I look up as tires screech. Katie’s pulled up in her jeep. She’s out before I can even wipe the blood off my face. Damn. I guess Teena’s last hit was pretty good. I kick her face again. She’s out. It’s not like she’ll know, and again, it makes me feel better.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Katie, rushing to check on Gabby. “Mommy’s here, baby,” I tell her, handing her Bingo Bear, her favorite toy.
“Mommy fight!”
“Just for a little bit, but it’s okay now.”
“Mommy boo-boo? Need band-baid!”
“Aunt Katie will give me one. I’ll be right back.”
“I saw on the camera that Skull left, but when you didn’t show up, I got worried. I never did trust that cunt waffle,” Katie growls, then kicks Teena in the face herself. Since she’s wearing boots and kicked a lot harder, even I wince when her foot hits.
“Where’s your gun and keys?”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Skull’s walking into a trap. I’m going to go try to stop him while you get Torch and the boys and deal with her.”
“Come back to the club with me and we can get Torch and the boys to handle it all. You can’t risk yourself, and if you get caught, Skull won’t be able to keep his head about him.”
“Give me your gun and keys, Katie. You know damn well if it was Torch, you would be the same way.”
“Bethie…”
“You’re wasting time, time we don’t have.”
“Torch is going to kill me, and if he doesn’t, then Skull will finish the job,” she grumbles, begrudgingly handing me her keys. “The gun’s in the glove box. Extra bullets are there, too.”
“You got your phone to call for help?”
“I do. You just be safe,” she says, already dialing the phone.
I run to the jeep, praying I know what I’m doing. I vaguely know where the place is that Teena sent Skull; I just hope I’m not too late. I head out on the road with one last glance in my rearview mirror of Katie kicking Teena while she’s on the phone.
If I wasn’t worried to death, I would smile.
All the time I’m driving on Old Mill, I replay things in my mind. Maybe I’m letting Beth’s mistrust of Teena get to me, but something just isn’t ringing true. Her face seemed too controlled, even when she was supposed to be in a panic.
With that in mind, I stop about three miles down the road from the strip joint. If I am walking into a trap, I sure as hell don’t need to make it too easy for them. I know Beth, and she’ll get Torch and them out here fast. She won’t take a chance of being too late; I can depend on her.
I fought against her pull at first, knowing she was way too young for me. Some things you just can’t fight, though you want to. She’s grown up over the last three years. I’ve seen it in her, and she survived shit I can’t even imagine a young girl having to face. That’s how I know she’ll do whatever she has to now to keep her family together. I get out of the truck, carefully closing the door. I’ll walk and come up on the place from the east and hopefully have enough time to scope them out before making a move. Even better, by then Torch and Beast will be here.
It doesn’t take long to jog to the edge of the property that surrounds the strip joint. There are three cars in the parking lot and two bikes. I’d like to think that means there are only five people inside, but I somehow think that would be the wrong assumption.
I’m just about to make my move when I hear the voices. They’re coming from my left side and they’re whispering, but I can hear them pretty plainly, which tells me they are close. I look around for a place I might find cover. There’s not much to choose from: a rock or a tree, neither of which are extremely wide. I finally vote for the old oak tree, stepping behind it, my hand going to my gun. I click off the safety and wait.
“You really think this guy is dumb enough to come here and face us on his own?”
“Who knows? Viper says he will. I’m not about to chance it, though, which is why I’m carrying this instead of that damn thing you have,” the other guy says, holding up a semiautomatic rifle. The other guy is carrying a pistol. I’d like to be able to take them both out at once, but I don’t see how that’s going to be possible. If I let them pass me and attack from behind, I have to worry about the assholes shooting right away and giving my location up. I can’t afford a swarm of them all at once.
I wait until they pass me, then carefully make my way to stand a few feet behind them.
“You got two choices,” I announce to their backs. “Drop your weapons and put your hands up where I can see them, or take a bullet in the back of your brain.”