Page 81 of Tico

Scooter swallows thickly. “We were able to recapture her, so there’s no harm done,” he states, but even from here I can hear the waver in his voice. “And besides, it’s a temporary loan per our contract.”

“And how can you be sure my merchandise hasn’t been soiled already? Has your medic examined her?”

Scooter shares a look with Stitch which has The Collector striking his cane against the cement loudly.

“You incompetent assholes!” He walks forward until he’s right up in Scooter’s face. “I paid for unsoiled merchandise, and I will be leaving with unsoiled merchandise,” he hisses. “If she has been soiled, I will be compensated for what I’ve lost. We’re going to retrieve my asset,” he seethes as he pauses to look at the building we know Ember is in before looking back at Scooter, “and if you’ve failed, I’ll be securing three unsoiled assets to take with me in compensation. Then we’ll be having a discussion to see if we can salvage our partnership. Or if I’ll be cleaning up loose ends.”

They turn, walking towards the building that Lucian says houses the breeding rooms and the cells where they hold their more ‘feistier products’. Lucian, Scooter, Drone, several other Chrome Vipers, and a few men from Oasis follow them into the building. Before he enters, Lucian looks over his shoulder in our direction and gives the slightest nod along with a hand gesture.

The signal.

I put down my binoculars and look at the men in my group—Daemon, Taco, Psycho, Chief, and Sandman—and they all dip their chins.

“Moving in for phase one,”I say into my headset and we descend from our perch on the hill.

I palm the remote that will activate our little surprises and in the other, I pull out my gun, though Weber warned us not to shoot to kill unless it was a life-or-death situation. And whileI would really love to make these sick fucks endure everything they’ve done to all the women and children here, my hands are tied since the Feds are involved. We move through the underbrush until we get to our spot—a large tree near their gate.

“We’re in position.”I pause, waiting for everyone to signal that they’re ready.

“In position,”Weber says.

“In position,”Cobra replies and is followed by three other affirmatives.

I hold up the remote.“Ready in three…two…one.”

I press the button and the explosives we’d buried by their gate explode along with five other spots along their perimeter.

Instantly, chaos explodes among the Chrome Vipers and Oasis men who didn’t follow the others into the building. I run up to the edge of the destroyed gate, peeking around the corner. Raising my gun, I spot men rushing our location and take aim, firing off rounds, one after the other, and watch them drop before advancing, knowing they’ll stay down.

I smirk at that.

Weber had given us a little surprise thanks to something Smoke with the Steel Archangels MC had come up with when we battled Oasis a couple of years ago.

Bullets coated in a substance that will immediately distribute a heavy sedative into their bloodstreams. Within seconds, or minutes depending on how much the person weighed, their eyelids will start to droop.

And if we play our cards right, the sedative won’t wear off until they’re already in custody.

Or in our hands in the case of Scooter, Drone, and Kane.

I dart behind a truck to avoid a barrage of bullets and when they die down, I peek around the corner, returning fire.

“Phase two, T. It’s a go,”Weber tells me and I pull out the remote again, pressing the button.

This time, the explosives we buried around their clubhouse and garage explodes, sending debris everywhere.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Shadow,”comes over the headset and I freeze for a second, recognizing Jerry’s voice.

Chingar(Fuck).My stomach sinks as realization sinks in.

Ember.

I look around and seeing thatmis hermanos(my brothers) are picking off our enemies, I run for the building where Ember is. I hear someone yelling my name behind me before cursing, but I don’t stop.

The door shuts behind me, and I try to calm my breathing, listening for which way they went. A shout comes from my left, so I turn, gun at the ready and sneak down the corridor. I pass several rooms that are padlocked from the outside, but no sound is coming from them, so I continue.

Turning a corner, I quickly dart back, hoping they didn’t see me. I wait a few seconds, but when I don’t hear anyone advancing, I quickly pull out my phone, texting for backup. Right after I hit send, I hear a sound from behind me and my head whips up with my gun aimed, but then I breathe a sigh of relief when I seemis hermanos(my brothers).

Taco squeezes my shoulder. “Two teams split off from ours and are heading to the other entrances to this room,” he whispers and I nod.