Page 25 of Raider Unleashed

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” he bellowed, waving the gun at Piper. “You bitch! You left me there!”

Raider had gone back over to the kitchen and now stood behind the counter next to Piper. “Calm the fuck down,” he ordered. “Yelling will attract attention. We don’t want that.”

Denlo swung the nine-millimeter in his direction. “Shut up, asshole! No one is talking to you.” He swung the barrel back toward Piper. “What the fuck?” Denlo demanded.

She frowned. “We saw you.”

“You saw me? What the fuck does that mean? You saw me?” Denlo was waving the gun all around. Spittle collected in the corners of his mouth. His eyes were darting all around, lighting on nothing in particular.

Piper kept her voice calm and even. “In the convenience store. We saw you talking to the cashier guy and then the cop came up to you. We all thought you were getting busted. I mean it was crazy as hell to go in there with all those cops around. Then when we started to roll and you came outside, the cop came out with you. We figured we were all dead in the waterthen. If he got all of us, then the job was not gonna happen. It seemed like taking off was the smartest course of action.”

Denlo came across the room and put the gun up to Piper’s temple. “I want the truth, bitch or I put a bullet in your brain.”

Raider wanted to knock the gun from Denlo’s hand and throttle the man, but he’d always trusted Piper’s instincts and when she flashed out her hand on the counter, he took it as a sign that she had this. He adjusted his position next to her, to where he’d have a good angle at striking the man’s temple to knock him off balance. He’d give her the space she needed but would stand ready, just in case.

Piper’s throat worked, like she was swallowing hard, but she managed to keep her voice neutral. “I am telling you, we thought you were getting busted. All of us getting busted wouldn’t have helped our cause.”

“I don’t believe you,” Denlo snarled.

“It’s— It’s the truth,” Baker said with a slight tremor in his voice. “We—we could see through the window into the convenience store and those cops were all over you. We thought for sure you were getting busted. We figured we would come back here and wait for you. If you didn’t show, then we’d all go our separate ways.”

Piper’s hand shook slightly but she kept her voice sounding smooth, even a little bored. “We did think?—”

Denlo took a step back and waved the gun at the whole group. “You fuckers. If I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll kill every one of you. And it won’t be quick or painless.”

Piper nodded. She glanced at Wells and Baker. They nodded too.

“We’re telling the truth,” Wells said as he ran a hand over his head. “Honest to God, it looked like you were getting busted. We have a van full of equipment to rob something big, including explosives. We did not want to get caught with that kind ofcontraband, but we came back to meet you. We’re still up for the job.”

Denlo’s narrowed his eyes, the squint making him look deadly. “From now on, you all are going to do every fucking thing I say when I say it, understand?” He pointed the gun at Piper. “You understand,” he said to her and then turned to Raider. “Do you understand? Because if any one of you screws up in any way, she dies. Are we clear?”

Although his stomach was pitching toward his boots, Raider nodded. Only years of training for these kinds of lethal scenarios kept him from reaching across the counter and snapping the asshole’s neck. He’d play along.For now. There might come a point where playing along wasn’t going to work any longer. The ATF would just have to live with those consequences because if this guy kept threatening Piper this way, Raider wasn’t sure he could contain himself.

Denlo gave one final glare to the entire group and then grabbed the bag of food off the counter. Glancing inside he swore. “Go get some sleep. We can’t do the job tonight. Don’t even think about going anywhere.” He put the food bag back on the counter. “Give me the van keys.”

Piper handed over the van keys. Raider wasn’t pleased but he wasn’t as bothered since the ATF now knew where they were and if they needed help they should be able to get it. Plus there was always his burner cell phone. He’d tucked it back in his boot and breathed a bit easier knowing they had that out.

Still, being trapped here wasn’t ideal.

“Now, get some sleep. We’re doing this tomorrow night no matter what.” Denlo put the gun in his waistband, grabbed the bag again, and stalked out of the room.

Wells and Baker looked at Raider, who cocked his head toward the hall Denlo had just rushed down. “Do what the mansays. Get some sleep. Tomorrow night will come quickly and we’re all gonna need to be on our game.”

Baker nodded. Wells just shook his head. The two disappeared down the hall.

Piper turned to him. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“With you.” The words were out before he even thought about them, but he knew it was true. There was no way in hell he was leaving Piper alone with Denlo being so on edge. One wrong move and that asshole would go ballistic.

Piper stared at him for a beat but then nodded. She went across the room and down the hall as well. The primary bedroom she’d used before was already occupied. So were the other two rooms with double beds. He followed her into the last room with a set of bunk beds with Star Wars comforters.

Piper slipped into the bathroom and Raider waited by the bunks. He’d let her take the inside. Easier to protect that way. He needed to be able to get up in a hell of a hurry and just the idea of being trapped on the inside gave him hives.

This whole situation had him on high alert. He hated not knowing what the hell was going on. Every instinct he possessed told him Fielding wasn’t telling the whole truth. Chambers was just sucking up, as near as Raider could figure it. He overheard one of the young guys on the ATF team say that lately, Chambers was a real bear. Ever since his divorce was finalized. Maybe the guy was bucking for a promotion to help pay alimony? Would make sense. He shouldn’t complain too much. Chambers had come through in the end and gotten people mobilized here on the Big Island. He owed the guy for that, and he’d obviously kept a close eye on Piper which was good. Since she didn’t have Raider to do it, someone needed to.

Piper emerged from the bathroom and crossed the hall to the room, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. “So I guess we’re sharing. Do you want top or bottom?”

So many things flooded his mind. All kinds of memories of various positions they’d tried. It damn near killed him not to grab her and kiss the daylights out of her. Instead, he cocked an eyebrow and said, “I seem to remember you like it on top.”

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