Before
It doesn’t matter how long I stare at the bodies, they’re not coming back. Their chests aren’t moving with breath. Their bodies aren’t twitching. Only their blood pooling around them.
Slade.
Dex.
Shane.
The prospect.
All dead.
My hand trembles as I inhale on my cigarette until it burns down to the butt.
“What the fuck are we waiting for?” Zach bellows. “We should be hitting the road, chasing them down!”
“They’ll be long gone!” Myles argues.
“They killed my dad!”
“Doesn’t change the fact that they’re long gone, brother.”
Mason steps forward. “You need to go tell your mom.”
Dex, someone will have to ride out and tell Libby.
Shane, he has parents that I will need to call.
Sparky falls onto his ass, not taking his eyes away from Slade.
Dad lights cigarette after cigarette, staring down at our brothers, not taking his eyes off of them.
“Babe, what’s going on?” I hear Holly but before I can get her away from here, she cries, “Oh my god!”
Everything is slipping through my fingers, but I move into action and collect her in my arms, shielding her from the blood and death. “You shouldn’t have come out here.”
“I heard them ride away, I came to check on you.”
I push her back, needing to see she is okay and then pull her back against me. “You should go home.” I stop when Harper comes around the corner and learns who’s on the ground.
“Not Uncle Slade,” she murmurs.
She shakes her head, and doesn’t stop, not even when JJ goes over to her. She pushes him away and runs over to Slade. She drops to his side and gingerly runs her hand over the bullet holes.
“No, no, no,” she sobs.
JJ drops to her side and this time, she lets him hold her for a brief moment. She looks across to Zach and then goes over to him. She holds onto him and as her tears stream down her face, he holds onto her back.
“What about Shane’s son?” Holly asks me.
“I think one of the club girls is with him.”
She pulls away from me. “I’m going to get him. Without Shane paying or fucking her, she won’t be interested in hanging around.”
It’s the last concern I have but I say, “Okay, take him home and please stay there.”
“I will.”
