Page 71 of Escape You

I rubbed the inside of my ring finger. The wedding band was gone but not the feeling that for a whole day I felt married to Tyler. “Just don’t give up on her.” I pointed at my belly.

“Never. I promise.”

We sat in silence while the sun made its way down toward the horizon. As soon as the city lights twinkled through the tall windows, my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen. Transportation had been handled. We were a go.

“It’s time. I’ll ride with Vic. Be careful.” I took his large hand in mine. “Try not to get shot tonight.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He let the words linger in the air. A reminder of what we had the time we were together, when we had sex all night, and before this whole marriage went to shit. “This diversion thing, don’t do anything crazy.”

“Just get the people to safety.” I rose to my feet. Nodding to Wesley and Matt on the way to the door, I walked out of the building with Vic close behind. “I can’t believe that worked.”

“That was the easy part. Let’s hope they deliver.”

“Do they have all the details? Routes, times?” I faced Vic, who gave me a look that said this wasn’t his first rodeo. “Sorry. I’m nervous. I really wish we could’ve done this without Tyler.”

“Seems to me they were getting ready to make a move anyway. He has something to lose in this too. Don’t forget Rossi doesn’t forget or forgive.”

Vic was right, of course. If Tyler had had any intention of getting to safety, he would have left the city the day his brothers came to the hospital. Hell, his brothers should have left by now too. They all stayed because they had a vendetta with Rossi and the new Maracaibo boss.

“Are you sure you want to stick to the plan? I can easily take your place.” The tone in his voice said he was worried about me. His job was to keep me alive and give me sound advice, but ever since he’d found out I was pregnant, he’d changed. He was more than concerned—he was afraid for me.

“I’m good.” I climbed in the back seat of the waiting SUV while Vic darted around to get behind the wheel.

“It’s crazy what you’re planning to do.” He turned on the ignition and headed back to Jersey.

“That’s why it’s going to work. Rossi thinks I’m too dumb to come up with a real plan. You saw the light security he’d put in place. I’m giving him exactly what he wants. I’m playing the stupid girl who wants to play with the big boys and their big guns. I’m showing up with guns blazing. He’ll be so pissed he won’t have time to think about what Tyler and his brothers are doing.”

“I wish the guns blazing part was a metaphorical phrase.” He glanced at his laptop sitting on the front passenger seat. “The guys are in position. They’re just waiting on you.”

When we reached the hospital parking lot, Vic dropped me off with my guys and took off to set up and run the operation from Manny’s room. I hopped on the bus and tapped Tom on the shoulder. With a quick nod, he shut the doors. The tires rolled out slowly as he maneuvered his way toward the exit.

I grabbed my shoulder holster from the front row seat and slipped into it. Both my guns hung heavy in the leather straps. Behind me, twenty-five of my best soldiers stared at me as if I had all the answers to the universe. Far from it, all I had was a crazy ass plan to get Rogue River back.

“Man, it’s good to be back.” I smiled at their nervous faces. Some of them nodded, while others clutched their weapons closer to their chests. “The bad news, guys, is we’re not doing this for money. The good news is that after tonight, we’ll have our town back. So don’t fuck it up. We’ll have five minutes to wreak havoc, and then we’ll get back on the bus and go out shooting. Our job is to keep everyone’s attention on us. Got it?”

I got yeahs all around. Truth was, ever since Rossi showed up at Allie’s bar when we were loading the trucks headed for Mexico, I’d been in the mood to shoot something. Or more specifically, to shoot Rossi. I had to guess the guys felt the same way.

The bus slowed down. I held on to the backrest and ducked to gauge where we were. Tom pulled into the parking lot of the gym-warehouse and slowly came to a complete stop right across from the front door. My heart rate spiked when I realized this had been the spot where Uncle Mickey got shot to death last month.

I stepped off the bus and waited as the guys lined up along the length of the bus. I filled up with oxygen and then let out a long breath. The still quiet of the night fell on us like a cool blanket. As soon as I gave the signal, my team moved out.

Guns blazing was the only way to go.

22

A Different Kind of Good Guys

Tyler

The earpiece shrieked when Mia’s team started shooting at their own gym. Glass shattered and rained down on the parking lot asphalt. I met Matt’s gaze as we both listened to Mia barking orders at her crew. Her raspy voice and heavy breathing were soothing to me.

I was glad she’d come to me for help. I’d been crawling out of my skin, worried she’d try to take Rossi on her own. I had no doubt she’d tried to work out this heist without me. Mia was a boss first. In the end, she did what was best for her crew. She’d put her feelings aside and do what was asked of her. That side of her was one of the reasons I’d fallen so hard for her.

“She can handle herself. Let’s focus on our task. The people in there have no one but us.” Matt cradled my neck until I nodded.

I had to get her out of my mind. At least until everyone was on the bus safe and sound. “I know.” I glanced over my shoulder at Wesley, and he offered a quick nod. As soon as the three guards doing a perimeter run darted toward the front entrance to provide backup, we moved in.

Tall trees and a starless night provided enough cover for us to move closer to the building. The secret door to the storage room was located straight ahead. Mia had called it a door, but it was more like a large vent access. I pulled off the cover and set it to the side. We had no idea what we were going to find inside, but we also had no time to sit here and contemplate our options. Mia’s diversion would buy us ten minutes, tops.

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