Old Lady (Iron Disciples Book 2) (18 page)

“Don’t worry,” I say to her. “It’s just the delivery
man.”

She’s returns to her breakfast and doesn’t seem to
notice. I jump again when the second round of pounding starts. What the fuck is
going on here? I fish around in my pocket for my phone but I left it in my
purse in my room. Once at the door I holler loudly.

“Whoever the hell you are, get the fuck off my property
before I blow your head off!”

“Morgan, open the door now!”

Shit! It’s Cade doing the big bad wolf thing on my door.

“Quit your huffing and puffing!” I shout. “I’m coming.”

“Morgan there’s trouble. You gotta let me in.” He says
through my still closed door.

“This is not a good time Cade!” I shout. I’m trying to
shout just loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough to upset my aunt.

“There’s never gonna be a good time for what I’ve got to
tell you, now just open your damn door already!”

“Can you tell me through the door? I’ve got my aunt here
and you’re upsetting her.”

“Really? Now you bring your aunt here? Just let me in
please.”

I turn the lock and take the chain off the door; all
because he said the word please. I make to slowly open it but it just comes
flying open. I barely get out of the way without getting a face full of door.
In walks Cade carrying some kind of big handgun with what I can only assume is
a silencer. Immediately following Cade is another brother with what looks to be
some kind of sawed off shotgun. What the fuck is going on here?

The other guy whom I have never seen before closes and
locks the door, then grabs a chair from the dining room table and carries it
into the living room. He plops himself in front of the living room windows with
the shotgun resting across his knees.

“Is this really necessary?” I ask.

“How long do you and your aunt want to live?” He asks.

As we talk he proceeds to check every window and door
twice. I guess he’s making sure everything is locked down tight.

“Would you mind telling me what the fuck is going on
here?” I ask when he finally stops moving and returns to the living room.

“Is that your aunt in the kitchen?” He asks.

“Yes and unless you guys disappear soon it’s going to
flip her out. She has Alzheimer’s and is in the very advanced stages. She’s
almost never lucid and if you guys go parading around here it’s gonna freak her
out. You do not want to see her when she’s acting out.”

“I don’t what to tell you Morgan. I have to keep you
safe, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

“I have to admit, I didn’t expect to see you back into my
life so soon.”

“Well just because I’m protecting you doesn’t mean
anything between us has changed Morgan. You still ratted me out. I’m still
pissed. But I’m not going to let personal feelings keep me from my obligations.”

“Your obligations? That’s what I am to you now, just one
of your obligations?”

“I don’t know what you are to me anymore Morgan. Why
don’t you tell me?”

“Tell me first what’s going on here. Why’d you come here
nearly breaking down my door and posting a guard here in the living room?”

“My brother and I were betrayed by the Outkasts and the
Kings about an hour ago. Eddie and I went to our scheduled meeting and instead
two SUV’s loaded with soldiers showed up and tried to wipe of off the map.”

“Holy shit! Are you kidding me? Why did they attack you?”

“Hard to tell, but I got a theory about it. But right now
the whole club’s in lockdown. That means you pack and we get you and your aunt
to the compound. Man you sure picked a shitty time to play nursemaid.”

“Oh and I was supposed to know you were gonna almost get
your ass blown away and maybe waited to bring my aunt home? Sorry, we’re not
going anywhere.”

“Sorry, but I’m not asking.”

“You know what, you’re right. Let’s get packed. Could you
help me get my bags down? I don’t like balancing on stools especially when I
have a tall handsome man around.”

“Lead the way.”

Instead of going to my room I lead him to Auntie’s room.
A few moments ago I saw her leave the kitchen and head for her bedroom. This
should be good. I walk into the room and over to the closet without
acknowledging her presence. She however acknowledges us. The second she sees
Cade she launches into a very vocal protest.

“Who are you?” She asks Cade. Before he can frame an
answer she asks, “Who let you in my room?”

“I’m Morgan’s friend.” He says calmly. “She invited me
over. She’s told me so many wonderful things about you I just wanted to meet
the woman who raised her.” He says diplomatically.

“Well, you met me.” She begins. “Now you can leave.”

I could help bail Cade out here but I really don’t want
to leave here and I’m in no mood to make this any easier.

“Actually I’m also here to help pack. The City is doing
some work on their water supply and everyone is going to be without water for a
few days so I wanted to make sure you two got to a nice hotel.”

“Who are you?” She asks again.

“My name is Cade. I’m a friend of Morgan’s.”

My Aunt turns to me. “Are you my nurse today?” She asks.

“Um…yes. Yes, I’m your nurse for the next couple days.”
Better to play along with her I guess.

“What happened to Lucille and Gertie?”

I have no Idea who Gertie is. “They’re taking a couple
days off.” I reply.

“Well I want them back!” She announces.

“In a couple days they’ll be back.”

“No dammit! I want Gertie and Lucille back right now or
I’m calling the police.”

“Auntie…”

“Why’re you calling me that? The only one who gets to
call me that is my niece Morgan. My name is Mrs. Swift, and you’d do well to
remember that!”

Oh boy…it’s about to blow. Cade picks this moment to
assert his alpha maleness.

“Look Mrs. Swift, I understand that you’d like your other
nurses back and you don’t want to leave here but we have no choice. The police
will be checking every house in the neighborhood to make sure residents have
left. If you stay you’ll get a ticket. We’re just going to a nice hotel for a
couple days.”

She looks at him for a minute like she’s letting it all
sink in. Just as I take a breath and sigh in relief she explodes like a bomb
going off.

“Help!” She shrieks. “Help me police, there’s a strange
man in my house. Help…help…help!”

Right in the middle of her fourth help Cade’s friend pops
into the room with a grim look on his face.

“Hey brother,” he says to Cade. “A black van just parked
across the street from us.”

“Help!” Shrieks my Aunt.

“Shit!” Cade says. “What do you think?”

“Don’t know. They parked a minute ago and have just been
sitting there. The windows are tinted black so I can’t see shit inside the
van.”

“Strange men…help!”

“Okay…uh… get back there and watch them.” Cade hollers
above the din of my aunt’s voice. “If anyone gets out holler. Keep your finger
on that trigger and be ready.”

“Got it boss.”

If my aunt gets anymore worked up she’s gonna have a
stroke or something. I turn to Cade. “Get…the…fuck…out of here! Go protect us
from out there.”

This time he doesn’t argue with me, and he and his buddy
leave shutting the door behind them. I turn back to my aunt. She opens her
mouth to shout again, and then catches herself.

“Morgan, what are you doing here?”

Oh my god, this is completely crazy. “We need to go to a
hotel for a couple days Auntie. Some workers are coming to do some work on my
house so it’ll be impossible to relax or even sleep at night. My roof needs
replacing.”

“Your roof? But why am I here?”

“Morgan!” Shouts Cade from the living room. “We really
need to be getting out of here.”

“Working on it!” I shout back.

“Who is that yelling out there?” She asks.

“A friend who’s helping us.”

“If he’s helping, why’s he yelling at you?”

“It’s a long story Auntie, and we have to go now. I’ll
tell you when we get to the hotel.”

Suddenly Cade bursts into the room. “You gotta back door
in this place?” He asks.

His eyes are wide open and he’s got his gun in hand and
he looks like he’s ready for battle. Suddenly my heart is pounding and my
adrenaline starts to pump. I can’t say that Cade is scared…I don’t think he’s
ever been scared. He’s damn concerned, that’s for sure.

“Go through the kitchen and into the pantry. The door
there leads to the washroom and the backdoor to the backyard.”

Suddenly the other guy is shouting to Cade from my living
room.

“Door’s open Cade! Three…no four guys just hopped out.
They got guns!”

“Hold’em off long as you can brother! We’re bailing out
back.”

Suddenly the brother appears.

“We’ll try to circle around back and get you.” Cade
begins.

“No you can’t boss.” Cade’s buddy replies. ‘Just get the
fuck out of here. Take care of the ladies.”

“Shoot’em dead brother, shoot’em dead!” Cade replies as
he turns to follow us out of my kitchen.

Shit! That guy, who I don’t even know is going to give up
his life for me and my aunt. His blood is going to be on my hands, basically. I
don’t know what to think about that. I take my aunt by the arm in an effort to
hurry her out. Any second I expect to hear bullets flying by. At the pantry
door my aunt stops.

“Where’s Lucille? Why isn’t she here with us? Dammit
stop! We can’t leave without her.”

Now it’s
my
turn to lose my patience. I turn to my
aunt, putting more pressure on her arm to continue walking. “Lucille doesn’t work
for you anymore Auntie! She’s not here, she doesn’t work here, and
we
have to leave now!”

“I’m not going anywhere without Lucille!” She shouts.

“Dammit Auntie I-”

A sudden explosion of gunfire drowns out my voice. My
aunt’s eyes blow up to twice their size and her mouth drops open.

“What-” She starts to ask.

“Guns Auntie, those are guns, now let’s get the fuck out
of here before we get shot!”

Finally she gets the picture and I don’t have to help
her. She leads the way out. I open the back door shoving her out just as Cade
turns around and begins firing. We go stumbling out and into my back yard when
I realize a flaw to the plan. While I may be able to clamber over the fence, no
way my Auntie is going to be able to do that. We’re standing in the middle of
the yard lost in thought when Cade runs up.

“What the hell are you still doing here?” He shouts.

“No gate. We’re stuck!”

He looks around for a second, then runs over to the
nearest section of fence and gives it a mighty kick. Three kicks later and we
both squeeze through. Cade turns, squeezes off a half dozen more shots then follows
us out. He leads us alongside my neighbor’s yard then cuts down an alley. With
each passing second I expect to feel of a dozen bullets shredding my body.

“Wait right here. If I don’t come back in three minutes
you keep going and don’t stop until you’re safe.”

“Wait, what are you going to do?”

“Provide transportation.”

“Are you going to steal a car? You can’t take my
neighbors cars. They’re hard working-”

“Are you really going to argue this right now why my
brother’s getting his ass shot off for you?”

“Fine.” I shout. “But we don’t damage it and we bring it
back as soon as we’re safe.”

He runs off in the opposite direction towards the street
without answering me. I look at my watch. Three minutes…no problem.  I’m just
wondering if Cade’s buddy is still alive when I hear another burst of firing
back and forth coming from where I imagine the other man to be making his last
stand. I’m surprised he’s lasted this long. I’m momentarily lost in my own
gloomy thoughts when I hear tires screeching and a Toyota Prius rounds the
corner at the mouth of the alley and heads straight towards us. I experience a
moments panic wondering if Cade’s in the car or someone else when he screeches
to a stop and sticks his head out.

“Let’s go!” He shouts.

I grab Auntie by the arm and literally drag her to the
car. When I open the door she gets right in, much to my surprise and relief.
The second my ass hits the seat Cade hits the gas and we shoot down the alley.

“Where we going?” I ask.

“We’re going to try to pick up Ratface if he’s still
alive!” Cade shouts.

“Who the hell is Ratface?”

“He’s the guy who’s getting his ass shot off protecting
you now shut up so I can think here.”

I open my mouth to argue, and then decide it’s better not
to distract him. We’re still not out of danger. Cade pulls out of the alley and
onto the street paralleling the street my house is on. My aunt turns to say
something to me when we take a sharp left and she ends up in my lap.