Page 45 of Lockout (The Vikings MC: Tucson Chapter #11)

Keely

L ooking around at the mopey faces surrounding me, I made an executive decision. “Okay. Someone grab the playing cards. I can’t stand to watch all of you sit here and worry all night.”

Taylor let out a whoop of delight and dashed up the stairs. Everyone except for two of the Wyoming guys had come over from the ranch. Lock had wanted us all in one place, as much as possible, with most of his allies watching over us.

Ruck grinned and helped Billie’s grandpa and Daryl move tables into place. We all started taking our seats.

“No way,” Jenny said, taking the cards from Taylor as she dashed back down the stairs and flopped into a chair. “You’re not dealing tonight, Missy.”

“Why not?” she asked, but there was a mischievous smile on her face.

“Because you’re too damn proficient at cheating,” Isla said, taking the cards and beginning to shuffle them.

“Of all the things those guys could have taught her,” Jenny said with a sigh.

“Oh, they taught us lots more,” Cassie said, then zipped her lips when both Gabby and Taylor glared in her direction.

“I know,” Jenny said, the words a soft wail.

Smiling, I leaned into Sloane when she wrapped an arm around me. “I’ve missed this.” It was times like this where I regretted joining the FBI task force. Well, and the times where the LoS were coming after me. That was inconvenient as hell.

“We’ve missed you ,” she replied in that quiet way of hers. “Don’t leave again.”

Tears filled my eyes because when Sloane said something you knew it was the truth.

“Even if Lock hadn’t finally gotten his head out of his-” Seek paused, looking over to where Jenny’s girls were watching her with blinking eyes, then cleared her throat. “Even if he hadn’t done the smart thing and made you his old lady, we would have convinced him to let us keep you.”

“Yup,” Kit said, pouring out a bag of pretzels onto the table. Everyone started parting the pretzels into piles that would mimic money. We’d learned long ago not to play poker for money with these girls. “You belong to us.”

I laughed even while my heart clenched in my chest. Lockout was the love of my life.

I’ve known that for a while now. But part of why he worked so well for me was this group of people that belonged to him.

Because if we were being honest, he was the glue that held this whole unit together.

Without Lock, there’d be no club. Without the club there’d be no unofficial old lady’s club.

We wouldn’t gather together as often, if at all, and our lives would continue on, but separately. Just the thought made my heart hurt.

“I will happily belong to you,” I told them all.

Daryl was watching us all with a soft smile on his face.

“What?” Billie asked him when we all noticed.

“I’m just so damn glad that Boone has found his place here with all of you.”

“You know,” I said, “it doesn’t only have to be Boone’s place.”

Billie squeezed my knee under the table, and I know it was a silent thank you. She and Toxic were trying to convince Daryl to move to Arizona permanently.

Daryl hummed as he picked up his cards and studied his hand, but I knew we were wearing him down. Gramps was working on him, too, because the two men had become fast friends.

We played round after round, with some of the guys sitting in on a hand before they got up to go continue doing passes on the compound. I’d eaten nearly my whole pile of pretzels when Gabby scooted her chair back.

“Where are you going?” Jenny asked.

“I’ll be right back,” Gabby replied. “I need to grab my charger from upstairs. My phone is almost dead.”

She dashed off and Taylor sighed loudly. “Dad says I have to wait a few more years before I can have a phone.”

“You have a phone,” Caitlyn said in a soft voice.

Taylor rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t do anything but make calls.”

“It’s for emergencies,” Jenny reminded her.

Taylor nodded, then shot me a glum look. “I don’t care about emergencies, I-”

Jordan’s gasp of shock made all of us focus on where she was looking.

Ruck stood up from where he’d been sitting at the bar, his hand on the gun stuffed into the back of his jeans.

“Don’t. Not unless you want me to give this girlie here a couple more holes in her head,” the man said as he walked Gabby down the stairs.

How had he gotten on the property? Let alone upstairs? There were two more men behind him, their guns trained on us. Everyone froze.

“Let her go,” Ruck growled at the LoS member.

“Yeah, sure,” he jerked his head in my direction. “Soon as she comes with us. Hangman wants to say hello in person.”

“Keely, no,” Gwen gasped when I stood up.

Eva reached out, as if she was going to grab my arm, but she didn’t as her eyes bounced between me and Gabby.

Dani’s eyes were pleading with me not to go with them. But I wasn’t about to let them take, or hurt, Gabby. Not when it was me they wanted.

“Keely,” Ruck said, “you don’t have-”

“It’s okay,” I told him. It wasn’t. My hands were shaking and I was so scared I could barely make my feet work. But I started moving toward them. “Let her go first.”

“No, you come here first,” he said. They were moving toward the door now, circling and keeping Ruck, Daryl, and Gramps in their line of vision. The other men were all outside. They must have slipped past all the guards in the darkness.

I held up a hand when Isla started to slide toward the right. We couldn’t risk Gabby. Or any of the other children. Plus, Jenny was pregnant. What happened if they just started firing? Almost everyone I loved was sitting in this room right now and I wasn’t going to let anything happen to them.

Isla paused, but I could tell she didn’t want to let me go either. She shook her head slightly.

My gaze told her to wait. They could come after me once they had Gabby safe. That was just fine with me, but until then we needed to follow directions.

“I’m sorry,” Gabby sobbed, tear-soaked eyes meeting mine. “Don’t go. I’m sorry.”

She had no reason to apologize. This wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault except the men standing there, waiting for me to give myself over to them. And their boss. I stepped close enough that the man had to let go of Gabby to grab me.

“Go,” I told her, urgency making my voice crack.

Before she could run, one of the other men grabbed her.

“No! You said you’d let her go!” I insisted.

“I lied,” he sneered. Then he dragged us out the door.

Turning in the seat, I glanced out the back window. The headlights were still back there. I knew Ruck, Isla, and the other men who’d been left to watch over us were chasing us right now. But the LoS had managed to lose them a couple of times. I wasn’t sure how long they would be able to keep up.

I tumbled into the man sitting next to me as the one driving took a sharp turn into a parking garage. Frowning, I held Gabby’s hand as I tried to figure out what we were doing there. I didn’t bother to ask. These assholes weren’t answering anything, so I’d finally given up.

The men got out of the SUV and the jerk who’d sat in back with us grabbed me. “Get out.” He didn’t bother to let me try on my own, he just started hauling me out like a sack of potatoes.

I fought, not that it did much good without a weapon, but I wasn’t about to let them take us and do nothing. My nails raked his forearm and he let out a growl of pain as blood sprang from the wounds.

“Keely!” Gabby was being dragged in the opposite direction, out the other door.

All the fight drained out of my body and I scrambled out of the vehicle as fast as I could so that I could be reunited with her again. She wrapped her arms around me as we met at the back of the SUV.

“Let’s go,” the man who’d first grabbed Gabby said, jamming the barrel of his gun into my back. “That way,” he said, motioning with his head.

We walked, our footsteps echoing eerily until we got to an elevator. The man punched the button for the top floor. “Where are you taking us?” I asked.

He ignored me. As soon as the doors opened, he dragged us over to where more men were waiting, ducking down behind some cars.

“Finally,” one of the men said. He looked to be in his sixties. His long gray ponytail was as greasy as his beard. I immediately didn’t like him. His eyes roved over me. “This her?”

“Yeah. Brought you a bonus too, Prez.” The guys shoved both me and Gabby forward.

I pressed her back, keeping my body between her and the man because I recognized him. I’d seen enough pictures of Hangman to know him anywhere. My blood ran cold staring at his grim face. We were in so much trouble.

The guys had left because Hangman had come back to Arizona, so I knew he was around. I just hadn’t realized I’d end up face to face with him. Or worse, that Gabby would. This was worst case scenario and I didn’t know how to get out of this situation with Gabby.

“Let her go,” I pleaded. “I’ll go with you. Just-”

“Oh, I plan to let her go,” Hangman said with a wide grin.

I grimaced at his smile. There was something evil about it. Some might think he was good looking for an older man, despite the fact that he needed a shower. All I could see was the murderous intent written all over his face. Why would they bring Gabby here just to let her go?

“Little girl,” Hangman said, motioning to Gabby.

I held her arm, keeping her by my side, but he didn’t seem to care.

“See that group of cars over there?”

We both craned our heads to look across the top floor of the parking garage. There was nothing but open sky and stars above us and this garage had to be at least four stories high, so there was nowhere else to go.

“Yeah,” Gabby whispered, giving me an uncertain look.

“Your daddy and his friends are over there.”

My head snapped back toward the area he mentioned, straining to see. There were lamp posts up here, illuminating the night, but it was too far to see if he was right. “You’re lying,” I told him.

“Why would I do that?”

I met his gaze again. I had no idea. Why would he do that? What was his plan?

“Lockout!” he bellowed, making me jump. “I’ve got a couple of your girls here.”

“Bullshit!”

My heart started thudding hard when Lock’s voice echoed through the still night air. I turned a little, searching the cars, trying to see them.

When Gabby screamed, I jerked her hard against my body, glaring at Hangman. The asshole just kept grinning. Gabby rubbed her arm where he’d pinched her.

“Gabby?” Priest’s voice sounded tortured.

“Daddy!” she cried out, shaking in my arms.

“No!” I screamed, as two of Hangman’s crew forced Gabby away from me. One of them held me by the waist as the other two pulled her out from the safety of the vehicles we were hiding behind.

“Go,” Hangman said, staring at Gabby.

She froze as the men dropped their arms, releasing her. “Wha-”

“Run!” Hangman barked.

Gabby’s eyes met mine and I didn’t know what to say. Something wasn’t right, but I didn’t want her to stay here with me. “Run,” I told her.

She spun and started sprinting, the sound of her sneakers hitting concrete pounding in my head. She was about halfway to where our guys were when Hangman said something that made me almost vomit.

“Kill her.”

“No!” I screamed, struggling against the man holding me. “You can’t! Lock! Priest!” I was out of my mind with panic.

“Shut up, you stupid bitch,” the guy holding me muttered.

But then one of the men who’d been holding Gabby raised his gun, aiming at her back, and I lost it. Throwing my head back, it connected with my captor’s nose. I felt the appendage break more than I heard it, and I turned in his arms when his grip loosened and punched him square in the throat.

He crumpled, gasping for breath. But he wasn’t my target. I slammed my body into the man with his gun raised, throwing off his aim. “Run, Gabby!” I screamed as I followed her.

I ran as hard as I could. Everything was slowing down.

I could see Lock, Priest, and Hush running toward us.

My fear for them didn’t even touch the terror that was choking me at the thought of the LoS shooting Gabby.

I didn’t want anyone getting hurt, but none of us would ever recover if she was killed.

It was too far. She was too far from me. Too far from them. We were all running, but not close enough. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the man raise his gun again and I poured on more speed. She was right there. Maybe I could make it.

The sound of gunfire splitting the night brought everything into sharp focus. Gabby was staring up at me, her eyes wide. She said something as a strange sound echoed around me. It was like a thump, thump, thump. But Gabby was in my arms. That was all that mattered. She was safe.

Lockout ripped Gabby out of my arms, handing her over to her father. He took me by the shoulders. Viking’s Rampage were everywhere. Guns were firing. It wasn’t quiet anymore. We were standing in the middle of a gun fight.

“Get her out of here, Priest. Now!” Lock barked.

Priest’s eyes met mine, dropped down to my chest, then slid back to my face. “Fuck.” He dragged his screaming daughter away from us.

I frowned, trying to make sense of it. The urge to cough overcame me and I wasn’t able to cover my mouth fast enough. Blood splattered all over Lock’s face. He was staring at me in horror.

Reaching up, I cupped his cheek, trying to figure out where it’d come from.

“Keely,” he said, his voice hoarse. “You’re okay.”

Of course I was okay. Why was he saying that?

“We have to move,” Hush insisted from next to Lock. “Lock, we have to move her.”

“Take her,” he said, his voice tight. “Get her to Pyre now.”

“Come here, Darlin’,” Hush said, gathering me up into his arms.

I looked over and saw Lockout running toward where the LoS were hiding. “Lock.” His name came out as a raspy croak. Pain flashed through me and it was like saying that one word made it all spill out. Agony burned through my chest.

Glancing down, I stared in shock at the blood dripping from my chest. They’d shot me? No. That wasn’t possible. They’d missed. Right?

“Warrant, Toxic, Butcher, go help Lockout before he gets himself killed,” Hush barked as he ran past them. Once we were behind a line of cars he laid me on the ground.

Pyre’s face filled my vision as I stared up at the dark sky above. “You’re okay.”

I wished people would stop saying that. I didn’t feel okay. Not anymore. I wanted Lockout even though I knew he was taking care of the LoS. My body was shaking so hard my teeth started chattering. As soon as Pyre put his hands on me, the pain flared and I passed out.