Suddenly, we could see single headlights flashing all around the front of the building through the thin curtains. And the roar of motorcycles filled the air.
One of the prospects ran over and locked the double deadbolts on the front door. He glanced quickly out the window, then immediately jerked a handgun out of the back of his waistband. He looked sick as he announced, “Shit! They ran a fucking semi through the front gate. Tore it right off the hinges. We gotta go and help the Savage Legion prospects.”
Another prospect shook his head. “We can’t abandon the women. We’ve got two old ladies here to protect.”
One of the club girls let out a disgruntled growl. “You’re supposed to be protecting all of us, Jimmy, not just the old ladies.”
Engines hammered in the yard. Someone outside shouted something I couldn’t make out over the noise. Then glass exploded inward from the window above the bar and a brick slid across the floor. One of the club girls screamed. It was a startled sound that cut off when she realized she hadn’t been hit by the brick. A warning that they intended to breach the building. I didn’t know how I knew that but I did.
“They’re here for me. If I go out, maybe they’ll leave the rest of you alone.”
Jimmy growled, “Absofuckinglutely not. I’m not giving up an old lady to save myself. Fuck that noise.”
Rosie leapt into action. “You don’t have to protect us. We’ll lock ourselves in the safe room. You go check on Evan and Levi.”
The look on her face and her bold words were enough to cut through the club girls’ panic.
“Get to the damn basement,” she shouted. “Right now. All of you, move, move, move.”
Most of them started a stampede for the basement steps. Two of the club girls were so busy crying they didn’t seem to be registering what she said. One had her phone clutched in her hand, and stammered, “My bag. I need to get my bag.”
“Leave it,” Rosie said sternly. Putting her hands on the woman’s shoulders, she shoved her towards the stairs. “Goddamnit, if you if you have an ounce of survival instinct move your fucking ass!” She stumbled along in a daze.
After a few steps, the stragglers started running on their own. The basement door was at the end of the hallway. Rosie ran there and held it open and pushed the girls through one at a time, counting heads as they went. She was good at taking charge.
Just as I was about to step through the door, I stopped dead in my tracks. “Wait!” I said.
Rosie stood in the doorway, anxious to close and lock it. “No. Whatever it is you’re thinking, no. Get in here. Now.”
I took a step back. “The kittens are in the walk-in. I need to grab them. If Viper can’t get me, he might hurt them.”
The expression on her face didn’t change. “He doesn’t even know they’re yours.”
I turned and started running towards the bar, yelling over my shoulder, “I can’t abandon them.”
Rosie screamed, “They’re cats. They’ll hide.”
My babies were four months old, and they didn’t have the same instincts as fully grown cats.
I yelled from the end of the hall, “Pull the door. I promise, I’ll only be thirty seconds.”
When I got to the bar area there was smoke everywhere, men running around, fighting, and throwing things at each other. And it was clear that our prospects were getting overrun.
The door to the walk-in was open, and I couldn’t see the kittens anywhere. I scrambled around on my knees looking high and low for them. Normally, I could hear their little meows but not among all this ruckus. I was getting desperate.
A shadow fell over me, and somehow, I knew it was Viper. I spun around and found him standing there with the same smirk he wore when things were going his way. My panic surged higher as I realized how calm he was compared to the chaos going on behind him. Someone flipped a table sending glasses crashing to the floor. And then one of his men squatted down behind it and popped off a shot. I could hear Jimmy scream, “Fall back and regroup.”
Meanwhile, Viper just stood there with his hands on his hips, seemingly without a care in the world for his personal safety.
He glanced over at the brother with the gun. “I found her,” he said. “Grab her and let’s get the hell out of this dump.”
I backed all the way up, as far from the two of them as I could get.
“Don’t,” his sidekick said, daring me to try and get away.
Viper lifted one hand slightly for the man to stand down. Then he took a step closer and asked, “You wanna tell me where everyone went? Where are the women hiding? Reo here has had his eye on that pretty redhead.”
“Redhead? I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s just me and the prospects. You’ve already seen them, right?”
