Fish rolled over and stared at Doc as he saw her beginning to stir. Fuck, he knew he would get this for the rest of his life. Doc opened her eyes, and she stared at him for a minute before he saw her eyes clear and she sighed. “Morning.”
Fish just rolled and pulled her under him and then he kissed her softly. Taking his time, giving her what she needed to start her day, she thought. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze, when he pulled up his head he said, “Morning.”
She opened her mouth, thinking she was going to suggest a morning quickie before they had to do their meeting with the Satan’s Sisters to talk about how they were going to tackle Angela Reyes. Doc had read the file last night with Fish while they were taking a break from breaking in the house. The woman was whacked, the path of destruction she left behind was frightening. Kit Delgado was going to come over to give them more information. She had been the secretary of the crazy bitch, and she ended up losing her entire family because of it. Data and Numbers, the Ops who claimed her, were also going to help, but they were meeting with Boony as well. Thank goodness for all the computer experts they had because they were going to need them.
Doc read the file, but she wanted to have Tiny talk to Kit one-on-one. Tiny had a degree in psychology, which helped when she liked to fuck with people, and Doc really wanted her to get the information so they could fuck with Reyes before they killed her. That was the goal, but Doc knew the woman had been fucking with Shady for years, and the Sisters all took exception to that since the Lady Riders were helping them now.
It didn’t matter where the bitch was, the Sisters were devious, they had fucked with people they couldn’t find before, it was fun. Each one of the Sisters had a specialty in more than one area, and they all used them to their fullest. Doc was a pilot and a mechanic, she could fuck up someone’s vehicle which could be helpful.
Fish moved a little and put his hand on her belly and then leaned over and kissed it softly. “You aren’t sick this morning?”
Doc shook her head. “Nope, morning sickness only lasted maybe two weeks.”
Fish nodded and smiled. “Have you decided on a doctor yet?”
They had talked about doctors and shit like that when they spent the night at the General’s house. Both agreed that they would see who the Lady Riders used. Fish had been to one appointment, but it had been the ultrasound, which the doctor wasn’t there. Harmony had been so pissed the baby had not been cooperative so they could not tell the sex. She had declared at the appointment it must mean that the baby was a boy because he was being uncooperative.
“No, I haven’t had a chance to speak to Harmony or the others. And by the reception at the meeting yesterday, I’m not sure she is gonna be real receptive to me using her doctor. But if worse comes to worse, I will ask Boo,” Doc said.
“I don’t care, as long as you and the baby are alright,” Fish said, kissing her stomach again.
Doc heard a noise and frowned, Fish’s head came up, and he turned. “Alarm.”
“Fuck, for what,” she asked and pulled away from Fish. They both rolled off the bed and grabbed the clothes they had flung off the night before. Shit, she didn’t have underwear, she thought and slid on her jeans without it. He was so buying her new underwear if he wanted to tear the damn things off.
Both of them moved after getting their boots on, Fish reaching the door first but he paused and looked over his shoulder. “I always go first.”
Doc nodded and then put a hand on his back and held onto the tee, letting him know he could go first, but she would have his back and be close. Together they left their bedroom and faced reality that was quickly becoming their life.
Shadow walked out of the main clubhouse and stretched, he had been hunched over a computer all night. Mav had stayed with him until she fell asleep where he carried her to the bedroom Fling told him he could use if he worked late. After he laid her in the bed, Shadow had stood over her staring, wishing he could claim the woman who stole his heart, but he knew he couldn’t, he was too fucked up.
After that, he had gone back to work and forced himself to stop wishing for shit he knew he wasn’t going to get. At least he had made some headway on what the fuck was going on with the hacker and Burns.
Shadow had written down and printed everything. Late in the night, Burns had contacted him and sent him a link in the one message he was able to send. After attempting to find where Burns was being held, he had to give up. The device he was using was just too fucking basic. He really hoped the man would tell them exactly where he was, instead of saying it was daytime. Narrowed the area to the Eastern European area, but that really didn’t help. If it weren’t for the fact, Burns had given them enough information to believe he was a prisoner, Shadow wouldn’t have believed a word the man said. As it was, they were working against the clock to save the man.
The link was one Burns used as his personal site. Once he was in, Shadow could see everything Burns had been working on, it was really impressive, and some of the shit not quite legal, which made him smile. Burns apparently may have worked for the government, but he wasn’t beyond honing his skills on his free time hacking into sites. After he had secured the site info and made sure there was no way someone could get into it again, Shadow had gone back and looked at everything Burns had been involved in. He searched how he worked, what commands he used to get into certain sites, basically stalking the man trying to learn everything he could.
He had made progress, but he hadn’t actually finished everything, well, he could have if he had another pair of hands and could stay up for seventy-two hours without having a psychotic break. He raised his face to the morning sun and took a deep breath. Fuck, he was stiff. Feeling his anxiety beginning to rise, he pulled out the joint he had smoked for the last few hours and lit it. Taking a deep drag, he felt the calmness flow over him.
Shit, that was so much better than the drugs they tried to get him to take. They fucking didn’t work, only made him so fucking spacey he could barely function. Yeah, fuck them, he thought and then smiled and looked around before taking one more drag and then he carefully put the joint out and slid it back into his pocket. Shadow only needed enough to chill him out, or he would be pinging paranoid shit.
He heard someone yell and Shadow walked to the edge of the building. He peeked around it and saw Trey, the Prospect, and Jas, Shady’s daughter, arguing about something. Oh, young love, he thought and then went to turn and go back inside. He didn’t want them to see him. Maybe he should hit the rack and see if he could get a few winks in. Something caught his eyes, though, and he turned. His eyes were searching, the buildings that surround the land weren’t where he saw something. He knew the Ops owned most of the buildings and they used them for storage and businesses. They were safe.
His eyes moved to the building in back of them, the apartments and business buildings that were on public streets. He saw nothing for a moment, his eyes squinting. His eyes working over the buildings. Then in the distance, he saw a flash, just a small flash, and his eyes narrowed. He reached behind him and pulled his range finder back around, he wore it around his neck since the attack, it made him feel better. His rifle was inside on the table next to where he was working. Fling and the others had ignored the fact Shadow refused to remove it from the room.
Shadow moved to the brick barrier that was set up outside the door now, another measure both clubs were using, and he knelt and rested his arms on the bricks as he moved to the area he saw the flash. He had been able with his eye to see exactly what was reflecting, and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Someone was there, he could feel them.
His brain switched to his sniper mode, he saw the reading on his range finder and knew it was another sniper. But they weren’t as good as he was, very few were. Shadow moved slowly and meticulously as he passed over a building that was almost a mile away, and he saw it. Someone was on the roof, and he was catching the glint from his scope. Fuck, he stared, thinking of the angle of his rifle and Shadow yelled loudly.
“Trey, get Jas the fuck out of here.”
He heard someone respond, but he was focused. Then he felt someone next to him. Shadow jerked but continued to stare, the man was moving with someone, he was tracking. Fuck, he knew who it was, it was like she had a radar when it came to him.
“What is going on?” Mav whispered.
He said calmly, “Sniper, on a building about a mile away, get my rifle.”
Mav moved to do what he said, but he stopped her quickly with his words. “Make sure that Trey and Jas are inside, the sniper is tracking someone, I think it is them, but I don’t know who else is out. Hit the alarm to tell people to get their ass inside.”
He heard the door open and knew she would follow his instruction. It only took moments and he felt his pocket buzz, the alarm was added to an app on their phone. He felt Mav come back, and she whispered, “Gun, and I told Ridge who came into the clubhouse to grab Trey and Jas. The Ops were warned too.”
Shadow nodded and then said calmly, “Take the range finder, the building two clicks to your left if you are looking at the billboard with the Marlboro Man on it. Look at the roof, give me the readings.”
He handed her the range finder and didn’t even look at her. Instead, he grabbed his rifle and set it on the bricks, not your optimum place to set up, he was going to need to compensate. His mind thinking how to use the stand while he clicked the dials on the scope he needed to.
“Grab my phone, left back pocket, text Gypsy, tell her where, and have her grab her rifle as well, and have Ridge send a man with her, they need to get to the building if I miss, they have five minutes to be on their way. I will keep him busy until then.”
Mav frowned. “How in the fuck are you going to do that?” she said while she did as he asked, and by the time she was done, she saw Shadow stand straight up and move his rifle a few times.
She grabbed the range finder and looked through it, fuck, the sniper spotted him. She knew because she saw the figure turn just slightly. That asshole, “Get down,” she snapped. “He saw you.”
“Oh, I know,” Shadow whispered, “but he needs just a little distraction.”
“Yeah, no, he really doesn’t,” Mav snapped, and Shadow chuckled. The noise was devoid of any humor, she knew that laugh and she hated it. It was how he needed to detach himself when he was shooting.
Mav heard him fire, and she sucked in a breath and waited, the shot was off, mostly because she hadn’t given him the measurements, but that was what she knew his distraction was. She thought she saw the sniper laugh when the bullet went into the billboard nowhere close.
“Text Maxi, ask if he has made the sweep,” Shadow muttered, and he knelt back down. Mav wanted to slap the man in the back of the head but held off until this was over, then she would kick his ass. She did what he asked, and Maxi replied instantly.
“He said ‘2’,” Mav whispered and Shadow swore under his breath. “What?”
“There is another one, tell him our measurements, so he knows who we have covered,” Shadow said grimly and looked back in his scope.
Mav looked into the range finder and then copied the measurements and sent them. A few seconds later she had the other measurements and told them to Shadow.
“Tell him in five again,” Shadow whispered, and Mav did what he asked. “Give me the measurements.”
Mav did as he asked and then looked in the finder again and repeated what it said. Then she said, “Gypsy and Loki took one, Treat and Z took another.”
Shadow took a deep breath, they were not getting away. He was counting in his head, and he saw the other sniper adjusting shit, he would get there first. Shadow grinned and then Mav swore loudly.
“What?” Shadow said tensely.
“Tiny said there is three, and the third one has a bead on Trey and Jas, they are too far from the door to get in, they are between the stack of two by fours,” Mav said and then followed it up by the measurements.
Shadow took a deep breath, shit, the stack was high, but there was also a ton of flammable shit there. Someone had to get them out. “I am going to shoot, and you are going to wait to make sure I make the shot. Do not move,” he warned, and Mav shook her head.
“No.”
“You will,” he said in a steely tone, and she looked back through the finder when she saw him tighten his finger. Damn that fucking man.
She felt him leave and Mav wanted to move with him, but she couldn’t. Her phone vibrated, but she couldn’t look down, she waited and then she saw the sniper drop. Quickly she turned to move to the corner of the building where she knew Shadow had already moved around. Before she reached the edge of the building she heard the shots, there were five of them, one she knew was Maxi, and one she knew was Shadow because she could hear it clearly. The other three came maybe a second after the first two, and she moved faster. They got a shot off, she thought.
When she rounded the corner, she heard even more shots, and she dropped, but not before she saw Shadow go down and he was covering Jas who was laying on the ground bleeding from what looked like her leg. Trey was screaming.
Doc and Fish had been forced to remain far enough away they couldn’t get to the clubhouse. Instead, they had gone house to house, telling members and their women to get their asses undercover. This shit was totally pissing off Doc, these assholes were going to die, she thought as they made it to the last house and then had to stop and wait.
She could see Shadow and Mav, she could also see Jas and Trey, when they tried to get back into the clubhouse, they couldn’t. Fish yelled loudly to the young couple.
“Get your asses between the wood piles.”
Trey turned and saw Fish, then nodded and grabbed Jas and pulled her behind him. “Shit, it is not the best place to hide,” Doc said, and Fish cursed and nodded.
“Best we got right now.”
They heard the first shot and then it was like the fucking world stopped when Fish spotted the damn gas tanks. “Stay here,” he yelled and then ran for the wood.
She saw Jas fall and then saw Shadow running and drop on the young girl, covering her. She saw the blood on his back, and she stood as she heard Trey screaming, “JAS!”
Doc began to move as she saw Fish and Trey grab the two and pull them between the piles of two by fours. Fish turned and glared at her, but she ignored them as she quickly ripped Shadow’s shirt and snapped, “Pull your belt out and get it around Jas’s upper thigh, cinch it tight.”
Fish moved, and she focused on Shadow who was unconscious and having a hard time breathing, fuck, the bullet had hit a lung, she thought and snapped her fingers to Trey who ripped off his shirt and tore it as well and handed her pieces of it.
Mav dropped beside her and said, “Ambulance on their way.”
“LET ME GO!” Doc heard Shady roar, and she looked up and saw the leader of the Lady Riders lose it when she saw her daughter. Cajun was holding her as Slider knelt next to Jas and put a hand on her head as Jas moaned in pain.
“THAT BITCH IS GONNA DIE!” Shady yelled, and Doc heard the sirens in the background and held her breath. Shadow was not going to fucking die on her watch, and Shady was right, people were going to die.
Doc and the Sisters were going to go hunting.