Page 103 of Catcher

Ruby stumbles into the open with her hands tied, her mouth bruised, her hair hanging wild around her face. Her eyes find mine, and everything inside me cracks wide open so hard I taste metal at the back of my tongue.

“Garrett,” she murmurs. I take one step before half a dozen guns rise at once. Riggs’ hand cuts out beside me without him looking over.

I stop. Barely.

The blond bastard smiles wider. “Touching, ain’t it?”

“Let her go,” I say.

“As soon as debts are paid.”

Robby trembles beside me.

The man’s gaze slides to him and lingers. “There’s the little thief.” Robby lowers his head. The bastard laughs. “Look at him. Weeks with the Kings and still no spine.” The man’s eyes shift to Riggs. “You’re this club’s president.” He tips his head as if he’s mocking respect. “I’ve been watching you and your men, you know? This could’ve all been avoided if you’d handed him over.” He motions towards Robby.

“You sent men after a pregnant woman,” Riggs says. “That put you past negotiation.”

His smile slips a little. “Your man killed one of mine and injured another.”

“They touched what wasn’t theirs,” I growl.

His gaze cuts back to me. “And now I’m touching what’s yours.”

My finger tightens on the gun. Wick shifts beside me just enough to warn me off doing something stupid, but the bastard keeps talking because men like him love the sound of themselves.

“Robby owes me product and money. When he ran, I looked for leverage. Sister was obvious.” His eyes slide to Ruby. “Then your club stepped in, fucked shit up, and cost me face.”

“Sounds like you should’ve hired better men,” Nova says.

“Debts get paid,” he says. “Blood, money, bodies… doesn’t matter to me. I get what I’m owed.”

I step forward, dragging Robby with me. “Then shut the fuck up, and let’s get it done.”

Ruby’s eyes widen. “N-no.” Her voice breaks around the word, but I don’t look away from the man in front of me.

“My life,” I say.

Beside me, Robby straightens, not much, but enough to matter. “And mine,” he says, voice shaking. “For my sister.”

Ruby starts crying, and Robby looks at her—really looks at her—for maybe the first honest second he’s had in years. “I’m sorry, Rubes,” he says. “For being such a fuckup. For all of it.” Her face folds in on itself, and for one brief beat, I see the brother she loved and the man he became standing in the same ruined body.

Then the world snaps. A shadow moves behind Ruby, an arm hooks around her waist, and she’s yanked backward into darkness so fast it barely looks real. “Garrett!” Gunfire erupts before her scream finishes leaving her mouth.

The night goes white-hot. Muzzle flashes split the blackness. Bullets tear through rusted metal, shatter glass, and chew concrete. Men scatter, drop, and return fire. The noise slams off silos and broken walls until the whole plant sounds like it’s screaming. I shove Robby down to the ground and move. I’m not thinking, not feeling, just moving forward.

A round cracks past my ear, and I fire twice on instinct. One man drops behind a truck. Another spins backward into the dirt. Riggs is on my left, steady and lethal, shooting like breathing. Wick cuts right through the broken line while Nova laughs once like a man born for chaos, dropping one bastard with a bullet through the knee, then finishes him clean. Everest moves like a wall with a gun. Fender and Kiwi hold the flank. But I only see blond hair and that bright suit slipping toward cover.

The bastard raises his gun.

I fire and miss.

He fires back, and the bullet tears through my shoulder, spinning me half a step sideways while pain detonates down my arm. I keep moving because pain is nothing. He shoots again and misses. I close the distance and put my next shot straight into his chest.

He staggers backward, surprise finally cracking the smug mask he’s wearing, then goes down hard in the mud. Around us, the shooting starts to thin, men screaming, engines idling, and rain falling harder now. I walk up on him. He looks at me with blood bubbling from his mouth, eyes wide because men like him never really believe death is coming until it’s standing over them.

I make sure my face is the last thing he sees. “You should’ve stayed away from my family.” Then I put a bullet between his eyes.

The world stills, but it’s not silent. There are groans, mixed with wind moving through broken metal, rain hissing on concrete, the sharp odor of gunfire, blood, mud, and chemical rot, but the fight is over. And all I can think about is getting to Ruby. I turn with my gun still raised and shout her name into the dark.