Page 38 of Unveiled Wounds

“We’re going to bring them home safe, mama, but I got to warn you, I’m done fucking around with Alex.” He spat El Sombra Roja’s real name. “I can’t wait any longer for him to answer me.” He kissed her hard, yelled one more time at the brothers, and they were all out the door in a minute.

Grace watched Sabre’s back until the front door had closed as the last brother exited. Her head turned, and she stared at me. I didn’t know if I was supposed to say something or comfort her. We handled grief differently, and while I was worried, I’d been in enough of these situations to know that it could be close, but you had to have faith.

She laid her head against the entranceway, swiping at her eye. I stood from the couch, walked around, and went straight to her. I hugged her. “Aunt E is going to be fine.”

“I know, but this is all my fault.”

I laughed, but when she tried to pull away from me, I tightened my hold. “I’ve spent my whole life trying not to be compared to you. ‘Grace is perfect,’ they would say, so I did my thing, knowing I could never compare. Yet, we’re more alike than we care to admit. I’ve always taken the blame for someone else’s shit. Apologizing when it wasn’t me who needed to. I just didn’t realize you were doing the same thing.”

“I was the one who brought the cartel into our lives.” She tried to pull away from me again, but I wouldn’t let her.

“Stop feeling guilty for other people’s mistakes. We don’t owe that piece of us to anyone.” I had no clue what I was doing, but the guilt would eat at me if I let this go. I would think about all the things I should have said or done. If I made a fool of myself, so be it, as long as it eased some of the guilt we both clung to.

“Where’s JR?”

“With Emily in the kitchen.”

“Hey, Dead?” I heard a grunt in response, and all I could do was shake my head.Neanderthal. “Can you tell Chef we’re going outside to touch grass?”

“This is California. Ain’t no grass out back.” He snorted.

“Come on.” I grabbed Grace’s hand and headed down the hallway—the backyard was calling our names. We needed to get out of the clubhouse, even if we couldn’t go very far.

Chapter 16

There Will Be Blood

Grizz

We were sitting towards the back of the gas station’s parking lot when I heard motorcycles approaching. I watched as they stopped at a red light.

Before I could say anything, Sabre’s voice echoed in my helmet. “I don’t want to stop, so the three of you should just fall into formation. Once the cartel sees or hears us, I doubt they’re going to stay. They would have already walked into the office if they were planning on taking Aunt E.”

“A scare tactic,” I said. I was tired of chasing dead leads, and I knew Sabre was, too. It was just a matter of time before we struck back for maximum effect.

“Maybe.” Sabre passed me, and I fell in line right behind him with Count on my left. Grease was a few rows down next to Slate.

I saw the office rapidly approaching on the right, and there was a black SUV with dark tinted windows parked right behind one of our club cars. The red light forced us to stop, only giving me more time to picture all the ways I wanted to tear apart the cartel soldiers in the vehicle. My blood boiled with the thoughtsof mass destruction. They wouldn’t know anything, but it would make me feel better, like we were getting closer to making this all go away.

Sabre revved his engine, as if it wasn’t loud enough already, and the rest of us followed through the light. Peeling into the far side of the parking lot, we watched as the SUV pulled out and sped off. Sabre had called it. They hadn’t stuck around to face us. I didn’t know where Twig and Berry were, but we’d hear from them later.

Sabre took charge. “Let’s pull to the end of the lot, and I’ll go in and grab them. Once they’re situated, the car will be in the middle of formation.”

We’d always had this unspoken rule. When he was present, he was in charge. I wouldn’t say anything, nor would I question his decisions, unless I thought there was a better opportunity. Since I was the face that most people dealt with outside of the clubhouse, I didn’t mind.

I sat on my bike, watching as he removed his helmet and headed into the office. My eyes didn’t leave his back until the office door closed behind him. I didn’t think there were more cartel soldiers in the area, but I didn’t let myself get comfortable.

I had been on high alert ever since the cartel had entered our lives, and I didn’t know if it was a habit by now, but when I heard the police sirens down the street, it gave me pause. I checked our surroundings, not seeing anything, but it didn’t ease my anxiety. The sirens were closer, becoming louder as each second passed. They couldn’t have been for us. We had done nothing besides pull into the parking lot outside the physical therapy office.

“Anyone with an unregistered gun needs to go now,” I said through my helmet. I wasn’t taking any chances that a brother would get wrapped up in a bogus gun possession charge.

No one left.

“We’ve done nothing. Hell, Sabre even made us stop at all the red lights. Maybe they’re making a coffee run or something,” Count speculated.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” I hadn’t been in this situation in a long time, and while I wasn’t worried, I found it highly suspicious timing. The local sheriff had never gotten involved with the club. He wouldn’t have been able to make a case stick without inter-departmental help, so he hadn’t bothered. By the time the sheriff had retired, we were out of the game. The new sheriff had taken office, tried twice to jam a few brothers up, but when nothing had stuck, he too gave up. “Don’t be suspicious.”

I saw Sabre at the front door of the office and shook my head emphatically. I wasn’t sure if he could hear the sirens, but he backed away, and I saw a large shadow near the front window.

---