Page 49 of Striker

Behind us, the fight in the main room is still going on unabated. There’s gunfire, shouting, and the sounds of fists hitting flesh. Still, it’s the only way out of this part of the building, so I decide to do the unthinkable.

“We gotta go back through the area where most of the fighting is takin’ place. It’s the only way out of the buildin’,” I tell her. “I need you to stay between my body and the wall. If I fall, you take cover. The brothers will get you to safety when the fightin’ is finished. Understand?”

She nods, but I can tell by her expression that she’s fuckin’ terrified. She moves to my side, and we head back up the hallway.

I draw my weapon again right before we step out into the main room, only to discover that Delaney’s crew is making one valiant last stand. Roderick, Delaney’s right-hand man, is on the floor, shouting orders, and his strategy is making it hard for my club brothers to root out the last of his crew.

This is the man who’s been stalking my old lady and abducted her from the spa. I’ve been dying to get my hands on this fucker for weeks. Dealing with him will have to wait until my old lady is safe, though.

The brothers have broken Delaney’s crew into pockets. Now, it’s come down to hand-to-hand combat. Things are going on around us that no woman should have to see. I put Beth between me and the wall, shielding her with my larger form. We begin moving towards the exit.

That’s when Roderick catches sight of us. I see the minute he realizes I’ve got his boss’s hostage and we’re heading for the door together. We both know he can’t let that happen because his boss will be super pissed.

He stalks across the floor, shoving warm bodies from both sides out of his way. He’s no longer in the fight because his priority is now stopping me.

“Stop, Rager. Don’t take another fuckin’ step.” He’s pointing at me with the business end of his knife.

I shake my gun and reply, “Leave it to you to bring a knife to a gunfight.”

“Go ahead and shoot. Of course, you might hit one of your club brothers.”

He’s got a point. I press Beth down against the wall and jerk a heavy desk over to give her some cover. Handing Beth my gun, I say, “Point and shoot if you have to in order to survive, darlin’. I’ll be right back.”

I step out to meet Roderick because I don’t want him within striking distance of my old lady.

This asshole has forty pounds on me, but that doesn’t faze me. He tries to draw first blood with that knife of his. He makes a comically large, looping motion that I easily avoid. Turning, I land two hard punches into his kidneys. He makes a pained noise but doesn’t step away from the fight.

He whips around and holds the knife up for me to see. “Is that all you’ve got? I heard you were some kind of computer nerd,” he says while circling me. “People all over Cedar Falls call you the drone geek.”

“Normally, I say don’t listen to gossip, but this time they’re right on the money.”

I’m just talking to keep him distracted. And it works. I lunge forward, and when he moves to make use of his knife again, I step in close and ram my elbow right into his face before moving back out of his knife range.

“I’ve been watchin’ your old lady for weeks. She’s hot alright but wearin’ your property cut doesn’t suit her. She’s too classy for biker trash like you.”

He’s just trying to rile me up because if I’m emotional and angry, I might make stupid mistakes.

“She made her choice and it was me. You ready to finish this or are you just here to fantasize and talk trash?”

That’s when we really go at it. He’s stronger but I’m the better fighter. I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this asshole for a long time, and I plan to take him apart a piece at a time. I’ve got nothing but patience where this man is concerned.

I’ve almost got him beat when one of his crew sees Beth and races across the room to try and grab her. I’m not having that. Without even thinking about it, I step off Roderick and take three strides to meet him halfway to my old lady. I drop him with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head and follow up with an uppercut as he’s going down. That double tap leaves him out cold.

Beth’s terrified voice screams, “Behind you, babe.”

I glance over my shoulder and see Roderick sneaking up on my six like the creepy fucker he is. He’s got his blade out and poised for a strike. Before I can step back to buy myself some time, he slashes towards my face while I’m still turning around. I jerk my head back, but his blade makes contact with my forehead, right above the eyebrow. I feel the flesh split open and a trickle of blood flow down over my eyes. Before I’ve even registered the cut he makes another snide remark.

“How are you gonna hold your own against me with one good eye, Cyclops?”

Half-blind and bleeding, I surge forward again, crashing into him. He wasn’t expecting such an aggressive move and flails for a second. It’s enough for me to get both hands around the wrist holding the knife. After that, it’s just a matter of leverage. I give his wrist a good twist in a direction it was never meant to go and hear something in his wrist snap.

This is the fucker who stalked my old lady, terrified her and finally abducted her. I do the thing to him that he was trying to do to me. I plunge the blade right into his eye socket and jam it deep. Then I give it a good twist, plunging it deep into his brain. Then I let his limp body slide to the floor.

Just before the light goes out in his eyes, I lean close and tell him, “That was for every fuckin’ thing you did to my old lady and for depriving her daughter of her mother for two days. Just wanted you to know why you’re not gonna get back up again.”

I leave him right where he dropped and go back to Beth, wiping the blood out of my eye with the back of one hand. My old lady is exactly where I left her, behind the desk with both hands pressed to her mouth. I glance down and find my gun on the floor beside her. She’s staring at me as if she’s never seen me before in her life, like she maybe thought I was just some computer geek too and kind of liked that about me. Then her eyes go soft and she throws herself into my arms.

Thank fuck the fight has run its course because otherwise I’d never be able to turn my back to the room this way. I tighten my arms around her, grateful as fuck that she’s okay. This, having her back in my arms, is worth everything me and my club have done to find and rescue her.