Chapter 27: Zara
It was after midnight. All of us except the babies were wide awake. The clubhouse was full of men milling about. Terror had come with several of his guys, along with Jinx and some of his. My uncle had even sent a couple of men from the Dark Patriots. Two of the three were ones the guys said they hadn’t met. Their names were Ross and Jai. The third one had been the pilot from my rescue, Lance.
Tommy had arrived around eleven with a helicopter filled with boxes. I didn’t know what was in them, but the guys had offloaded them and seemed excited when they came inside.
The ladies and I had worked on whipping up some food after we got the kids situated at the clubhouse. It wasn’t anything fancy, but we knew they’d be hungry and would be up all night. Mainly it was a variety of sandwiches and soup they could eat any time.
I was in the room Bull had directed me to. He said I could set it up for now with what I had in medical supplies. Then, when this was over, we’d work on getting it outfitted right. I guess Jocelyn must have mentioned my idea. Arms came around my waist and I was tugged back into a hard chest. I relaxed as I took in Demon’s scent. He kissed my neck.
“Are you doing okay, Hellion? You seem awfully quiet.”
I turned around and wrapped my arms around him. I nuzzled my face into his chest. “I’m just worried, Luca. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt or killed because of me.”
“They won’t. And it isn’t your fault. It’s the Nunez cartel and Nathan’s fault. And let’s not forget Dr. Cash. When I get my hands on that little fucker, he’s not going to be happy.”
“Not if I get my hands on him first. That asshole was terrible to work with. Just promise, you guys will be as careful as possible. I can’t lose you. We’re so close to starting our life.”
“Nothing is going to stop me from marrying you and having that family we can watch from the porch when we’re old and gray,” he promised me. I prayed he could keep that promise. Nothing was ever guaranteed in life.
We held each other for a minute or two, then we headed back out to the others. There wasn’t anything else I could do to be prepared in the treatment room. I saw the ladies were snuggled up with their husbands. All of us were thinking the same thing. What if this was it?
Jinx pulled me out of those depressing thoughts. He came over, pushed Demon away, and hugged me. I heard Demon growl. Jinx just smirked. As I was getting ready to chastise him for instigating Demon, Tommy came up to us. He had his eyes narrowed, looking at Jinx.
“Why does this man have his hands all over my niece, Demon? Is there something I should know? She’s not a piece of meat you pass around and share.” I gasped in shock. Demon glared at him.
“Hell no, she’s not. This is Jinx. He’s the president of the Ruthless Marauders, our friends. You’d better get used to him, Anderson. He’s apparently adopted Zara as his sister. He’s now a part of your family, just like me,” he said with immense satisfaction in his voice.
Tommy frowned. “Adopted her? What in the hell happened when I wasn’t around? Zara, first you befriend an MC, then hook up with one of them. Now I find you have a pseudo-brother who runs another one. Where did I go wrong?” he lamented.
“I guess I’m too much of a rebel like you, Uncle Tommy. I like to find trouble where I can,” I teased him. He gave a chuckle and held out his hand to Jinx.
“I’m Anderson, this one’s uncle. Don’t fuck up and I won’t kill you. Welcome to the family.” Jinx grinned as he shook his hand. This led to him introducing Tommy to the rest of his guys—Sarge, Animal, Styx, and Rage. They all chatted. I left Demon with them to go check out the kitchen.
In there, I took a minute to breathe. A hand on my shoulder had me swinging around. There stood Terror. He gave me a sympathetic look. “It’s going to be alright, Doc. We’ve got this. Not our first rodeo. Just make sure you do as you’re told. We can’t do our job if we’re worrying about the women and kids. Okay?” I nodded, and he hugged me.
“Thanks, Terror. I’ll do my best. Do you think they’ll be here soon?” I looked at the clock. It was two in the morning.
“Maybe in a couple of hours. It all depends on how fast they can get their guys together. Are they close or a distance away? Things like that. If they don’t hit us by dawn, we’ll start sleeping in shifts. You and the others need to try and get some rest too.”
“I’ll try. I don’t know how successful I’ll be, though.” He gave me a squeeze, then led me back out to the common room. The next few hours crawled by. I kept busy where I could. When the babies woke up, I’d help with them. In between making more food and that, I sat and talked with the ladies.
I was sitting on one of the couches when a voice came over the radio they had on the bar. “We have incoming. ETA, five minutes.” It was Outlaw. They had him working surveillance with his cameras and the other Warriors roving the inner perimeter of the compound walls as well as at the gate.
Everyone got busy. The men ordered us to the panic room. I helped the others get the babies inside. We locked it down and waited. Luckily, someone had thought of what it would be like in there. On one wall there were a couple of monitors. We could see into the common room, the front yard, and at the gate. They sent Mitch, Madisen’s eighteen-year-old brother, inside with us. I knew he wasn’t happy about it. We watched in tense silence. I was praying under my breath.
The place was a hive of activity. The guys were loaded down with weapons. I watched as they rolled something covered in a tarp into the front yard. One of the guys jerked off the cover. There was what looked like a huge-ass machine gun. I heard Mitch gasp. I glanced over at him. He had a look of satisfaction on his face.
“What is it, Mitch?”
“That is a M-2 machine gun. It’s called a Ma Deuce. That thing is a beast. It can spit out seven hundred and fifty bullets a minute. Where did they get that?”
“I think my uncle brought it with him.”
He moaned in pleasure. “Man, do you think he’d let me shoot it later? I’d give anything to shoot one!”
Madisen smacked him on the head. “Jeez, you and your war games. This shit is real. If we survive, I might let you touch it. As for shooting it, we’ll see.” He gave her a pleading look. I knew she’d let him if the guys said it was okay. His antics made me relax a smidge.
A loud boom rocked the clubhouse. I saw what looked like red streaks coming over the front wall. There was the return of what I thought was gunfire from our guys. It was kind of confusing to watch. I sat there, tense and never took my eyes off the screens.