Page 90 of Texas Hold Em'
“What are you trying to achieve here? Look around?” Moss held up both hands and gestured at the mess. Behind him, several Wolverines closed in on a beat-up old truck, where I could see my brothers hiding in the shadows, bracing for a shootout. “You can’t win. You never could. Bates just likes to play with his food.”
“You sure like the sound of your own voice, don’t you?”
Moss flashed me a smile. He had the look of a man who wasn’t quite there. I could see the whites of his eyes framing each iris, making him look deranged. His fingers flexed, curling and uncurling into fists in his riding gloves.
Spittle flew from his mouth when he spoke. “How did you survive? I checked your pulse last night. You were dead.”
“You bastards aren’t the only ones with tricks up your sleeves.”
“The Ranger. She’s your little slut then? She betrayed her promise to Bates?”
I held my tongue as I saw red.Bastard.
Moss inched closer. “She made her bed. If Bates gets a chance, he’ll put his hands around her throat and show her what he does to traitors.”
The red consumed my vision. A furious yell tore from my throat and I surged forward, fists raised and hell burning in my ribs. The pain only spurred me to be as destructive as possible.
Moss’s lips peeled off his teeth in an amused snarl. He dropped low and my fist passed over his head. He came back up swinging, trying to drive a fist into my stomach, but I turned full circle and used my own momentum to drive my elbow into his jaw. The sound of his teeth slamming together brought deep satisfaction even as he managed to drive his armored fist into my sternum.
The pain was incredible. It felt like my ribs cracked all over again. The hit took the air out of my lungs and I staggered back, bracing myself with my hands on my knees while Moss struggled to keep his footing and nursed his jaw.
He spat blood. He must have bit his own tongue or cheek when I hit him. He dragged his hand across his lips. “Does the Ranger take it like a good girl, Devil?”
“Leave her out of this.”
“I always thought she looked like a good fuck. And last night, I have to say, she put on a good show. If Caroline hadn’t been there, I might have had her for myself. Shown her what a real man feels like. She could be so much more if she chose Bates. He’d have made her someone.”
“Stop talking.”
Moss laughed. Time to end this. I rushed him. Moss met me with his fists. I struck his cheekbone, and he cracked his gloves across my jaw. The stars overhead blurred, and as I teetered off balance, I seized the front of his jacket, hauled myself back up, and slammed my fist into his nose.
We both went down hard. Moss drove his knee into my groin. I hissed with pain and tried to dig my thumbs into his eye sockets. He used his elbows to knock my hands down and tried to wrap his hands around my throat.
I slammed my knee up, catching him between the legs, and used the momentum to send him up and over my head. He landed heavily on his back as I scrambled up to my hands and knees.
A gun fired close by. White-hot pain seared across my hip, and I looked up to see Moss grinning at something behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder. Caroline stood in front of the Rover with her gun raised and trained on me. Her finger hovered over the trigger as she took aim for another shot. I tucked and rolled. She pulled the trigger and the second bullet grazed my ear.
“Kill him!” Moss shrieked.
She fired again and again, but I kept rolling and stayed low until I got to the excavator, where I dove for cover. Moss surged forward, but Caroline screamed at him to leave me.
“We need a medic!” she cried. “Get in the fucking car!”
From the cover behind the excavator, I watched Moss spit curses but turn toward her to follow orders. As they rushed to get in the car, I drew my gun and fired four shots. Caroline slammed her door behind her. One shot blew off the passenger mirror. The headlights flashed on and she reversed while Moss hopped in the back seat. I sent off another shot, this one goinginthe car, but I had no idea if I’d hit anyone.
She reversed and I came out from behind the excavator and emptied my clip.
The windshield was bulletproof. The car disappeared around a bend, and I had a choice to make.
Ride after them or go to the others who were still battling Bates’s Wolverines.
“Shit,” I grated.
I abandoned my cover and ran down the slope to the others. The corpses of several Wolverines littered the ground, but I didn’t see anybodies I recognized. Relief washed over me as bullets fired over my head from the enemy.
Abel popped up from behind his bike and bellowed at me to move my ass.
