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The self-loathing I feel is almost unbearable. This isn’t me. This will never be me. But playing pretend has its consequences. There are times my mom is the woman I used to know all those years ago. She jokes and laughs and is fun. We’ve reminisced on the happy memories, avoiding the horrible ones. In my world of pretend, sometimes I convince myself that she’s changed.
It’s all a lie. The fact that I’m standing in an abandoned warehouse with a group of crying women proves that. Their wrists are bound, just as mine once was. Just as Sloan’s was. Raven and I are guarding the room.
I keep waiting for Christian to burst in. Waiting for all of this to end. But he doesn’t come. Why would he? He believes I left him and wanted to stay with my mom. Still, part of me thought he would come for me. That there’s no way he would ever believe that.
I glance over at Raven, knowing she’s partly responsible for Carson and Lina’s deaths. I play this fantasy in my head where I shoot her in the face and save the girls. In reality, I stand there doing my job. I ignore their whimpered pleas and manage not to flinch when Raven smashes the butt of her gun against one of their heads.
Someone has to put a stop to this. These women…they’re human beings and being sold off like cattle. The club has been fighting against this for years but I doubt they even know where I am. They have no reason to believe we’re at this warehouse unless Owen somehow knows and shared the intel. From what I can tell, my mom didn’t share anything with him. Besides, she admitted they’ve been laying low, waiting for the right time to resume business since the hotel was compromised.
“It’s time,” Raven announces and starts pulling the women to their feet.
I follow suit, keeping my emotions masked. Grabbing one girl, I jerk her up. She cries out, and I shove her toward the door.
This desperation…this fear…I know it all too well. She’s wondering if this is ever going to end, and if it does, will she get out alive?
When we step outside, there’s a van waiting. No need for them to use a hidden trail like they did at the hotel. My mom opens the door and steps out, sliding the back door open. Raven and I push the girls into the van. My mother is smiling when she closes the door.
Instantly, those emotions rush back. The desperation. The fear. That smile of hers…it’s exactly the way she used to look at me before she promised me the man in my room wouldn’t hurt me.
Then, she would close my door.
Just like that.
43
Munsey
She’s moving. I immediately alert Mason, and we grab our weapons, ready to go. I’m the first on my bike, anxiously waiting to ride out. Dash and one of the prospects are staying behind to keep an eye on the clubhouse. We won’t be blindsided by another attack this time. This time we’re ready to fight.
Mason pulls out, waving his hand for everyone to follow. I keep checking my phone as I ride, anxious to see if she starts moving again. Regardless, we’re tracking her, and I pray she’s leading us right to The Harvester.
The surrounding territory becomes familiar. We used this same road when we attacked the Souls of Satan’s clubhouse. We thought it started and ended with them, but we were wrong. Mason must realize it, too, because he speeds up, pulling over only about half a mile from their clubhouse. We follow suit, killing our engines.
“I don't want them to know we’re coming, so we’ll go in on foot,” Mason instructs, breaking us into two teams.
“What’s the order?” Hunter asks.
“My team will go in first. You three be on the lookout for anyone trying to escape. We’ll locate Taylor and the girls. Keep her mom alive until we find The Harvester. Kill everyone else.”
We start moving in, taking it slow and steady so we aren’t seen. We should’ve burned this place to the ground. Demolished it altogether. I’m with Jake and Hunter as we move into position surrounding the place. Hunter puts his hand up, stopping us. He peeks through a window, checking to see if there’s anyone inside.
“Taylor’s mom is pacing the floor. I don’t see anyone else.”
“You think she’s here alone, or are we about to be fucking ambushed?”
“Fuck, I don’t know, man. If we don’t hear anything in a few minutes, we’ll go in.”
Jake and I agree. It’s too damn quiet here, and that gives me a damn sick feeling in my stomach.
After a few minutes, we go around to the front, and the door is already open. Mason is standing there with his hands up. Tripp and the other prospect are on the floor, their throats slashed. Blood pours from their lifeless bodies. The twins stand over them, sadistically licking the blood from their blades. They toss them to the floor, and each pull a nine millimeter from their jeans, taking aim at Hunter and Jake.
Taylor’s mom has a gun aimed at Mason’s head. We each have a gun trained on one of them, and none of us in this room are willing to go down easily.
“Put your weapons down, boys.” None of us move.
“Just kill them, Sidney!” one of the twins yells.
“Guns down, or I will blow his fucking brains out!”
