Page 21 of The Sentinels

Sid released a heavy sigh. "We were already keeping eyes on the assholes and were ready to act if necessary." He shrugged. "I don't mind getting my hands dirty for a good cause."

"Some of us have families," Mark growled, most likely thinking about the baby he had on the way. "Once the Hellraisers realize that we're actively running them out of town it will mean war."

"There are twenty of us," Rod quipped, folding his arms.

"Against fifty plus," William reminded him gruffly, his brown eyes snapping.

"The numbers don't bother me," Gabe said with confidence. "We can call in brothers from another charter to make it equal."

"If we do this, we'll send our families to the safe house in St. Augustine. They'll be guarded twenty-four-seven until this is over." Tanner turned his eyes onto the quiet Callahan. "We help you with this, we do it our way." Something passed between them, and finally Callahan slowly nodded.

Tanner then glanced at me. I made sure Callahan knew what we'd expect from him. "You make sure your officers stay out of our way. This isn't going to be as simple as asking them to leave," I demanded firmly. "This is going to get violent and dirty."

"I guarantee they won't give you any trouble," Callahan began, getting to his feet. "They've got families, too. And they know what happened to that cop and his girl in Georgia."

Yeah, that had been bad. A good cop just trying to do his job. He'd made a fatal mistake in confronting two Hellraisers who’d been giving a clerk a hard time at a convenience store. He hadn't been in uniform; he'd been on a date with his woman. The two bikers had backed off and left. Later that night, the cop's burned out car had been found with two bodies inside. It had later been determined that they'd been burned alive. Their bodies had been handcuffed together on the steering wheel.

No one had been arrested for the crime because there'd been no witnesses, only speculation that the Hellraisers had had a hand in it. Two bikers had been seen leaving the area around the time of the fire, but it had been too dark to see who they were.

"Brothers?" The room grew quiet. I recognized Tanner’s tone. He was done talking and wanted our answers. He glanced at each of us, waiting just long enough for the chin lift that indicated our vote was “yes” before moving on to the next brother. He took a deep breath and met the questioning look in Callahan's eyes. "We'll do it."

Christ, we were fools, but Daytona was our town, and we'd do whatever it took to protect it, and our families. There was going to be war. We were going to get our hands bloody. It was the only way with men like the Hellraisers. The only thing they'd understand.

I should have taken out the five assholes that had been messing with me that morning.

Deputy Callahan got to his feet with a look of satisfaction on his face. "Be careful." He dug for something in his pocket and handed it to Tanner. "The names of my men."

Tanner waited until Callahan was out the door before saying, "Put a sign on the door saying we don't open until five, and lock it. We need to make plans." Sully got up to take care of it. "Bonnie!" he called out. She'd been in the back getting ready to open.

"Yes, boss?" She entered the room, drying her hands on a towel.

"Honey, I want you to call everyone on the schedule and tell them not to come in until five. Then I want you to leave."

I could see that she wanted to ask why, but I knew that she wouldn't. "Sure." She hesitated, glancing around the table. None of us looked happy at the moment. "Want me to make a fresh pot of coffee before leaving?"

"I think we're gonna need something stronger," Pete said. There was a murmur of agreement.

"Whiskey and tequila," Heath suggested.

Bonnie smiled. "You got it." She turned and went back to the bar.

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. It had been a long time since we'd had to deal with shit of this magnitude. War. We knew all about war. Sure, we'd been out of the service for a long fucking time, but each one of us remembered what it had been like. How hard we'd had to fight to keep alive. It was simple. It was us or them.

I wondered if this would be the war that would destroy the Sentinels.

Chapter 13

Emerson

I'd just gotten out of the shower when I heard my phone ringing. I snatched it up from the vanity, saw that it was Ruby, and brought it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, girl, get your swimsuit on and get your ass over here, the others are coming and we're going to lie out in the sun and drink margaritas all day."

"I just got a shower," I laughed. I had to admit that the thought of lazing around in the sun sounded good, though, and the margaritas even better.

"So? You can get another one. I know you're off today. You don't have any plans, do you?"

I thought about Doyle. We'd gone out the night before and he'd mentioned calling me today to do something, but I wasn't about to wait around by the phone. I wasn't that woman. And then I thought of Ace. Would I make a concession for him? "No plans," I said.

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