by Wilder, L.
Wasting no time, I lifted my leg, slamming my foot into the door. As it flew open, I dodged to the side, avoiding the next few rounds that were shot in our direction. Several more shots were fired, followed by a brief moment of silence. Taking a chance, I inched forward, just enough to see inside the room, and immediately spotted the source of the shooting. It was an older woman, sixty or even older, with long gray hair, and she was wearing one of those old lady dusters, making her look like a typical grandmother—but there was nothing typical about this grandmother. She was packing heat and was prepared to take us out without a second thought. As she cursed under her breath, she exchanged clips and was about to take aim when I shouted, “Hold it right there.”
Ignoring me, she released the safety. Her eyes were dark and menacing, and she was practically foaming at the mouth as she snarled, “You two are as good as dead.”
“You need to calm down, lady. Put the gun away.”
“Not a chance. I’m gonna fill your puny, little heads full of metal!” she growled. It was clearly not the first time this lady had taken someone out. Just looking at her made me realize why Polito had turned out to be such an evil bastard.
“Just put the gun down!” I ordered.
Ignoring me, she aimed her weapon in my direction. Before she had a chance to shoot, Riggs fired his weapon and nailed her square in the chest. We both watched as she flailed backwards and fell to the ground. I glanced over at Riggs. His face was twisted with anguish. While I knew he hated that he’d had to shoot not only a woman, but an elderly woman at that, it had to be done. “Thanks for covering my ass, brother.”
He nodded, then walked over to the elderly woman and knelt down beside her. He placed his fingers at her neck, checking for a pulse. Once he knew without a doubt that she was gone, he got up and motioned for me to follow. He went across the hall to the last remaining room. We both knew it had to be checked, but after facing the grand-maw from hell, neither of us were looking forward to seeing what was behind that closed door. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a choice, so I turned the knob and eased the door open. When we stepped inside, there was an enormous bed with a headboard that reached the ceiling, massive side tables, and a dresser that filled the entire side wall. An oriental carpet covered the floor, and there was a mirror covering the ceiling over the bed. Obviously just as surprised as I was, Riggs’ mouth dropped open as he muttered, “Holy shit.”
“This is gotta be Polito’s room.”
“Definitely.”
We continued into the room, searching for anything out of the ordinary. While Riggs checked in the closet, I went to have a look in the bathroom. The second I stepped into the room, I was greeted with a punch to the gut, followed by a quick blow to the head. My gun fell to the ground as I stumbled back, leaving me to fend for myself. My head was spinning and I was struggling to take in a breath, but I wouldn’t let myself fall down, knowing if that happened, I was done. I was trying to inch my way up to a standing position when I noticed a pair of men’s dress shoes approaching me.
While I had no idea who the fuck they belonged to, I kept myself low and charged towards him, trying with all my strength to tackle him to the ground. I quickly discovered that the guy was built like a Mack truck, and he barely budged. With ease, he lifted his elbow and slammed it into my shoulder, forcing me to release my grip around his waist. I barely had a chance to think before he was on me, driving his fist into my ribs, back, and head. Knowing the motherfucker was about to get the best of me, I reared back my fist and slammed it into his balls. His knees buckled, forcing him to hunch downward, and I used the opportunity to ram the back of my head into his nose, breaking it instantly. He was momentarily dazed, so I punched him in the gut and then once more in his jaw. To my relief, the sonofabitch fell backwards, knocking his head on the edge of the tub. I was about to lay into him again when I realized the motherfucker was out cold. Even though he was out, the guy was still breathing. Knowing that wasn’t a part of the plan, I reached down and picked up my 45 off the bathroom floor, then shot him twice.
It was at that moment I noticed Riggs leaning on the doorframe with a smirk. “You done fucking around now?”
“Would’ve been done sooner if you would’ve given me a hand,” I grumbled.
“Yeah, but what’s the fun in that.” He patted me on the shoulder and said, “You know I would’ve stepped in if I thought you really needed me.”
“Um-hmm.” I walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. “Let’s get Gabriella and get the fuck out of this place.”
We went back down the hall where Gabriella was being held, and when we opened the door, we found her in the same spot where we’d left her. I could see the relief in her eyes when I offered her my hand and said, “It’s time to get you out of here.”
She nodded as she took a hold of my hand and rose to her feet. “Thank you … whoever you are.”
“We’ll explain all that later. For now, let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“Okay.”
She followed us out of the room and down the hall. As we continued down the steps, Gabriella seemed oddly unfazed by the dead bodies sprawled out on the floor. If anything, she seemed pleased by the sight. I can’t say that I blamed her. If I’d been locked up in that room for as long as she had, I’d want the assholes dead too. There were no more of Polito’s men left in the house. We’d dealt with them all. When we finally made it down the stairs, we found Viper, Murphy, and the others standing around talking among themselves. I thought they would’ve been trying to clear the mess we’d made, but instead, Viper was talking to someone on the phone while the others waited for him to give the next order. The room fell silent when he ended the call. Once he’d put his phone away, he looked over to me and asked, “Who’s the girl?”
“Her name’s Gabriella. I don’t know much more than that.”
“Then, how do you know she’s not one of them?” he pushed.
“Cause she was chained to the fucking floor like some animal,” I barked. “Had her in there for weeks.”
“Fuck.” He ran his hand over his thick beard as he pondered his next move. “Let’s get her back to the clubhouse. We’ll talk to Gus and see what he wants to do about her.”
“Sounds good.”
Viper looked over to Bull, one of his prospects, and told him, “Get her out to the SUV and stay with her until we get there.”
As ordered, he walked over to Gabriella and gently took her by the arm, leading her out of the house. Once they were gone, I turned my attention back to Viper. “You heard from Gus or the others?”
“Yeah. Talked to them a few minutes ago. Everything went as planned. Polito and Sal are done, along with all his men. Same for the office and the other warehouse.” Before I could ask, he said, “They’ve got Samantha and are headed back to the clubhouse.”
“Good. Did they run into any trouble?”
“No more than what was expected.” He motioned towards my arm as he said, “What about you? You need to have Doc look at that?”
“I’m good.” I glanced down at my blood-soaked shirt and said, “It’s just a graze.”
Out of the blue, there was a knock at the front door. I was expecting it to be the cops, especially after the psycho grandmother shot several rounds at us, but Viper seemed unconcerned as he walked over and opened the door. Instead of men in uniform, there was a man carrying a large duffle bag. He was wearing dark jeans with a neatly pressed, white button-down shirt and brown penny loafers. His hair was combed to the side, and he was sporting a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. Behind him were several other men, also carrying large duffel bags. I had no idea who the fuck these guys were, but Viper certainly did.
With piqued interest, I listened as Viper told the first guy, “That was fast. I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”
“I was waiting on your call.”
Without invitation, the guys dropped their bags at the door and started walking through the house. As they walked by m
e, I leaned over to Brick, one of the Sinners, and asked, “Who the fuck are these guys?”
“That would be ‘Billy the Butcher’ and his crew.”
“What the fuck are they doing here?”
“He’s the cleaner,” Brick answered. “He’s the shit. You won’t find another guy around that’s as good as he is.”
When the Butcher and his guys were done looking around, they each went back over to their duffle bags and simultaneously pulled out bright yellow hazmat suits. As the Butcher started to step into his, he said, “Looks like your boys made quite a mess.”
“That they did, and this isn’t the only mess we’re going to need you to clean up.” Clearly anxious about his reaction, Viper tugged at his beard as he told him, “We have three other locations that need to be cleared by morning.”
The Butcher had his hazmat suit on and was ready to zip it up when he answered, “No way I can make that happen, Viper.”
“We’ll make it worth your while. You know that.”
“I won’t make you any promises, but if we manage to pull it off, it’s going to cost you,” the Butcher warned.
“Just do what you do, and if you need a hand from any of my boys, just say the word.”
He thought for a moment, then reached back into his bag for a pair of large yellow gloves. By now, the Butcher’s crew were all dressed in their hazmat suits, silently waiting for their boss to decide if they were going to move forward. As he started to put on his gloves, he told Viper, “I work better with just my guys, but it would speed things up if you would help load your friends into the back of my trailer.”
“Yeah, we can do that.”
“Good. I’ve backed the trailer up to the garage. You can load from there without the neighbors being able to see,” he suggested. “I would do it quickly. It won’t take long for someone to become suspicious.”
The Butcher reached back into his duffle bag once again, pulling out spray bottles, boxes of garbage bags, and scrub brushes. I watched with intrigue as the rest of his crew did the same, so intrigued in fact, that I didn’t hear Viper order, “Let’s get moving boys.”
I just stood there watching as the strange men in the yellow suits went over and got busy cleaning a large pool of blood on the floor. I was still watching when my attention was drawn over to Murphy when he yelled, “Yo, Gunner. Give me a hand!”
He was trying to lift one of the bodies off the floor, but the guy had at least a hundred pounds on him.
“Yeah. Coming!”
Pulling myself out of my daze, I rushed over and helped him get the guy out to the garage. When we finally hauled him out to the trailer, I was surprised to see that it was a white, six-by-twelve-foot moving trailer—large enough to move a houseful of furniture. Once we had him loaded, I followed Riggs back inside to get the next guy. Within minutes, we had all Polito’s men and his mother loaded up, and we were on our way back to the Sinners’ clubhouse to meet up with Gus and the others.
CHAPTER 18
August
I can’t begin to describe the relief I felt when I saw my mother and Gus coming down the hall. Rev and Link had told me that he and the others had gotten her safely out of the warehouse, but I didn’t truly believe them until I saw her with my own eyes. The second I spotted her, I rushed over and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly. After discovering that Polito had taken her, I didn’t know what to think. I imagined the most horrific things and had almost convinced myself that I would never see her again. I simply couldn’t believe that she was standing there, safe and sound, that I could see her beautiful face, smell the soft scent of her perfume, and feel the familiar touch of her arms around me. Finally accepting the fact that she was truly okay, I squeezed her even tighter and whispered, “Thank god, you’re okay.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry for all of this.” She stepped back, looking at me as she cried, “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Before I had a chance to respond, Hawk and several of his brothers came walking through the door. Gus lifted his hand, letting them know that he was coming, then turned his attention back to me. “I need to meet with them for a few minutes. You okay to get her back to her room?”
“Of course.”
A softness crossed his face as Gus placed his hand on Mom’s shoulder and said, “I won’t be long. When I get done, we’ll talk.”
“Okay, I’d like that.”
They stood there for a brief moment, and just by the way they were looking at one another, I knew something was going on between them. When he turned to leave, I called out to him. “Gus?”
“Yeah?”
“What about Gunner? Is he okay?”
He smiled, then answered, “Yeah, darlin’. He’s just fine.”
“Thank goodness. I hadn’t heard, so … Anyway, thank you for bringing Mom back to me.”
“No need to thank me, August.” He glanced over at Mom. “Not even the good Lord himself could’ve stopped me from going after her.”
He gave me a quick wink, then walked away. I took Mom’s hand and led her back to her room. Harper was sleeping soundly across the hall, so I left the door open as we entered her room. Once we were both sitting on the bed, I asked, “What happened?”
She ran her hands down her face and sighed. “Where do you want me to start?”
“The beginning would be good.”
“Well, you know how Harper’s been begging for Floppsie?”
“Yes, but she’s—”
“She’s a little girl in a strange place,” Mom interrupted. “She wanted something that would make her feel safe again. I know it sounds crazy, but I wanted to give that to her. With you and Gus so upset with me, I wanted one person who didn’t think I had screwed everything up.”
“Oh, Mom. I don’t know what to say.”
“You could say that I was crazy for doing something so stupid, that my actions put you and Harper in even more danger,” she cried.
“It wasn’t the best idea you’ve ever had, but I understand why you did it.”
“I was so stupid to go over to that house. I knew there was a chance that those men were still there, but I went anyway.”
“Is that where they got you?”
“Yes. I’d gone in through the backyard … used that spot that was broken in the fence and slipped through. We hadn’t had the chance to lock the backdoor, so I was able to get inside.” Her eyes dropped to the floor as she said, “I found Floppsie on the sofa and was just about to rush back out when two men came in through the front door. They grabbed me, blindfolded me, and after they tied my hands behind my back, they took me to some strange warehouse or something.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No, but I have no doubt that they would have. The second he took off my blindfold, I knew I was in trouble. Anthony Polito was there along with a bunch of his guards and some guy he called Sal. There were these fancy cars parked inside, and an office-like room surrounded in glass upstairs. They were all standing around, watching as Anthony asked one question after the next. I’d never been so terrified. You should’ve seen him, August. That man was pure evil, and I could feel it radiating off of him.”
“What did he do?”
“They kept asking me all these questions about you and where you were.” Tears filled her eyes as she said, “I knew what would happen if they found you, so there was no way in hell I was going to tell them anything. He threatened to hurt me … to do god-awful things to me if I didn’t tell him, but I still refused. His patience was wearing thin, and I had no doubt that he was going to make good on his promises when all hell broke loose.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was sitting in that chair … my hands bound behind my back in this big, open, metal building. He’d just raised his hand to slap me when one of the men dropped to the floor. At first, I didn’t realize that he’d even been shot, but then a second man fell and then another.”
“Gus.”
“At first, I had no idea who it was. My brain just wasn’t registering anything. I was too scared to think, especially when all the shooting started.” I could see the horror in her eyes as she thought back on everything she’d seen and heard. “I wanted to run and hide, but I couldn’t move. I just had to sit there and watch.”
“You must’ve been so terrified.”
“I was … but then I spotted Gus. As soon as I saw him, I knew everything was going to be okay. I knew he wouldn’t let those men hurt me, and he’d get me home safe.”
“But what happened to Anthony Polito?”
“Hmm … Well, Gus was headed in my direction when Anthony shouted across the room, ordering his men to stop him. They rushed towards him but didn’t get very far. It wasn’t long before there were no guards left, just Anthony and Sal. These two powerful men … men who’d done unthinkable things to so many, were truly terrified.”
“So, what ended up happening.”
“In all the chaos, Anthony had managed to get over to me. He had the barrel of his gun pointed at my head, and he threatened to kill me if Gus and the others didn’t walk away. What he didn’t know was that Shadow had come up behind him.” She paused for a moment and let out a deep breath before saying, “He killed him, and seconds later, Gus killed Sal.”
It was hard to believe that my father had killed those men, and while I didn’t know for certain, I had a feeling that Cade had had his own part in taking out Polito and his men. That, in itself, might’ve made me feel differently about them both, but I knew in my heart they would never hurt anyone without good reason. It all came down to the simple fact that they both were good men who would do whatever they had to do to protect those they loved. This time was no different. My mother’s life was in danger, and they did what they had to do to bring her back to me. “We owe Gus so much. I don’t know how I will ever be able to thank him.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way. We both will.”