22. ‘Raven’

TWENTY-TWO

FUCK!!! I look to Sheriff George then my head drops. When I look up, I’ve pulled my big girl panties on.

“Which do you want me to do, crash the front or take out as many of those assholes as I can? I’ll do whatever you want, but we have to move. Oh, I put a call out to Tank, he’s engaging all of the Intruders, but it’s going to take time we don’t have. Also left a text for Ash but didn’t get an answer, as of yet.”

We take a minute or so to go over our plan. Then as I figured would be the case, so I was as safe as he could keep me, Sheriff George hands me his key fob and I backtrack past my office to the back door. First, I disengage the alarm for the door then slowly open it, checking to make sure no one is in wait. When I see it’s clear, I run around the building, my intention is to go straight to the squad vehicle. I come to a complete stop when I see Luni talking to a bunch of the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood. She’s got a weird smile on her face as one by one the men give her a very intense open-mouth kissed. Motherfucker, that bitch is one of them. Probably a brood mare and, obviously, a whore to top it off. Can’t let this get to me. I’ve got a job to do and Sheriff George is depending on me to get it done.

So when I look around, I’m thrilled the patrol vehicle is directly to my left. Keeping an eye on the bunch of assholes, I quietly move to the driver’s side. Knowing once I hit the fob it will alert the crowd, I try the key first. The door opens and I instantly push the button to start the vehicle so no alarm goes off. When the engine engages, I slam the door as every head in front of the gym turns. By this time, I’m backing up and angling the wheels toward the biggest window. Taking a deep breath, hoping this works, I shift the vehicle into drive, hit the gas, and pray Sheriff George’s plan works.

As I approach the building, the group of assholes including Luni separate, screaming and swearing at me. Luni looks shocked like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Watching my gym, I try to stay relaxed, and at the last minute I push on the gas pedal harder. First, I hear the crush against the brick under the window. Then the glass doesn’t look like it will break until it first shatters and holds together until the weight of the SUV forces it to break and fall open. I don’t slow down one bit, so when everyone starts to turn, I aim toward the largest group of Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood. Not sure who or how many are hit. I finally shift my foot to the brake, just as I see one of the brotherhood aiming an assault rifle at me. When the bullets hit the window, I naturally lean to the right but like Sheriff George said, the window holds up. By the time I’ve come to a stop, everyone is running around. I see Tink’s hands swollen and her face a bloody mess, trying to drag Shadow out of the way. It takes everything in me not to jump out and grab Tink to push her into the back seat. She’s our prez so her safety is our mission, especially since Rebel, whose job is specially to keep our prez safe, isn’t here. I’m like Rebel’s backup, Tink’s bodyguard if that’s what it’s called, we just know it as keeping her safe.

Next, I see Sheriff George and two of his three deputies herding the injured brotherhood members over to the corner. Looking like it’s under control, I’m thinking maybe I should get out to help when I see the sheriff look at me shaking his head. I roll the window down and hear my name being screamed.

“Brenna, get your fine ass over here now or else I’m gonna have to do something you’ll regret. Bitch, I said now.”

Knowing it is Cliff, Ash’s father, yelling I slide down in the seat. My eyes start to shift when I see he’s coming up on Tink, who’s still trying to help a now conscious Shadow to her feet. I blow the horn to get everyone’s attention. I look to our sheriff then at Tink. He sees what I do and screams for Cliff to drop the gun and get down on his knees. At the same time Ash’s father moves quicker than I thought he’d be able to and grabs Shadow from behind. Usually, our prez could take that motherfucker down, no problem, but she’s tired and beat to shit. When I look to Shadow, I see her staring at me. When I give her big eyes, she winks at me. Son of a bitch, thought I was the club clown. Then Cliff looks my way.

“Last chance, Brenna. I’ll blow this bitch’s head off, then next up will be the club freak of your girly band of do-gooders. Need you to get out of the vehicle slowly, else those other two of your ‘sisters’ over there will be next. Now last time…GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE CAR NOW, YOU CUNT.”

My eyes take everything in and I know, no matter what, I’ll never be able to live with myself if anything happens to my sisters or the police. This situation seems to have escalated since Ash came clean and told me the whole situation. Cliff has always scared me but looking at him right at this moment, he looks totally insane. He puts an arm around Shadow’s neck and starts to tighten it. I can see her struggling and that right there tells me what I have to do.

Slowly, I take the seat belt off, letting it retract. Then I open the door and hear Sheriff George tell me, “No, Raven, stay put.” When Cliff sees the door open, he loosens his hold on Shadow. Her ice-blue eyes search me out and she barely shakes her head. She doesn’t want me to get out, but I won’t let that jagoff murder her in front of me. With all eyes on Cliff, the men from the brotherhood start to get behind him, all armed again. Sheriff George and his deputies have about half of them in the corner either cuffed or zip-tied.

Getting out of the patrol car, the one thought that comes to mind is I’m sorry I was such a little kid when Ash tried to explain everything to me. If this goes south, I might never get the opportunity or chance to see if Ash and I could rekindle our relationship from back in the day. I know we each have feelings for each other.

“That’s right, Brenna, get your ass over here. No, wait, open that vest and let me see you are unarmed, then get over here.”

As I open the bullet-proof vest and then turn around before I start to walk toward Ash’s dad, I see the second before they both move at the exact same time. Shadow elbows Cliff right in the gut while somehow Tink manages to drop to her knees and reach over to grab Cliff’s junk. From the shocked yell of pain, I’m thinking she succeeded. Then all hell breaks loose as the brotherhood starts aiming at people at random, pulling the triggers. I watch one of the deputies go down, not sure if he is killed. Next one of the men turns to where Sheriff George is and lets loose, killing all the brotherhood in the corner. One puts a gun to Shadow’s head.

“Tell your fuckin’ president to let him go now, or else she’ll be wearing your brains all over her.”

Shadow knows she’s fucked so she looks down and gives Tink a nod. Our prez slowly releases Cliff’s shit and gets to her feet. Before anyone can do anything, Cliff grabs the hand of the guy with the gun aimed at Shadow. He aims it directly at Tink and fires, just as Shadow flings her arm in the air, knocking the gun up. Shock appears on both Shadow and Tink’s face as blood starts to appear on Tink’s T-shirt. Motherfucker, I’m not sure if it’s a graze or a gut shot. Either way, this is not good at all. I move quickly and get right next to Cliff.

“I’m here, let’s go now. In a minute or two the place is going to be crawling with county cops, the Intruders, and the rest of my club. And I’m sure my brother, Ollie, and his folks are on their way. Not to mention the FBI and CIA. Best to call it a draw and move out.”

Not expecting it when Cliff backhands me so hard, I literally fall right on my ass. I feel the wet instantly and figure he either broke my nose or put enough pressure to do some damage. I wipe my face with my forearm and look down. Yeah, it’s broken with that amount of blood.

“You will learn now you are nothing. I don’t want to hear your voice, just do what you’re told. If you don’t, you’ll get more of that. My son should have reeled you in back in the day. Too fuckin’ big for your breeches, whore. Now let’s get in that vehicle so we can get the hell outta here. Men, pull back. We’ll meet at the rendezvous. If you want one of the whores grab her now or move your asses. Obviously, between this whore and the sheriff they made a few calls, so time to get our asses outta here right now.”

As I go to move, Cliff grabs my arm, pulling me way too close to him. Then he leans down and tells me to kick Tink in the stomach. When I refuse, he leans around and aims the gun at Shadow, who has her hands on her best friend’s wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Seeing where I’m at, I look at Tink, who returns the look. She pushes Shadow’s hands away and she waits. I mouth, “I’m sorry” then pull back and kick her. She moans as Shadow first growls then screams. Cliff laughs then drags me by the arm to the very back of the sheriff’s SUV. He throws me in and not sure where he got them from, but he zip-ties me. Before he shuts the overhead door, I see Tink writhing in pain. I’ll never forgive myself for what I just did, even though it probably saved both my prez’s and enforcer’s lives. Not paying attention, I don’t see Cliff’s hand coming toward my face with his gun still in it. When he hits my temple, I’m out immediately.