“Don’t leave a brother behind.” Prez paused for a long second. “Be safe.”
Goddammit, I didn’t need to hear the emotion in his voice before this fight.
I raised my hand, pointing so Art would cut ahead. He needed to find parking a couple of blocks from the Vipers’ clubhouse.
Raul thumbed to the right. Lynx, Copper, and I followed the VP. There was a lot of activity in the city, being a Friday night, which we were using to our advantage. We weren’t wearing our colors, to blend in with pedestrians. But the Vipers weren’t stupid. They had our faces pinned on a wall like mugshots just as we had theirs. After all, they were our enemies. If they caught a glimpse of our faces, they’d retaliate on our turf in a flash, and it would be deadly, which was why we’d put on masks. Although, I doubted it mattered. Getting hit the day after they hit us, they’d know exactly who attacked them. Whatever, it wasn’t my call.
We parked our hogs and made quick work of getting our gear and guns out of the back of the cage. On the move, I kept my eyes on the perimeter as I led the way, gun in hand but close to my body.
Storm’s crew was going in through the back. Mine was an open target going in from the front. It’d be like ringing a doorbell and hoping for the best. It could be a suicide mission if Grizzly didn’t hold up his part of the plan in killing the lights and alarms at the right moment.
“In position,” Storm said.
“Same,” Raul replied.
“Grizz?” Storm whispered.
“Begin countdown,” Grizzly said. “Five, four, three…”
This was it. I was ready to kick open the door and shoot up the place.
“Two,” Grizzly said, continuing the count. “One.”
The building went dark.
“Now!” Storm shouted.
I smashed through the wooden door. Toward every light I saw from a cell phone, I took my shot.Pop, pop, pop.
Women screamed from a back room. Storm’s crew, no less.
Raul and Lynx didn’t waste time taking out their targets.
A roar came at me from my blind spot. I whirled and ducked, putting a bullet between his eyes before the asshole hit me with a chair.
“Son of a bitch!” I hissed as I continued forward.
More screaming and yelling came from my right side. The chick who’d been in the gym yesterday was clawing at Copper’s face. He had a fistful of her hair, struggling to keep her nails off him. Grizz had found out she was the daughter of the president. We weren’t sure if she’d be there. We were damn lucky she was, aside from Copper, who was dealing with the wild bitch.
“Got the daughter,” Raul told Storm. He yanked one of the woman’s hands behind her back, secured it with a zip tie, and did the same to the other.
“You are dead, ginger!” she screamed into Copper’s bleeding face.
“Yeah? You might be too!” He tore her T-shirt in two and gagged her with a section of it. “I’ll take Tasmanian Devil here.” He shoved her toward the front door.
“Get her to the cage, now!” Prez shouted. “Better be out in sixty seconds.”
I searched for Art. He was the only one I’d lost track of. Maddox was in the cage with the motor running so we could get the fuck out of the city fast.
“H-help.” A distressed plea came from behind me.
“Motherfucker!” I charged toward a fat asshole who could be on one of Silvia’s shows about morbidly obese people. His knee was on Art’s chest, and he was using Art’s face as a punching bag. I replaced my empty magazine, aimed, and took my shot, hitting the back of his head.
Fatty went down on Art’s face.
My brother squirmed and wheezed, unable to get out from under the dude. Something hit me from the side before I could help him from being smothered, knocking me into a wall. I saw stars as I had the night at The Bullet, when Ava had been attacked. I slid down to my knees, trying to fight through the ringing in my head and severe pain.
I’d failed again.