Give Me War - Kate McCarthy Page 0,45
this?” Mitch asks, and she flinches at the pain in his voice. “After what Gabriella went through. Now you?” He looks sick. “Why?”
“This is not your operation, Mitchell Valentine. I’m not obligated to tell you anything.”
“Frankie …” That nickname right there is enough to acknowledge some kind of history between the two. His expression hardens. “You’re coming with us.”
Rage explodes across her face and she steps right up in his space. “How dare you! You don’t what’s at play here, Valentine. Or what’s at stake.” Her eyes fall to Renny with a pained expression before they encompass all of us. “I need to get back. I only brought Renny out because there’s a damn biker war going on and the paramedics aren’t authorised to get through until it’s safe.” Her eyes flit to me. “Take care of him for me, please?”
I nod and resume my shift to Renny’s side as the paramedics work at stabilising him, but my eyes continue to flick between him, Mitch, and the blonde undercover biker.
“Frankie,” Mitch growls and grasps her arm.
She spins, flinging him off. “My god, you have no idea what you’ve done here today.”
“What we’ve done?” Jared interjects. “They kidnapped my goddamn wife!” he bellows. “They threatened her, abused her, terrorised her, and fucking wrapped her in explosives! We did what we had to, which is more than I can say for you.”
Angel shakes her head. Or Francesca as it seems to be. Frankie, even. “You played right into their hands.”
Worry for Renny has me crouching low, touching a hand to his brow, but Angel’s accusation throws me for a loop. When I look up, Mitch’s face is hard, and he looks pissed at her riddle. “Explain yourself.”
“It’s Rider you should have been watching for,” she hisses. “He needed Grudge out of the picture so he could step into his place, only he can’t just shoot the man himself. His brothers would kill him for it. Don’t you see? He was the one who gave you the co-ordinates for this tunnel. He attacked you at the house,” she says to Jared, “so Grudge would have time to escape, knowing full well you’d find him at the other end of it. Grudge has always been vocal about how he’d rather be dead than jailed. It’s common knowledge. The only way he’d let anyone take him was with a bullet to the head, and that’s exactly what he got.”
My brother-in-law throws up his hands, frustrated. “That’s what it’s like with the Vipers. You cut the head off the snake, and another one grows in its place. We knew this would happen.”
“You don’t know anything! You have no idea the magnitude of what this means.”
I shoot to my feet, unease swirling through my insides. “What does it mean?”
Her eyes come to me before shifting back to Mitch. “The King Street Boys. They never disbanded after Gabriella died. Some of the gang were jailed. The rest simply went underground. And Eli,” she says, referring to the gang leader and the man who shot Gabriella, “might be languishing in prison, but he’s got money, and he’s partnered his boys with Rider. With Grudge now out of the picture, they’ll be joining forces and coming for retribution. All of them.”
The silence is deafening.
“I’m the only one left on the inside.” Her eyes plead with Mitch to understand. “I need to get back.”
Mitch tips his head back, muttering a harsh expletive to the sky.
“Why would they do that?” I interject. “They killed Gabriella. And if what you say is true, Rider will be happy to learn Grudge is dead. Why would they want retribution for that?”
“Because the Vipers don’t know Rider is behind it. He’s obligated to arrange payback.”
Mac steps in. “And Eli?”
“The Valentines’ killed his brother. Ostracised him from his father. You took away his family and put him in prison. He’s been plotting this since the moment you put him away.”
Mitch shifts close to Angel, lowering his voice. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
She looks up to meet his eyes. “The same reason I’ve never come to you for anything.”
He trails fingers over the exposed Viper tattoo on her hip before his hand falls away. “I can’t let you go back, Frankie.”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
“Don’t make me pull rank on you.”
“You could try, but we both know it won’t work. I’ve given this operation everything, and I’m the only one close enough on the inside. I’m the only one who can stop this.”
“You don’t have to