that. I love you, Mackenzie.” His lips fall on mine. I love you too, I think to myself. Then he’s gone.
“Do not sign that fucking piece of paper, Casper.” Pres snaps the paper from the desk ripping it in two.
“Don’t be stupid. Who knows what’s going to happen and this is just makes things easier for you now.”
“I don’t give a fuck about making things easier for me.”
I had papers drawn up for me when everything went down with the Five Aces to hand over my part-ownership of the range. I won’t let any of my shit affect this club in any way. I already let some of it bleed over and I’m not going to let it anymore.
“Lucias.” I use his real name so he knows how serious I am. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be back. It's better this way.”
“No, you’re two steps ahead, Mac, and it’s not where you belong. I’m better at controlling the chaos, you're better at stepping back and waiting, and that’s what I’m telling you to do.”
I let his words sink in. He’s right. Lucias has never steered me wrong and we've been in some pretty fucked-up places on missions before. He’s better at controlling the chaos than I am. When things get too close I lose focus. If there is one thing I learned when I was running missions it’s always to let people do their jobs and you do yours. You’re set up as a team for a reason. We all have our strengths, so let everyone use theirs, and this is Lucias's.
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to ditch your phone, get out of town, and wait.”
“Then what?”
“You not listening, Casper? I said you fucking wait,” he yells the words at me in a tone I haven’t heard directed at me in years.
“Yes, sir.”
He visibly relaxes when he knows I’m going to follow his order.
“We don’t know what-all they found so we have to wait it out. When I know Scribe will find you.”
“Won’t have to find her, I’ll never lose her,” Scribe says, handing me a new phone. “I also made you a goodie bag.” He then pulls me into his arms, squeezing me tightly.
“I still can’t believe you think we’d just let you take off like that, Cas. We’re a unit, a family, only goddamn one I’ve ever had. I can’t count how many times you saved my fucking life. None of us who were out there with you could. You’ve had our backs for years, let us have yours for once,” Savage says, making a lump grow in my throat. I don’t think I’ve heard Savage talk that much at once since he’s been back stateside.
“For fuck sake, you better not cry on us,” Scribe says, to the amusement of the group.
“Thank you, for everything.”
“Now you’re just pissing me the fuck off,” Pres growls. “We’re a fucking team. We may not be out on the battlefield anymore, but we’re fighting our own war right here. You don’t thank anyone in this room for doing what they should be doing. And you don’t get bullshit ideas in your head about walking away without my knowing it. I know every move you make before you’ve decided to make it, got it?
“Yes, sir,” I reply, feeling like maybe I haven’t lost everything I love.
CHAPTER EIGHT
VINCENT
I walk into the FBI building and scan my pass. It’s my day off, so I’m dressed down in jeans and a t-shirt, but it’s not unusual for me to stop in for something unexpectedly.
When my phone rang earlier, I wasn’t expecting the news so soon. Hell, I thought they might never find the guns. But with the higher ups cracking down on the local motorcycle clubs, they’re looking for any reason to get at the Five Aces. Now they have a couple of them, both in the hospital, not looking like they’ll be able to answer any questions any time soon, if they even make it.
Looks like some of their luck ran out. Stupid fucks got pulled over for a routine stop when they were trying to move the weapons in some beat-up van. They tried to run. The chase ended with them and the guns laid out on the highway. Fucking mess, but maybe I could use that mess to my advantage.
When the chief of ballistics calls and says he’s just had a shit load of guns dropped off to his lab, I know what he’s talking about. He called me asking for a hand since we’re good friends and he’s short staffed at the moment. Mark says he just needs someone to help him test the weapons and scan them into the system for analysis. Basically he wants me to help him see if any of the guns they confiscated in the raid were used in a murder.
I hustle down to his department and scan my pass three more times before entering the testing room. It’s soundproofed, and isolated, considering they discharge weapons in here pretty often.
“Hey Mark, how’s it going?” I say, and set my backpack down on the table.
“Thanks for coming in, man. I appreciate it. Let’s get started so I won’t keep you here long,” Mark says, and nods his head over to the pile of weapons that he’s got to go through.
“No problem. Not like I can do any questioning on them right now anyways.” I got lucky. “Stephanie must have had the baby,” I say, and start looking over all the weapons.
“Yeah, a week early, but she’s doing good. I think they have someone set to fill in while she’s out on maternity leave, but they won’t be here until next week.”
“No, worries. Glad I could come in and help. Let me do the scanning and you do your thing. I messed up my knee running the other day and I think I need to keep off of it if I can.”
“I keep telling
you, exercise is evil. One day, you’ll listen.”
I fake a laugh and pull a chair up to the table. My knee feels just fine, but I need to be able to sort through the weapons and see if Mackenzie’s is in here. It may not be, and I’m hoping it’s not, but I can’t take that chance.
I start with all the large weapons and we work our way down to the handguns. I enter in the information on the gun, pass it on to Mark to shoot, and catalogue the casings of the bullets for further analysis.
It takes Mark longer to go through the process of shooting the weapons and pulling the casings than it does for me to scan them, so he’s got a few waiting to be used while I move to the smaller guns and sort them out. There are five handguns, and I eliminate those right away knowing that she shot him at a distance. That leaves me with two other weapons, both long-range rifles, one of which could be Mackenzie’s.
I enter in the information on the first one, and nothing pops. That doesn’t mean it’s not a dirty weapon, it just means the serial number on it isn’t showing us anything. I look over my shoulder and see Mark still working on one of the larger semi-automatics. I check the second weapon.
I take a deep breath, enter in the information, and wait. It pops up being registered to an Air Force base in Atlanta, Georgia, and my heart stops.
“Hey, Cassano, this last one is jammed pretty bad. I’m going to grab my tools out of the front closet. I’ll be right back.”
I lift my chin at his exit, and take this as a sign from God. I grab my backpack, and pull out the rifle I brought, along with forged documents to go with it. I knew this day would come at some point, and I had this prepared already. It’s a random gun that was confiscated at a raid I worked about ten years ago. I switch out the weapons, dismantle Mackenzie’s, and drop it in my bag, putting it back where it was before Mark walks in. I thank God they don’t have cameras in this area of the building.
I’m deleting the search information on the computer just as Mark walks back in. I submit the weapon as the one found at the scene. Luckily for me, I was the one who entered in this gun ten years ago, so I can go back and change the catalogue.
I lean back in my chair and play it cool for the next hour as we finish with the weapons.
When I exit the building with my backpack over my shoulder, I breathe a sigh of relief. I just did the dirtiest thing an agent can do, and I never had a second of hesitation. There are some real pieces of shit out there in the world, but my Mackenzie isn’t one of them. She’s not a criminal. She is just a victim getting her own justice, and I can’t say I blame her.
I pull out my phone and call to make sure the Five Aces guys haven't come to yet. I find out one died and the other is still in surgery. I send another agent down to wait for any new news.
Next I send Mackenzie a text letting her know I’m on my way back to her place. After just a second my phone hits back with a message that reads ‘Unavailable’. Thinking something must be wrong with her phone, I pull up her number and hit call. When the voice comes on telling me the number I’m trying to reach has been disconnected or is no longer in service, I grip my phone so hard, it nearly cracks in two.
I pull up to the gate of the club and hit the code I’ve seen Mackenzie enter in a hundred times. The iron gates open up and I hit the gas. I fly down the driveway, and when I reach the house, I turn the wheel, and slam on the brakes, causing me to screech across the pavement.
All the brothers come flooding out of the house at the sound of my entrance, and I jump out of the car.
“Where the fuck is she!” I shout, looking over two of the brothers’ shoulders at Lucias standing in the back. He’s got his arms crossed over his chest, and his jaw is hard. He’s not going to tell me shit. Abe and Knox stand in front with their fists clenched, and both of them look ready for a fight.
Good.
I reach in my shirt and pull out Mackenzie’s dog tags. I grit my teeth and let my anger flow through me. “You see these. This means something to me, and it means something to you. Now someone tell me where the fuck she is.”
The guys look around to one another in surprise, but no one says anything.
I’ve haven’t lost my temper that often in my life. I’m usually a cool-headed guy, because I’ve been trained to be. But right now, my girl is gone and someone needs to start talking.
I look at Abe and take a three steps to him so we are nose to nose. I want the biggest motherfucker in here, and then I’m going to tear him limb from limb. I feel Knox slide up beside me, but I don’t give a shit. Let them all come at me, I’ll burn this goddamn place to ashes.
“Easy, Scribe,” Lucias calls, and Knox backs off. He’s not stopping me, but he’s not interfering either. I guess he isn’t worried about Abe taking me in a fight.
He should be.
Abe’s a big guy. He’s got scars down the side of his face, which make his road name, Savage, all the more menacing. None of this intimidates me because I’ve got more on the line than he does. I don’t stand to lose a friend if I can’t find Mackenzie, I stand to lose my soul.
I grab him by the cut and his eyes narrow.
“You tell me where she is, or I’ll start with you, and then take every one of your brothers after until I get some answers.”
He gives me a wicked smile, and it pisses me off. He goes to reach up and grab my hands, but I catch him off guard by pulling back and slamming my forehead against the bridge of his nose, hearing it crack.
“Fuck!” he yells, and staggers back. I’ve still got a hold of his cut, so he doesn’t get far. I let go with my right hand and give him an uppercut to the ribs, and at the same time feel his own fist come down on my face. I taste blood in my mouth, but it fuels my rage, and I keep going.
I give him a left hook across the jaw, and he counters with a punch to my side. I grab him by the head and pull him down, kneeing him in the chest. It knocks the wind out of him for a second, and I throw him to the ground and get on top of him. He lands a few punches on me as we tussle, but I manage to pin his arms down with my knees and punch his face a few more times, before one of the brothers pulls me off.
Abe leaps up as soon as his arms are free and lunges after me.
“That’s enough, Savage,” Lucias yells, and gets between us. Knox and one of the other guys are holding me, and I’m breathing heavy, but still trying to get free.
Abe has blood on his face and Lucias looks at him in shock. He turns to look at me, and I’m sure I look just as bad.
“You’re the first man I’ve seen to get a hit in on him,” Lucias says, and I look over to see Abe wiping the blood from his lip, looking at it like he’s never seen it before.
Lucias looks between us a few more times and then comes to stand in front of me. “If she gave you her tags, then you obviously mean something to her. And if you can get a hit on Savage you’re worthy of protecting our girl.”
He looks over to Abe and they have a silent conversation for a moment. Abe nods and Lucias turns to Knox. “Where is she, Scribe?”
Knox gives him a cocky grin. “You’re in luck. She’s still on the property waiting for the car she was planning on taking to be fixed. She’s in the cabin by the lake.”
Lucias looks at me. “Did you take care of it?”
“It’s done. Nobody will ever come looking for her again.”
“Let him go, guys.”
I feel their arms fall away, and I’m in motion. I start to run to my car, but I’m stopped by Lucias calling my name.
I turn around and he throws his keys to me. “Take my bike. You won’t spook her if she hears it. That way she’ll just think it’s me.”
I catch his keys, and grab my bag out of the car. I go over to his bike, and get on, knowing this is as good as getting patched in, but all I can think about right now is getting to my girl.
Taking off down the small dirt road, I head towards the back of the property. Mackenzie took me out here once a few weeks ago to show me around. There are random cabins scattered th
roughout the compound, but this is by far the most secluded. It’s a small cabin with just the basics, and it’s next to a big lake that’s about a half mile long. They have small boats you can take out fishing, and you can swim in it, so one could conceivably stay out here forever if they want to.
It takes a while to get out here, even going as fast as I am. As I reach the cabin, I know she hears the sound of Lucias’s motorcycle, because I can see movement in the window. After a second she walks out onto the porch, and I pull in.
I see shock written all over her face when she sees it’s me on his bike instead of Lucias.
“Shield, what the fuck are you doing with Pres’s chopper?”
I get off the bike, barely remembering to turn it off and throw down the kickstand. I run up to her and grab her, carrying her back into the cabin.
I spot a cot in the corner and I carry her over to it, tossing her down, climbing on her, and pinning her arms down under me.
She starts to struggle, and I growl at her. “Mind telling me what the fuck you’re doing out here? You were going to just cut and run from me? How could you do that, Mackenzie? After everything I told you. You didn’t trust me?”
Tears fill her eyes, but they don’t fall. My girl is tough as nails, but she knows she fucked up.
“I can’t do this to you. I have to leave. I can’t bring this shit down on you, on the club, and I can’t go to jail.”
“You think I would ever let that happen?” I shout.
“You can’t stop everything, Vincent. You can’t undo what I did, and I don’t have one ounce of fucking regret. If they catch me, I’ll admit I did it. That motherfucker beat me, put out cigars on my skin, cut me. He killed my mother. He had a new wife and she had a little girl. When I found out, I knew I had to stop him. He would do the same thing to them. I did it to save them. I did what needed to be done, and I’m not going to jail for that. And I’m sure as shit not making anyone else pay for it either.”
She’s so angry as she tells me this, and my heart breaks for the little girl inside her that went through all of that. I want to hold that small child and tell her I’ll always protect her.