Two days later…
Today was the day the leader of this faction of the Thorn was supposed to arrive at Shadow Camp.
Just before dawn, the WarLords, Ghost Riders, Winter and Traven were all hidden just outside of the Shadow Camp in the surrounding trees.
The plan was to surround the camp and using crossbows loaded with small bombs, they would hit the camp with them, all at the same time from different places.
Some of the men were in the trees and some of them would be on the ground, just out of range of the guns.
They all watched from the shadows as a vehicle arrived.
Four men got out of a vehicle and they knew Richard Birch would be one of them. He had come to collect his debt from Matt and Brady Snowden.
The group watched and from the surveillance Heathen and Joker had put in, they could hear it as well.
Matty and Brady actually came out of the main building to confront Birch and his two men.
“So?” Birch glared at the pair. “Do you have it?”
Matt spoke, “If you could just give us a few more—?”
“Fuck no!” Birch yelled. “You have no idea, kid. How big this is. I have bosses too, you idiot! I cannot let them find out that the men I had in charge of this operation, took the money and product for themselves!” Richard nodded to one of his big burly guards.
The man stepped out and shot Brady in the chest.
Matt screamed and pulled out a weapon then shot the guard.
Bullets started to fly.
Traven leaned over to Winter and said, “Maybe we can let them kill each other.”
Shots were fired form other directions. Apparently, the men with Brady and Matt knew it was them, or these men.
It became a war on the ground.
Birch and his guards went down, riddled full of bullets.
That was when Traven gave the order for his men to attack.
Arrows came from all directions as the camp men ducked down in the yard and tried to take cover.
Traven’s team started blowing everything up.
Matty pulled Brady’s body inside a metal warehouse.
The men in the camp couldn’t tell where the shots were or the arrows were coming from but they tried to shoot back.
Traven’s men didn’t let up. They sent in another round of crossbow bolts.
Traven turned to Winter, “Stay here and use the rifle. I mean this Winter. Stay here!” He turned and moved closer to the camp.
“Like hell, I will.” Waiting another minute as Traven moved away, Winter headed the other way. She knew all the ways into this place. She slowly made her way around the fence and slipped in. Crouching down, she moved over to see where Matt had gone in for cover. If anyone was going to shoot him, it needed to be her.
Suddenly, she saw movement at the metal door of the warehouse Matt and Brody were in.
Matt looked out of the warehouse door.
Winter gasped as she spotted a grenade in his hand. Her eyes met his.
Matty smiled very slowly and mouthed, “Meet me in hell, sis.”
Turning her head, she spotted Traven as he ducked bullets and came over beside her.
“Dammit!” he seethed at her.
She slapped her hand onto his mouth and pointed to where her brother stood. “He’s in the other armory!”
Traven’s eyes narrowed on him as he raised his watch and called for a retreat. He grabbed her arm and tugged her back
The team all started backing out of the camp.
Looking insane, Mat laughed wildly as he reached down to pull the pin. Then he raised his arm like he was about to throw a hard pitch of a baseball…only it was a grenade.
A single shot rang out.
Traven had moved them as far as he could and he dove down to the ground, bringing Winter down too, as he covered her with his body.
Traven raised his head to look around but couldn’t see who fired the shot.
When Matty fell with a bullet between his eyes, he let go of the grenade, then a few seconds later… a huge blast sounded out. Next, the building went up as metal flew and flames rose.
The ground beneath them rumbled and rolled as the explosion blasted the area.
Finally, after another moment, Traven rose up and brought Winter to a standing position.
When the smoke started clear, there seemed to be nothing left of Shadow Camp. Metal pieces and rubble littered the camp. There were bodies all over the place however. Traven looked around and yelled, “Who. In. The. Fuck. Pulled that trigger?”
“It was me!” Pepper yelled down from his perch in a tree nearby.
Traven looked over and marched to the tree, he was livid. “Get down here, now!”
Pepper was still pretty banged up, so he had to make his way slowly down.
When he got on the ground, Traven stared at him. “How did you get here? And why the fuck did you come? Don’t you know you were left behind for a reason?”
Pepper silently nodded to everything he had to say and then he leaned forward and said, “Yeah, I know all that, but aren’t you glad I was here in the end? Matt saw his sister and he was going to make sure she didn’t live.”
Winter grabbed Traven’s arm. “He’s right. He did intend to take me with him to hell, he’d said. He was about to lob that grenade straight at me.”
Traven took a moment to calm down as he released a long breath. He finally gave a nod to Pepper but he still didn’t speak to him. Then he turned to look at Ace and the Warlords.
Ace wiped soot from his cheek and met Traven’s gaze. “We got them.”
“Yes, we got most of them,” Heathen spoke up as he rushed over with a laptop in his hands. “I caught this on surveillance. It is actually from last night.”
They watched the short video as four men, did in fact get into an SUV at the back of the camp. One of them was in a suit and the other looked like guards. They made their way out.
Ace sighed and stepped back. “Well apparently, someone important got away.” He pulled out his cell and tapped the screen.
His brothers gathered close as he put it on speaker.
“Montross here,” the man replied over the cell.
“Yeah, it’s me Ace.”
“What can I do for you, Bridges?” Shay asked.
“You can tell me if you have ever heard of the Black Thorn.”
All they could hear was Shay’s growl from the other end.
Deuce nodded knowingly at the growl like that was just the response he’d expected when they finally told Shay. Then he looked over at Joker and held out his hand.
Joker look disgusted, then passed a twenty to him. “Damnit! A growl? How the fuck did you guess that?”
King and Jack watched them and shook their heads as they grinned.
Traven pulled Winter away from the men. He needed to have a little talk with his little flame.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he tugged her through the trees.
Finally stopping, Traven held her arms with his hands and gazed down at her. “I had told you to stay in the damn trees with your rifle. Why can’t you do what I say?”
Peering up at him, she bit at her lip. “Sometimes, I will?”
He shook his head.
She brought his face back to hers with both her hands. “I promise. From now on, I will do what you say.”
He looked into her eyes and scoffed. “I sincerely doubt that.”
She giggled. “Well, I know a recipe for barbeque ribs that is to die for? It was all the rage at Red’s.”
He shook his head. “I got a woman who can shoot, knows jujitsu and she cooks. But she just can’t damn well behave.”
“Well, since I let you live, you should be grateful.” Her green eyes sparkled.
Traven paused as he stared at her then tipped his head back to laugh loudly.
Winter grabbed his face and kissed his laughter away.
