Page 89 of Running on Empty

“But…” I prompted, feeling my spine stiffen.

“But they’ve already been approached about the same job. We know exactly where those fucks are holed up right now, and according to some of the other members of the Spencer family, security will be deliberately lax.”

“What?” Ash’s eyes flashed as he stared at his father.

Blue smiled slowly. “That Jack guy’s extended family? They’ve been watching what’s been going down and as far as they’re concerned, the chaos we’ve been creating is an opportunity. We’ve been assured they’ve been behind attempts to stifle police interest in our activities and now? Demands have been made of all members of the Spencer family to send their men to a compound a few hours out of the city. The family is going into lockdown, hoping to wait us out behind those very high walls of theirs.” His eyes bled green then. “Trouble is, not every member of the Spencer family is invested in the continued safety of Jack or his dads.”

“If anything, they’re likely to be very supportive of any attempt to take them out,” Rusty told us with a meaningful look.

“How do we know this is real intel and not just a feint to lure us in?” Ash asked.

“No one knows what goes on in the hearts of men,” Gun replied. “But one thing I always trust is self-interest. With Jack and his dads out the way, the rest of the family will take control of the business. They are nowhere near as discerning about their plans for Rush. It’s why they contacted the MCs. If they get involved in a frontal assault, they’ll earn the distribution rights to the drugs…”

Gun’s words faded away, a sharp ringing sound filling my head instead of the usual sounds. I jumped when Jax’s hand grabbed mine, his thumb rubbing over my knuckles as he watched me closely.

“They can’t have the drug.” I blurted the words out without meaning too, cutting Gun off and everyone stared at me then. “You can’t let them have it.” When the dads just looked on in concern, I searched Ash’s face, then Ronan’s. “We can’t let that shit be spread out into the world. We can’t—”

“Whatever you want, omega.” Ash grabbed my other hand, holding it tight, as it felt like he willed me into believing him. But even if I did, his dads all frowned slightly. One then the other, they looked at me in the time-honored way some men do, wanting to tell me to not worry my silly head about anything, all the while committing to something that harmed all women.

Especially this one.

“We’re due out at the airfield in a few hours,” Ash told the dads. “I appreciate the MCs getting involved, but thousands of bikers roaring up to a rural property isn’t exactly the covert approach I hoped to take.”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Blue said with a wink. “This isn’t our first rodeo. Seems to me that us making some noise at the front gates will draw the Spencers’ attention, distracting them from what you’re doing. Have you got a blueprint for the place they’re hiding out in?”

“Of course.” Ash sounded slightly offended as he went into the other room, retrieving a tablet for him to show everyone else.

That’show we came to be loading weapons into several troop carriers the guys just happened to have in the basement of the hideout.

“Sooo…” I watched their biceps pop as the three of them carried a heavy metal box over and slid it into the back of the car. “Have you guys done this before? Because it looks like you have an arsenal in here.”

“Occasionally,” Jax said with a degree of nonchalance few would be able to imitate. “Sometimes we’d be forced to deal with some hairy situations and…” Anything he had to say faded away as I got closer, smoothing my hand over his chest and then under the hem of his t-shirt.

“I was the one that made us build up a cache of guns,” Ronan said, shouldering forward. “So if this shit gets you all hot and bothered—”

Jax straight armed his brother, shoving him away before turning back to me.

“What’s got you all excited, omega?” he asked in a low rumble of a voice. “You’ve always known what we do.”

“Yeah, but I thought it was all boring meetings about holes in firewalls and standing around in suits and dark glasses, watching some rich guy be a fuckhead, with those things in your ears.”

“That is mostly what we do,” Ash replied, strolling over before handing me a small white piece of plastic. “And you’ll have your own ear piece to wear if you insist on coming on this mission.”

“I am,” I replied, shoving it into my pocket.

“But sometimes we’ve been forced to deal with bad people. Very bad people.” He nodded to the box of guns. “And while my brother might want the latest model of everything, I’d never take my crew in under powered. The kinds of guns that are in that box? They aren’t ones you’ll be using.”

He pulled out a couple of handguns from his waistband, shoving them into holsters I already had strapped to my hips.

“If I have my way, you won’t fire off a single shot. If the dads’ intel is right, we’ll have little trouble from the guards right up until we get to Jack’s suite.”

My hands slid to the grips of the guns, tightening around them, their heavy weight reassuring.

“But that changes when we get to him,” I told Ash, not allowing a note of weakness in my voice.

“Right up until the point you say you’re done,” he promised with a nod. “Now let's get in the car. We’ve got some allies to pick up.”

Some of themI could make sense of. Four men with short haircuts and military bearing strolled off the private jet like they had a right to, followed by a larger group of similarly dressed men. There was some joking and jostling, some of the men’s eyes flashing with a curious mixture of amusement and blood lust, right before they came to stand before us.

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