Betrayed: Military MC Romance (Hell's Fire Riders Book 2) (2 page)

Trudy knew she wasn’t going anywhere until they had their answers. Answers she didn’t want to give them.

A single set of footsteps came up behind her. They belonged to the biggest man here. She turned and stared at Dewey. He motioned for her to sit again, and Trudy moved back to the table.

“Dewey,” Stone finally spoke up. “What the hell is this all about?”

“That’s what we’re about to find out.” Dewey told him. “But to catch you up, when we were fighting in the sandbox, we had to come up with a way to communicate that only we knew. Too many of our messages were getting decoded by the enemy and we were black ops. We couldn’t afford our messages to get caught up in enemy hands.” He turned to look at Trudy. “She decoded a message from one of my men. A man we thought had died by enemy hands.”

“Well shit.” Stone growled.

Chapter Two

W
hen Dewey sat down beside her he asked, “Tell me more about this chat room again.”

Trudy shrugged. “The chatroom was only a place to hold a private conversation.”

Slowly one by one the others came to sit with them. Parker sat across from her and held out his hand. When Trudy hesitated then took it, she wrapped his fingers around hers. Dewey frowned at the gesture and Parker explained, “She has a thing about being around bigger guys. It freaks her out.”

“So tell us about the conversation you had with Wyatt,” Dewey said quietly.

Upon hearing his name, the others exploded in protest.

Parker’s fingers tightened. “Are you sure it was Wyatt?”

Dewey nodded.

“Damn, he made it,” Parker whispered. Turning to Trudy he asked, “Is he here? Back in the states, I mean?”

Trudy shrugged. “I’m not sure. For all I know, he could be anywhere in the world.”

“What did he say?” Dewey pressed.

Trudy reached for her pack and took out a couple pieces of paper. Handing them to Dewey, she waited for him to read it.

Dewey scowled down as he read the words written there. When he finished, he passed the pages to the men behind him. He got up and went over to the main doors. Looking out over the compound, he didn’t see what was there. In his mind, he was back in Iraq remembering the day everything went to hell for him and his team. One man died a horrible death, he himself was injured, and two other men were missing. Sand and dust from the explosion still lingered in the air.

Before his mind sank further into bad memories, Dewey turned and went back to the table. Glaring at Trudy, he snarled, “I need to find this contact of yours. I need to know for sure if he is who I think he is.”

Trudy leaned away from the hostility in his voice.

Dewey grimaced at the fear on her face. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He gritted through his teeth.

Trudy swallowed hard. “I know that up here.” She tapped her head “But here, she brushed her chest. “I still feel the fear. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Someday, you’ll tell us why that fear is there but for now, just know you are safe.” He turned his head and stared at his men. “Colten, I need you to find her contact, if you can. I don’t want to wait all damn day.”

Colten got up and went over to a large metal desk in the corner. Opening the computer, he began to type. A few minutes later, he began to swear. Turning toward the other table, he announced, “We have a problem, boss.”

Dewey stood and walked over to him. “What kind of problem?”

“I can’t get in the chatroom she used.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a member’s only kind of place. She needs to use her call sign and password to get us in there.”

Trudy joined then and signed into her account.

When Colten went to her private chatroom, he did a search for Wyatt’s call sign but didn’t get far. After a few frustrating moments, he turned to Dewey and shook his head. “This isn’t working. I can’t find any trace of him. It’s like he never existed.”

Dewey stared at the computer for a moment then turned to Trudy. “Why can’t he find him?”

Trudy shrugged. “One of the features of the chat room we went to is privacy. Whatever you chat about is erased as soon as you sign out. It’s a perk for those who know how to use it. You may meet someone and have a conversation with them but there is no record of it anywhere.” She motioned at the pages lying on the table. “That’s why I printed out the conversation we had last night. It’s the only copy anyone has of what was said out there.”

Dewey sighed. “Can you help us find him?”

Trudy hesitated. Turning she went back to the table and picked up her laptop. Bringing it back to the desk, she sat down and began typing.

Dewey watched her fingers fly over the keyboard. Colten studied her method of searching and was amazed at her programing. She only paused briefly when he laid his arm on the back of her chair to watch her monitor over she shoulder as she went from place to place.

Twenty minutes later, she paused in her search and sat back. “I found where he was last night. I don’t know if he’s still there or not, but he met me at that address.”

Dewey leaned forward and studied the map on her laptop. It was an address in Port Arthur, another town not too far from Sabine Pass. “Can you make contact with him?”

“I can try. If he’s online, he’ll get it, otherwise he might not.” She went back to the keyboard and began typing.

“He might not respond if he’s waiting for the meet at six,” Colten reminded him. “He might not trust that it’s us and not someone looking for him. He said in the message he felt his life was in danger.”

Dewey nodded. “I have to take that chance. Maybe he’ll recognize the message is coming from her and respond anyway.”

Colten got up and wandered back to the table where the rest of the guys were sitting. He glanced over at Parker. “What do you know about her?”

Parker shrugged. “Not all that much. She’s a friend of my sister, Janet. Why?”

Colten barked out a laugh. “You all know I’m pretty good on a computer right?”

They all agreed.

“Well, I’m still learning, compared to her.” He shook his head. “Hell, I watched her search for Wyatt and still don’t know what she did to find him. She was going to places so fast, I couldn’t keep up.”

Dewey joined them a moment later. He was grinning. “He made contact. It was Wyatt. He’s still alive. He said he would meet us in two hours. She gave him an address of a safe place she knows in Port Arthur. We’re going in there first to make sure there isn’t going to be any trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Another of them asked…Danny Sheridan.

Dewey turned to gaze at his men. These were the same men under his command in Iraq. They knew Wyatt and what happened that day over a year ago. “Wyatt wouldn’t say anything online, but he’s running scared.”

“That doesn’t sound like Wyatt,” Cade Martin chimed in.

Dewey agreed. He looked at the faces of his team in front of him. Danny Sheridan, Cade Martin, Colten Ragden, Parker Wayne, and Jake Gannon. “None of us know what he’s been through or where the hell he’s been for the last thirteen months. He hinted at something bad coming our way, but he didn’t say what it was. He said he would tell us face to face. He did however, make me verify who I was, so I know the info he’s got is worth it.”

They turned to watch Trudy walk toward them. She had her laptop under her arm and looked anything but happy.

Parker glanced at Dewey then looked over at Trudy. “What’s wrong?”

Trudy glared at him then jerked her thumb at Dewey. “The jackass lied to me. He has no intention of letting me leave.”

Dewey turned to her. “I can’t let you leave yet. I’m sorry but until I know more about what’s going on, it’s best you stay with us.”

Trudy didn’t say anything, instead she went over to the other side of the table and sat down. Parker reached over and touched her arm. Trudy jerked away and glared at him. He pulled away. “I’m sorry. I know he said you could go but he’s right, until we know more it would be best if you were with us. If this all goes to shit, we can and will protect you.”

Dewey rubbed is hands over his face. “It’s only until I know what’s going on. Then I’ll be more than happy to watch you go but until then, you’re stuck here.”

“Fuck you and your promises. They don’t mean anything anymore,” Trudy grumbled.

“Let’s get on the road. I want to check out the meeting place,” Dewey ordered his men. “We’ll leave as soon as you get your gear.”

Everyone dispersed, each of them going to where they had stored their gear. Dewey, Stone, Stone’s men and Trudy were the only ones left in the shop.

Dewey walked over to a group of lockers next to the desk. Opening one, he grabbed the small duffle bag on the bottom and hauled it out. Laying it on the table, he opened it. There were a number of small weapons and several boxes of ammunition in it.

He reached inside the locker and brought out a Kevlar vest. Putting it on, he wrapped the Velcro in place, then grabbed a dark colored button down shirt. Putting it on over the vest, he unzipped his pants and tucked the tails in. Going back to the table, he grabbed an ankle holster from the bag and tied it around his left ankle. Next, he hooked another holster to the back of his belt. Grabbing a weapon, he checked the slide and the clip then shoved it into the holster. Even with all those weapons, he took out a shoulder holster, wrapped it around his broad shoulders and checked two more weapons before he put them under each of his arms.

“Got enough guns?” Trudy asked snidely.

“If I need them, I’m glad they’re there. So will you, if I need to save your skinny, little ass.” Dewey zippered up the bag and took it back to the locker. Then he grabbed something from the top shelf and went back to the table. In a small box he had several small ear pieces, complete with an attached microphone. Taking one out, he fitted it to his ear and clipped a small battery pack to his collar.

One by one the other men joined them and they each took an ear piece and clipped it to their clothing. They all wore dark clothes. When they were ready, Dewey led them all to the other building beside the shop. He ushered Trudy to one of the trucks inside and when she got in, he joined her.

“Do you need help with this?” Stone asked.

Dewey shook his head. “No, stay here and be on the lookout for trouble. If someone followed her here, we need to know.”

Stone nodded and stepped back.

The caravan of vehicles left the compound at the same time. Trudy didn’t feel right about leaving her dogs behind but Dewey locked them up before she could say anything. She was still mad about not being able to leave so it was a quiet trip to Port Arthur.

Once they got to the city, she gave him directions to the meeting place…an abandoned commercial building on the lower side of town. The outside of the building didn’t look like much the windows were all blacked out and surprisingly, still intact.

She reached inside her jacket pocket and brought out a clicker. The clicker opened one of the huge doors below a faded sign that said
Shipping Area
. When all the vehicles were parked inside, she closed the big doors and walked them back to the inside of the main entrance.

Trudy led the way through the main lobby to where the elevators were located. The lobby looked dirty and dust covered it, like the rest of the building seemed abandoned. Once they were at the elevators, things changed. Using a special key, the doors opened. At first, it seemed like a great dark cavern but when Trudy turned the lights on, they all could see it was a storehouse. Row after row of shelves filled with boxes laid out in a pattern in front of them. She made her way around the shelves and at the back wall, they came to another door. Using her key, she opened the door and walked inside. Turning on the lights, she stood there while the men behind her gasped at what they saw.

This was one of her places, hidden from the rest of the world where she’d carved out her own little knish. The cement floors of the old factory were cleaned and covered with rugs, the room took up most of the first floor and its open design showed the different areas she called home. One area held her large king size bed, another was a small kitchen with more shelves holding her food supplies.