I’m just about to make my move when I hear the voices. They’re coming from my left side and they’re whispering, but I can hear them pretty plainly, which tells me they are close. I look around for a place I might find cover. There’s not much to choose from: a rock or a tree, neither of which are extremely wide. I finally vote for the old oak tree, stepping behind it, my hand going to my gun. I click off the safety and wait.
“You really think this guy is dumb enough to come here and face us on his own?”
“Who knows? Viper says he will. I’m not about to chance it, though, which is why I’m carrying this instead of that damn thing you have,” the other guy says, holding up a semiautomatic rifle. The other guy is carrying a pistol. I’d like to be able to take them both out at once, but I don’t see how that’s going to be possible. If I let them pass me and attack from behind, I have to worry about the assholes shooting right away and giving my location up. I can’t afford a swarm of them all at once.
I wait until they pass me, then carefully make my way to stand a few feet behind them.
“You got two choices,” I announce to their backs. “Drop your weapons and put your hands up where I can see them, or take a bullet in the back of your brain.”
“Fuck!” one of them groans, but they don’t make a move to do what I say.
“You’re wasting time and I’ve got an itchy trigger finger,” I warn them.
“Hey man, we don’t want to die. We were paid for this shit,” one of them says, still not putting his gun down. “We just needed money to feed our families.”
I see the other one in my peripheral vision tightening his finger on the trigger. This isn’t going easily, and I knew it wouldn’t.
I just hoped.
I fire a round in the back of one of the motherfucker’s heads, and he falls dead. The guy beside him jumps when blood splatters from the shot, his friend dropping to the ground. He drops his gun and puts his hands up quickly.
Idiots. They don’t think I see the fucking jackets they’re wearing? “Check for their families.” Christo! I drop him too, because I know if the motherfucker gets free, he’s just going to come after me. I can’t take a chance on any of these twisted fuckers who have aligned with Colin. Their fates were sealed when they joined forces with that motherfucker.
I can’t risk anything now that I have Gabby and Beth.
My life has never been for the weak, but I’m getting motherfucking tired of all this shit. It was different when I felt I had my brothers at my back. Now, I have no idea if they’re there to help or there holding a fucking knife.
I drag the bodies off behind the trees for the crows and vultures. There’s no sense in broadcasting my arrival too soon. I worried enough that they’ve heard the shot. Once I have that taken care of, I approach the building.
I can hear the music blaring immediately. It’s no fucking wonder they couldn’t hear the shots. Pendejos!
I walk around the club, doing my best to stay close to the sides and ducking away from the windows. I spot a window cracked in a bathroom. Mierda! It’s like they’re making it too easy. Maybe they are.
I thought Torch and the boys would have been here by now. I look in the windows a little more. Besides Viper, I see that fucker Colin inside. I hate that he’s still breathing air. I have pictured myself squeezing the life out of him, breath by fucking breath. Now that he’s this close, my fingers are itching to try it.
I wait a few more minutes. When there’s no sign of the cavalry, such as they are, I decide to just charge ahead and let the chips fall where they may. I’ll never get a better chance to take out Colin than I will right now, and I can’t afford to let that fall through my fingers.
I need to do this to avenge Beth. If I die, at least I’ll take Colin with me. With that thought, I hoist my body up and slip through the window.
“I got this. Trust me,” he had said. If we survive this, I may kill him.
Now I know how he felt when he found me at Matthew’s cabin. Right now, I’m dealing with two main fears. The main one being: I’m too late to keep Skull from going into a trap.
The second is: I can’t remember where this damn place is.
My nerves are on a thin string and I feel like I’m going to crack at any minute. It would help if the old country roads here had clear road signs. Half of them are missing, or heck, maybe were never there to begin with. Some have sadly been the target for bullets and the writing can no longer be read. Because I’m not sure of where I’m going, I’m having to drive a lot slower than Skull, too.