Kincaid: Cerberus Mc Book 1 (30 page)

I chuckle. “Sure, we can just put a poll right here in the middle of the room.” I feel him smile this time. “That was a joke, Diego. There will be no stripper pole in our bedroom.”

“Damn it,” he grumbles playfully.

“Come on stripper, let’s get a shower and get some sleep.” Without another word he stands from the chair and effortlessly lifts me and carries me to the bathroom.

***

It feels like I’ve just fallen asleep when the bed shifts and Diego is shuffling around the room.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as I watch him hastily tug on jeans and a black shirt.

Once he’s done getting dressed, he leans over the bed, his face only a few inches from mine. “This will be all over tonight, Emmalyn.” Just as I’m about to ask him what he’s talking about, he continues. “You’ll never have to worry about Bobby again.”

He kisses my lips quickly and pulls away too soon. He reaches into the bedside table, and my hands begin to shake when I see him holding a pistol.

“Do you know how to shoot one of these?” I shake my head vigorously. I’ve never touched a gun in my life. He points to the door. “I’m the only one with a key to this room, Em.” I’m staring at the gun in his hands. “Emmalyn? Listen, this is important.”

I cut my eyes back up to his. “I’m the only one with a key to this room. I want you to take this,” he says as he places the heavy, cold weapon in my hands. “If anyone but myself comes through that door, I want you to pull the trigger until it stops clicking.” I look up at him with frightened eyes. “Do you understand?”

He wipes the tear that runs down my cheek. “Can’t you just stay here with me?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t, Em. I’ll be back soon.” He tilts my head, so I’m looking him in the eye. “I love you.” He kisses my lips gently and then he’s gone. The only sound in the room is the echo of the lock sliding into place.

“I love you, too,” I whisper to the empty room.

Leaving Emmalyn alone on the bed with a loaded weapon was beyond tough. Knowing I was heading out to resolve the situation that landed her here in the first place, made it all worth it. For a split second when I closed the door I wondered if she would leave once the threat of her husband coming after her was eliminated. It doesn’t change the course of the evening. There is no stopping the train that Wrench and Bobby Mikaelson set in motion.

I got the text less than an hour after we crawled into bed. Eyes we have in town alerted us that Bobby and Wrench were loading a few bags into a truck. They then went separate ways in front of the hotel. I have three people sitting on that hotel, so it was no problem keeping track of them.

Wrench went to the gas station to fuel up, and Bobby was tracked to a local big box retailer where he purchased duct tape and several packages of rope. The idea that he thinks he can take Emmalyn and tie her up makes my heart pound and my blood run cold. I’d thought he was a possessive asshole who likes to hit women, but after what the police said I know now that he’s a sociopath. He knows he’s going up against a house full of military trained bikers, yet he believes he’ll have a chance to not only get a visual on Emmalyn but taking her from here? That alone says he’s not firing on all cylinders.

“What do we know?” I ask Shadow as I put on my bullet proof vest and ready my weapons.

“They split up but are heading in our direction as we speak. One from the east and one from the west.” I shake my head.

Wrench never was the brightest Marine. It makes no sense to come in from opposite sides where they converge in front of the clubhouse. If anything, coming to the front and the back converging on the clubhouse would be best or even from the front and the side. His stupidity only helps us at this point and for that, I’m grateful for it. At least, this time, he’s not ruining one of our missions.

“ETA?” I ask Shadow.

He looks down at his watch. “Less than five minutes.”

Kid comes down the hall and stands in the doorway. “We’ve moved all of the women and children to the rooms on the west side of the building.”

He walks through the door and begins to gear up. Mine and Em’s room is on the west side of the building as well. That half of the clubhouse is reinforced with steel beams, and short of driving a tanker through it, the walls are impenetrable. Wrench knows this so he won’t even attempt to get to Emmalyn that way.

“I know they’re not going to be happy about missing the action,” I tell Shadow. “But I want the Renegades down the hall in front of the doors where everyone else is.”

Shadow leaves the room to let the guys know. “Kid,” I say walking toward him.

He nods in acknowledgment. “I’ll protect her with my life, Kincaid.”

I slap him on the back. “I appreciate that brother. Don’t go in the room. I gave her a gun with strict instructions to shoot anyone who isn’t me.”

He laughs and shakes his head as he grabs his assault rifle and leaves the room. He’ll stand guard at her door and go down fighting if anyone even thinks of going in there.

Shane sticks his head in the door. “It’s go time.” He locks eyes with me. “Let us have him,” he says again. Several times he’s mentioned the need to let his men handle this situation.

I smile at him. “I wouldn’t have called you in if I thought you couldn’t handle the situation.”

We take our places in the main living area of the clubhouse. All lights are out. All extra vehicles are either at a different location or are parked in the garage. Anyone coming to the front of the building would assume, just like any other night that everyone in the clubhouse was asleep. I wanted to keep the locks the same, but I was informed that if we changed the locks and Wrench kicked the door in it would be a felony home invasion since people lived here. They wanted to make sure we had as many charges as possible when all of this was said and done.

All I can hear is my own breathing. Silence surrounds us all as we listen to the dead air, waiting with baited anticipation of what the next ten minutes will look like. That’s the thing with situations like this. All the work, planning, and time put into organizing something seems to take forever when the culmination of the event usually only lasts minutes.

I’m ready for it to be over. I’m ready to take my girl home and sleep together in our bed there. I want to fall asleep knowing she’s safe, and there isn’t someone possibly lurking around in the shadows trying to take her from me. More importantly, I need to make sure she’s with me because she wants to be and that she’s not just staying so she can be safe. I need to know that she was telling the truth when she told me she loved me.

I know Wrench is trying to be tactful when he approaches the front door, but there’s really no quiet way to kick in a door. Less than a second after the door flies open; two dark shadows make their way into the room.

“Do what you want with that bitch, but Kincaid is mine to kill.” I want to laugh because from my vantage point right now I could put one in his head. He’d be dead before his ears could register the sound of the gun firing. I stay back because that scenario is not what we discussed.

From the corner of my eye, I see Shane step out into plain sight. Before he could even raise his badge to announce himself, Bobby Mikaelson points a handgun at him and fires two rounds. The second Shane hit the floor I raised my weapon and pulled the trigger. He drops before the smoke clears from the tip of his own pistol.

I’m leaning over Shane to assess his injuries and realize my mistake immediately. I didn’t make sure both men were clear before checking on him.

“Stand up,” Wrench seethes from across the room.

I stand from my position beside Shane and raise my arms slightly. I don’t say a word, but I can tell Wrench has had better days. He looks filthy, and he continues to sniffle like he has a runny nose. I know full well it has to be drugs, which I suspected long before he was exiled from the Cerberus MC.

“Not keeping the best company these days.” My voice is flat, but he doesn’t take his eyes from me.

“You don’t want to do this, Wrench,” I hear Shadow say from a different vantage point.

I see his lip twitch, but he’s smart enough not to take his eyes off of me.

Shadow continues. “Your buddy just shot a cop. Things aren’t looking any better for you. You need to rethink this whole situation. You really ready to die today because you hate Kincaid so much?”

Wrench’s face continues to twitch, but I can tell by the look in his eyes that he knew his fate; he knew the only way this night would end.

“I should’ve been the President of this fucking club.” I watch his finger move from the outside of the trigger guard and curl around the trigger.

I take a breath and close my eyes just as the searing heat hits my chest. I’m cognizant enough as I crumple to the floor to hear a second shot ring out, but at this point, I’m not certain if I’ve been hit twice or if one of the other guys took Wrench out.

From my position on the floor, I see Shadow cross into my line of sight.

“Did you get him?” I cough because the restriction in my vest is almost too much to bear.

He looks somber because at the end of the day, Wrench was part of our inner circle for years. War does crazy shit to people, and sometimes even when you come home with a whole body, your mind never fully leaves the battlefield.

“I got him.”

I tug at my vest and try to get it over my head. “Help me with this?” Shadow reaches in and helps me pull the vest free.

“Catch a stinger?” I laugh softly and watch as he sticks his finger in the hole in the front of my vest. “Just another inch, Kincaid and this would’ve gone in your chest.”

“He never was a good shot was he?” We both laugh even though the situation is nothing to laugh at. I know how lucky I am. “Shane?”

I sit up and look over at the fallen officer. I grin when he looks over at me and narrows his eyes. He too has pulled his vest and his t-shirt off. One of his guys is looking him over to make sure his injuries were not life-threatening.

He rubs at the already purple bruises forming on his chest. “You better hope this shit clears up soon. I have a third date on Saturday.”

I chuckle. “You’re a hero, man. Chicks dig that sort of shit.”

“True,” he says as he stands with the assistance of one of his other officers. “We called an ambulance,” he says nodding toward Bobby and Wrench. “But we also called the morgue.”

I’m holding the gun with unsteady hands as the key twists in the lock. I heard gunshots earlier, but then complete silence. I’ve been alone in this room for hours. Diego told me to stay and not to leave for any reason, but the longer I’m here, the more worst case scenarios run through my head, and I fully expect Bobby to come through the door. He was Satan for so many years; I can’t fully comprehend a day when good would overpower that much evil.

The door opens slowly, and the first thing I see is his beautiful, slightly lopsided smile.

He holds his hands up in mock surrender. “Easy, Darlin’,” he says making me realize I still have the gun pointed in his direction.

He makes a point to close and lock the door back, and I have to wonder if everything is over or if he’s here to deliver bad news.

With trembling hands, I drop the gun on the bed as he nears. I watch quietly as he picks it up and places it back in the drawer he’d pulled it out of earlier.

He sits on the edge of the bed, and I waste no time crawling into his lap and wrapping my arms around him. He winces when I lean against his chest.