Page 111 of Straight to Me

“Pull the top part of the gun back Mads.”

Looking at Jack then to the gun, I remember Ronnie doing it at the door just before we left. “Like this?” I pull the top, making it click.

“That’s it.” Jack checks the rear-view mirror. “Fuck!” he yells, driving well considering the high speed. “Mads, hold on.”

I grab the handle, bracing my legs as the motorbike approaches on my side and Jack swerves into the rider’s way. My mouth drops open. “Jack!”

The rider tries the other side of the truck, forcing Jack to pull the same manoeuvre the other way. All of a sudden, a loud bang hits the rear end of the truck.

“He’s going for the tyres!” Jack shouts.

More bangs come. Jack turns the steering wheel, swerving desperately, trying to dodge the bullets.

Unable to out-trick the bike in our one-on-one situation, the rider fires again, blowing the rear tyre to smithereens. Jack’s truck, now unstable on the road, starts moving uncontrollably under us.

At 140 kilometres per hour, we’re doomed. I jam my eyes shut, waiting for a crash or a flip. My stomach’s doing somersaults as we’re flung from left to right across the road.

Then it comes.

Violently leaving the road, the car twists through the air like a tornado. My hands let go of everything, pushing against the roof.

There’s no time to scream for help. In my mind’s eye, all I can see is VP. Fighting for his life and the lives of his brothers.

And then there’s no more wind rushing against my face, no more turning in my stomach. I try to hold onto my image of VP, but I can’t. He slips away, fading from my mind.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

I repeat the three words as everything turns black.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

VP

Jack drives off with Mads and I’m filled with a momentary sense of relief before anger takes over. I should never have brought her here. The danger she’s been put in, it’s all on me.

Flying here was bliss. So much time just the two of us together. But the reality of what I do has never been more potent.

I asked her to wait for me by the bar, but she didn’t. And thank fuck for that. Everyone around that area was obliterated when the Sodom Saviours opened fire.

The thought that Mads could have been sitting there, waiting for me, makes bile rise to my mouth.

I left her to speak to Ronnie, to avoid exactly this kind of shit show. He knew I had concerns. I told him how me arriving and being chased, with him proclaiming war the next day looked. He would never have set up everyone like that though. That was a low blow.

But that wasn’t important right now. Plain bad luck or a set up was beside the point. Shit was going downnow.

Blood and guts were spread out before me. Like a horror movie, death surrounded me from every angle.

Ronnie grabbed what he had from his desk, giving one handgun to me. We ran out to the bar. But I couldn’t see her. Frantic, I scrambled over the piles of people searching for one that matched hers.

My heart fucking died with every moment that passed not knowing where she was. That’s when I remembered her saying something about her phone. I charged down the corridors, bulldozing my way into the room.

And there she was. Alive.

I had to make sure she stayed that way. What if I couldn’t though? I had to get her out. She needed me, but the club, my family, they needed me too.

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