Brick Brick (Knights Corruption MC - Next Generation, #4) - S. Nelson Page 0,84
and gestured for Chelsea to come closer, but when her right foot moved forward, Ace didn’t release his hold on her.
“No way. You’re not goin’ out there.”
“But what if it’s the same woman?” she asked, making another attempt to free herself from him.
“You’re still not goin’ out there,” he repeated, his voice dipping in simmering annoyance.
“Let her look to see if it’s the same chick. If it is, we might have a bigger issue on our hands and should do somethin’ about it now.” I lessened the space between us and Hawke. “Is she still out there?”
“Yeah. She’s still standing there, talking to Cutter, but I can’t hear what they’re sayin’.”
I looked back to Ace. “This is important. Nothin’ is gonna happen to her. She’s not goin’ out there. She’s only lookin’.” Ace continued to hold on to her even though she struggled to free herself. “Fuck, man! We don’t have time for this. Just let her look.” Unintentionally, my hands bunched into fists, accompanying my raised voice.
“Fine,” he gritted. “She’s just takin’ a peek.”
Several strides later, Chelsea popped her head out, Hawke moving back while still holding the door open.
“He’s in the way,” she said. “I can’t see her face.”
“Cutter!” Hawke shouted and Chelsea flinched. “Cutter!” The ol’ man finally turned around, moved slightly to the side and took a step toward us.
The woman outside the gate wore a black baseball hat, white short-sleeved tee with some kind of emblem on it, and jeans. She stood next to an older model white minivan. And even though we were quite a distance away, I saw her look in our direction. Chelsea brushed past Hawke and walked out the door, Ace making a grab for her but missing.
“Lisa?”
“Get the fuck back in here, woman.” Ace bumped into the back of Chelsea, then seized her wrist, pulling her back inside.
Before he dragged her further away, I asked, “Was that her?”
She nodded and replied, “Yes,” at the same time.
“Hey! You can’t leave that here. Lady! Hey!” Cutter’s shouts drifted through the lot. He walked to the other end of the gate, most likely trying to see if he could still spot her. “Hey!” he shouted one last time. His fingers curled around the bars as he stood there, motionless.
“Somethin’s not right.” My legs propelled me forward before I realized I was walking. “Cutter, get away from the gate.” I had no idea why I gave that instruction, but the words barreled out of my mouth. I seemed to be on auto pilot, pumping urgency into each step. I heard several voices behind me but didn’t look back. “Cutter!” He finally let go of the metal bars and turned around. “Get away from the gate,” I yelled once more.
He swiveled his head to look back toward the van, taking a tentative step to the side. What the hell was he doing? Why wasn’t he moving back?
My mouth fell open and I sucked in a lungful of air, breaching the space between us, my steps slowing as my brain shouted at me to stop. Call it intuition, or paranoia, but I began to walk backward, waving at Cutter to follow me.
Finally, he moved, and I released the breath that was frozen in my throat, but he’d only managed to take three steps before a sudden blinding flash followed by a deafening boom sliced through the air. The large metal gates had been blown apart, the minivan coming off the ground before crashing back down, engulfed in flames.
Even though I was far enough away, the blast of the explosion knocked me off my feet, the pressure in my ears erupting. Then all I heard was a weird ringing noise.
Peeling my eyes open, I saw Cutter lying on the ground, at least ten feet from where he’d been standing. Several men rushed past me and toward our fallen brother, and all I could do was pray that he was okay, but he’d been so close to the explosion, I didn’t have high hopes he survived the blast. I was further from him and was knocked on my fuckin’ ass.
“Holy fuck!” Hands grabbed at me. “Are you okay?” Every sound around me was muffled, and although I could see, I couldn’t clearly hear what anyone said. Kaden and Ace patted me down before hooking their hands under my arms, struggling to help me stand. I was dead weight, still doing a shit job at computing what just happened, let alone telling my brain to make my legs work.