“We’re not too far,” I say.
“No. But look closer. You’re missing the bigger detail,” he says. “You see these mountains here?” He points to a big range of mountains, spanning across half of the desert.
“Yeah, so?” Jeffco says.
“Have you ever given some thought about situate some men at the top, here?” he asks.
“Looks like a two day trek, at the very least,” Iago says. “I don’t know if our men could do it. Besides, what’s the advantage?”
“What’s the advantage?” he laughs at the question. “Give your men some rifles, and you could probably take out the Hunters with four guys.”
After everyone looks confused, he reiterates his point. “Think like an army for a second,” he says. “I’ll station my men at the high peaks of the mountains. You face them over here, face to face.”
“What makes you so sure that Kaine will bring his men to us at this very point?” Rowan asks him.
“Because you’ll sit out in the open long enough. It may be a day. It may be a week. Regardless, they’ll go stir crazy. They’ll ambush. When they do, we’ll have the upper hand. My men will surprise them from behind. The snipers will guard the other side. They won’t stand a chance,” he says.
“I don’t know,” Rowan mutters. “It’s risky business.”
“Trust me on this one,” Maynard says. “They may be good at intimidation, but they’re terrible at strategy. That’s why you’re here, right? You need my expertise.”
Rowan thinks it over.
“It sounds like a solid plan,” Rowan says. “What do you guys think?”
“I think it’s about the only shot we have,” Iago says.
I nod and say, “Yeah. It seems good.”
“I just want this to be over and done with,” Rowan says. “I think we’re good on this, Maynard.”
“We’ll have radio contact the entire time,” he says. “We need to stay alert. You never know when things change up on you.”
He digs through a few of the drawers in the cabin and pulls out a box of what looks to me like high-tech walkie-talkies.
Outside a boat pulls up along the river. It’s the man we drove up with. He’s got a box full of weapons and supplies. “Ya’ll coming, or what?” he asks.
Rowan turns to Maynard for reassurance. “We’ll be there,” Maynard promises. “I swear on my life and all that is good.”
“How can I trust you?” Rowan asks.
“You’re just going to have a little faith.”
All four of us step onto the boat and head back toward the bar. The mood is better now, but there is a lot of uncertainty floating in this river.
“Do you trust them?” Jeffco asks Rowan, cigarette in mouth, eyeing the man moving the boat.
“Do I have a choice?” Rowan asks.
“Suppose not,” he says. “But I’m not going to rely on them showing up. Who knows if they’re the kind to fall back on their word or not? I’ve met too many fools like them to know that not everyone tells the truth when it involves gaining territory.”
The man driving the boat scoffs. “What territory do they have to gain?” he asks.
We all look up at him.
“They are constantly moving. They don’t believe in territory like you do,” he says. “And they’re not fools. Only a fool would suggest they were.”
“I trust them,” Iago says. “They would have no reason to lie to us. They have everything they need. Protection from the land, money, the safety of their men. Those are all things a gang needs, and they already have that.”
“Iago’s right,” Rowan says. “If they wanted to see us lose, they’d have killed us then and there. They don’t like the idea of the four corners disassembled as much as we don’t. It’s a lose, lose for both of us. They’ll fight, and they’ll do a damn good job. I’ve got faith.”
“This is what Kaine wants you to do. He wants you to fall into doubt,” I say. “That crew gave us everything we need. And we’re still arguing about whether or not we can trust them. You did this with me too, remember? We’re safe with them. They know these roads better than any other gang. I feel good about this.”
“You might be able to get home, after all,” Rowan says, looking away.
The rest of the ride is driven in silence, and I can tell that Rowan is angry with me again. However, being stuck on a cramped river-boat with four people, I can’t address it.
I squeeze his shoulder, but he keeps his eyes pointed away from mine. I kiss his chest, but he doesn’t give me an ounce of affection.
When we arrive back at the bar, it’s night, and the whole place is behaving like animals. There’s a fight near the dock, and a man falls into the cold water.
The man who was fighting him jumps in, and they start fighting in the water.
“What’s wrong?” I ask Rowan as he walks ahead of everybody else.
“You’re just going to leave me like everybody else, aren’t you?” he asks.
“I thought we talked about this already. I thought everything was okay between us,” I say, feeling the pain start to well up in my heart.
“Nothing is okay. Can’t you see that?” he asks. “I… forget it.”
He walks off ahead and I’m forced to run to catch up to him. “Come on, Rowan. Talk to me. You can’t shun me forever.”
“Oh, I can’t?” He asks, eyes wide. “Watch me.”
“Don’t you dare,” I tell him. “You face me like a man. You talk to me and tell me what’s going on.”
“I love you, okay?” he says, quickly. “I love you, and you’re fucking leaving me. I’ve been shot more than once in my life, but nothing has hurt as bad as this. I keep blocking out the pain, going from place to place, but it never ends. It only gets worse. If you’ll be gone after this, what’s the point?”
“Rowan, who knows what will happen?” I ask him.
“I do. This is how it always ends up being,” he says with misplaced anger in his eyes.
“What are you talking about? You’re speaking in riddles,” I cry.
“It happened with my parents. They didn’t give two shits about me either. I can’t blame them, right? It’s just how the world works. You’re put in one shitty situation after another, until you come face to face with your maker,” he says, shaking his head.
He walks up to the border and points at a bottle of whiskey. The bartender slides the bottle over to him, annoyed we’re back.
Rowan takes two giant swigs out of the bottle and sighs. I grab it out of his hand and drink from it, too. “There, are you happy? We’ll both get drunk and wake up with things still unsolved. What is your problem? I am not your parents,” I tell him. “You think I grew up like a princess? You think everything was handed to me on a silver plate, don’t you?”
“I do,” he says, grabbing the bottle back. “It’s written all over your face. All over that soft and gorgeous body of yours. You don’t know what it’s like to grow up hard.”
“My father was an abusive gambler. He gambled away everything. My college fund, our family mortgage, his life insurance policy. In the end, he didn’t give a shit,” I tell him, tears streaming down my face. “He left me to fend for myself, beating my mom whenever he could. He verbally abused me. That’s why I got married. Ron offered me a way out. But, as it turns out, he was just like my father. He didn’t love me one bit. He wished I was never born.”
“Let’s go,” Jeffco mutters, uncomfortably. The bartender grabs the bottle back from both of us and nods his head forward, motioning for us to get moving.
Rowan looks embarrassed. He walks out the door in a hurry, unable to look back. When we get onto the bike, I place my cheeks against his back and kiss him.
“Rowan,” I say. “I love you. I just don’t want to wake up in a few days and discover that you’re not with me anymore because you got shot, or you were taken prisoner, or you left for another job. I can’t live this life like you can. I just can’t.”
“We
’ll talk later,” he mutters, arrogantly. I hate him when he gets like this. When he shuts down, there’s nothing that will get him to budge. He steps down onto the bike, and it rumbles underneath us. I feel the rubber from the tires lurch forward quickly, and I hold on with a tight grip.
Well, at least he loves me.
I just hope this ends with kisses, rather than bullets.
27
Rowan
Back at the compound, emotions are high. Well, at least they are for us.
The rest of the guys seem to be living it the fuck up. Not sure how, but they’re drinking, smoking, and partying to their hearts’ content.
Girls wander through the halls. Men are snorting powders.
Iago is fucking pissed.
“Everybody outside,” he screams, firing at the ceiling. “I said, out!”
The girls freak out and leave. I can’t help but laugh at the whole clusterfuck of a situation.
Iago points his gun at his men. “Who authorized this, while I was gone? Someone better step forward,” he says. “Was it you, Chance?”
A young biker steps forward. “Me? You think I did this?”
“If no one steps forward, you’re getting the blame. How does that sound? You won’t step foot in this compound again,” Iago says, red-faced.
The man who Iago beat the other day steps forward. “It was me.”
Iago drops his gun. Giving him no time to react, he rushes the biker. “You moron,” he screams. “You’re letting people in without my orders? Who do you think you are?”
“The mood was down,” he says, defiantly. “Do you want your men to be depressed before a fight?”
“If my men are depressed, they need to tell me that to my face. You don’t think I could have alleviated their symptoms?” he asks. “That’s what a leader does. He helps his people when they’re in need.”
Iago turns to the rest of the men, puffing out his chest and catching air. Caroline heads into the corner of the room and sits down, looking tired from the ride.
“Is it true? Were you depressed?” Iago asks.
Some men shrug. The rest utter the words, “no, sir.”
Iago seethes. “Unbelievable. Give me your weapon, son.”
The man stands in disbelief. “My weapon?”
“You heard me. Give me your gun. You’ll sit this fight out,” he says.
“But sir, I—”
“Give him your god damn weapon!” Jeffco screams. “If you don’t, I’ll break your nose. This is ridiculous.”
The man gives him his gun and sighs, lighting a cigarette. Iago shakes his head, looking as if he’s ready to kill the man. I don’t blame him. This guy is disobedient and reckless. He could get us all killed.
I speak up. “We found the Hell Squadron,” I say. “Deep within the mountains.”
Another bike stands. “And?”
“And they’re willing to help us,” Iago says.
“For what price? What do they ask for in exchange?” he asks.
“Nothing,” I say. “Just the loyalty, peace, and freedom we’ve given them over the years. That’s all. Are you guys good on that?”
“They’re good on that,” Iago answers for them.
“They will be meeting us to fight. With our men ready, I think we can win this,” I say. “But we need strict rules in place. No more drinking. No more partying and acting reckless. No more women. All of that comes after, when we win this.”
Someone mutters, “No women? What about her?”
The men around us chuckle. I’m not laughing.
“I’m a different story, piss-ants,” Caroline says.
“If you come out of this alive, I promise, there will be trucks of women,” I tell them.
Caroline rolls her eyes, but it’s something they need to hear right now. They need to know that everything will be okay if they fight hard enough.
“I’ll get you whatever you want. It’ll be a big celebration,” I reiterate.
“Where will the Hell Squadron meet us?” someone asks.
Before I can answer, I hear the door slam. I hear the footsteps of heavy boots walk around the kitchen. I see the black leather mask of a thin-built figure walk in slowly, submachine gun held at his waist.
I drop to the floor and scream, “Get down!”
I grab for my gun, but it’s almost too late. The man starts firing rounds off. The gun in particular shoots at least sixty bullets per few seconds, enough to kill an entire squad. I know, because I used to own that gun.
I grab my pistol and take aim. I fire one round off. Then another. And another. The man drops in a pool of blood, clutching at his wounds.
I hop to my knees and run over to Caroline. “Are you okay?” I ask her, kissing all over her face.
I glance over my shoulder and see another take aim at us. I fire another clip off, and the man drops like his friend.
“I’m okay,” Caroline says.
“Hide,” I say.
She nods.
I roll into the kitchen. Glancing outside does me no favors as it’s too dark to see anything. I lock the door, and put a table in front of it.
Men are scrambling to their stations.
“Guys, it’s too late for any more questions. We need to barricade ourselves in,” I say with urgency.
Jeffco picks himself off the floor and helps Iago up. A bullet has grazed Iago’s cheek, but he’s okay. He wipes the blood off with his shirt and pulls his gun out.
He screams at his men. “You see what happens?”
Iago grabs the guy who organized everything, and he handcuffs him to a door handle.
“This is wartime,” he tells everyone. “If you want to hurt us or do anything that throws my gang into the flames of death, so be it. You’ll be a prisoner of war.”
The man spits at Iago. “Fuck you.”
Jeffco takes the butt of his gun and slams it across the top of his head. The man slumps over, unconscious.
“Christ,” I whisper.
Caroline shakes her head. “I do love you, Rowan. I don’t know why I do. It goes against my better judgment, but I can’t run from the truth. I love you.”
“But?” I ask her, holding my pistol straight at the door.
“But I can’t be here forever. I can’t do this. I’m not dying like this,” she says.
I take her words to account as another few men try to get in through the front door. I fire off a few rounds, and she covers her ears.
The men outside fall like the others.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to marry you and move to Pennsylvania,” I say.
“What?” she asks.
“You heard me, woman,” I give a slight smile and move back toward the window to look outside again. “You want to get married, or what?”
“Yes,” she says. “I mean, I don’t know…”
“What the hell do you mean, you don’t know?” I laugh. “You either do or you don’t.”
“There’s no in between?” she calls out.
“Nope. As you can see, I come from a land of extremes.” I wink. “Three more coming for us!”
Iago runs and takes aim, firing off a good amount of rounds. The men drop like flies.
“Sound the alarm!” Iago screams.
One of his men presses a button and the lights outside turn on, brightly illuminating the entire property. An alarm system goes off that sounds nearly identical to a nuclear siren. There are men posted around the roof of the compound, firing at the incoming men.
“Fine,” Caroline says. “We’re getting married.”
I nearly drop my gun when she says it. I have to run over to her. I pull her into my arms and kiss every part of her body, despite the ongoing threat happening around us. That can wait.
This is what I truly care about.
“We’re really getting married?” I ask her, smiling.
“Yes. But we can’t do this right now,” she says, taking my hand off her pussy. “Come on, Rowan. You’re insane.”
“Isn’t that why you love me?” I ask, kissing her.
I hug her one more time and then connect back with Iago and Jeffco. “What do we do?” Jeffco asks. “They’re early on the attack.”
“I don’t know.” Iago shakes his head, looking worried. “This isn’t good. I didn’t expect this.”
“Well, I did,” I say. “This isn’t their main attack. Save your energy. There’s more coming. This is just the first wave.”
The men keep coming through the entrance. Every so often, a trap explodes and one of the Hunters gets killed. However, this just allows the entrance to open up further for Kaine. All of this is just a distraction.
I know his game already, and I’m willing to bet my life on it.
After an hour so, things settle down. The sound of weapons firing has been replaced by the sounds of painful agony from some of the men. “We need a medic,” Iago shouts, glancing around.
A few men tend to the wounded, but there’s not much we can do besides hope the battle doesn’t last too much longer. Many of these guys will be dead in the morning. That’s the most painful part of any kind of battle. No matter what side wins, you always lose lives.
“They’re just waiting to get inside this place, aren’t they?” Iago asks.
I nod and sigh. “I’m afraid so. You’ve got some good defense, but we lack the number of men they have right now. We need the Hell Squadron, but they won’t be here until tomorrow.”
He pounds against the wall. “We’re fucked.”
“Shut the hell up,” I say, grabbing his face. “Your men need a leader right now, not some baby who’s going to sit around and punch walls. You hear me? Get off your ass and lead them, or I will do it for you.”
“You’re right,” he says. “We need to stay strong. I’ve got an idea.”
28
Rowan
Iago rounds up the men, telling them he has an announcement.
Even Caroline moves in, grabbing a weapon herself. “We need to band together right now more than ever,” Iago says.
“Where the fuck are the Hell Squadron?” a man asks. “I thought you said we’d have resources.”
His Hostage: A Dark Romance Page 14