As bullets start flying the shouts grow more panicked. What I hear of them before I start shooting at anyone that moves that’s not us.
The rest of our teams pour into the parking lot through the open gate, confusing the security guys even more. They’re quick on their feet though.
There’s not much cover behind the wall, just a few cars and vans. Luckily our side reaches them first. I plunged us into one hell of a fight. Good thing everyone on my side is highly trained.
We got nothing on the three Devils though. They’re moving around as though bullets weren’t flying everywhere, using their knives as soon as they get close enough to do so.
Hunter was downplaying how well trained they are. Each of them can take on at least three bad guys at once. So can I.
I run forward, ignoring Blade’s frenzied scream as he tries to stop me. Why would I stop? Two days ago, I finally got the revenge that was the only thing I lived for these last ten years. I’m a free man now. Free of my tethers to this world.
I’m back-to-back with Hunter for a while using my knife—Angel’s knife—to open a couple of throats. Then I’m on my own doing the same. Bullets keep missing me. Knife slashes do too. If I were still a believer, which I only sometimes am, I’d say God was on our side this morning. Finally. It’s been a while.
The cars we hid behind at first are moving now, security guys jumping in them as they flee the fight.
The sun seems no higher in the sky when I realize it’s just us and the Devils left standing in the lot.
“They’re all gone!” Blade shouts. “What now?”
“Now we check the building,” Hunter says and sprints for the door.
I look over the parking lot doing a head count, my chest constricting as I do. But all my men and women are still standing. Or at least looking like they could if they needed to.
Alice is down on one knee, stemming the blood that’s running out of a cut on her left arm. Blade is helping Creedregain his feet. There’s a cut across his forehead, but he’s grinning as Blade hoists him upright.
Minx is leaning heavily on Freak, but they both have nearly identical bright and alert looks on their faces.
I check the rest and no one seems to have suffered an injury that a couple of stitches won’t fix.
“There’s at least fifty women in there,” Blade informs me as he jogs up to me from the building. “They’re all chained up and some don’t look like they’re gonna make it much longer.”
“You gonna make the call?” Creed asks.
Dried blood is covering half his face, but the cut in his scalp seems to have stopped bleeding.
“Yeah, I’ll call Manny now,” I say. “LAPD’s finest will know what to do with the women. Round up everyone and start back to the clubhouse.”
Blade and Creed get to it, but I don’t make the call to my cousin just yet. Instead, I jog over to one of the Devils—Chance—who is frantically turning over the bodies of the security guys we’ve killed. Or almost killed since some of them still seem to be breathing.
“We gotta find the keys for the chains,” Chance says. “Else we’ll never get the women out.”
“I’m gonna call in the cops now,” I tell him.
The look he gives me could cut glass. “What the fuck? They’ll cart us away with all the rest of this scum.”
He kicks the security guy lying at his feet and a set of keys tumbles from his pocket.
“Try these,” I say as I pick them up and hand them to him. “And don’t worry, no one’s gonna come looking for you at the clubhouse. Rogue Angels MC has an arrangement with the LAPD.”
He scoffs. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it. But it won’t come to that.”
He runs back into the building, the keys in his hand jangling.
I should be making the call to the cops, but I’ll hold off until the Devils and the woman I hope they find in there are out of the building.
“What’s the hold up?” Blade asks as he comes to stand beside me.
“Just waiting for the Devils to find what they came here looking for,” I tell him. “They’ve got strong reasons to stay off the cops’ radar.”