“You think there’s time?”
He scowled at Forge. “What’d you mean?”
“This woman was here with the cop. You think she hasn’t called anyone for help?”
Every eye was on me. I swallowed hard. “The police deputies are on their way,” I announced. It was a gamble. Maybe it would piss them off and they’d hurt me out of revenge. Or maybe this would make them call off their search. It didn’t matter what they did to me now. I needed to protect Owen.
“Where’s the cop?” Dunn asked, stepping forward with a menacing look on his face.
“He ran,” I told them. “I couldn’t keep up.”
“Bullshit,” Dunn spat, spraying moisture in my face.
I used my hand to wipe it off as I grimaced. “It’s true. He left me behind.”
“Does it fucking matter?” Forge asked. “The cop isn’t here. She is.”
“Maybe I’ll just kill you instead,” Dunn told me, a slow smile creeping over his face.
My heart sank in my chest, but I straightened up to my full height. I wouldn’t cower before him. I refused. “Go ahead then.” I wasn’t this girl. I wasn’t brave. I liked to think I was channeling Ainsley and how she would react in this situation. In all reality, the faces of those I loved were whipping through my mind.
“You kill her and Dolan won’t be able to question her.”
We all looked over at Forge, who was now leaning against a tree as though he didn’t have a care in the world, cleaning his nails with a knife. My eyes narrowed on the blade he was holding, but Dunn caught my attention again.
“Fucking bitch.”
His hand hit me like a sledgehammer to the face. I hit the ground and the air was knocked out of me for the second time that day. This time the darkness creeping in wasn’t from the night. My eyes fluttered closed as it consumed me.
CHAPTER 27
Pyre
“There’s Rae’s car!” Ainsley made a move like she was going to open the door and bail out of the moving vehicle.
Warrant wrapped his arms around her to keep her from doing just that. I was still driving too damn fast for her to jump. Besides there were men everywhere and none of them were friendlies.
“Iron Circle’s here,” Jury said from the back seat of the cage.
“They must’ve gone around to get here,” I replied. “Shane didn’t mention anyone getting past them on the road.”
“Let me go, Warrant,” Ainsley snapped as I skidded the vehicle to a halt.
People were scrambling like ants away from a magnifying glass. They weren’t waiting to see if we were one of them, which meant they knew we weren’t.
Picking up the rifle sitting beside me, I was out the door and shooting before the others could move. My scope magnified one of the men trying to hide behind Rae’s car. The round ripped through his leg and he went sprawling into the dirt. My next bullet ended him where he lay.
More gunfire rang through the night as the Iron Circle returned fire while we charged forward. A blur from the corner of my eye had me cursing as Torque went running straight up to the van Owen used for removing dead bodies.
I shot a guy to his left as he aimed his gun Torque’s way, then swept the area, looking for anyone else who was going to take a shot at our prospect. Kid was almost as crazy as I was and it wasn’t even his old lady out there. Jury and Cynic met up with him on the other side of the van and they began systematically surrounding the Iron Circle Crew.
Leaving them to it, I saw Warrant and Ainsley heading toward the woods. That left the river. I skidded down the embankment and saw two guys running away from the fight. Neither was wearing a cut, a LEO uniform, or was a woman, so I lined up my rifle and shot one in the back. He fell like a sack of potatoes. The second, I aimed lower and hit him in the thigh.
I stalked over to him, knowing that my brothers and Ainsley were handling things up over the berm. When I reached him, I flipped him over, grabbing his gun before he could use it. I tossed it out into the river and then quickly patted him down, taking away a knife and another small pistol. “Where’s the woman?”
He shook his head, staring up at me with wide eyes. “S-she’s not here.”
“What’d you mean not here?” I barked.
