Page 16 of Property of Booker

“You believe you can trap me here?” Jerome growls, his features contorted in manic anger as his gaze darts around the surrounding figures. “You fools have no concept of what you've just unleashed. Stand aside, or I'll burn this entire town to the ground.”

“The only thing burning tonight is your pathetic operation,” Slayer says, stepping into the dim light. He moves with a calm that unnerves Jerome more than any threat. “Drop the gun, Jerome. We aren't here to talk, we’re here to make you a guest, just like Patrick.”

Jerome laughs, spitting blood onto the pavement. “You want me? Come and get me.” He pulls the trigger. The shot goes wide, echoing against the clubhouse walls like a cannon blast. Before he can fire again, Ozzie kicks his wrist. The gun skitters across the concrete, sliding into the shadows. Jerome doesn't break. He lunges for Ozzie, grappling like a wild animal. He’s biting, gouging, refusing to let them secure him. He’s desperate and he’s fast.

“Take him down!” Slayer commands.

The brothers swarm him, a whirlwind of pummeling fists and grunting exertion. Jerome fights back like a cornered animal, roaring obscenities while he bites and claws at them. It takes four of them to pin him down and crank the zip ties tight against his wrists. Even restrained, he spits and jerks, his ruined face smeared with blood. His gaze finds the security lens, fixing on it with a terrifying intensity.

“You’re a dead woman, Kendall,” he spits out as they haul him away. “You think you're safe? I’ve got contingencies in place in case I got captured.”

My monitor rings and I answer with panic laced in my voice, “Kendall?”

She laughs as she tells me, “He doesn’t know this yet, but his contingencies won’t be triggered. I wiped every one of them from his system the second he walked out the door. He’s completely blind now, Booker. He has no way to alert his hit squads or reach the syndicate. The path is clear for you to go to the safehouse.”

I let out a breath I’ve been holding for what feels like a lifetime. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” she promises, her voice gaining a strength I haven’t heard before. “His access is severed. He’s just a man shouting into the void now. Go, Booker. Get Kolter and the others out of there.”

“We’re moving,” I assure her, my hand already reaching for my gear. “Keep your head low. We’re coming for you and Branson next. Don’t you dare give up on me. Stay safe until we make our way to you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispers, and for the first time, I hear a hint of a smile in her voice. “Just hurry and save my baby, Booker.”

CHAPTER

TEN

Kendall

“They will save my family too, right, Kendall?” Branson asks, the nervous strain in his voice showing his constant fear for their safety.

My eyes stay glued to the screens while my pulse pounds erratically. One monitor follows the Kings as they close in on the target coordinates, and the other keeps my connection to Branson live. As they near the location, the patience we forced ourselves to maintain dissolves into pure dread.

“Without a doubt, Branson,” I tell him, standing up for the club. “They’re decent men, regardless of the lies Jerome has beaten into your skull.”

“No one could possibly be more villainous than Jerome,” he murmurs. “I fail to understand why he was so determined to make me believe they were the ones keeping us trapped, only letting us out when we had to install listening bugs or tap into their feeds.”

“He acted that way because he wanted to convince us that he was the hero of this story,” I reply.

“I’m glad they were able to nab him,” Branson tells me.

“Me too, Branson. Me too,” I remark as the Kings pull up a mile outside of the old farmhouse Jerome has been using as a house of horrors. There’s no telling what he’s been doing to them while they’ve been there. I know they’re going to be emotionally and physically scarred, but with enough time and some therapy, hopefully, they come out of this ordeal on the other side.

“How far did you dig into the Kings’ dealings, Kendall?”

“Tracking them has been my only responsibility since they arrived in town, Branson. I've uncovered secrets they’d want to keep hidden,” I tell him.

“And no matter what you’ve found, you trust them and believe they’re our salvation?” he continues, his doubt grating on my nerves.

“They’re our only hope, young Skywalker,” I say, using one of his favorite movie references to get my point across.

“I’m not trying to question your judgment, Kendall. But with our family’s lives hanging in the balance, relying on outsiders to rescue them has my nerves frayed.”

I mull that over and understand where he’s coming from. “I can see that. But, Branson, I know everything about them and there’s nobody else I’d trust more with getting them out alive than I do the Kings.”

“I wish that your faith in them was reassuring,” he mutters.

“But for you, it’s not. Care to tell me why that is?” I question.