“Hunter.”
“Do it now, sweetness. I’ll meet you by the bathrooms,” he tells me again, this time giving me eye contact, but I can tell there’s no room for arguments. I swallow nervously, wondering what in the hell is going on, and do as he ordered.
I pray my family isn’t about to catch up with me.
I watch out the window as three of the Chrome Saints gather around Katie’s jeep. I got Katie out of here. I breathe as I watch her walk to the back of the room and down the small hall where the restrooms are. I’ve been here before and I know there’s an emergency entrance off to the left. I motion for the waitress, keeping one eye on the men outside. As I watch them approach the diner, my heart rate accelerates. I’d face them down on my own without a problem—if Katie wasn’t with me. I need to make sure she’s protected at all times.
When I was last here, it was about six months ago on a gun run for the club. It’s not our territory, though it’s run by one of Diesel’s allies, so we’ve never worried. However, the very reason for me being here is dangerous. The Donahues have lost a lot of clout in the last two years, but they’re still the head of the Irish faction, and even if the Russians are slowly pushing them out of existence, no one wants to be on their bad side. This is why I’ve not worn my cut, and why I’ve not used my bike. It looks like that’s not going to matter if I don’t get out of here, because I recognize those fuckers, and one of them is Colin Donahue’s cousin. If they catch me, the only escape is a fucking shootout, and no club, even if they are buddies of Diesel’s, will stand for that in their territory.
The waitress finally comes over. I hand her a fifty dollar bill. “Keep the change, darlin’,” I tell her. I get up and walk calmly to the back of the building, turning the corner just as I hear the bell ring, indicating the Saints have made it inside.
“Hunter? What’s going on?” Katie asks when she sees me.
“I’ll explain it when we get out of here, sweetness.”
I take her arm and head for the back exit, only to find they’ve apparently made some security improvements since I’ve been here last. “Fuck.”
“What? What is it?” Katie asks, confused.
“There’s a damn buzzer on the door.”
“So disable it.”
“That would take way too long,” I say back. “We’ll have to find another way out. Maybe there’s a window in the kitchen…”
I trail off as she slips a hand into her bra. To my surprise, she pulls out a pocket knife and pops it open.
“Where did you hide that?” I growl, because shit, if she’s been hiding it this long, does that mean she had it when I first took her hostage?
“Beauty of having Double D’s,” she answers, not paying me much mind at all. “You can hide a lot of shit under them.” Then, she uses the knife to pop off the face plate of the alarm.
“You seem to know what you’re doing,” I note, more than a little amazed. I’m good at technical shit. I can wire up a bomb and I can do anything you want to do using computers. But Katie’s skill at disabling this alarm is scary good. Shit, I’d say she could outdo Briar at it, and he’s the club’s best at bypassing alarms by hand.
“It’s just a cheap home security system,” she mumbles, taking a pin from her hair. “If I hadn’t learned to disable these, I would have never discovered boys.” The next thing I know, she’s got the door open and the alarm is completely silent. She’s standing there looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. Hell, maybe I have. I know I’m standing there with my mouth open. “You, ready?”
I nod, shaking off my shock, then lead her to the jeep. We’re halfway there when I see the guy they have posted outside. Trouble is, he sees me too. I toss Katie the keys.
“Get out of here, sweetness. Get the fuck out and once you get away, call the club in Kentucky and tell Skull the Chrome Saints are after you. He’ll protect you and help bring Beth in safe.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Katie hisses.
I pull my eyes away from the man walking towards us. “No!” I say back to her. “Get the hell out of here while you can!”
“Hunter! That’s Levi!” she says, naming Colin’s cousin.
“I know, so get the fuck out and don’t give me any lip!”
She shoots me a look like I’ve gone insane. Shit, maybe I have. I could have run for it, even though running doesn’t sit well with me. Doing that, however, meant Katie also having to run, and she’s not able to. I’m pretty sure I can take all of those motherfuckers myself, but if they join up, the chances go down. I picked the wrong day to leave my gun in the car. I didn’t want to draw attention to us, so I just kept my knife.
Katie finally takes off, heeding my command. I turn my attention to the approaching man.
“Well, if it isn’t one of the Devil’s pussies,” Levi says.
I’m going to enjoy messing his face up.