Chapter 24: Chapter 24

“Your fucking nephew is with them!”

Quick’s raging voice reached Moose through the din, but he didn’t react right away. One thing at a time… Standing over the Chicano who’d been ready to put a hole in his brother, Taco, he was two seconds away from putting one in him.

“No one fucks with my brothers,” he growled. He flicked a look at Taco who was climbing to his feet, looking a little shaken and more than a little bloody. The man was in need of medical attention. “Get out of here. I got this.”

Taco nodded and limped off.

The Mexican’s upper lip curled back from his teeth, his eyes burning with hatred. “Fucking do it, you gringo piece of shit,” he spat. “But I ain’t the one you gotta take out if you want to save your little band of merry men.”

Moose scowled. “If you’re about to tell me you’re not Cruiz’s crazy little sis, then yeah, I already know that. The lack of tits was the first thing to tip me off. You’re just her little whipping boy, the shit on the bottom of her shoe, and how ‘bout that. Imma ‘bout to scrape you off. Think she’ll give me credit for taking out the trash for her?”

“The Mantis doesn’t give rewards, cabrón. Only death.”

Moose’s brows popped up. “Well, one man to another, I know how difficult it is to try ‘n get it in with a vieja loca. Which is why I don’t. You can’t complain when you get snuffed for doing their bidding.” He cocked back the trigger on his gun and aimed it between the fucker’s eyes. “Any last words?”

Someone grabbed hold of Moose’s arm and jerked him around. Reflexively, Moose swung around, his gun taking aim at its new target.

Which just happened to be Quick. “Shit, sorry, Prez. Can’t be sneaking up on a man when he’s about to blow another away.”

“I don’t give a shit about that,” he snarled. “Your fucking nephew just shot one of my men!”

His words finally sinking in, Moose’s brows pulled together and his eyes scanned the grounds, searching for Tanner. “Maybe it was an accident,” he suggested, knowing in his heart that wasn’t the case.

“I saw him with my own eyes. He shot Fish in the kneecaps then point blank in the face before joining Cruiz’s men.” Quick’s eyes met Moose’s. “He’s the rogue, brother. He’s been with Cruiz the whole fucking time.”

Just as he’d suspected, Moose thought, torn between being angry that he hadn’t been let in on the secret and that he hadn’t seen it coming from the start. But he had suspected, once things started going south. And now they’d lost a man because he hadn’t reacted.

He didn’t know which was worse.

He’d brought Tanner into this family, vouched for him and everything. And this is how he repaid them. Looking to his president, Moose resolved, “I’ll take care of him.”

Quick’s silver gaze searched his for a bare moment before he nodded and stepped away. He wasn’t going to argue, and he wasn’t going to offer to do it himself. He was giving Moose the chance to take care of the problem on his own. If he couldn’t do it, then he’d be the one answering for his nephew’s sins.

Moose would never answer for someone else’s sins. He wasn’t going to give up the life he’d made for himself for his nephew’s bad decisions. No, Tanner was going to learn the hard way that you didn’t do your family dirty. Blood or not, it simply wasn’t done.

But Moose had one thing he needed to take care of before he addressed Tanner. Turning, he already had his arm extended, finger ready to pull the trigger on his little Mexican thug…

“What the fuck?”

All that stood in front of him was destruction and an empty spot on the ground where the guy had been flat on his ass waiting for the bullet Moose was prepared to deliver to him.

He must have taken off when he’d turned his back. Moose cursed himself. Rule number one of war: never turn your back on your enemy.

He looked around, searching the area, but he didn’t see his target anywhere. No matter. They’d cross paths again soon enough. He could count on it.

Turning away once more, he searched out Tanner, and when he found him, sure enough, the little shit was pumping lead at his brothers with abandon. The asshole was enjoying himself too.

Moose was going to fix that.

Just as he began stomping his way toward his nephew, Moose heard the rallying whistle from Cruiz’s gang and saw the suits start pulling back toward their waiting vehicles. When Tanner went to join them, Moose’s stride broke into a sprint.

He wasn’t getting away that easily.

Catching up to him before he could reach his buddies, Moose snatched Tanner by the scruff of the neck and hauled his ass back, using the momentum to throw his sorry ass to the ground.

Tanner was quick, cursing up a storm as he rolled and popped back up on his feet. He was standing toe-to-toe with Moose in seconds, his gun aimed at his face. Moose had his already pressed against his temple.

“Think you got balls, motherfucker?” Moose asked, his voice gruff with emotion. He wasn’t sure if he was more hurt or angry that he’d been betrayed. “Pull the trigger, you little shit. But you’d better hope I don’t pull mine first. Or hell, maybe on reflex. Either way, you’re not leaving here tonight unless it’s in a body bag.”

“Then I should just pull it,” Tanner reasoned. “Take your old ass down with me.”

“I thought I was helping you,” Moose told him, his anger mounting. “But all I was doing was giving you an easy place to set the trap.”

“And it only took you this long to figure it out. Good thing too, because without you, your friends would have taken me out ages ago.”

“You knew they suspected you?”

“It was easy to see, but they didn’t want to see it any more than you did. Made it easy for me to get what I needed.”

Moose cocked the hammer back. “Why? Why’d you do it? We’re your family, not them.”

“The only family I have is me,” Tanner hissed.

“So money and power are all you care about then? That woman will turn on you on a dime and put a bullet in your head faster than you can blink.”

“Yeah, she will, which is why I have a plan.”

“And that plan includes screwing over your own people.”

“Looks that way, doesn’t it?” Tanner grinned.

Moose punched him in the jaw, knocking him back a few steps, and he popped his blade out so both hands were occupied and all his bases were covered. Behind him, he heard engines rev to life, men shouting to one another to get their asses moving. Tanner’s eyes flickered, his gaze turning to those men, freedom just a few feet away.

“You want to go? Go,” Moose taunted. “But you’ll have to get through me first.”

Tanner’s eyes darkened with a combination of anger and malice. He wasn’t going to hold back. Moose ignored the piercing sense of betrayal that the kid he’d helped to raise and guide would even consider hurting him, but that was the luck of the draw.

Tanner meant business, and Moose wasn’t letting him off the hook. In that moment, Tanner sunk back into a crouch, his trigger hand twitchy, and Moose mirrored him, any loyalty to the kid he had fracturing into pieces.

Everything happened so fast. Tanner’s arm swung up and he lunged. Moose reacted without hesitation. A single gunshot rang out. Only one of them dropped.

Moose pressed a hand to his ringing ear, and when he took it away, he saw it covered in blood. His nephew lay on the ground at his feet, Moose’s blade embedded in his chest, bleeding out.

Gritting his teeth, Moose forced any feelings he ever had for the kid out of his mind…and walked away.

***

“Take the back roads,” Taco suggested, applying pressure to his thigh. Damn, he was bleeding really bad. “It’s faster.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Country grunted, but Taco noticed he took the turn leading the way he’d told him. He’d smile or say something smartass, but the blood loss was making him feel light-headed.

“If I don’t get to tell you later,” Taco said, “thanks for giving her another chance.”

Country didn’t have to ask to know who he was referring to. “Bambi was never a bad person. Just a little fucked in the head. She and Talia don’t mix.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“Can’t blame her though. I mean, anyone would be a little fucked if they lost all this.” He made some kind of all-encompassing motion with his hand that Taco just shook his head at. It was all he had energy for.

“I’m surprised we can even fit in here with your overinflated ego taking up so much space.”

“Do you want to get out and walk? I didn’t think so.”

“You love me and you know it,” Taco replied unabashedly.

The truck floated down the road, taking the bumps and divots with surprising ease. Taco closed his eyes, handing over total trust to Country to get them to the hospital in one piece. He wondered how the brothers were doing, if the fighting was over, which side had won. No doubt, the Spartans came out on top. He had faith in his brothers to get the job done. They knew how to take care of one another—one thing backbiters like Cruiz and her men didn’t know the first thing about. Love and loyalty were what pulled people through the rough times. Not fear and intimidation.

Taco was transitioning to thoughts of Bambi and his son when Country slammed on the brakes, causing the truck to fishtail and Taco to thrust out his hands, catching himself against the dashboard.

“What the—” He broke off when he saw the reason behind the sudden stop.

“Stay here,” Country barked. Throwing open the driver’s door, he leaped out of the truck and took off running.

Momentarily stunned, Taco stared ahead at the car parked in the middle of the opposite side of the road, the driver’s side door hanging open. What really held his attention, though, was the mass sprawled out on the ground beside it.

Country skidded to a stop when he reached that body, falling to his knees. He was visibly upset, and Taco felt that same feeling he reflected on his face inside his own chest. When his brain finally reconnected with his body, Taco was in motion.

Despite his injuries, he shoved open the passenger door and bolted forward, reaching Country’s side in seconds.

“Tell me she’s breathing,” Taco shouted as he fell down beside him, his hands roaming frantically over Bambi’s body in search of the damage. But it wasn’t difficult to spot its source.

“She’s been stabbed,” Country informed him of the obvious. “Lost a lot of blood, pulse is weak, breathing thready,” he informed him in a clinical manner.

Taco couldn’t understand how he was so calm, until he glanced up and realized he wasn’t talking to him. Country held his cell phone to his ear, telling what he assumed was an emergency responder the details of the situation, relaying their location and following instructions given to him.

To Taco he said, “Put pressure on the wound. Don’t let up.” Then he got up and started walking around, assessing the area.

Taco did exactly that. Clasping his hands together, his own injury forgotten, he pressed down on what appeared to be the major source of bleeding—her lower abdomen, beside her right hip. The blood flow soon slowed, but continued to seep between his already blood-soaked fingers, mingling with his own.

“Don’t you die on me, dollface,” he insisted, worry thickening his voice. “Don’t you dare.”

He thought about Beau and what would happen to him if both of them died today. He refused to let his kid get tossed into the system. One or both of them were coming out of this alive.

“Open your eyes, dollface,” he commanded, then repeated himself a couple more times, each more forceful than the last until she moaned, her head moving a fraction and her eyelids fluttering. When those blue eyes he loved so much looked up at him, dazed, he forced a smile. “Hey, baby.”

“Wh-what happened?” Bambi asked, her voice thin and reedy.

“That’s what I was going to ask you.”

She frowned, looking around. When she tried to sit up, she gasped and cried out, her hands flying to where he continued to apply pressure.

“Don’t move. You’ve been stabbed,” Taco told her.

“What?”

He saw the panic surge into her eyes and hurried to reassure her. “It’s okay. You’re okay. It’s not too bad, baby. Help is coming. Just lie still, okay? Can you do that for me?”

“Where’s Beau?” Bambi asked, her voice frantic.

“At home?” Taco wasn’t sure. He hadn’t gotten that far yet. Lifting his head, he glanced into the back seat, noting the missing car seat. Thank God.

“He’s with Tina,” Bambi confirmed, her tone somewhat unsure but growing in confidence. It must have been coming back to her.

“What were you doing out here? Do you know who did this?”

“You’re bleeding!” she cried, reaching out to touch his blood-soaked pants.

“I’m okay. It’s just a scratch,” he lied. “Tell me who did this to you. Do you remember?”

Tears flooded her eyes as she looked to the sky, thinking. “A woman…her eyes…”

Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder the closer they got. Taco continued talking to her, asking questions, pulling as much information from her as he could before the police arrived. By the time the ambulance pulled up, he had enough to go off of. Enough to take back to Quick, and enough to make him want to leap behind the wheel of Country’s truck, track down that bitch Cruiz, and eliminate her and her cronies once and for all.

Except Taco was in no shape to do a damn thing. The minute the EMTs placed Bambi on a gurney and put her inside the back of the ambulance, he collapsed, every ounce of strength he had left fleeing his body.

The last thing he remembered was telling Country to make sure that bitch paid for what she’d done and Country promising he wouldn’t let him down.