Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 202(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 202(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
The second we reached street, Piston moved up beside me and urged me forward even faster. Sirens wailed in the distance, and I wanted to pull my hair out.
“I can’t fucking believe this. What happened?”
“We’ll figure it out later. Let’s just make a clean getaway and regroup.” Piston grabbed my arm when I slowed slightly and urged me on, not letting me lag behind. “Just a little farther.”
“I know where truck is,” I snapped. “I’m not idiot.” He shot me look but said nothing else.
We’d left truck several blocks over, but hidden in small park. Once we reached truck, we both climbed in and he started the engine. Or tried to. He turned key but nothing happened.
“You’ve got to be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.” He tried several times, but nothing happened. Finally, he popped the hood of the truck and we both got out. The second he raised the hood, I knew we were fucked.
“Where’s fucking battery?” It was only thing that would come out of my mouth.
“Good Goddamned question,” he muttered. Piston pulled his weapon again, even as he put a sat phone to his ear. “Wylde, you better fuckin’ know what the fuck’s goin’ on, man.”
Piston listened in silence, closing hood of truck before he motioned me to follow him. There was nothing in truck to lead back to any of our clubs. License plate had been removed and the VIN number removed, and Piston and I had worn gloves so we didn’t leave prints on inside of the house or truck for this very reason. Vehicle was as clean as if it has been recently detailed.
We hurried through sparse trees and across several roads around affluent neighborhoods and fucking golf course. My mind raced through countless scenarios as we tried to stay out of sight. Had someone tipped off Victor, or was it just our bad luck there was more security than our best tech guys could dig up? And the bulletproof glass? That certainly wasn’t in the briefing we’d received from Wylde before leaving Evansville for Nashville. Was it a setup from the start? Or were we just that unlucky? And how far-reaching were the consequences going to be now that things had gone south?
We reached another street, quieter and darker than the ones before. “We need new plan,” I said, catching my breath. Sirens had faded the farther away from Belle Meade we ran, but my heart continued to pound furiously against my rib cage.
Piston was on the phone again. We both crouched behind large shrub as he listened intently. “Yeah, got it,” he finally said and disconnected the call. Turning to me, his expression was grim. “We need to make our way to the Kiss of Death MC compound.”
“Kiss of Death?” I spat the name. “They’re all dead. We cleaned house when their president tried to move his club to Palm Beach. Opened a BDSM club called The Dark as front for his trafficking ring. We killed every one of that lot and burned club to ground.”
“Yep. But Bohannon and Torpedo came here, to this club, to stabilize the region after Kiss of Death was no longer a player in the area. They decided that, since Bane had wiped them out, no one would protest if they kept the name.” He shrugged. “Having a recognizable name, even if it’s under new management, so to speak, sparked less resistance. With a little TLC, I think they’ve managed to hold things together.”
“I assume by TLC you mean some kind of tough love?”
Piston smiled. “Yeah. Something like that.”
It took another couple of hours before we finally stumbled to the gates of the MC in question. Bohannon and Torpedo met us at the gate, along with several other members of his club. It was almost anticlimactic. Sure, we’d been shot at and killed more than couple of people, but we hadn’t directly engaged anyone, including the police. Which was a miracle in itself given the neighborhood.
Bohannon stepped forward and reached out a hand for me. “Venus. I didn’t think I’d see you in our new digs.”
I grinned as I took his hand. “Wasn’t aware you had new digs. Kiss of Death MC? Really?”
He shrugged. “No reason to reinvent the wheel. Locals are used to the name. While we’ll eventually give the club a better public reputation, for now it suits us to have everyone think we’re a true outlaw club.”
“This is Piston. He follows me around like puppy.” I gave a dismissive wave to my companion. Choke on that, svoloch.
“I know Piston,” Torpedo said as he stepped forward and took Piston’s hand. “By reputation anyway.”
Piston just grinned. “Whatever you heard, it’s all true.”
Torpedo chuckled. “Figured as much. Data got word to us through your man, Wylde. I’ve got the boys goin’ after your vehicle. We’ll have everything taken care of by morning. It’s late. I’m bettin’ you’d like to get some rest.”