His Runaway Mountain Bride by Madison Faye

Two hours later, we were down at Mountain Steel Motors, packed into the office that looked out over the work floor. Stone who’d come and picked us up, was standing with his arm around Jackie. Next to him were Ax and Ryker. Oliver and Shepherd held court on one side of the room, and Ryker nodded at them.

“Captain America here was a little vague on the phone, but I hear you’ve been looking for me. You want to tell me how you knew where to find me?”

“We tracked you to Vegas,” Shepherd nodded. From talking to him, I knew that after his days as President of the Lost Devils, and before he came to start fresh on Blackthorn, Ryker had spent some time in Vegas running a garage.

“From there, we asked around and finally got looped into a couple of guys who used to know you down there.”

“Yeah?” Ryker growled. “Who, because some of the people who knew me in Vegas want me in the ground.”

“Roman Ford,” Shepherd answered. “Said he ran a garage down there with you.”

Ryker visibly relaxed a little and nodded. “Roman’s good people.”

“Yeah, well he wasn’t going to say shit and actually pulled fucking shotgun on us when we asked about you. But when we mentioned what we’re about to tell you, he alluded to you being up here.”

“Well, here I am,” Ryker growled. “So, let’s hear it.”

Lucy’s brother cleared his throat. “You used to roll in an MC called the Lost Devils, right?”

The whole room seemed to tense, and Ryker’s eyes flashed. I could definitely see his eyes wander to the drawer of the desk he was leaning against, where I was willing to bet, he kept a piece.

“Who’s asking,” Stone growled.

“You run with them too?”

“He said who’s asking,” Axe muttered, grinding his bearded jaw.

“Fuck me, so you’re not the only one that made it out, are you?” Shep nodded at Ryker.

I could see the tension hitting a boiling point in the room, so I stepped in.

“Shep, get to the fucking point.” I glanced at Ryker. “It could be nothing, but hear him out, man.”

Ryker nodded. “Fine. Spill it.”

“So, Oliver and I have been pulling some jobs for the Del Campo cartel down in Mexico.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Shep?” Lucy spat, glaring at her brother. He’d given us the quick version back at the cabin and had negated to mention working for one of the bloodiest fucking cartels in Mexico.

“Shep, Jesus,” I muttered. “The fuck were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about how much goddamn money I’ve been making working for them, actually,” he snapped back. “But listen, Jorge Del Campo, the big honcho, he’s really into boxing—the bloodier and more fucked up, the better. Dude’s got this whole league set up down there paying tough guys to beat the fuck out of each other for the crowds.”

“And this has to do with me how?” Ryker muttered.

“Well, the last time we pulled a job for these guys, we had more time than usual to kill down there. Jorge has us stay at one of his haciendas with a bunch of other lowlifes and invites us out to this big match he’s throwing. So, we go, and the main event is this fucking monster of a dude the whole crowd seems to know—some guy they’re calling ‘Hush-Hush’ since apparently, he can’t or doesn’t talk or something. Anyways, the guy comes out to fight a one-on-five match, no fucking joke, and basically puts all five of the other guys into the hospital. But here’s the thing, Oliver here…” He nodded at the Englishman, and Oliver stood up.

“So, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but I do know of or at least used to know of the Lost Devils.” He looked right at Ryker, who stiffened. “Years back, you boys did some work for some Irish associates of mine, with the Coughlin family.”

Stone, Ryker, and Axe all glanced at each other, and I definitely spotted the look that flashed between them as Oliver continued.

“I was in Dublin back then doing odd jobs, but I had some mates in the Coughlin family business who liked to get pissed and talk about the wild cowboys on Harley’s they knew here in the States.” He glanced at the three ex bikers. “You boys, that is. These guys had been to some sort of wild party of yours at your headquarters, and they had all these pictures of all the fun times they had. And you had your crest—”

“Patch,” Stone said quietly. “It’s called a patch.”

“Yeah, well, you had it painted up huge on the wall, yeah?”

The three of them glanced at each other again, their faces looking lined and dark.

“Get to the fucking point, boys,” Ryker growled.

Oliver’s eyes hardened. “Well I saw that patch again the night of that fight down in Mexico.”

The room went silent for a long few seconds until Stone stood from where he’d been leaning against the wall.

“What the fuck did you say?”

“The Lost Devil’s patch, I saw it.”

“Where,” Ryker hissed.

“Same place I’m seeing it now,” Oliver pointed at Ryker’s right arm, where his t-shirt sleeve was pushed up a little bit showing some of his older ink. And right there, you could see the old skull and roses patch of his old MC.

“You saw a Lost Devils tattoo,” Stone hissed.

“Yup.”

“On who.”

Oliver glanced at Shepherd, who cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest.

“On the cage fighter. We saw it tattooed on Hush-Hush.”

Stone swore, shoving his fingers through his hair as Jackie pulled close to him, holding him tight. Axe just glowered in the corner, looking like he was keeping something pent up inside.

Ryker looked pale as he shook his head. “That’s fucking impossible.”

“I know what I saw, mate,” Oliver said quietly.

“What’d he look like?”

“Big. Really, really fucking big.”

“Anything else?”

“I don’t think you’re hearing me mate. I mean big like a fucking monster.”

Ryker’s head yanked around to look at Stone and Axe, and the three of them paled like they’d just seen a ghost.

“Not possible,” Stone hissed. “He’s dead.”

“I thought both of you were dead too,” Axe said quietly.

The three of them had all managed to cheat death the night the rival MC had come in blasting and murdered their whole club. It’d taken years of hiding out separately before they all found each other again here on Blackstone.

“Seems we’re all harder to kill than people think,” Ryker muttered. He narrowed his eyes at Shepherd and Oliver. “This big monster have a tattoo of wings on his back my any chance?”

Oliver frowned. “Fuck me, no. This guy had a motorcycle engine inked there.”

Axe swore, and Ryker’s jaw tightened. “Fucking hell, it’s him. That was a test.” He glanced at his friends. “Bannon’s fucking alive?”

“Seems like he might be,” Axe grunted. “Fuck all if I know how though.”

“No one could’ve survived that,” Stone hissed. His hand touched his chest almost without thinking, and Jackie frowned as she hugged him tightly. Axe and Ryker had both avoided the massacre by happenstance having them away from the clubhouse when it happened. Stone though had been there. Somehow, he’d taken seven goddamn bullets and lived, which was fucking insane.

“You did.”

“Barely,” he said quietly, turning to wrap an arm around his wife. “And believe me, no one else did.”

“Well it seems Bannon did,” Ryker growled.

Suddenly, there was a screeching sound of tired outside. Ryker muttered and jumped over to the security cameras, but his shoulder loosened when he looked at the monitors. “It’s Vlad.” He punched a button to unlock the side door the garage. “I looped him in about the shit with the Marcello family earlier,” he said, just as the side door opened and a big bearded guy ran in.

Vlad was another of Blackthorn’s residents who lived way up on a remote ridge of the mountain with his wife Chloe. He’d actually helped out a bit with the Harry thing the last time I’d been here.

“We’ve got trouble,” the Russian growled in his thick accent.

Ryker scowled. “Shit, what is it?”

“Jessie, the guy who runs that motel out on route eleven called me. A bunch of guys not from around here in black SUVs checked in a few hours ago.”

Stone frowned. “Feds?”

I shook my head. “I’d know if it was.”

Vlad noticed me and nodded. “Mr. America.”

I rolled my eyes as Stone snickered. “It’s Captain… never mind.”

“Not Feds,” Vlad said. “Jessie said they all had Italian accents.”

“Fuck, Marcellos?” Axe growled.

Vlad nodded grimly. “I did a drive by, and yes. Illinois plates. Braun was with me on his bike, and we followed them out to the old airfield in Hunt’s Bend. It looks like they’re setting up shop in one of the old hangers there. Braun’s headed in for a closer look, but I wanted to get back here and let you—”

The thundering sound of a motorcycle outside the garage stopped him. But this time when Ryker glanced at the security monitors, he swore loudly.

“Fuck me, get the med kit!”

He bolted for the door, and the rest of us bolted right after him. I snagged the first aid kit and crashed outside just in time to see a guy wince as he half fell off his motorcycle. It took me a second, but I recognized Braun, who’d also helped out with the showdown with Harry that first time I’d come to Blackthorn. I swore as I jumped to help Vlad and Ryker take him off the bike.

“Fuck, bring him inside!”

We carried Braun back into the garage, where Jackie grabbed a big blanket and threw it over one of the worktables. Braun winced as we laid him down, but he shook his head.

“I’m good, really.”

“The fuck you are,” I growled as Stone slide his shirt open. There was bullet graze past a few of his ribs and another would up by his left shoulder.

“They just nicked me, I’m good. Seriously.” He looked up and grinned as he suddenly recognized me. “Oh shit, Captain America’s back!”

Ryker, Axe, and Stone chuckled in spite of all of it, and I sighed. “Not gonna get old, is it?”

“Nah,” Braun ginned.

“Well, nicking or not, you’ve lost some blood, man,” I muttered, grabbing some rubbing alcohol. “Deep breath.”

I splashed the alcohol on the wounds, and Braun hissed violently. He was right, neither of them were bad, but he could do with some stitches.

“Later, just patch me up for now.” He made a face. “And don’t tell Katrina, okay?”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “You know, I think she’s going to notice.”

“The fuck happened?” Ryker growled.

“Vlad and I tailed a few of them to one of the hangers out at the old airfield in Hunt’s Bend. I went in for a closer look and got spotted.”

“It’s the Marcello crime family, right?”

He nodded at me. “Yeah, and that’s a big fucking family, man. There’s like fifty or sixty guys up there.”

Shepherd frowned. “That’s a fuckload of manpower just for my sister. No offense, Goose.”

Lucy frowned, sidling up next to me. “None taken, and he’s right.”

Braun’s face hardened.

“They’re not just coming for you,” he growled, his eyes narrowing as he glanced at everyone. “Guys, they’re here for the whole fucking mountain.”

I stopped for a second as we all glanced at each other.

“What?” Axe growled.

Braun grimaced. “They got pictures up on project boards of a bunch of us, man. We’re all up there. You three,” he nodded at Axe, Ryker, and Stone. “Cormac, Dane, Landon, Caleb, Vlad, Austin, Dallas. Me. And there’s fucking dollar amounts under every single one of our names.”

Ryker growled lowly, shaking his head. “What the fuck?”

My jaw clenched. “It’s a hit squad.”

Braun nodded. “Yeah. It’s like they found every demon from our pasts who wants a piece of us or wants some revenge. There’s an army out there, man,” he growled at Ryker. “And they’re here for all of us.”

Ryker growled. “Fuck that. This is our mountain. This is our home and our families. And we fucking protect what’s ours.”

“Heard that,” Axe hissed. “So, we doing this?”

Ryker started to nod, but I shook my head.

“No, you’re not. There’s fifty or sixty of them?” Braun nodded and I frowned. “Then no. Fuck no. Look, I get the bravery and the protecting your own shit, but no fucking way. You all have families.”

“Exactly,” Ryker muttered.

“Families who need you and don’t need you to get killed tonight by a bunch of mafia shitheads. Look, pack your families up, and we’ll get the fuck—”

“Not happening,” Ryker growled. I started to scowl, but he shook his head. “Look, this place is our home, brother. From the outside, maybe it’s easy to say, ‘just leave,’ but we’ve all put down roots that run too deep here to just turn tail and run. None of us are going to give up like that. And besides, when you run from trouble, it just means it’s going to find you again.”

His eyes narrowed at me.

“I get the feeling you already know that though.”

Axe nodded. “We all appreciate the sentiment, Rowan, but we’re not leaving. We stay, and we end this bullshit here, on Blackthorn. Besides,” he turned and grinned at Lucy before looking back at me. “Something tells me you’re going to be sticking around, which means you’re family now too—Blackthorn family. And family sticks together.”

I swore under my breath, turning to glare through the windows out into the work area. I hated it, but I knew he was right. If I’d stayed in Lockton, and made that my forever home, and someone came to threaten it and the people I knew and loved? Fuck no, I wouldn’t be running away either. I’d be fighting, even if it was a lost cause. When someone shoves you, you can run and wait for them to shove you again later. Or, you can hit them the fuck back and stop it right there.

It was time to hit back.

“How many guys exactly would you say?”

Braun raked his fingers over his chin. “About fifty-two, all carrying sidearms, about twenty-five or thirty with assault rifles, a handful of shotguns in sight. Four guys doing sentry outside, but there may be more posted now after they spotted me. Ten civilian vehicles, and only maybe five or ten of the guys look like they’ve got military training.”

I arched a brow at the details, and Bruan shrugged with a grin. “Marines.”

“And for us,” Vlad grunted. “We have the eight of us in this room—”

“Nine,” Jackie muttered.

Stone started to frown and shake his head, but she shot him a cold look as she pulled a snub-nosed pistol out of her purse. “This is my home, too, and I’ll be damned if I let you go out there without me.”

He kept scowling, but I could see the slight grin in the corners of his lips.

“Ten,” Lucy piped up. She looked at me quick with a hard glare, as if daring me to say something. I just nodded. One, I knew fighting with that girl was never something I’d win, and two, she was a pretty mean shot.

“So, ten,” I growled. “Not great odds.”

“Thirteen,” Braun grunted. “I’ll call Austin and Dallas. They can be here in under an hour. And Dane should be around. Caleb and Landon would add some nice numbers, but they’re at least a day’s trip away.”

Ryker frowned. “Cormac?” He glanced at me and saw my lack of knowing who that was and grinned. “You’d like him, Captain. He used to be a lawman too.”

“I still am a lawman.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

I started to say something, but Braun shook his head. “No go on Cormac. He and Nina are on vacation in Florida.”

“So Thirteen against fifty-two,” I muttered. “Not fucking great.”

Shepherd and Oliver suddenly grinned and glanced at each other, and Ryker frowned.

“What?”

“Can you open one of these garage doors, mate?”

Oliver didn’t wait for answer before he ducked out the side door. Outside, we heard the sound of the pickup truck he and Shep had arrived in, and Ryker hit the button for the door. They pulled in, and Ryker shut the door again behind them as we all came out of the office to see what the hell was going on. Oliver grinned as he lowered the tailgate and popped the flip-cover over the back of the truck, and suddenly, we all stopped in our tracks.

“Holy fuck,” Stone whispered.

Axe whistled lowly as he walked over. “Is that—”

“Rocket launcher,” Oliver grinned. “I’ve got two of them.”

Two rocket launchers and a fucking arsenal. I mean half of the back of his pickup was stuffed full of machine guns, wooded crates marked “US Army: live ordinances” and a ton of boxes of ammo.

I arched a brow. “I don’t want to know where you guys got this shit, do I?”

Shepherd shrugged. “It fell off the back of a truck?”

Ryker chuckled. “I fuckin’ bet it did. Well shit, this’ll help.”

“Shit,” Jackie frowned, patting her pocket and turning to Stone. “My phone’s in the car, and I need to call Addison and see how Brooke is doing”. She smiled at Ryker. “We seriously owe your wife for all the babysitting she’d been doing the last few months while we opened The Pines.”

He chuckled. “Nah, we’re happy to help. Plus, Brooke and Kyrie are thick as freaking thieves.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll come with you,” Lucy smiled.

The two of them headed outside as the rest of us crowded around the truck.

“It’s still thirteen on fifty-two,” I muttered quietly, eying Ryker. “You understand that, right? This will help, but the raw numbers game sucks here.”

“Three-hundred Spartans held off three-hundred thousand Persians,” Axe growled.

“Which is fiction,” I hissed. “It’s an exaggerated story.”

“Well were there three-hundred thousand Spartans?”

I frowned, and Axe grinned.

“Three-hundred or three-thousand, they were still outnumbered as shit. But they were fighting for their home—”

Gunfire erupted outside, and my heart went cold. I roared as I charged for the door, gun out, with everyone else right behind me, and we tumbled out the side door just in time to see taillights screeching away.

That’s when I heard the screaming.

“No.”

The word fell from Stone’s lips as he practically flew across the parking lot to where Jackie was lying on the ground, her shirt soaked with blood. Axe and Ryker were right behind Stone, but Jackie gritted her teeth as she shook her head.

“It’s just my arm! It’s just my arm!” She tried to stand, but Stone held her down, pulling his shirt off and wrapping it around her wounded arm.

“Stay down,” he whispered, visibly shaking as he held his wife. She struggled, shaking her head as she tried to stand and make words. Slowly, I looked around the parking lot, and my entire world went dark.

“Where’s—”

“They took her!” Jackie finally gasped with a wince of pain.

Oh fuck.

“They took Lucy!”