We hoped on our bikes without explaining our departure to anyone else. I led the way, with Axle hot on my tail. I ignored all traffic laws, red lights, and stop signs en route to her place. I mentally prepared myself to kill a lot of Fallen Saints when we got inside.
I even prepared myself to make the ultimate sacrifice if I had to.
We showed up to Kaitlyn’s apartment a few minutes later. From the outside, there didn’t appear to be any sort of trouble; the door was in place, there were no Fallen Saints bikes nearby, and the surrounding area seemed peaceful and devoid of police tape or even a police presence.
“Quiet,” I said.
“You know what that means.”
I did. In Ramadi, the enemy tried to lure us into a false sense of security by making all seem peaceful. Of course, we were experienced enough and trained well enough to remain on high alert at all times. The presence of silence, if anything, made it much easier for us to concentrate and do our jobs.
But it also meant that things could go to hell in a matter of seconds, and we all had to be ready to strike back at a moment’s notice. We both had to have our hands by our guns at an absolute minimum, perhaps even in our hands.
“Come on,” I said. “Second floor.”
Axle followed me up the stairs, covering my six as we moved up. Even though the complex, which faced outside, like a U-shaped motel, was deserted of apparent trouble, that didn’t mean darkness wasn’t lying in the crevices, waiting to strike.
I reached her door. I crouched to the side, away from the windows. Axle went to the other side. He nodded to me, reached out, and turned the handle.
It was locked.
That wasn’t going to stop either of us. But it did mean that I was about to owe her apartment complex a brand-new door.
Axle reared back, lifted his leg, and stomped the door down, sending it flying against the wall. The two of us entered, guns raised, ready to pull the trigger in a split second.
But it was completely empty.
In fact, not only was it completely empty, it was set up the exact same way as it had been that morning. The couch where we’d slept together was still there. The eggs hadn’t even been put away.
“No one’s been here since this morning,” I said. “The Saints haven’t been here. They aren’t careful enough to keep a place this clean.”
“So, where is she then?”
She couldn’t have been at the hospital. Today was her day off, and for as little time as I had known Kaitlyn, she didn’t strike me as the kind of person who would burn herself out, trying to accrue a little bit more over time.
That left...
“Devon,” I said, murmuring her name. “The two of them got into a huge fight yesterday. You remember, right?”
“The nurse we already have on staff,” Axle said.
“Right. I don’t know for sure, but it would make sense. Maybe the Saints are using her as bait to bring Kaitlyn in. I know...”
Then it really started to come together.
“The Saints saw me with her at Brewskis before. They had to have figured we were on a date that night. But they probably knew that if they came here, we’d kill them without hesitation. So maybe they’re dragging her in... Axle. Do you think the two of us could take on whoever is at Devon’s?”
Axle did not smile. But I knew a part of him relished the chance to kill some Saints.
“It wouldn’t be a full force,” Axle said. “But two of us is a huge risk. Even if there’s just three of them, one of us going down makes it harder, impossible, maybe. We can’t afford to make a decision so rashly.”
“True...”
So then we do what we did before. We rally everyone together. We don’t announce anything is happening, we just go. We don’t give the Reaper rat a chance to do anything other than help.
“Then let’s head back to the clubhouse,” I said. “I have an idea. We’ll just have to repeat what we did for the counterstrike for my slashed tires.”
“You mean not tell anyone what’s happening until the last second.”
