TACK

We leave just after lunch when Banta City traffic isn't so menacing. Elvis and the Hills Chapter guys take off seven minutes beforehand to check our route. The little black chopper arrives on time with two Kovak Syndicate men inside. They'll relay information to us during the trip.

As the chopper takes flight, Hunter and her security leave in three identical cars. She's located in the first vehicle. I give her one final kiss before shutting her door and climbing on my motorcycle.

The first ten minutes of the trip are smooth. When the chopper gives us word of an accident on the highway, we take the next exit before we're closed in. The side streets move along easily. Elvis and the Hills Chapter members speed around traffic, staying ahead of us and looking for issues.

I roll past Hunter's SUV more than once. At a light, I smile at her. Hunter touches the glass, seeming worried about me. I wish I could kiss her. We'd both calm down if I could taste her lips right now.

Once we're far enough past the traffic accident, our group returns to the highway and makes up time. We take the airport exit without issue. I've started to calm down and wonder what happens when we're at the plane. Will I have the balls to fly off with Hunter to Hong Kong?

I've only traveled to beach locations with my club family. What is there to even do in Hong Kong? Though I really don't want to travel anywhere, I find myself panicking whenever I consider Hunter leaving on the plane without me.

Five minutes out from the airport, a blue sedan pulls into the road from the opposite direction, guns its engine, and slams headfirst into Hunter's SUV. Traffic comes to a screeching halt as the accident fills the once-orderly intersection.

Around me, tires screech, and horns honk. Motorcycles roll up from behind me while others circle back. Above us, the chopper hovers.

My sole concern is getting to Hunter. I ditch my motorcycle and run past several cars toward her SUV. My gun is pulled as I approach the smoking vehicles in the intersection.

My gaze meets Hunter's as I reach for the door handle. I see no reaction on her face. She seems dazed but unharmed.

Before I can open the door, two masked men exit the back of the sedan and fire on me. One shot hits me square in the stomach. Only my body armor keeps my guts from spilling on the street.

The fiery pain temporarily stuns me. I can't breathe. I stagger back from the SUV. The world fucking spins. At some point in the madness, I lose my balance and end up on my ass.

The sedan's driver and front passenger are quickly out of their vehicle. Overwhelmed by searing gut pain, I watch helplessly as the mercenaries do their work.

The masked men unleash hell on the driver's side of Hunter's SUV. Using that vehicle as cover, they fire at the two SUVs behind Hunter's. Their rifles sound like monsters roaring. Glass shatters and metal groans. With such firepower, they instantly kill Hunter's security detail.

Everything's happening so fast. My brain is fuzzy from the pain. I can't center myself. The noise is deafening. I recall how stunned Bear looked when I found him during the convoy attack. He seemed lost in his head. I feel myself dissolving into the same broken thinking.

Then, I spot the gunmen at Hunter's door. My mind sharpens to the single image of them stealing my woman.

Feeling more alert, I aim at the gunmen at Hunter's door. Noticing me, one of them focuses his weapon in my direction. Meanwhile, his partner blows out the door handle to extricate Hunter.

Sitting on my ass in the open, I'm about to end up a smear on the asphalt. I feel a bullet clip my bulletproof vest, burning my shoulder on its way past. Another one whizzes past my temple, barely missing my face.

Before I'm finished off, Noble, Bear, and Golden come running from behind me. Their gunfire distracts the mercenaries. The masked men fire on my club family who are forced to take cover. I glance back to find them waving civilians out of their trapped vehicles and having them escape into local shops.

The world's gone mad. People are screaming. The chopper backs off when the gunmen fire at it.

My gaze returns to Hunter's smoking SUV. Did she get hit in the exchange of gunfire? I can't ask myself if she might be dead. I'm not ready for the truth.

I notice a vehicle moving around the stopped traffic. The small SUV nearly runs over a man gawking on the sidewalk. I figure this must be the mercenaries' getaway car. They're taking Hunter, and I can't get my head back on straight to stop them.

Appearing at my right, Indigo yanks me to my feet and drags me behind an abandoned car.

"Are you dying?" he asks and reloads his gun.

"No. My stomach's on fire, but I'll live."

"Maybe not. They've got better guns than we do, and these guys are pros. We might end up dying today."

Checking my weapon, I ask, "Why can't you think positive?"

"This is me thinking positive. I've always wanted to die in a blaze of gunfire."

Smiling at his death wish, I get to my feet and move out into the open. With one gunman firing wildly to keep us pinned down, two other assholes drag Hunter from the disabled SUV.

Though she's covered in blood and wobbly, I'm relieved to see her alive. I can't tell how badly she's injured. Her eyes are glazed as the men drag her toward where the small SUV idles behind the wrecked vehicles.

I lose all common sense. They're stealing my woman! Better for me to die now than to live a lifetime of regret over failing her.

Running and firing my pistol, I have no plan. My shots get lucky when one man turns his head and leaves the back of his skull exposed.

The guy holding Hunter's right arm goes down in an explosion of blood and brains. His partner is temporarily startled by the other man's death. Without help, the remaining guy loses his hold on a dazed Hunter. She drops to the ground, leaving him exposed.

My shot hits the asshole in the chest, striking body armor. Indigo's attempt nails the guy squarely in the vulnerable spot between his mask and vest. As the gunman drops, the remaining assholes turn toward us. I expect them to shred us, but they can't fire without possibly hitting Hunter. Their hesitancy allows Indigo and me to reach her.

"They killed Atticus," she mumbles as I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her to her feet.

"Are you hurt?"

"I don't know. My head is spinning."

"We need to find cover."

Indigo is at my back when two men appear from behind Hunter's SUV and prepare to unload on us. I hear another man yell at the others not to injure the "target."

While they don't shoot Indigo and me, the mercenaries do unleash hell on our friends behind us. Cars are shredded by the high-powered rifles, forcing Noble, Bear, and Golden to fall back.

My friends return fire. Bullets whip past us. Indigo and I create a wall around Hunter. Our allies and the enemy shoot past us. We're safe yet stuck out in the open.

The chopper flies overhead. The noise again leaves me nearly deaf. I hear muffled gunshots, the propeller, glass shattering, and Hunter screaming in terror.

Trapped in a fucking meat grinder, we'd be dead already if each side didn't want us alive.

I face Indigo as we huddle around my crying woman and wait for something to happen.

Indigo's brown eyes are calm. He has a way of focusing on a person and making the world go quiet. My mind pushes everything away except his calm gaze.

"When they get distracted," he says in a calm voice, "you need to move Hunter to your bike and take off. Don't hesitate. Don't look back."

As if beckoned by Indigo's words, the cavalry arrives. Guns blazing, Elvis and the Hills Chapter ride up from behind the enemy's getaway SUV. They take the men by surprise, dropping three of them. The two with the assault weapons are stuck behind the crashed vehicles. Outnumbered, they start looking for an exit.

Indigo turns away from me and opens fire while I grab Hunter by the arm and run. We rush past trashed vehicles and my club brothers. I don't stop moving until I reach my motorcycle resting on its side like a discarded toy.

I ready the bike as Noble arrives at our side.

"Get on!" he yells over the noise.

Once I'm on my motorcycle, Noble lifts Hunter and settles her behind me.

I glance over my shoulder to see him holding her face and staring into her shell-shocked eyes.

"Don't you dare let go until you get to the farm, okay, Hunter?"

Hunter nods and tightens her arms around me. There's no time to worry about her falling off. I need to get out of here. We don't know how big the mercenary team is or if the remaining men will decide to shoot Hunter as a final "fuck you."

That's why I lean on the throttle and race away without looking back at the chaos currently threatening the Backcountry Kings.