Page 70 of Outlaws' Dirty Secret

“Just… just in case.” A sob racks her, and I pull my knife back real quick so I don't accidentally bump anything. “I—When Tanner took me, I—I was on my way to you.”

“Baby girl, don't talk,” Blackout hisses, squeezing her hand harder. “You can tell us after, okay? We're not going anywhere. None of us fucking are.”

“No! Listen.”

Fuck, we don't have time for this. If Tanner gets control again…

“I was on my way to you guys. I needed to tell you that—that I want this to work. You, all of you, and me. That I—that I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“Baby,” Dragon growls. “When this is over, I'm gonna kiss you so fucking hard you'll forget your own damn name. Of course you do, even if you're the last one to figure it out.”

“What? But—” The fact that she can get indignant while in a fucking bomb harness says something about how caught off guard she is.

“We’re not going anywhere,” I say while checking the connections a third time. Pretty sure I've got it figured out. “You fucking had us that first night when you came charging into the club to file a fucking noise complaint. All fire and sweetness andsexy, wrapped up in one. If you think you're getting outta this by strapping on bombs and blowing us all to hell, then I got news for you, babe.” Drawing a breath and holding it tight, I catch the knife blade under one of the wires, and pull. The thin wire comes apart, split into two halves. The LED light goes from “ARMD” to just black. If anything's gonna happen, it's now. And when it doesn't, I let my breath back out. “You're not getting off the hook that fucking easy.”

“Is… is it done?”

I put a steadying hand on her thigh, squeezing it in comfort. “I think we’re golden. Don't move yet.”

“Not going to move a millimeter until you tell me,” she replies quickly.

The LED suddenly flips back on, the bright red color already giving me a sinking feeling. It doesn't say “ARMD” anymore though.

Just a number,0060.

Then0059.

0058.

Fuck. Backup system? Tanner’s more sophisticated than I thought.

“Skyhigh?” The tremble in Willow's voice is uncertain. She knows something is wrong.

“Just hold on.”

Dragon leans in to see.

0049 .

His resigned sigh scares me more than the fucking numbers.

“Gonna be fine, Willow. Look at me.” Blackout risks kissing the top of her head while I try to figure out how to stop the backup timer.

It's just hit0042when a shot echoes and kicks up a chunk of asphalt right next to my knee. You gotta be fucking kidding me.

Dragon has his piece in his hand immediately, scanning the buildings across the street from the gates. His growl is low and deadly. “Must've figured out we jammed him.”

“He's desperate,” Willow whispers. “A little unhinged, and he’s freaked out that someone named Chafik's after him. I think he's just trying to do as much damage as possible. He wouldn't shut up about it the whole way here.”

“He's a fucking dead man walking,” Blackout snarls, his gun out too. He fires it, aiming high, not so much to hit, but to keep Tanner down. We don't know where he is yet, but he doesn't know that. “Keep working. We'll get him.”

A moment later, there's the rumble of an engine starting, and one of the vans we keep in the garage comes roaring our way. It screeches to a stop right between us and the gate. Savage jumps out through the passenger door so he's on our side of it. “Don't know shit about bombs, but the armored walls should keep the bullets off you while you work. Mobilizing the boys to find that fucker.” He sounds happy to have something that he can do instead of having to just watch us from cover.

“Keep him alive for me,” I grunt while I manage to work the cover off the receiver box by jamming my knife into it. It clatters to the ground, revealing a circuit board and more little wires.

0031.

“Now get the fuck outta the way.”

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