Page 34 of Gunner

Everyone’s voices clash together, their fury growing by the second. If anyone has a right to be pissed, it’s me. As soon as I took one look at Lil, all bruised and beat up, I was ready to burn the whole goddamn world down. Adding in that they took Caleb only guaranteed I wouldn’t make their deaths easy. I’ll destroy every last one of those motherfuckers and I’m not waiting to do it.

“Quiet!” Venom barks, his booming voice echoing around the enclosed space. All eyes fall to him as he demands our attention. “I hear a lot of shit, but no one’s saying anything useful. We need a fucking plan.”

“They blow up our shit, we blow up theirs. That’s the plan,” Jerk interjects.

“Can’t exactly do that if we don’t know where the kid is, now can we? We gotta be smart about this, boys. Use our fucking heads,” Venom reminds us. “And we need to run this clean. We can’t have this shit coming back on us with the fucking mayor all over our asses.”

Everyone goes silent. We know he’s right, especially about that jackass, Mayor Prescott. Suddenly, we’ve got surprise inspections at our construction sites and strip club, and the cops had one of our prospects on a 24-hour hold without charges, just suspicion. This comes after they had Sketch and Boner locked up on numerous fake allegations, then claimed it was mistaken identity and let them go.

I glance over to Crusher, presently sitting to my left with a pensive expression on his face. “We need to draw them out. But it’s gotta be damn fast. Don’t give 'em any time to do something stupid inside their clubhouse while we’re raising hell out front.”

“Okay, what are you thinking?” Venom nods, rubbing his chin with the side of his index finger.

“Jerk, you wanted an explosion? Fine, you can have one.”

His lips curl into a sinister smile as he looks across the table at Crusher.

“We surround their compound, creating a diversion outside. When they scatter like fucking cockroaches, Reaper will take them down with his sniper rifle, while half of us hit those running out and the rest raid the building.” Crusher’s gaze flicks to everyone in the room. “We won’t get all those bastards today, but we should get the majority of them. Either way, our message will be loud and fucking clear.”

“You’re a fucked-up man, but I like it.” Pride shines in Venom’s eyes while he points at my best friend. “Hash out the details with the boys. We all in favor?”

I look around the room as my brothers confirm they’re on board.

“Done. Then get the fuck outta here. We got some trash to take out.” He stabs his hunting knife into the old wooden table.

I stay behind with Sentinel, Throttle, Crusher, Reaper, and Maverick, mapping out the details. Maverick doesn’t have eyes inside their compound, but going by the street cam footage, no vehicles have approached over the last few hours. That leads us to believe Caleb isn’t there, but we can’t be sure.

I wish we could wait to confirm, but Striker is a volatile son of a bitch. And he gives zero fucks about the boy. I wouldn’t put it past him to kill his own son just to keep him away from me and the Disciples. We need to move fast and catch them off guard. Because time isn’t on our side. And it’s not on theirs either.

“Christ, man, at least let him put his dick away,” I mutter to Reaper, who’s currently looking through the scope of his semi-automatic sniper rifle. He loves that thing almost as much as his Harley.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he replies to me with a grin.

I scan the overgrown lot, observing the men guarding the front of the Outlaws’ compound. What a fucking joke. Don’t see how they can be watching the place when they’re half-drunk and barely paying attention. The smiles on their smug faces are almost enough for me to give Reaper the signal to pick them off. But I need to be smart and keep a cool head about this. Stick to the plan and follow through.

“Nobody wants to see his useless cock. Let him finish pissing before you hit 'em, alright?”

Reaper feigns disappointment, as I pat him on the shoulder before heading back down the hill. That fucker is into some twisted shit sometimes.

The Outlaws picked a decent piece of land for their clubhouse, but they didn’t clear the area for shit. They don’t even have a fucking gate to keep out intruders. And there are way too many hiding spots for anyone who’d want to ambush them, but that works in our favor right now.

The Disciples aren’t a paranoid bunch, but we damn sure plan for the worst and have all our bases covered. We treat our place like a damn fortress. No one gets within half a mile of our clubhouse without us knowing about it. Maverick has sensors and cameras fucking everywhere, so if anyone gets close to our property, we’ll be ready.

I join Venom and our brothers below. Half of us are flanking the front sides of the compound, hidden by the tree line. The rest are in the back, led by Throttle and Crusher, ready to charge in.

“Everyone’s in place. Sentinel will give the signal when it’s time,” I tell Prez. “Once Reaper starts shooting, we move.”

I look across the lot and find Sentinel’s eyes on me, his head dipping in a curt nod. Then I hear his voice come across the two-way radio, giving Reaper the go-ahead. Two loud pops and the boozed-up bikers at the edge of the property go down with bullets lodged in their skulls. Followed by a loud explosion when Reaper shoots the gas tanks of several bikes lined up out front. Within seconds, orchestrated chaos ensues and we’re closing in on the Outlaws.

Confusion is written all over their faces as they come stumbling out of the building. They really are a sorry group, looking sloppy and uncoordinated. My brothers don’t waste any time, charging at them from all directions. It’s a full-on war now, as both sides clash, guns drawn and shots fired.

I watch several more Outlaws go down and want to piss on their bodies for good measure. But I have my own mission, which is to get inside and find my boy. He may not be my biological son, but I’m claiming him, just as I have Lily. And I’m not leaving here without my goddamn kid.

I race inside, my gun raised, firing off round after round. I gravely wound two Outlaws before shooting one in the knee and shoulder, bringing him to the ground just so I can stand over the fucker when I take him out for good. I want to see his eyes, and I want him to see mine.

Then, I’m moving again, desperate to find Caleb. I kick open every fucking door and clear each room as I search for any sign of a small child. Only to find nothing.

He isn’t here.

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