Page 28 of Panther’s Magpie (Mountain River MC #1)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SIX

MAGGIE

O nce again, like so many times before, I chew on the corner of my thumb as I pace the clubhouse. Meek is in his office, doing his thing, leaving me alone with nothing but my thoughts.

Have they found her yet?

Are the boys okay?

Is he okay?

Surely if something is wrong, Meek would tell me, right?

The clubhouse door opens, and I turn so fast my hair whips across my face. I brush it out of my way and frown when I see who steps inside.

“What are you doing here?” I demand.

“I’m here to claim what’s mine,” Ava hisses.

“How the hell did you get in?”

“Let’s just say I have my ways and know this place better than people think,” she says as she stalks toward me.

I narrow my eyes and step forward. “You need to leave, right now.”

“No.”

“Seriously, Ava, you need to leave before Panther gets back. If he catches you here, you won’t find yourself with a restraining order but six feet under.”

She scoffs. “Panther would never do that to me. He only said that to appease you.”

“Are you sure about that?”

For a second, her confidence wavers, and I try to use it to my advantage.

“Leave now. If you do, then he will never have to know. Just go and we can pretend like this never happened.”

“No. The only one going anywhere is you. Panther is mine, and I’m not giving up on him. I’ve spent too much time trying to win him over for some little nobody to come in and steal what’s mine.”

Ava lunges for me, and I sidestep her. She crashes into the table.

“Meek!” I yell as my heart races.

Ava’s eyes narrow. “Aww, how cute. The little girl has to call for backup because she can’t fight her own fights.”

“Does your mouth ever get tired? All it seems to do is run and run…” I taunt.

“You bitch.” She moves toward me again.

Only this time, I strike. I form a fist like a former self-defense instructor taught me, and I punch her square in the nose as I move to the side.

Ava screeches like a wounded animal.

Huh, maybe Aspen was onto something when she said we should take those classes that summer back in high school.

“You’re going to regret that.”

“Talk. Talk. Talk,” I taunt.

“I’m going to enjoy killing you, you dumb bitch.” She reaches behind her and pulls out something shiny.

At first I think it’s a knife, but I quickly realize it’s something else.

An honest-to-God metal nail file.

“I didn’t even know they made those anymore,” I mutter.

She lunges for me, and when I go to step back, I realize my mistake. I’ve run out of room to go further back, and I trip over the coffee table. I land hard on my back, the wind knocked out of me.

Son of a bitch.

Taking advantage, Ava jumps on me, straddling my waist. I try to buck her off, but somehow she manages to stay on.

“Let me guess, cowgirl is your favorite position,” I mutter as I try to buy myself some time to figure out a way to get her off.

She raises the file. “Night, night, bitch.”

Dammit. Calloway is going to be pissed when he comes back and finds me bled out on the clubhouse floor.

I turn my head and wince, waiting for the pain.

Only it never comes.

I feel the force of her hit, but that’s it. Opening my eyes, I see the nail file sticking out of my chest.

“What the hell?” she mutters as she tries to shove it in further.

“I fucking love that man,” I mutter.

If he didn’t insist on me wearing this stupid vest, I’d be dead right now.

Reaching up, I grab her by the back of the head and pull her hair hard. Ava screeches as her hands wrap around my neck.

“Why won’t you die!” she yells as she squeezes.

Shit. Shit. Shit, I think as my eyes begin to water.

I hear the instructor’s voice in my head, telling me to bring both of my arms down on hers if they are wrapped around your neck. Without giving it a second thought, I do it with every ounce of strength I have left.

Ava cries out as she lets go, but what I didn’t account for was her falling into me. Her head smacks into mine.

Gasping, I fight back the tears as stars build in my eyes.

Son of a bitch.

I’m not cut out for this shit.

I try to push Ava off of me, but she’s taller and heavier than me, so she doesn’t move.

“Meek!” I try to yell, but it comes out garbled.

Fuck, my throat hurts.

Ava groans as she sits up.

“Just fucking die,” she pants as her hands move back to my neck.

Before she can start to squeeze, I see a shadow behind her and smile.

“Why are you smiling?” she demands as she starts to turn.

“Night, night,” I taunt right as Meek wraps his hands around her neck.

I watch as he snaps her neck and tosses her to the side.

“Are you okay, Maggie?” he asks, full of concern.

I blink twice as I realize he didn’t subdue her. He killed her. Without thought, he snapped her neck.

“Just peachy,” I rasp, my throat hurting.

“I’m sorry, I don’t even know how she got in. I should have heard the commotion sooner.” He frowns as he looks around the room before looking back at me. “Do you need medical attention?”

I hold my hand out, and he takes it, slowly pulling me up. Once I’m sitting, I look over at Ava.

Yep. Still dead.

I should be appalled that he just took her out like that, but I’m not. I’m fucking thankful.

“So…that just happened. On a scale of one to ten, how pissed do you think Panther is going to be?” I ask.

Meek winces. “He’s going to kill me. Now come on, let’s go get you some ice.”

For killing Ava or because something happened to me? If I were insecure, I would worry, but I know the truth. He is going to kill him for letting me get hurt.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him kill you,” I promise him.

Meek shakes his head. “I love you, Maggie, but please stop fucking talking.”

Sure, sure. I can do that.

It hurts anyway.

PANTHER

The roar of bikes whistles through the air, and my mind keeps racing.

Will we be there in time to save Aspen?

Is this a trap?

Did I do the right thing by leaving Maggie back at the clubhouse instead of sending her with Meek to the safe house right off the bat?

Ridge rolls up next to me and points off to the side.

I push thoughts of Maggie to the back burner and focus on the here and now. We slow down and come to a stop at an abandoned shop.

“Is this it?” I ask.

Ridge nods. “Coordinates are right.”

“Then where the hell is he?” I say out loud as I look around.

Bay doors roll up, and someone steps out, waving us in.

I hesitate a second before I move.

Fuck it.

Rolling forward, I enter and get off my bike. My brothers do the same as the door shuts behind us, trapping us inside.

“What the hell is going on?” I demand.

“Calm down,” Asher says as he comes into view, fully kitted out with Police sprawled across his chest.

“You’re a goddamn cop?” I hiss.

“Yes, I’ve been undercover for a year, and my cover was blown. We need to get to Aspen,” he says as he approaches.

“Then why are we here wasting time?” Eagle asks.

“Circle around, boys. I have a plan.” Asher comes to a stop next to me and shows me his tablet.

He breaks it down for us and tells us how they are holding her down the road about two miles away at a safe house.

He pulls up a camera feed where we can see how many guys are inside watching Aspen.

One of them being Monster, the dickhead who wants her to be his.

When I see her on the screen, my heart clenches.

She’s thin, but alive and sitting on a couch. If I didn’t know any better, I would think she was just chilling at home with the way she’s acting on camera.

“She’s ready to be home,” Asher says as if he’s reading my mind.

“Do we have to worry about cops?” Talon asks.

Asher shakes his head. “No, not right now at least.”

“Are they leaving you out to hang?” Eagle asks.

“No, but they are currently caught up in red tape, and we don’t have time. We need to roll out,” Asher says as he steps away.

“Let’s do this.”

With a plan in mind, we hit the road and point our tires south, following behind Asher and his big-ass SUV. My mind quiets as we approach, and everything fades away.

As soon as we pull up, it’s pure fucking chaos. They start firing without a second thought.

Asher turns, placing his SUV in front of us the best he can, stopping us from getting hit.

As I get off my bike, he bails from the driver’s seat, pulling out a gun.

He meets my eye and nods. As quickly as possible, I make my way to him and follow his lead. The boys try their best to distract these assholes while we sneak off into the dark to hit the house from the back.

Side by side, we take down any motherfucker who gets in our way until we make our way to the back door.

“Ready?” he asks quietly.

“Let’s do this.”

I watch as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He opens the door and steps inside first.

Monster stands right in front of us, with his hand wrapped around Aspen’s throat and the barrel of a gun held to her temple.

Her eyes light up when she sees me. “Calloway.”

“Long time no see, sis. I see you got yourself in trouble again,” I say as I hold my gaze on the big fucker behind her.

“Oh, you know how it goes,” she says weakly.

“Stop talking,” Monster hisses.

I watch as my sister’s eyes bug as he squeezes her throat.

Motherfucker is a dead man.

“Let her go, Monster,” Asher says calmly.

I don’t miss the way my sister’s eyes slide to the man next to me.

“You’re a fucking cop?” Monster sneers. “I should have known. I told him you were a piece of shit.”

“I’m not going to ask again, Monster. Let. Her. Go,” Asher says calmly as the sound of bullets stops from outside.

“Yeah, Monster, you hear that? All your help is gone. Cut your losses now before it’s too late,” I tell him.

“Fuck you,” Monster says.

I watch as he moves his gun from my sister’s head and points it at Asher. Before I can even fire, he does, hitting the man next to me. Asher stumbles back, and Monster smiles.

What Monster wasn’t expecting though was for my sister to go limp in his arms, giving me the space I needed. Without second-guessing, I pull the trigger.

A dime-sized hole appears in the center of his forehead as he drops like a ton of bricks.

“Aspen.” I quickly holster my gun as she rushes toward me. She hits me so hard that I stumble back.

“I knew you would come for me,” she murmurs against my chest.

I take a second and hold my sister close, thankful that she’s still alive.

“Are you okay?”

She nods. “I’m okay.”

I can tell by the tone of her voice that she’s far from fine, but I don’t call her out on it. Not here and now.

Gasping has us looking down.

“Shit, are you okay, man?” I ask as I drop to my knees.

“Hit the vest. Hurts like a bitch.”

“If he hit your vest, where the hell are you bleeding from?” Aspen asks.

“I’m fine,” he lies.

“Help me get him up.”

Together, Aspen and I get him up. With his arm slung over my shoulder, we head outside.

“Coming out,” I yell as we step outside.

My brothers relax when they spot us.

“Need some help with this one,” I tell them.

The guys help me load Asher and Aspen into the bullet-ridden SUV.

“Let’s hope it starts,” I mutter.

“I got him. You get Aspen home,” Eagle tells me.

“Aspen,” Asher rasps.

I watch as my sister gives him a sad look before turning away from him.

Interesting.

“I’m taking her home. Thank you.”

“I didn’t do it for you, but you’re welcome,” he says, not taking his eyes off my sister.

“Anyone find Adlet?” I ask.

Eagle gives me a grim look. “He wasn’t here. Most of his men were, though.”

“So he’s still out there and likely to cause us issues?”

“Yep, but he won’t have an army behind him at least.”

I curse under my breath. “Let’s get home. We can deal with this later.”

I help Aspen onto the bike behind me, feeling relief as she wraps her arms around me.

She’s safe.

Leaving the carnage behind, I speed off toward home with my sister, knowing my girl is waiting for me.

I’m finally at peace.