The blast was deafening when Ghost pulled the trigger, the recoil slamming into his shoulder. He got a look at the van where the fire was coming from as he and Griz both dropped back down.
“Death Heads?” Ghost asked.
“Gotta be,” Griz replied. “Guess they’ve moved on from the capture plan to the kill plan.”
“Jesus Christ.”
A second later the glass above them exploded, and a projectile went skidding across the floor. It spun in a crazy circle, and Ghost’s heart stopped as he saw it was a grenade. His eyes connected with Griz, and they both dove into the side hallway.
The explosion was deafening, a white flash searing through the air. When the percussion faded, they both staggered to their feet. Half the back wall of the clubhouse was gone as was the ceiling to the second floor.
There was debris everywhere, some of it smoldering.
Ghost scrambled across it, clawing his way to the other side of the pool table. Both Boo and Jessie were lying on their stomachs, Boo covering her, protecting her, half buried under the debris.
Ghost scrambled to dig them out, with Griz stumbling up to lend a hand.
“Jessie! Jessie, are you okay?” Ghost shouted frantically, his own voice sounding deaf in his ears. All he could hear was a large roaring noise. He clawed his way through the debris and everything seemed in slow motion. He couldn’t lose her. Not now.
Griz pulled Boo off her, and Ghost rolled Jessie over to her back. She began to cough, and he grabbed her up hugging her to his chest.
“Thank you, Lord.”
She pushed back on him. He watched as her lips moved, and he knew she was saying something, but with his hearing messed up by the explosion, he couldn’t hear a word.
He studied her, his eyes moving over every inch, checking to make sure she was okay. He determined she must have had the wind knocked out of her. Her forehead was cut, blood oozing from it, but it didn’t appear too deep.
“You okay, baby?” he asked, cupping her face and brushing her hair back.
Finally, his hearing started to return. Slow at first, like the sounds were coming down a long tunnel. But he could make out the words, distorted as they were.
“I’m okay. Are you hurt?”
He shook his head. “I’m good.
Griz was rousing Boo, who was moaning, holding his head.
“You took a blow to the head by that two by four, Boo,” Griz told him.
“Fuck, that hurts.”
Jessie pulled at Ghost’s vest. “Tink and Hammer! They’re outside.”
Griz looked at Ghost. “Blood and Yammer, too. Let’s go.”
Ghost looked back at her. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. They may need help.”
The two of them moved toward the door, but the men were already tearing in through the rubble, trying to see if they were hurt.
“We’re all okay,” Griz shouted to them.
“Tink. Is she okay?” Jessie asked, looking up at Blood.
He squatted down in front of her. “Yeah, babe. Hammer’s with her. She’s fine. Are you okay?”
“I think so.” Her eyes took in her arms and legs, looking for wounds. Then they moved to Blood. “You’re bleeding.” He glanced down.