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“Argh!” one of the security men cries out.
Bullets dart across the room, and all Raylan and I can do is crawl away from the sudden burst of violence. Masterson tries to fire back, but he catches one in the throat. The blood sprays over Henry’s impeccable plush carpet, followed by the heavy thud of Masterson’s dead body hitting the floor.
My heart is racing. I’m holding my breath, watching the bodyguards fail to shoot whoever it is that’s firing at them. Within minutes, they both join Masterson in the next world.
A second passes. Then another.
Boots thud into the room. I grab one of the guns off the floor and jump to my feet, ready to fire if I have to, but the sight before me softens my hand. I drop the pistol and laugh with genuine relief as Spike comes in, clad in black and heavily armed. Sniper rifle on his shoulder and two Berettas on his belt.
“Wow, I thought I’d be late for the party,” Spike says with a wry smile.
“You son of a bitch,” Raylan springs out of the shadows and throws his arms around our friend and trusted partner.
“Damn, those lawyers are ridiculously good,” Spike chuckles, welcoming our affection. “Are you two okay?”
“Yeah. How’d you know we were here?” I ask.
“As soon as I got back, I started asking around,” Spike says, a frown pulling his brows together. “I saw Shiloh first, though. I had to.”
“Of course,” I reply, looking around.
“She’s going to be okay, but she’s pissed off and then some,” Spike replies. “She wanted me to help, and honestly, I wanted to. I had a bad feeling about all this.”
“There are two more at the front of the house,” I tell him.
Spike nods once. “Already taken care of. I didn’t come alone. Once the kid told us you never came out after he gave you the exit signal, I knew something was wrong.”
“And you were right. It’s even worse on Kendric’s side,” Raylan says. “We need to get to them. Right now.”
Spike takes his phone out and starts making calls. “We’ll need the whole club for this. They’re all waiting for an order, anyway. Might as well put them to good use.”
“Tell them we’re headed to the mausoleum.”
A sense of urgency takes over. We’re going to need a solution for this mess that we’re leaving behind. A dead federal agent and two dead bodyguards won’t be something our lawyers will be able to clean up easily. And given that Spike has just come out on bail, I worry it will cost him dearly.
We rush out of the house and back to our truck. Raylan keeps trying to call Kendric, then Ariana. He texts them. Nothing. Radio silence. Every call and text that doesn’t get answered feels like a nail in my stomach, dread unfurling in the back of my throat as I struggle to keep my eyes on the road. I’m flooring it. The pickup is racing madly toward a finish line I’m not sure I’m ready for.
I don’t know what we’ll find when we get there.
The thought of losing Kendric, of losing Ariana, is making my insides squirm, causing a devastating fire in my chest. We’ve lost so much already. Our clubhouse, our work, our livelihoods. It will take a long time to recover from what the cabal has done to us. It will take a long time to repair our reputation, as well. We’ve been dragged through the mud. We’ve been shot at and threatened. Yet we have remained strong and steadfast.
I’m terrified that it won’t end the way I had hoped.
“Hang in there, Ariana, Kendric,” I hear myself whisper, my hands gripping the wheel so tightly that my knuckles have turned white.
Hang in there.
26
Raylan
While Sky is driving like the devil across Everton, I upload every single USB stick onto my laptop and send the whole motherlode of incriminating files over to Detective Amstaff. I make sure to BCC some of the major news outlets for good measure. One way or another, the truth about Henry David and the Black Hand is coming out tonight.
We might go down in flames, but at least we’ll go down swinging.
My fingers are trembling after I hit send and put the laptop away. Up ahead, the cemetery rises with its gigantic oak trees and elegant grey stone fences. I can see the hilltop from here, the lights glimmering around the mausoleum. Tiny dark dots are moving around up there, but I can’t make anything out. My heart is tightly wound, my nerves stretched to the point of snapping.
We’re not alone anymore, though.
