“That is an order, Prospect.”
I pushed the front door open and walked outside. Little Rock wasn’t the same as Rosewood. There was a lot of light pollutionfrom the city, making it easier for your eyes to adjust quickly to the dark.
I walked slowly down the stairs, Colson right beside me, with his gun raised in front of him. We walked toward the road, and Vincent came out of the guard shack and hissed, “What the fuck are you doing out here? Does Prez know?”
“No,” Colson answered. “And if he finds out, we’re fucking dead.”
Vincent pulled the gun from the back of his waistband. “What the fuck are we looking for?” he asked, holding the gun against his thigh as he looked past me.
“Nathan attacked Sully tonight. He was trying to get her outside. We think he might have someone out here.”
“And you came out here to look?” Vincent glared at Colson. “Where the fuck is Prez?”
“He and the rest of the patched brothers took Nathan downstairs.” Colson shook his head at Vincent, and I rolled my eyes.
“You both met my father. If you think I don’t know what is happening downstairs, you’re dumber than I thought. Have you seen anyone skulking around?”
“Fuck,” Vincent cursed, looking back toward the road.
“What? Did you see someone?”
“I’ve seen the same car drive by a few times tonight. It wasn’t close enough time wise for me to think anything of it until the last few times, when they slowed down. Nathan was patrolling the fence line, so I asked him to keep an eye out. He knew they were there.”
Vincent looked at me with a strange look in his eyes. We’d been betrayed by one prospect tonight and I was suddenly very aware I was outside alone with two others. If Vincent and Colson were working with Nathan, then I just gave myself to them on asilver fucking platter. Jude was going to beat my ass black and blue, forget red.
He looked at Colson. “Watch the gate,” he said as he slipped his gun back into his waistband, and before I could say a word, he bent over and put his shoulder into my stomach.
He was surprisingly gentle as he tipped me over his shoulder and walked toward the front door. He tried not to let my body bounce as he jogged up the stairs. Inside the clubhouse, he set me on my feet and snatched the gun I forgot I had out of my hand.
“What the hell?!” I shouted. “Give that back!”
“No, Ma’am.” He handed the gun to Peter, just as shots rang through the night outside. “Get behind the bar, now!”
Mom and Sully helped Jenna to her feet and the four of us ducked behind the wooden bar. It was made of cedar and the safest place for us to be in that moment.
“What about Colson?” I yelled.
“He can take care of himself. Stay the fuck down!” Vincent bellowed.
The front door slammed open, and five men stormed in. I spotted two more boxes at the other end of the bar and shimmied over to them. I flipped open the lids and found two more Glocks. Checking the clips, I handed one to my mother.
“Morgan,” my mother hissed.
“They are outnumbered, Mom. Jude should be up here any minute, I just need to help Vincent and Peter hold them back.” I placed a hand on her arm. “Shoot anyone that comes around that bar.”
I looked back at Sully; she was wrapped up in Jenna’s arms. Tears streaming down her face. Two attacks in less than twenty-four hours would be hard for anyone, but Sully was only sixteen. She’d never experienced shit like this before. I looked at Jenna, and she nodded, letting me know she would protect Sully.Something passed between us then—a mutual respect. We might never be friends, but we were no longer enemies.
I nodded back and slipped around the bar to find Peter and Vincent behind two overturned tables. They were popping up and down like whac-a-mole, each one taking a careful shot, while the intruders aimed back at them.
Knowing I hadn’t been spotted yet, I slipped behind another table and aimed my gun. The weight of the gun was so familiar; the recoil was just as I remembered it. And the bullet hit its mark. The man went down with a hole between his eyes.
Thank you, Uncle Mac, for making sure I knew how to handle a gun. My dad hadn’t wanted me to learn, but Mac had convinced him that we needed to protect ourselves when he wasn’t with us. It had taken some doing, but he’d finally relented, and every time he came to visit, he took me shooting.
I quickly crawled to another table and Vincent saw me. He glared at me long enough to let me know he would be telling Jude, then took aim, taking out another man who didn’t belong here.
That was two.
Three were left.
