Rock Chick Renegade (Rock Chick #4)(143)

“Darius called, told me about Shard and Roam, though he didn’t know where he was,” there was a pause then, “f*ck!” Lee exploded and Luke’s mouth tightened as he heard Lee uncharacteristically lose control. “Luke, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Luke didn’t either. He had a f**king shitty feeling about this.

“Sniff’s leading me to the house, he doesn’t know the address. I’ll get it to you when I get there,” Luke said.

“I’ll call the office for directions,” Lee returned, “out.”

Disconnect.

Luke drove, Sniff gave directions. The kid had gotten control, stopped crying, wiped his face on his sweatshirt and was pointing the way with more certainty than Luke would have expected him to in his state.

Luke’s phone rang again.

Luke flipped it open and put it to his ear. “Yeah?”

“Pick up the speed, Luke,” Lee said. “I called the office. Hector got word about Roam, for some f**kin’ reason he went for Law to get him. She’s probably already there. Out.”

Disconnect.

“Fuck!” Luke snarled, flipped the phone shut, threw it on the dash, put his foot down and the Porsche shot forward.

* * * * *

Jules

Never, not in a million years, would I have thought Sal Cordova would have hurt Roam.

He wanted me then he was going to get me.

But he wouldn’t hurt Roam.

Maybe bore him to death with idiot stories about being a supposed ladies man but that wouldn’t be physically painful, just mentally painful.

That’s why, just like Luke, I went up to the front door, cocky as all hell, knocked three times and shouted, “It’s Jules!”

Then without hesitation I pulled out my gun, put my hand to the door handle, turned it and went in.

I saw in a quick heart-stopping scan of the room that considering Sal was dead, not just dead, very dead, that I was right, he couldn’t hurt Roam.

I also saw that somehow Roam was hurt, unconscious and bloody and lying on the floor.

Without a thought (I really should have thought), I ran into the room toward Roam but to my surprise he surged up shouting, “Law!” his eyes behind me.

I whirled and saw Shard, gun up pointed at me, his bruised and swollen face grinning, eyes hard.

“Fuckin’ bitch,” Shard said.

Then he fired.

Unfortunately Roam had enough chance to get himself in front of me. Roam’s body jerked when the bullet slammed into it and he went down at my feet.

Rage shot through me, I screamed bloody murder, lifted my gun, pointed and fired.

Shard fired too.

My first bullet hit him in the shoulder. I didn’t aim to hurt him overly much.

His first bullet hit me in the gut, he aimed to kill me.

The burning sensation in my belly was nearly overpowering.

The will to live thankfully put the “nearly” in my previous statement.

With a gut wound, knowing his intention, Roam at my feet not moving and his gun still aimed at me, I had no choice but to fire again, this time, with a different aim.

His second shot hit me in the chest.

My second shot went straight into his frontal lobe.

* * * * *

Luke

Luke saw the Harley in front of him, Vance astride it. Luke flashed his lights, Vance lifted his hand. Luke parked the Porsche behind the Harley two doors down from Cordova’s house.

“Stay here, kid,” Luke ordered Sniff.

Sniff nodded but Luke didn’t see him, he was already out of the car.

“I take front, you take back,” Vance said when Luke made it to him, already approaching the house at a jog.

Luke nodded, jogging beside him then separating, beginning to move across the lawn of the house next to Cordova’s, heading toward the back.

Then they heard the shot then the scream and the second they did, they both sprinted forward at a dead run to Cordova’s front door.

By the time they made it and Vance kicked in the door, four more shots had been fired.

* * * * *

Jules

I fell down on my ass, reached out toward a prone Roam, couldn’t find the strength or my breath, to make it to him so I fell to my back.

I closed my eyes, fighting the pain and thinking about getting to a phone. When I opened my eyes again Vance’s face was the only thing I saw.

“Hey,” I said because I figured I’d passed out (I didn’t think I died, the pain of multiple gunshot wounds hurt like a mother and I didn’t figure they had pain in heaven) and this was a dream so I smiled at him.

“Hey, Princess,” he replied, eyes on me, hands working somewhere else then I felt my shirt ripped open from hem to collar.

“Get a goddamned medic here,” I heard Luke bark from somewhere in the room.

I turned my head to see where Luke was but instead saw Hector kneeling over Roam.

I looked back to Vance. “Is Roam okay?” I asked.

“Let’s worry about you right now,” Vance said. He moved away from sight and I saw his hands catch something. When Vance wasn’t filling my vision I was pretty certain I was seeing things because I could swear I caught a glimpse of Darius and then Vance came back to me.

I was losing it, fading, and I knew it. My body was going into shock. I could feel the warm blood sliding out of me even as Vance put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding. I didn’t know if I went unconscious if I’d wake up again.