Predators MC: Stand Off Part 21

"Lock and watch the door."

Rafe went back to the front of the building.

"Ten more minutes," the little weasel reminded X. He reached down to grab a handful of Casey's hair, jerking her face upward. "You stupid b.i.t.c.h, the Predators weren't the only one willing to pay for my help, the Bandits and I have had this planned for weeks. We had this arranged for next weekend, but you firing me made us step our plan up before you could delete my codes."

"You didn't have to shoot Jack."

The security guard was leaning up against the cashier station with blood coming from his shoulder.

Lonnie shrugged. "I never could stand him, anyway. I fooled everyone but him. He was constantly watching me."

"You didn't fool me, either. I knew you were dirty. No one kissed more a.s.s than you."

Casey's words enraged Lonnie. His foot struck out, kicking her in the stomach. She huddled over, gasping for breath.

"You think you're a big man, kicking a woman? Let's see how brave you are with a man."

Lonnie turned to Max with a hate-filled expression that quickly turned to alarm when Max pulled his hands free and grabbed Lonnie's legs, jerking them out from underneath him. The sound of a loud, meaty thunk sounded through the bank when his head hit the tiled floor.

Then all h.e.l.l broke loose.

Chapter 21.

Casey found herself jerked to her feet by Jackal.

"Get her behind some cover," Max yelled.

Casey saw Max stand, pulling his gun from behind his back and firing at X as he ran to jump over a low wall. His gun came up to fire back at Max and shattered her gla.s.s wall as Max dove behind her desk.

Jackal shoved her back behind the cashiers' booths, jerking his gun from behind his back then firing at the men guarding the customers who were frantically trying to escape the bullets flying around the room.

"Stop shooting! Someone's going to get killed!" Casey screamed.

Jackal lowered his gun, reloading it. "They don't plan to leave anyone alive. That's why none of them are wearing masks," he snarled.

It had never entered her mind that the men would brutally kill them all whether they cooperated or not. Her frantic gaze searched for Gianna and her other employees, wanting to make sure they were okay. Many of them had managed to make it to the break room which had a steel fire door. Casey gave a relieved breath, seeing her friends were safe. The only ones still exposed were Jack and the police officer who had tried to block a bullet aimed at her.

"We have to help them!"

"If we try to get to them, we'll be sitting ducks," Fade said, taking a shot at one of X's men.

Casey tried to scoot behind Jackal, attempting to crawl close enough to Jack to drag him behind some cover.

"Stay still." Jackal jerked her back as a bullet tore through the wood by their heads.

"f.u.c.k!" Jackal muttered. Taking her arm, he dragged her backward to a door. Casey felt the carpet burning her skin as she was pulled along the carpet. "If we get out of here alive, I'm going to kill Max myself."

Fade dived headfirst into the back room as two of the Bandits came around the side of the booths.

Casey screamed as she was roughly shoved through the doorway with Jackal falling on top of her. Fade slammed the door closed. The sound of bullets. .h.i.tting the door had Casey placing her hands over her head.

"This door isn't going to hold them for long."

"If we can get to the vault room, we'll be safe in there as long as Lonnie doesn't wake up," Casey said shakily.

"Lead the way, then. Another minute and we're all dead if they get inside." Fade flinched as another round of bullets. .h.i.t the door.

"Go now!" Jackal yelled when the gunshots stopped.

The three of them crawled along the floor toward the vault room where Casey rose to her knees to key in the code to open the metal door. Once inside, they slammed it closed. The vault light was blinking green, so Casey hastily placed her hand on the lit screen, and the metal door slowly started to open.

"Thank G.o.d!" Casey said, jumping up to run inside as they heard kicks on the wooden door from the room they had just crawled from.

"Don't thank him yet! How do you close this motherf.u.c.ker?" Jackal snapped.

Casey ran to the vault door, reaching for the handle then slamming the door closed, enclosing them inside. They were safe for now. Even if Lonnie regained consciousness, it would take thirty minutes to reset the timer.

Casey fell to her knees, trying to slow her frantic breathing. "It can't be opened for thirty minutes. By then, the police should be here." Casey saw the two men stare at each other.

"What?"

"You think Max has time for the cops to get here?"

Casey swallowed in fear. Max was still out there, and he didn't have a metal door protecting him from the bank robbers. She stood up, going for the display board by the metal door, beginning to key in the override sequence.

"What are you doing?"

"We have to help Max!" she screamed at the two men.

Jackal's arm went around her waist, pulling her away.

"Stop! We have to help him!" Casey fought against him like a crazy woman. Her nails cut into his arm around her waist. When that didn't work, she managed to lift his arm enough that she could bite down on one of his hands.

"Dammit!"

Casey felt a hand go to her neck as she continued to struggle frantically, and her vision quickly began to dim. Whimpering, she tried to keep fighting.

"I have to help him..." she pled to the merciless face that was staring down at her.

"Max would kill us if you were hurt. Sorry, but you're not going to open that door." Jackal's face tightened into a merciless mask.

Casey tried one last time to escape his hold, but her legs gave out as the darkness spread through her consciousness...

Max fired his gun, trying his d.a.m.nedest to hit X. The son of a b.i.t.c.h managed to avoid being struck by the flying bullets. When he saw KC run toward the cop lying on the floor, Max stood, giving him cover as he dragged him into Casey's office behind the desk.

"You crazy f.u.c.ker, what in the h.e.l.l are we going to do now?" KC scooted next to him.

"Beats the f.u.c.k out of me. Just try to get out of here without getting your head blown off!"

"That's what I was trying to do."

"KC, I'm going to kill your a.s.s, traitor!"

"Guess they figured out I'm not with them anymore." A bullet hit the phone on Casey's desk, shattering it into bits of plastic.

"You think?" Max stated sarcastically.

"s.h.i.t." KC aimed and fired at one of the Bandits who had gotten brave and was attempting to get closer. He fell to the floor, a bullet hole through his gut. "Never could stand that son of a b.i.t.c.h!"

And everyone thinks I'm the crazy one, Max thought.

Two more tried to get closer, but he and KC both fired, making them retreat.

"I have to get out of here before the cops get here."

KC had been the only one smart enough to put a bandana across the lower portion of his face.

Max used his foot to slide Casey's chair closer. "Cover me."

Max waited a second for KC to begin firing a spray of bullets before standing and picking the chair up, smashing it through the bullet-ridden window to the outside.

"Get your a.s.s out of here!" Max shouted, dropping back down behind the desk.

"I'm not going to leave you!"

"Go! I'm going to be right behind you," Max lied.

KC didn't argue, taking a flying leap out of the window. Max saw him hightail it across the parking lot.

The cop lying on the floor next to him groaned in pain, regaining consciousness.

"Lay still." Max pulled him closer to his side, seeing X trying to crawl through the bank to get closer. Two others were coming at him from different directions.

"Motherf.u.c.ker!" Max fired at the one who was almost on him then shot again to make sure he wouldn't be getting up. Nothing happened; he was out of bullets. Reaching down, he slid the knife he had in his boot out. If he was going to die, he was going to take at least one more with him.

The sound of crunching gla.s.s had him jerking around to see Ice, Buzzard, and Stump coming through the window.

Ice handed him a gun then took another from behind his back.

"Where's Jackal and Fade?"

"They made it to the back of the bank with Casey. Everyone else managed to get to a room at the side of the bank," Max quickly filled them in.

"I'm going to kick your a.s.s for this, Max."

"No s.h.i.t," Max answered, finally getting a bullet in X's shoulder, but it didn't stop him. At least he was backing off to try a different tactic.

The sound of the police bullhorn from the outside heralded the first time that Max could remember he was glad the cops had arrived.

"How are we going to let them know we're not the ones who started this c.r.a.p-fest?" Buzzard looked at Ice for the answer that would keep them alive.

Ice took his cell phone out of his pocket. "Never thought the day would come that I'd have to call the cops to explain myself," Ice said ruefully, making the call.

Max listened as Ice told the dispatcher that Max had come into the bank and seen the robbery in progress then taken defensive action.

Max knew the dispatcher was questioning Ice about the cop lying on the floor when Ice's cold gaze flickered to the unconscious man.

Max answered his unspoken question. "He's alive."

Ice relayed the information. "We're not putting our guns down. Your men can come in the side window. We'll cover them. Lady, if we put our weapons down, we'll be dead before they can get their a.s.ses in position." Ice released a frustrated breath before hanging up. "Not only are we in a standoff with the Bandits, but thanks to you, Max, we're in one with the cops."

"Could be worse," Max said, shooting another round off.

"How the f.u.c.k could it be worse!" Ice snapped.

"I could be dead." Max gave his president a s.h.i.t-eating grin. "We've been wanting to give these p.u.s.s.ies the treatment for a while. Now's our opportunity."

"I don't mind killing the f.u.c.kers. I just didn't want to do it with the cops at our back. One of these days, I'm going to kick your a.s.s, Max," Ice threatened.

"Can you do it later? I have four f.u.c.kers after it now. X is p.i.s.sed off I put a stop to his withdrawal."

Max leaned to the side of the desk, trying to find someone to shoot as the Bandits had all found hiding spots and were lying low. The constant blaring from the police outside was getting on his nerves.

"I'm going to go outside and shove that bullhorn up his a.s.s if he doesn't shut up." Max shot someone's foot that was peeping out from behind an overturned bench.

He smiled evilly when a loud scream filled the lobby.

"He won't be doing any running anytime soon." Buzzard laughed, shooting at the bench.

"Let's get this s.h.i.t-fest over." Lifting his gun, Ice fired a round into the gla.s.s part.i.tion between Casey's office and the one beside it. "Get ready. Stump, you go through there. You should be able to hit the one behind the teller's desk. I'm going after X. Buzz, you take the one behind the bench. He might not be able to run, but he can still shoot."

"What do you want me to do?" Max asked.

"I want you to get him out of here. The cops won't shoot at you if you're carrying one of their own."

"I'm not going to miss taking X out."

"Do what I tell you to do." Ice's sharp voice let Max know he didn't want his orders questioned. "If he dies, the cops will have us all up on charges. None of us can carry him. He's almost as big as you. Try not to get him shot on the way out."

"Then make f.u.c.king sure you watch my back." Max crawled closer to the downed officer, readying himself.