Page 50 of Claymore
I heard the sound of her chuckle echoing through the stairwell before the exit door opened and out she went. Archer, Wrench, and Tank barreled down the stairs to me. Tank stayed behind to help me up while Archer and Wrench chased after Fang. They sped out the exit door behind her while I winced at the pain that settled to the back of my skull.
“What the fuck happened?” asked Tank.
“I don’t know. I fucking had her. I had her,” I blurted.
Archer and Wrench trampled back in through the exit door, gritting their teeth.
“Where is she?”
“No sign of her. Disappeared into oncoming traffic. When the cars passed and we tried to get across the street, she was gone. That’s one fucking crazy bitch,” Archer said.
“Goddamnit. Another Lion loose,” said Wrench.
“We’ll get her. Maybe not now, maybe not today, but we will.”
***
The clubhouse was silent and dark when we returned. The porch light had blown, the stairs creaked under Tank’s feet as he looked through his keyring for the door key. I hung my head low, shutting my eyes, remembering all of the dead, useless Highway Lions that were left at the warehouse. We spent ages rummaging through their pockets, looking for anything that might help us find Ray or his new lady.It was strange. They weren’t even walking around with fucking cell phones.
“Get some rest. We’ll be back at it again tomorrow. I’ve gotta make some calls, check-in with everyone else to see if they’ve spotted anything,” Tank said.
“We’ll find them. It’s only a matter of time now. At least Agnes gets her warehouse back. Those fuckers won’t be hiding out there knowing we could roll up on them at any minute,” Archer said.
“You’re right about that, but now they’ve got a pretty damn good chance to hide this time. I underestimated this Fang. She knocked Claymore off his feet in seconds,” said Ranger.
“Hey. She surprised me. It could’ve happened to any of you. She’s a strong one, I’ll give her that.”
“She was the one there with the rest of the Lions, but Ray and his Freeway Fucks were nowhere to be seen. Are they hiding out separately?” asked Archer.
“Maybe. It would help them cover more ground. Especially if they’re waiting for the right time to strike,” said Ranger.
“Yeah, maybe. I’ll gather more intel, see if the rest of the guys found anything we can use. So far the only fuckers we managed to take are the ones that know absolutely nothing useful.”
Tank trudged off to his office, shutting the door behind him. The rest of the guys stuck around for a few minutes, grabbing some food from the fridge before they eventually headed home. Soon, the sound of their engines faded into the distance, and I went up to check on Ella.
Ripper was fully asleep in the den, his head propped up by his hand as his elbow dug into the leather of the armrest. He snored softly, and I passed him, heading straight for the guest room. I knocked lightly, but there was no answer. My hand wrapped around the doorknob, twisting slightly, and the door opened with an obnoxious creak.
Ella laid there, clutching the pillow underneath her head, her mess of strawberry blonde curls covering her beautiful face. She slept so peacefully that I didn’t want to wake her and I definitely didn’t want to tell her we still had nothing on the whereabouts of her brother. I wanted nothing more than to wring his neck and watch the life leave his eyes after what he’d done to Ella.He disrupted her life. He stole her safe place, but why? What’s his plan? Is he taking jabs at Ella because she’s with me?
“Claymore?”
“Ella? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said.
She squinted at me, sitting up in bed, clutching the duvet to her chest. She reached over the bedside table to turn the lamp on, and she nearly gasped when she saw me.
“What? Do I really look that bad?” I asked teasingly.
“No, but the blood…”
I glanced down at my T-shirt, seeing the areas where it began to bleed through. There were a few splatters across my arms and hands near my watch. My silver dog tag necklace was pretty covered in it too.
“I probably should’ve washed up before I came to check on you, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m all right. At least I think so. Ripper seemed nice. I get a lot less judgment from him than I do everyone else.”
“He’s been in my shoes before. Has he told you about Ronnie?”
“Yes, she hasn’t been around here much lately, but he told me I’d see her soon,” she said with a smile.
