Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Okay. Love you.”
It's my turn to be quiet a moment. Motherfucker. That hit me harder than I woulda thought. There's a flash of Dad with his belt, and the desire—no, fuck that, the need to be a better man than him. And if this all goes like it needs to, then I'm gonna fucking be it for Logan. “Love you too, buddy. See you soon.”
Fuck, I don’t have time to get all fucking choked up. I get curious looks from Lash and Stiff, but I wave them off. No time for that now. “Come on, we ride. I know where Dakota and Logan are.”
We push our way through the cops. Hellfire puts a hand on my arm. “Find something?”
“I think so.”
“Need backup?”
“Not this time, but I’ll call if that changes.”
He nods. “You fucking do that.”
Now that we know where to go, it doesn't take long when we blow through every red light on the way, ignoring the honking and middle fingers in our wake. There's no fucking time to waste.
When we get close, I point at a brick office building. That's gotta be it. We pull into an alley and leave the bikes there. The longer we can keep him in the dark, the better our chances are of getting everyone outta here alive. Except him. If it's up to me, he's not gonna fucking live to see sundown.
“What’s the situation?” Stiff loosens his shoulders and neck like he's about to jump into the boxing ring.
“Dakota, Logan and ‘the angry man’ are in there.”
“Dillard?” Lash asks.
“Probably. Logan says he’s armed.”
“Let’s make this long, slow and painful,” Lash says with conviction. I'm liable to agree with him.
“Logan and Dakota's safety first. Then we'll see what's left to work with.”
We cross the road, keeping out of sight from as many windows as possible. I know they’re in the building, but not where. The place looks deserted. When we get to the locked front door, there's a fucking keypad. I squint at it, looking for any wear and tear that could give me a hint, but nothing.
“Do we break the window?”
“Look.” Lash points through the door and across the foyer behind the door, through another glass door, is Logan. He waves, the helmet in one hand and his phone in the other. He puts his hand against the window on the other side at us, like he's wondering why the fuck we're not coming through the door.
I call Logan and he answers, watching me through the glass. “Hey buddy. We're trying to get in. Just give us a little bit, okay?”
“Two… four…” he scrunches his face up like he's trying to remember. “Five… eight!” I swear his proud grin is so bright it's gonna light us up. I try it, and the little light turns green.
“Good work, little man.” I tell him through the phone.
“Smart fucking kid,” Stiff says in appreciation.
But the code doesn't get us through the next door, which needs a key card. The inside has a push bar that probably unlocks the door, but there's no way we're gonna be able to get Logan to make that happen. He can barely reach it. I try it on the off chance it opens, but no chance.
“Time to do it the hard way?” Lash pats the grip of his gun in his belt.
“Yeah.” I look through the window at our little hero. “Logan, buddy, you're going to need to go far from the door, okay? Get behind something and cover your ears. We're gonna break it.”
The sight of Logan's eyes going huge as I say it would be comical if this wasn't so fucking serious. Then he scrambles away like we're not gonna wait for him to be safe. He disappears around a corner.
“Okay, buddy, you ready?”
No answer. Hopefully that just means he's covering his ears. “Go.”
Two sharp cracks of Lash's pistol shatters the glass. If there's anyone left who doesn't know we're here, they've gotta be deaf. Stiff reaches through the gap and pulls the push bar towards us and the door comes open. I step through, followed by Lash and then Stiff, all of us with guns drawn. Almost immediately, Logan peeks out, looking more excited than anything.
I look around and lead Logan to a dusty old bathroom at the end of the hall. “I want you to stay in here until we come and get you, okay? We’re gonna go get your mom, and then we’ll come to you and everyone gets to go home.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah, we fucking promise. And bikers keep their promises, right?”
He nods.
Once Logan is safe, we start the hunt. “Hey! Fucknut! We're looking for ya!”
“He doesn't have the balls to face us,” Lash adds, looking around like an eagle scouting for prey. “They shriveled up when he decided he needed a woman and a fucking kid to hide behind.”