Page 44 of Lockout (The Vikings MC: Tucson Chapter #11)

Lockout

“ T hey’re in the presidential suite on the top floor,” Rip said in a low voice as we entered the hotel.

“Nice fucking digs for a bunch of shit bags,” Toxic said, eyeing the chandelier hanging in the foyer.

Rip had let us know once Hangman and his crew had crossed into Arizona.

We still weren’t sure whether they had actually found Ford and his boys, but either way, they’d made their way to Tucson and had met up with the Phoenix Chapter.

That was how I knew they were planning to start shit.

They hadn’t headed over to Phoenix, but instead, had stopped here.

I wasn’t going to let them get the jump on me.

“Who knew the LoS would have good taste?” Warrant added.

“Apparently selling women and children against their will pays well,” Butcher said, a sneer on his lips.

Priest held the elevator door while we piled on. It was a tight fucking fit with this many of us but no one was willing to wait for the next one. A couple of people glanced our way as the elevator doors closed, but no one stopped us.

Security wouldn’t be far behind. The look on the concierge’s face when we strolled through the lobby was enough to tell me that.

He was probably trying to figure out if we were some of the bikers who were staying here as VIPs.

That was likely the only reason we managed to get to the bank of elevators without getting stopped to begin with.

We swarmed out of the elevator like zombies in one of Sean’s video games, because as soon as those fucking doors opened, there was three of our targets sitting there, waiting.

“Shit!” the first one barked, scrambling for his gun.

We got there first. The shots were loud inside this little fucking tin can and the hallway, but it couldn’t be helped. We hadn’t brought silencers with us. We hadn’t known where these fuckers were going to stop and hole up for the night. This fancy ass hotel hadn’t been what I was expecting.

Motioning to Hellfire, I watched, gun drawn as he put his shoulder into the door. The middle of it splintered around him like kindling. Butcher finished it off as soon as Hell stepped aside, by putting his boot just below the handle. It swung open, accompanied by more bullets.

We moved to the sides of the hallway, hugging the walls while the LoS shot through the now open door.

Riptide pulled something out of the bag he had slung over his shoulder and then popped the pin on a smoke grenade and tossed it into the room.

The shooting stopped as cursing and yelling started up inside.

“Kill anyone you find,” I told them. I was going to make sure I found Hangman first. That fucker was mine.

Leading the way through the door and into the smoke, I squinted as I tried to make out anything inside the suite. Someone had killed the lights, so it was dark and hazy.

Movement to my left had me swinging my gun in that direction and pulling the trigger twice. The man went down with a scream. I knew it wasn’t one of my guys because they were all behind me. But we were going to have to be careful not to end up with friendly fire in here.

“Clear the place,” I ordered. “Don’t shoot each other.”

I went to the right, stepping into what had to be the master bedroom if that fucking gigantic bed was any indication.

“Lock.”

“Rip,” I said, turning toward my VP. “Status?”

“I intercepted the 911 call,” he said with a grin. He had a headset on and his laptop balanced in his hand. “Still not going to buy us much time if more people call directly from their cells.”

“Do what you can,” I said. I went over to the window and stuck my head out. “Shit. Get a couple of the guys to follow me,” I told him. I pointed out the window. “Fire escape is just above that parking garage.”

Rip let out a low whistle as I made room so he could see out the window. “Fuck of a drop,” he said.

We watched as LoS members scurried across the top half of the parking garage. “That’s where they went,” I said, unnecessarily, “That’s where I’m going.”

I didn’t bother to wait. If there were more LoS in the suite, my guys would take care of them. Stepping over to the fire escape, I looked across. The jump didn’t seem so bad now that I was out here. Backing up, I took a running leap. As soon as my feet hit concrete, I tucked and rolled.

I’d no sooner gained my feet than I ended up face planting against the cold cement again, I waited until the hail of bullets flew over my head before I scrambled for cover behind a group of cars. “Fuckers.”

More gun fire was my only warning before more of my brothers came running up to my hiding place.

“Those assholes are fucking terrible shots,” Priest announced, putting his back to the car and reloading his magazine.

“That’s good for us,” Hush replied.

I stood, let off a few cover shots as Rip, Pyre and Butcher made the jump from the fire escape to the garage floor. I doubted I’d hit anyone, but I wanted to lay down cover fire as they ran over.

As soon as they got to our cover, I ducked down once more. “Cops?” I asked Rip.

“Not yet. Soon though. We should kill these assholes and get out of here,” Riptide said with a grin.

The rest of the men were dropping down to meet up with us. We laid down more cover fire as they ran up.

“Good plan,” I muttered.

“Elevator’s over there,” Ricochet said, pointing to where the LoS was holed up. “Nothing’s stopping them from going down.”

“Guess we’ll have to do that,” Smoke said with a grin.

“Bit of a stalemate,” Hush muttered. “Any of us step out from behind these cars and they’re goin’ to look like fuckin’ Swiss Cheese.”

“We can creep in around the sides,” Toxic offered.

“Not enough cover,” Butcher said with a shake of his head.

“Most of the cars are here and where they are,” I added in agreement. “There’s too much open space.”

One shot rang out, followed by a howl of pain. I glanced over at Priest who shrugged. “Fucker had his leg sticking out from behind that car.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “Rip, have any grenades in that bag of yours?”

“Yeah,” he said, sounding hesitant. “But that’s going to really draw attention to us.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “We can’t just sit here all night.” I stuck my head back up over the car and looked around. “Okay,” I said, ducking down as a couple bullets whizzed past. “I’m going for that red Tahoe in the corner.”

“You just got done sayin’ there wasn’t enough cover to advance on them,” Hush pointed out.

“That’s why I’m going and not any of you. You assholes stay here and cover my ass.”

“I’m going with you,” Warrant said.

“Same,” Butcher and Toxic echoed together.

“No,” I told them. “Target’s going to be too fucking big if we all start moving as a group. Stay here. Cover me.”

“This is a bad fucking idea, Lock,” Rip muttered. “There’s too much damn open space between here and that Tahoe.”

“Zig zag,” Hellfire said. Everyone glared at him and he shrugged. “Better than running straight at it.”

“The way these fuckers shoot, you’ll zag right into their shot, better to go straight,” Butcher said with a snort.

“Guarantee they’re holding their guns sideways as they shoot,” Toxic replied with a laugh. “Assholes watch too much TV. Never going to hit anything that way.”

Shaking my head with a grin, I stared at my target, then tossed over my shoulder. “Get ready.”

I darted, crouching low as I ran, heading for the wall of the garage. My asshole clenched as the familiar sounds of rounds ricocheting off concrete filled my ears. There were screams interspersed with the gun shots so I could only hope my guys were taking some of theirs out.

My brothers knew I’d be fucking pissed if they got themselves shot.

I took Hellfire’s suggestion and zagged back toward the middle of the area.

As if I didn’t know to fucking zig zag while I ran.

Fire flashed over my left shoulder and I knew someone had gotten close and managed to clip me.

Maybe Butcher had been right after all. Should have just run straight.

“Lock! Grenade!”

I slammed into the Tahoe’s side, looking over my shoulder. Rip was standing up, pointing. Then the metallic sound made me look down, right as the grenade hit my boot.

Fuck. Me.

Running backward as fast I could, I beat a hasty retreat.

I wouldn’t have long. I managed to dive to the side of the first vehicle keeping our asses from getting punched with holes, right as that fucking grenade went off.

The Tahoe blew fucking sky high, gaining air before crashing back down.

Its alarm was blaring, but as the fire consumed it, it died down to a quiet chirp before going silent.

I dragged myself behind the rows of cars. My brothers were watching me. “That didn’t work out.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Lockout,” Idaho muttered.

“Looks like they don’t mind drawing attention,” Static said with a frown. “Why do you suppose that is?”

“Because they’re paying off the cops. Probably just bought us some more time,” Butcher muttered.

“Great,” Toxic said. “So we won’t all get scooped up by the cops, but that doesn’t help with how the fuck we’re going to get across this divide to those assholes.”

“Or why they’re not leaving,” Rip added.

“What do you mean?” Pyre asked.

“Elevators right there,” Hush said, eyes narrowing. “Why aren’t they sendin’ their guys down to get the fuck out of here?”

“Probably want this over just as much as we do,” Smoke said with a shrug.

“Probably pissed after they found Ford,” Ricochet guessed.

“But they have the same problem as us,” I added. “They can’t come at us without catching a few bullets.”

“So?” Ricochet asked.

“So, what are they waiting for?” I asked, frowning.

Everyone shook their heads.

“They have some kind of plan,” I muttered. “I don’t fucking like it.”

“Not much we can do,” Idaho said. “Only way down is over there,” he pointed to the elevator, “or over the side.”

“That’s a four story drop,” Rip told him. “If you manage to live you won’t want to for long.”

“So what’s the plan?” Priest asked, looking over at me.

“All we can do is wait,” I told him. “Take out any who are stupid enough to show themselves.”

“I don’t like it,” Hush said.

Neither did I. But we didn’t have much choice.

The only way to get around them was to go through them.

That would be fine by me, except it was too likely my guys would take rounds trying to get to them.

And they made it clear they were willing to blow up anything between us and them if we tried to advance our line of defense.

I fucking hated waiting. But something was about to go down, I could feel it. So, until that point, we’d have to be patient. Once Hangman thought he had the upper hand, he’d show himself. Then I’d kill him.