Page 50 of Stone
“Oh, me too, me too,” Harry sing-songed, joining them.
“I am content, in love, and so excited to be a dad,” Stone admitted.
“Let’s stop the mushiness. I’m going to need to have tissues at my station if we keep this up,” Sprite interrupted, fanning her face with tears on her cheeks. “Stupid hormones,” she muttered.
Roam pulled her into his arms and wiped her tears with a tissue.
Stone took his first walk-in. The man wanted a small outline of the flag on his arm, which shouldn’t take long. He had the design, applied the transfer, and started inking. It was the guy’s first tattoo, and Stone waited to see how he’d handle it. Turns out, he handled it well because he fell asleep while Stone was working.
Once finished, Stone went over the care instructions and took him to the front desk to pay.
“Thanks for coming in,” Stone nodded, handing over the care sheet.
The door flew open.
“Stone, come quick,” War panted.
Stone ran after War, following him down the block to where a crowd was gathered. Deborah, Taylor, and Regan were standing with Naomi, who had her arms wrapped around them. But what had his attention was Beck—she was being held hostage in the middle of the street with a gun pressed to her head.
Stone pushed through the crowd to Naomi’s side, touching each of his girls to let them know it was going to be okay.
“Dad, let Beck go and we can talk about this!” Tori shouted.
“No. Everything’s gone,” Aaron snapped, his eyes wild. “The feds froze my accounts. A friend paid my bail. I need to get out of the country. Give me money and I’ll let her go as soon as I’m safe!”
Stone clocked each and every member of the MC scattered around Aaron, but Stone didn’t see any way that someone could do something as long as Aaron’s gun was pointing at Beck.
“Watch out! My bull broke out of the trailer!” Jake Bremerton yelled.
Stone looked for an opening. Jake would never have faulty equipment that a bull could break out of. Jake’s bull had been part of a float in the parade.
Snorting and hoofbeats could be heard on the concrete. Aaron was turning different ways, trying to see where the danger was coming from. Aaron wasn’t pointing the gun at Beck; he was waving it around, but he still had a hold of Beck by the neck. Stone tried to get Beck’s attention to have her drop to the ground to give them a chance, but she was staring at Locks.
Beck grabbed something from her pocket and stabbed it behind her into Aaron’s leg. He let go of her with a bellow, and she ran toward Locks. Before Aaron could formulate a plan, a lasso dropped over his head and then tightened around his arms. Whoever had lassoed him yanked hard, so he fell, hitting his face on the concrete.
Stone ran toward where Locks had Beck in his arms.
“Beck?” Stone called out, his heart hammering against his ribs.
As soon as she heard his voice, she turned and threw herself into his arms.
“I was so scared, but I kept telling myself someone would come,” Beck said softly.
“It’s okay. You’re all right,” Stone whispered as he patted her back, holding her tight.
“You got her? I’ve got a brother to teach a lesson to,” Locks growled.
Stone nodded, leading Beck back to where Naomi, Taylor, and Regan were.
“Oh, baby,” Naomi cried, putting her arms around Beck.
Stone kept an eye on Aaron, but he didn’t need to worry. Jake Bremerton had hog-tied Aaron for Locks and was carrying him over to his pickup. He tossed Aaron into the bed of the truck and tossed Locks the keys.
“Bring it back when you’re done using it. My hands are taking the stock back in the other truck and trailer. I’ll ride Midnight home,” Jake said, motioning at his horse tied to the parking meter.
Stone held his wife and girls until his heart calmed down enough that he felt he could talk calmly.
“What happened?”
