Sons of Flame MC - Redemption (14 page)

It took less than two minutes before they arrived at the turnoff to the warehouse, and the older police officer stopped the cruiser there. He turned in his seat to face Tess.

“We’re going on foot from here, ma’am. I need you to not leave this car, for your own safety. I know that your friend is in danger, and we’ll do all we can to help him, but it won’t do him any good if you get dragged into what’s probably gonna be a dangerous situation.”

I’m already involved; it’s too late for that now, for better or for worse.

Tess didn’t say that though. She just nodded once more, non-commitally.

The two officers checked their weapons and climbed out of the car. Tess noted that both of them looked slightly out of their depth by dint of their body language and facial expressions. She couldn’t blame them - the most they probably normally dealt with in this sleepy little town were domestic disputes and rowdy drunks.

The two of them set off down the scruffy excuse for a road that led to the warehouse, crouched low, handguns held ready. Tess watched them go, eyes fixed on their every move.

She managed to stay in the car for a whole minute, maybe two. Just as the two police officers approached the chain link fence that surrounded the warehouse, Tess jumped in her seat as the crack of a gunshot split the calm early morning peace.

Without thinking, she flung open the car door and jumped out, adrenaline pumping once more. There was only one reason there would be gunfire - the Sons had found Eli. There was no way they could have seen and reacted to the police just yet.

Discarding thoughts of her own safety, she raced along the road, only slowing once she came closer to the fence. The two officers were crouched behind a metal container, speaking rapid-fire into their radios.

“We have gunshots; I repeat we have gunshots at the abandoned warehouse in Hope Springs. Request immediate backup, suspects are armed and dangerous.”

The older officer then noticed her, and waved her away, frantically but silently. Tess ignored him. Eli was in danger, probably mortal danger, and if she could help him she would, no matter what the risk.

She lowered herself behind an old dumpster and peered around the edge. Most of the warehouse yard was in view, and when she saw the situation she began to panic.

She could see Eli from this position, exactly where she had left him behind the tire pile. His face was streaked with dirt, probably from lowering himself to the ground to hide from the gunfire. He clutched the Colt in his hands, and his expression was grim.

Past him, arrayed in front of the warehouse and taking cover behind various articles of scattered junk, were the Sons of Flame. Fifteen, maybe twenty of them still standing, and one lying motionless on the ground, his limbs sprawled unnaturally.

Eli must have hit him. Tess felt at least some sense of satisfaction that he had managed to hold them off, despite his condition.

Everything was silent apart from her own ragged breathing and racing heartbeat in her ears, but that silence was suddenly shattered by a hoarse cry from the direction of the warehouse.

“I don’t know how you and your little slut of a girlfriend got out of that room, Eli, but you’re gonna fuckin’ pay for it, mark my words. Two of my men, two of my brothers, lost. Give up now, and I’ll make it quick. A bullet to the fuckin’ head is your best option right now, believe me.”

Tess focused on Eli, who grimaced in pain but then swallowed it down before he shouted back.

“Fuck you, Tex. You want me, come and get me. I’m waiting.”

Tex snarled in fury and gestured to his remaining men, who began to fan out in a semi-circle and then advanced cautiously to Eli’s position. Tess had to do something – he stood no chance.

She looked over to the two police officers, still crouching unseen and unannounced. She gestured furiously to them, but they shook their head. The older one mouthed words silently.

Too many. Need backup.

Tess felt a white-hot fury inside her at what she saw as their cowardice. Eli was going to die unless she did something, and so she took the last option that she had available to her. She peered out from behind her cover, took a deep breath, and yelled as loudly as she possibly could.

“POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!”

The Sons froze mid-step, as a dozen pairs of eyes snapped over to where she was hiding. Tess ducked back down behind the container just in time, as the first bullet came whizzing over her head.

“I don’t see nobody out there,” Tex shouted. “In fact, if I was a betting man, I’d wager that you’re tryin’ to pull a fast one on me, lady. You think I’m fuckin’ stupid?”

He punctuated his words with more bullets, which pinged off the container and kicked up puffs of dirt as they hit the ground near her. Tess cowered down and covered her head.

But then, finally, the police officers took action. The older one raised his gun over the top of his cover, and fired a few rounds blindly in the direction of Tex’s voice.

“Do as she says!” he shouted. “Drop your guns, and let us take you in. Nobody else needs to die.”

“Fuck you, pig!”

The next few minutes were a blur for Tess – later on, when she tried to recall it, she could only remember snippets, fragments of memory. There was the sound of gunfire, the shouts of men, the unforgettable smell of cordite and gun smoke. There was the uncertainty that a bullet could hit her at any moment, and there was the fear that Eli had already met that very fate. Tess could do nothing but hide where she crouched, and wait for it all to be over.

She didn’t remember exactly when the backup arrived, only that there was suddenly a huge vehicle near her from which poured a stream of heavily-armed and uniformed men.

And then, suddenly, there was silence. The gunfire stopped, and a querulous voice sounded from the warehouse yard.

“We surrender!”

The metallic thuds of guns hitting the ground as they were dropped one by one, and then shouts from the police officers telling the men to get on the ground.

There was one final memory that Tess had, one that would forever be seared into her mind. When the rest of the Sons had surrendered, Tex had howled in impotent rage.

“You fucking cowards!” he screamed. “You gutless worms!”

And Tess had chosen that moment to peek around one last time, to see the leader of the Sons of Flame vault over an old packing crate and charge screaming toward Eli’s hiding place.

Everything seemed to enter slow-motion at that point.

“Eli!” Tess screamed, and then she saw him, still conscious, still alive. He twisted his torso and peered around the edge of the tires, raised the gun, and fired one single shot. Tess recoiled in horror as it struck Tex in the chest.

The Sons leader had looked surprised, his eyes wide with shock. He looked down at the crimson stain spreading on his shirt, staggered for a few more steps, and then he crumpled lifeless to the floor, unmoving.

The police and paramedics had moved onto the scene then, efficiently restraining the remaining surviving members of the Sons of Flame, and tending to those who were injured. Tess rushed over to Eli, who had slumped down after firing that final shot. She reached him and caressed his face, whispering to him.

“It’s OK, Eli, we made it, the police and paramedics are here. You’re gonna be OK – we’re gonna be OK.”

His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled. He looked feverish and was deathly pale.

“You did it,” he breathed. “I knew you would.”

Tears of relief ran down Tess’ face as she embraced him, pulling him into her arms and just holding him. A few moments later, she felt hands gently pulling her away, and then the paramedics were there, swarming around Eli. Tess stepped away and let them do their work.

For a few moments she stood there like a woman lost. She didn’t know what to do with herself, couldn’t quite believe that both of them had made it out of this whole thing alive.

She heard a cough behind her, and turned to see the weather-beaten police officer from the station. He was looking at her with a curious expression – admiration mixed with admonishment.

“Stupid thing you did back there, ma’am. You could have been killed.”

Tess crossed her arms.

“I had to do something. They were going to kill him otherwise.”

He just laughed wryly, shaking his head.

“I guess they were, and you saved his life. Any man would be lucky to call a girl like you his wife.”

Now it was Tess’ turn to laugh. She saw the paramedics carrying Eli on a stretcher to the ambulance, and she turned to follow after them. Before she left, she looked back over one shoulder.

“I’m not his wife. I’m his probation officer.”

She saw his puzzled look, saw him open his mouth to ask another question, but she set off for the ambulance and didn’t look back.

*****

Tess

T
ess pulled up to the parking lot of Mike’s workshop. It was hot once again, too damn hot. She shaded her eyes with one hand as she peered toward the doorway; it was open, but dark beyond. She was here for her last meeting with Eli, and she felt strangely nervous. The butterflies in her stomach kind of nervous, like she was a schoolgirl again.

She took a deep breath, checked her appearance in the mirror, and stepped out of the car. The heat took her by surprise, as it always did out here, and she hurried over to the workshop clutching her manila folder in her hand.

She reached the entrance and slowed, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was, at least, blessedly cool inside the gloom.

“Eli? Are you here?”

Déjà vu. I remember what happened last time I arrived at this damn workshop and he wasn’t here.

It had been a couple of weeks since the events in Hope Springs – the craziest couple of weeks of Tess’ life. The endless questions from the police, from her family, from work. Having to come to terms with what had happened, how close she and Eli had come to getting buried in unmarked graves somewhere out there in the sand. Having to go back to work and trying to adjust to normal life, after everything she’d experienced. Her colleagues had been speechless when they’d heard the story, almost unable to believe that Tess, hard-working, boring, reliable Tess, had gotten caught up with the Sons of Flame and a stash of cocaine.

After a while, she had gotten tired of answering all their questions, seeing their stares from the corner of her eyes, and she’d been spending more and more time on her own, away from her colleagues and soul-searching, asking herself if this was what she really wanted to do with her life.

When Eli had been admitted to hospital, the doctors were amazed he was still conscious. He had severe internal bruising and several cracked ribs, along with a serious concussion. He slept for almost two days.

However, after he’d been discharged, Tess hadn’t had the opportunity to spend much, if any, time with him. She’d been taken off his case, being told that there was now a ‘conflict of interests’, and he’d been assigned a new probation officer.

Eli had been called in for questioning by the police when the entire story came out. They’d even been talking about arresting him for violating his parole, but Tess had testified to everything she’d seen and heard, and the case was dropped. He’d even managed to shorten his parole considerably, due to his role in bringing an end to Tex and the Sons of Flame.

And so Tess found herself at the workshop, one last time, to tell Eli that he was a free man. It was against protocol really, for her to do it now that she was off his case, but she had insisted. She wanted to see him, wanted to be the one to tell him.

She called out again.

“Eli? Don’t tell me you’re not here again, Jesus Christ. We had an appointment!”

She turned her head as she heard a soft laugh, and then smiled as he wheeled himself out from under a car. He stood and wiped his hands on a rag.

“I wouldn’t have thought we needed appointments anymore, Miss Bailey, after everything we’ve been through.”

Tess didn’t say anything, just looked into his eyes. He wore the same white tank top that he had been the first time she’d met him, and apart from some strapping over his ribs, you would never have known that he’d recently been so badly injured.

“It’s been a bit crazy, the last couple of weeks,” he said, apologetically. “Sorry I haven’t had the chance to see you more than I have.”

“It’s OK,” she replied. “It’s been the same for me. Have you heard any more about the rest of the gang? Are you going to be called to testify against them?”

Eli shrugged, but he looked unconcerned.

“I want to. Now that Tex is gone, and they’ve all been arrested, I don’t have to worry about you or Grandma. I think we’ve seen the last of the Sons of Flame. Tex was the one who held it all together – without him, I don’t think it’ll come back. Maybe some new gang will appear, but that don’t bother me, as long as they leave me alone.”

He finished wiping his hands, and his attention turned to the folder that Tess was holding.

“What’s that? More stuff for me to sign? ‘Cos I can tell ya, I can’t even count how many pieces of paper I’ve signed over the past few days.”

Tess handed it to him with a smile.

“Actually, I do need you to sign it. But it should be the last one ever, from me at least.”

He frowned in puzzlement and took it from her, then tore it open and quickly scanned the letter within. His look of confusion quickly changed to one of delight.

“So that’s it? I’m free now, completely free?”

Tess nodded, her heart swelling with pride and gladness for him.

“Yep. After the role you played in bringing the Sons to justice, it was decided that your probation could be shortened in exchange.”

She took a step towards him.

“Congratulations, Eli. I’m so happy for you.”

He was smiling broadly, the most emotional that Tess had ever seen him. In a sudden swift movement, he swept her up into his arms and lifted Tess off her feet. She let out a little cry of surprise, but then wrapped her arms and legs around him, tears rolling down her cheeks. Eli was talking now, his voice muffled.