Page 28

“ G et on,” a voice yells a second before a speeder pulls close. I jump without thinking and grab the railing as we race forward. My focus is on the woman in the other boat, not the one driving. Till she says something I wasn’t expecting.

“Here, Jack said you needed a new toy.”

I look over, confused as shit, till she hands me a MK13 Mod 7 sniper rifle. One of my favorite weapons, and one I’m well-versed with. I check it over before moving to the front of the speeder and lying down. Sure, I can wait till we get closer, or I can take out the threat to my girl now and be done with this shit.

I lost communication with Jack right after I burst out of the tunnels and heard Billy’s scream. I was running so fast that I flew down the damn hill and missed a step, stumbling but righting myself enough not to lose any time, though I dropped the comms link. I wasn’t about to look for it. Jack must have already had someone close to pick me up, or to at least go after Billy once the signal of her tracker had shown her going off property and the small pen camera clipped to her bodice started up again. That’s what had me doubling my steps the first time.

Then that scream. I’m going to have nightmares from that scream alone. A girl doesn’t scream your name like that unless something’s unquestionably wrong. Especially not my pet, who’s already badass in every way. She doesn’t need me to fight her wars. My girl’s the type to go into battle and rescue me before she’ll ever ask for assistance, unless she needs something she can’t do. Taking six guys on at once? Not a problem. But if she’s trying to save an innocent, then things get tricky. Even more complicated when she’s tied to the top of the railing like I can see now.

I line up, even as the boat bobs as we speed closer. Through my scope, I see the three at the wheel and Candy on the ground. And Billy. She’s smiling so big that she has me matching her.

“You really think you can make that shot?”

I turn quick and pull the rifle with me as I point it at a man I have no issues pulling the trigger on.

“Where the fuck did you come from? And why the fuck are you here, Psy?”

What the fuck is the Devils Damned president doing here? Is he working with Cast Off? Is the girl driving the boat also in on this?

She looks familiar, but other than her smiling, even waving, as she drives the boat, I don’t know if I should trust her. Sure, she’s getting me to my girl and gave me this rifle. But she has Psy with her. And the guy’s named for being psychotic for a reason.

He looks around, puts his hands in his pockets, and breathes deep. “Catching a ride, same as you. Figured I’d take in the scenery. Nice day and all, don’t you think?” He leans down, not at all put out that I have a rifle pointed at his chest. Guy doesn’t even pull his own piece out at me, and we’re the equivalent enemies of Batman and the Joker, Holmes and Moriarty, Optimus Prime and Megatron. We don’t fight on the same side. We fight against each side. “Might want to look in the lower cabin next time before you go sunbathing. You never know who might be aboard.”

I guess it’s a nice day. Wind is blowing steady, warmer than usual, but I bet my girl’s ass is freezing in her skimpy outfit on that boat. Except for the building on fire behind him, everything is just dandy. Oh, and I’m on a boat with my enemy, and the person I should be able to trust is taking my girl away from me.

“If you’re going to kill me, get on with it.” I turn back and line up again. Billy is more important. I can deal with this asshole after I get her safe. Or I can die trying. Either option is better than wasting my breath talking to him.

“Nah, that doesn’t sound like fun. Well….” I look back at him as he thinks it over before smiling and making eye contact with me. “Not today, anyway. Besides, I bet Michael that you can’t make the shot. No reason to kill you with my money on the line.”

I don’t rise to his bait, just take out the first guy.

“Told you,” Michael says as she fist-pumps the air. From her reaction, I’m sort of mad I didn’t put money on it too. No one goes hard like that for winning ten bucks. Pot must have been something worthy to get that kind of reaction from the chick who landed on my roof at the clubhouse when she first arrived. If it can make her happier than sticking the landing that day, you know it’s got to have been a good chunk of change.

“Damn. Double or nothing.”

We might be gaining on them, but now they know we’re here. The guy driving isn’t Cast Off, who’s hiding like the little bitch he is by one of the chairs inside, but he seems to know how to operate a boat just fine. He banks left, then right, then left again. I’m sliding on the deck so much that I hook my foot through the railing and anchor in as best I can. The shot becomes difficult, though not impossible—not for me.

Adjusting to the wind, for the bobbing of the boat, and even anticipating when the guy will bank again is a gamble. I don’t have a spotter, but it’s not about distance now, just the accuracy of hitting what I want. I breathe through it as I pull the trigger.

“Fuck!”

“Pay up, Psy,” Michael yells over the motor and wind while I wind up to take my final shot.

But Cast Off isn’t in my scope. I pull away from it and look around to see if he moved from where I thought he was ducking by the chair. Movement to the right of Billy has me looking through my scope again, but it’s too late to get a clear shot. He has Billy standing in front of him now as he holds a gun to her head. His face is twitching behind her, but only enough for me to see his grin, and then he’s out of my line of sight. They both are.

Resting the rifle on the deck, I stand to watch the entire boat hit something. It must be low water, because one second they’re cruising along, and the next their nose is shooting up into the sky. Then the damn thing tips over, throwing everyone overboard. All but Billy, who’s still tied to the damn thing.

“Get me closer,” I shout, and as soon as I can, I jump into the freezing water. I don’t give a shit about anything else right now as I dive under and search for Billy.

But no one else got that memo.

Something grabs my leg, and I look back to see Cast Off pulling me down. I kick at him, but it’s not enough. I get a few feet away from him before he grabs my leg again, pulling me under. We wrestle in the water, and he gets the upper hand, wrapping his forearm around my neck. I kick to the surface, dragging him with me as I fight for oxygen and just a bit of purchase to get a decent hit in.

We come up for air, both of us sputtering but neither letting go as we fight to the death. I refuse to give him any ground, even as he drags me under again and again. I’m running out of steam. I feel panic in my chest as my lungs need more air. Spots cloud my vision, and for a second, I think I’ve lost. That this is it and I’ll never get to be with my girl again.

But the Reaper isn’t ready for me yet. Ain’t ready to claim another Hound president.

Cast Off’s weight lessens, and then his arms fall away. I kick out, coming up for air and looking around for him, ready to take on the attack that’s yet to come as I float in red water. He bobs to the surface and just lies motionless as if playing dead—but there’s no playing. He actually is.

Looking up, I spot Psy on the boat, gun in hand. I don’t thank him, don’t even acknowledge him as I turn and start swimming closer to the sinking boat.

Once I’m close, I take a breath and swim down, holding the hull as I go to guide me to the back of it and down. That’s where I find her, my pet. Fighting with everything she has to get the ropes off her that hold her to the railing.

Doubling down, I swim to her and grab her head. She fights me for a second before she sees it’s me. I lean in and kiss her, sharing my air with her to keep us both alive. She relaxes, and so do I. We can do this. Together.

Releasing her lips, I nod once to make sure she’s on the same page with me, and she returns it. Then I grab the knife out of my ankle holster and start cutting through the rope. It’s harder than normal, as I’ve never had to use a blade underwater, so it takes longer. But after the last bit gives, I unravel the rope and kick for both of us to get to the surface, breaching at the same time and taking in much-needed lungfuls of air.

I grab her as she dips below the surface a second later with her legs still bound. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, pet,” I promise, kissing first her blue lips and then her hairline.

“Here.” Psy holds out his hand as the boat gets close, and I toss Billy up, then make my way on board. Not about to let that bastard help me.

I sink down next to Billy, pull her close, and wrap us both in the blanket Michael tossed to us as we speed away. A moan has me looking to the other side to see Candy is also with us, blankets on top of her, too, as Michael heats her up and Psy drives the boat.

I hold my girl, who’s shivering, and then push her off to remove my shirt. I pull her back to me and wrap the blanket around us both once again. We need body heat to get us to stop shivering, and I’m not about to ask the psycho driving for help. No need to take off Billy’s outfit considering it’s practically nonexistent at this point. And neither of us can be modest right now. No matter how much it eats at me that Psy caught a look at my girl.

We pull back to the dock just as another yacht connects to it and a group of people emerge over the hill. I recognize a few of them, to include Charles, who’s on the other boat. Through everything, I might be the most impressed that she doesn’t let being stuck in a wheelchair stop her from taking part in the action. Even if it’s at the end, and all I see is smoke coming from the broken-down mansion. No way will that place be up and running anytime soon.

Three people come on board and take Candy off, followed by Michael. Another tries to help me up, but I stand on my own and then pull my girl up and lift her into my arms. No one is touching her but me. Well, till I sit her down and let the Crazy Eights’ medics look her over. They start by cutting the rope still wrapped around her feet. I dropped my knife the second I grabbed Billy and started swimming us up.

“Looks like your club’s debt is paid in full,” Charles says as she wheels to the edge of her yacht but doesn’t disembark.

“No shit,” I reply with a glance at her before turning back to Billy. Who gives a fuck what these people are thinking. This is my partner I’m looking after. I need to hear the medics say she’s all right so the hand wrapped around my heart can ease up a bit.

“Diagnosis?” Charles asks.

“Moderate hypothermia. We need to get her out of these clothes and into something warmer. Need an x-ray, but possibly a fractured cheekbone and wrist based on the swelling,” one medic says.

“Move her,” Charles directs, and Billy’s lifted and taken to her boss’s boat, then into the cabin and out of sight.

“This one has mild hypothermia. Wasn’t in the water that long, it seems.”

“Yeah, we got her out almost instantly. She bobbed right to the surface when the Hound man jumped off,” Michael fills me, and the rest, in. Now I at least know what took so long for them to help with Cast Off.

“Drugs in the system from retinal observation alone. Need to get her on fluids. Nothing initially found, but we’ll run a full scan before the final report is on your desk, boss.”

Charles nods as Candy is carried below, and we all gaze at the spot where both women were taken.

Then Psy has to be a cunt, ruining the silence by talking. I forgot about him for a second there.

“So, when do I get paid?”

“My team will have it wired to you once we have notification that you’re back home.” Charles speaks so regally, while all I want to do is scream. How can they be working with him? Only reason I know he’s not in the skin trade is because he makes it super clear in all he does. Unless that’s the front and Crazy Eights are buying it. How can his VP get away with so much if he didn’t already know? It all seems off to me now that I’m thinking things through. The swim through the water cleared my mind and now that I’m getting warm from the heated blanket. My brain is unfreezing.

“Why wait?” he says with a smirk I just want to punch my fist through.

Charles purses her lips and glares. “We haven’t forgotten the last time, Psy. You only get paid once you’re away and can’t cause more damage to the scene. As agreed upon.”

He laughs—fucking laughs—at that. “Always nice doing business with you, Charles. I expect this also washes your hands of Duke too.”

Now it’s my turn to glare, and I notice Charles looking at me before nodding. “It does. Keep him on a leash and we won’t have problems. Till next time.” She spins her chair and rolls away.

Not that it stops Psy from talking to her, yelling now that she’s out of earshot. “And tell Billy it was lovely to see her as always. I’m looking forward to our next meeting.”

His smile, which I guess others would find sexy, just makes my skin crawl. It’s on the face of a person I despise. Law always said Psy wasn’t the problem, but I have to think he is. Especially if he willingly stands by his guy Duke. He should gut Duke the first chance he gets. God knows I would. And if anyone in my club is like him, gutting would be a mercy killing. Which might happen after I get the boys to investigate Bane’s chapter. Hell, maybe all of them.

Panic takes hold as his words finally sink in. He and Billy know each other? How well? Was he another partner like me? Was this all just about getting Candy, or was it more, like I thought?

I’m about to spiral the fuck out. How the fuck did this happen?

“Casper.”

“Get fucked,” I grit out, and he only smiles wider.

“Oh, but wouldn’t you know it? Seems like you now owe me a life debt.”

Fuck. I traded one club debt for another. But at least this one is just with me. “What do you want?”

His smile drops, and the psychotic persona that got him the road name and the position in his club comes out. Guy might be pushing the greater side of forty, but he’s one dirty motherfucker. Like how Law was and will be again one day, if he ever wakes up. “Leave Duke to me.”

Shaking my head, I tell him the truth. “Can’t do that.”

“Then your club owes the Devils Damned a favor. And we’ll be aiming to collect.” He backs up his boat, but the rev of Harleys drowns out his motor as they break the hillcrest. An entire line at my back as I watch the enemy sail away. I knew the boys Domino and Bulldog sent from another sister chapter were close. They got here quick. Mickey’s crew always has a few blood-lusters among them. But they won’t be able to quench their thirst, not tonight. This might be the end of the battle, but it seems I’ve got a war to wage in my own house to clear us of the snakes who have taken up residence.

“Boss?” Mickey calls out from above, but I just shake my head. We ain’t killing Psy—not yet anyway. He should consider this our debt paid in full. I had the shot but didn’t take it. A life for a life in my book. I doubt he’ll see it that way, but that’s a problem for another day. I’ve already got too many today; holding off on one won’t kill me.

Till it does.