Page 82 of Asking for Trouble

“Do it smart,” he urged, tuggin’ me closer to palm the back’a my neck and shake me a little. “Call Zeus, get the rest’a the brothers to the clubhouse, get organized, and we’ll ride out together. Take them down now instead’a later.”

“One day early,” I agreed, panic recedin’ slightly as my brain latched on to the plan. “Fine. I’ll call Z.”

“I’ll call Buck.”

“No, get yourself and Bat to a fuckin’ doctor,” I ordered even though technically Axe-Man had rank over me as the Secretary’a the club.

We had a doctor on call for the club, a new one who worked off the books for us after she got fired from the hospital where Harleigh Rose worked. I didn’t know the details, but havin’ a doctor who could patch up the serious shit we got into without havin’ to go to the hospital was a fuckin’ boon.

“I’ll have her meet us at the clubhouse. I’m fine. Bat’ll be good, too.”

Behind Axe-Man, Bat was already on his feet fightin’ with Dane, Tempest, and Eugene, who were all arguin’ with him, probably tryin’ to get him to rest.

“I’m comin’ with,” Bat called to me, hobblin’ over relatively well considerin’ the bullet hole through his thigh. “You’ll need me to clear the way in.”

Bat’d won medals in the army for bein’ the country’s best sharpshooter and truth be told, our plan had hinged on him takin’ out the sentries at the property with his sniper rifle.

“You up for it?” I asked, claspin’ his shoulder. “Not gonna pretend I don’t want you there, brother, but not if you’re gonna bleed out in the fuckin’ field.”

He scoffed, insult written all over his face. “It’s a fuckin’ bee sting. Had worse and I’ll probably have worse still. I’ll get the doc to pack the wound and head out with you when we’re ready.”

Relief suffused me, leechin’ the starch from my muscles. “Means everythin’, brother.”

He mimicked my grip on his shoulder by squeezing my trap, his dark eyes filled with understandin’. “We lost one Fallen woman and almost lost another last year. There’s no fuckin’ way we’re losin’ one on my watch. You get me?”

“Fuck yeah.” I knocked my forehead against him.

“Get goin’,” Eugene called. “I’ll clean this shit up and get rid’a the body––thanks for that, Dane. I doubt anyone called the cops inside, but just in case, fuck off.”

I tipped my chin at him in gratitude as we collected ourselves and started to move toward the front’a the bar where our bikes were parked.

“Hey, Boner,” Eugene called ’fore I could round the corner.

When I looked back at him, he jerked his head up. “You find our girl and bring her home safe, you hear?”

“Won’t come back without her,” I swore, filled with the support and conviction’a my brothers, so the panic eased to a dull throb between my temples instead’a an incessant, distracting roar.

No one would take Blue from this earth while I still breathed.

The last’a the doubt squeezed outta my chest on a violent inhale as I swiped my phone open and called my brothers at arms into action.

We were onlya day ahead’a schedule, but it still took longer than I could stand to get the brothers into the clubhouse and organized for the assault on the White Raiders farmhouse. The weapons in the bunker out back were distributed by Wrath and Priest while Bat was seen to by the attractive new doctor, and Zeus, King, Buck, and Lion pored over the map’a the farmhouse plannin’ our approach while everyone else suited up.

Curtains stopped beside me when I struggled with the straps’a my fuckin’ bulletproof vest ’cause my hands were uncoordinated with restless energy.

“Here,” he muttered, layin’ the strap closed.

We stared at each other as words bubbled up my throat, blocked by the fear I couldn’t ease from the back’a my mouth.

“We’ll get her, brother,” Curtains vowed, gently slappin’ my cheek and then holdin’ the side’a my neck. “Just like we got Elsa out, we’ll get Blue. You get me?”

I swallowed convulsively, forcin’ the terror down so I could say, “Let’s hope for a happier endin’ than that one, yeah?”

“Only ever hopin’ for happiness for you, brother,” he promised, draggin’ me into a hug. “No man I know deserves it more than you.”

“You do,” I returned, thumpin’ him on the back as I held him close, takin’ comfort from him like a child with a beloved blanket, somethin’ well-worn with love. “I’m sorry you didn’t get the girl, man.”

“Let’s focus on yours,” he suggested, pullin’ away to smile that crooked, freckled smile at me. “I haven’t given up hope for my someday. If Priest can get a happily fuckin’ ever after, we sure as fuck can too.”