The door was locked, and it didn’t seem like it was going to budge, but I listened closely to hear the conversation that was happening on the other side. It was Mona’s voice, toying with El Diablo, and she was leading him right up to the point where he was about to talk.
She’s going to get that confession out of him if it’s the last thing she does, huh?
I moved out of the way, just as I heard Mona get what she needed, and I could’ve only hoped that she had some way of recording that. Hawk kicked the door down just as El Diablo began to pull at Mona’s panties, trying to get her to cooperate, but we made it just in time.
“Get your hands off of her, El Diablo,” Hawk yelled.
“Well, if it isn’t the two of you. I thought I told my men to keep any dogs out of my club,” he said, staring at us while Mona got the chance to escape from his grasp, running into Lacey’s arms.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked him.
“I’m just here to have a little fun, but that tease over there hasn’t been making it very easy for me. She told me she wanted to play around with a man that knew what he was doing, and then she tried to get me to stop. You two aren’t going to stop me from getting to her, and I’m going to make her give me the wildest ride of my life. I just have to say the word, and every member of Las Balas will be in here in a second to take care of you so I can continue having my nice time,” he said, and the sound of his voice alone made me want to pull out my gun and shoot him.
“I don’t think you’re going to get that chance, El Diablo. You see, while you were caught up being enticed by our dear friend Mona over here, she managed to get a confession out of you that’s going to make sure Las Balas are gone for good,” I chimed in, even though I wasn’t sure if she’d even gotten it recorded.
“What are you talking about?”
“You drive a hard bargain, El Diablo, but I managed to leave my voice recording running, and we finally have all we need to take you and the DA down for good,” said Mona, disgusted by his behavior but enjoying putting in her two cents.
“You’re going to pay for this,” he said, as he was about to shout to get the rest of his men on us, but I wasn’t going to allow it to happen. I reached into my pocket to pull out my knife, while Hawk kept his gun pointed at El Diablo, so he wouldn’t have the chance to escape. We were alone, and far enough away from the crowd that no one would be able to hear him scream.
“Lacey, get Mona out of here. Get in your car and take her home. Don’t let anyone talk to you, and don’t let anyone stop you from leaving,” I said, giving Lacey firm instructions so she wouldn’t have to see what we were about to do. She nodded, wrapping her jacket around Mona’s shoulders while she led her out, and I turned my attention back to El Diablo, who for the first time his life, knew that he wasn’t going to be getting out of this one.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Don’t worry, your buddies will do just fine without you when they’re all safely tucked behind bars,” I said, driving the knife deep into his stomach. When he screamed, I pulled it out and stabbed him again.
He was barely hanging on to life when I stepped aside, letting Hawk fire off the final shot, making sure that he was dead before we escaped through the back door. The place had erupted into chaos while we both ran for our bikes, checking to make sure that Lacey’s car was nowhere in the parking lot, and I heaved a sigh of relief when I realized they had managed to get away.
Hawk and I hopped onto our bikes, revving our engines while we drove away, just as members of Las Balas started shooting at us, but we managed to slip away before they could get on their bikes to chase us down.
I glanced over at Hawk, who grinned back at me in relief that Mona was okay, that we had managed to get to her before El Diablo had his way, and that she was going to be just fine. I knew that he was going to have quite the fight with me for how things played out, but it was truly a victory for us both, as well as the Outlaw Souls, because we now had the confession that was going to take down Las Balas along with the DA.
We had everything we needed to protect our own, to make sure that none of the Outlaw Souls were going to end up behind bars, and that was all I could’ve ever asked for.
I knew that they’d all been on edge for such a long time, but now we were just about to give them the good news, the news that they no longer had to fear for their lives. It was time that the Outlaw Souls got to walk free without the LPPD hounding our asses, trying to scare us into confessing to crimes we didn’t commit.
There were terrible crimes that were committed, and those criminals were about to pay for their actions.
Hawk and I drove down to Lacey’s house, hoping that Mona was doing all right, but I knew that all Hawk wanted was a moment alone with her so he could tell her how sorry he was. We were all worried about her, frantically searching for her when we knew she disappeared for those few terrible moments, where El Diablo could’ve taken her somewhere far away from the club. It was lucky that he hadn’t left the building, but I knew that Hawk would never let Mona get involved with anything like this ever again, and this time I was going to have to agree with him.
We arrived back at Lacey’s house to find Mona sitting on the couch, curled up with a blanket over her shoulders, and Hawk rushed to her side. Lacey got up, leaving the two of them alone for a moment while she joined me outside. I could see the fear in her eyes start to dissipate as she realized everyone was safe again, even though there was still a bit more to be done before we could all breathe easy again.
“I’m sorry, Lacey. I know that we should’ve got to Mona earlier, that something terrible could’ve happened to her,” I said, looking down at the ground, but she reached up to caress both of my cheeks, leaning in to kiss me.
“I’m just glad that we were there before she got hurt. She’s going to pull through this, and even though I’m never going to let her anywhere near this kind of trouble again, she did get what we needed. All she wanted to do was help, and if we would’ve tried to convince her to wait, it was quite possible we were never going to get the confession,” Lacey pointed out, and I agreed.
“We have it now, and that’s all that matters. What are you planning on doing with it?” I asked, because we had never really discussed what would happen from here on out.
“I’m going to have to go above the DA, head straight to the mayor’s office and hope that he’s willing to hear me out. I don’t have any reason to believe that the mayor would want to protect the DA in any way, so first thing tomorrow, we can finally put an end to all of this,” she said, and I couldn’t have been happier.
“Thank you, Lacey. I don’t know how to show you how grateful I am that you stuck your neck out for us, that you nearly lost your job because you agreed to help.”
“I would’ve done it regardless, because there is no way that I’m going to stand back and let an innocent man go to prison. The DA had to pay for his crimes, and now that El Diablo is out of the picture, I know Las Balas isn’t going to be a problem for you anymore,” she said, and I leaned in to kiss her. I felt the relief emanating from her, and I was so glad that we were nearly on the other side of this.
“I’m just glad that we got to count this as a victory, because if we were any later in finding Mona, I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened,” I said, feeling rather guilty for asking Hawk to wait, but it turned out to be for the best because if we had gone in there to rescue Mona right away, we wouldn’t have had the confession, and we would probably be right back to square one.
“El Diablo deserved to die for what he’s done to so many other people out there. He’s the prime example of what a bad biker gang leader looks like, and while I had my doubts about the Outlaw Souls in the beginning, now all I want to do is protect you all in any way I can. I know that we’ve been through quite a lot together, and we haven’t really had much of a chance to talk about us after everything that happened, but I need you to know how much I care about you, Moves,” Lacey said.
“It’s been hard for me to show my emotions, to come to terms with the fact that I’m not as broken as I always believed I was. Now, after you’ve come into my life, I see that I have much more to look forward to, that I didn’t have to brood alone in my own darkness anymore, or try to fill the void with alcohol or meaningless relationships. You gave me something to live for, Lacey, and there are no words that can tell you how grateful I am for that, except...”
