Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2)

by Caroline Peckham

  “Sure does,” I agreed then lowered my gun and shoved it in the back of my jeans. I strode up to him until his gun pressed right to my chest. “Pull it then. Bang goes my heart. And one of your many, many problems will be solved.”

  He tsked, looking me dead in the eye. “I’m not here for you, Maverick.”

  He lowered the gun and brought his phone up to look at the screen. I leaned in closer to see what he was doing, finding a marker on a map moving away from us along the highway, but not at a speed that said they were in a car yet.

  “Clever little Ace,” I chuckled. “Planted a tracker on him, did you?”

  “Yup,” he said, turning his back on me and heading off into the trees. I jogged after him, taking to his side and he shot me a glare. “You can fuck off now. I’ll deal with the asshole.”

  “I need to ask him some questions,” I growled. “So you can give me that phone and fuck off yourself.”

  He clutched it tighter and gave me a look that said that wasn’t gonna happen without a fight. “I have some questions for him myself.”

  “Well I guess we’re hunting him together then, brother,” I said with a taunting smirk.

  “Why do you do that?” he muttered.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Always calling us brother or by our nicknames like we’re still your family,” he said icily.

  “Because unlike you and the other assfucks, I don’t ignore the past and act like we’ve always been enemies. I still own a few jagged pieces of your hearts and I like to twist ‘em to make you all bleed inside whenever I can.”

  “Good to know,” he sighed, like he didn’t care anymore and maybe he didn’t. That was what I wanted though, right? To see Foxy throw away another one of his boys like he was nothing, just like he’d thrown me away. And yet it didn’t feel so great now I was looking at my old friend. He just looked…empty. The kind of emptiness I’d been a slave to for far too many years. Way to kill the mood, Ace. You’re no fun.

  I decided looking away was the best option and focused on the task at hand. I wasn’t gonna cry over him like a little bitch. It was what it was. Chase was now just another casualty in our so-called unbreakable family, a loner with no home, nowhere to go and no one to love him. It was what I’d faced, what Rogue had faced, and now he was burdened with it too. The three rejects. We could start a band. Shame I couldn’t play guitar for shit and Rogue’s singing voice left a lot to be desired.

  “Hurry up then if you’re coming,” Chase demanded as he quickened his pace. “He’s gonna get picked up any minute and I’m tired of this hunt. I’m ready to spill some blood.”

  “Come on then, Ace.” I clapped him on the shoulder, shoving him along so hard he almost fell and I smirked at him as he shot a glare at me.

  We ran through the woods side by side and I was reminded of being kids playing in the trees beyond Carnival Hill, having sword fights with sticks and building wigwams in the undergrowth. Good fucking times. Shame they went up in smoke. Or maybe I didn’t give two shits.

  We made it to the road, but kept within the cover of the trees as we ran up beside the highway and hunted for our mark. My mind sharpened as I readied to take down our prey, my fingers tingling with the need for violence.

  When my gaze fell on the guy walking along, eyeing his phone before looking up at the road frantically, a wicked grin pulled at my mouth.

  Chase and I moved behind the cover of a large tree a few feet from him and we glanced at each other, forced to work together.

  “I’ll get his attention, you grab him,” he whispered and as I preferred being the grabber in the plan, I didn’t complain about being bossed by him.

  I nodded and he slipped around the tree in the direction of the road as I crept through the shadows near our target.

  Chase whistled sharply and the guy whipped around in his direction raising a gun, but I was already on him from behind, my hand slamming over his mouth and my fingers snaring the weapon from his grip. I tossed it into the woods and dragged him backwards into the dark as he thrashed like an animal.

  Chase followed, checking the guy’s pockets and taking his wallet and phone from him plus a knife concealed on his leg. He stamped on the phone to make sure any tracer on it was firmly shattered and pocketed the cash in the guy’s wallet before tossing it away into the trees. Now it would look like your every day mugging when the cops found the body.

  When we were far enough from the road, I held his arms tight behind his back and let him scream all he liked. No one would hear him here, it was a no man’s land so we could do whatever we needed to to get our information.

  “Where’s Shawn Mackenzie?” Chase asked the exact question that I’d had for this piece of shit.

  “I don’t know,” he gasped and Chase’s fist slammed into his gut.

  I held the guy tighter as Chase laid into him, his eyes filled with a demon’s fury as he attacked the Dead Dog.

  “Where is Shawn Mackenzie?” Chase growled again as the guy groaned and spat a wad of blood onto the ground.

  “I don’t know,” he said breathlessly.

  “Your life for his name,” I said in his ear and he took a ragged breath, then shook his head in refusal.

  I shoved him to his knees between us, taking the gun from the back of my jeans and pressing it to his head. “Where is he?!”

  “Please,” he begged and fuck I hated when they begged, it was grating as hell. “Please don’t kill me.”

  “Then give him up,” Chase demanded, pacing like a caged animal in front of him.

  I pistol whipped the asshole and he hit the ground, trying to scramble away and make a run for it, but Chase strode forward and kicked him in the side, sending him sprawling back in my direction, laying on his back. I pointed the gun down at him with a sneer on my lips.

  “Your boss or your life,” I growled.

  “P-please, you don’t know what he’ll do to me if I betray him,” he stammered, fear glittering in his eyes.

  “Don’t worry yourself, sweetheart,” I said calmly. “I’ll be planting ten bullets in his head by the end of the night, he won’t be coming for you.”

  He swallowed hard, glancing around in terror. “I can’t,” he choked out.

  I lowered the gun and shot him in the leg, making him scream like crazy.

  “Oh yes you can,” I encouraged. “You just need the right motivation.” I stepped on the gunshot wound, pressing my weight down and he wailed, rocking back and forth on the ground.

  Chase moved closer, just a shadow in the dark as he crouched down beside him, gripping his face and turning him to look at him. “Where. Is. He?”

  The mark released a whimper of fear as Chase kept hold of him, murder swirling in his eyes.

  “Alright,” the guy sobbed at last. “But swear you’ll let me go.”

  “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” I said and Chase nodded.

  “Shawn’s p-planning an attack at the Dollhouse. He’s set up a trap for Fox Harlequin and his gang. I don’t know the details but – but that’s where he is. He said he’s gonna k-kill the Harlequins and take back his girl.”

  Chase’s head snapped up to look at me and panic warred in his eyes.

  “Rogue,” I gritted out.

  Chase was on his feet in a flash and the Dead Dog gazed up at me with hope in his gaze. A foolish man’s hope. I lifted my gun, pointed it between his eyes and pulled the trigger. I didn’t leave canaries alive to sing and I knew Chase hadn’t been planning on it either. The Dead Dogs weren’t nice people, you didn’t even initiate to their crew without wetting your hands in the blood of innocents. So my guiltometer was set at a cosy zero.

  Chase started trying to call someone on his phone who was no doubt one of the Harlequins then swore, trying another number then another.

  “They’ve blocked my fucking number,” he hissed, shoving his phone into his pocket. “I gotta get there.”

  He turned and started running back throu
gh the trees and I sprinted after him. I didn’t have a number for Rogue since I’d taken her phone and as I attempted calling the others, I found myself thoroughly fucking blocked by them too.

  “Goddammit,” I snarled through my teeth as Chase pulled ahead. “Wait up asshole, I’m coming with you!”

  Chase threw a look back over his shoulder at me, then nodded as we tore through the woods together. I didn’t give a fuck if this prick was my enemy, if Shawn fucking Mackenzie was out for blood tonight, then I needed to get to the Dollhouse as fast as humanly possible, because I’d heard the stories about that motherfucker, and when he wanted death, he rivalled the grim reaper’s reputation. And there was no way I was going to risk him getting anywhere near my girl.

  T he Dollhouse was buzzing, people partying everywhere, all of them laughing and drinking, dancing and having a good time.

  I walked between Fox and JJ as we headed through the crowd, the two of them flanking me like bodyguards and shooting warning looks at any assholes who seemed inclined to cause us any issues.

  I was wearing a black halter dress which was backless and drew attention to the angel wings which ran down my spine and Fox's hand was resting lightly against my skin just above my ass.

  We strode through the building and into an elevator which was guarded by a couple of dudes in black suit jackets and dark shades like old school bouncers. I wondered why bouncers were supposed to seem more intimidating when they were smartly dressed though. Was it the idea of the guy getting his cuffs dirty? And what were the shades about? It was dark in here. I was sure the dudes couldn't see shit so surely that made them worse at their jobs, not better.

  Though as we took up position inside the elevator, I did get the crawling feeling that they were watching me from behind those shades with creepy, clinging eyes. Ew.

  A shudder ran down my spine as the doors closed and we began ascending towards the top floor where Fox's aunt kept her office.

  "What is it, hummingbird?" Fox murmured in my ear and I shrugged.

  "Those bouncer dudes just gave me the creepo vibe."

  "Were they doing something to make you feel uncomfortable?"

  "Not really. It's just one of those run away feelings, you know? Like when your sixth sense picks up on the creepo vibe and warns you to hightail it before you end up with a direct confrontation with said creepo."

  Fox exchanged a look with JJ and shifted a little closer to me. "We'll be with you all night, baby. If anyone else is making you feel weird just say the word and they'll be gone."

  JJ flashed me a reassuring smile and I nodded. "What ever did I do before I had two guard dogs with me at all times?" I teased but neither of them seemed inclined to laugh. I guessed they had fair reason to feel on edge with the whole war thing going on with their gang and The Dead Dogs, but I was pretty sure a night out would help them chill.

  The doors slid open and we headed down a much emptier corridor. There were a few private party rooms through various doors up here with several more bouncers lining the walls, but Fox just swept past them all, guiding me along with him as we headed for his aunt's office.

  He knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a reply, tugging me in with him just as my gaze snagged on one of the bouncers and something about him made me pause. He seemed familiar somehow, but I couldn't quite place why and between his suit and shades and the dim corridor, it was hard to get a good look. I was nudged into the office before I got the chance to figure it out.

  "Evening, Aunt," Fox began, drawing my gaze around to the blonde woman who sat behind the desk in the room, and a large man standing beside her with his hand on her shoulder.

  I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes widening as recognition filled me and a cry of warning escaped my lips half a second before the bitch pulled a gun.

  My shout was enough though and Fox had his pistol out first, firing towards the desk half a second before JJ slammed into me and knocked me to the ground.

  I tumbled aside as he kicked the door shut and locked it in the face of the bouncer I thought I'd recognised and I suddenly knew who he was. Travis. Shawn's second or third or whatever the fuck in command. And that alongside the fact that Fox's aunt and her husband were the couple I'd seen the night Shawn had tried to kill me made it terrifyingly clear that we'd just walked into a trap.

  Gunshots filled the room and people were shouting but I kept my focus on moving my ass out of the damn firing line.

  I crawled over to the wall, covering my head with my hands as I went and snatching a wooden chair into my grasp. I shoved myself upright and hurled it towards Fox's aunt and uncle where they were shooting from behind the cover of the desk and I screamed at Fox to run.

  He didn't need telling twice as the sound of the guys outside trying to smash through the door filled the room and he yelled at JJ to run too.

  JJ grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the back wall of the room, confusing the fuck out of me before he ripped open a secret door that had been hiding there and shoved me through it.

  I found myself in a dark corridor and I darted further into it with Fox and JJ right behind me.

  "That was them," I gasped as Fox slammed the door behind us, flipping a bolt across to secure it and we began to run, JJ's hand snatching mine as he dragged me along. "The people I saw with Shawn before he tried to kill me. Your aunt and uncle have been working with him for months."

  "Fuck," Fox cursed, firing back over his shoulder to hold off the men pursuing us as JJ reached another door and ripped it open.

  We found a staircase and raced down it as fast as we could, spilling out into a room full of partygoers at the bottom of it.

  The bouncer who had been standing beside the door whirled on us, yanking a gun out of the back of his pants but JJ put a bullet between his eyes before he could aim it our way.

  I blinked as blood splattered the right side of my face then shook off the shock and snatched the dead fucker's gun from the floor. I might not have been a great shot, but I'd take a gun over going unarmed right now.

  People started screaming at the sound of the gunshot and we were caught in a stampede as they raced for the door.

  JJ grabbed my arm as Fox stayed close behind me, the two of them scouring the crowd as they ran, looking for any more of Shawn's men while I just concentrated on not breaking my neck in my fucking heels. I would have taken them off if they hadn't been strapped tightly around my ankles and I couldn't waste the time it would take to remove them now.

  A girl almost knocked me from my feet as she slammed into me and I stumbled aside as JJ lost his grip on my arm and I collided with a wall. My gaze caught on Rosie’s makeup caked face before she wailed in fright and ran back towards the crowd.

  A tide of people surged between me, Fox and JJ and I backed away from the crowd, gripping the gun tightly as I shouted my boys’ names.

  Gunfire sounded again and I had to fight against a scream as I tried to squint through the dark club and screaming partiers to see what was happening.

  "Hello, sugarpie."

  I whirled around at the sound of Shawn's voice, raising the gun between us and squeezing the trigger, but he slammed into me before I could finish aiming. The blast of my gun firing cut through the air, but the bullet hit the drywall over his shoulder instead of taking his head from his shoulders.

  Shawn grinned at me as he ripped the gun out of my hands before shoving me through an archway into the adjoining room which most of the people had already run from.

  "What's the matter? Aren't you pleased to see me?" he taunted as he hounded after me and I backed up, searching behind him desperately for some sign of Fox and JJ while more gunfire rang out beyond the screaming crowd where I'd lost them.

  "Keep the fuck away from me," I snarled more bravely than I felt because there was something about this fucking man which always stole my confidence from me, which made me want to submit, agree, give in. But not anymore. Not since he'd dumped me in a shallow grave and I'd begun to get a t
aste for the girl I used to be. Fuck him.

  Shawn grinned at me as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and my brow furrowed as he jammed his thumb down on it.

  A huge boom resounded through the building and I was knocked backwards by the force of it, slamming into a wall as a lump of the ceiling collapsed behind Shawn and dust billowed out in a huge cloud around us.

  My eyes widened as I realised he'd just cut me off from my boys, my way out, my fucking freedom. And as he read the panic in my gaze, his smile widened.

  "Come on, sweetcheeks. It's time for you to come home. You don’t wanna be stuck in here when the whole place falls down, do you?"

  Shawn pointed the gun at me and I looked down the barrel at my death. No. It was worse than death. It was my old life. The one I'd been caught in with him. The one I'd escaped via a shallow grave and had sworn I'd never go back to.

  He gestured for me to come to him, but I spat at his feet instead then turned tail and ran.

  I ripped open a door as a gunshot rang out, but I barely even flinched at the sound of it. I didn't care and I didn't fucking stop. He wasn't going to get his hands on me ever again. I'd gladly take the bullet over that. But mostly, I just needed to fucking run.

  T he crowd surged around me and blocked my view as we were forced along in the tide of panicked people down a curving flight of stairs to the floor below. I’d seen Shawn with Rogue just before the roof collapsed and cut me off from her and my skull was fucking ringing as we tried to fight our way back through the river of bodies flowing against us.

  “Hey – someone grab them!” Chester’s booming voice caught my ear and I swung my head around, spotting him running along the edge of the balcony at the top of the stairs with a gun in his grip.

  I grabbed Fox’s shoulder, dragging him away toward a bar beside the bottom of the stairs as Chester lifted the gun and took a fucking pot shot at us while Jolene ran along behind him. Screams filled the air and Fox and I ducked low as more bullets were fired and my heart thrashed in my chest.