Page 169 of Steel

“I’m going to keep this quick. Three-hundred-yard radius. No idea of the trajectory. Cover as much ground as you can. I want this fucker alive, but take him out if you need to. Protecting yourselves and our people are our first priority.”

After checking on my girls one more time, I join my brothers in the search for the shooter. Crow meets up with us after they take off with Sage to Kiwi’s clinic.

Wraith pulls his phone from his pocket, glancing at the screen then turning to us. “Phantom found the sniper’s nest.”

“Goin’ to let the prospects know to take Bailee and Lyric to the clinic. Be better protected there,” I tell Wraith.

He nods. “Meet back up with us. I’ll ping you our location.”

I jog back to where a couple brothers are surrounding a group of women and kids. “Get them all to the clinic. Follow on your bikes.”

I find Bailee and Lyric in the group and head toward them. Bailee has Lyric on her lap, surrounding her with her body as much as possible. Lyric has her face buried in Bailee’s chest.

Fuck. Sometimes I hate this life.

It’s why I tried so fucking hard to make it work with Heather. Being with her meant Lyric had a semi-safe place to land away from this lifestyle. Lot of good that did—she ended up in danger being with her anyway.

“Doin’ good, baby girl?” I ask, brushing the hair from her cheek then running my hand down Lyric’s head.

Bailee stares at me with a fierce expression. “Did you get him yet?”

I rub a hand across my lips to keep the smile hidden. “No, but we’re workin’ on it. Need you at the clinic where they can protect you both.”

“If that’s what you need, then that’s where we’ll be.”

Bailee reaches out to grab my beard and pulls my face to hers for a quick kiss. “Keep yourself safe, bossman.”

Wrapping my fingers around her neck, I rest our foreheads together. “Got every reason in the fuckin’ world to.” I brush my lips across hers again before turning to my daughter. “Go with Bee. I’ll be by to get you all as soon as I can. That okay with you?”

Lyric nods. “Bee will keep me safe.”

After kissing my girls goodbye, I rejoin my brothers and head out to search for the motherfucker who dared touch a Dirty Maverick’s Old Lady.

Our search into the early morning light is futile. Whoever it was is long gone, leaving very little evidence for us to find. Phantom led us to where they had a vehicle stashed, but there was nothing for us to find other than tire tracks that were left behind. Not sure where that’s going to get us, but Trucker made a cast of the tracks so they can be passed off to Jake anyway. Crow said he was going to send a copy of the cast to the hacker he’s got working on his family’s case. They’ll probably get further than normal channels can. Hell, we couldn’t even find any shell casings, which leads Phantom to believe whoever did this is either a professional or they’ve got a hell of a lot of experience and know better than to leave them behind.

Not fucking worried, though. The Dirty Mavericks always get their man, and this time won’t be any different.

No matter how long it takes us.

Chapter forty-one

The attack at thebonfire should have been enough warning that things were heating back up. Even though the attack came from the shit going on with Crow, it was only a matter of time before Killer started his shit back up. I didn’t know which direction it was going to come from, but he would be hitting somewhere. He’s already been keeping us on our toes with the way he’s changed up his normal signature. Instead of coming for Bailee directly, like he typically would, he’s playing psychological games. He’s chosen to come after the club for protecting her.

When the alert from the security system at Dirty Wrench goes off a few days later, I know he’s chosen his intended target.

I stand inside the shop, staring around at the broken mess of glass and the dented metal of cars that belong to customers.

Thank fuck we have insurance, otherwise, the amount that’d come out of the club’s pockets would hit us hard.

“They also hit the trucks carrying our shipment of alcohol for Sinful Saloon,” Crank says from beside me.

“Shit. How bad?” I ask.

“Lost the driver. Bullet to the head. They got about two thousand worth of product. Jake called it in yesterday to give us a heads up.”

“Dammit. Fuckin’ know it’s Killer, but no goddamn proof.”

“Nothing on the cameras?” Dirty asks.

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