CHAPTER EIGHT
– LEDGER –
“Come the fuck on,” I mutter underneath my breath as I zigzag through the pasture.
Fucking hell, no way am I tasting a bullet. Or worse, having Mayven take a hit because she’s the one exposed being on the back of my bike. Goddamned. Colt swirls to the side and picks up speed.
It’s a damn good thing we’re used to riding on uneven terrain since we herd our livestock from time to time on our bikes. But dodging bullets at full speed is a whole different ballgame. One I hope to fuck will never happen again.
Though, for now I have to focus on getting out of this alive. And I fucking will pull us through. I refuse to give up on life when I feel as if it only barely started the day I met Mayven. I risk a quick glance over my shoulder and know I have to take a hard left to dodge the fucker’s aim.
Before I have a chance, I hiss through the pain as a bullet races through my forearm. I breathe through the fire licking my skin and grip the handles tighter. I keep my eyes open in a desperate plea to see backup coming.
There. Dust clouds appear in the distance, slowly closing in. Fucking backup. It’s about time. When I saw the car coming up from our left and another one close behind us, I called backup. Colt noticed the same thing and signaled for me to take the shortcut home through the pasture, knowing we needed the diversion to prevent becoming sitting ducks.
Mayven’s arms tighten around me as I take a fairly sharp turn. I can’t keep going in a straight line and some parts of this pasture have holes and bumps I need to dodge besides the fucking bullets. Like I said, the only reason we’re still riding at full speed is because we’re used to rough terrain, taking sharp angles due to livestock always being unpredictable.
The sound of Mayven grunting has my heart freezing for a few beats. Her hands tighten around me and I sigh in relief when I see Hopper, Weston, Garrett, Roper, Decker, Alfie, and damn, even Joaquin is on a bike heading straight for us.
Decker along with two others head left, the rest of them move slightly to the right as they bring their bikes roughly to a stop. As if they’re creating a wall with a door in between for us to slip through as they aim their guns and start to fire at the two cars behind us.
Colt is the first one going through the space our brothers left for us and I follow. He slows down and glances over his shoulder. I take a look too and we both slowly turn our bikes around and come to a stop.
One car already stopped but one is heading for the fence and crashes through before coming to a stop a few feet away. End of the line for both fucks. A smile spreads my face but it slides right off when I feel Mayven’s weight shift and from the corner of my eyes I see her fall to the ground.
Letting my bike drop to the other side I fall to my knees and drag her into my arms. There’s a wound on her leg and blood is seeping out. Joaquin squats down next to us, cursing loud as he rips off his shirt and takes the fabric between his teeth to rip it apart.
“I need the doc at the ranch right fucking now. Yes. We’re six minutes out. One gunshot wound to the leg, Ledger’s old lady. Yes, there’s more. Ledger is shot in the forearm. And from what I can see Colt’s shot too, and–”
“It’s barely a fucking scratch,” Colt interrupts Weston who is calling the clubhouse to make sure they know what we’re dealing with when we arrive.
“Mayven,” I breathe. “Come on, sweetheart. You need to give me your eyes.”
“I’m hurting here.” She bites out every single word in pain as she squeezes her eyes shut again.
“Or just give me your sass,” I tell her with a hint of laughter in my voice. “I’d rather have you biting my head off anyway.”
She snaps her eyes open and pins me with a glare. I give her a hard kiss in return and scoop her off the ground now that Joaquin is standing after bandaging her leg to stop the bleeding. But she needs medical attention right fucking now.
“Can you hold on?” I ask, hoping to hell she can or I’ll have to put her in front of me and let her wrap her arms around my neck and go slow; whatever it takes to get her to the clubhouse faster.
“I can. I only let myself drop because you stopped the bike. I didn’t mean to…I thought I could stand on my leg but it gave way when I put my weight on it.”
Colt is right next to me, holding his arms out to take his sister while I straddle my bike. He helps Mayven get on the back and tells her, “He’s not wearing a helmet and can hear you. Fucking tell him if you need to stop or can’t hold on.”
“I’m shot, not stupid. And stop your anger. I repeat…I. Was. Shot. You should be nicer to me.”
“I’ll be nice when that fucking bullet is out of your leg,” Colt grumbles and connects his gaze with mine. “I’ll be right behind you, focus on getting my sister there as fast as you can and I’ll keep an eye on her, okay?”
“You got it, brother,” I vow.
He gets on his bike and waits for Kay to get on behind him before I head for the clubhouse. Minutes drag on
