Page 73 of Fearless

Making my way over to where Quin and the girls were going through some photos of Charlie she’d printed off her phone, I squatted beside her. She’d watched my approach and I could tell by the look on her face, she knew something was up.

“I’ve gotta head out for a little while, baby.”

“The assholes?”

She’d started leaving the word “bio” out whenever she spoke about them since the fire. I’d even heard her refer to them as motherfuckers once.

“Yeah. I want you to stay here until I get back. It might be late, so sleep in one of the guest rooms. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“I’ll be fine, Alec. This needs to end.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine. “Please be careful. They’ve already taken so much from me. I can’t lose you too.”

“I swear I’ll be back for you and my little kiwi.”

She scrunched her nose. “What happened to olive?”

“It’s been a few weeks. He or she is the size of a kiwi now.”

“You’re a nut, but you’re my nut. I love you so much, Allesandro del Toro.”

“Love you too, Firefly.”

I took one last look at my girl, her eyes puffy and tired, then stalked across the room to join my brothers, both blood and chosen. Pop leaned against the door as we filed out one by one.

“Make me proud, boys.”

“Yes, sir,” we replied in unison before splitting up between Caleb’s Jeep and my SUV.

The trip to the police station, though short, was spent strategizing. Kolt was standing outside when we pulled up and after a quick briefing, where Caleb insisted on temporarily deputizing myself and my brothers, we were mobilized.

“Let’s finish this,” I growled, putting the SUV in drive.

Luc, Alec, and Keaton rode with me while Caleb had Gabe and Kolt. We didn’t have time to wait for an official SWAT team, so two officers of the law, an FBI agent, and four ex-military special forces officers would have to suffice. Honestly, it was probably overkill, considering we were dealing with two drug addicts, but they’d already taken one life too many.

The warehouse was located fifteen miles from the station, at an old abandoned trucking facility. We parked a quarter of a mile away and hiked our way through the surrounding woods to stay undetected. They must have gotten a heads-up that we were coming, though, because as I peered through a broken window on the side door of the abandoned building, they were hustling around, throwing their shit haphazardly into garbage bags.

Tapping on the earpiece Kolton had grabbed for each of us, I announced Keaton and I were in position. We split up into pairs, except for Luc. He’d grabbed a rifle from Caleb’s Jeep and made his way onto the roof of a neighboring building, giving him a better vantage point to cover our asses. I’d purposefully chosen to keep our federal friend at my side. I still didn’t trust him.

“We’ll make entry on my mark.” Caleb’s voice came through.

Pulling the Glock from the back of my pants, I turned to see Keaton doing the same.

“You ever been in a firefight?”

“Only simulated. Nothing real.”

Fuck my life.

“Stay behind me and do exactly what I tell you to do.”

There was no time for him to argue as Caleb began the countdown.

“Three. Two. One. Mark.”

Caleb and Kolt kicked open the front door, announcing themselves as Mountain Grove police officers. We slipped through the side door at the same time Gabe and Rico entered from the back. We had them surrounded, although any hopes of a peaceful surrender disappeared with Caleb’s next words.

“Don’t be an idiot, Carl. Put the gun down,” he shouted.

Rounding the corner, I was taken aback by the scene in front of me. I didn’t expect them to give up easily, however I also wouldn’t have expected to see Carl using Stacy as a human shield. He was tweaking, evidenced by his twitchy eyes which had a hard time focusing and his erratic movements.

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