“Has a shot been fired?” Allister asked, sarcastic as always.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
“Careful what you wish for, smartass,” Mac grumbled, stepping out long enough to shoot off several rounds.
“Is this the way it’s gonna be, boys?” a raspy voice called out to them. “Ya’ll gonna kidnap a young woman, hold her against her will, and expect her husband to just accept it?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, asshole. We don’t exactly give a damn what her ‘husband’ thinks!” Allister, always a showoff, stood up and fired two warning shots. He squatted next to Harley. “Your turn, little brother.”
“Like hell,” Mac said, pushing down on Harley’s shoulder and thrusting his own body high enough to fire again.
As Mac shot round after round, Ryan fired, too. Bullets soon ricocheted around them as the threats escalated.
“Don’t have to be this way, boys! No one has to die. No one needs to get hurt. We want my woman and if you give her to me, we’ll leave without further consequence.”
“Your woman?” A loud cackle resounded. “Not what she told me when she was down on her knees for me!”
“Who said that?” McCoy’s voice resonated around them.
“Was that Markie?” Mac asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“Sounded like him,” Harley said, cursing under his breath. Markie typically followed Draegan. What the hell was he doing out there?
“Since when has he let a woman go down on him?” Mac asked, reloading.
“As if that’s important right now,” Ryan muttered.
“Actually it is,” Nicholas said. “Why would he taunt a man with something like a lie when we’ve already tortured him enough with the facts.”
“Which are?” Mac stood up, took a shot, and returned to a squatted position again.
“We have the woman. And her ex knows we have her. That’s enough to piss him off, all things considered.” Nicholas pressed his back against the rear of the vehicle, leaned around the tailgate, fired twice, and returned to his original position next to the large back wheel. Return fire exploded around them.
Behind them, Trouble’s men covered them as they moved from one side of the vehicle to the other, popping off one round and then another, taking turns and swapping out weapons with Harley. His brothers were using him behind the scenes by keeping him out of sight.
Always their little brother, Harley probably wouldn’t fire the first shot if Mac and Allister had a say so in the matter. Allister’s original remark had been for show and nothing more. Harley was one of the best marksmen around and what was he doing?
Hiding.
There was no other way to put it. He had allowed his brothers to fight this battle while he’d stayed low and loaded their weapons.
Checking the chamber on a pistol, he confirmed the number of rounds he had in his own weapon and tucked it at his belt. He’d wait for the right time to end this thing, but he planned to end it. If they didn’t take out the leader there today, Trouble would face plenty of challenges in the coming weeks. Men like the McCoys didn’t hand over “their” women without a fight.
“Sugar, apparently you didn’t hear me. I said, ‘your woman was on her knees’ for me. Now why on earth’s soil would you want her now?”
“Markie! Enough!” Allister yelled.
“Where the fuck is that little shit?” Mac asked.
“Hi, doll.” Markie draped his arm over the back passenger window and wiggled his long fingers in their direction.
“You knew he was there all along,” Mac said.
“I didn’t,” Allister said. “Hell, last I heard, he was Draegan’s second skin.”
“I’d like to be his second layer, boys. You know me and Drae go way back.”
“Knock. It. Off!” Allister yelled, popping off a shot with each word.