Page 58 of Chef
“I fucking know that, I was the one looking down the barrel Jesus Christ!” He runs a hand down his face.
“What are you doing out here anyway?” I ask, waving at Joe to stay in place.
“I was looking for River. We couldn’t find him.”
“We did. He’s in the SUV with Takoda and Loyal.”
He stares at me for a beat before crushing me to his chest. “So fucking happy you found your man, Sagey.”
“Me too, Uncle Dom.”
He holds me at arms length, smile on his face. “Good. Good. OK, lets get rid of these fuckers so we can celebrate Chef’s return.”
“Sounds good to me,” I mumble, falling into step with Joe as Omen takes point.
Joe and I follow closely behind, pressed against the warm brick wall of the clubhouse. Omen drops lower, body angled as he presses tighter to the wall, peeking around the corner.
“Oh, fuck no!”
He stands, gun at the ready as he takes off in a sprint, gunshot firing.
“What the hell?” Joe yells as she too follows behind Omen, leaving me to stare at the scene before me.
There’s five Ashfall dipshits all running and firing at about four gators that they’ve let loose judging by the screams coming outside the gator rehab shed. I let out a huff and follow my uncle and friend into the fray. Omen has already taken out two men. Joe is giggling her tits off as she fires badly at another Ashfall member. Dirt kicks up near my feet and I jump to the side.
“Sorry Sagey!” Saint yells from where he’s trying to lead Pickles the giant gator to safety. “Tickly trigger finger!”
I gape at him in disbelief, mouth open to yell obscenities when my train of thought is broken by some guy yelling my name.
“You’re coming with me,” he says through gritted teeth, storming my way.
Nope. Not happening. My safety is off, and I’m thankful for that as I take aim, squeezing the trigger once and once only. His head rocks back before he crumples to the ground.
“Whoohoo! Go Sage!” Joe pumps her fist, whirling in place, presumably looking for more bad guys.
Dust settles and so does the noise. I plant my boots, taking stock of what's happened. Omen has his hands hooked on his hips, Saint is holding a baby gator in his arms, Joe still looks wired but I know she, like me, will crash later on.
“Sounds done,” Omen mumbles, looking toward the clubhouse.
The opening bars ofFortunate Sonscreech out of the loud speakers, before TumTum’s voice fills the air.
“Keep, sound off!”
Voices start calling out, both inside and outside of the clubhouse.
“I’m good!” Loyal yells out.
“Me too!” That’s River.
“Alive!”
My breath catches when Takoda’s voice reaches my ears, and I can’t stop myself.
“Still married!” I yell out, head tipped back, eyes closed, joy buzzing in my chest when cheers ring out from the clubhouse.
Everyone else continues to sound off.
“Good!”
