“Yeah. The ones in this house. Still too many breathin’,” Shade answered.
Cage peered over Dodge’s shoulder to see about a dozen women of various ages. Some sat on a bed, the rest sat on the floor around it. Only a few were crying and looked scared. The rest? If it was possible, they’d shoot poisoned daggers from their eyes.
Well, fuck them.
All were wearing the same style of homemade dresses and their hair was worn similar.
A goddamn cult. That was what it was.
Brainwashed motherfucking cult.
“Only twelve women in here. And some teens. My count had twenty-six total,” Shade said. “Brother, you got the rest in there?”
“Fuck no,” Rook answered. “Another twelve. And some kids.”
“Fuck. Two women unaccounted for,” Cage stated the obvious.
“Maybe they’re down with Dyna,” Rook suggested.
“No one mentioned any women with Dyna,” Ozzy grumbled.
“Or they’re hidin’ out somewhere in this house,” Shade said with his head tilted like he was listening for any movement of the two missing women.
“Could be. Keep your eyes and ears open,” Cage ordered. “This ain’t lookin’ like forty kids, either.”
“Nope. Not close to forty here,” Dodge said after checking the room Rook was guarding. “Not even fuckin’ close. Must got them elsewhere. Maybe with the two other women.”
“Can’t worry about that shit now,” Shade said. “Need to pick kids young enough not to fight, big enough for effective shields.”
Fuck, Cage hated that word.
Rook jerked his chin to a room with a closed door. “Youngest are in that room. We kept the older ones with the women to keep an eye on them. Ain’t trustin’ anyone with Shirley blood, no matter how fuckin’ young they are.”
Shade went to another bedroom with a closed door and Cage followed him.
“This one. This one. And that one.” Shade pointed out three kids with his huge knife like he was picking out prime cuts of beef at a fucking butcher. “Got a knife?” he asked no one in particular.
“Yeah,” Cage answered. He was taking one of those kids.
“Got one, too.” Dodge moved into the room with Shade, his own knife now in hand.
Jesus Christ, this was happening.
“Want us to stay here and keep watchin’ these brain-washed bitches?” Ozzy asked.
“Fuck no,” Cage answered. “Soon as we got Dyna, we’re splittin’.”
“What about burnin’ this fuckin’ house down first?” Rook asked. “Another warnin’ since they didn’t take the last one seriously.”
“Gonna take too long,” Cage said. He didn’t want to discuss any future plans that had to do with the Shirleys in front of the women. Or even the kids. He didn’t want them knowing that they weren’t finished with them. He wanted that to come as a complete fucking surprise.
They could burn down the house but it was summer and dry. It might light up the surrounding forest, catching the PD’s attention and bringing them and firefighters up the mountain.
Last thing they needed was the pigs getting involved and doing an investigation. The Shirleys would never go to the pigs on their own. Even to report murders. Like the Fury, they didn’t want law enforcement or any government agencies involved in their business. Even if it had to do with threats to their safety or their compound. They distrusted any and all government.
That was good for his club since it would make it easier to thin out the Shirley herd. On their own schedule. To do it smart and efficiently.
The three kids Shade had picked out to use for their safety, and Dyna’s exchange, were boys all around the age of three or four. Not strong enough to fight, but large enough to use as a damn shield and light enough to carry.
Three Shirley spawn to exchange for his one and only baby girl.
They needed to move. Darkness was creeping in by the minute.
Shade gave the women a warning to stay upstairs until their menfolk came and retrieved them. He also warned them to not try anything stupid or the boys would die. Cage wasn’t sure if Shade meant that last part and he didn’t want to find out.
However, if the Shirleys harmed Dyna in any way, the three boys would be sacrificed. Because, no one... Not one fucking person would get away with that. He would do what he needed to do to avenge his daughter. His blood. His little monkey.
“We gotta go.” Cage hauled a crying toddler up into his arms. “You be quiet and stay still, you hear?” he warned the kid, not sure if the boy would understand. “You be good and you’ll be back with your momma soon.”
That the kid understood and he nodded as he hiccupped-sobbed, tears streaming down his face and snot bubbling from his nostrils.
Jesus fuck, he wondered how much Dyna had cried since they took her. If she was hungry. If her diaper was dirty. If she was scared.
As the five of them turned to head down the steps, they heard a banshee-like scream from the end of the hallway. One of the women had a shotgun in her hands and was raising it to her shoulder as she screamed, “Let ‘em go!”
Cage was standing at the top of the steps. Shade was right behind him with Dodge on his heels.
Shade shouted, “Duck!”
Dodge did and just in time.
The man’s hand became a blur and so did the knife until it stuck dead center in the woman’s forehead. Cage was surprised it didn’t twang from the impact. The woman’s eyes went wide and her mouth opened as she collapsed in slow motion, the shotgun dropping from her fingers.
“Damn! Gotta show me how to throw knives like that,” Dodge shouted, running over to pick up the shotgun. Shade, with a crying toddler of his own tucked under one arm, followed him. He planted his boot on the dead woman’s face and unwedged the knife from her skull.
As a final parting gift, he leaned over and wiped off the bloody blade on her homemade dress.
In front of Cage, Rook asked, “Where the fuck she get that shotgun?”
“Probably got ‘em stashed everywhere,” Shade answered calmly.
Well, that was fucking reassuring. “Eyes and ears open,” Cage reminded the rest of them. “Let’s go. Want my fuckin’ daughter back.”
It took almost ten minutes to get to the location where everyone else was spread out, waiting. Everyone except for Whip and Easy, who remained at the base of the mountain still on lookout.
When they got to where some of the Shirley inbred motherfuckers were holding Dyna, the rest of his brothers faded into the background. They kept the shed in their view, their ears open for any other Shirleys approaching, and their guns ready in case of a shootout.
Thank fuck Jemma wasn’t seeing this. Using kids as shields. As pawns.
But then, the Shirleys were doing the same with Dyna. Using her as a game piece in their fucked up game.
“We got three of your boys. Three of your blood. You got one of ours,” Cage yelled out toward the quiet shed. Too quiet for Cage’s liking. He’d rather hear Dyna crying because then he’d be assured she was still alive. “Thinkin’ it’s more than a fair trade. Three for one.”
Shade stood next to him with one boy held to his chest, Rook held another. His brother insisted on standing next to Cage, risking everything for his own niece. Cage was pretty fucking sure Dutch would have swapped out with Shade, too, if Shade would’ve allowed it.
He didn’t.
He said he had no family, no woman, no kids, he didn’t have a goddamn thing to lose. Unlike some of the rest of them. Like Cage.
But there was no way Cage was letting anyone else do the talking. Judge didn’t like it, but fuck Judge. He didn’t have to like it. He only had to respect Cage’s decision.
The club enforcer did, even though reluctantly.
“One of you motherfuckers come out with my girl.”
“Fuck you,” came a male voice from inside the windowless shed. The door was partially open and the interior was pitch dark.
“
Which of these boys d’you want dead first?” Cage asked. “Pick one. Which one means the least to you? This one?” He lifted the toddler he held higher. “He disposable to you all?”
“Send ‘em all into the shed an’ will let your baby go,” the faceless voice shouted.
How the fuck was Dyna going to get outside to them? Crawl? She was barely seven weeks old.
Dumb motherfuckers.
“Send out whoever’s got her and will swap with the one boy I got.”
“Want ‘em all.”
“You’ll get them all once I got my girl back and we’re safely off this hillbilly hill.”
“Don’t want you fuckin’ with us after this,” came a warning from inside the shed.
No deal. “Just want my girl back. That’s it. You fucked with us first by takin’ her. By injurin’ my woman.”
Judge shuffled behind Cage. He ignored the big man’s reaction to his claim to Jemma.
“Send someone out with her and I’ll hand over this boy. He’s been cryin’ for his momma. We’ll take the other two to the bottom, then let them go. Deal?”
“Let ‘em all go now.”
“Nope. Once we reach the road. Not before. Ain’t negotiable. You can send someone down to get them then. When we’re gone.”
“Ain’t likin’ this deal,” another one of the Shirley men called out.
“Daddy!” the boy in his arms cried out and tried to wiggle free. Cage tightened his grip.
Shit.
Shade, Rook and Cage all exchanged looks. The smile Shade now wore had nothing to do with being happy.
Cage lowered his voice. “That your Daddy?”
The boy nodded. “Daaaaaddy!” he cried.
“Got your boy,” Cage called out. “You got my girl. Let’s trade. Father to father.”
Silence answered him. It stretched out for a full fucking, heart-pounding minute.
The wood door creaked open wider and a man stepped into the doorway with Dyna in his arms.
Cage’s pounding heart seized.
He couldn’t see his baby girl’s face. He couldn’t see shit. Dyna—if it was her—was wrapped in a stained blanket.
“Better not be pullin’ any shit,” came from Judge behind him. “Better be her in that fuckin’ blanket or all three boys die right here. Right in front of your fuckin’ faces.”
“Show me!” Cage yelled. Ten yards separated him from his baby.
Ten fucking yards.
He wanted to sprint those thirty feet and snatch Dyna from that Shirley’s filthy motherfucking hands.
He didn’t. Instead, he kept a firm grip on the man’s son and held his ground.
“Halfway,” the inbred, toothless motherfucker demanded.
Cage gritted his teeth and gave him a nod.
“Got your back,” Judge said softly behind him.
Cage adjusted the knife he held close to the toddler’s throat so he didn’t slice it by accident. He moved slowly and carefully, his eyes focused on his daughter. When he got closer, he stopped. “Lemme see her face.”
Dirty fingers peeled back the blanket enough to see the wrapped bundle was indeed Dyna and she was awake but quiet.
His kid was the goddamn best.
“Halfway,” Cage reminded the goat-fucking hillbilly.
One side of the bearded man’s lips pulled up in a sneer, but he moved closer.
Cage continued until they met amongst dead leaves and mud. His brothers were behind him, the Shirleys in front of him.
His brothers all had his back.
Finally, they only stood a couple feet apart. Two fathers. Two children.
And a whole bunch of hatred filling that empty space between them.
“Let ‘im go,” the boy’s father demanded.
Cage put the toddler on his feet, but kept one hand clamped on the kid’s shoulder as he held out his other arm. “Hand her over. Carefully. You hurt her, we got two more behind me.”
The man’s mouth tightened and he gave a sharp nod. He held out Dyna with both hands. Like a fucking sacrifice.
Cage’s heart stopped beating, his lungs failed to take in air, as he released the boy and grabbed Dyna at the same time.
Then, fuck him, he had her. His baby in his arms.
He didn’t take the time to check her, instead he backed away quickly as the boy wrapped himself around his father’s leg.
“Once we’re safely off this mountain, the other two will be waitin’ at the bottom,” Cage reminded the clan member, who said nothing and didn’t even hug his damn kid.
When he got back to the line of Fury members, Judge muttered, “Let’s get the fuck outta here now. Gotta get your girl home.”
That sounded like a plan.
“They’re all gonna die, right?” Cage asked his sergeant at arms.
“Fuck yeah,” Judge whispered back. “They’re all gonna die.”
Cage gave the man a nod, turned and headed toward the lane. They’d all take that back down the mountain, using the two remaining boys as insurance for their safety. They wouldn’t have to worry about tripping any booby traps by taking the main dirt road.
Cage stayed in front, cuddling Dyna against his chest, occasionally peeking down at her to make sure she was whole and uninjured. But he had to concentrate on his footing. He didn’t want to trip with her in his arms since the mountain road was rough with water-filled potholes and deep ruts. Traveling in the limited light made it even more treacherous.
Everyone else stayed behind him, keeping watch, with guns drawn and heads on swivels as they moved as a group toward Copperhead Road.
It was a long fucking hike back down and Cage was getting anxious to get Dyna home. At first, he thought someone stumbled behind him. Until he heard his brothers shouting and scrambling.
“Take cover!” Rook yelled at him, yanking on his shoulder and almost knocking Dyna from his arms. “Fuckin’ motherfuckers!”
Cage caught her before she tumbled and he jumped off the road and into the brush, picking the biggest tree he could find as a shield.
More shots rang out, landing in the dirt and surrounding trees, causing tiny explosions.
“Fucking motherfuckers,” Rook muttered again under his breath, gun in hand, and a tight grip on the kid who had been his shield. “They’re stupid as fuck.”
“Guess they don’t give a shit about the other two boys. They’ll just make more,” Cage said.
“Goddamn worse than the Amish when it comes to poppin’ out snot monkeys.”
“Ain’t a conversation to be havin’ right now,” Cage reminded him.
Rook pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Should put a bullet in this kid’s fuckin’ head right now.”
“But you won’t,” Cage said firmly.
Rook’s nostrils flared and his lips flattened out. “Goddamn it.”
More shots rang out, some even whizzing way too closely.
“Everybody still upright and breathin’?” Trip asked, ducked behind a tree.
Everyone verbally checked in.
“See any of them?” Judge asked from a few trees away. Somehow the man found a tree big enough to hide his giant ass.
“No,” “Fuck no,” and “Nope” came from a few of them.
“Move tree to tree, then. Stay behind cover. Move carefully. Take extra care where you step,” Trip called out from ahead of them. “Stay low if possible. Don’t let those fuckin’ kids go. The second we do, we’re gonna be in a fuckin’ shootout. They got long guns with scopes. We don’t. We’ll lose.”
Christ. More good news.
In a group, they slowly moved through the trees and brush along the edge of the dirt lane, taking the two boys with them. But the hairs on the back of Cage’s neck were like the quills on a fucking trapped porcupine. Especially when he heard footsteps in the dead leaves and undergrowth that didn’t belong to any of his brothers.
The Shirleys were tracking them and getting closer.
“Maybe we can take more ou
t,” Cage said, “as our parting gift.”
“Yeah. Game for that. But hangin’ onto this kid will fuck up my aim.” Rook whistled softly to catch Rev’s attention. “Take this fuckin’ inbred snot monkey.”
Rev carefully worked his way over to them, grabbed the crying kid by the arm and kept moving until he found cover again.
“Trip’s a great shot,” Rook whispered, sweeping the area by looking down the barrel of his 9mm Beretta.
Trip had been a Marine. He’d better be a good fucking shot. “But will he pick some of them off?”
The prez wanted to keep the club as clean as possible. Cage wasn’t sure if Trip would just start killing people, even in self-defense. Trip stated quite a few times he wasn’t going back to prison no matter what.
“Most of us are felons already, brother. None of us should have weapons. But, you know what? You got your baby in your arms right now. That’s all that fuckin’ matters to any of us. I see any movement that ain’t one of us, I’m shootin’. We start shootin’, you take Dyna and get the fuck down this hell hole.”
“Dad can take Dyna. I can stay.”
“Fuck that. She needs her fuckin’ father. You take her. Hear me?”
“Yeah, brother, I hear you.” Sometimes he hated Rook, but at this very fucking moment he might actually love him.
Now wasn’t the time to get sappy. Now was the time to get his ass moving and get his daughter home safely.
“Be careful,” was the last thing Cage said to his brother as he moved from tree to tree down that fucking mountain. A mountain that needed to be reduced to a canyon from a whole bunch of dynamite.
He kept moving even though more shots rang out behind him and he wasn’t sure from which side.
Since he was walking so slowly and being extra careful, it wasn’t long before the rest of them caught up. Ozzy had both arms draped over Deacon and Sig’s shoulders and a huge splinter—more like a chunk of wood—sticking out of his thigh.
“Fuck!” Ozzy bellowed, his fingers wrapped around the wood fragment.
Cage grimaced. “Holy fuck. What happened?”
“Shrapnel,” Ozzy groaned. “Sounded like a fifty-caliber round struck the goddamn tree next to me. It exploded, and the next thing I know, I’m speared like a fuckin’ beef kabob.”
Blood & Bones: Cage (Blood Fury MC Book 5) Page 29