Ransom (Dead Man's Ink Series Book 3) (19 page)

Soph gets to her feet and takes a step toward Julio, so she’s standing right next to him. She bends down and smiles. “I’m not the same frightened girl you bundled into the back of your car six months ago, Mr. Perez. I’m someone entirely different altogether, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk about me as if I wasn’t sat two fucking feet away from you. Otherwise there might be consequences for
you
.”

Julio blinks up at her in a very owlish manner, confusion written all over him. I have no idea what my girlfriend thinks she’s doing right now, but holy fuck if it isn’t hot. Julio Perez doesn’t let grown ass men with a history of violent murder talk to him this way. The slender brunette with the bad temper seems to have him on the back foot, though. He looks at me, his mouth slightly open, and jerks his head back. My hand is itching, ready to reach for the knife in my pocket—I’ll slit the bastard’s throat if he harms a hair on her head—but Julio’s serious expression melts into one of disbelieving amusement. He laughs, the sound of his mirth echoing around the enclosed courtyard loud enough that one of the women servicing the men on the other side of the pool yelps and falls off her patron’s lap.
 

“This one…you’d better get rid of this one, Rebel,” Julio says, wiping his eyes. “She’s too much for you to handle. Hell, I think she’d be too much for any of us to handle.”

I avoid looking at Sophia. I don’t want Julio to see it in my eyes—how much this girl means to me. If he suspects for a second that I’m in love with her, it’ll plant a seed. He’ll always know that he can use her against me if he needs to. in hindsight, it’s better I kept quiet and didn’t say anything about his threat just now. “She knows when and when not to open her mouth,” I say.
 

“Women in my home usually only open their mouths so someone can shove a dick down their throat.”

I don’t smile. “All Widow Makers are equal. We don’t persecute members based on their sex, and we don’t let people threaten them, no matter who they are. You won’t need to harm a single one of us, because we won’t renege on our deal.” I meet Sophia’s eye and silently tell her to sit her ass down. She obliges me, though I can tell she doesn’t really want to spend another moment sitting at a table with this pig. Especially with things ramping up on the other side of the pool now. One of Julio’s wealthy guests is openly fucking a bleached blonde woman with a rose tattoo on her thigh, and the sounds of their skin slapping together is resounding around the courtyard the same way Julio’s sour laughter did a second ago.
 

“So how do you propose we get rid of Ramirez, then?” Julio takes a sip from the drink in front of him, his eyes never leaving me. “He’s always protected. He goes nowhere alone. We’d need to do something pretty crazy to get to him.”

“We can do crazy. It’s just how far you’re willing to go…”

Julio pouts, shrugging his shoulders. “For the Mexican border, I’d be willing to go very far, my friend.”

“Good. Then call Ramirez and tell him you want to arrange a meeting. Tell him you have a business proposition for him.”

“Pssshhhh. Ramirez knows I would never discuss my business with him. We haven’t spoken in over seven years. He’ll be suspicious.”

“Let him be. Let him think you’re trying to out smart him somehow. If he’s focused on you and your men, wondering what game you’re playing, then he’s going to be temporarily blindsided. He might just forget about the Widow Makers for three seconds. You’ll be at his farmhouse. You’ll propose that you combine forces for one huge run from the south. Make him an offer he can’t refuse. Keep him and his men distracted for as long as possible.”

“And in the meantime, you’ll be moving into position, getting ready to sever the fucker’s head from his body, yes?”

“Exactly.”

“And how do you plan on doing that without getting all of us killed?” Julio asks. He takes another long drink from his beer, his eyes glinting over the glass.

“Don’t you worry about that,” I tell him. “The Widow Makers will have that covered.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CADE

Jamie and Sophia are gone for three days. They return just after dark on the third day, the throbbing engines of their motorcycles making the beer glasses on the shelves of the clubhouse rattle and chime against one another. Shay’s first to the door to see for herself who’s just pulled up at the compound gates, despite the fact that we can all probably identify the individual rumble of not only Rebel’s bike but Sophia’s Ducati now, too.
 

Shay swears under her breath when she rips the door open. “There’s a car with them. A Humvee, like ours.”

I get up to see for myself. Jamie didn’t say to expect company when he returned from the Californian desert. Seems like he brought some home with him all the same. It’s impossible to tell who jumps out of the Humvee, but from my vantage point out the front of the clubhouse, I can plainly see my best friend climbing off his motorcycle, as well as Sophia, standing next to him, removing her helmet, shaking out her hair.

“What the fuck is he doing?” Shay hisses. “Things were never like this before. We were just fine, flying under the radar. Now we’ve got the DEA and a fucking cartel on our doorstep. And now
this
.”

“And what’s
this
, Shay?”

She folds her arms across her chest, frowning into the darkness, clearly pissed off beyond words. “I don’t know yet, but I can guarantee you it’s nothing good.”

Carnie throws an arm over her shoulder, hugging her to his side. “Rebel knows what he’s doing, babe. We all trust him. Right?”

Shay doesn’t answer as quickly as she should. Finally she clears her throat and says, “Sure. Of course we do. It’s not him I’m worried about. It’s
her
I don’t trust.” She spins on her heel and heads back inside the clubhouse, collecting a bottle of scotch from the bar as she walks by. Her hurried footsteps are thunderous as she runs up the flight of stairs to the second floor, where she and Carnie have taken to sleeping.
 

“Think I should go after her?” Carnie asks.
 

“Who the fuck knows. Shay’s your Rubik’s Cube to figure out, not mine. I gave up on that one pretty much the moment I met her.”

Carnie grunts. I don’t think he likes to be reminded that the girl he’s hooking up with is difficult to say the least. Impossible would probably be a better word. He steps back inside, leaving me alone in front of the clubhouse, listening to the soft susurrus of crickets whispering in the distance while I wait for Jamie to come find me.
 

I’m strangely calm. If there were a problem, Jamie wouldn’t be standing around, talking to the strangers he’s brought back here under the cover of night. He’d be kicking the crap out of them and I’d be over there with him, doing the same. I hear Spanish passing back and forth—must be some of Julio’s men. I’ll wait for Jamie to call me over before I intrude. These things can be tricky. Political. Perez’s men have no love for me, the same way they have no love for Jamie. Better they deal with just the one of us for the moment. I rest my shoulder against the doorjamb, biding my time.
 

Across the courtyard on the other side of the compound, the barn looms, a grey-black shadow, shot through with white where the woodwork has been painted around the yawning entrance and the window frames on the upper level. Underneath there, through that rusted hatch, Maria Rosa is probably prowling like an animal, pacing back and forth, plotting and scheming like she usually does.
 

I haven’t seen her since I jerked off in the hallway. Carnie’s been begrudgingly taking her the meals that are prepared for her, and when I asked him, he said she hasn’t hit on him once. He seemed almost disappointed by the fact. After what Rebel said took place in Vegas, poor bastard likely thought she’d be into him or something. She said it herself, though: she thinks Carnie’s a little boy. She used him to put on a show for Rebel and the guy never realized it.

I wonder what she’d do for me—what kind of messed up, fucked up, kinky bullshit she’d instigate if she knew I’d be willing to sit and watch it. The thing about Maria Rosa is that she’s intriguing. I want to know how she works. I want to know what drives her. When you know what drives a man, or in this case a woman, you discovered their undoing. It’s easy to defeat your enemies if you know what they desire more than anything else in the world. You simply take that from them—the ability to ever obtain their desires—and you remove their reason for living. I want to know her deepest, darkest fantasy, and in turn I want to use it against her, to destroy her. It only seems fair for the abuse I suffered at her hand in Columbia, and it only seems fair for the men, women and two kids that lost their lives that day in the grocery store in LA.
 

‘”Cade? Cade, meet Andreas Medina. Andreas is Julio Perez’s second in command.”
 

I look away from the barn, back to where Rebel and his guests were a moment ago, only they’re not there anymore. They’re standing right in front of me, as is Sophia. Five of them in total. Two Widow Makers, and three of Julio’s men. Sophia looks exhausted, like she’s dead on her feet. I’m betting that was her longest ride yet. Must have wiped her out. Standing beside Jamie, a skinny Mexican with a haunted looking face and deeply sunken eyeballs grimaces at me. No smile.
 

“You’re the one who declared war,” he says, looking me up and down. He obviously doesn’t think it was a good idea. “Ballsy,” he says. “I got no idea how you thought you were gonna win, but still…”

“Oh, we’re gonna win. You wouldn’t fucking be here if your boss didn’t think so too.”

Andreas bares his teeth. “My boss and I have differing opinions sometimes. I’m sure you and Rebel don’t always see eye to eye.”

Sophia places a hand on my shoulder, giving me a tired smile. “You’d be surprised,” she says, as she walks past me into the clubhouse. Jamie seems to be happy and content, but I can sense the tension on him. I know he’s got a lot to tell me, but he can’t exactly spill everything now. It’ll have to wait until later.
 

“What’s the plan?” I ask. “Are Andreas and his friends staying in the compound?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna set them up in the clubhouse. Julio’s going to be arriving in the morning. Maybe our other guest should watch a movie instead of taking a walk this evening?”

He’s talking about Maria Rosa, of course. Now’s around about the time that I’d have to restrain her and walk her around the back of the compound, let her climb up the hill towards Rebel’s place three or four times before taking her back down into the basement, but then again I haven’t had the pleasure of that duty recently.

Jamie ushers the men into the building behind me, following Perez’s men inside last. As he passes me, he whispers in a low voice, “They can’t know about her, man. They can’t even suspect. Keep everyone away from the barn while they’re here, yeah?”

“Sure thing.”

“And their Humvee? There are some in the trunk. Can you take them down into the armory? Be fucking careful, Cade.
Seriously
.” He looks worried for some reason. Jamie’s never worried. Whatever is in those boxes must be dangerous shit.

“Should I come up to the cabin when I’m done?” I ask.
 

Jamie nods. “We have a lot to talk about.”

******

The boxes are full of fucking C4 explosives. No wonder Jamie said to be careful. On deployment people would lose limbs all the time fucking around with this shit. I carry the boxes one at a time, gingerly balancing as best I can with my load in my hands, pressed against my chest as I descend down into the basement, where we keep the rest of the club’s munitions. Takes me four trips to complete my task. I have no idea why the fuck Jamie brought so much back with him—there are enough explosives stacked up next to our semi automatics and live rounds to take out half of New Mexico—but I guess he’ll explain that when I head up to the cabin. I’m about to lock up behind myself and head topside when I hear screaming down the hallway.

“
Fucking pigs! You’re fucking late. Let me out of here!
” a loud, hollow, metallic sound vibrates down the corridor as Maria Rosa slams her palm against the steel door to her quarters. She’s none too happy to be missing her evening stroll, it would seem. “
Fucking asshole! Carnie, I can hear you out there, you shit!”

I stop in my tracks. I shouldn’t. I should leave her to her screaming and her cursing, head straight back up the ladder and ignore her, but for some reason I find myself hovering.
 

“
Get Rebel down here
,” she spits. Her words are muffled, but I can hear the vitriol in them just fine. “
Get him down here. I’ve had enough. I’ve fucking had enough, you bastard.”

Back in Columbia, Mother’s empire has undoubtedly been dismantled, warred over, torn apart and claimed by a hundred two-bit cocaine dealers. No new cartel head rose to power and took over the Desolladors after Maria Rosa went missing. Jamie’s had Danny monitor local news and our informants since the day we locked her down here, so we’d know about it if they had. No one has come to save her. Her people didn’t rally to rescue her like she insisted they would during those early days. She’s been down here alone, and every day for the past six months she’s been angry. Furious at the way she’s been treated. Listening to her pound and shout through the door now, though, she sounds different. She sounds as though she really has had enough. She sounds like she’s given up.
 

I don’t know how I get there, but I find myself standing in front of her door. Maria Rosa falls quiet, as if she can sense my presence. I can hear her sniffing on the other side of the inch-thick steel.
 

“Carnie’s up in the clubhouse,” I say. “We have guests. You’re gonna be stuck down here for the next few days.”

“Cade?”

I bite my tongue.
 

“Cade? Please, open the door. I fucking can’t stand this anymore.”

“Perhaps you should have considered that before you took on a guy who isn’t typically known for his forgiving nature.”