Ratcatcher aimed his pistol at Train and vice versa. I kept mine trained on Ripper.
“Drop the knife and let her go,” I growled.
“No fucking way, cockface,” Ripper replied. “That’s right. I remember you. You shoulda stayed out of town, chicken boy. Now you’re gonna have to see your sweetheart get chopped up into little pieces.”
“She’s got nothing to do with club business,” I said.
“Apparently, Warlock doesn’t agree with you,” Ripper said. “He told us to grab the girl and bring her to him, so that’s what we’re gonna do. And if you try and stop us, I’ll kill her and bring her and your dead bodies to Warlock.”
“Alright, then. How about a trade? Your hostage for ours.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Ratcatcher asked. “What hostage?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Ripper yelled. “He’s fuckin’ lying.”
“No, I’m not. He’s in the van and I’ll give him to you if you let the lady go.”
“I’m warning you. Fuck with us, and I’ll make sure she bleeds out right in front of you,” Ripper said.
I slowly slid the van door open, my back to Ripper, obscuring our cargo.
I looked at Jester. “Do everything I tell you to do. I swear I won’t hurt you. Just play along so I can keep my woman safe. You’d ask me to do the same for Mia if our roles were reversed.”
He nodded.
I reached into one of the Derby’s bags and palmed a packet of DerbyQ sauce. Then I engaged the safety on my gun before pointing it at Jester, spinning him around to face Ripper with me behind him.
“Keiran? Is that you, you little shit?” Ripper asked.
“We know his old man is one of yours,” I said. “You hurt the lady and I’ll mail the kid to your clubhouse one piece at a time.”
Ripper laughed. “That’s the biggest fuckin’ bluff I’ve ever heard. The Dogs of Fire only know how to bark, they never bite.”
“Maybe some of them, but not me. You’re right, Ripper, I’ve been away for a while, which means you have no fucking idea what I’ve been up to and what I’m capable of doing when the people I care about are threatened.”
“Bullshit,” he yelled back. “You ain’t gonna hurt him.
“Showtime kid,” I whispered before slamming the butt end of my pistol grip down onto Keiran’s skull. Blood instantly gushing from thetop of his head. Katie cried out in horror as Keiran fell limp into my arms, blood streaming down his face.
“Let her go or I’ll bash this fucking kid’s brains out,” I yelled.
“Alright,” Ripper relented, taking the knife away from Katies throat. He then motioned for Ratcatcher to lower his gun, giving me just enough time to turn my gun’s safety off and put a bullet straight through his forehead. Likewise, just as Ratcatcher lowered his gun, Train landed two center mass shots into his chest. Both men dropped to the ground, leaving Katie standing alone, freaked out and shivering.
After making sure Jester was okay, I ran to Katie, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, just freaked,” she said, pointing a trembling finger towards Keiran. “Ishealright?”
“Oh, shit. Yeah, hold on,” I said, retrieving Keiran for Katie to inspect. “See? He’s perfectly fine.”
“Fine, nothing, bro. You got some of that spicy sauce in my eye,” he complained, wiping his face with his t shirt.
“Sorry, man,” I said, pulling a bandana from my pocket and handing it to him.
“Is that DerbyQ sauce?” Katie asked.
“Yeah. You didn’t think I’d actually pistol whip a kid, did you?” I challenged.
“Well, Ididn’t, but you had me fooled from where I was,” she replied.
