Page 32 of Lockout (The Vikings MC: Tucson Chapter #11)

I went back to the man shuffling along the wall, the one who had made Caitlyn scream.

One man was still trying to fend off the dogs, who were darting in to bite him.

It was like a fucking dance, dart, bite, avoid the flailing hands.

The bobcat was watching, waiting to see if she needed to help.

She would occasionally swat at his face the way a tomcat swatted at a dying mouse.

Isla had her legs wrapped around another man’s shoulders, raining elbows down onto his head.

I wasn’t sure if it was the one I’d tossed or the other, they were all over the place.

Too many to keep track of while I was in such an amped up state.

As soon as one came into my view, I took care of him.

That was all the planning I was doing. But I wasn’t killing them.

Except maybe intestines. He might be dead by now.

But I hoped not, and Isla seemed to get that I didn’t want them dead.

It wasn’t our right to take these fuckers’ lives.

That was for my brothers to do. In retaliation for coming for their families.

I grabbed the blind guy’s right arm and brought it out into an arm bar, put my hand on his elbow, and ‘snap’.

He let out a scream. Then I grabbed his left arm.

The beaten man at the end of the hall kept glancing between what we were doing and the stairs.

He wanted to run. I wasn’t going to fucking let that happen.

I released the blind man’s arm and pulled my gun out of the holster tucked into the back of my jeans.

“Wait, wait,” he wailed. “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you things.”

“You have nothing to say that I want to hear,” I growled.

He bellowed at the gunshot, but then patted himself when he realized he hadn’t been shot.

One of his friends was now down on the first story, having fallen backward when I shot him in the knee.

The other was on the floor, trying to fend off the animals while fumbling with his own weapon.

They came in here with their guns holstered.

Fucking idiots. They probably thought they’d only be dealing with the families, not one of us.

And they certainly weren’t ready for Isla, who, using the goon she was just beating on, rammed the guy going for his gun so hard she sent them both through the railing, landing below with heavy thumps.

She glanced over at me and I nodded at her.

“Thanks for the backup. Tie them up in the gym.”

“You got it,” she said with a grin.

“I’ll get the two up here.”

She trotted happily down the stairs, the dogs and cat following behind her. She started whistling a tune as she took care of the men. I recognized it as Toxic’s ‘One little, two little, three little dead goons’ song.

Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but grin. The bloodlust was starting to die down. Especially since I wasn’t planning to kill them. I grabbed the blind guy by the non-broken arm and dragged him downstairs.

Isla passed by to get another one of the guys groaning on the floor of my clubhouse.

“Don’t kill them.”

She sighed and gave me a grim look. “Can I poke at them a bit?”

“Leave it for the others,” I told her, shoving the blind guy toward the gym.

“Seriously? That’s the fun part, though,” she complained, grunting as she lifted a guy by the shoulders and started dragging him back.

Both he and the other were out cold, so I wasn’t worried about them.

Not that I needed to worry about Isla. The woman could take care of herself, she’d proven that time and time again.

“Agghhh! Please!” the blind man cried. He was clutching his broken arm to his chest as I shoved him into the gym. I grabbed a random chair and some rope that Isla had found. I placed my foot against his right knee. “I have intel, I’ll talk.”

“You went for the little girl.”

I couldn’t be sure whether his knee snapped or crunched, either way, it wasn’t a sound that said he’d be making a full recovery later. Not that he’d be alive to even attempt it. I just needed to inflict a bit more pain on them. I pushed him into the chair and tied his good arm and leg

“What do you want from us?” the first guy Isla had tied up asked. “If you’re not going to interrogate us?”

“Oh, we’ll get there,” I told him.

We tied the rest of them up, including intestine guy, though I wasn’t sure I needed to since he was barely twitching.

I’d had to drag him down the stairs, his head hitting every step on the way down and leaving a trail of blood and who knew what else.

We were just finishing up when the gym door flew open.

My gun was in my hand and pointed at Priest’s forehead before I knew what was happening.

He and the others froze, hands slightly raised and fingers spread as though they were trying to calm a wild beast. Wasn’t far off, really.

“They’re safe.” I said, lowering my gun. “You should go comfort them, though.”

Butcher let out a low whistle. “Looks like someone went full Lockout.” He looked over his shoulder as though looking at the carnage out in the main area of the clubhouse, but his words were for the guy who was tied up. “Shouldn’t have done that, you never want the boss to go full Lockout.”

“I helped,” Isla said, putting her hands on her hips. She grinned as Butcher walked over and plucked her up with one arm wrapped around her body.

“Glad you got to have some fun,” Butcher said before he kissed her.

“Do I want to know why the dogs have blood all over them?” Hush asked. “Seek is goin’ to kill me if they got hurt.”

“Not their blood,” I told him. “They, and that cat, were helping out. Steaks for everyone,” I said, giving him a humorless smile.

“I can do that. Auron, Jecht, let’s go.” He paused as Murder trotted alongside the dogs. “Yeah, okay, you can come, too.” He gave me a grim look. “You good?”

“Fine,” I replied. He nodded and headed out to the main area to go upstairs.

“You kept them alive?” Priest asked me, a touch of disgust in his tone.

“Yup. They're going to give us answers to all our questions. Besides, they aren’t mine to kill.”

Understanding dawned in Priest’s eyes. “Thanks for that.”

“That one grabbed Cait,” I said in a low voice, motioning toward the guy who was babbling to anyone who would listen. “She’s okay, but it scared her.”

“Fuck. I’ll be back once I check on my girls,” he said.

“Take your time,” I told him. “They aren’t going anywhere.”

“I’ll tell you everything,” the blind guy sobbed. The other three were sitting quietly, watching us. They knew they were going to die no matter what. We likely wouldn’t get anything out of them.

And I was pretty sure the fifth guy, intestines, was dead now. He wasn’t moving and he was pale as shit. No loss there. My brothers would just have to fight over the right to kill the remaining four.

“I’ll wait here with him while the rest of you go see your families,” Warrant offered.

I made it to the bottom of the stairs when all my brothers stepped to the side. Keely jumped from the fifth step and hit me so hard I ended up taking a couple steps back before I caught my balance.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she breathed against my neck.

My skin was damp. I wasn’t sure if it was sweat, blood, or her tears, but I hugged her close, letting my heart rate return to normal.