Brick Brick (Knights Corruption MC - Next Generation, #4) - S. Nelson Page 0,95

our direction, stopping quickly to raise his gun, firing toward the woods.

“Two of them took off over there.” He pointed toward the mass of trees and brush. “There’s a door around back. It’s locked, but I’m sure you won’t have an issue with getting it open.” Did he just smirk at me? Considering everything going down right now, I had to appreciate his sentiment, his slice of humor.

“Where’s Stone?” I asked, curious where our VP had gotten off to.

“I’m not sure.”

We heard more popping sounds in the distance, my heart racing and my thoughts so jumbled I was surprised I could form a coherent thought.

“We’ll go around back.” Ryder nudged my arm for me to follow.

“I’m gonna see if I can find the ones who ran off.” Ford took a step toward the wooded area, looking back before turning his full attention toward the cowardly Reapers who took off.

“Be careful.” My advice wasn’t needed as Ford was the one out of us who’d been officially trained for situations like this.

He nodded and disappeared a few yards away.

“Come on,” Ryder whisper shouted. “I know they’re here.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant more Reapers or Zoe and Braylen, but either way, we needed to proceed to end this nightmare.

42

Burrowed in the corner of the room, holding on to Braylen in what had become our normal position, we heard shouting, muffled voices above our heads followed by stomping. The sound drifted from one end of the room to the other, leading me to believe people were running around upstairs.

Then we heard popping sounds, one after the other. They sounded like fireworks. There was a lull before the noise erupted again, this time faster in succession, but I refused to allow my brain to convince me it was gunfire. Because that could only mean one of two things. Either someone was here, looking for us, or these men decided to get rid of everyone who knew we were here, killing members of their own club to keep us hidden away for as long as they wanted.

The latter didn’t make sense, but I was willing to grab on to that ill-conceived notion rather than the first. Hope was the only thing I had left, and it dwindled with each passing hour we were kept locked away inside this room, flitting away each time one of them laid their hands on me.

With my ears pricked, I listened for every little noise, fearing the door that hid me and Braylen from the rest of the world would burst open and we’d be sucked into whatever was happening.

“Where are they?” I heard someone yell, but I didn’t recognize the voice. I assumed they referred to us, but I couldn’t be sure.

“That’s your dad.” Braylen released her hold on me and struggled to get to her feet. Why couldn’t I recognize my own father’s voice? “He’s here.” She moved toward the door, pushing my hands away when I tried to hold her back. “Ryder.” Her voice came out as a loud whisper, but I feared the more she said his name, the louder she’d get, and I couldn’t risk them hearing. I’d been able to protect her from them so far, but I didn’t know how much more I could take. I feared that in a moment of weakness I’d let them choose her instead of me.

Heavy footsteps overhead drew my attention upward, my head moving when the sounds drifted down the stairs right outside this room. The door handle jiggled and on reflex I lunged at Braylen and pulled her backward, both of us falling to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

The bald guy with the birthmark on his face rushed in, wildly searching the space, finding us on the floor, terrified and clutching each other.

“They’re gonna regret coming to save you.” He reached for me and I screamed, but before he could get to me and haul me to my feet, another set of footsteps barreled down the narrow staircase, only this person now stood on the threshold of the room. When baldie made another move toward us, a deafening boom erupted, and his right shoulder jerked back. Then I heard another blast of a sound, this time his left leg giving way. He was on the ground ten feet from us, groaning in pain.

A large, shadowy figure filled the entryway of the small space, but I couldn’t make out his face, and I tore my eyes away, closing them as I heard him move