Page 28 of Wilder’s Mistake

Bishop cuts across him. “Unload the property.”

Kane doesn’t look away from Chains. “Lucy walks when the last box is in your vehicle.”

The man holding her tightens his grip. My hand closes around my pistol, but I don’t draw. Not while she is in front of him. I read the ground instead. His gun rides behind his right hip. Another Perdition brother carries a shotgun. Bishop has a weapon under his cut, and Chains carries two.

They have six men in the open and haven’t found Judge, Gray or Colt.

Lucy shifts her bound hands, testing the plastic. Her captor jerks her arm higher. Rage presses against the back of my teeth, but she keeps her eyes on me. I slow my breathing and let her see it. Wait. Find the opening. I am coming.

“Do it,” Kane says.

Tank and Cash lower the first wooden crate. A Perdition brother opens it, cuts through the canvas and checks the rifles before loading it into the SUV. The next two follow. Then come the steel boxes. Bishop opens both, pushes through the bundled cash and closes them again. He takes his time, wanting Kane to stand and watch. Kane gives him nothing.

“It’s all there,” Cash says.

Chains swings onto his bike, and our eyes meet across the ramp.

“You took my fucking wife,” I say.

He starts the engine. “Should’ve kept her away from the club then.”

The gun is in my hand before the last word leaves him, and Lucy’s captor pulls her against his chest.

Kane’s arm bars mine. “Not yet.”

Chains grins because he knows I won’t risk the shot while Lucy is in another man’s grip. He turns toward the logging track, the SUV and two escort bikes following.

I watch him leave because Lucy is still here.

The vehicles reach the first bend, and Bishop lifts one hand. The man holding Lucy drags her toward a waiting motorcycle while another rider brings a helmet.

“Release her,” Kane says.

“She stays with us until the cargo clears county lines.”

“The deal was property for Lucy.”

“Terms changed.” Bishop shrugs.

Kingdom Come goes still. Bishop glances at the men he can see and mistakes restraint for weakness. Kane almost smiles. “You should look again.”

Judge steps from the trees on Bishop’s left. Gray appears higher on the slope. Colt closes the bridge while Tank, Cash and Griz raise their weapons.

Every visible Perdition gun has two Kingdom Come weapons trained on it. Bishop’s eyes move across the ramp and his expression changes.

“You came onto our road outnumbered,” Kane says. “You’re leaving because my Road Captain’s wife is standing between us. Don’t confuse that with mercy.”

The man holding Lucy starts to pull her toward the bike, and she drops her weight.

Her heel drives into his knee. He buckles, and she twists beneath his arm, slamming her bound hands into his mouth and breaking his grip.

Lucy throws herself left. He catches the back of her blouse and reaches for his gun.

I fire.

The round tears through his upper arm near the shoulder. His hand opens and the pistol hits gravel. Lucy rips free as he goes down. I’m across the space before he finishes screaming. I put him flat with my boot and press the pistol beneath his jaw.

“You put your fucking hands on my wife.” The man’s face drains beneath the pain.