“What the hell is going on?” Jimmy pushed Gail off his lap and pointed at the biker nearest him. “Go. Find out.”
By now the sound was unmistakably that of a vehicle in full acceleration. Jimmy reached for his gun. The front door crumpled and the side of the building went with it, the sheet-metal-and-wood-frame structure collapsing under the weight of the massive black SUV barreling into the building. The clubhouse groaned under the impact. Pictures fell from walls. Beams crashed to the floor. Bikers shouted. Someone fired a gun.
Dawn ran. She didn’t care who was in the vehicle or why it had come through the wall, but it was a chance of escape and she wasn’t about to lose it.
The driver’s-side door of the SUV swung open and Cade stepped out of the vehicle, his face a mask of fury. Using the door as a shield he sprayed bullets across the room, covering Dawn as she ran toward him. Cold, determined, calculating, he moved with confidence and purpose, scattering the Brethren in a shower of steel.
Dawn hit the vehicle running and reached for the door just as two pit bulls came racing through the hole in the wall. They went straight for Cade, knocking him to the ground. Cade lost his weapon as he fell. “Run, Dawn. Get the fuck out.”
Like hell I will. She dropped to the ground and rolled under the vehicle, staying behind the wheel well as she reached for Cade’s gun. She dragged it toward her by the handle, struggling with its weight. Okay. It was some kind of submachine gun. Not quite the same as her little .22 but she just had to pull the trigger.
Cade struggled with the dogs. One of them bit his arm and he cursed. The other clamped its jaws firmly around his leg, and Dawn slid her finger over the trigger, hoping a few rounds would scare them off.
“Heel.” Jimmy’s voice echoed through the clubhouse. He snapped his fingers and the dogs released Cade. “Not so brave now, are you?” He crouched beside Cade with his weapon pointed at Cade’s head while the dogs salivated beside him. Dawn couldn’t see Jimmy’s face but she could imagine the smirk. He always smirked before he hit her.
“Up.” Jimmy barked the command and Cade heaved himself to his feet. Dawn shifted closer to the edge of the vehicle, and one of the dogs growled. Damn.
“You picked the wrong fucking brother and the wrong fucking club to mess with when you got involved with my old lady.” Jimmy’s voice slid through her like ice. “Shootin’ you dead is gonna be too easy. Your death is gonna be nice and slow. I’m gonna film every minute of it and send it the Sinners so they know what’s coming for them.”
“I think you better be worried about what’s coming for you.”
Dawn drew the gun close to her chest. The dogs barked. A furry black face appeared under the vehicle and she slid back. The SUV rocked above her. Was someone inside?
“Hiding, love?” Jimmy raised his voice loud enough for her to hear. She could see his boots just in front of her. The same boots he’d used when he’d kicked her repeatedly in the stomach, trying to make her lose her babies.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you. Just in case you feel left out, you’re gonna suffer, too.”
Dawn leaned up on her elbows, shoved the gun between her breasts and fired. Jimmy screamed. The gun whacked her chin on recoil and her head jerked back, hitting the undercarriage with a painful thud.
Jimmy fell to the ground and into Dawn’s line of sight. His weapon dropped to the side. “Jesus fucking Christ. The bitch just shot my fucking toe.”
The vehicle rocked again and the rear passenger door opened. Feet scuffed the concrete floor beside her. But she didn’t have time to worry about what was going on. Jimmy was down, unarmed, injured, and for the first time vulnerable. She steadied the gun between her breasts and slid her finger over the trigger. This was it. The moment she had dreamed about for ten years. The end of Jimmy. She would finally be free.
*
Cade heard the SUV door open. This was it. Gunner was out. Sparky and Zane would be right behind him. It was the end of Mad Dog. And he was going to be the one to pull the trigger. He threw himself forward and grabbed Mad Dog’s weapon. Then in one swift move, he rolled, aimed, and fired.
In that moment three things happened.
First, two more shots were fired, each from a different gun. Mad Dog fell backward, his hand to his chest.
Second, as Mad Dog fell, a bullet from a fourth gun hit Mad Dog from behind, a clean hit through the neck that slowed only when it pinged off the hood of the SUV.
Third, four people yelled, “I got him.”
Gun at the ready, Cade surveyed the scene. Curiously none of the Brethren ran to Mad Dog’s aid. Even the two dogs that had so obediently heeled at his command left him to lick the face of an old geezer lying on the floor with a gun pointed where Mad Dog’s neck used to be.
“I got him.” Dawn slid out from under the SUV.
“I got him,” the old geezer yelled. “Right through the fucking neck.”