Page 73 of Warrant
“You okay?” I asked her, ducking back down behind the couch.
“Yeah. Mostly.”
I wiped the blood off her face. There was a gash right between her eyes that was bleeding. I showed her the blood.
“They sucker punched me,” she admitted. “Don’t worry I got a couple of them back.” Her grin was infectious.
“We need a diversion,” I muttered.
“Huh?”
“It’s going to take too damn long to round them up one by one. Wait here.” I stood up and moved out into the middle of the room.
“Warrant!” She reached for me, trying to pull me back behind cover.
Men stood up from behind furniture. One of the assholes was behind the drapes just a few feet away. In the dark that had been a reasonable hiding place, but now? These weren’t the smartest men.
My guys were busy shooting and tackling enemies near them that had shown themselves.
I moved toward the drapes.
“Warrant!” Ainsley hit me from behind, sending us both sprawling to the ground, but not before the guy who’d slipped out of Cynic’s grip shot at us.
Fire consumed my left arm from the shoulder down to my wrist. The fucker had shot me. Worse, he’d almost hit Ainsley when she’d dove at me to knock me out of the way. He’d probably have shot me in the heart if she hadn’t moved so quickly. She’d saved my life.
Setting her aside, I scrambled toward him and punched him in the face before he could shoot at us again. Cynic was there half a second after me and hit him at the legs. The man went backward over Cynic, landing nearly on his fucking head.
“Shit, sorry Warrant,” Cynic gasped.
He and Torque were our youngest members. I didn’t blame him for losing his grip on this piece of shit. It happened to thebest of us. And as long as Ainsley and the kids were alright, that was all that mattered.
“Thanks, Sheriff,” I said, going back and helping Ains to her feet. Scythe had already rounded up the drape guy. “Why don’t you go help Torque watch over the kids?”
She eyed the remaining men, and strangely one woman, as my brothers rounded them up into the middle of the living room. “I need to arrest them all.”
I gritted my teeth. “Not this time, Ains.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I have to explain all these bodies, Warrant. I can’t do that without all of these guys.”
“We’ll handle the bodies.”
She put her hands on her hips. “It’s one thing to help you run a plate or let you search a car. It’s another completely to hide this…People heard all of this. They’re calling me right now.”
“I swear I’ll tell you about it, but these people kidnapped Aella and Jared. Took them from their parents. If we let them walk away they’ll come after them again,” I told her.
Indecision and honor warred there in her gaze before she finally pursed her lips, gave me a short nod, then pulled out of my grasp and went down the hallway.
“I can’t believe that worked,” I muttered.
“She knows, deep down, these kids being safe is more important than protocol,” Cypher said, clapping me on my uninjured shoulder. “Pyre should take a look at that.”
I made a face but nodded. I hated letting Pyre get his hands on me. The fucker enjoyed pain and blood too much. Not that he hurt us more than needed when he patched us up. I just wasn’t a fan of being injured. That wasn’t his fault.
“What’s the deal with her?” I asked, nodding at the woman.
“That’s Jared’s mom,” Glitch answered.
“Birth mother,” Riggs growled. “Anna is Jared’s mom.”
