Page 80 of Gang of Roses: Rebel

I swung the door open. Sitting in the middle of the cramped storage room was Sarah, tied tightly to a chair with mascara streaked down her face from hours of crying. The moment her terrified eyes met ours, she froze, her chest rising and falling with panicked breaths. Without saying a word, I grabbed the back of the chair and rolled her out of the storage room and into the middle of the shop, forcing everyone to face the woman who had betrayed us.

“Crow...”

Her eyes grew so wide I thought they might pop out of her head.

I looked Sarah dead in the eyes before turning back to Rebel.

“I told you nobody was ever gonna play with you again.”

I walked over and stood beside her. “She stole your future. She stole your dream. Now we’re gonna make damn sure she never gets the chance to do this to anybody else.”

Rebel looked from me to Sarah, then back at me as a slow smile spread across her face.

“Oh, baby...”

She pursed her lips as she admired my work.

“What do you have in mind?” she asked.

I couldn’t help but grin.

“I figured we’d let the woman who ruined your life finally tell us where every last dollar went.”

I pulled out the saw and approached her ass. She was gonna regret ever messing with my lady. All Rebel did was stand back as I conducted my own interrogation, but when Sarah refused to tell me anything, I pulled out my gun. Then I slowly cocked the hammer back and pressed the barrel against her forehead. Sarah’s entire body started shaking.

Her tears didn’t mean a damn thing to me. She’d convinced herself that stealing Rebel’s money was a good idea, and now she wanted sympathy because she got caught. Nah. I wasn’t about to feel sorry for someone who had brought every bit of this on herself. Actions came with consequences, and today she was finally going to pay for hers.

“P-please...” she cried.

I never took my eyes off Rebel. “Just give me the word. And she is dead.”

Sarah’s sobs grew louder as I tightened my grip on the gun. Rebel didn’t hesitate. She leaned over, pressed a gentle kiss against my lips, then calmly slipped the pistol from my hand. The moment Sarah saw the weapon resting in Rebel’s grip, her eyes grew impossibly wide. Whatever hope she’d been holding onto disappeared, replaced by pure, unfiltered terror.

“Rebel... please⁠—”

She didn’t hesitate. Two shots rang out, and Sarah’s body went limp, the chair rocking backward as silence swallowed the room. The sharp scent of gunpowder lingered in the air while Rebel stood frozen, the pistol hanging loosely in her hand. She stared at Sarah’s lifeless body, her chest rising and falling with each shaky breath as the reality of what she’d just done slowly settled over everyone in the room.

Chapter 18

Rain “Rebel” Crawford

The mission was simple: get the money and get the hell out without any issues. On paper, it sounded easy. In reality, we were about to pull off the biggest heist of our careers, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous as hell. My heart pounded against my ribs as we approached the entrance. The lifelike silicone mask stretched tightly across my face, concealing every inch of my real identity. It fit so perfectly that it looked and moved like real skin, transforming me into a woman who didn’t exist. Even if someone stared me dead in the face, they wouldn’t have recognized me. No matter how many jobs I’d pulled over the years, this one felt different. There was too much money on the line, too many moving parts, and too many ways for everything to go to shit. One mistake could cost us our freedom or our lives.

I took a slow breath beneath the silicone mask, tightened my grip on my gun, and reminded myself why we were here. There was no turning back now. The front doors burst open. Kash, Dice, and I stormed into the bank with our weapons drawn.

“Everybody down!” we shouted in distorted voices generated by the voice modulators hidden beneath our silicone masks.

Screams immediately erupted as customers dropped to the marble floor. Cell phones clattered beside them while parents pulled their children close. A few people froze in place until Donnie fired a warning shot into the ceiling. The deafening blast echoed throughout the bank.

“I said get the fuck down!” Donnie roared, his massive frame making the room feel even smaller. His job was simple, be the muscle. Keep everybody on the ground and make damn sure nobody got any bright ideas.

Behind the tinted glass upstairs, I caught movement. We approached the bank tellers quickly and pulled out our guns before they could press the alarm. I stood right there, begging one of them to make a move so I could shoot. Then I heard a voice through my earpiece.

“Kash,” the voice crackled. “Second floor. Two security guards and five employees in the offices. Clear it.”

“Copy.”

Without hesitation, Kash sprinted toward the staircase and went to handle business. Dice peeled off to the left, her red-bottom heels clicking against the marble floor. The first security guard barely had time to reach for his weapon before Dice put a round through his thigh.