Page 30 of Rebels & Rejects

I lead the way, with Oliver watching my six, Rampage and Tank behind us, and Marcus bringing up the rear. When we reach the end of the row, I peer around the side of the building, my gaze darting around the dark expanse of space as I squint into the darkness, trying to discern any moving shadows. Nothing. No one in sight and no sounds alerting us to anyone nearby.

Giving the signal that it’s all clear, we move around the side of the building, past the next row, again checking it’s empty before moving on. I can’t hear anything but the regular beating of my own heart and the steady exhale of my even breaths. Even the crunch beneath our boots as we move over the loose gravel is barely discernible.

As we come upon the edge of the row of units before the aisle containing mine, I crouch low, aiming my gun as I duck my head around the side. I quickly pull back as a round of bullets goes off, blindly firing off a few shots of my own, which undoubtedly go wide.

With my heart hammering in my chest at the near-miss, I turn back to face the others. “Take Rampage and Tank and go around the other side.” My words are barely more than a whisper, not wanting them to be carried on the wind to our attackers, as I give Oliver the order. He nods before indicating for the guys to follow him, and the three of them slip around the other side of the wall we’re hiding behind, quickly disappearing out of sight.

I take a second to formulate a plan in my head. “Cover for me,” I bark out in a low voice before lifting my gun and keeping low, I run across the open space toward the wall marking the end of the other row of storage units. Guns go off all around me, including my own, as I shoot at the three men standing in the middle of the aisle. I manage to take one to the ground before I dive behind the wall.

Adrenaline pounds in my veins as I hurry to right myself, finding Marcus in the dark as he ducks behind his own wall again. I take a quick second to assess myself, ensuring I’ve got no injuries, before speaking quietly into the Bluetooth headset. “There’s three men and an SUV in the middle of the aisle and at least one guy on the roof.”

“We have eyes,” Oliver responds a moment later. “We can take out the man on the roof, if you two can handle the others.”

I share a look with Marcus across the open space, and he gives a confident nod—we’ve got this.

“We’re on it.”

I wait until I hear a round of gunshots going off, knowing that it will be Oliver taking out our threat on the roof before I step out from behind the wall with my gun raised. I notice Marcus doing the same out of the corner of my eye as I press down on the trigger, aiming at the two fuckers blocking the way tomyguns.

They were already turning away from us, most likely to investigate the shots they heard from the other side of the aisle, making it easy for Marcus and me to eliminate them.

As the last one falls to the ground, I stride toward the three bodies, keeping my weapon aimed until I can kick their guns away. Satisfied that they’re definitely dead, I lift my head to take in my surroundings. Marcus has already rounded the SUV, making his way toward the roll-down shutter of my storage unit.

“Boss,” he says, glancing over his shoulder at me. “They must have had a key. The lock has been undone, but it’s not broken.”

Fucking assholes.How the hell did they get a key? It explains a lot, though. Initially, I’d dismissed the storage facility as to how they were getting a hold of my guns, but having ruled out every other possibility over the last few months, I was left with no other option.

He bends to grab the handle, ready to yank the door up, but he glances back at me before he does so. With my gun at the ready in case more of these fuckers is hiding in there, I give him a quick jerk of my head, and in one swift motion, he yanks open the door, pointing his own weapon into the dark room.

Before either of us can move, something rushes out of the darkness. Someone’s making a run for it.No fucking chance, asshole.I dive toward them, catching whoever it is by the collar and yanking them back.

Marcus moves to flick on the light inside the unit, the single bulb enough to show me the shithead's face as it crumples in panic. He’s young enough, probably early twenties, and the look on his face is enough to tell me he’s new to this life. Most likely massively regretting his decision to sign up right now.

“You with the Grim Bastards?” I demand in a low growl.

His eyes dart from side to side as he tries to work out his best way of getting out of here alive. He must have some functioning brain cells as he eventually stutters out, “Y-yes.”

I’m aware of Oliver and the others closing in behind us, so there shouldn’t be anyone else left alive.

“Well, you tell that motherfucking scumbag that if he steals one more gun from me, he can consider it an act of war.” I lean in, so my face swallows up the asshole’s entire field of vision. “And trust me, I’ll be the one that finishes it, with his head on a spike.”

I toss him toward the car, glowering at him as he falls to his knees before quickly righting himself and running the short distance to the car. We all stand and watch as he drives off, veering all over the place in his hurry to get away.

“You don’t think he’ll just bring more back up?” Oliver questions.

“Maybe. Let’s hurry up and get the fuck out of here, just in case he does.”

Glancing away from where the Grim’s car disappeared, I turn and toss my car keys to Rampage and Tank. “Go bring the car around so we can load this shit into the back of it.”

Tank snatches them out of the air before Rampage can get a hold of them. “I’d better do it. Fuck knows this angry bastard will find something to rage about in the thirty-second drive over here.”

He rushes back toward the car with his laugh lingering in the air as Rampage cusses him out. I ignore their antics as I investigate the crate, happy to discover it hasn’t been tampered with. There’s a crowbar on the ground beside it, and I scowl at it before kicking it away.

“I want all new security in this place,” I tell Oliver. “Cameras, better locks. The works.”

“You got it.”

I’ll have to make arrangements for my shipments to get delivered elsewhere, which will be a fucking headache, but I’ve got no doubt Grim, the President of the Bastards, will fail to heed my warning tonight. He’ll be back, even if it's just to snoop, and I want to catch him in the act when he does.

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