Page 134 of Savior

I spun toward the sound, reaching for my gun before lowering my hands with a sigh. “Jimmy, sweetie, the fuck are you doing here? You’re supposed to be leading the Sons down south so that Daddy can wrap up things here.”

He stepped into the clearing. “And we were, pumpkin. But, Masterson had a wild hair and decided to track his wife’s phone.”

“And?” I asked, the back of my neck prickling in fear. “They’re at the house, right?”

Jimmy straightened uncomfortably. “They’re here, Mike… along with all the Sons. Wolverine spotted them along the ridge just over there. We get within ten feet of that cabin, and they’re gonna light us up.”

Please be wrong.

I rubbed at the stubble on my cheek. “Lauren? Celia?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I swear to god, I told them to stay put. I’ve wracked my brain, trying to figure out why the fuck they’d come here.”

“She led them here, which means I’ve got to work quickly. I called Bear, said he and his crew can be here in…” I checked my watch. “Twenty minutes. It’s not a lot of fucking time, we’ve got to stick with the original plan.”

“They’ll shoot you the minute you’re in range—”

“Not if they know who I am, they won’t.” I grinned. “Jimmy boy, let’s end this without getting dead, okay?”

He clapped me on the shoulder and glanced at the storage building with a grin. “Let’s see if Torch can’t create a bit of diversion for you.”

Within minutes, Torch had all three buildings lit up like the goddamn Fourth of July. I wound my way through the woods to the cabin, pausing in the shadows as the Sons raced toward the inferno.

“What are you gonna do, Sullivan?” I asked myself. “Stroll up to the front door like you own the joint? Why yes, yes I am.”

The two bikers on the porch scrambled to their feet as I came into view. I had a bullet in each of them before they’d even drawn their weapons.

“You step one foot onto this porch, and I’ll kill everyone in here,” my mother called through the door.

I’d spent weeks tracking her movements, wanting to believe it was someone else. I hadn’t wanted to believe that the woman who’d baked pies and run charity auctions at church could be the mastermind behind it all. When she left the state, I forced myself to follow, knowing she was going to lead me right to my father.

“Is that any way to treat the prodigal son?”

The front door opened immediately, and Betsy swayed on her feet, staring at me like she was looking at a ghost. “You—you died!”

I climbed the steps, keeping my gun down by my side. “See, we in the biz call that misdirection.” I waved my fingers mystically. “Good to see you, Ma. Care to chat inside? Okay, cool."

She continued staring out onto the porch as I brushed past her, scanning the faces along the wall until I found Lauren’s. The others looked relatively unscathed, but my girl had put up a fight. “Darlin’, thought we had an agreement. No more running off to war without my permission.”

Her lips curved up into a small smile. “Thought I could handle it, Tex.”

“Wanna tell me who battered your pretty little face?” I kept the grin on my own while staring down the men in the room. “Anybody? Anybody here wanna admit to laying a finger on my pregnant wife?”

“Kyle,” Lauren stated. “Asshole sucker punched me.”

I shoved the gun back into the holster and stormed toward the miniature cop. “Barton?”

“It was—I was just—”

I threw my arm into the side of his head, laying him out on his back, unconscious. “That,” I panted. “That’s a motherfucking haymaker. One and done. Comedian taught me that—”

“Junior?” A broken voice cried out.

I’d been so focused on getting to Lauren that I hadn’t even looked to the other side of the room. Celia knelt beside Comedian, holding a blood-soaked piece of clothing to his chest. His head slumped forward, and his eyes fell shut as his body fought to conserve what little strength it had left.

The man who’d been my hero my entire life lay nearby, nothing more than a walking skeleton. I’d wanted to believe that Saint was a man because it seemed impossible that a woman could be that sadistic.

When my eyes landed on the body in the corner, I brought my split knuckles up to my mouth in a growl.

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