I knelt down and checked. No pulse, empty eyes.
“We gotta go,” Rolan said. “Jackals might be here nay second. Cops won’t be far behind.”
“Fuck.” I stared down at Samuel and cursed myself for not being prepared for this. I stood, leaving my man behind on the ground, even though he didn’t deserve that, didn’t deserve it at all.
We ran back to the cars. Leigh looked wild with fright as an explosion went off in the alley and the flames spouted up through the roof. Glass scattered all over the parking lot like snow.
“What happened in there? I heard gunshots.” She stared at me and reached out.
I let her touch my shoulder. “Lost Samuel. Everyone else is fine.”
“Samuel’s dead?”
I nodded and started the engine. The twins were silent, both of them staring at the burning building, and Rolan shifted in his seat. I could feel the adrenaline still running in my veins.
“But those fuckers got it worse. Two dead and their clubhouse on fire.”
“They got what they had coming to them.” Rolan grinned viciously. “The bastards.”
Leigh took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “It’s not enough.”
Everyone stared at her. I smiled a little and looked straight ahead through the windshield.
She was right. This wasn’t enough. We might’ve killed more of their men and burned down their clubhouse, but it wasn’t enough, not even close to it. The Jackals were still out there somewhere biding their time and licking their wounds and I wanted to make sure that they couldn’t come back ever again. I wanted to destroy them and bury them in shallow graves.
I drove away as the sound of sirens screamed out in the distance.22LeighThe image of Samuel lying on the ground in front of the bowling alley while the building burned was scarred into my brain.
I didn’t even know him. I met him that one time and he barely left an impression, but for some reason when we got back to Owain’s house I was seething with rage—and could barely get to sleep.
Maybe it was a weird reaction. I couldn’t completely tell how Owain felt about what happened. He was happy the alley went up in flames but upset about losing Samuel, and the whole operation seemed like it was a mixed result at best. I was angry for him, angry for Samuel, and pissed off at the Jackals. They thought they could do what they wanted, when they wanted, and even when we hit them back it didn’t seem big enough.
I got up early the next morning and made coffee. Owain came down ten minutes after me wearing a tight black t-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs. He looked surprised to see me and accepted a mug of coffee.
“What are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“I hear that.” He sat at the table and stared at me. I stared right back. “Something’s on your mind.”
“I’ve been thinking about what happened last night.”
“The raid?”
“Yeah, and Samuel, and just—was that enough?”
He raised an eyebrow and sipped his coffee. He didn’t answer right away and I felt antsy, like I had too much energy to burn. Maybe it was nervous energy, or maybe it was anger, I couldn’t tell, but ever since I accepted a partnership into this crew I couldn’t help but feel like everything got a little bit more personal. Now I wasn’t here against my will. Now, these guys were on my team.
“Can’t say for sure.” He put his mug down and cracked his neck in one violent pop. “Can’t say Samuel dying sits well with me.”
“He was one man and you killed two.”
“True, but he was my man.” Owain stared into my eyes. “What are you thinking, why are you asking me this?”
“Because I have an idea.”
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “So you’re strategizing for me now.”
“Hear me out.”
“I’m not sure I want to.”
“I’m a partner now, remember?”
He stood abruptly and stalked into the living room. I followed him but kept my distance. Although we’d gotten closer than I ever thought possible over the last few weeks, he still seemed like a caged tiger that could attack at any second.
“You’re a partner in selling drugs, not in fighting wars. I can’t have you out on the front lines. I only brought you last night so that you could see what we were willing to do—how far we were willing to go.”
“I’m in this now, you pulled me into this and promised that I could have a seat at the table. Are you going back on your word?”
“I don’t go back on my word.” His voice was a low growl as he turned to face me again. His arms were muscular and bulged out his sleeves and I couldn’t help but let my eyes roam up and down his body.
He showed me his teeth.