Page 47 of Brood

Chapter Thirty-Nine

All it takes is one phone call, and the whole clubhouse is in complete chaos. Everyone is getting to their post, still stocking up on ammunition as the sound of trucks and motorcycles come buzzing right up to our front door. There are men at every window and every fucking door of the place, as we become completely surrounded. Butch’s men are spread out, looking almost thin as they take up their positions behind the vehicles they are using for barricades. I scan the row of them looking for Butch but don’t see the ugly asshole. It’s only when Roman comes up beside me that I realize I’m on the wrong side of the clubhouse. “He’s on the phone,” Roman grits between clenched teeth as he hands over his phone. It annoys me as much as it does him that Butch even has access to our phone numbers.

Putting the phone to my ear, I don’t even get a word out before Butch is talking. “This the man who thought he could have my Jordy?”

“She never was yours.”

He has the audacity to laugh. “From the moment I saw her ripe as a peach walking along the street with her mother, she became mine. My little girl.” I let the taunt roll off me. He is only trying to goad me into losing it.

“You want to get this show on the road? By the looks of it, you don’t have nearly enough men to take us on. And we have the high ground.” It might be a bluff, but fuck if I care. “I have the money she stole. You take that and leave. Forget she exists and no one has to die today.”

“Sounds like a decent proposal. I have one of my own. One. We kill all of you. Two. I take the money. Three. I find that safe house where you stashed your families and my Jordy. I think you know what happens next.” My back molars grind down on one another, creating a migraine in their wake.

“Time to die then, Butch.” He laughs at that as I make my way through to the other side of the building, looking out the window. I see him there, standing out in the open as if he is untouchable. Pure rage bubbles to the surface when I see who is standing off to his side.

Anita.

Almost as if he knows I have spotted them he starts talking again. “Your little wife here was a great help.” I knew it in my gut the vile woman came back for a reason. I know he sees me, standing there looking right down at the both of them. “Seems for the right price you can get a person to do anything.” I turn to Roman, who already has his long-range rifle out.

I pull the phone from my mouth and tell Roman, “Put a bullet between that bitch’s eyes.” He doesn’t hesitate. Bringing his rifle up to position, he zeros in on my ex and pulls the trigger. The deafening sound of the gun booming right next to me causes a ring to linger in my ear. Anita’s body does this weird standing worm thing as blood spatters all over Butch before she falls right to the ground in a heap. “You’re next prick.” Being the coward he is, Butch then moves behind the cover of his truck. The call ends, and I toss away the phone, taking my gun from my back to get ready, aiming it at him as best as I can.

It’s then an unknown vehicle comes barreling through the line of men outside hiding behind their barricades. It comes to a screeching halt right between us. Right in the line of fire. The air seizes in my lungs when the person inside moves to get out. The need to lunge forward and out of the window I’m standing in rockets as red highlights catch the sun high in the sky.

“Jordy,” Butch calls out. “There’s my girl. Come back to daddy, have you?” I put my finger right back on the trigger as soon as Butch speaks. Only I’m not the only one with my gun trained on him. Jordyn standing tall as she can has a pistol gripped in her hands.

“Leave,” she warns, stepping away from the car and closer to Butch.

“And miss all of the fun?” he chuckles then suddenly moves to his right, further into the cover of the truck until he comes back out. Holding something in his hands. Rather someone.

Instantly I drop my weapon to my side, knowing full well this asshole has all the cards now. “Jordyn run!” the girl in Butch’s arms calls out, trying to wiggle free. He’s got a tight grip on her though, pressing a knife to her throat when she doesn’t stop fidgeting.

Butch tucks his face into the crook of the girl’s neck, saying something that makes her grow calm. “All this time, and you thought I didn’t know,” Butch shouts. “That son of mine sure knows how to pick ‘em doesn’t he?”

“Let her go, Butch. Let her go, and I will go with you. We can leave, and no one has to die.” Fucking hell, I knew that would come out of her mouth.

“Someone always has to die, Jordy. They always have to die because you just don’t know how to be a good little girl.”

“Please. I will be good. I promise,” Jordyn pleads with the mad man, ripping my heart to shreds in the process. She shouldn’t have to beg him. Fuck, she shouldn’t have to even look at the prick.

“Brood,” Roman whispers coming from the window next to mine. “You want me to take the shot when I get it?”

“Don’t hit whoever the fuck that is out there. If Jordyn is trying to bargain her life for hers, then she must be important.” What a god damn mess.

The exchange is still happening down below us. Jordyn has gotten closer, inching her way back to her tormentor, gun still pointed right at him. I can no longer hear what is being said. I do see the moment I hope to fuck Roman takes his shot. In the blink of an eye, the girl in Butch’s hands makes a ballsy attempt to escape. Down in her hand, a glint of metal catches the sunlight right before it plunges deep into Butch’s leg. Instantly, he pulls away from her, giving her the opportunity to escape.

That is when the bullets start to fly.

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