Zel: Markovic MMA (49 page)

As soon as the phone call ended, he immediately dialed Shay. When she didn’t answer, he dialed again and gathered up his things. He flew down the stairs, pausing just long enough to tell Peter that he was in charge for the night, and raced out to his SUV. He let the Bluetooth connection pick up his third try as he left the lot and stayed on the line to leave a voice message.

“Shay, I don’t know where the hell you are, but you need to call me right now. This isn’t a fucking game. You’re in danger. Call me.”

Without any idea where to go, he hopped onto I-45 South. Dread pooled in his belly as he watched the setting sun. The thought of Shay wandering around the city at night with that fluorescent target painted on her back was enough to make him ill.
Where is she?

His phone began to ring, and he punched the button on his steering wheel to answer it. “Yes?”

“Alexei, it’s Besian.”

“Look, Besian, I don’t have time—”

“You’ll make time for this,” the Albanian boss interrupted. “You will never guess who I just saw at Kirkwood Pawn.”

His gut clenched. “Who?”

“That luscious dark-eyed beauty of yours,” he said with what could only be described as glee. “My men told me she was pretty, but they were wrong. That woman is stunning. I can see why you wanted to keep her a secret.”

“Cut the bullshit, Besian. Is she still at the shop?”

“No. She was in a hurry to leave with that rude little friend of hers. She had a bag full of money. Probably ten or fifteen grand. Easy.”

“What?” Alexei’s mind raced. “Why the fuck would she need that much...?” His voice trailed off to nothing. Swearing, he slapped the wheel. “She’s gone after her sister.”

“I figured as much,” Besian agreed. “Luckily, I had Jet with me as a driver. I sent him after them. He thinks they’re headed to Pasadena. The last time he checked in, they were in Deer Park.”

“
Blyad
.” In his mind, he quickly recalled a map of the city. All those years on the streets had given him a sixth sense for navigating the Greater Houston area. Spencer Highway was up ahead. If he got off the freeway and onto that smaller highway, he could get out to the Pasadena area quickly. “I’m heading that way. As soon as Jet gives you a location, call me.”

“I will. I’m waiting for Devil to pick me up and then I’ll join the hunt.”

Clenching the wheel, Alexei tried to keep his temper in check. He was furious with Shay for leaving the safety of the apartment, for ditching Stas, and running out on her own.
Why didn’t she call me when she heard from her sister?

“Because she doesn’t trust you,” he muttered angrily. Trying to ignore the pain in his chest, he didn’t want to admit to the feelings that had him all twisted up inside.
Weak
, he silently berated himself.
She’s made you weak.

He tamped down his wildly vacillating emotions and walled them away in that cold pit he had mentally constructed years ago. He had no idea what to expect when he found her and needed to be able to think clearly. Later, when he had her safely back in the apartment and he was back at his own home, he would allow himself to sort through his feelings.

When his phone started to ring again, he answered it quickly. “Yes?”

“Jet says they just turned into a motel on Spencer. It’s a shit hole. He spotted a couple of Hermanos parked at the tire shop half a block down. There’s an SUV parked at the car wash that he recognizes. It’s one that Ben modified for Lalo.”

Jesus Christ
. Whatever anger Alexei felt toward Shay evaporated in that moment. Did she have any idea that she was walking into a trap? Would she even know what to look for? After what had gone down with Lalo last night, that little bastard would be bloodthirsty for revenge. How much damage could he inflict in five minutes? In ten?

Desperation took hold. “Which motel?”

“Spanish Trail. Be careful, Alexei. We’re stuck behind a fucking accident. The rain is heavy this way. We’ll get there as fast as we can.”

Alexei smashed the accelerator and dialed Stas. He didn’t even utter a syllable before Stas talked over him.

“Yeah, I know. She’s at Spanish Trail. Jet called me. I’m almost there. Less than ten minutes.”

“I’m closer.”

“Don’t do anything stupid before I get there. Nikolai will kill me if anything happens to you.”

The line went dead, and Alexei zoomed around a truck. A light drizzle was falling now, slicking the road and forcing him to be more cautious. Wrecking a few blocks from the hotel wouldn’t help Shay.

When he raced onto the parking lot, he hastily sized up the situation. There seemed to be twenty rooms. Maybe half of them were rented and probably to drug addicts or whores. Whatever was seen or heard tonight would be easy enough to cover up with a liberal application of money—or so he hoped.

He spotted the SUV that probably belonged to Lalo. Those shiny rims practically blinked at him. The idling truck was a different story. Did it belong to Shay’s friend?

The sight of a heavy-set guy in a black T-shirt rolling into the middle of the lot caught his attention. A moment later, Jet appeared from behind a parked car. He wiped at his bleeding mouth before giving the downed man a good kick. Two more men ran at Jet, but the gangster just laughed and leaped back into the fray. Alexei threw his SUV into park and bailed out of the driver’s seat. He rushed toward Jet but the Albanian enforcer shook his head. “I’ve got this.”

A woman’s scream erupted from behind a closed door. A heartbeat later, he heard Shay shouting, “Don’t touch her!”

Tunnel vision overwhelmed him. Not fearing what he might find on the other side of that door, he ran toward it and planted his foot right above the handle. With a crack, the door slammed open and right into the back of one of Lalo’s thugs. Using the momentum of the kick, Alexei rushed forward, grabbed two handfuls of leather jacket and swung the thug right out into the now pouring rain. He rammed the bastard head first into the tailgate of the idling pickup and dropped him to the pavement.

Spinning around, he stormed into the hotel room and faced off with another one of Lalo’s henchmen. He blocked the punch that flew at his head and buried his fist in the other man’s paunchy belly. The guy he fought was younger but stupid and unskilled. He was no match for Alexei who had years of fighting experience on his side. A couple of punches to the ribs and a knee to the face finished off his opponent. He threw him right out the open door.

Amid the squeal of tires that signaled Stas’ arrival and backup for Jet who was still fighting those three men, Alexei whirled back to face his next opponent—and found himself staring right into the barrel of Lalo’s gleaming Five-seveN. The irony of the moment was laughable. Years ago, he had helped move shipments of the Belgian-made handguns from Russian to Mexico. South of the border, they called the armor piercing ammunition used in the guns
matas policias
—cop killers.

“No!” From the space between the dingy beds, Shay jumped in front of him, putting her small, fragile body between his and Lalo’s.

“Shay!” He tried to grab her and throw her out of the way, but Lalo pointed the gun right at her head. Alexei froze, suddenly fearful that any move would provoke the wild-eyed kingpin.
What the hell is she thinking? He’ll kill her.

“You are not going to hurt anyone else that I care about,” she stubbornly stated. “I’m the one you hate. You punish me.”

Hush, ptichka
. He desperately wanted her to be quiet. Lalo was clearly a man on edge. He had a crazy gleam in his eye, and Alexei feared there was more going on here than just a man hell-bent on revenge against the young woman who had humiliated him.

“Oh, I’m going to punish you,” Lalo promised. “Maybe I’ll start right here.” He swung the gun toward Kylee who was crouched on the floor next to him, her nose bloodied and her eyes wet with tears. She flinched, as if expecting to be shot, and then he swung the gun back toward Alexei’s head. “Or maybe I’ll spray your boyfriend’s brains all over the wall.”

“No!” Shay stepped forward, right toward Lalo, and drew his aim. “You are not going to hurt them.”

“I’m going to hurt you,” Lalo promised, his evil gaze raking Shay from head to toe. “All night long,” he added nastily. “Fuck it. Maybe I’ll record it so Alexei can see how a real man makes a woman scream.”

Infuriated that Lalo would even think to threaten such a thing about Shay, he growled, “The only motherfu—”

“If you let Alexei and Kylee walk out of here right now,” Shay talked over him, “I’ll go with you. I’ll walk out of here without a fight, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

“No!” He couldn’t allow her to prostitute herself, to bargain with her body and her life, for him. “You aren’t going anywhere unless it’s with me.”

“Be quiet, Alexei!” Shay glanced back at him, her dark eyes pleading with him. “It’s my turn to save you.”

“This
pinche
Russian was dead the moment he decided to take you from me,” Lalo snarled. “You’re mine. You’ve always been mine.”

“I was never yours,” she retorted with disgust.

“You. Are. Mine.” Lalo annunciated each word. “You were bought and paid for when Shannon took my money to fund this little scam of hers.”

Alexei watched as Shay’s shoulders slumped with shock. He couldn’t quite believe it either. Suddenly this whole fucking mess was more twisted and tangled than he had ever imagined.

“Fine,” Shay said with resignation. “You’re right.” She seemed desperate to please Lalo now. “I’m yours. I’m all yours.” She said the words the wannabe kingpin had wanted to hear for months and months. “Just let Alexei and Kylee leave, and I’ll be yours as long as you want.”

“No!” Alexei couldn’t allow it. He would take a bullet to the brain before he let Shay leave with Lalo.

But he wouldn’t have to make that choice. He had been so intent on watching Lalo and that damn gun that he hadn’t noticed Kylee inching along the edge of the bed until she was directly behind the drug dealer.

In a flash of blonde hair and with a banshee’s scream, she hefted up a blood-stained crystal paperweight and slammed it right into the back of his head. When Lalo lurched forward, Shay rushed him and grabbed his wrist, shoving the gun’s muzzle toward the ceiling.

“Shay!” Alexei cursed loudly and raced to intervene. “
Fuck!
No!”

Kylee swung the paperweight high and cracked Lalo on the side of the head this time. Just then, a bright bolt of lightning hit nearby and lit up the room with a shocking blast of light. A heartbeat later, a crack of thunder shook the paper-thin walls of the motel. In that same instant, Shay threw her knee into Lalo’s stomach—and the gun fired.

The eardrum piercing crack of the bullet momentarily deafened him. Amid the muzzle fire, he spotted a burst of blood. His heart stuttered painfully in his chest. He grabbed Shay by the shoulders, picking her up and swinging her out of the way and onto the closest bed. Unable to breathe, he frantically looked her over. There was blood all over her skin. His fingers slipped in the messy stuff, but he couldn’t find the source. “Where did the bullet hit you?”

“I’m okay!” she shouted hysterically. “I’m okay. It’s not me.”

There was blood on her face, neck and chest but it wasn’t hers. Before he could fully process how the blood had gotten on her, Kylee screamed again. Like a woman possessed, she hit Lalo with the paperweight, this time between the shoulder blades. The drug dealer slumped forward and flopped onto the ground.

Blood poured out of his mouth and pooled on the carpet. In the struggle, Shay or Lalo had caused the weapon to fire and a bullet had ripped through his face, entering just under his chin and taking off most of his lower mouth and jaw. Lalo’s limbs shuddered wildly, as if he were having a seizure, and then he expelled a ragged, noisy breath. Had the bullet lodged in his brain? Had the multiple blows from the heavy crystal paperweight finally killed him?

With a sob, Kylee dropped forward onto her knees. The crystal teardrop hit the carpeted floor with a loud
thunk
. Shay scrambled off the bed and half-crawled, half-stumbled her way to her best friend. She wrapped her arms around Kylee and rocked her like a mother would a small child.

“Holy shit.”

Alexei whirled around at the sound of Besian’s voice. The boss stood in the doorway of the motel room, his hair wet from the rain and the hem of his neatly pressed trousers soaked. Devil, his face a ruined mess of scars, stood behind his boss and looked on with little emotion. Like Sergei, Devil had been hired for his size and strength and his ability to intimidate with nothing more than a glare.

Without taking his eyes off the mess in front of him, Besian ordered, “You need to get her out of here, Alexei. Right now. I’ll deal with the mouthy blonde.”

“Oh, no you won’t!” Shay growled like a mama bear, her voice so filled with hatred that it stunned Alexei. “You aren’t touching Kylee. You already killed her father. I won’t let you hurt her.”

Completely confounded by Shay’s accusation, Alexei shot his attention to Besian who seemed totally thrown by the charge. He tilted his head, studying Kylee’s face, and then recognition dawned. “You’re Monty Benson’s little girl. The one with the horse.”