Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (21 page)

With the
left all clear, Gabe steered the truck into the turn. It was fast, hard and
over before it had begun. Picking up speed once more, he steered toward Moss
Bayou knowing that was the direction he wanted to go. They had to get to Dex
Greer and safety. Without identification or badges or knowledge from local law
enforcement about their undercover detail, he and Wyatt were just two more
criminals with guns. He glanced in the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of
Rachel’s and Lily’s heads huddled together. Make that two armed criminals with
hostages. Definitely a shoot first ask questions later situation.

“Where we
heading?”

“Not sure,
Wyatt. We need Dex Greer right now, but we look like the wrong side of the law
to others right now.”

“No I.D., no
badge. Not a way to start a conversation when the law has guns pointing at
you.”

Gabe glanced
in the rearview mirror, Mullet and company had lost a lot of ground when they
made the turn onto Bayouside Drive. They hadn’t had police academy driver’s
education. He looked at Wyatt and cracked a smile.

Flying down
Bayouside Drive, he quickly ran ideas through his brain, hoping something would
get them out of this. Just as he realized he was clueless, a police cruiser
appeared on the horizon.

“I think we
may have some help.” He pointed at the oncoming cruiser as he began to ease his
speed down. “Should we take the chance?” He gave Wyatt a quick glance.

“I think
it’s in the nick of time.” Wyatt turned to the backseat. “Ladies, we think
we’ve been saved. At least from Mullet and friends.”

As the
police cruiser closed the distance between them, Gabe continued to slow the
truck down. Wyatt sat forward in his seat, his eyes trained on the cruiser.

“Fuck, Gabe.
It’s Russ Patterson. We’ll have to play it cool.”

“Okay,
girls. I’m Deke and he’s Wylie.” Gabe instructed them.

“Got it,”
Rachel answered.

“I can do
that,” Lily replied.

The truck rolled
to a stop as Russ negotiated a U-turn right behind them. Mullet and company
stopped right behind Russ.

Gabe looked
around. Nothing but empty fields. They hadn’t made it to downtown Moss Bayou
yet and the stretch of road since leaving PJ Nites and the dirt road behind
them was empty of houses or businesses. He wished he’d have driven the next
mile and a half. Boyd’s Garage was so close he could almost see it.

In the
rearview mirror he saw Mullet jump out of T-Bob’s truck followed by Whiskers
and T-Bob himself. Mullet ran up to Russ and waved his arms wildly as he spoke.

“Wonder what
they’re chatting on about?”

Wyatt turned
in his seat to look over the scene through the back glass. “No telling. You
know Mullet can get chatty.”

Gabe’s eyes
remained on the roadside scene. Russ stood calmly as Mullet waved his arms
around and even pointed in their direction a time or two. He saw Russ’s arm
reach at his side and swing up fast.

“The bastard
has his gun on them,” Gabe blurted into the silence.

“That
doesn’t look service issue,” Wyatt yelled. “Looks small. Must be a throw away.”

Russ
Patterson pointed the weapon forward. Gabe watched as Russ fired and Mullet
fell to the ground. Without a pause, Russ pointed at T-Bob and fired again.
Whiskers took off running into the vacant field and Russ ran to the police
cruiser. To Gabe’s horror, Russ pulled out a rifle, took aim and shot Whiskers
in the back as the man ran for his life.

“Let’s get
out of here.” Throwing the truck into Drive, he hammered down on the gas and left
Russ running for his cruiser.

Gabe sat in
the backseat of Jesse Quinn’s SUV, Rachel was tucked against him. His heartbeat
still raced even though they’d managed to slip away before Russ Patterson could
follow them. Lily’s idea to trade vehicles at her brother’s house had been a
good one. Jesse Quinn’s home was close enough to get out of sight before Russ
had an opportunity to catch up to them. They were able to zip Mullet’s truck
into hiding and drive off undetected. Although, it had been a tense few minutes
when making the exchange. Lily had to leave the truck to enter the security
code that opened the garage and Wyatt had to get the SUV out of the way so the
truck could take its place. He felt helpless when he had to sit still as Rachel
left the safety of the truck to join the others. It killed him to have the
distance between them, even for that brief moment.

Wyatt had
driven them away from Moss Bayou, but it had been only a small distance. Both
he and Wyatt believed they needed to stay out of sight until they could make
contact with their team. Or Dex Greer. They chose to stay on the outskirts of
Houma. Finding a cheap, out of the way motel along Highway 90, it was decided
the motel would serve as the much needed pit stop. Gabe now sat holding Rachel
close as Lily kept low in the front passenger seat. Wyatt, being Wylie once
more, went inside to get a room. They needed to get off the streets. It was
nearing two and the Saturday afternoon had people out and about shopping, running
errands, kids to little league, all of which made things dicey. More traffic
meant less chance of seeing a tail immediately.

Wyatt
returned to the SUV, got into the driver’s seat and moved them around the long,
narrow motel to the rear of the building.

“Home away
from home,” Wyatt said as he parked.

They quickly
moved as a tight unit to room sixteen. The door opened and Gabe watched the
rear as the others entered before him. Both Rachel and Lily, looking exhausted
and still feeling the effects of all that had happened, dropped onto the lone
bed.

“You girls
can rest,” Wyatt told them. “We can get some food. You both need to refuel.”

Rachel and
Lily both shook their heads.

Gabe looked
around the small room. One bed, one small dresser, one television on a stand.
Standard issue. Standard cheap. Two chairs and a small table by the lone
window. The air conditioner hadn’t stopped groaning and moaning since he’d
turned it on. But cool air blew out and the mostly orange and yellow curtains
danced in its breeze.

“Not a big
space,” he said in a low voice.

Wyatt came
to stand next to him. “I got two rooms, just in case we have to stay here
longer than we’re figuring. Besides, it would be harder to corner us in two
rooms.”

Gabe nodded.
“We can make those calls now.”

Wyatt agreed
and pulled out his cell phone. After a moment, Wyatt gave him a look that
wreaked of not good. “This is Wylie’s cell. Yours is Deke’s”

“Fuck.”
Wyatt was right. Deke and Wylie had limited contacts.

“My cell is
still in Wylie’s old truck.”

Gabe shook
his head and passed his hand over his face. “Mine is in the Mustang.”

“What’s
wrong?” Rachel’s eyes focused on them.

“We got a
problem.” He had to be honest with her. “The only phones we have don’t have the
necessary contact numbers we need.”

“We don’t
know the numbers,” Wyatt added.

“Who do you
need to call?” Lily asked.

“We need to
notify our task force team somehow,” Gabe replied.

“What about
Cally Brown?” Rachel offered. “You could call the café.”

“Yes, we
both know that number,” Lily advised.

“Cally…er,
CJ is no longer there,” Gabe related. “When the operation moved forward, she
was removed and reassigned to work the detail.”

“What about
calling Dex?” Rachel asked.

Gabe looked
at Wyatt then back to Rachel. “I promise I’m not some dumb rookie, but I don’t
know that number, either.”

“I do,”
Rachel announced. “The non-emergency number for the police station corresponds
with letters so it’s easy to remember.”

“It is,”
Lily agreed. “The last four numbers correspond with MBPD. It’s the same first
three numbers as the café.”

“Fancy, I
could kiss you,” Wyatt declared as he pulled her to him.

Together,
Lily helped Wyatt dial the number.

Gabe grabbed
for Rachel and pulled her off the bed. When she was close enough, he pulled her
into him. He held on to her as Wyatt made the call that would hopefully keep
her safe.

“Yes, I’d
like to speak to old Chief Greer, please.” Wyatt grinned as he listened. Gabe
noticed his arm was firmly in place around Lily.

“This here
is Tom Smith. Old Dex and I went to the police academy together.”

Another
pause as Wyatt listened.

“Yes we did.
I’m not far from Moss Bayou and thought it would just be a hoot if I popped in
on him. Haven’t seen him since our academy days.”

Wyatt
listened. “I’m on hold.” He pulled Lily into him and placed a kiss to her head.

Gabe had to
smile. Wyatt definitely had a thing for Lily Quinn.

“Dex? It’s
Wyatt Hawke.” He paused. “Yes. Gabe and I have Rachel Emerson and Lily Quinn.
T-Bob took them.”

Gabe waited for
Wyatt’s next part of the conversation. He could only imagine what Dex was
saying.

“Okay,
here’s the thing, Dex.” Wyatt shifted his feet. “Russ Patterson killed T-Bob,
Mullet, and Whiskers. We saw it as it happened.”

Silence and
then Wyatt said loudly, “You’re shitting me.”

More
conversation followed and then it was over. Wyatt ended the call and raked his
hand through his hair. Letting out a sigh, he said, “You aren’t going to
believe this.”

“What did he
say?”

“Gabe, it appears
our shooter last night at the dock was none other than Russ Patterson.”

“Russ
Patterson?” Rachel asked with surprise.

“Russ has
been with Dex for a long time,” Lily put in. “Why?”

“That is the
big money question,” Wyatt retorted.

“What Dex
say about us?” Gabe had to know.

“Lay low.
Russ is out there. Dex suspects he’s gunning for us since it appears he was
aiming at everyone on that dock last night.”

Gabe didn’t
like the sound of that. Russ Patterson had no qualms about gunning people down.
Obviously, he didn’t care when or how, either.

“Okay, we
wait.”

“He did say
he’d call Jenkins and Furst,” Wyatt added. “Just a waiting game now. He has the
number now. Someone will call.”

There was
nothing more to say. They’d have to wait. Have to wait and hide. Rachel and
Lily had to be kept safe. Russ wouldn’t spare either of them if he found them.

He looked
down at Rachel. Her long hair was disheveled and she looked absolutely
adorable. His feelings for her took his breath from his lungs. He never knew he
would feel this way about anyone. He gave her a smile that he hoped offered her
some comfort. With hands still a bit unsteady, she touched his face. Unable to
stop himself, he bent down to kiss her. She was safe, so he kissed her. She was
alive, so he kissed her more. She was warm and in his arms. He didn’t care
about the audience, he deepened the kiss.

“Excuse me,”
Wyatt teased. “Did you want the key to the room next door?”

Gabe pulled
away from Rachel’s lips but not from her. “Sorry.”

“Listen, we
need to get some food,” Wyatt stated.

“I’d rather
a bath,” Lily informed them.

“I would
too,” Rachel said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have fresh clothes.”

“Let’s get a
food run decision made first,” Wyatt told them. “Gabe, you stay with them and
I’ll pop out to get something.”

“I could go
with you and get me and Rachel a couple of things.” Lily’s eyes pleaded.

“Too
dangerous,” Gabe shook his head. “We don’t know where Russ is. We don’t know
who else is working with him.”

“I can be
quick. I shop for a living.”

“Fancy, I love
the way you look right now, but it’s not really an outfit that will keep you
unnoticed.”

Lily looked
down at the skimpy cotton shorts and the cami. Her bare feet came into
view.  She looked up at Wyatt, taking him in with her eyes for a moment.
“Take off your shirt.”

“What?”

“Wyatt, take
off that ridiculous shirt.”

“What do you
mean ridiculous?” Wyatt asked as he slipped off the shirt, leaving him with
just a white T-shirt.

Gabe had to laugh.
Wyatt loved that Wylie wore Hawaiian shirts. He had bought Wylie several of
them. He called it the Wy uniform.

Lily took
the loudly patterned shirt from him and slipped it on. Gathering it together
from the bottom, she tied it in a loose knot just below her waist.

“See? Covers
everything.” She did a quick turn. “That convenience store on the corner will
have hats, sunglasses, and flip flops.”

“Lily,
didn’t you notice,” Rachel intervened. “You don’t have your purse. What do you
plan to do, shoplift?”