Page 61 of Devil's Due: Sarge

Jinx throws me to the ground, shouting to the other patrons, “Get down,” as he returns fire.

There aren’t many, and the way Patrick is firing at Jinx and me, but also around the room, I think he’s trying to take out any witnesses.

I’m on the ground, crawling to get away when bright light floods the dining room from the front door opening and dear god, boots, boots I’d recognize anywhere, fill the doorway for just a second, quickly followed by others. Horde men helping the patrons and workers to safety in one direction. In the other, there’s Sarge. He takes down Patrick without even using his gun. It’s not soon enough for Jinx. I hear his stunned, “Fuck” and watch as his gun claps against the floor close to my head.

As the fear lifts, it’s Reaper who helps me up off the floor. “Get out to your car,” he orders me. “Back to the clubhouse now, yeah?”

I nod and do exactly as I’m told.

A half hour later, Sarge comes roaring into the clubhouse, his narrowed eyes searching me out. I don’t make him wait and run to him, leaping into his arms. “Fuck, baby,” he whispers. “You okay?”

The words won’t come, only tears of relief and worry for Jinx. The shaking of my head against his neck will have to suffice. In the background, Vlad is barking orders. “Get him to the holding room.” Then, “Dusty on her way here?”

Well, if they’re bringing her in, that means Jinx is still alive.

Sarge walks me over to a barstool, dropping me down, and thrusts his phone into my hand. “Call your stepfather.”

22

Sarge

Two rings before the stupid fuck picks up the line. He wouldn’t know this number, but we rang into his private one. I banked on the fact that he’d answer.

“Hello,” he says.

“Big mistake,” I growl. “Big fucking mistake.”

“Who is this?”

“Your son is a dead man, fair warning.”

He gasps—like legitimately gasps. “Wait—” he shouts. “My son? What’s this about?”

“Bullshit you telling me you don’t know that your son showed up here and tried to kidnap Greer?”

“Greer ran away,” he counters, and the bastard actually sounds like he thinks I’m stupid enough to believe he believes it. “She snuck out in the middle of the night.”

“No. My brothers and I rescued Greer and ended up in a shootout with your men while we tried to extract her.”

“Okay… okay… I’ll admit that I had my men guarding her, but in no way did I order them to use weapons to keep her. You clearly don’t realize how important she is to us right now.”

“You son of a bitch,” I spit. “You pimped out your stepdaughter?”

“That whole scene was unsavory. I wouldn’t have even considered it, but Greerismy stepdaughter and she’d absconded with the artwork. This brought a great deal of trouble down on our family. Even after I promised him that we now had the art and would be getting it to him, he informed me that the price to settle the fuck-up was Greer.”

“Yet you’re trying to get me to believe that you didn’t putarmed guardson a woman who is so important to you?”

“I—”

“Shut it. I’m not arguing with you, I’m just calling to let you know why you’re getting his dead body back. One thing you better learn, and learn it quick, you don’t fuck with the Horde.” Then I hang up because I can’t deal with him a minute longer, but I’m raring to kill someone right now.

When I took him down, I had one of my brothers sneak him out the back as the rest of us helped the other customers and the workers to safety. The Sheriff’s department is out searching for him as he sits rotting in our holding room. With all the bystanders clearly insisting that he got away while we were trying to save people. At some point Greer will have to talk to the authorities, to distance herself from that ugly scene, but I can’t think about that now. Right now, I have an asshole to deal with.

Inside the holding room, the brothers have already started working the prisoner over. One of his eyes is swollen shut. When his good eye finds my face, I swear he mouths, ‘Oh,fuck.’ He’s got no idea.

“Couldn’t leave well enough alone…” I swing out, making contact with his gut and he doubles over. “Greer is mine.” I follow it with an uppercut to the jaw. His head flies back at an uncomfortable angle. “But that’s for later. Now you’re going to tell me about the other women.”

He laughs through his bloody teeth and it sounds downright evil. “Go fuck yourself,” he says before spitting a mouthful of blood onto my boot.

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