Sly (24 page)

Scarlett
 

“I’m getting pretty fucking sick of being tied up, Scarlett,” Lewis said from the back seat.
 

“Shut up,” I whisper-shouted to him. “I swear to God I’ll knock your ass out again. You sit tight or you will
not
survive the next twenty minutes. Got it?” I shut the car door against his protests.
 

He murmured something but I didn’t stick around to hear what it was. There was just enough sunlight to illuminate the path in front of me. I drew my weapon and kept it pointed at the ground as I weaved in and out of the rocky outcroppings, staying to the shadows as I ran up the hill.
 

Shadows and light. I’d tried so hard to step out of one and into the other. Maybe someday I could. But that day wasn’t today. Adrenalin fueling me, I barely broke a sweat as I made my way up. The rush of the rapids far below drowned out the sound of my advance.  But I knew I was close. Angry voices reached my ears and I ducked behind a large rock, almost at the top.
 

Though I couldn’t hear what anyone said, I didn’t need to. Sly had his weapon pointed straight at Kagan. My own fingers twitched on the trigger of mine. Colt was off to the side. Jinx stood directly in front of him. I slid down to my stomach, making myself as flat as I could as I stretched my arms out and aimed my weapon.
 

Sly and Colt were closest to me. I aimed my sights on Colt. One squeeze, straight to the base of his skull. It would be over. Sly would be safe. So would I.
 

Or then there was Kagan. I shifted my aim a few inches to the left. Sly stood almost directly between us. If he moved at the last second, I’d end up taking his head off instead of Kagans.
 

My heartbeat slowed. I blew a breath out. Cold purpose washed through me with the calming effect of a straight shot of whiskey. This was easy. This was what I was born for.  Breathe. Aim. Take it.
 

Movement to my right. Something shifted in Jinx’s posture. Colt took a step forward, putting himself directly in my sights.
 

Breathe. Aim. Take the shot.
 

Jinx raised his arm, drawing down on Colt. I shifted just an inch to the right. Then I squeezed. The shot cracked through the cliff walls, echoing back. I raised my weapon again but there was no need.
 

Colt was on the ground. So was Kagan. Sly stood over him and a second crack tore through the air as he took the next shot, depriving me of the chance. The back of Kagan’s head exploded. His feet jerked once, then he was still.
 

Then Sly looked back and up over his right shoulder. I didn’t know if he could see me from this distance. It wouldn’t matter though. I sensed that he knew I was there.
 

My heart started beating again. He didn’t call my name. He didn’t so much as move. He just stared into the space where he knew I was.
 

I crab crawled backward until I knew the outcropping would hide me when I finally rose to my feet. Walking with new purpose, I holstered my weapon and headed back to the car and to Lewis.
 

The sun had made its last slow dip past the horizon, leaving the bluffs in full dark. But I belonged in the darkness and I already knew the way.
 

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sly
 

“You know you didn’t have to do this yourself,” Colt said next to me. My cotton t-shirt clung to me from a thick coating of sweat. We both dripped from it as I slammed the shovel back into the soft earth and threw a clump over my head.  I was almost finished. We stood shoulder to shoulder. Sawyer stood above us at the lip of the hole, keeping look out.
 

We’d been at it for hours. That’s how long it takes to dig a hole deep enough to bury two bodies in. The desert earth is unforgiving and even without the sun beating down on us, the heat choked around us.
 

Finally, when we got it wide enough, I threw my shovel up to Sawyer. He held a hand down to me to help me climb out. As I heaved myself over the side, I turned and offered the same hand to Colt. Grunting, he clawed his way out and laid on his back next to me, both of us heaving from the exertion. Colt leaned to the side and wretched, spitting out a mouthful of wet dirt.
 

I got to my feet and offered him another hand to help him all the way up. Sawyer was already dragging Kagan’s body by the feet over to the hole.
 

“I can pull us out of that damn hole a hundred times and we’re always going to end up back down there,” I said as Sawyer shoved Kagan’s shoulder with his boot until he rolled and pitched over the side of the hole. Kagan landed face down with a thud.
 

It took the three of us to haul Jinx’s body to the hole and shove him in on top of Kagan. Then we started the slow work of covering them back up.
 

“How long do you think before they figure it out and retaliate?” Sawyer said.
 

I shrugged. “Not long. We need to get word out to the other charters. I’m hoping the shit stays contained to Green Bluff but we have to be ready if it doesn’t.”
 

Colt nodded.  Sawyer took the shovel from me and I took a step back, watching my two top soldiers finish the job of filling in the hole. When they were done, the three of us stood together at the edge of the cliff and looked out at the dark, churning waters of the Great Wolf River far below.
 

“I really thought I could keep the shit at bay for longer,” I said.
 

“Scarlett was right about one thing,” Colt said. “Whether it’s Pagano’s crew, or the Hawks or the Brigands, there’s always going to be someone trying to take away what we’ve built. We’re never going to make a clean break.”
 

I nodded. Sawyer pulled a flask out of his back pocket, took a swig and handed it to me. The sharp taste of bourbon wet my lips as I downed three shots one after the other. It barely took the edge off as I handed the flask to Colt.
 

“Head on back,” I said to Sawyer. “Colt and I will be back down in a few minutes. Call the membership together.”
 

Sawyer gave me a raised brow but did as he was told. He walked down to the bottom of the hill and out of sight. When the last sounds of his engine faded away, I turned to Colt.
 

“Shit’s got to change, Colt,” I said, taking another hit from Sawyer’s flask.
 

He shoved his hands into his back pocket and turned to me. “I know you’re pissed. But I did what I had to do.”
 

“See, that’s the thing,” I said. “What
you
thought you had to do. This was club business. We work a certain way. You don’t get to decide shit on your own and act on it without bringing it to me.”
 

He sighed deep and hung his head low. “I’m sorry, man. I truly am. I wanted to have your back.”
 

I put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re my brother. That’s never going to change. But you need to move on.”
 

Colt’s eyes flashed in the moonlight as he lifted his head and looked at me. He set his mouth into a grim line and looked back out at the water.
 

“Dex is on his way back,” I said. “Something happens to me,
he’s
my Veep, not you. You know he’s earned it. You can’t stand here and tell me you’re going to be happy as my Sergeant-at-Arms for the rest of your life. It’s time for you to spread your wings.”
 

“You bouncing me from the club?”
 

“No fucking way. Never. This club needs you. But you’re a strong leader. The longer you stay in Green Bluff the more you’re going to resent not having a bigger role. I respect that, man. I truly do. There’s probably a half a dozen charters that would make a better fit.”
 

Colt nodded. It was tearing at my guts to say these things to him. But he needed to hear them.
 

“Yeah,” he said. “I kinda knew this was coming for a while. I think maybe I just needed to hear you say it to give me the kick in the ass I needed.”
 

“Are we good?”
 

Colt cocked his head and gave me that fucking pirate smirk. Then he faked a punch and slapped his arm around my back. I grabbed his fist tight and thumped him on the back. We pressed our foreheads together before we separated.
 

Yeah. We were good. And it helped that he knew I was right. If we were headed for a club war with the Hawks, Colt could do the Wolves a lot of good at another charter. I had one in mind already.
 

“I think it’s time for me to go home,” Colt said, giving voice to my thoughts.
 

I raised a brow. “You sure you’re ready for that? You left a hell of a mess behind when you tore out for Green Bluff all those years ago.”
 

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s time. Like I said, this was just the kick in the ass I needed.”
 

I threw an arm around his arm as we turned and headed back down the hill. “Well, our loss is Ohio’s gain. You know you only have to call if you need anything.”
 

Colt nodded as we mounted our rides and revved our engines. The moon over Green Bluff rose high as I let out the throttle and headed back toward the Den. Colt rode at my side the whole way.  I knew I’d have a different kind of reckoning when I got there.
 

***
 

Gunner sat on a bar stool with an ice pack on his head when we walked back into the bar. Mo stood next to him, rubbing his back.
 

I didn’t stop for questions. I went up the stairs and pushed open the door to the bedroom where I’d left Scarlett. I already knew what I would find when I got there, but I had to see it with my own eyes. The sheets were crumpled and the broken zip ties were scattered over the bed. But Scarlett was gone. I went back down to the bar.
 

“What the fuck happened up there?”
 

Gunner crashed his head to the table. Mo rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t give him too hard a time,” she said. “That girl’s a hell of a lot stronger than she looks.”
 

“I just went in to check on her,” Gunner said. “I heard a crash and I went to go see if she was all right. She hit me with a lamp. I never even saw her coming. I don’t know how the hell she even got out of those ties. They’re fucking strong!”
 

I sank onto the bar stool next to him.
 

“I’m really sorry,” Gunner said again. “She dragged that Lewis off with her too. They could be anywhere by now. I tried to get word to you but everything went straight to voicemail.”
 

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had three missed calls. Two from Gunner, the last one from Scarlett.
 

I pressed my thumb into my brow and pressed the playback button. Her breathy voice sent a shiver down my spine.
 

“Tell Gunner I’m sorry. Give him an ice pack and an aspirin. Mo’s hangover soup might not be a bad idea either. And Sly, Colt still isn’t safe. You need to get him away for a while. I’m sorry about everything else too. I wish it could have been different. Maybe it will be someday. I just have to find my own light.”
 

Then the message ended and Scarlett was truly gone.
 

I went back into the bar and nodded to Tiny. “Keep everyone on lockdown for the time being. I need you, Colt and Sawyer, everybody in the conference room now. Charlie, call Dex and see how fast he can get back here.”
 

I took my seat at the head of the table while the rest of my brothers seated themselves around me. This was a war counsel now. “I don’t know what the fallout is going to be, but you can believe it will be bad. We took care of it so no one will ever find Kagan and Jinx, but the Hawks will come for us. I’m sorry. I hoped we’d have peace for a little while longer.”
 

Colt sank into the chair at my left hand. “This doesn’t land on you as far as we’re concerned. Either Kagan and Jinx were going to die or we were tonight.”  He reached out and closed his hand around my left arm. Telling the rest of the guys that he was leaving was going to be harder than I thought. But, Scarlett’s warning was one more reason why it was the right choice to get him out of town fast.
 

There was a soft knock at the door and Gunner stuck his head in.
 

“Get out,” Colt said it for me. “This meeting’s for full members only.”
 

Gunner coughed. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I think you’re going to want to hear this. The cops are out here. Feds. They want to talk to you.”
 

Colt rose with me. I gestured to the others to sit tight.
 

 “What the fuck is going on?” Colt whispered as we walked back out into the bar together.
 

I shrugged. “I don’t have a clue.”
 

Three men in damn-near matching gray suits stood at the entrance way as if they were afraid they’d burst into flames if they came in any farther. The tallest man stepped forward and flashed a badge. I put up a hand. Though the man in front postured like he was in charge, I recognized one of the others from Blackie’s days. Back then, he was dirty. He gave a furtive glance around the bar and I suspected he still was. His name was Rice if my memory hadn’t failed.
 

“What’s this about?”
 

“I’m Special Agent Adams,” the leader said, stepping forward. “We’re here for your protection. Some evidence has come to light that members of your club have been targeted in a contract killing.”
 

“Check this shit out!” Charlie stood behind the bar and turned the sound up on the closest flat screen. It showed a swarm of patrol cars with flashing red lights right outside the Devil’s Hawks M.C. clubhouse.