Hawk took out his phone and called Viper and updated him on what was going down. As expected, Viper told Hawk that he would get some of the other brothers together, and they’d come to give us a hand. I was barely keeping it together as I sat there staring out the window when Lynch reached over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “She’s going to be okay, brother. We’ll make sure of it.”
I nodded but couldn’t say anything in return. I was too beside myself to speak. I stared out at the road ahead, anxiously counting down the miles as we continued toward the Manor. I was so worked up I felt like I could crawl out of my own skin. I just wanted to get there and make sure Kiersten was okay. When we reached the edge of the property, I noticed two cars—a black BMW and a red Mercedes—parked along the fence row. I’d never seen them before, so I pointed them out to the others. “That’s gotta be them. They must’ve parked here and headed in through the back field.”
“Then, we’ll do the same.”
Menace pulled up behind the red Mercedes, and as soon as the truck stopped, we all got out and began putting on our bulletproof vests. Once I had mine on, I started sprinting towards the tall grass. The night air was cool and damp, and the ground was soft and muddy, making it difficult to run in my boots. I was already getting winded when Lynch, Menace, and Hawk came running up next to me. With all the cloud cover from the previous storms, it was darker than ever, and it felt like we’d been running for a lifetime before we finally came upon the back entrance of the Manor.
Knowing we weren’t there alone, we each slowed our pace and pulled out our weapons, being watchful of our surroundings as we continued forward. As we got closer, Menace turned to us and said, “Riggs said for us to go to the back of the school, and he’d get us in.”
We nodded, then followed him behind the mid-sized house that Kiersten had renovated into the guest quarters. Hawk led us around back where we could get a better view of the back of the school. I saw movement near the garden and asked, “You seeing that?”
“Yeah,” Hawk answered. “I see it. You think that’s them, or is that one of Kiersten’s crew?”
Before I had a chance to respond, a round of gunfire had us all dropping down for cover. I was eager to find Kiersten and didn’t have the patience to deal with some trigger-happy asshole, so I aimed my Glock and fired. Seconds later, the dark figure dropped to the ground and lay there motionless. Lynch chuckled as he whispered, “I guess that settles that.”
“Damn right it does.”
Hawk remained crouched down as he motioned us forward and led us to the next house and then the next. We were less than fifty feet away from the school when a shot was fired, and Lynch flew back and hit the ground. Menace, Hawk, and I all returned fire, and in a matter of seconds, the shooting stopped, and we all watched with satisfaction as a body collapsed to the muddy, wet ground. Wanting to make sure Lynch was okay, we all turned to our brother and found him clutching his bicep as he cursed, “Mother fucker! Right in the goddamn arm. Fucking pussy shot.”
“You alright?” Hawk asked while he reached down and took his hand as I helped Lynch to his feet. “You need to head back to the truck?”
“Fuck, no. I’m fine.” Lynch charged over to the body on the ground and fired off another round into the guy’s head. “Stupid piece of shit.”
“Gotta go, brother,” I huffed out as I charged past him. “We don’t have time for this bullshit.”
With the others following close behind, I rushed up to the school’s back door, then waited as Menace reached out to Riggs. As soon as he let him know we were there, he released the security lock on that specific door, then relocked it as soon as we’d made it inside. I’d been in the school many times during my two-week stint at the Manor, so I knew the office was just through the double doors. But I didn’t move. None of us did. We each stood there, listening for footsteps, talking, or shooting—any sign that would help us identify the location of our adversaries. At first, there was nothing—just complete and utter silence. Then, I heard it—the faint sound of Kiersten’s voice followed by gunshots coming from what sounded like the other side of the school.
“Did you hear that?” I motioned my hands towards the door. “She’s here. I heard her.”
Menace looked over his shoulder, making sure no one was coming up from behind as Hawk led us to the end of the hall. Before opening the door, Hawk pressed his ear to it, silently listening for a possible opportunity to move forward without making our presence known—at least not yet. After listening for a moment, Hawk turned back to me and asked, “She just called someone by the name Drake. Any idea who that might be?”