Page 34 of Stay With Me
“No clue what the fuck that is, but okay,” I reply, trying to push myself onto my feet.
“Don’t hurt yourself there, boy. No need to get up,” Owen says, his tone giving me pause.
“You gonna hold me here? Hand me over to that fucking congressman?” I spit back at him.
“No. We don’t do shit like this. This club doesn’t take outside jobs. But we’re all in quite a mess here because Linc already called the bastard. He’s on his wayhere.” He scrubs a hand down his face, looking conflicted.
“Well, I’d be glad to not fucking be here when he arrives,” I reply.
“Listen, I’m not interested in having your death on my conscience. But I’m also not trying to incur the wrath of a fucking US Congressman. I’ve got people to protect here, too. What does he even want you for, anyway?” He asks, and I scoff. These guys have gotta get better at doing their homework.
“I killed his son,” I say plainly, no remorse in my voice.
“So you deserve whatever you have coming to you?” Axel asks, arms crossed over his chest.
“Let me rephrase. His fucking son kidnapped my girlfriend and tried to kill my sister and my best friend. So I killed him.” I shrug my uninjured shoulder.
“Sounds justified to me,” Owen nods.
“Either way, pops, Linc got us into some shit here. If that congressman arrives and we have nothing to hand him, he’s gonna be pissed,” Axel says.
A plan brews in my mind. It might be a long shot, but it’s better than handing myself over to this fucker. “I've got an idea that may help us both out of this predicament,” I interject.
“I’m all ears, son,” Owen says, quirking an eyebrow in my direction.
“My friends and I have been looking for a way to geta handle on the congressman for months. We’d be more than happy to take care of that problem for us both, but I need them here with me,” I suggest. Owen seems to think over my proposal, considering what I’m really suggesting. Between Eli, Breaker, and me, we can make him disappear. We can do it even cleaner if we get a few of the other guys involved. Iris is an expert at clean-up. Breaker can cover our tracks and build us any alibi we choose digitally. Eli and I have always been the muscle, and that’s fine by me.
Owen looks me over, as if he’s deciding if this is something I’m really capable of. If he only knew the amount of blood that stains my hands, he wouldn’t question me at all. His gaze drags over the full sleeve of military tattoos running from my neck to my knuckles. “Were you in the service?” He asks, already knowing the answer to his question.
“Yes, sir. We were in the Corps together. We are a team, a well-oiled machine,” I reply, knowing we’ve executed plenty of flawless missions together.
Owen nods slowly, thinking it over. He checks the watch on his left wrist and looks over his shoulder towards his son. With a jerk of his head, Axel steps forward and extends his hand towards me, handing me his cell phone. “You’ve got about 4 hours to get them here before the congressman arrives. Think you can manage that?”
“If I know my team, they’re already inthe air.” Scoffing, I dial Breaker’s number. He’s the only one with a phone that’ll work if they’re already in Helo’s chopper. I let it ring twice before hanging up and calling again, a system we worked out years ago when calling from unknown numbers and locations. He answers on the first ring this time.
“Who is this?” His gravelly voice comes through the line.
“B, it’s me,” I say, solace flooding my system.
“What the fuck?! Everett?!” He sounds relieved at the sound of my voice.
“Damn, daddy, do I have a story to tell you,” I laugh, using the name I swore I’d never use from our time together in the Corps. I spend the next ten minutes giving him the short version of everything that’s transpired during the last few hours.
“Leave it to your dumbass to get into some shit like this, Everett,” he says after I’m done relaying my plan.
“Well… do you think it’s gonna work?” I ask, hoping he says yes.
“We’re already halfway there. ETA 1 hour. Send me your coordinates and we’ll get our shit together,” he hangs up without another word in true Breaker fashion. Owen and Axel look at me with surprise, as if they didn’t really believe I could pull something like this off.
“I’ll be damned, kid. We all might make it through this after all,” Owen laughs.
I smirk back at him, knowing everything has to workaccording to plan for all of us to make it out of here unscathed. I debate for a moment whether I should try to call Kelsea. Hearing my voice would be a relief for her, but it would just as quickly become a detriment knowing I’m willingly putting myself in harm’s way to end this. No. I’ll call her once it’s done, once I can assure her that everything is safe and I’m coming home.
twenty-seven
I cleanmyself up a little while we wait for the guys to land. The guys won’t be happy to see me so bruised and battered, but what’s a broken nose between friends? When Owen told me they would deal with Lincoln, I saw the truth in his eyes. I trust he will handle it. I’m not the type to hold a grudge, anyway.
I’m stretching a butterfly bandage over the cut in my eyebrow when I hear the familiar rhythmic sound of helicopter blades. I shuffle out of the warehouse bathroom just in time to see Helo touch down is an open field to the left of the complex. One by one, my brothers file out of the cabin. As if I’m being thrown back into my memories, I see them dressed head to toe in black tactical gear. They came prepared for an extraction at all costs. I make my way across the empty warehouse, meeting them just outside the open bay doors.
