Burn (12 page)

“Come on, asshole.
 
Let’s do this,” she said.

She pulled the gun, remembering to check the safety this time.
 
It was ready to go and so was she.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Tommy asked, with an evil smile on his face.

“You just killed my friend.”

“I told you I’d prove myself to these guys.
 
Now I’ll do it again, by dragging your dead body back to Fixer.”

He made a move towards her and she fired.
 
The bullet missed his head and he came screaming at her.
 
She dodged him and ran further into the building to gain some distance.
 
She knew if she could get far enough from him, she could turn and fire, making sure she didn’t miss this time.
 

That was if she could get some distance between them.
 
Somehow, they had switched roles and she had gone from hunter to prey.
 
Danni ran up a flight of stairs to the second floor.
 
The building was abandoned of people, but not garbage.
 
Whatever they’d made here before the economy forced them out, half the machinery was still around.
 
She ducked behind a large machine that looked like it was used to pour concrete.
 
When she heard Tommy’s footsteps get closer, she came around the corner and fired.
 
This time she didn’t miss.
 
She hit him in the side of his stomach, but that didn’t stop him.
 
It barely slowed him down.
 
Danni had flashbacks to fighting Tank and her crazy belief that Tank was more than a man, that he was some kind of inhuman monster.
 
Tommy was coming at her now in that same way, like he couldn’t be stopped.

He reached Danni and grabbed a fistful of her hair.
 
He slammed her into the wall.
 
The air left her lungs and refused to go back in.
 
She clawed at him, to no effect.
 
Tommy came close to her, so close she felt his breath on her neck as he talked.

“You thought you were so smart, didn’t you?
 
You thought you could just use me like you use everyone else?”

She tried to push him away, but he kept talking, tightening his grip on her.
 
His free hand found her gun.
 
He pulled it off her and tossed it away.

“I’m going to show you something.
 
I’m going to show you, Fixer, and the whole goddamn world I got what it takes to be a Rattler.”

M
ercer watched Cruz fall.
 
He watched the little bastard leave the alley and tried to go after him, but Doc stopped him.

“Don’t go out there. It could be a trap.
 
They shoot one of ours and we run out without thinking, then they blow the rest of us away.”

Mercer still fought to get to the end of the alley but the MC stopped him.
 
When he calmed down, they let him go.
 
Instead of trying to reach him, he just looked at Cruz’s still body.
 
The only movement was the ever-expanding pool of blood beneath him.
 
Finally, Mercer looked away.

He cocked his gun. “Let’s get these bastards.”

The three remaining members of Black Ice went back inside the clubhouse, guns drawn, ready for an attack.
 
They moved quickly and quietly through the spare motorcycle parts, machine tools, and random junk that had been left around.
 
It was dark back there; no one had dared turn on the lights.
 

From their right came a shot.
 
The men ducked behind whatever they could and returned fire.
 
Mercer saw where the bald man was hiding.
 
He was behind a support beam, but he was so big he couldn’t hide himself well.
 
His fat bulged out on one side.
 
He must not have realized it since he made no attempt to cover it.
 
Mercer raised his gun and fired.
 
The protruding flab burst and the man screamed and fell to the ground.
 
Mercer rushed him, kicked his gun far away from his hand, and put his boot right on the big man’s neck.

“Where’s Fixer?”

The man said nothing.
 
Mercer fired again, shooting the man right through the leg.
 
There was more screaming.

“Please,” said the big man.
 
“Please stop.”

“‘Please?’
 
You want mercy, you fat son of a bitch?”

Mercer shot the man through the other leg.
 
He screamed louder.

“Where was your mercy when you decided to kill us?
 
Where was your mercy when you attacked the woman I love?
 
I am only going to ask one more time.
 
Where the fuck is Fixer?”

The man didn’t say a word, just pointed through the door to the main part of the clubhouse.
 
Mercer didn’t say anything either.
 
He shot the man through the head.

Black Ice lined up on either side of the door.
 
They counted together, then kicked the door down, running in at the ready.
 
Fixer was standing in the middle of their clubhouse.
 
The other bald brother was right next to him.
 
They had their guns drawn and pointed at the Black Ice members.

“Mercer, how you doin’?” said Fixer.
 

It wasn’t a sarcastic statement.
 
He seemed genuinely interested, but Mercer knew Fixer’s brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders these days.
 
He had some kind of twisted reality in his head that only made sense to him.

“Give it up, Fixer.
 
It’s over.”

Fixer smiled.
 
The sight of his thin lips over his yellow teeth unnerved Mercer.
 
“Is it?
 
Seems like you’re outnumbered.”

“How you figure?
 
There’s three of us and one of you,” said Mercer, keeping his gun on Fixer.

“Tommy’s around somewhere.
 
I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.”

Mercer said, “That still doesn’t mean we’re outnumbered.”

Fixer shook his head.
 
“Doesn’t it?”

Red turned, pointed his gun and Doc, and shot him.
 
Doc dropped his gun and fell to the floor.
 
Mercer spun and held his gun on Red.
 
“What the fuck?”

Fixer laughed. “Mercer, put your gun down and listen.
 
I have a story to tell you.”

“I
’m going to show you something.
 
I’m going to show you, Fixer, and the whole goddamn world I got what it takes to be a Rattler.”
 
He pulled a knife and held it up to her throat.
 
“No requests, no tricks.
 
I’m not a fucking idiot like Roscoe.”

Danni had no requests to make, but while he was talking, she braced herself against the wall with one foot, then shoved her knee into his crotch as hard as she could.
 
Tommy let go and howled like a wounded animal.
 

She grabbed a fistful of hair and pushed him hard against the wall, then ran without looking back.
 
Tommy was crazy, completely out of his mind.
 
She thought she might be able to reason with him, but something had snapped and she knew there was only one way out of this.
 

Danni ran up the last flight of stairs to the top floor, then across to a ladder.
 
She climbed quickly and got out on the roof.
 
The cold air hit her.
 
She had to think.
 
What were her options?
 
She checked the gap between that building and the MC clubhouse.
 
No way, it was at least fifteen feet.
 
There weren’t any ladders leading back to the street.
 
Her only option was to fight.
 

Danni heard Tommy coming up the ladder after her.
 
She went to the hatch, and as soon as he popped his head over the edge, she reared her foot back and kicked him.
 
Her leather boot made contact square between the eyes.
 
His glasses crunched against his face and he fell, but before he went too far, he caught himself on the ladder.
 
When he came back up, she went to kick him again, but he caught her foot and twisted, forcing Danni to the ground.

Before she could recover, he was up the ladder.
 
She scrambled to get up, but he was on her too quick.
 
His face was bloody and contorted.
 
He looked to be in a lot of pain, but instead of stopping him, it just made him angry.
 
Tommy grabbed the collar of her jacket and pulled her over to the ledge of the roof.
 

“Fixer wanted you alive.
 
That’s what he said.
 
He wanted to kill you himself, use that knife he didn’t get a chance to use earlier.
 
Wanted to hear you scream.
 
But enough is enough, don’t you think, Danni?”

Danni grabbed his hand and dug her fingernails into his flesh, tearing at him, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Nothing to say?
 
Very unlike you, my dear.”

He pulled her to the lip of the roof and went to push her over completely.
 
She had just one shot to survive.
 
As she was going over the edge, she slipped out of her jacket.
 
She was free of his grasp, but had built up too much momentum to keep from going over.
 
Her heart stopped as her legs kicked wildly in the free air.
 
Danni reached out and grabbed the very edge.
 
She dangled in the air and snatched at the leather jacket still in Tommy’s hand.
 
She yanked hard.
 
Tommy struggled to keep his balance, dropping the jacket.
 
Danni grabbed the leg of his jeans and yanked again.
 
There was nothing to grab, nothing to prevent his tumbling down the side of the building.
 
He landed with a wet thud, not far from where Cruz still lay.

Danni hoisted herself back to the roof.
 
She sat with her arms wrapped around her legs.
 
Her breathing was ragged and her heart raced inside her chest.
 
Just for a moment, Danni started to cry.

“W
e had it all squared away with Tank.”

“Tank?
 
What the hell’s he got to do with this?” asked Mercer.

Mercer was trying to think of a plan, but as far as he could tell, he was defeated.
 
He was unarmed, Doc was shot and lying on the floor, and Cruz... poor Cruz was dead in the street.
 
There was no way out.
 
Fixer was moving as he spoke, jumping wildly around the room, but that son of a bitch traitor, Red, held his gun on Mercer.