Page 77 of Dagger

One of the men let out a cry as he got hit in the shoulder.

Stalking toward him, I dragged him down, looking around to make sure nobody else was injured.

“I’m outta ammo,” somebody yelled.

“I’m runnin’ low,” another man shouted.

“We didn’t expect to get fuckin’ ambushed in the middle of the damned day,” Atlas retorted. “Arrow and Abe are down the basement gettin’ more firepower. Make every shot count.”

“Got it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Blood pounded through my ears as men rushed around, shouting instructions. Not one man freaked out or buckled under the pressure. Everyone knew what needed to be done, and they got on with it. Not for the first time, I sent up a prayer ofthanks that we’d made a conscious decision only to take trained men.

A loudboompulsed through the air.

I whipped my head around to see Billy standing behind the bar, aiming a shotgun through the doors.

“It’s like déjà vu,” he yelled, letting out a hoot. “I fuckin’ love this place. It’s the shit. Haven’t had fun like this since the last damned time those fuckers shot us up.” He clicked the barrel into place, pointed the shotgun through the doors, and fired another round with a loudboom.

“Ammo’s here,” Atlas shouted.

The boys hooted and hollered.

“Keep on those fuckers, Billy,” I ordered. “Cover Abe and Arrow.”

Billy replied with another cock of the gun, followed by a blast.

Within seconds, Arrow was by my side, throwing weapons and ammo from a giant plastic container on wheels to the boys who were shooting from the windows.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Bowie crowed as he caught a rifle from Arrow and loaded it up. Getting into a firing position, he peered through the sight and started taking potshots at the men outside.

“The women are gettin’ their asses out with the kids,” Atlas muttered from beside me.

Glancing back, I caught Elise’s eye. She was encouraging Sunny and Kady to crawl around the back of the tables that Reno had positioned in front of the corridor. I grabbed two handguns and some ammo and ran down the side of the room toward the women who were crawling out of the bar to safety.

“Leesy, here,” I called over, crouching and skidding the weapons over the floor to her. “Give one to Layla; she’s a good shooter. You still fire a gun?”

“Yeah,” she replied, catching hold of the weapons, then the ammo.

“Lock yourselves in, and don’t come out until one of us comes for you. Got it, baby?”

She stared at me, her expression one of concern. “Be careful, John. Please.”

I shot her a reassuring grin. “Always. Look after the women and kids, baby. I’ll come get you soon.”

She smiled back at me, and it hit me deep because, for a second, I saw the girl I loved down to my bones, back when we held the world in the palms of our hands.

“Go, Leesy,” I implored. “Get safe.”

She nodded, dropped to her knees, and crawled behind the table.

I breathed a sigh of relief before stalking back across the room toward Arrow. “Wanna come shootin’?”

His lips thinned. “Try and fuckin’ stop me, boss.”

We both grabbed rifles and hurried toward the stairs leading up to the roof when Atlas called out, “Prez.”

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