“About two miles in, straight ahead. But you can’t go in like that,” Fish says.
“Right.” Sneaking up on a bunch of guys with military-grade firepower and a life or death situation is a sure way to turn myself a pair of shish keballs. “Better tell him I’m coming.”
“That, too, but I need to debrief you first,” he says. Resting the large weapon on its strap over his shoulder, Fish casts a suspicious glance down each side of the highway before he rounds the SUV and unlocks the back passenger door. He pulls out another semi with a scope attached and hands it to me. Then he grabs two smart phones and eyes them before deciding they’re what he’s looking for.
I grab the rifle by the barrel, and my arm sags with its weight. I haven’t shot an AR-15 since Dad was around and he used to take me shooting on Jim and Ruby’s property for practice. Since then, the only thing I’ve practiced on are some of Dad’s old handguns Nic has hidden around the house. My sister doesn’t dislike guns—she just thinks I’m going to blow my foot off because she’s convinced I’m nothing more than a stupid fucking kid.
Fish raises an eyebrow. “You got any idea what you’re walking into?”
No, not really. I mean, on some level I guess I got an idea. But I ain’t ever done this shit before, so how am I supposed to know what I’m walking into? All I know is that they decided to let me start earning my top rocker during a really fucking dangerous time—not that I’m complaining. The pride that comes with the patch is worth the risk.
“Didn’t think so.” He shakes his head and points me to the tree line. “W formation. Two in front, three in back, a mile up. Duke’s front right by himself. Ian took off to find Sweets.” As he talks, he turns the phones on and brings up two different apps. Wyatt’s voice sounds from one of the phones before Fish turns the volume down. On the other phone, he messes with the screen. Jim’s voice booms on the line before he turns that phone down, too.
“She okay?” I ask, still half-focused on the phones as he hands them over. I awkwardly place the strap of the semi over my shoulder and hold the phones, not sure what to do with them.
“For this asshole’s sake, she fucking better be,” he says. “Knuck will skin him alive. Now listen up. This one is a one-way radio so you can hear Jim and the Italian. This is the most important tool you have right now. Priority is keeping Pops whole, got it?” he says as he points at one of the phones.
I nod my head and focus in on the phones. I don’t recognize either app, but they seem awesome as fuck. Who knew Forsaken had such cool toys?
“On the other phone, you can press the button on the screen at any time to talk to the guys. It’s like a conference call. We can all communicate as need be. It’s not a toy, and this isn’t time to shoot the shit, got it?” He pulls out a wireless earbud. “The earbud is synced to Pops, so if you have trouble hearing him over the other phone, just turn its volume down.”
“Serious business,” I say and pop the earbud into my ear. “Got it.”
Just as I’m heading in what I think is the right direction, he pulls a phone out of his pocket and presses the button on the screen. “Baby Boy is heading your way, boys. Try not to shoot him.”
“Got it,” Duke barks back, his voice echoing in not only the phone in my hand but on Fish’s as well. In my ear, I’m hearing bits and pieces of Jim’s conversation with this guy. It’s mostly filled with huffs and few words, none of which I can understand.
“Bring my bitch forth,” Ryan says with a chuckle. The sick fuck. I can actually hear the smile in his voice.
“Gave the kid one of our signatures,” Fish says, referring to the AR-15 that Forsaken’s been fond of ever since I can remember. Dad once told me the club’s got over a hundred of these babies floating around town in various places.
“Bet ya haven’t handled anything that powerful since I let you deep throat my dick, huh?” Ryan says.
I want to just keep my mouth shut and walk toward the woods, but I also want to know how this thing works. So I bring the conference phone to my mouth, press the button, and say, “No, sir, Duke’s is bigger.”