With a brush of my lips to hers and an affectionate glance, I sat by my son and finished watching the superhero movie with them.
Tonight could possibly start a war, but until then, I was going to enjoy my family.
We’d decided to converge on the Bloody Scorpions clubhouse in the SUVs we reserved for operations such as this. They had stolen dealer plates on them and were nondescript, so they fit the bill for riding under the radar better than pulling up on our bikes with our cuts as a flashing banner. We wanted to get in and out as silently as possible.
Well, minus the in-between.
“Everyone remembers the backup plan?” Raptor asked as he grabbed a black balaclava.
“Roger that,” each of us murmured. Dressed in blackout tactical gear, many of us fell back to our military training as we prepared for the night. Voodoo and I were the ones who had completed the job a few day ago, so our shit was still wired tight from then. Not that it took the others long to get theirs together, but we were still waiting on them as they piled into the SUVs.
No one spoke much as the miles slipped under the tires, as we were all in our own headspace.
Once we were a few blocks away, we split up and parked in the predetermined locations. Shrouded in shadows, we exited the vehicles with the dome lights out. Dressed as we were, we blended into the shadows as we approached the Bloody Scorpions clubhouse.
We could hear the bass of the music blended with laughter and shouts from a block away. Thankfully, their clubhouse was located in a predominantly industrial area with the neighboring businesses closed down for the night or vacant.
Voodoo and I climbed up the neighboring building’s fire escape to set up on the roof. Blade and Chains were on a parking garage at the other side. Facet came up the fire escape shortly after us with his gear.
We let Venom know we were in position.
Checking the time, we waited until the undercover “prostitute” we’d sent in slipped out the back, followed by the rest of the girls they’d brought in for the night. The other girls didn’t know why she was having them sneak out, but in their line of work, they didn’t question too much and most were probably happy to get away from the sick twisted fuckers they’d been hired to entertain that night.
Sissy was Blade’s cousin and a bad bitch. We trusted her for things like this. She’d do the job we hired her for, then disappear until we needed her for another one. None of us knew exactly where she lived or what she did for a living outside of what she did for us. Nor was Sissy her real name.
Sissy gave us the signal that they were all out. We might be bastards, but we didn’t kill innocent women. They told the Scorpions that they were preparing a special performance for them, then hoped the dumb fucks were too drunk and high to question it.
Regardless of what they believed, we knew our window was minuscule once the women all disappeared.
“Let’s do this,” Venom said through the comms as they advanced on their clubhouse.
Ghost vanished as we watched him creep closer. A few minutes ticked by impossibly slow before his voice carried through the comms. “All birds have flown. Only the roaches remain.”
After that, fiery blasts blew out the windows. A few Bloody Scorpions rushed out the doors.
From our elevated positions surrounding their clubhouse, we carefully picked off the ones that escaped. No one lived.
Once there was no further movement noted, Raptor, Phoenix, and Squirrel started to make a perimeter search to check for survivors that we might’ve missed. My heart was pounding from the adrenaline, but I breathed evenly as I watched through the scope for signs of life that would put my brothers in danger.
Raptor stilled as they flattened themselves against a partially tumbled wall. I waited with a calm born from years of training. Right as Phoenix sent flames roaring in the front door, gunfire erupted, and Squirrel fell.
“Goddamn it! Who the fuck is shooting?” I said into the comms as I rapidly searched the area. Everyone called off that they didn’t see anyone. The clock was ticking, and we needed to move out.
“Motherfucker,” Voodoo muttered as we quickly but methodically packed up our gear.
Cautiously, the three of us descended the fire escape. The tink of a bullet hitting the metal escape was followed by another sending shrapnel into us from the brick building. We raced down the stairs and jumped from the final ladder.
“What the fuck?” Facet shouted, bug-eyed and white as a sheet. He had served as a tech guy but handled covert operations as part of a special ops team, so I was confused by his out-of-character response. He may’ve been the one running the surveillance to make sure his team had an extra set of eyes but getting shot at and working under fire wasn’t unusual for him.
Then I realized he was holding his arm. “Fuck,” I muttered.
Voodoo lunged and caught the drop of blood before it hit the ground. I ripped off my bandana from my neck and quickly tied it around his forearm where he’d been hit. There was no time to take care of him, because it would slow me down.
“You good to make it back to the vehicles?” Voodoo asked. Facet nodded.
Another shot rang out as we burst across the road to the cover of the bushes along the sidewalk. It was followed by one more shot, but none of us could see where it was coming from.
“Fall out!” came through the comms and we booked it back to the SUVs. Voodoo got behind the wheel; I got in behind him as Ghost climbed in the front passenger seat.