“Fuck!”
We flew out of the back exit only to buy more time away from the shooting range. For a better chance to get Carter out of here.
The odds didn’t look good, though. By the number of bullets flaring right and left, I’d say the chances for anyone to get out of here were slim to none. In this instant, however, I didn’t care about my life. Only Carter’s. And Dusty’s.
As I limped to the backside of the house, Dusty, his gun out, covered my back. Once we got inside, I saw Owl dragging his bleeding leg behind the bar, a rifle in his hand. Big Gun was stabbing someone to death, Skid, a big gash on his forehead, slitting another guy’s throat with his dagger.
“Just get Carter,” Dusty mouthed as he pushed me up the stairs. Before I could object, he entered the kitchen and started shooting.
I ran up to the upper floor where the brothers’ rooms were, not minding the searing pain in my leg. Thank God Wrench’s Skulls hadn’t reached that part of the house. Yet.
Dashing to Skid’s room, I felt warm liquid on my calf. Great. I fucked up my stitches. I pushed the door open as quietly as possible. Carter was huddled in a corner in bunny pajamas, headphones covering his ears.
I placed my index finger on my mouth to tell him to stay quiet. He obliged and let me carry him out of the room. He shook in my arms as I raced against time to get him out of Rosewood.
Guns banged in the background as I reached the area behind the Boiler. I put Carter down, squatted to his level and lifted off his headphones. “Listen to me, champ. You see those woods?” I pointed to the left.
He nodded.
“I need you to run there as fast as you can and never stop for anything until you see a shiny Harley under a big tree. Can you do that for me, champ?”
He nodded again. “Are you gonna be there?”
“Yes. Yes, champ. Just like the last time. You can always count on me to be there.”
“Okay, Cameron.” He gave me a tiny hug that sent tears welling up in my eyes. “I love you.”
I couldn’t hold my tears back. “I love you too, buddy. Now run.”
He sprinted to the woods. I waited until he vanished in the dark, and then I darted back to the house.
It didn’t matter that the bombs I set inside every building in Rosewood would blow in a couple of minutes. It didn’t matter I was going to die. The only thing that mattered was Dusty. I had to get him out of here even if I had to drag him out myself.
I wouldn’t let the only man I’d ever loved die for my mistakes, even if my life was the price.
CHAPTER 47
Cameron
The kitchen was a battlefield. Our Skulls were shooting and gutting anyone who came close to the inside of the house. To them, this was the last fortress. If it fell, Wrench’s Skulls would win.
Nobody but Dusty and I knew there were no winners tonight.
Blood and smoke filled the air making it too hard to see clearly. I couldn’t find Dusty, so I ducked, grabbing the first gun I saw on the floor. It was still in the bloody grip of one of the dead bodies there.
Checking the bullets, I rolled behind a counter and found Skid. His body was jerking on the floor, a big hole in his chest. He opened his mouth, blood trickling down of it. “Carter,” he rattled.
“Safe. Dusty?” I whispered, closing his wound with my palm, a man’s head looming on the other side of the counter.
“Couch.”
Bang.Bang!
The head hit the counter and then disappeared.
“Go,” Skid rattled again.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed. Then I rolled, zigzagged among the bodies and ducked behind the couch.