She nods as she holds on tight to her pair. She then sits down across from me and pulls my arms towards her. “Your turn!” she says almost brimming with excitement.
But I stop her. Something has changed. The man upstairs is yelling again. This time, he isn’t as joyful as the last time we could make him out. “So what you’re fucking saying to me is that the Mustangs managed to not only attack the clubhouse but also the warehouse? Who the fuck let this happen? Where are Yazoo and his guys? What do you mean they’re at the clubhouse? Who the hell is guarding the warehouse?” He pauses, listening to answers we cannot hear. “Well then you better have a damn good plan, because if even an ounce of product gets messed with, I am going to kill each and every one of you peon amateurs! Do you hear me?”
Another man enters, his voice much more subdued than the other. I stand up a bit, ducking to avoid hitting my head, “Addison, what would you like us to do, then? Should we stay here or help the guys at the warehouse?”
Addison, their apparent leader, screams right back at the man, “You’re going to go down there and see that those pussies get their fill of lead today. But before you go, we’re going to take care of the cargo here. Go get the nearly dead one first. She’s nothing to Cal or the rest of the Mustangs. She’s going first. We’ll send them pictures of her head.”
My heart jumps as I hear footsteps approaching. I hurriedly say to Maddie, “Don’t make a sound. No matter what happens. Don’t take those cuffs off, and don’t make a sound.” I stutter for a second before I grab her messy hair and head in my hands and pull her in for a quick kiss on the forehead. “I love you, Maddie. Erin and I love you. Your dad loves you. And you’re going to be fine. We’re going to get you out of here.”
The door opens as Maddie and I both quickly shuffle away from the bottom of the stairwell and out of sight of the man walking slowly down the stairs. He pulls out a flashlight and points it down at the ground. He spots it on Maddie first as she is lying in a heap on the ground, pointed away from him. He then finds me up against the same wall I was before, my head resting upon my knees as I pull myself tightly in. Then, he finds Erin and he makes his move.
He kneels down to examine her, taking her pulse and brushing the hair from her eyes. He then drapes Erin’s body over his shoulders, as if they were partners doing a ballroom dance. The man turns back to face Maddie and I, his light flashing back and forth at where we lay. As he and Erin’s body goes to turn to take the first step, there’s a clink as something metal falls to the floor.
I look on in horror as I see Erin’s handcuffs drop at his feet and his eyes dart up towards where I am sitting, stunned and more fearful than ever. We’ve been exposed.
Chapter 31: Ramshackle
CAL
The rumble, the noise, the sound of shouts and screams – it all hits me instantly as I pull up my cycle to the action. I’m about thirty feet back from the frontline where the boys wearing Mustang jackets are ducking behind bushes and trees, discarded truck tires and shot out cars. Weren’t we just here weeks ago at the other side of the broken glass windows?
I can’t flashback right now. I need to focus. We get the job started, go on to round two, and get to the final stage before it is too late. While Jager yells his commands, I try to see the Addison Bell in him. Second in command, he’s still the guy who makes the main call for the Coyotes. And, by all accounts from Red Dog’s intel, he’s the one holding Maddie, Michelle, and Erin right now.
What is he thinking? What are his plans? The first rule in a motorcycle war is to know your enemy. And I just have to hope and pray that Ace’s instincts that he will send more men out to fight us off is the right call. That, or we may not survive this first battle to make it on to the warehouse round.
“Cal! Tell the armory car to send in more bullets. The men outside the alley are going to need it. They’re seeing reinforcements coming in.”
“So,” I shout loudly toward him as he stares out in the distance using a pair of beat up binoculars. “It’s working? If they’re sending in men, Addison knows our plan and is dispensing troops away from the warehouse and the repair shop.”
Jager looks at me impatiently, “Yeah. I guess so.” He motions toward the phone in my hand, “Call the damn armory truck now before I send you out of here! I can’t have you slacking because you’re too invested.”
I obey my orders, quickly dialing the number and then dishing out the commands. The last thing I want to do is be sent home to wait for word about Maddie and Michelle’s wellbeing. I need to be here. I need to fight for both of them. No one could do that like me. I just needed to get in there to get off that nervous, impulsive steam.