Chapter 24: Demon
We were about to exit the 840 and head east. The traffic was much thinner, which would make things trickier for us to avoid them, and easier for them to open fire on us. I quickly thought of what I knew was around here.
Then it occurred to me. As you passed Murfreesboro, there was a lot of open country. Not far past it was a secondary road. It led past farmland. If we could get there fast enough, I could set up an ambush. It looked like that might be our only chance. There still could be witnesses, but that couldn’t be helped. I hurried to call Jake. He picked up on the first ring. I hurried to explain where I wanted him to go and what to do. He assured me he knew the area I was talking about. I then made a quick call back to Bull so he could tell the others where to meet us.
As we got on the other highway and zoomed past Murfreesboro, I pulled ahead of my brothers on their bikes. I gestured for them to follow my lead. The sedan was back to gaining on us in the thinner traffic. Ahead, I saw Jake abruptly exit the highway. Good, he was headed right where I wanted. We sped off the offramp behind him.
I hated to be in a high-speed chase. There was an increased chance of having an accident. I wasn’t so afraid of them shooting anyone in the SUV, because it was bulletproof. But the others and I were not. I hadn’t worn a vest today. Maybe in hindsight we should have. I think I was cocky in thinking they wouldn’t try anything with this many of us and in broad daylight. They had to be desperate to get their hands on her.
I could tell they weren’t from around here. They seemed to be hesitant, like they had no idea where we were headed. Good, another tiny advantage.
We were now out of any town, cruising along the windy secondary road. The sedan had dropped back some. I think they had to be wondering what we were up to. Up ahead, Jake rounded a turn. Not far past it was an old country road. He was going to turn down it and try to hide the SUV. The rest of us were going to stop along this road and wait for them. I revved the throttle and shifted gears to speed up even more.
We pulled out of sight. I couldn’t see the SUV ahead of us. The four of us quickly whipped our bikes off the side of the road and took up position with our guns. We didn’t have long to wait.
The sedan came racing around the turn. I took careful aim and shot. The front driver’s tire went. I heard more pops as my brothers shot out the other tires. The car careened to the right and off the road. This would be the most dangerous part, getting them out of the car without getting our asses shot.
The windows came rolling down as I dove for cover. Shots rang out. Luckily, none got too close to us. I worked my way closer to the car, using the dense trees as cover.
As I got closer, I could hear them swearing and debating what they should do. I slid down onto my stomach and slithered closer. The driver’s door swung open and out stepped a guy. He was average height and looked like he was Hispanic. Two other doors swung open and out stepped almost clones of him. They had their guns at the ready and were looking around nervously trying to spot where we were. No one looked down. I was on the driver before he had any idea I was anywhere near him. I jumped to my feet and placed my gun to his head, making sure to use him as a human shield. He jerked in surprise.
“We can play this one of two ways, boys. You can try to take me and my brothers out and we have a shootout, or you can lay down your weapons, and we don’t. But I think you should know, you’re facing three prior military guys. I was a fucking Marine sniper. It just might be best if you don’t go with option one.”
They looked at each other. The one I was holding told them to lay down their guns. He dropped his to the ground, and I kicked it away. That move told me he was the leader of this little trio.
By this time, Slash, Maverick, and Joker had gotten a hold of the other two. Joker quickly searched the car to make sure no one was hiding inside. We marched them back off the road.
Jake came trotting out of the woods. He helped to cover them as we zip tied their hands and feet. “Are the ladies okay?” I asked him. He nodded.
“Yeah, a little shook up, but otherwise they’re fine. What do you want us to do with these three, Demon?”
“Well, we’re going to wait for Reb, Ajax, and Player to get here. Then you’re going to drive these three back to the compound where we can have a leisurely talk. One of the ladies can drive the SUV back. We’re going to find out what the hell their problem is with Zara.”
I looked at the three guys sitting on the ground looking at us with mutinous looks on their faces. They weren’t going to break immediately or easily. Good. I was feeling a little mean, and I knew my brothers were feeling the same way. I walked around them. They watched me circle them.
“While we wait, anyone want to tell me what your problem is? Why are you so damn hot to get your hands on my woman?” No one answered. I shrugged.
“Okay. I guess it’s humiliating to have a woman get away. All those precious hostages and money just walked right out the door. Doesn’t say much for your band of misfits that we took your asses down so easily. You might want to consider another line of work.
“Fuck you, gringo. We’ll get that puta back. She’s our ticket,” one of the guys who wasn’t the leader snapped. The leader threw him a look that said shut up. I gestured to Jake.
“Go ahead and bring the SUV here. I don’t want the ladies out of our sight.” He ran off. As we waited for him to come back, I heard the distant roar of motorcycles. Good, it sounded like our reinforcements were here.
As Jake pulled the SUV into sight, Player, Rebel, and Ajax rounded the turn, coming from our direction. They zoomed over to us and got off their bikes. I gave them a chin lift. “Keep an eye on these three, will you? Rebel, Ajax and I need to check on the ladies,” I told the others. They nodded.
I hurried over to the vehicle. The three of us didn’t even make it to the doors before they were open and out jumped our ladies. They came straight into our arms. I kissed Zara.
“Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine, Demon. I was worried about you and the guys out there without any protection. The ladies told me the SUV is bulletproof. Demon, this could have gone so wrong.”
I shushed her. “But it didn’t. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to load these jokers into another car and have Jake drive them back. I need one of you to drive the Expedition. We need to get them out of sight as quickly as possible. Can you do that?”
“Of course, whatever you need. Have they told you anything yet?”
“Nope. So, we need to have a long talk. Let’s get out of here.” I gave her one more kiss and then a squeeze. As the ladies got back in the vehicle, we wrestled our three hostages to their car. It was a large sedan, but even with that, it was a tight fit to stuff all three of them into the trunk. They were crammed in there like sardines. We duct-taped their mouths shut.
With them settled, we got on the road. We stuck to the secondary roads. It took us a little over an hour to make it home. Bull and the others were standing at the gate when we pulled into the compound. Jake drove the sedan past the clubhouse and toward the back where we had the Cellar. Zara pulled the Expedition into a parking space outside of the clubhouse. Slash, Joker, and Player followed Jake. The rest of us parked and went inside. We needed to get Bull and the others caught up, then we’d start our discussion with the three amigos.