“Actually, I’d rather wrap her around a street light,” Evie said. “Just like Viper did to my car.”

Jagger handed her Sparky’s red bandanna. “You’ll have to settle for this. It’s as close as we’ll get to a bow.”

Evie laughed and twisted it between her hands. She seemed to have forgiven Jagger, which was a relief since Zane harbored no ill will toward him. He’d put Jagger in that position knowing the consequences, and in the end the sacrifice was worth it for the knowledge they’d gained about the Black Jack compound.

Sweat trickled down Zane’s back and it wasn’t just from the heat. How could he stop this? He’d almost lost Evie again. His heart couldn’t handle anymore.

“It’ll be fine.” Evie gave Zane’s arm a squeeze. “I know that look on your face and I know what you’re thinking. But I’m not going into the clubhouse. I’ll drop Doreen off and once they open the gate I’ll drive away.”

“We’ll be covering her from the hill,” Jagger said. “Even if Doreen tells them who she is, they won’t be able to catch her, and you and Cade should have just enough time to get through the fence.”

Why did Jagger keep pretending he was on board with this plan? No way would he have agreed to allow Arianne to drive a vehicle right up to Viper’s door. Not that he could have stopped her … just as it seemed he wouldn’t be able to stop Evie unless he wanted to throw her over his shoulder, caveman style. The thought held some appeal.

He heard the rumble of trucks in the distance. Jagger looked up and smiled. “Trucks are here. Let’s roll.”

Let’s roll? Zane released Evie and cut Jagger off from his bike, making one last effort to head off imminent disaster. “When did we start involving women and kids in club business?”

“Evie wants to do this, brother.” Jagger put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “And since she’s not your old lady, I gotta respect her wishes.”

Evie’s eyes sparkled and she flashed Zane a grin. “I know you’ll be there to catch me. You always are.”

Christ. How could he refuse her when she looked at him like that? The answer came in a heartbeat: he never could.

TWENTY-TWO

Sometimes, no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, things just won’t go according to plan.

—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL

“I got a text from Hacker. The electric current is off.” Zane grabbed a pair of wire cutters and joined Cade at the fence.

“How long you figure we got?” Cade worked efficiently cutting from the bottom, while Zane worked from the top.

“Depends how long Evie can keep them talking.”

Cade stopped to wipe his brow. “She’s one hell of a woman. I can see why you couldn’t forget her all those years. She’s got the kind of inner strength that makes for a good old lady.”

“Yeah.” But did he want her as an old lady if it meant she was at risk of being kidnapped, hurt or even killed? She had a nice normal civilian life in her little white house with the white picket fence on the shady street with kids playing outside, people walking their dogs …

Something niggled at the back of Zane’s mind. “Where are the dogs? They’ve got four dogs. Big ones. They were here every time I came to do surveillance.”

“Maybe they took them when they got the tip about the ATF.”

Zane stood and scanned the clubhouse grounds. “And the guards? Usually they had at least five guards patrolling the fence. Benson said they’d left the guards behind.” The skin on the back of his neck prickled and he looked over at the shed where he’d seen the Jacks’ heavy artillery. “Gimme your binoculars.”

“We’re running out of time.” Cade pushed back the wire. “If we’re gonna save T-Rex, we have to go. We still have to get through the door.”

Zane ran his hand through his hair. “Something’s wrong. It’s all too convenient. The Jacks disappearing, the botched ATF raid … Do you think they know we’ve got someone inside the sheriff’s office? Are they playing us?”

Cade stepped through the fence. “Zane. C’mon man. We got one chance to get…”

Cade’s voice trailed off when a whistling sound filled the air. And then the world exploded in front of them, grass and dirt flying up on the other side of the fence.

Ambush. Where the fuck were the scouts?

Zane flew back, landing hard. He scrambled to his feet and spotted Cade, semiconscious, on the other side of the fence. In the distance, he heard the sound of gunfire.

Evie! He was supposed to be there to keep her safe. Catch her if she fell.

But he couldn’t leave Cade.

Small explosions peppered the ground around the clubhouse. Sons of bitches knew what they were after, and Cade was exposed. Zane pushed himself up and stepped through the fence, then squatted beside Cade.

“Can you walk, brother?”

“Must have hit my head.” Cade staggered to his feet. “Everything’s kinda blurry.”

“We need to get you out of here.” He angled up under Cade’s shoulder and helped him through the fence, then half-walked, half-dragged him away from the range of fire and into a small copse of trees. He settled Cade against a rock and called the clubhouse. After explaining the situation to Shaggy, he gave their location and arranged a pickup for Cade, as well as reinforcements and vans to retrieve damaged bikes.

Gunshots rang through the forest and adrenaline coursed through his body. “We gotta get moving. You okay?”

“Just stunned.” Cade put his hand to his head and it came away covered in blood. “Maybe a scrape or two.” He dug his phone from his pocket. “Call Dawn.”

“Don’t need to call her.” He brushed Cade’s hand away. “We’ll get you to the road for a pickup. You can call her then.”

“Zane…” Cade’s voice tightened and he keened to the side. “Call her.”

Zane gritted his teeth and fought back a wave of panic. Cade needed him to be strong, just as he’d been strong for Jagger, and for Evie every time she took a risk. “I don’t have time to be calling old ladies. I gotta get you to the road and go back for…”

“Evie.” Cade waved him away. “I know it’s killing you to be here. You go. Leave me.”

“Christ. Get the fuck up. We’re less than a quarter mile from the road. We can make it. If I left you behind, Jagger would make that beating I took the other day feel like a hug after he got through with me.” Fear and anger gave him the strength to take Cade’s weight as they made the slow, agonizing walk through the bush to the road.

“She’ll be alright,” Cade said. “She was in the vehicle, and she stays cool under pressure. The first shot and she would have been out of there.”

Zane grunted his response. He couldn’t talk. Couldn’t think. His body was wired, primed to find Evie as soon as Cade was safe.

He could only hope someone had been there to catch her.

*   *   *

Evie startled awake, blinking to clear her vision. She jerked but couldn’t move with the seat belt tight around her. What had happened? One minute she was driving away from the gate after dropping off Doreen, then she heard gunfire, lost control of her vehicle, spun around, and then …

Ah. The air bag had deployed. No wonder she felt like someone had just punched her in the face.

Hands shaking, she unclipped the seatbelt and pushed open the door. Her vehicle rested sideways on the road, the passenger door up against a tree. She slid past the air bag and stepped out to check the damage. With the front tire was in pieces—shot out, she guessed—it was no wonder she’d lost control.

Smoke billowed around her, giving the scene an almost dreamlike quality. She felt light, almost weightless as she wandered down the road, not sure where she should go. Ahead, the club house burned bright, a white truck embedded in one wall, engulfed in flames. The thick, acrid smoke burned her lungs and she coughed, tried to breathe into her sleeve.