Fat Louise (9 page)

“Does anyone understand that I’m here to help?” Jane asked hopelessly when they remained on their beds. She saw she wasn’t getting through to them. They were too traumatized from their recent attack.
 

“I do.” A woman with her face bruised and bloodied stood. Jane knew instantly it was the woman Raul had drug back.
 

“Great. Tell them I’m going to help them escape, but we have to be very quiet. I … I can’t promise you we’ll make it, so if they aren’t sure, they should stay here.”
 

The woman turned and quickly repeated her words in Spanish. Many of the women spoke up in agreement, and then the woman told Jane, “We all want to leave rather than stay with the monsters who have stolen us from our homes.”
 

With that, Cade opened the door, motioning for them to exit. They filed from the room, following Cade through the night as he skirted the houses until they were back at Bailey’s house.
 

Cade opened the door to Raul’s SUV. “Get in.”
 

The women climbed into the large vehicle with Jane helping those who had trouble. The one who had spoken up got behind the wheel when Cade asked who could drive.
 

“We’re not going with them?” Jane asked.
 

“No. We have to split away from them.” Cade, seeing her stubborn look, gave her an aggravated sigh. “It helps them, too. If they get caught with us, they’ll immediately be killed. Instead, they’ll probably be brought back here.”
 

Neither scenario made Jane happy, but she nodded in understanding.
 

Going to the back window, she handed a woman the cloth-filled bag of food, keeping a couple of the candy bars for herself. Once the young woman gave her a timid smile, Jane moved away.
 

“Are you ready now?” he asked sarcastically.
 

“Yes.”
 

“Then stay here while I go get our ride.”
 

He turned to the woman who was going to drive. “As soon as I pull in behind you, drive in that direction.” Cade pointed in the direction opposite from the one they would be going.
 

The woman nodded, gripping the wheel tightly.
 

Cade took off at a fast-paced jog. As soon as he was out of view, Jane saw headlights heading in their direction from the main house.
 

“Shit.” What were they supposed to do now? She really became frightened when she saw it was two pairs of headlights.
 

Javier’s men must have discovered they were missing.
 

Cade pulled up next to her from the opposite direction in a newer model truck than the last one he had borrowed.
 

He rolled the window down to yell, “Get in!”
 

Jane knew that, if they tried to run, they would be caught since there was a vehicle to follow each of them.
 

She reached in her pocket, pulling out the weapon she had found in the ammunition room, then took a step toward the cars that were almost on them. They were close enough that she could make out Raul’s furious face.
 

Cade jumped out of the truck. “What are you doing?”
 

“Get Bailey.” She hit the back window of the women’s SUV. “Go!”
 

She pulled the pin, throwing it at Raul’s car before running to the side of the truck, crouching down just before the explosion filled the air.
 

“What in the fuck did you just do?” Jane’s ears were ringing from the deafening blast of the explosion, but she caught the drift of what Cade was saying as he dove for cover, barely missing being decapitated by a flying tire rim.
 

The SUV with the women took off with a wrenching of gears when several guards came running out of the second car. Fury blazed through Jane.
 

“Give me a minute,” she told Cade, pulling out the other grenade. She looked at it quickly then pulled the pin.
 

“Have you lost your mind?” Cade yelled.
 

Jane threw the grenade toward the men who were running toward them, watching as the soldiers ran for cover. They were rocked off their feet, thrown back by the explosion. She didn’t feel the least bit sorry for them as they lay in their own blood and body parts. Bailey had said the men respected violence; well, let them respect that a woman had beaten them at their own game.
 

“Okay, we can go now.” She turned to look expectantly at Cade.
 

He waited for a second before coming out from behind the truck.
 

“Do you have any more?” he asked from between clenched teeth.
 

“No, that was it.” Jane lied. The way he was looking at her was kind of scary.
 

“Bailey, move it!” Cade yelled, opening the truck door for her. Bailey ran forward from her hiding spot and climbed into the truck without stopping, and Jane jumped in behind her, sitting next to the door. Cade got behind the steering wheel, peeling out just as a disheveled, bloody Raul ran toward them.
 

“Bailey!” His scream had Bailey turning around to look out the back window.
 

“Let me out.”
 

“No way. We’re going home.” Jane jerked Bailey back around, flipping her future ex-brother-in-law off.
 

Chapter 9
 

“Where did you get those grenades?”
 

“I found them.” Jane thought she heard his teeth grinding.
 

“You could have killed Raul!”
 

“I tried hard enough.” Jane stared back at her sister, refusing to feel guilty. Those women deserved their freedom more than Raul deserved to be alive.
 

“Where are we going?” Jane asked a still angry Cade.
 

“To a friend of mine’s house. He’ll hide us for a couple of days until we can get out from the roads or have a plane flown in to meet us.”
 

“How far away is it to your friend?”
 

“Not far. Still, not only will Javier’s men be searching for us, but because of your stunt at the hotel, I had to ask around if anyone saw you, so Carlos has found out I’m in town, and his men are looking for me.”
 

“So, we have two separate gangs trying to kill us?” Bailey squealed.
 

“Yes.”
 

Jane had to bite back her smile, because it was obvious Cade had reached his limit with her and Bailey, and Bailey looked like she was about to cry over her lousy excuse of a husband. Jane was the only one taking everything in stride. Of course, she was the one causing them all the problems.
 

“What’s so fucking funny?” Cade snarled.
 

“Life is looking pretty damn good right now.”
 

While the cab filled with a strained silence, Jane leaned her head against the window and
closed her eyes. She hadn’t had very much sleep since she had left the States, and it was catching up with her. Her bones ached she was so tired, and she almost fell from her seat when Cade came to a sudden stop.
 

“What’s wrong?” Jane tried to blink the sleep from her eyes.
 

“Nothing. We’re here.” Cade turned off the truck then stared at the house a few feet away.
 

“Then why aren’t we getting out?” she asked, confused.
 

“I’m waiting for a signal,” Cade answered, continuing to make no move to get out.
 

Jane looked at the house and saw a light suddenly come on in the front window.
 

“Everything’s okay.” Cade opened his truck door, stepping out.
 

Jane fumbled with the door handle, almost falling out, but Cade managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
 

“I didn’t realize it was so high up,” Jane mumbled, taking a step out of his arms.
 

Cade helped Bailey out before taking each of their arms to lead them to the house.
 

“Afraid your payday will get damaged?” Jane smarted off, instantly regretting it when his hand on her arm dropped away.
 

“I thought you may need some help.” Cade’s quiet voice had Jane feeling ashamed of herself, especially when he paused and reached back inside the truck to pull her backpack out from behind the seat, handing it to her. She didn’t know what it was about him that had her always snapping at him. Jane noticed he still maintained his grip on Bailey, who leaned farther into his side for support.
 

Cade knocked briefly on the door, and when no one answered, he opened the unlocked door then ushered them inside.
 

A tall, dark-haired man came in from what Jane assumed was the kitchen.
 

“Well, Cade, what trouble have you managed to get yourself into this time?”
 

*  *  *
 

Killyama parked her car in the parking lot of The Last Riders’ clubhouse where several of the bikers were standing around talking. She glanced down at her watch. The factory where they put together and ship out survivalist gear would have closed for the night.
 

Pasting her usual scowl on her face, she climbed out of her old, puke green car, and the men stopped talking to stare in apprehension at her approach.
 

Razer, Viper, Cash, Shade, and Train all had the same look of horror on their faces. She wasn’t put off by their attitudes, though. Hell, she relished it. She had cultivated it during the time she had known them.
 

“I need your help.” Killyama didn’t believe in beating around the bush.
 

“Why should we help you?” Train’s smart-ass remark didn’t surprise her. His wounded male pride was still stinging from her disappointment of his lackluster sexual performance. The dumb fuck couldn’t believe she wasn’t swooning to have another go-round on his dick.
 

“Because, if you don’t, I’ll ask Beth, Winter, and Lily for help.” She watched their husbands’ reactions to her threat.
 

“What do you want?” Viper snapped.
 

These men are pussy whipped and don’t even know it,
she thought caustically.
 

“Fat Louise has put herself in a fucked-up mess, and I need you to help me get her out.”
 

“What kind of trouble?” Train asked suspiciously.
 

“She sneaked into Mexico to get her half-sister out.”
 

The men stared at her blankly, completely surprised by her answer.
 

“Fat Louise? She doesn’t even take a piss without one of you by her side,” Razer
commented. “Besides, why did she have to sneak? The federales want her?” he joked.
 

“You think this is funny?” she snapped, taking a step toward him.
 

“No.” Razer didn’t step back, but Killyama could tell he wanted to. She was satisfied with that little victory.
 

“Her dad is a government employee, doing some kind of secret shit for them. Employees and their family aren’t allowed to travel in certain areas. He alerted Border Patrol, trying to stop her before she went inside, but he was too late.”
 

“What in the fuck are we supposed to do?” Shade asked.
 

“You have connections. I need them to get me inside so I can find her.”
 

“You’re not going after her,” Train stated angrily.
 

“Since when do you think you can tell me what I can do?” Killyama glared at him.
 

Train didn’t back down. “Since you came up with a crazy-assed plan to try to enter a country that has made a career out of kidnapping and killing people,” he snapped.
 

“Back off, lover boy. I’m going after her. Are you men going to help me or not?” She stressed the word men, letting them know it was an insult.
 

“Do we have a choice?” Viper asked snidely.
 

“No, but don’t worry.” She curled her lip. “I have a plan. Where’s Dean?”
 

“Probably hiding if he saw you,” Train said grimly.
 

“Get him. We’re going to need him,” Killyama ordered. “Knox, too. They will have the contacts we need to find Jane. Beth told us the strings he had to pull to find Lily when she went missing.”
 

“Anything else?” Train asked sarcastically, pulling his phone out.
 

“Yeah, you can shove that phone up your ass when you’re finished making those calls.”
 

Train lowered the phone to his side, his face turning cold. As he took a step toward her, Killyama held her ground. It wasn’t easy, and she found herself giving Razer extra kudos now that she was in his shoes. The easygoing Train she was familiar with had disappeared, and a man she hardly recognized stared back at her vengefully.
 

“We don’t do jobs for free. If you want our help, you’ll pay for it like everyone else.”
 

“What’s your price?” She placed her hands on her hips.
 

“I’ll let you know when I decide.”
 

“You’re just going to hold it over my head until you decide?” she snapped.
 

“Yeah.”
 

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
 

“No. Sucks, doesn’t it?”
 

Killyama felt a chill race down her spine. She had blackmailed The Last Riders into helping her by using their wives, and Train had turned the tables on her by blackmailing her into doing something she was sure as fuck she wasn’t going to like. For the first time, she felt a spark of attraction for the ladies’ man of the club. She had never been attracted to pussies. Maybe there was hope for him yet.