I never thought Ledger would be the one defending me, especially since he seemed perfectly happy to assault me himself not so long ago. But that’s the problem with these men. They’re fine with assaulting women, just so long as they’re the ones who get to do it. We’re no more than property to them. If he owned a dog, he’d probably beat it, but if someone else dared so much as shout at the animal, he’d put a gun to their head.
Where are Jack and the others? If they’re storming the compound, why aren’t they here already? We played for time but, sooner or later, our time is going to run out.
We need them more than ever.
14
JACK
Six trucks approach,all with big, rig-mounted spotlights operated by men standing on the beds of the trucks. I wish I was holding my gun instead of my cell phone, but even if I was, I wouldn’t dare shoot. Camile could be on the back of one of those trucks. Besides, we’re out here in the open, while they’re semi-protected by the vehicles, so if anyone is going to end up shot, it’ll probably be us.
How did they know we were here?
My mind immediately goes to the three men who betrayed us in the first place. The ones still sitting in the cooler, probably slowly getting colder and sleepier with every passing hour. They won’t survive in there forever.
Ghost used psychological tactics on them, and Big Mike used more direct violence, and they cried and swore they didn’t know anything more than what they’d already told us. Yes, they admitted they’d been giving information to the Revenants and that some of them were interested in Camile, and where she was staying.They even admitted that they’d let them onto my fucking territory, but they claimed not to know what they were planning.
They are total idiots, and hardly the bravest of men, so I’m inclined to believe them, but what if it’s a lie?
The sounds of gun safeties clicking off echo around us, and someone speaks into a loudspeaker on top of one of the trucks.
“What the fuck are you doing on my compound in my empty tool shed on an evening like this, Jack?”
I know the voice immediately. That slight southern lilt that Beau has is instantly recognizable. The Revenants might be a rival gang, but we had conversations with them when we first moved into the area. Or at least, I did, with their President and two of his henchmen. Beau was born in Savannah and moved this way many years ago, for the love of a woman. That all went wrong, but he ended up in an MC chapter, and eventually, he branched out on his own and set up this one. He’s just a little younger than me, and while he doesn’t have my bulk, he’s broad-shouldered and strong from years of riding and fighting.
“I need to ask you some questions,” I shout back.
Fuck this. I must find where Camile is. That girl is all that matters right now. My phone buzzes in my palm, and I glance at the screen.
Beau chuckles into the loudspeaker and it echoes around us, eerily bouncing off the trees in the woods to our rear. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be calling the shots here, Jack. We’re the ones with our guns trained on you.” His southern lilt is as smooth as molasses.
“Yeah, that might be true.” I look back down at myphone screen and smirk. “But right about now, you’re encircled bymymen, and they have their guns on you.”
Clicks ring out in the night air, and I can’t see my men beyond the trucks, due to the damn lights in my eyes, but I know they’re there, thanks to Ghost’s message.
“We seem to have ourselves a real Mexican standoff,” Big Mike says.
“You do realize that I have more men than these here in the trucks.” Beau laughs, seemingly unfazed by the situation. “I could get the entire club here in minutes.”
“Yeah, and I have even more men still in the woods around your compound that haven’t made themselves known.” I shrug lazily. “My chapter is bigger than yours as it is, but my old chapter came to help out, too, and you are, trust me, completely outgunned. I don’t want any trouble,” I add, and lift my hands, shoving my phone in my pocket first, and showing my palms. I’m trying to prove to Beau that I’m not holding my gun.
I keep talking. “I just want one thing… one thing and then I walk away, and I forget about the fact that you took our shipment. We can wipe the slate clean, and trust me, Beau, that is in your best interests. You do not want a war with my club.” I put as much of the power and gravitas into my voice as I can muster.
“I can’t think for one minute what you could want from me that has you creeping in here and breaking into my outbuilding.” Beau is still talking into the loudspeaker, and I wish he’d just get down off the damn truck and talk man to man.
“You’ve got a woman of ours,” Ace says. “We want her back.”
“What the fuck?”
Beau shouts the wordfuckso sharply into the speakerthat it hurts my ears. The loudspeaker squeals with reverberation.
The next moment, he finally steps down off the truck. I hear one of his men saying something likenot a good idea, Prez, but Beau shrugs off the words and tells the man to keep a gun trained on us as he walks toward our position.
“What the fuck are you accusing me of here, Jack?” he snarls as he reaches us, standing almost toe to toe with me, hands on his hips.
“A woman from our compound has been taken, and three of our men were involved. Right now, they’re sitting in a cooler, and probably have hypothermia. They had exchanged messages with some of your guys and claim they were talking to people from your club and helped them take the woman. The thing is, she’s not a member of our club. She’s not anybody’s old lady or a sweetbutt. She’s a girl from the local college. She’s young and vulnerable because she’s just lost her parents, and I fucking want her back so we can keep her safe. The cartel is after her.”
“I’ve got to say I’m disappointed you think so little of me.” Beau smooths his hand over his close-cut beard. “How do you know they were messaging my men?”
