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Chapter twenty-four

Mika

As soon as I stepped out the back door, Butch grabbed me and spun me around, pressing my back against the wall. He leaned down to say something into my ear, but he froze. Then one of his hands flew up, grabbing me by the throat. With the other hand, he plucked the earpiece out of my ear, dropped it to the ground, and stomped on it.

“You set me up, you little bitch. I should’ve listened to Snake and hunted you down and killed you when you took my money and ran. I just wrote it off as compensation for all the time you spent on your knees for me.”

I clawed at his hand, trying to get enough slack to draw in a breath. “You don’t want to do this,” I croaked.

“You don’t know shit about what I want.”

Lucky for me, we’d practiced that move in self-defense class, and I’d even tried it out on Snake, and it had worked. I swung my arm up, hitting him in that perfect spot right between his wrist and his thumb. I caught him off guard, and it worked… for a second. But unlike Snake, he didn’t give me a groin shot. I just spun to the side and started to scramble away, but before I even got three steps away, I heard the all too familiar sound of him spinning the cylinder of his gun, and I froze.

I was immediately transported back to the first time I’d really been scared of Butch.

Things had been rough for a while. Butch and this guy named Jack had been fighting a lot. Jack ran things, and Butch didn’t like him very much, but because he was the one in charge, Butch had to grin and bear it way too much of the time. That led to bad moods and lots of alcohol.

He’d been drinking for who knows how long that night when I’d made the mistake of trying to reason with him. Up to this point, I’d believed that I was safe with him. I mean, sure, the gang was a little rough, and he was involved in some things I didn’t approve of, but he was good to me.

“Jack’s your boss, right? I’ve had crappy bosses before, and it never really helps to argue with them. They always think they’re right because they’re the boss.”

“You don’t know shit about how things work around here, so now would be a good time for you to shut the fuck up.”

I’d been shocked. He’d never talked to me that way before, and I hadn’t known what to do.

“I know you’re angry, but…”

He pulled out his gun and popped open the cylinder before dumping all the bullets out into his hand. He put one shell back in the gun, closed the cylinder, and spun it.

“I told you to shut the fuck up.” He pointed it at me and pulled back the hammer. “This gun holds six bullets. I only put in one, so the odds are in your favor. Do you want to try your luck?”

I shook my head no.

“That’s what I thought, so I suggest you do what you’re told.”

He’d seen how much it had scared me, and he’d used that threat to intimidate me more times than I could count.

I guess some things never changed. I slowly turned back around to find him standing there looking at me with a hateful smirk on his face.

“Good try, Mika. You’ve learned a few things, but nothing that will save you from me. Now get back over here.”

We’d learned a lot in class, but nothing that would protect me from a bullet. I hesitantly took a step toward him, and he grabbed me, spinning me around so that I was in front of him. He wrapped one arm around my chest and tugged me back against him, pointing the gun at my head with the other hand.

“I’m not playing around today, so you know. This gun is fully loaded, so if I pull the trigger, you’re done for. Are we clear?”

“Yeah, we’re clear.”

Hawk

Gator and I rounded the corner, and both came to a screeching halt. I’d been prepared for a chase or a fight, but nothing could’ve prepared me to see Butch holding a gun to my boy’s head as he pushed him toward his bike.

I locked gazes with Mika and saw total trust in us to get him out of this, and I’d be damned if I was going to let him down.

“It’s over, Butch. The FBI has your crew out front, so let Mika go and turn yourself in,” I called.

He turned to face us, keeping Mika in front of him like a shield as he moved the gun off of him and pointed it at me instead. I hadn’t expected him to surrender, but I’d wanted the gun off of Mika, and I had accomplished that.

“Well, if they have my crew, I don’t have anything to lose, now do I?”

“Just your life,” Gator replied.

Butch let out a menacing laugh and moved the gun to point it at Gator. “A life behind bars? No, thank you.”

While Gator distracted him, I took a couple of cautious steps closer, but as soon as Butch noticed, he turned the gun back on me.

“Stop right there.”

I did as he said, but I didn’t take my eyes off of Mika.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Butch drawled. “You’re going to let me get on my bike and ride away. I’ll take Mika with me just to make sure you don’t get any ideas and shoot me in the back as I’m riding off. You’re gonna tell your buddies from the FBI to let us go, and if you follow directions, when I get out of town and I’m sure no one’s following me, I’ll drop Mika at the first truck stop I pass, and you can come pick him up.”

For the first time, I saw fear in Mika’s eyes because he was a smart guy. He knew just like I did that if Butch rode away with him, he wasn’t going to let him go.

“You want us to believe you’ll let him go?” Gator asked, pulling Butch’s attention back to him. I made a small movement with my head to make sure Mika knew I was sending him a message. Then I looked down to the ground and back up, giving him a nod. He licked his lip nervously, but he nodded back.

I tapped my finger against my leg once, twice, and then a third time. Mika let his legs go slack, dropping to the ground. Butch was distracted enough that Mika was able to roll to the side as soon as he hit the ground. Gator and I both drew our weapons and rushed toward him.

“Nooo!” Butch bellowed, firing, first at Gator, then turning the gun toward me.

“Gator!” Mika wailed as I pulled the trigger.

I rushed to Mika, pulled him to his feet, and then wrapped my body around him, holding him tight while I looked over his shoulder to check on Gator, who was sitting there holding his right shoulder.

“Is he dead?” he asked, and he sounded so sad. The last thing I’d wanted to do was kill Butch in front of him, but the man had held a gun to my boy’s head. There was no coming back from that for him.

“I’m sorry, mouse. He didn’t give me any choice. I know you cared about him once—”

Mika jerked his head back and looked at me. “I mean Gator. I don’t care about Butch. He was going to kill me or sell me or something, and he shot Gator.”

He squirmed in my arms, trying to get a look at Gator.

I let him go, and he ran to where Gator was sitting, dropping to his knees. “He shot you!”

“Ah, sugar, this is barely a scratch. I’m fine.”

“You are not fine. You’ve been shot.”

Chance rushed up and looked around, a grim expression on his face.

“Collins?” I asked.

“He’s hurt, but he’ll live.”

“What about the van?” Gator asked.

“There were four people tied up in the back. Three young girls and a boy. This was a good bust. One of the Jackals is already crying about making a deal. We just have to decide if any of them know anything worth listening to.”