Chapter 77
-Logan-
When church let out, nobody went far.
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The guys spilled into the main room, but it wasn’t the usual noise no jokes, no shit–talking, no music kicked on. simmering tension hanging over everybody like smoke.
Just this
Talon had dropped the news about Benny and the dead Russian Jake had opened the table up for ideas on retaliation. Nobody had any, so he let us go.
Now we were all standing around. Cracking beers.
Pretending to unwind… pretending we weren’t waiting for the next hit.
I eased myself onto a barstool, leg throbbing like a bastard, and watched Jake toss back a double shot of whiskey.
“Alright, listen up,” he said, slamming the glass down. “Anybody come up with anything in the last ten minutes?”
The room was quiet. Someone coughed.
“Yeah, okay,” Jake continued. “I did.”
He grabbed the whiskey bottle and refilled his glass. “We hit ‘em back. Tonight,” he continued. “Small team. No colors, no bikes. We take one of the vans. Ski masks. We grab one of their guards, make him talk. Then we leave a message for Anatoly.”
I glanced around the room. The brothers were all quietly nodding in agreement. I knew what Jake was doing. He was lighting a fuse.
My eyes landed on Hailey, sitting at the far end of the bar with Scarlett and Abby.
I hated that she was here for this. Hated that she had to hear it. But she made it clear she wasn’t going anywhere. And as much as I wanted to protect her, it was getting harder to shut her out.
“We don’t just kill him,” Jake went on. “We tie him to the same pole. For Benny.”
I felt the energy shift. The air crackled. And then the room exploded into shouts. “For Benny!”
“Who’s in?” Jake asked, his eyes sweeping the room.
Hands went up – River, Link, Dex. My old man nodded. They were the ones who found Benny. Of course they were in. Monty’s hand shot up.
I hesitated for a second. I knew my leg would slow me down. But then I raised my hand too. No way was I sitting this one
out.
Jake’s eyes landed on me, and he nodded like he expected nothing less. “Alright. We move at ten. Get your shit together.”
Then he addressed everyone else. “The rest of you… When we leave later, you lock this shit down and keep your eyes peeled. Stay inside, you’re all crashin‘ here tonight. No joy rides, no smoke breaks. You need air, open a fuckin window.”
The crowd thinned out, but I stayed where I was, watching Hailey out of the corner of my eye. She stood up, finished her beer, and started toward me.
“Logan,” she murmured. “You’re seriously going?”
I hated the look in her eyes like she already saw me bleeding out somewhere.
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20:46 Sat, Jan 3
Chapter 77
“Yeah. I have to.”
She shook her head. “You’re hurt. You can barely walk. Let someone else do this.”
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I reached up and ran my thumb along her jaw. “I’ll be fine, Ace. I promise. You convince your sister to head home?”
“Almost,” she sighed. “But now that she’s heard the plan, I doubt he’s going anywhere.”
“Good,” I muttered. “Need her to keep you in line while I’m gone”
She rolled her eyes. Fuck, she was cute.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Ace.”
“Or what?” she pushed.
“Or you’ll find the fuck out.”
She smirked. Rolled her eyes again. I pulled her onto my lap, tickling the hell out of her ribs. She screamed and laughed. trying to wriggle free, but I pulled her in tight to my chest.
“Take Abby and Scarlett upstairs,” I murmured into her ear. “Ruby, too… Order some pizzas. Watch a movie or somethin‘ Play strip poker. Get all plastered and have a naked slumber party. We’ll be back before you have time to miss us.”
She didn’t seem convinced. She looked like she wanted to argue. But she actually listened. She kissed me hard, and then I watched her disappear upstairs with the others.
At 10pm sharp, we were rolling down the highway. Jake was driving and Talon was riding shotty. The other five of us were crammed into the back like sardines.
We were all armed to the teeth – knives, guns, smoke grenades. River insisted on bringing a machete. Fuckin idiot.
We looked like a goddamn hit squad. Which, I guess we were.
We didn’t talk. There wasn’t much to say. We all knew what we were getting into. We also knew we didn’t have a choice.
—
I thought about Hailey. The look on her face when she saw my getup black pants, black hoodie, black ski mask. The way she hugged me like she was trying to send part of her with me.
The compound came into view, and it looked the same as it did last time I was there. A cluster of buildings surrounded by high fences and floodlights. Guards on patrol.
We were all solid on the plan. Jake pulled to the side of the road about half a mile away and killed the engine.
I stared out the tinted windshield, watching through the binoculars. The guards moved like clockwork, same as last time. Predictable. I kept track of the pattern, counting the seconds between rotations.
Beside me, River shifted, restless. I glanced at him, catching his eye through his ski mask. He gave me a nod – ready.
“Same as before,” I muttered, lowering the binoculars. “Three–minute loop. Two guards on the east side. Remember where that blind spot is?”
“Yep,” River grunted. “Let’s fuckin go.”
River, Monty, and Link slipped out of the van, and I watched them disappear into the dark. My gut twisted, but I shoved the feeling down. This wasn’t the time for nerves.
The minutes dragged. I kept my eyes on the compound through the binoculars, counting the rotations. The guards didn’t deviate. Then one of them was gone. One second he was there, the next he was swallowed by the shadow behind him.
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20:46 Sat, Jan 30
Chapter 77
I held my breath for a few seconds, waiting for shouts. Alarms. But nothing happened.
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A minute or two later, three figures came out of the shadows by the van, dragging an unconscious guard behind them.
Jake started the engine as River yanked the side door open, and they tossed the guard in like a sack of flour. The guy hit the floor with a thud, and they all jumped in after him as Jake sped back toward the highway.
Link zip–tied his hands behind his back, and Monty grabbed the burlap sack, ready to cover the guy’s head.
“Wait,” Dex muttered, leaning over the guard. He pried the guy’s mouth open and dug a finger inside like he was looking for something.
He pulled out a cyanide capsule, holding it up in the moonlight. Figured these might be standard–issue for those fucks.”
“Good call, brother,” Talon said from the front seat.
The guard groaned, moving a little, and Monty slipped the sack over his head.
I crawled to the back of the van and dragged the toolbox out of the corner. This was the the lines blurred. My favorite part, if I was being honest.
part
where things got messy.
Where
The part Hailey would never hear about.
The part that would make her hate me if she did.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
