Page 42 of Lockout (The Vikings MC: Tucson Chapter #11)

Lockout

“ Y ou think this is goin’ to lure Hangman out?” Hush asked, as we hid behind some rocks.

Glancing up as a shower of debris rained down on us, I watched as Priest, Idaho, and Pyre made their way up to high ground. They were going to be sniping as many of these motherfuckers as they could for us.

“Yeah,” I replied, looking back at Hush. “I don’t think he’s going to keep hiding, letting his men die. He’s going to have to come deal with us himself.”

“Makes sense,” he said with a nod.

“According to this shit,” Toxic said, reading his phone—the hacker twins and Rip were sending the information to all of us, not just me, “Hangman is in his sixties.”

“So?” Static asked, eyes focused on the road. The LoS was going to be here any moment. They hadn’t been that far behind us.

“So,” Toxic said with a grin, “look at this picture.” He shoved his phone under Static’s nose. “Tell me that doesn’t look like old Hush.”

Warrant choked on a laugh as Toxic showed the picture to him, then Butcher.

“Hush is old,” Butcher muttered, rearranging his extra magazines to his liking.

“Fuck you,” Hush barked. “I’m not that fuckin’ old.”

“But this is like…a blueprint for you,” Toxic insisted. “What you’ll look like in your late sixties.”

Hush leaned over and scowled at the phone. “You’re a dick. I won’t look like that . Fucker looks like he fell asleep under a broiler after doin’ ten lines of coke.”

Toxic studied the photo, then shrugged. “Yeah, he does look pretty rough.”

“Head’s up,” I said, as I spotted the plume of dirt rising into the air. I glanced over my shoulder again, but the three I’d sent up top were no longer in sight. “Butcher,” I warned.

“I got it,” he said, tying off the end of a strand of barbed wire that was now taut across the trail leading into the mountains. It was going to hit neck-high on someone riding on a motorcycle.

We waited, and sure enough, two fuckers came around the bend at break neck speed, trying to catch up with us. The wire embedded so deep into their throats that they hung in mid-air for a few seconds before their bodies crashed to the ground. Their bikes continued on before wrecking a few feet away.

Sixteen left. I let Toxic and Butcher go finish those two off.

Motioning to Static to take the wire down, I settled my rifle on the rock in front of me.

Static had driven one of the cage rides out here so we could easily bring all the firepower we needed.

While we’d been in town, getting the LoS’s attention, he’d come out here and stashed the van after setting all our weapons up.

He quickly coiled up the wire and tossed it to the side. It was bright with blood and too easily visible to use again. And I didn’t want to forget about the fucking thing and leave it out here for some poor bastard to find later.

As soon as the next biker came around the corner, I squeezed the trigger. More gunfire split the air as he toppled from his motorcycle, and I knew it was Priest, up top, taking out riders who were further away.

The next riders came as a group. Gunshots echoed through the mountains as they abandoned their bikes and dove for cover behind boulders. We’d gotten the drop on them and there were only twelve left.

I knew Hell, Smoke, and Ricochet would take care of the additional five in town. We’d meet up with them outside of Lordsburg once we cleaned up here. My eyes narrowed as a boot slipped out from behind a rock. Taking aim, I shot a hole in the fucker’s foot.

Yelping, he made a stupid mistake and shot up from behind his cover. Four rounds met his chest when he did. I wasn’t even sure who all had shot him, but it didn’t matter. Eleven left.

Motioning for my crew to hold their fire, I crept around some of the huge rocks, then bolted across the trail until I was on the side the LoS was hiding on. I made my way up, as quietly as I could, until I was above them.

I looked over and caught Hush’s gaze. He nodded, indicating that they were ready for what was about to happen. Grinning, I started shooting into the nest of shitbags below me. Bellowing and gunfire filled the air once more.

They evacuated their hiding area, but there was nowhere for them to go. Between me, Priest, Pyre, and Idaho up top on the other side, and my crew waiting for them, they ran directly into bullets.

By the time everything calmed down, there was only one man left alive, though he was bleeding from various places. He was kneeling on the dirt road, hands behind his head, scowling at us. It was the same man who’d glared at me at the gas station.

“What’s your name?” I asked as I walked up to him.

“Ford,” he said, then spat on my boot.

I stared down at it, then glanced back up at him. “This your crew, Ford? You one of Hangman’s officers?” I asked.

“Some of ‘em,” he replied. “The rest were from Colorado Springs.” He didn’t respond to my question about his status. Didn’t need to. He was in charge of these men in Hangman’s stead.

Nodding, I crossed my arms over my chest. My leg was starting to throb. I needed to get this done with. “You know why this is happening? Why you’re about to die?”

“You’re the fucker who attacked our Phoenix Chapter,” he answered.

“I am,” I told him. “Because your president decided to come after my old lady.”

He made a face. “Don’t know nothing about that.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” I continued. “But that’s really only the first reason. We don’t like people who sell other people, do we Butcher?”

“Naw. Fucked up,” Butcher replied.

I arched a brow at Ford. “And if he thinks it’s fucked up, trust me, it is.”

Understanding dawned on the LoS officer’s face. “You’re going to kill me.”

“You thought we’d let you live when we killed all your friends here?” Toxic asked with a snort. “They don’t hire you guys for your brains do they?”

Ford didn’t bother to answer. Or look at Butcher. He was watching me.

“You want to die fast, Ford?” I asked.

“What’s it gonna take?”

“Just a bit of information,” I told him.

“Or?”

“Or you go off the trail with him,” I said, pointing my thumb over at Butcher.

Ford’s eyes left mine and he studied Butcher. “And if I talk?”

“Bullet to the head,” I said with a shrug.

His jaw clenched as he decided what he wanted to do. I sighed when I saw him tense up.

“Get ready-”

Ford jumped to his feet, trying to run past my brothers. Hush reached out and grabbed him by his greasy ponytail, jerking him backward until he landed on his back on the path.

“I was hoping he’d make that choice,” Butcher said, rubbing his hands together. “Static, Warrant, grab him for me.”

Priest, Pyre, and Idaho were climbing down the rocks when the first screams started off somewhere to our left. “Didn’t feel like talking?” Priest asked.

Shrugging, I reached down and rubbed at my thigh.

“I should wait until we’re back in town to give you more meds,” Pyre said. “Too fucking dusty out here. With my luck, you’ll get sepsis.”

I arched a brow. “With your luck?”

Pyre shrugged. “It’ll be my ass if something happens to you…ya know, medically.”

Taking a seat on a nearby boulder, I let my brothers take care of the mess we’d made.

It was going to take all my fucking willpower to get out of these mountains and stay upright on my bike.

I hated leaving the clean up to my crew and not helping, but none of them said a word.

In fact, if I tried to help, I’d just get bitched at, so I sat and waited.

When the screams finally cut off, I looked around. The others had been busy dumping the bodies amongst the rocks, then piling smaller stones on top of them. No one would likely find these fuckers for a long time.

“Time to go,” I announced, gritting my teeth as I stood up. It was time to get back home to our families. And to see what else the others had found while we were gone.

The ride home was pretty uneventful. Once Pyre had given me more meds, I’d been put out of my fucking misery and had no trouble riding again.

The explosions were the talk of the town, according to Hell, Smoke, and Ricochet, but everything was taken care of and none of it would point back to us.

Christmas was two days away. I planned to lock everything down for the holiday, celebrate with my family, then once it was over, we’d be taking Hangman on.

If we were lucky, we’d be able to take the fucker down before the rest of the LoS chapters arrived.

If not, it was going to be a much bigger fight, but still one I planned to win.

According to Rip, some of the closer chapters had already beefed up the Phoenix crew after we took most of them out.

Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Flagstaff had sent some of their numbers this way after our attack.

That was fine. It wasn’t enough to overpower us.

We still had the upper hand. But that was going to change if the rest of them got here before we made our move.

Hangman and the caravan he was riding with would be here soon. He’d be linking up with the old Phoenix crew. That was going to be enough to deal with for now. I didn’t need the rest of the LoS crashing my party.

I could keep hacking away at his back up as they travelled. It was an option. Or…I could wipe Hangman off the map, then deal with the rest of the fuckers afterward. Which was what I really wanted to do.

Hangman was my main target. I’d figure out the best plan for the remnants of the LoS once he was gone. I didn’t give a shit what happened to them, as long as they couldn’t come back and go after Keely. So I’d either kill them, or make sure the FBI caught up with them.

Keely was keeping in touch with her friend, Cory, from the task force, and the FBI was mobilizing. Honestly, as long as I got to kill Hangman, they could have the rest of them. As long as they could hold onto them, of course.

By the time I was done with the LoS, it was going to be a fucking forgotten nightmare for most. They were going to be dead or imprisoned and no one would ever align themselves with the remaining survivors again.

If luck went my way, they’d all be six feet down with the worms gnawing on their bones. But I’d take whatever I could get. As long as their lives were extinguished or destroyed, I’d be satisfied. Then I would use them as an example. You come for my family? You leave in fucking pieces.