Page 78 of Eagle

I gripped her arm with both hands. “No, no. She’s not part of this.”

“Stop squirming,” he said as he reached in to grab her by the waist.

She pushed and hit, and I held onto her, then swung my leg up, trying to connect with his balls. I think I grazed them because he went still and grunted, then glared up at me.

Before he could reach for her again, gunshots rang out and Shiv turned, so I tried to push her down into the floorboard. “Get down!”

I rolled up into a ball as best I could, covering my head with my arms as glass shattered and more shots rang out. It probably wasn’t the best position, but it was all involuntary.Curl in a ball and cover your head. Peeking over, I decided this was better than laying in the seat because then someone could grab my feet and easily drag me out.

The shots seemed to slow, then stop, so I peeked out the front window and tears filled my eyes. I knew that cut and that Grim Reaper anywhere. And one of them was mine.Eagle was here.

“Oh my God. My man’s here, Shiv. Just hold on.” New tears filled my eyes but they were of hope and relief.

She sniffled. “I’m holding.” Yeah. She was crying for sure.

“If we live through this, I owe you big time.”

“I want my biker daddy, goddammit. And a fucking drink!”

“All the biker daddies and all the drinks, I promise.”

I still had my arms over my head, but leaned to look out the front windshield again as the shots slowed. My body recoiled as another flurry of shots rang out. I was tucked into a ball behind the seat, wondering if he was alright. Falcon and Butch were with him, but I didn’t see anyone else from DE. I didn’t get to look but for a second, though.

Turning in the seat, I looked out the back windshield, but didn’t see anyone else. I had to trust that they knew best and could take down however many guys were on the other side. But with the addition of the car, it was six to three.

Looking out the side window, I watched as the driver of the car was hiding behind the open door. He stood up and aimed a gun toward the bikers, but glass shattered and he crumpled to the ground. A shot had gone through the drivers’ side window.

Glancing over, it was Butch who took the shot and he was rushing to the SUV. I never thought I’d be happy to see him, but right now, he was a sight for sore eyes. Even though I had already tried the door and knew I couldn’t open it, I tugged on the handle.

Butch slung the door open and looked at me, then down at Shiv. “Who the hell is that?”

I grabbed his arms. “My friend. She’s with me. Where’s Eagle?”

“In the hangar making sure nobody else is a threat. C’mon,” he said as he pulled me out and onto my feet. I turned and tried to help Shiv climb from the awkward position on the floorboard. But she was still struggling to get out of the tight spot when arms went around my waist and pulled me away.

“Wait! My friend! We can’t leave her there, Butch!”

Instead of some kind of snarky reply, he kept walking, easily carrying me. Something was wrong. This was all wrong. More shots rang out. Eagle wouldn’t have wanted me in the line of fire.

“What the fuck are you doing, Butch?” I asked as I started trying to free myself from his grasp.

“Shut up and nothing will happen to you.” Butch walked around to the driver’s side of the car and stepped over the man, trying to push me inside.

I put my arms on the door frame and kicked my legs as hard as I could. “Eagle! Eagle!” I screamed as loud as I could. Looking through the car out of the passenger side window, Shiv was sitting in the SUV, looking at me with wide eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Hey!” Eagle shouted, but Butch didn’t let up.

Butch kept pushing. “Get in the car or I will kill you, Lacy.”

“I’d rather die than go with you!” I screeched out. Movement in my peripheral caught my attention and it must have caught Butch’s, because his pushing let up enough for me to slip between him and the car, so I took off running.

Eagle was already almost to me and I pounded the pavement trying to get to him. I could barely see as we closed the distance and it all seemed to be going in slow motion. “Eddie,” I mouthed, unable to even get the sound out as I ran as fast as I could.

His look of determination turned to horror. “Lacy! Get down!” He raised his gun and shots rang out just as he plowed into me and rolled our bodies.

We fell to the ground and a loud engine came to life. Tilting my head, I screamed as the car started to move toward us. But right before it got to us, Jackal came running over and somehowtossed us out of the way.

When I opened my eyes, Jackal winced and grabbed at his thigh as he fell to his knees and the car peeled out.

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