Page 132 of Hell Breaks Loose

They clearly know who I am.

And I was right to hesitate to take the lead. Even so…

Taking a breath, I head for the line, ignoring the protests of my ‘honor’ guard.

“Hell!” Gavin rumbles.

“Go find Ora,” I clip right back at him.

“Why don’t you go find Ora?” Gavin snips. He’s still on edge. Not that I can blame him.

I'm about to turn on him and give him a piece of my mind when a little shadow darts through the crowd.

“I found her!” Ora chirps, popping up beside me. “Me, I mean.”

“Thank goodness. Any word on what they want?” Gavin manages to pause my charge forward with an arm on my shoulder.

“They came in slow. Announced themselves,” one of the bulky bikers states, never taking his eyes off the sights of his rifle.

“And we know that because?”

“Because Alaya was on the lookout. And is still on lookout,” Ora announces with a smirk.

That is good news. No one can shoot like her. Got to give the sniper-queen props there.

“Then why did she wait until they were in the valley to say something?”

“I’m sure she had her reasons.” Ora pats the air between them. Gavin only scowls back at her. I’m with him on the topic of Alaya.

But I keep my thoughts to myself.

“That’s all fine and dandy, but who are they?” Tell asks, sounding more than a little irked.

“Ora-Tora,” Alaya’s voice scratches over the radio.

She’s taking binoculars from one of her men as she answers. “What’s the razzle, Miss Dazzle?”

“They’ve hunkered down. Waiting for something. You need to see who’s leading them, though. So does Hell’s Bells.” The radio bleeps once and goes silent.

“Do we all have call signs now?” Tell mumbles to Gavin, who grimaces. Why he’s not stepping in is just one of many questions on my mind.

Ora scopes the scene below out for several seconds. “Is that…?”

She passes them to me, pointing to one figure at the head of the procession.

“It’s Sing! And a whole shitload of Marco’s men.” I scan the faces, noting Jay, Mannie. A few others stand out, including some of the more recent additions who came in with the boss himself.

Most of them I only had run-ins with at the compound.

But there are just as many who must have come up from Cali for the wedding-slash-invasion.

“They want you up front, Clive!” a gangly, shirtless man in overalls cries, trotting up the path.

“Of course they do. Couldn’t this have waited until noon? Until after breakfast and more round two on?—”

“Ahem,” I clear my throat, giving her a sly smile and waving her on.

“I’m just saying, it’s fucking early,” Ora bitches, mussing up her hair and clomping down the hill. “And why me? Hell’s right there.”

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