Forty Eight

Forty-Eight

Joel

“T hey’re at the house now,” Wade says.

“Cady and Ana are upstairs?” I don’t know how many times I’ve asked this question, but I need to be sure. I need to know they’re as safe as they can be.

“Yes. They’re fine.”

“Good.”

We always knew Renard would check the house. Of course he’s going to check, he doesn’t trust us. We don’t trust him. Why would we? He wants us gone. He has his sights set on taking over our territory, the Blackhawks’ territory, because he’s going after them, too. And in some weird twist of fate our clubs are now working together to make sure he doesn’t win. I mean, what the fuck, right? But sometimes you have to suck shit up to make sure you survive.

“He won’t find them,” I murmur, and I’m saying that to convince myself more than anything. That second floor has been designed to be as secret as we could make it, but we can’t say it’s one hundred per cent foolproof. Who knows how thorough they’re going to be when they check that house out? We’re as prepared as we could be, that’s all I know. And now I’m beginning to think I should’ve put men inside the house, too. One of the prospects, even. Was my decision to keep my men here, at the compound, a risk worth taking? I fucking hope so…

“Cady can look after herself, Joel. She can handle anything, you know she can.”

“I just want this shit done, Skip.”

“We all do.” Skip lays a hand on my shoulder. “You need to save this club, Joel. Men like Emil Renard, we can’t let them win.”

“He’s Ana’s father.”

“And she doesn’t give a shit about him. He doesn’t give a shit about her, not really. All this wanting to save her from us, this wanting her to be safe, it’s to ease his own conscious, nothing more. If he loved her he wouldn’t be doing any of this. If he loved her – really loved her, he wouldn’t put her in any danger. He wouldn’t be talking about taking her in this way, he wouldn’t be doing any of that. You really love her, don’t you, Joel?”

I nod as I reach behind me for my gun.

“Then let’s do this. Let’s rid this world of that asshole. And then you and Ana, you need to talk.”

I frown. “Talk? About what?”

“About what you really want to do with the rest of your lives.”

Ana

I need to be quick and quiet because I don’t have long. Cady likes a leisurely shower, I know that much, but we’re not in a normal situation here.

I close the cupboard door behind me, and that’s when I notice the keys in the lock. She was supposed to have locked the door behind us. Because they suspected I might do something like this…? Probably. I have form, after all, when it comes to running away.

I pocket the keys and make my way down the narrow flight of stairs, and that’s when I hear them. Voices. Low and muffled, and whoever they belong to, they’re inside the house. But I know who they are. They’re my father’s men. Sent to check whether I’m here, because he doesn’t trust the club. He wants to make sure this place really is empty before he heads to the compound, and I know I don’t have all that much time now.

My heart’s beating so hard and so loud I’m terrified they’ll hear it. And I’m trying to keep my breathing quiet as the adrenaline courses through my body, have I just made a huge mistake? I hear them talking again, and then I hear the front door close, and that’s when I realize I must’ve caught them as they were finishing up. Perfect timing. But it doesn’t lessen the fact that I don’t have a lot of time now. I need to move fast.

Reaching behind me, I feel for the gun I stole from Cady’s purse. I’ve never touched a gun before, never fired one, and it makes me feel sick just knowing I have one on me, but I need it. For protection? Yeah, amongst other things.

Taking a deep breath I move quickly and quietly into the living room; crouch down by the window and peer outside, my eyes barely making it above the window-ledge for fear of them seeing me. Sensing me. But it’s okay. Their car – that same green car I’d spotted so many times before – pulls away, and I grip the window-ledge and let out a long, heavy sigh of relief. But I don’t have time to hang around, Cady will be out of the shower any second now. And as soon as she realizes I’m gone, she’ll sound the alarm.

I practically run out of the door, down the street, and I keep on running until I finally manage to flag down a passing taxi. And for a few minutes I can breathe, although my heart is still beating wildly, but the adrenaline is keeping me going. I can’t turn back now. I’m doing this. I’m doing it…