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)
“What about us?”
“You're my insurance. I need to hang onto you long enough to make sure the bikers behave. Unless they got cocky and started shooting. Then they’ll just be dead.”
Oh God.
36
LASH
“Motherfucker!” Grimm, the only one close enough, throws himself between Jensen and Hellfire, taking the bullet in his left arm. It spins him halfway around while he draws his gun with the right one. His leather jacket shreds around the wound, throwing blood and little pieces of black into the air.
“Jensen, this is your last warning. Stand the fuck down!” Chen's angry scream cuts through the noise. “Drop your gun before I have my people take it from you.”
“I'm not going to take orders from a fucking traitor.” Jensen swivels, bringing his gun to bear right at her. A grin spreads on his face, like he's been looking forward to this for a long time.
Fuck that.
I swing my iron up, just as his fingers start to tighten again. My shot cracks the air, echoing through the parking garage in slow motion through each floor as it descends. Detective Chen has her arms up over her face, wearing a horrified expression. Jensen's eyes are vacant, a red hole in his forehead leaking blood. His fingers go slack, the gun dropping from them, and then he collapses on the floor, just as time speeds back up. I keep my gun up, scanning for more people who want to try me.
“That’s enough!” Chen snaps with a drill sergeant voice. “If anyone else fires, heads will roll! And if anyone here knows who gave him the go ahead to throw this little fiasco, I want to know right fucking now!”
The rest of us eye each other. I knew she was a tough bitch, but fuck, if she's not police chief within a few years, I can't imagine who would be.
One of the guys from a later car raises his hand. “Here. Robinson. We were sent as backup for an incident in progress. I don’t know why Jensen came in hot, but I think the initial order came out of Vice.”
Jackal nudges me. “What do you think? Passing the buck? Or just incompetent?”
I shrug. “Why not both?”
Chen looks over her shoulder at us, her face somehow both blanched and hard as stone at the same time. “Lower your weapons.”
“That's a big no, Ms. Chen. Not until your people stop aiming their iron at me. That fucker shot one of ours and was about to take you out, so I can't say I'm sad to say that I stopped him, but I'm not gonna risk anyone else getting trigger-happy.” I'm not aiming at anyone in particular, but everyone in the garage has already seen how accurate I can be. And there are enough of us up there that no matter which side won, there would likely be casualties. If they wanna make something of this, they better be ready to take some fucking losses.
Chen nods in understanding. “Officers, lower your weapons. This is clearly a giant fuck up.”
Not surprisingly, nobody wants to go first. A couple start to waver, then see their buddies aren't and the guns come up again.
“Robinson,” she says in a steely tone. “Can you back me up here? If they put their arms away, the Outlaw Sons will, too. Right?” She looks back at us again.
Hellfire nods. “Our beef isn’t with you.”
Once it doesn’t look like a gunfight is about to break out, Hellfire gestures to Grimm. “Got someone who can help him out? Or let us get him to our own medic.” Hellfire gestures at Grimm. “He's an asshole, but he did take a bullet for me.”
“Fuck you,” Grimm snarls, but there isn’t much heat in it.
Chen nods to Robinson, who raises his radio and makes a call for a medic. A moment later, a couple of cops with first aid kids are helping Grimm take his jacket off and his arm wrapped up.
Robinson and Chen talk quietly while the rest of the cops glower at us. And we're scowling right back at them, but no one starts anything. Whatever the fuck just happened was unexpected by both sides. Eventually, Chen comes over. “This is what I was afraid of. Dillard has a lot of friends in the force, and there are a lot of otherwise good cops who will always back their buddies, no matter what the evidence says. If you’d gotten the video to me earlier, maybe I could’ve done something about this.”
“If you’d done a better job of keeping your men in line, maybe we wouldn’t’ve had to tell you who your own cop killer was,” Hellfire spits.
“So where is he now?” I ask. “Halfway to Mexico?”
“Robinson! Do you know where Ezra Dillard is?”
“I'll check.” He pulls out his phone, and after a brief conversation, puts it away again. “He left his office earlier today and hasn't been back. Not answering his phone either.”