“He’s leading us into a trap,” Jay says calmly. “We know this. He wouldn’t tell us where to go unless he had something waiting.”
“And we’re doing exactly as he asked,” Kane agrees. “Three Bishops in one car. He didn’t ask for Spence or Soph or the chief. He asked for us.”
“I’m not leaving Soph behind,” Jay says. “We’re not separating. And Kane stays on my wing always. We end it today, and none of us can function if we don’t know the others are safe.”
“I’m staying with Griffin,” Soph says. She meets Jay’s fiery eyes when they snap up. “We need to stay strong, and Griffin and I are strongest as a team. You stay with me too, but where he goes, I go.”
“Sophia…”
“Work to our strengths, babe. You and Kane follow our six and keep us out of Dunne’s scope, but then you let us work.”
“It works.” Kane tears the car around a corner behind Alex and snatches up his cell as he goes. Dialing, he waits only one ring before Alex picks up.
“Yeah?”
“You need to pair up with the muscle. Spence and Romeo will get you where you need to go. Trust them to fuck shit up and make it right.”
“Okay. And you?”
“We’re what he wants. We’re the kids of the fallen. Me, Jay, and Griffin. And Soph’s staying with us. Griffin is going straight for the chick cop, which means we’re heading straight for the girl too. Cars are loaded up; let Spence set up how he wants to set up. You won’t find a more trustworthy brother.”
“I don’t know him, Bishop. I don’t know half of the people with us.”
“I know him,” he murmurs. “It’s time to trust. I only associate with the best. That’s why I’ve kept you around.”
“Bishop…”
“Trust.You go with them and coordinate the layout. You know the club better than they do. Help them. Do it quietly, and get that door open in case the girl decides to crawl.”
“And you?”
Kane’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. “We’re going straight through the front doors. It’s what he wants. It’s what he’s expecting, and he has no clue we have so many men. Turn your sirens off. He doesn’t need to know we have more.”
“Too late.” Alex’s voice catches as he tears his car around a turn and skids onto the sidewalk out front of the club. “He would have heard us the second we left the station.”
“Okay. Stay sharp. Dude knows computers. He knows security and whatever Griffin taught him.”
“He knows explosives.” It’s a quiet admission, a confession of guilt as three sets of eyes come back to me. “Roar Munitionsis a Griffin subsidiary. We’re contracted to supply the military.”
“You make bombs?” Sophia screeches. “You’re… but… Roar has no ties to Griffin!”
“Well… they’re hidden,” I admit. “I worked harder on that connect than I did on others. We’ve been working on this arm of manufacturing for about seven years. Olly eagerly followed me around while I worked.”
“Fuck. Okay.” Alex audibly rubs a hand over his face. “I don’t know how to handle this. How big a blast radius are we talking?”
Every pair of eyes come back to me.
“Uh… there’s no safe zone if he’s gone big. Not for this town, or the next two. If he’s going small, then it could be contained to literally a square foot and still kill the person in that foot of space. I won’t know until I see.”
“I’m definitely with Griffin,” Soph murmurs. She snaps her laptop closed and shoves it to the floor. “This isn’t one of those things where we snatch it and dump it in the lake to muffle the blast, is it?” she asks hopefully.
“No. This isn’t gonna be like that.”
“I’ll be with you. Jay can watch our six.”
“And I’ll watch over all of you,” Kane says. “I’ll make sure you have space to take care of your shit. We don’t fuck this up. We only get one life, one chance. There’s no reset.”
He cuts the engine beside Alex’s cruiser and feels the same thing I do. I know tingles race down his spine, because we’re all already dead if Olly has explosives and decides to use them. There’s no running from this. There’s no hiding. Olly holds the entire town in his hands, and it can all be wiped out if he decides he’s done.
“I think it might be a suicide mission.” I grab Soph’s arm as she turns to slide out of the car. “He can’t expect to survive this. Either he’s here, and he’s not expecting to survive, or he’s away, and he’s gonna remote activate, in which case, we’re already dead.”
“Ever been dead before, Griffin?” Jay turns and meets my eyes. “Because I have. When you workwhiledead, it’s like all the free lives in your favorite Super Mario game. It’s like you ran into that titanium mushroom where you turn silver and you can run through all the bad shit, and none of it can hurt you. That’s what this is like. If we’re already dead, then we have nothing to lose. If we’re already dead, then we can take risks we wouldn’t normally, becausefuck, there’s no fear of death if you’re already dead. Take risks, do this up right, and make sure my girl lives. I’m gonna marry her soon, so if you deliver her in one piece, you can attend. Like… sit in the back. You don’t get to speak or anything.”
Soph laughs and, leaning forward, grabs his face with a rough hand and gives him one fast kiss. “There it is, I guess. The proposal of the century. Don’t die, and we’ll tie the knot.”
“You got it, Sugar Plum. Let’s move.”