They fist-bumped. Instead of calling for the formal or informal toast, Granite simply said, “My blood for my brothers, and by extension, their women. My life.” They echoed the sentiment, before Trip mounted Thunder’s sled to wait as they drove away.
The front of the shop was dark, no movement. But they could see some light source from the back. That could work for their advantage. Looking into the light from the dark was better than being in the light looking into the dark.
They got parked and Granite handed Thunder a suppressed nine. Thunder took it and tested the weight. It was lighter than his, but there was zero pain in his shoulder. He would stay and handle anything that arose around the SUV. Not necessarily with a gun, but it was nice to have just in case. Not knowing what was waiting on the inside could spill over and become dangerous on the outside.
Blast, Taps, and Granite got out of the SUV and were against the building quickly. They spoke mostly in choppy words and hand signals. Thunder almost wanted to laugh. They were arguing Thunder’s position. Thunder spoke through the open window. Loud enough for them to hear, but not loud enough for his voice to carry. “Taps is right, Prez. Orders or not, when shit starts going down, I’m not going to sit still. As much as I’ll want to obey. . .” He trailed off before uttering the words he won’t.
A skinny figure came lurking down the sidewalk. One Thunder recognized even in the flipped image from the side mirror. He jumped out to protect his brothers. At the same time, he found himself on his feet with the gun aimed at Rainbow Bob’s head, the man spoke a relieved, “Oh Granite, thank God.”
“Don’t move another fucking inch, asshole.” Thunder’s order was gritted out between his teeth. He shifted his face toward his brothers without taking his eyes off Bob. “Granite, I’ll give you one guess who the fucking female is?”
“Son of a bitch,” one of his brothers cursed. They shifted from the wall and pulled Bob back against it into the shadows. If people thought Taps was scary, they’d never seen Granite in action.
“I let you walk away with barely a fucking scratch when you broke the goddamned rules. So give me one reason I shouldn’t gut you right where you stand. Or better yet, let Thunder have some more fun with you first. I can guaranfuckingtee you, he won’t take it easy on you this time. Not after you put hands on his girl.”
“That’s… I didn’t… I swear. Petty didn’t tell me what was going down. As soon as I realized it involved the Maidens, I called Ripley, you can ask her,” the fucker whined.
“Yeah, well, it involves the Phantoms too, so you’re fucked.” Granite unsheathed the knife he had on his belt and held it against Bob’s cheek.
Bob yelped and Blast reached over and covered Bob’s mouth. “Now,” Granite threatened. “You have one second after my brother moves his hand to start talking. If your voice rises above a whisper, I’m going to need new boots because dead man’s blood doesn’t really go with what I’m wearing.”
Bob nodded and Blast removed his hand. “I didn’t know, I swear. Petty came back last night shot and—”
“Fuck,” Thunder swore. “That bitch shot me?”
Again, Bob nodded.
“She saw us. But how did she track Andy back here?”
“They go way back and she made an appointment to get to her.”
Granite let the knife bite into Bob’s cheek.
“Didn’t you promise to let us know if she was going after us? I seem to remember you promising that in exchange for your life.”
“I did, I mean I do. I wasn’t with her last night. She didn’t tell me who shot her or what she was up to until we pulled up. By then, it was already in play. She left me out back and before I could figure out a plan or call you, Tracey called me from inside. Told me Styx was coming, and I needed to disarm her and bring her in. I did, well, I did half of it. I got her inside and told her what I could in the short time I had. She told me to call Ripley. Ripley told me you’d be here, and that’s what I was doing. I’m supposed to be watching the back, waiting for him.” He shifted his eyes to Thunder.
“You’ve gotta send me in, Prez.”
Granite released Bob with a firm, “Don’t move a muscle.” He turned on Thunder. “You’ve got an extra hole in ya, you can’t go in.”
“That’s just it, Prez. She shot me, she knows that. She’ll see me as weak. Let her guard down and then maybe we can take her easier. We’ve got a weapon inside. Two as soon as Bob walks me in at gunpoint. Trip can ride up as planned.”
Thunder turned to Bob. “Can Petty see the back door from where she’s hunkered down?”
He shook his head.
“Just her?”
He nodded.
“Then that makes three because Trip can creep in behind us and lie in wait. That’s all before you three breach the front. We could take her down fairly easy if there are three of us unknown on the inside. Three against one, four if you count Andy.”
Granite swore and paced a few times, stroking his beard in thought. Thunder reached for his own before remembering it was gone. His president turned to Bob with menace oozing from every pore of his body. “If one of my brothers dies, hell, if one even gets a hangnail because you’re lying, there will not be enough pain I can bring you, but I will damn sure give my all trying, you feel me?”
“Yes. . .sir. I never wanted on your bad side, you know that. I’d never cross the Phantoms.”
They all just scoffed. Granite gave the signal. Trip fired up his sled and headed down the alleyway. Bob and Thunder cut between the buildings and met him around back.
Thunder explained what went down to Trip, and they moved in.
22
Andrea
Styx had done nothing but taunt Tracey since the second the skinny dude Tracey called Bob brought her in. It was obvious she wasn’t intimidated in the least by Tracey. She was the leather clad incarnation of zero fucks given.
Andy wasn’t as composed. For one, she’d been involved in a shooting already in the last twenty-four hours. Thunder’s blood and bullet wound were still fresh in her mind. Two, Tracey had taped her hands behind her back with her roll of surgical tape. Third, as much as she’d found her backbone where Tracey was concerned, or was locating it, old habits died hard.
Styx’s hands were taped in front of her. Andy’s mind was processing all the data she could input and sorting it. It was how she dealt with stress. After the chaos phase came the calm analytical phase. That stage hadn’t well and truly kicked in, so she was trying her damnedest to trigger it. She heard the rumble of pipes and knew that meant Granite was here.
She hated that he would walk into danger because of her, but she’d had little choice. Granite had given her the ‘call me if you need me speech’ and you’re part of the club. She never expected to cash that in, but she pretty much immediately turned straight to them.
“Well, well, well, sounds like we’re about to have a party.” Tracey was deranged. She didn’t look so hot either. She was sweating and shaking her head. Like she was trying to clear it. Andy tried to relay information to Styx but she wasn’t having any luck with that.
“Any minute now, Bob is going to walk your puss ass biker boy in here and we can really have some fun. I can’t believe I’ll be the one to take down the enforcers of both the Phantoms and the Handmaidens. Shit, I will be a goddess. If this were ancient times, those lute-playing bastards in the weird pants would write songs about me. Oh, well, I guess I must settle for everyone from the strip to Centennial Hills bowing before me.”
Yep, batshit fucking crazy.
Within seconds, Bob walked in with… “Thunder?”
What the fuck was he doing here? Up until that very moment, Andy respected Granite. She’d placed her trust in him. He’d betrayed her by sending Thunder into danger.
“Of course, babe, you called and wanted the dick. Who am I to deny you that? However, I see you and your… old friend had other plans. I never saw this set up coming.”
Andy leaned back at his
words. He sneered at her. Did he really believe she would set him up? Tears sprang unwillingly to her eyes. This was not how she wanted things to happen. How could he…? She metaphorically sucked the tears right back into her ducts.
Thank you, Thunder. Andy had been looking for that push to transition her from emotional to disconnected. Thunder had just handed it to her. His derision cut deep, but poof, she did away with it. She found that place in her mind, the one she went to before stepping into the cage.
Thunder had every right to believe that about her. The evidence pointed that way, and he didn’t really know her. As much as he seemed to want there to be something big between them, they were practically strangers. Even the thought hurt her soul, but she couldn’t deal with it now. She needed that disconnect, so she fed it instead.
“Sorry, babe, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Besides, no man has a magic dick, not even you. But alas, maybe you didn’t notice my hands taped behind my back? Of course, it could all be a ruse to get you to let your guard down. Maybe this is all, what was it you said, ah, the game I’ve been running on you and your precious club.”
Andy wasn’t exactly proud of her words, especially when Thunder winced, but she was in survival mode now. And by survival mode, she meant her heart too.
“Woehoho, trouble in paradise.” Tracy laughed.
“Burn.” That was added by Styx.
Thunder ignored their words. He seemed unaffected. “Petty, I presume?”
“The one and only. How’s the hole?”
Thunder narrowed his eyes. “Not as good as I’d be without it, but you got shit aim. What do you want, Petty?”
“I’m a simple girl. I just want to sell what I want and where I want. Conduct my business and I want the Phantoms and the Handmaidens to look the other way. That’s all.”
Tracey waited smugly for an agreement from Thunder. She got nothing but a blank stare.
“Not feeling commitment? I get that. Most men have issues with that.” She spoke casually as she raised her gun, aiming it at Andy’s head. “How about now, lover boy?”
Thunder looked bored. He turned from Tracey to Andy, then back again. Even walled off in survival mode from the moment Thunder walked in, in a small recess of her mind, she tried to believe he was acting. Even with all that, something in her snapped at Thunder’s almost imperceptible shrug.
Tracey stepped closer, the gun only inches from her face. The cunt had finally let her emotions cause her to slip up. Fuck waiting on someone else to save her or make the first move. Andy was no shrinking violet and why she allowed herself to act like one she could analyze later.
Even with her hands tied behind her back, which they were, she could take a bitch down. Especially one favoring her left leg. All I have to do is sweep the leg, making sure she lands where it hurts.
She knew exactly where that spot was, even if she couldn’t see it. Always know your opponent’s weak spots. If she could get her down, Styx or Thunder could do the rest.
A deep breath to prepare was all she allowed herself before she struck. No way was she getting shot in the face by a woman who had made her life hell and was using her to get to someone else.
Her kick was powerful and well placed, hitting Tracey in the upper thigh. Causing her to drop like a sack of potatoes with a scream of pain. The gun clattering to the floor with a unique sound she wouldn’t soon forget.
Sadly, Tracey wasn’t the only one to go down. Without her arms for balance, Andy went down too. She heard another unique sound. That of her own head connecting with the floor.
A pop she now recognized as a silenced gunshot sounded as her vision swam. Thunder was on his knees in front of her and calling her name. Running his hands over her body and messing with the tape around her wrists.
“Babe, talk to me, are you hurt?” Andy couldn’t understand. Everything sounded underwater. She recognized this feeling. It was like listening in on a conversation or watching a scene on TV.
“Shit, Bob. You just took out your own.” That was Styx.
“Petty was never my people. She was going to kill her, I couldn’t let her take out Phantom property.” That must’ve been the skinny dude.
“Is she alright?” Granite, maybe.
“No blood, so I… Styx, was she fine before?”
“Yeah, she was the picture of health and composure. That is, until you all but told that bitch to shoot her. Your girl was fucking pissed. Hell of a fucking kick, though. Remind me to never piss her off.”
Andy almost smiled at Styx’s compliment until she processed her first words. Thunder wanted her shot? Damn it, why is everything fuzzy?
“Water, you’re under… water, and fuzzy.” Thunder was suddenly gone, and she was being lifted into the air. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t focus on the face of the person who held her. The harder she tried, the more out of focus it all became.
“Shit,” mystery man said. “Prez, I’m taking the shield. Andy needs the ER. She could have a concussion.”
“Taps?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, it’s me. I’ve got you. We’re going for a little ride. You can relax, but I need you to stay awake, okay?”
Yes, that made sense. You should stay awake with a concussion. She’d had one before, and that sounded right.
“Give her to me, Taps. I’ll take her. She’s my old lady, not yours.” She felt her body shift as Taps turned.
“Really, brother? Is that why we come through the door to you just shrugging while Petty held a gun to her fucking head?”
“I was setting that bitch up, waiting until she lost it and I could take my shot. I was about to draw when Andy went all Roadhouse on her.” Thunder sounded wounded, but she didn’t know why. She just wanted to sleep. A little nap wouldn’t hurt. She was just drifting off when Taps’ concerned voice cut through the fog.
“Andy, wake the fuck up. I’m not playing, sweetheart. You stay awake or I’ll do whatever it takes to wake you.” His voice was concerned but also filled with humor. A low growl rumbled through the air.
“Taps, that’s my old lady you’re talking to.” No.
“Not, old lady. Taps, hospital.” She was fading into sleep, but she knew she had to get to the hospital.
“There’s your answer, asshole. I’m taking Andy to the hospital to get checked out. You can make yourself useful here, I’m sure.”
She was spun around again, with a soft apology from Taps. The night air hit her skin and felt refreshing. The words, Andy, I love you, floated behind her. It had to be a concussion because there was no way it could’ve been Thunder. Wishful thinking was apparently her new reality.
Taps held her in his arms all the way to the hospital, playing trivia the whole way. Every so often Blast, who was driving, would pipe in and answer for her. To which Taps would scold him.
The two men in the car with her were good men. Taps was funny and witty with a soft heart. Blast was a bit stoic but caring. Maybe if she’d just found that spark with him that night, or even went inside and met Taps first, her heart wouldn’t feel so heavy.
Why did it feel heavy? Her head hurt like hell and she knew there’d been—her thoughts were cut off when her stomach protested.
“Shit, Blast, she’s tossing her cookies.” Taps turned her head and she vomited all over his boots. That just made her head hurt worse.
She started crying. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you worry, sweetheart, these are old as dirt.” He held her hair back even though nothing else happened. She must’ve fallen asleep because her next memory was being laid on a gurney and the nurses holding both Blast and Taps back saying family only.
“They’re my family,” she said at the same time they shouted, “We are her family.”
“Well, then you can fill out some paperwork and wait until we’ve had a chance to look at her.” The nurse closed the curtain, effectively shutting the men out and her in.
“Can you tell us what happened to you?” Her brain was sti
ll sluggish, like it was covered in honey. But she did know the Phantoms would have their own version of things. So instead of saying the wrong thing, she simply answered, “I don’t remember right now. My head hurts though, could you give me something for this headache?” This was all too familiar. The headache and the lying.
The nurse turned and threw open the curtain and ran into the two men who hadn’t moved an inch. “I was just coming to ask you two if you knew what happened?”
Taps smiled at her, before turning that blinding smile to the nurse. “She was involved in a break-in at the place where she works. She fell defending herself and hit her head.” Taps leaned around the nurse. “Ripley just called and said thanks to you, nothing was stolen and the would-be thief fled after knocking you down. You did good, sweetheart.” Then he winked. If Andy hadn’t already lost her heart to Thunder, it would have been in serious danger from that charmer.
Oh god, she groaned aloud, but that only hurt her head more. She’d lost her heart to Thunder.
23
Thunder
Thunder waited nervously for Lexi to bring his woman through their apartment door. He wanted her at the clubhouse, but he wasn’t sure she would go for that. Ultimately, he wanted her in his house on the compound. Safe, and with him. He just didn’t know how to make that happen.
She’d been home, released from the hospital for a week. They’d kept her overnight for observation and sent her home.
They hadn’t seen each other but had exchanged texts and a few calls. She’d been a bit closed off and had an excuse every time he wanted to see her, but she wouldn’t fail to text him right back. It was a little strange how much better they’d gotten to know each other through text than they ever would’ve if they’d actually been in the same room.
He was running scenarios in his head about how to win her over when Lexi entered the apartment with a complaining Andy right on her heels. The sound of her voice was sweet and soothed his bristling soul.
Thunder (Desert Phantoms MC Book 1) Page 15