by Jessie Cooke
“Oh, no. I hate you for stealing from me, first. For thinking you got away with it, second, and then for being a lowlife addict. I want you to stick that needle in your arm to prove this so-called sobriety is nothing but a bunch of bullshit. You’re trash, and you’ll always be trash. I don’t want to kill you, Ian. I want to watch you kill yourself.”
“No!” He heard Caitlin’s voice behind him. He started to turn around but O’Reilly shoved the gun into his face.
“Let her out.”
“Caitlin, stay where you are!” Finn yelled.
O’Reilly laughed. “I’ll just shoot you and then kill her...slowly...probably after I have some fun with her. She’s a little skinny for my taste, but pussy is pussy.” Finn started to come up off the ground, not even thinking about O’Reilly pulling the trigger. He felt Caitlin’s hand on his back, gripping onto his shirt.
“Don’t, Finn, he’s just trying to bait you.” O’Reilly stood where he was, holding the gun and smiling, as Caitlin climbed out of the hole. Finn wanted to choke her for not staying put. He put his arm around her, still gripping the syringe and tourniquet in the other hand, completely sliding the needle cap off and letting it fall to the ground.
“Well, hello there, beautiful,” O’Reilly said, his attention focused on Caitlin for the time being. The wheels in Finn’s head were turning quickly. He could see himself taking O’Reilly down in his mind’s eye, but it was too dangerous. If he lunged at him, the old bastard would still have time to shoot Caitlin. “Did you have fun in the hole with your boyfriend?”
Caitlin didn’t respond, but she was glaring up at him. Her face was so dirty that it actually emphasized the brightness of her eyes and if they had been lasers, they would have burned a hole straight through O’Reilly’s head. “I hope you brought help, O’Reilly,” said Finn, “because I’m not putting this needle in my arm. I’m not letting you hurt Caitlin and if you get close enough to me, I’m going to kill you.”
“Big talk, since I’m the man with the gun.”
“Not really, since you just told me that shooting me wouldn’t be any fun.” Finn had been trying to glance around, nonchalantly. He still didn’t see anyone else...but they had to be there. O’Reilly was not stupid enough to come alone. Besides that, he’d need someone to get rid of the bodies when he was finished killing them. Finn knew for sure that he wouldn’t do that himself.
“I could shoot you in the leg, or the arm...or better yet, I could shoot that pretty girl, right in the face. I’ll bet that would make you want to put that needle in your arm, wouldn’t it?” He looked back at Caitlin and said, “Did you know that your boyfriend was a scummy heroin addict?”
She narrowed her eyes even more and said, “I know you’re a scummy drug dealer. How dare you judge him?”
O’Reilly threw back his head and laughed. “I like you.”
“Too bad, because I already don’t like you.” He was still chuckling as he reached for her. Finn didn’t think, he just pulled back the syringe in his hand and stabbed the old gangster in the arm with enough force to stab the needle through his shirt and into his skin. O’Reilly yelled like a wounded animal and Finn pushed the plunger before O’Reilly was able to pull his arm away.
Before Aiden had hung up, Beck already had a lead on the property that O’Reilly bought the year before, alongside the park. She had an old “friend” that she’d “spent time with” back in her high school days. At least that was how she explained him to her old man. In reality he was the husband in a family she babysat for her senior year. They paid well, the kids weren’t too difficult, and Daddy tipped well. Beck wasn’t exactly proud of her past, but it was her past and that’s what mattered. Still, there were some things that Jace didn’t know. The fact that the man was still married and now a grandfather served her well and he got her the information she wanted, and fast.
The four Southside Skulls saddled up on bikes from the shop and the rest of them on their own bikes and they headed out together. The park was a forty-minute drive from the shop, and Jace stopped them all about half a mile from where Beck’s GPS said the line was between the county land and private property. They parked their bikes at a Park and Ride just outside of the park entrance and they walked the rest of the way in. They walked quickly and reached the edge of the park they were looking for in under ten minutes. There was a barbed wire fence between the park and the property and there were “Private Property” and “No Trespassing” signs spread out all over. The property didn’t look much different than the park. It lacked pathways and benches, but it was lined with trees and there were rolling hills, covered in grass. There didn’t seem to be any dwellings, but Beck’s old friend had emailed her a diagram of where the last tunnel that came out of the city ended, so they knew which direction they needed to head. They ducked underneath, or climbed over, the barbed wire fencing and headed in that direction. They were cresting the first small hill when they heard a strange cry, a gunshot, and then a woman screaming...they took off running in that direction, and all hell was breaking loose.
O’Reilly got off one shot before dropping to his knees, grasping his arm with his free hand. Finn tried to get to his feet and bring Caitlin with him but another shot came from out of nowhere, narrowly missing them both. All he knew at that moment was that he had to protect Caitlin. “Stay down!” he yelled, probably too harshly, but he was agitated. As soon as she was down on the ground with her hands over her head, Finn reached for the gun O’Reilly was still gripping. The old man was writhing on the ground, trying to fight the effects of the heroin now coursing through his blood. His face was bright red and he had his free hand clenched at an odd angle, but he wasn’t ready to give up the gun. Caitlin screamed as the two men rolled on the ground, trying to get the upper hand on the pistol...and that was when Finn found out that he was right, and O’Reilly hadn’t come alone. He brought up his knee and sunk it into the soft flesh between O’Reilly’s legs. The old man screamed and dropped the gun. Finn grabbed it and said, “Caitlin, get back in the tunn--” The shot from O’Reilly’s backup was so close that he could have sworn he felt the wind on his face as it passed. He didn’t have time to get her into the tunnel, but he knew he had to protect her. He held the gun in one hand and used the other to push her to the ground. Still gripping the pistol tightly, he rolled her over so she was under his body...and he was protecting her; at least, he hoped he would be.
“It’s going to be okay, Caitlin,” he whispered. “Trust me, baby. Stay as still as you can. Wherever those shots are coming from, they’re going to have to come closer to shoot us. When they do, I’m a damned good shot, okay?” He felt her nod. He could also feel her body shaking and her face wet against his neck...she was so scared that she was crying, and that pissed him off more than anything. The bullets were coming from behind one of the rolling hills off in the distance and one or two of them bounced in the dirt nearby, but he knew they were trying not to spray them too close to their boss, who had suddenly given in to the intoxicating feelings that were running through his body. He was lying on his back with his eyes half open, staring up at the sun with a sick little smile on his face. Finn knew from experience that O’Reilly was probably miles away by now, floating on a euphoric cloud called oblivion. He began to move his body and Caitlin’s both until they were right up against him. He didn’t even flinch at the contact. “I need you to stay right here. Don’t move, okay?”
As he rose up off her she gripped onto him tightly. “No! No, Finn! You can’t leave me with him.”
“He doesn’t even know we’re here, baby. He’s taking a trip right now that’s unlike any trip he’s ever been on. Trust me, please.”
“Finn...” He felt horrible, but he had to do something before O’Reilly’s men got close enough to aim around their boss and hit Caitlin and himself instead. He held onto the gun tightly and army crawled around O’Reilly. Once he was out in the open, he waited, but everything was suddenly silent. He looked back at Caitlin. She was still
behind O’Reilly, but she’d moved away far enough that she wasn’t touching his side any longer. Finn knew the idea of cuddling up to that bastard had to turn her stomach, but she had to understand that the further she got from him as a human shield, the more danger she’d be in.
“Caitlin, stay close to him.” She made a face, but she scooted back up against him. Just as she did another round of gunfire slammed into the dirt in front of Finn...and then all across the dirt wall of the tunnel behind Caitlin and O’Reilly. Caitlin screamed and Finn jumped to his feet, not looking back at her. If this kept up, the gunmen were going to hit one of them by sheer accident, and he had to keep her safe. If he ran toward them, he would at least draw their fire in his direction.
He still couldn’t see them. They were firing from behind a thick clump of trees and all he’d seen were flashes of light reflecting off the barrels of their guns. He ran toward the trees and he was about halfway there when the gunfire started again, but this time it was different. It sounded like it was coming from much further away. His body was battered and he’d barely slept and not eaten in two days, so he didn’t run as fast as he normally could. It seemed to him that it took forever to make it there. When he did, he was disoriented for a few seconds. There were two men writhing on the ground, one not moving and two more, on their feet, firing their guns...in the opposite direction. They had no idea he was even there, and Finn had no idea who or what they were shooting at. Hoping it wasn’t the police, he took aim and fired at the one closest to him. As that one crumpled toward the ground, the second one spun around, but a gunshot from a big clump of bushes about twelve feet in front of them caught him in the back and Finn watched his chest explode as the bullet ripped through him.
Finn felt almost like he was in shock for several seconds and so he stood there waiting for the blood to return to his brain so he could think, and then two things happened. The first was that he saw Jace. His president had come to save him. He was basking in the feel-good about that when he heard Caitlin, calling out his name. Shit! He turned and ran back toward where he left her. He couldn’t see her behind O’Reilly, but as soon as he got close enough, he dropped to his knees and reached for her. “It’s over, baby. The cavalry is here.” Her face was pale and she was sweating and that was when Finn saw it, the blood that was gushing out of her side. She’d been shot, and if Finn thought he knew what panic felt like for the first twenty-six years of his life...he realized that second that he’d been wrong. This was panic. This was fear. This was pure, unbridled rage.
“It’s okay, baby. We’re going to get you to the hospital.” He spoke to her as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and balled it up. He pressed it into her side. She closed her eyes and the panic grew. “Stay with me, love. Please, stay with me.” He scooped her up into his arms and when he turned back toward where he’d seen Jace, he saw several men in kuttes now, and Beck. Beck was coming toward him, but it looked like she was focused on O’Reilly first. She had her gun in her hand and when she was about four feet away Finn said, “Beck, she’s been hit. Caitlin’s been shot.”
Beck looked at him like she’d only just realized he was there and then she looked back down at the man on the ground. Holding her arm out as straight as a board, she aimed her gun at his head. Finn watched her pull the trigger and saw the head of the man who had tortured him, tormented him, and meant to finally kill him, explode. Beck turned back to him then and said, “Let’s go. We need to get her to the hospital.”
19
“There’s so much blood,” he said. The t-shirt that he had pressed into her side was soaked and blood oozed out between his fingers and dripped down his arm. “Should we call an ambulance?” he asked Beck.
“No. We can get her there faster. You want me to take her on my bike?”
“No!” He wasn’t going to let go of her until he had her somewhere that they could fix what was wrong with her. He clutched onto her tighter, like a child with his favorite toy that someone was trying to take away.
“Okay,” Beck said, like she was talking to a child. “But you have to stay calm.” Finn nodded and she said, “Take Jace’s bike, the key is in it. Put her in front of you.” Beck told him. “I’ll lead the way. You can’t panic, Finn.”
He nodded again and threw his leg over the bike, still cradling Caitlin like a baby. Once he was on, he slid her around so that her legs were straddling the bike. Her body was limp and he’d have to hold onto her tightly, but he trusted Beck and if she thought this was the best way, then it was what he was going to do. He only prayed he didn’t kill her on the way to the hospital. Reminding himself to stay calm and not panic, he fired up Jace’s big, customized hog and tightened his grip around Caitlin. Beck was already taking off through the park. Finn revved the throttle, put the bike in gear, and took off after her. Beck was flying and Finn was struggling to keep up. It wasn’t easy to control the big-ass bike with one arm and to boot, they were flying through a wooded area, dodging trees and bushes. He could only follow Beck on blind faith and thank God that she’d grown up there and knew the area. Beck led them down a long dirt path and finally out onto a paved road that would lead them toward the highway.
By the time they hit the freeway they were at top speed, doing at least a hundred miles per hour. Beck weaved in and out of traffic and Finn continued to follow. It was Beck’s bike that first blew past the state trooper along the side of the road but it was Finn’s ass that he was on with lights flashing and siren blaring. Finn just held on tighter and pushed on. He wasn’t stopping...for anything...until the woman in his arms was in a safe place.
Beck didn’t let off the throttle at all when they came to the exit for the hospital. Finn watched her bike fly off to the right and he followed, speeding through the yellow light and hoping like hell the oncoming traffic was paying attention. The cop didn’t hesitate either and the sound of his siren was probably what actually kept the traffic at bay. Beck was a blur of black and chrome as her bike slid almost sideways into the emergency room parking lot. Finn backed off the throttle and coasted when he hit the lot. He pumped the brake until the heavy hog finally came to a stop only inches from slamming into the side of the building. He killed the engine and in one fluid motion, slid off the bike. He didn’t look back, leaving Beck to deal with the cop. He had faith that she would handle it.
He clutched a still bleeding Caitlin to his chest and ran in through the sliding glass doors of the emergency entrance. The waiting room was packed and all eyes were on him, but Finn didn’t stop until he got to the triage desk. The nurse pressed a button when she saw them, setting off an alarm and a flashing red light above the emergency room door.
“What happened to her?” the nurse said.
“She has a gunshot wound to her side.” The doors to the back slid open and a man and woman in nursing scrubs came out, pushing a gurney with another man behind them pushing a big, red cart.
“What’s her name?”
“Caitlin Brooks.”
One of the nurses tried to take Caitlin out of his arms, but Finn wouldn’t let go. He put her down on the gurney himself and then wrapped his hand around hers, holding on tightly as they pushed her back toward the doors. “Sir, you can’t go back there.” The triage nurse’s voice was loud enough for him to hear, but he ignored her. He wasn’t leaving Caitlin alone. He kept going and the nurses pushing the gurney stopped at the door.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you need to let us take it from here,” the male nurse said. Finn was going to protest again, but he looked down at her face. She had no color in her cheeks at all and her lips were gray. She was dying, and he wasn’t helping things. He bent down and kissed her forehead.
“I’ll be right here, love.” He looked up at the nurse and said, “Take care of her.”
“We will.”
His chest physically ached as he watched them take her away. He was still staring at the door when a security officer stepped up next to him. “Sir, are you injured?” For the first time, Finn look
ed down at himself. He was covered with dirt everywhere, except for the paths the blood had drawn down his naked chest and stomach and run down the legs of his jeans.
“No. It’s her blood. I’m okay.”
“I’ll get you something to put on,” he said. “Maybe you can give the triage nurse some information that will help them treat her in the meantime, okay?” The security officer was talking to him in a soft, quiet voice, like he was afraid Finn was going to pull out a gun and shoot the place up. He didn’t blame him. He could only imagine what kind of nightmare he must look like.
“Okay,” he whispered. As he moved over to the triage desk he struggled to remember Caitlin’s uncle’s name. His head was throbbing and he suddenly felt like he was on the verge of blacking out. With gray spots swimming in his peripheral vision, he sat in the chair across from the triage nurse and said, “I don’t know anything about her medical history. Her uncle’s name is Andrew...no, shit, Anthony? Yeah, that’s it, Anthony Galt. He owns a contracting business here in town. Her cousin Joy works there. They should be able to tell you whatever you need to know.”
“Do you have their number, sir?” Finn’s vision was narrowing by the second. He was fighting hard to stay conscious...but he was afraid it wasn’t working.
“No!” he snapped at the nurse. “Can you look it up, please?”
“Here you go, sir.” He turned his head toward the security officer who was holding a hospital gown out toward him...too fast. That simple motion put him over the edge and suddenly everything was as dark as it had been inside that tunnel, and he couldn’t stop himself from falling.