Glancing down at the slowing speedometer, I recall the maximum speed for run-flat tires is fifty miles per hour and I’m doing seventy.
“Look out!” My passenger grabs the wheel.
Fuck me. A giant tractor blocks the road. I slam on the brakes, the world spins, we dip, fly, and land hard. As corn stalks attack us from all sides, we race forward, and jerk to a stop. Once I catch my breath, I grab the knife under my seat, and stab the airbags.
As air whooshes out, I turn to the wide-eyed girl. “Whatever happens, do not leave this vehicle.”
Chapter 5
Dean
Wrists bound behind a toilet, face inches from the porcelain bowl, I pray my brothers never get wind of this moment. If so, I’ll never hear the end of it.
Using my teeth and the edge of the vanity, I open the pocketknife Charlie snuck into my hand as she kissed my cheek. God bless her. At least one of the two women has some horse sense.
After I cut through the plastic ties, I open my copy of Sky’s GPS and find their location. Once I confirm the intruder from earlier is not lying in wait, I race out the door, hop in my car, and follow the signal.
Barreling through country roads, I slow at a four-way stop, and pull my right earlobe. The inner tunnel started to tingle at the beach and now the urge to scratch has become unbearable. The two women are in deep shit. My Itchy Ear has spoken.
Gated communities fly past in a blur. A few stores follow, then nothing but corn. Horror movies, starting withFreddy,Children of the Corn, andA Field of Screamsall come to mind when the dot on my cellphone’s screen freezes in place.
Shit. Multiple automatic weapons fire, my foot stomps on the gas, and as I roll down my window, the sound echoes off a nearby barn. Heart now pounding, I switch my lights off, reach the last curve, and glide to a stop. Counting six bikers, I crawl on my belly in the space between the stalks and gasp.
They have Charlie and Sky pinned down in the middle of the field.
One of the riders lowers his weapon and shouts toward the road. “The boss said to keep her alive.”
“Which her?” As a leather-faced oldster straddles his hog and tugs on his waist-length beard, a younger one strides over the fallen corn until they’re face to face.
“I don’t know, pops. Guess we bring them both back and let her decide.”
The senior club member spits near the other’s boots. “And how do you suggest we pry them out? A can opener?”
Leaving the two geniuses to argue, I creep deeper into the thick vegetation toward the vehicle and create a plan to take out the four on the road and the two in the field.
One mistake and my brothers will be burying me in pieces.
A deep breath later, I fire eight rounds in quick succession, two in each center of mass. With them down, I bolt through the rows of corn to the idiots trying to crowbar open the driver’s side door.
As they stare at the bloody mess, I shout behind their backs. “Police. Hands up.”
They must’ve missed that day in kindergarten. Neither follows directions well, so I drop them with two more bullets. Following protocol, I kick their weapons clear, and after, check for pulses.
“This one’s still alive.” Sky, who I didn’t detect exiting the vehicle, squats beside the SUV, near one of those who tried to kill her.
“Who sent you?” The female badass waits fifteen seconds before sticking her index finger into his bullet wound.
She wiggles it until he screams, then lowers her face to his. “You tell me who hired you and I’ll call an ambulance. You don’t…”
She shrugs, but he doesn’t answer, so I lower onto my heels beside them. “If you want your brethren to bury you, how about you tell us where your clubhouse is at. No one will know you snitched.”
“Church’s thrift shop. Say Snake sent you.” Coughing up blood, his eyes become glassy, and one shiver later, he exhales his last breath.
Fuck, what a waste. Six lives gone by my hand. Could I have done anything different and had a better outcome?
As my mind replays the events of the evening, Sky stands and stares at the carnage.
After helping Charlie out of the bulletproof Mercedes, she cups my face. “Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?”
