Page 61 of Sniper

“Gio down!” I shouted across the explosion of gunfire inside the warehouse where Ethan’s partners thought they were going to ambush us. I aimed before he hit the ground, getting lucky with a bullet that sliced across the side of the asshole’s neck.

Ethan’s partners were even better connected than we gave them credit for. Instead of a small rag tag group of crackheads, we were met with almost twenty men decked out in black SWAT type gear. My bet was that they were mercenaries, but the mistake they made was assuming we were your average MC.

“Drop it asshole.” A deep voice, heavy and out of breath sounded behind me and a second later the cool metal hit my skin. Again.

The last time this happened my woman had been the woman to save me, but this time I would save myself. “Sure thing,” I grinned and spun the nine-millimeter in my hand before pressing the barrel against his foot and pulling the trigger.

His cry of pain rang out, but it was muffled by the nonstop gunfire. I rolled away and got to my feet, putting two more bullets in his chest before I scanned the area to see which of my brothers needed my help.

Gio was going hand to hand with a guy twice his size. Hawk plunged a knife into the gut of another, twisting withgleeful satisfaction as he did it. Rocky and Diesel were back to back, covering each other the way they always had, silently communicating the way the best teams were able to. T-Bone’s large frame was propped up high on a metal shelf, picking off any and all enemies he set eyes on.

This battle was close to over but there was just enough men standing that it could go either way.

Fuck that, there’s only one way this is going down.

Something unlocked in me, and I was right back in that fucking desert again, guns in both hands as I carefully picked off every head that didn’t belong to someone I gave a fuck about. My brothers didn’t need my help, but I finished off what they’d started because this was my battle for my woman. Katey didn’t need me to fight her battles, but I would always try to anyway, and if I had my way, we’d be fighting about it for the next sixty years.

Suddenly the place was silent. Dead silent. It was eerie, standing in the silence after what felt like days of loud gunfire. I turned in a circle making sure the only movement was from men decked out in a Steel Demons vest.

“Holy shit man, that was crazy as fuck!” Gio approached me first, clapping me on the back with a shocked grin on his face. “You were a fucking warrior!”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and found a smile for my brother and my best friend. “Saved your ass.”

He laughed. “I’m grateful brother. You good?”

“They’re all dead so I’m fuckin’ great.” The rest of the MC gathered in a circle to survey the carnage around us.

“Twenty-two down, that sound right,” Diesel asked as he wiped a splatter of blood from his face.

“Twenty-six actually,” T-Bone answered. “Three came in from an entrance on the south side of the building.”

Diesel’s eyes widened. “I thought it was sealed.”

T-Bone shrugged. “Thought so too, but it was too loud to hear shit when they breached. It’s a good thing you put me up there. Twenty-six dead is a hell of a day at the office.” His words seemed to snatch the last of the tension from the room and we all erupted in laughter.

Some people might look at us and think we were all sick in the head, laughing as we stood inside a concrete graveyard, but we all knew the truth about life and death. Some lives were harder to take than others, but these assholes were rich and powerful and thought they could do whatever they wanted.

We were more than happy to show them why they were wrong.

The metal door at the front entrance creaked as it opened and half of us had our guns at the ready, aimed at the suited man who entered with his hands up and a nervous smile on his face. “Who the fuck are you and what do you want?” I growled, taking a few steps forward.

He stopped, his smile still in place. “Just someone who wants to talk. To settle this messy business once and for all.”

I laughed. “You mean the messy business of you trying to ambush us?”

‘That’s just business,” he said, his voice irritatingly calm. “We just want our money back, and we can both part ways.”

The money. Of course this was about the fuckin’ money. Slate would be thrilled to know how right he was about that.

“Well, what do you say?” He kept his gaze on me, mistaking me for the leader and I held his gaze and waited for Diesel to speak.

“What guarantee do we have that this is really over?” Diesel’s deep voice echoed in the concrete space.

The man hesitated and the room tensed immediately. There was no fuckin’ guarantee. They’d do us the same way they tried to do Katey, kill us to keep their secrets.

“No thanks,” Diesel replied loudly. Clearly. “He’s all yours Sniper.”

I walked forward and squeezed off one bullet, still walking as another shot out and then another. Two in the chest and one in the head. The man fell to the ground, eyes open as the last drops of life left his body. “Asshole.” I went through his pockets, finding a phone and a wallet. “Maybe Slate can do something with this.”

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