Rough Justice (Sinner's Tribe Motorcycle Club #1)(108)

After parking at the side of the warehouse, he plastered himself against the wall under the window, straining to hear through the corrugated metal.

Nothing.

Weapon unholstered and heavy in his hand, he stretched up to peer through the grimy window. There. A light in the darkness. He glanced over at the door and fought back the urge to kick it in, but he had no idea how many Jacks were inside or whether they were armed—or whether Arianne was even with them.

Jagger gritted his teeth and ran a quick reconnaissance around the building. Windows, mostly inaccessible. Front door. One rear exit. But without a visual, he would be going in blind.

Side exit, it would have to be. He reached for the handle, turning it slowly until it clicked.

“Don’t move.”

He froze and then looked over his shoulder.

Wheels. And with a weapon pointed at Jagger’s back.

“I figured you might be coming to join the party,” Wheels sneered. “I only remembered you’d asked T-Rex to watch the bar after I got here. Didn’t want to bother Viper with a detail I could clean up myself, so I’ve been waiting. Turn around, throw me your phone, and drop the weapon.”

Blood pounded through Jagger’s veins so hard, he could barely see. “Fucking traitor.” He spat out the words as he turned, dropping the gun at an angle that would make it easy to retrieve if he had a chance to bend, and then tossing his phone at Wheels’s feet. “Were you working for the Jacks when you first started hanging around the club?”

A movement in the trees behind Wheels caught Jagger’s attention. A shadow in the darkness. And then a hand. A signal.

Zane.

Keep him talking.

“Right from the start.” Wheels laughed. “Viper’s been planning to break the truce since it began. He orchestrated everything. My fake background, paperwork, the way I look, the way I talk. All planned to bring you down. And it went like clockwork. The knowledge I’ve got in here.” He tapped his head. “Is going to destroy the Sinners forever. Only thing that will disappoint him is that you won’t be around to see Vexy die.”

Arianne.

He could not fail.

“We were on to you,” Jagger said. “We caught you on the surveillance tapes outside the old clubhouse. If you hadn’t picked this evening to take her, I would have had you down in my dungeon, begging for your life.”

Wheels smirked. “Wasn’t ideal for us either, but she was planning to run that night, and Viper was done with her. To be honest, I can’t believe you came to save her when she had no interest in staying with you. She was all packed and ready to go and start a new life without you. And you know what? I liked her, too. I even had a moment of weakness and tried to give her a push to leave before Viper set the wheels in motion.”

“But she didn’t go.” Jagger flexed his hand as Zane took up his position behind Wheels. “She stayed to save me.”

Crack. Zane’s shot echoed in the stillness. Wheels dropped to his knees, his face frozen in shock. Jagger dived for his gun, rolled, and pulled the trigger, pumping two bullets into Wheels’s chest. With a soft grunt, Wheels fell sideways, the gun falling from his hand.

“Halfway to hell…” Zane rasped as he stepped out of the shadows.

Jagger nodded, emotion welling up in his chest. “Halfway to hell, brother.”

*

“Gonna have a good time with you.” Bear trailed the barrel of his gun along Arianne’s jaw, making her flesh crawl. “Gonna have some of the sugar Leo’s been panting after all these years.”

Arianne slid her other wrist out of the cuffs and doubled them together, holding them around her knuckles in a fist behind her. “There’s no sugar left in me. Viper beat it out.” She shot out of her seat, hitting him in the solar plexus with her brass knuckle handcuffs, knocking the wind out of him, before she angled to the side and bolted.

“Fucking bitch is loose.” Viper shouted from the far end of the warehouse. “Catch her.”

Gulping air furiously, Arianne ran for the rear exit door. A sliver of light appeared, slicing through the darkness. Feet thudded behind her and the light grew brighter, then dimmed as a shadow filled the space. Her chest constricted. She knew that shadow. She had memorized every line and plane of that body, kissed that broad chest, held those massive shoulders.

“Jagger!” She screamed his name, because if she could see him, the others could see him, too, and if she was going to die, she wanted to go with his name on her lips.

“Fuck. Stop her.” A shot rang out, the bullet pinging off the concrete beside her feet.

“Arianne.” Jagger’s roar echoed through the warehouse, his rage evident in every taut line of his body.

She hit him at full tilt, knocking him back, and he immediately spun around, protecting her with his body.

“Go.” He pointed to the door.

But before she could protest, she caught movement in the shadows, and then Bear was beside them, his gun raised at Jagger’s unprotected left side.

No. She wasn’t going to lose him now. Her arm flew up and she aimed at Bear’s shoulder, but she was a second too late. His shot echoed through the warehouse, thudding into Jagger’s side. Jagger’s hand dropped to his cut, and he staggered back.

“Jagger!” Arianne pulled her trigger and Bear dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Horror washed over her in a suffocating black wave. “Oh God, I shot him.”