Page 123 of Dagger

I heard Cara whispering to Cash how much she loved him over and over again, and my heart burned. Tears sprang to my eyes as I lay inside that SUV and prayed to God to take me and let the girls and all the children be okay.

“Cash said to hold tight,” Cara whispered. “Hendrix is a minute away. We’ve just got to stay calm until—”

A high-pitched whistle pierced the air, and my body jerked at the nasally-toned voice that followed.

“Bitches, out of the car. Be quick, and bring the kids with ya.”

Craning my neck up, I peeked out of the window. My heart seized when I saw a short, stocky guy approaching. His hair was buzzed, and he had a huge tattoo covering one side of his face. My stomach sank when I saw his leather cut with the skull with flames coming out of it.

The Burning Sinners.

I clutched Sophie’s hand, meeting her frightened gaze. “We don’t have a choice,” I confessed reluctantly. “We have to get out. Move slowly and take your time. Hendrix will be here soon. Keep calm and stay behind me.”

“Cash said I have to keep him on the line,” Cara stated. “He wants to hear everything so he can relay it to Hendrix and his men in real-time.”

I took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart, then I straightened and slid my ass across the seat before gingerly opening the car door and waiting for Sophie to gather Belle in her arms and follow me, along with the rest of the girls and kids.

The biker watched us emerge from the car, leering at us with his gun aimed forward. He flicked it toward a group of bikers who were kicking Reno, who lay face down on the ground. Iris and Sera sat on the ground with the other ol’ ladies and kids from Maze’s car. A few were huddled together, crying. The sound of the kid’s sniffles traveled over the breeze, and my heart shriveled painfully inside my chest.

The third SUV was about twenty feet away. My stomach churned when I saw the windows on the inside covered in blood. I glanced around trying to locate where Maze was.

“Move it.” The biker jerked the barrel of his gun again. “Over there with the others.”

We obeyed and slowly, began to walk.

“Jesus,” Cara hissed, jerking her head left. “Is that Ashley?”

The road on the far side of the SUV came into view, and I saw a woman lying on her back in the road with blood pooling all around her body. Her eyes were open, and she stared blankly at the sky.

A wave of recognition washed over me, and my chest filled with pain for Fender’s wife who lay dead. My wide-eyed stare slid to the SUV where Maze’s body was half-hanging from the driver’s seat. The blood on the windshield was obviously his, seeing as he had half his face blown off.

Sophie and I shot each other a horrified look.

“Can I see if I can help them?” Sophie asked beseechingly. “I’m a doctor.”

The rest of the Sinners began to laugh.

“Move it,” the Sinner ordered, his tone steely. “Don’t got all day.”

“Please, sir. I need to go back for my sons. They’re just babies,” Layla begged.

Looking between them both, I called, “She’ll need help. They’re newborns; she can’t manage them both by herself.”

He jerked a nod. “Make it quick, and don’t try anything or you’ll end up like them.” He jerked his gun toward Maze and Ashley.

I waited for Layla to pass Sunny and Willow off to Sophie and Cara, then, grabbing her hand, I pulled her back toward our car and murmured, “Someone will be here to help soon; we need to stall them.”

She gave me a small nod, tears filling her eyes. “I hid the gun in my purse. As soon as help gets here, we’ll take cover behind the closest SUV and wait it out. If any of them come for us, I’ll shoot them. They killed Ashley and Maze. I won’t let them hurt anybody else.”

We approached the car, going to opposite doors so we could each grab a baby. I leaned inside and unstrapped Byron from hischild seat, watching Layla transfer the gun from her purse to the diaper back. “Don’t take any chances,” I said under my breath. “You’ve got four kids. Give me the gun.”

“I’m the best shot,” she breathed, unclipping the restraints and gently lifting Finley from his seat. “I know what I’m doing, Elise. Bowie and Soph trained me.”

Sliding my hands under Byron’s tiny armpits, I carefully pulled him into my arms.

Layla was right—she was the best shot out of the women—but I still had a bad feeling about her getting involved. All the women were strong in their own ways—I’d even say they were badass, but barring Sophie, we weren’t trained on the same level as the men. For thirty years I’d survived Robert and his brutality, but it was purely because I’d learned to pick my battles wisely, and this was a battle I didn’t want her, or any of the others, involved in.

My mind went to Ashley lying dead on the road, and my heart clenched painfully. The thought of the same thing happening to Layla made me ache inside.

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