Page 89 of Unveiled Wounds

“A ‘moon. You know? Honeymoon. Baby moon.” He laughed, rolling until he lay flat on the bed. His shirt rode up, and his toes swayed back and forth.

There was a heavy knock on the door, and Grizz called to whomever it was.

“They’re here.” Cyph looked like he’d been detoxing from the energy drinks. His hair stood up in every direction, like he’d been pulling at it. His eyes were red-rimmed.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Grizz sat up suddenly, jarring Pumpkin. I went to the other side and picked her up, placing her against my shoulder.

“There are four blacked-out SUVs running up and down our street. Two in each direction. They must be hitting the highway, getting off at the next exit, and coming back because they take ten minutes round trip. You were closer, but I texted Sabre to come here.”

“How many trips have they made?” Grizz asked. We both remembered what Wreck had said the night the cartel had shot up my aunt’s house. Shoot on six.

“Two. The prospect clocked them right away and called me.” Cyph’s eyes bugged out.

“They’re here?” Sabre appeared in the doorway, Grace behind him with JR.

“They’ve got four more passes before they shoot. We need to get everyone moving now,” Grizz answered, sitting on the edge of the bed and lacing up his boots.

“There’s no time for the women to leave. We’ll head into the vault and lock it behind us. It’s on Cyph’s network, and we had the enforcers put supplies in it. Water, flashlights, anything we thought we needed. We’ll be fine.” Grace stepped up, touching Sabre’s arm. “All of you need to end this.” He kissed her quickly, his hand on her stomach.

“I’m holding you to the ‘moon, and I want a bike,” I told Grizz before kissing him and following Grace out the door.

We were on the main floor when Sabre’s whistle rang out from the balcony. “The cartel is here, and we’re going to defend our home. Our family.” His head turned in our direction for a split second before addressing the other women on the main floor. “Ladies, there’s no time for you to leave. You’re heading to the vault with Grace and Meredith.”

***

Grizz

“Alright, there’s a vest for everyone, so grab one from my office and an earpiece. If you need a better gun or ammo, check the kitchen behind the pantry. I had How and Zook raid the armory. Let’s send them back to the hell they came from,” Sabre said. “This ends tonight.”

We had everyone outfitted and in position by the time Cyph called out the fourth pass. “Vault’s locked,” he added, and I took a deep breath. My girls were safe.

Sabre and I had split up, each taking two quadrants off the grid. I was in the front, lying flat on my stomach behind the porch support post. Just as promised, the four black SUVS with tinted windows crossed in front of our gates.

“They’re so slow. We could pop their tires,” How came through the earpiece.

“Yeah, but we’ll have to collapse the front to deal with sixteen soldiers,” Op said.

“They probably thought we would come running to the front, because there are two more SUVs. They took the service road towards the highway until it ended, and now they’re off-roading along the trees,” Cyph came in from central command. He’d outfitted his room for this.

“I can’t see over the trees from the roof,” How responded, “but I can nail at least one at the gate. Dead’s with me.”

“I’m clocking the two along the trees. They’re not going fast, and it makes me wonder if they’re in communication with the other four,” Zook chimed in. There were two deer stands out in the trees, and Zook was sitting in one of them. Op in the other.

“That’s what I’m thinking. They’re going too slow, and I feel like if we blow them, they’ll just signal,” Op confirmed.

“They’re also making the laps shorter. Lap five was only five minutes, not ten.” Cyph followed this up with clicks on a keyboard.

“Shoot on six,” Wreck reminded us.

“If we had known they were going to do this fucking shit, I could have brought club cars for a demolition derby. Much easier than popping tires.” Only Grease would think like that in a situation like this.

“What if we trade off?” I had an idea, but I didn’t know if it was even workable. “Those on the right-hand side of quadrant one can grab our bikes. There’s a path through the trees, and we’ll be quicker once the shots ring out.”

“Fuck, that could work.” Sabre and I used to walk our bikes through the trees if we wanted to sneak out. He had to have been remembering old times.

“If we hit the SUVs in the front, the left side of quadrant three can run from the trees through the guard shack to the outside. We won’t have to open the gates,” Cyph added.

“Quadrants two and four, stay in place, in case they attack from either side,” Sabre ordered.

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