Laura Kaye - Hard As You Can

“Take over, Charlie,” Jeremy said. “Sara, you have to come with me.”

Leaning against Becca and trying not to fall apart, Sara looked at Jeremy. “What? Why?”

“It’s not far. Shane will be there any minute. He thinks—”

Sara’s phone rang again. Shane. She picked up right away, walking with Jeremy even as she was confused about what they were doing.

“Sweetness, I need your help.” His voice rushed and deadly serious, Shane explained the plan. It boiled down to her as bait. “If there were any other way—”

“I’m glad to help, Shane. If there’s something I can do, I want to. I trust you to keep me safe. I’m with Jeremy. We’re going right now,” she said. The line disconnected.

Outside the gym, she dashed down the steps right on Jeremy’s heels. They crossed the lot to a dark green Jeep Wrangler. Soon they were racing through the run-down industrial neighborhood surrounding Hard Ink, but only went about eight blocks when Jeremy parked on the edge of the street along a mostly-fenced-in dirt lot belonging to some sort of supply company, by the battered sign on the fence. Train tracks ran through one section of the fence and into the yard. A row of mostly boarded row houses ran down the opposite side of the street. “What is this place?” she asked.

“A place for this asshole who harassed you to die. Nothing more, nothing less,” Jeremy said, reaching across the seat and squeezing her hand.

The rumble of motorcycles sounded out from nearby. Sara twisted in her seat and saw the first of the bikes come into view behind Shane’s big truck.

Sara climbed out of the Jeep and ran around the hood just in time to jump into Shane’s arms. They held each other for mere moments, when Shane put her down. “Gimme a second,” he said, then he turned to the Ravens. “Everyone out of sight. Half of you this way, half of you that,” he said, pointing down the street. “You all are the net in case the spider somehow crawls through us. No matter what, he does not leave the radius you establish.”

Agreements rang out over the sound of the motors, then all twelve bikes disappeared. Soon thereafter, the sound of their engine noises faded away, too.

“Head out, Jeremy. We got it from here,” Shane said. “And thanks.” Clearly unhappy to leave, Jeremy nodded, drove down to the next intersection, and turned out of sight.

“Say whatever you have to say to draw him out,” Shane said. “It’s going to feel like you’re alone, Sara. But you won’t be. You’re totally surrounded. The three of us have sniper training. We’ll take him out the moment we have a clear shot, you just stay back from him, so you’re not in the cross fire.”

“Okay,” she said, shaking from the cool of the night and the adrenaline barreling through her body.

Shane kissed her, then retreated to the truck. “This will be over quick, I promise. He doesn’t know what he’s walking into.”

As Shane drove away, a blast of panicky loneliness shot through Sara, but she shoved it away. She wasn’t alone. She knew it. And this could literally be the only way to get Jenna back. It was worth the risk. Because if Sara knew there was something she could’ve done to save Jenna but hadn’t, nothing else in life would ever make up for the failure.

In the distance, a pair of headlights slowly got bigger. Sara knew it was Bruno. This . . . this was the moment Sara had promised her father about. That she would take care of Jenna, no matter what. And she was doing it.

The thought stiffened Sara’s resolve and had her taking a few tentative steps away from the fence so Bruno would see her. But then she froze in place, feeling a lot like bullets might very well come whizzing by her head. She hugged herself as Bruno’s SUV came to a stop about thirty feet away.

As she made eye-to-eye contact with him through the windshield, Sara’s heart tripped into a hard sprint that she felt in her skin and her ears and her throat. She stood there, waiting, not sure what she was supposed to do.

Finally, Bruno flashed his lights and waved her toward him.

Sara took a few steps in his direction, hearing Shane’s voice in her head telling her to keep still. Did Bruno suspect something? Why didn’t he just come get her? And what about his end of the bargain to free Jenna?

Two more steps, and Sara froze and shook her head. “I want Jenna first,” she yelled.

Bruno frowned and yelled something inside the truck, but she couldn’t begin to make out any of it. She put her hand to her ear and shrugged to say she couldn’t understand.

Glancing around, Bruno drove closer, then rolled down his window about six inches and leaned his head toward the opening. She couldn’t understand the words that left his mouth because just then the side of his head exploded in a spray of blood. Sara was still trying to process that when Bruno slumped forward, then suddenly the truck revved and lurched toward her.

Was he still alive? Had he not died after all? Sara bolted to the right and darted into the open section of the fence where the railroad tracks cut into the yard.

A crash sounded out right behind her, the chain links unleashing a metallic rattle as the truck continued to rev and push into the fence.

Out of nowhere, Shane, Marz, and Easy closed in. Without a word, Shane pushed her behind a stack of railroad ties, then joined the others approaching the truck. Shane and Easy at the ready with their guns, Marz put his hand on the doorknob, then counted to three on his fingers and wrenched it open.

Easy and Shane braced as Bruno slid—as if in slow motion—and fell sideways out of the seat but then hung by his foot as if it were caught. A sickening crunch of bone rent the air, and for a moment, the engine revved louder. The guys jumped back from the truck as it fishtailed in the wet dirt. And then Bruno’s body fell free of the Suburban’s cab entirely, and the engine calmed to an idle.

Shane reached for the back door, and Sara took off from her hiding place, needing to know, needing to see with her own eyes. Had Bruno been lying all along? Did he not have Jenna with him? Had he sold or killed her after all? A sob tore from her chest, and it felt like she was running through quicksand.

Leaning into the backseat, Shane paused, then turned as if bearing a weight in his arms. Easy appeared right beside him. “Give her to me,” he said. “Take care of your girl.”

“Jenna! Jenna!” Sara cried, almost tripping into Easy and her sister. She stroked Jenna’s face, tears blurring her vision. Unconscious. Bruised. Bloody. And those were just the things she could see. But she was alive, and they were together, and Shane had done exactly what he’d promised.

Jenna’s eyes fluttered, and she groaned.

“Let me take her to the truck, Sara, okay?” Easy asked, staring at Jenna’s face. “Let’s get her home.”

“She’s alive, Sara. Just passed out. But she’s alive,” came Shane’s raspy voice from behind her.

Sara whirled and threw herself into Shane’s arms. “Thank you. Thank you. Oh, my God, thank you. You saved both our lives tonight,” she cried.

“No, sweetness,” he said, in a strangled tone as he held her more tightly in his arms. “I saved all three of us tonight.” The thunder of the motorcycles closed in again. “Come on, let’s go,” Shane said against her ear. He had a quick conversation with one of the Ravens, who offered to deal with the scene there so the men could get Jenna and Sara to safety. Shane thanked them and guided her to his truck.

“Get in,” Marz called from the driver’s seat, the engine already started.

Shane opened the back door for her and she climbed into the middle. Easy held Jenna on his lap like a gentle giant. Sara ran her gaze over Jenna, so damn relieved to see her again, and smiled at Easy as Shane climbed in beside her. He pulled her in tight against his side.

The truck took off into the night. Away from Bruno, away from the crisis, away from the threat of pain and death.

Emotion lodged a knot in Sara’s throat, and she tilted her face to Shane’s. “I love you so much.” A thought came to mind as if someone else had put it there, but Sara knew the truth of it to her very soul. Looking into Shane’s eyes, she said, “Molly would’ve been so proud of you tonight. I know I am.”

Shane’s breathing hitched, and he blinked toward the roof. He shook his head and met her gaze again. “I can’t lose you, Sara. Not after all this. Bruno’s dead. Confessions is gone. Nick’s team intercepted a huge cache of guns and the money that was supposed to buy them from Bruno, which is probably why he lost it. He knew it was over for him. So we crippled Church tonight.” Taking her face in his hand, Shane leaned in. “So please don’t run. Say you’ll stay with me. Say you’ll give us a chance. I love you, and things are different now. You don’t have to be afraid.”

Sara could barely process everything Shane was saying, especially because it was all so mind-bogglingly good. Confessions was . . . gone? Just like Bruno—that she’d seen with her own eyes. She shook the thoughts and the questions away. There would be time to take apart everything that had happened tonight and look at it piece by piece.

She looked at Jenna, needing to see again that her sister was really there beside her. And she was. Of course she was.

Shane had proven he could keep her and Jenna safe. A calmness settled over Sara that she couldn’t remember feeling once in the past four years.

Looking back at the man she loved, the man who had saved her in every way she could be saved, she knew.

What couldn’t wait a single second more was making her intentions clear to Shane. “I don’t want to run. I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to act, not anymore. I just want to be with you. Wherever you are, Shane, that’s where I belong,” Sara said.

The truck came to a pause, but Sara barely noticed because Shane smiled and pulled her in for a searing kiss. And though Sara knew everything wasn’t settled—not in her life and certainly not in Shane’s—she was okay with that because they were in it together.

His eyes blazed in the light of a streetlamp as he looked deep into hers. “That’s the best news I’ve ever heard, darlin’.” The truck moved again, the sound of gravel crunching under the tires. “We’ll figure everything out. I promise. For now,” he said, glancing out the window at Hard Ink, “welcome home.”

Sometimes a book takes you by surprise, takes you places you didn’t expect to go, and forces you into uncomfortable emotional spaces that are rewarding to endure. Shane and Sara’s story was like that for me. But I never could’ve given these characters everything they deserved without the help of a whole lot of people.

First and foremost, I have to thank my good friend, fellow author, and crit partner extraordinaire, Christi Barth, who once again went way above and beyond for me and the whole Hard Ink team. Her enthusiastic comments, biting criticism, good-natured ribbing for my sleep-deprived typos, and constant support strengthened this book in more ways than I can count. You deserve more than a T-shirt, Christi! You deserve a medal! Or a spa day!

Best friend and fellow author Lea Nolan also deserves a huge word of thanks. At crucial moments, she helped me plot out the book on a series of Panera paper napkins, now preserved for eternity in the bottom of my laptop case, and talked me down from stress-induced ledges. It’s a privilege to get to write with your best friend every day, and I’m so glad that’s you, Lea.

So many others stepped in along the way to offer guidance and encouragement, including: Stephanie Dray, my writing partner of awesome; Jennifer L. Armentrout, with whom I can lose a whole morning on the phone and not realize time has passed; crit group friends Joya Fields, Marta Bliese, and Laura Welling, who always cheered me on and offered comments on the early chapters of the manuscript; good friend Carolyn Locke, whose help at a few crucial moments was exactly what I needed; and, finally, my Heroes, the awesomest readers evah!

Of course, none of this would be possible without the support of and excellent editorial partnership with Amanda Bergeron, whose belief in me and the Hard Ink team is the stuff of which authors dream! Nor would this have been possible without the incredible support and sacrifice of my husband Brian and daughters Cara and Julia, who let me disappear into the world of Hard Ink with nothing but love and faith that I could do it.