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"In, out and done in a couple hours? Easy fucking peasy," Riot says dryly. "Fuck."
"I didn't say it would be easy. I’ll keep a presence on the security cameras. I should see you coming if I still have access. The faster you come, the more likely that is." Mom draws her breath as if to say more, then pauses. Then, "I have to go before they finish their traces. I'll hold out as long as I can. Jessica?"
"Mom?" My voice cracks.
"I love you. If I don’t make it out of here, I’m sorry."
Oh God. I was tense before, but now my chest goes painfully tight and the corners of my eyes are starting to burn. "Mom…"
The line goes dead as Skyhigh and Sinner return, carrying a couple of backpacks. Skyhigh hefts his happily. He might be the only one looking forward to this.
"Alright, no time to fucking lose!" Hellfire yells while I'm still staring at his phone. "We need volunteers to stick around, pass the word. If they are watching the compound we want it to look like we’ve just barely survived an attack. Ghost, pick your team for the assault on Kane. Everyone else, we want to tiptoe out of here like little church mice before we split up. Ghost’s team storms the estate, and the rest come with me to try and track down the yacht. I don’t know what we can do against a fucking missile, but it’s better than sitting around and waiting to roastmarshmallows on what’s left of our side of the city. If we can rescue Cooper and Rebecca, fucking awesome, but the main priority is stopping Kane. Everything else is secondary. Are we clear?"
Ghost nods. "Skyhigh, round up three more guys. You're with me." Then he turns to us. "I don't wanna bring Jessica. It goes against every fiber of my fucking body."
"What?" I shake my head. "No, no, no! You heard her. You’ll need my fingers for the scanners."
"Technically I only need a finger. I'd rather have you ninety-eight percent safe than risk all of you," he growls back.
"Wha—wait. What are you suggesting?" I clench my hands into fists out of pure instinct.
Tex holds a hand up, stopping both of us. “Don’t be a smartass. Nobody’s cutting off fingers. We're bringing Jessica. It's not like she's safe here, if the whole neighborhood is going to be blown to hell."
"Definitely," Riot growls. "She's not gonna be any safer anywhere else than she is with us."
Ghost pauses just long enough to give it a quick consideration, then nods. "Alright. Then let's roll out. We’re burning time here."
There’s a group of about a dozen bikers around Hellfire. The ones volunteering to stay behind. The only one I know the name of is Sinner. They all look nervous but determined.
"Sinner, man, you're just a prospect," growls Hellfire. "No one expects you to play target for the club. Leave the theatrics to the fucking veterans."
Sinner shakes his head. "Nah, I spent way too fucking long in prison, paying for shit I didn't do. I'd started to think my life had no purpose. I’m too new to be useful in the other missions, but stand here and look busy? That I can do. I trust you guys to save the clubhouse." He crosses his arms over his chest. He's either super brave or super stupid, or maybe both. "I'll stay."
Hellfire nods in respect. “Won’t forget it, and I’ll consider it a little extra personal incentive. If you die, Eagle-eye isn’t going to forget it either, and I already owe that old bastard enough.”
With everything else decided, there's no wasting time. The club evacuates slowly, one by one, two by two, grouping up and reforming elsewhere to not draw too much attention to a mass exodus. Hopefully Kane isn't watching at all, but if he is, he'll think the attack squad got in and out and the club is struggling to recover.
"Here, I got space," says Riot and pats behind him on his bike. I’m actually getting pretty good at getting on and off a bike now, and even though we have a lot ahead of us, it still feels good to snuggle right up against his back and enjoy the feel of his strong body between my legs. It makes me feel alive.
Ghost rides at the head of our group, with Riot and me on one side, and Tex on the other. Slowly a group forms behind us, turning into a small army. I don't only have my boys keeping me safe, the whole club is shielding me now. I squeeze Riot harder, drawing on his courage. Ghost puts a hand up, swipes it forwards in the air, and then we're off, winding down the streets like a deadly snake made of leather and chrome.
Hold on, Mom. We're coming.
34
TEX
Victor Kane'sprimary estate sprawls over a large chunk of the Cornwall district of the city. It's where all the rich fucks have their homes, paid for by money earned off the backs of others, like they always do, and in his case death. We still have a ways to go before we’re there, but the floodlights, tall walls and monstrous mansion behind them are impossible to miss.
This is the kind of neighborhood that isn’t really a neighborhood. It’s a street with private roads, not driveways. Lights come on in guard houses as we rumble by in the darkness. There's only eight of us, but that's plenty more noise than this area's used to. This place is quiet. Civilized. Fucking bullshit.
What are they gonna do? Call the homeowners association?
Jesus, what would I do with the kinda money it takes to live here? Spend it somewhere else, probably. You couldn’t fucking pay me to live in a place where the neighbors are looking into buying their fifth Porsche. I bet their only excitement is whether they’ll survive tonight's overdose or not. Fuck that. I'll stick to my quarters, surrounded by people who would put their lives on the line for me.
Jessica clings to Riot like she was born to ride the back of a bike. Compared to her first night, she’s come a long way. I laugh into the harsh wind. She was so fucking naive and innocent when we met her. Now it’s hard to remember what it was like to not have her around. I always worried that eventually we would start settling down, and it would pull us apart, but sharing Jessica has brought the three of us together even tighter than before. The idea of sharing her permanently—if she’ll have us—is warming on me.
I'm already looking forward to the celebration back in my quarters after this.
