Kade: Santanas Cuervo MC (19 page)

She could see in the mirror over the sink a shadowy figure with something in his hand step softly into the room then freeze. The shadow left the room, but returned a moment later, making his way silently toward the bath. The man was at least six inches shorter than Kade, but built like a fireplug with a massive set of arms and a broad deep chest, but that was all she could tell by the light filtering through the windows. She watched as he paused at the door to the bathroom, then stepped into the room. He took another step then stiffened when he saw her in the mirror.

Kade had stuck Winter in the farthest corner of the bathroom, thinking that would give him the most time to intercept the intruder, but he realized he’d made a grave mistake. Not only could he not see when the man stepped into the room, he wouldn’t be able to shoot him for fear of hitting Winter. He stepped out of the closet but held his fire. The gunman must have seen him in the mirror and began to pivot to face the new threat. Kade grabbed the thug’s wrist, forcing the gun skyward as he tried to bring his own weapon down on his opponent head, but the goon was an experienced brawler and grabbed Kade’s wrist, twisting the blow to the side and forcing the gun down.

As she peeked around the edge of the door, her breath frozen in her chest, the two men strained against each other in silence for a moment, before Kade banged the other man’s hand hard against the edge of the sink. She heard his gun clatter to the floor, but couldn’t see where it went as it disappeared into the shadows. With a roar, the disarmed man twisted, wrenching his hand free from Kade’s grip and grabbed Kade’s pistol, trying to tear it from his grip. The men grunted and strained for a moment before the creep wrenched the weapon away.

Her blood ran cold as the man tried to turn the pistol on Kade, but he was holding it by the barrel and didn’t have time to change his grip. Kade grabbed the assailant’s hand with both of his and slammed the weapon into his leg once, then again, knocking it free.

The intruder dove for the gun, but Kade hauled him away and drove a hard left into his face. The thug staggered back but recovered almost instantly and dove at Kade before he could pick up the gun. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to reach the gun before he was attacked, Kade pivoted and met the man’s charge. They crashed back into the shower door, tearing the frame down as they fell. They struggled in the tiny enclosure, half in and half out, as they clawed at each other, Kade’s legs wrapped tight around his opponent’s waist. She stepped out of the alcove, going for the gun, but before she could reach it, the gorilla knocked it away with a knee as he fought with Kade.

She scrambled for the weapon and picked it up as Kade twisted, rolling onto the brawler. She wanted to fire, to try to help Kade, but the men were writhing and moving, clawing at each other and she was afraid to pull the trigger. Their faces twisted into masks of pain and rage, she stood, the gun pointed at the men, ready to fire at her first opportunity.

With another roar, he pushed hard off the wall of the shower, trying to force Kade over onto his back, hitting the shower control in his struggles and starting the water running. After a moment, Kade screamed and threw himself back as the water began to steam, the creep roaring in pain an instant later as he also dove from the scalding water.

The two men slammed into each other and then instantly slipped to the floor, the tile wet and slick from the shower, rolling over each other as they scrambled for position. The thug grabbed Kade by the head and tried to gouge his eyes out with his thumbs as Kade bellowed in pain and forced his hands away.

The assassin threw Kade off of him and, as the two men scrambled to their feet, he charged, driving Kade back into the closet. They went down in a tangle, tearing her clothes from the rack, the men punishing each other with blows to the face and body as they tumbled and rolled in the small room until the goon popped free. His shirt torn, bleeding from the nose and mouth, he turned and charged her. She wanted to fire, but Kade was coming out of the closet on his heels, his face a mask of blood from a cut on his head.

She backpedaled as fast as she could, twisting away from the goon’s grasp as Kade caught him and wrapped an arm around his neck before hauling back on him. He reared back, his hands first grabbing Kade’s arm, then his head. The men, smeared with blood and covered in cuts, stood still and silent, locked in mortal combat as they strained against each other, their arms straining, muscles bulging, their teeth bared in silent snarls until the thug twisted, forcing Kade around on the slick floor, then drove backwards.

The two men went backwards into the garden tub, Kade roaring in pain the man’s weight drove him hard into the side and back of the tub. They scrambled, banging and thumping, Kade hanging on like a limpet as the thug banged him into the tub again and again trying to break his hold.

Finally, he escaped Kade’s choke and staggered to his feet, one foot in the tub, the other on the floor, panting like a bellows. “You fucking gringo pussy! You can’t take me!” he sneered as he ripped off the rest of his tattered shirt to free his arms.

Kade was still reeling from having his back slammed into the bottom of the tub over and over, but he kicked out, catching the man in the leg and sending him tumbling. “Winter! Run!” he roared as he scrambled out of the tub.

The goon grabbed at her as she passed, making her stumble, but she kept her feet and bolted from the bathroom, Kade’s gun still in her hand. The two men chased after her, Kade catching his opponent as he cleared the bathroom door, dragging him down onto the carpet. With another roar, the goon twisted and then kicked at him with a booted foot. The blow connected solidly on his shoulder, making Kade bellow with pain.

The assassin scrambled to his feet to pursue Winter, but Kade grabbed his foot, causing him to fall, hauling himself up on the man as he struggled to escape, and took him into another choke hold. The man was immensely strong and clawed at Kade’s arm, trying to break his grip.

“Not this time, you wetback spic,” Kade growled, tightening down with everything he had. They rolled and tumbled as he thrashed, trying to get free, tearing at Kade’s arm and head, but gradually his struggles lessoned until he fell limp. Not taking any chances, Kade kept the pressure on until he was sure the man was out.

Kade rolled the limp man off of him and lay panting. “Winter?” he called as he staggered slowly to his feet.

She appeared a moment later and turned the light on. “Is he dead?”

“No,” he said as he rolled the man over and looked at the back of his neck. He pointed to the tattoo of a Scorpion. “The Escorpión Cartel,” he panted. “We have to go. Now!”

“We should call the police!”

“Fuck the police! Get some clothes on! There may be another one waiting for us!” Hissing in pain he began to dress in the clothes they had scattered before going to bed. “Hurry up!” he snarled as she hesitated.

She threw on her clothes while he holstered his gun and turned off the water. “What about Gabbro?” she asked as he began to pull her down the steps.

“Forget the fucking cat!”

“But—”

“Do you want to fucking die? We’ll come back for him!”

“Can you ride?” she asked as he grunted, snarling in pain as he mounted the bike, sitting on it crooked and stooped.

“I have to. Open the door then get on as fast as you can.”

The moment the door began to rise, he thumbed the Harley life. She mounted behind him as quickly as she could, and they ducked, riding out from under the still opening door. They heard the gun shot, but he couldn’t tell from which direction it came as they raced down the driveway and away into the night.

***

Kade hissed as Winter cleaned his wounds with a rough motel bath cloth. He knew she was being gentle, but it still hurt like hell. At least she was alive, and that made all the stings worthwhile.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she dabbed and wiped gently. Kade was a mess. He didn’t appear to have any broken bones, but he was covered in cuts and by tomorrow he’d be one big bruise.

“It’s okay. Just keep going.”

“How’d they know where to find me?”

“I don’t know. It makes no sense.” He hissed again as she wiped at his forehead. “Why is the Escorpión Cartel so dead set on killing you they would send a hitman five hours to Houston?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is there anything you’re not telling me?”

“No!”

“Easy! Easy!” he begged as she began to work on his back.

“Sorry.”

“I have to get you to somewhere I can protect you.”

“Where?”

“Rio Bontia. We’ll stay at my place. The brothers will be there. They can help protect you.”

She smiled. “You did pretty good by yourself tonight.”

“I was lucky.”

She didn’t say anything, but it didn’t look like luck to her. He’d beaten the
shit
out of a muscle bound gorilla. “Okay. But how are we going to get there? You can barely ride. And what about Gabbro?”

“We’ll spend the night here. Maybe tomorrow night, too, depending on how I feel in the morning. Is there somebody who can come in and feed the cat, or can you board him?”

“No. I’ve always taken him with me.”

“He should be okay for a few days, right?”

“I guess, why?”

“We’ll come back and get him in a few days, okay? A quick trip up and back. We won’t tell anyone we’re coming.”

She pouted but nodded. “Okay.” She finished dabbing at him. “Thank you. I owe you my life. Again,” she said softly.

He smiled at her before pulling her into a soft kiss. “Call your dad. Let him know you’re safe but don’t tell him where you are.”

Her eyes opened wide. “You think it’s Dad?”

“Unlikely, but let’s not take any chances. I can’t do shit to protect you right now.”

“Morning, sleepy head,” Winter cooed as Kade swam up out of sleep. They had been in Rio Bonita for almost a week, and his house was beginning to feel very homey. They’d spent two nights in the motel, then the next two nights in the clubhouse with brothers all around, but then when no attack came, they’d moved to his house.

“Morning,” he murmured, pulling her down for a kiss. He was finally getting over the beating he’d taken, and had slept better last night than any night since they fled Houston. Part was because he was getting over his aches and pains, but another part of it was because Winter had curled up in his arms last night, because he wasn’t hurting as much. She’d been a real trooper, preparing meals, even helping him bathe the two days he could barely move.

“Mmmm,” she purred as she pulled back from the kiss. “I think someone is feeling better.”

“Much,” he replied. “Tonight I think we need to make sure everything works.”

“It seems okay to me,” she smiled as she gave his hard member a slow caress.

“Still a little stiff—”

“So I see,” she said talking over him as she continued to caress him.

“—this morning. But by tonight I should be ready.”

She smiled and slowly kissed him again. “Good,” she breathed as their lips parted. “Then I can reward my gallant knight in the best way I know how.”

The night of the attack she’d been terrified and upset, but as he recovered, she’d become more and more smitten with him. He’d single-handedly saved her life, fighting off an armed goon with his bare hands, and as soon as he was ready, she was going to fuck him until one or the other of them passed out from exhaustion.

He groaned as he stretched, feeling a few twangs of pain, especially in his back and shoulders, but finally ready to go back to work. “I’m taking the drill rig out today. It’s an easy job, so I should be home early.”

She nodded. He’d started talking about returning to work yesterday. “Just be careful, okay?”

He smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Just stay in the house, okay? Big Dick will be around before I leave to watch you.”

She pursed her lips but didn’t say anything. She knew Big Dick was a capable man, but the only person she
really
trusted anymore was him. “Okay. Call when you start home and I’ll have dinner waiting when you get back.”

***

He came in covered in mud, dirt and sweat, and Winter couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen anyone sexier.

“How’d it go?” Big Dick asked as Kade stepped into the kitchen.

“Fine. I only had to go down another eighty feet. Fifty gallons a minute at two hundred and ten feet. That’ll keep his cows in water. I’ll install the casing tomorrow.”

“You the man,” Big Dick chuckled, then rose out of his chair and hobbled to Kade. “Can I talk to you a minute?”

“Sure.”

Big Dick sat down in a dining room chair, his face flinching as his leg tweaked him. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh-oh. That’s dangerous,” Kade chuckled.

“Ha, ha. Bite me. Anyway, I was talking with Winter and that got me to thinking. Why don’t we contact the Escorpión Cartel and find out what the hell is going on?”

“Just call them up?” Kade asked with a grin.

“In a way. What I’m wondering is, are they even doing this?”

“I saw the tattoo. Winter, too.”

“Yeah, but maybe that was a cartel wannabe or something. I can’t figure
why
the cartel would be targeting Winter. Shooting up wells, derricks, trucks, whatever, okay I can see that. They’re trying to send a message or something. But why go all the way to Houston to take a crack at her. It makes
no
sense that I can see.”

“That’s been the problem all along.”

“Right, so let’s ask them.”

Kade chuckled. “In case you’ve forgotten, the last time we talked with the Escorpión Cartel it didn’t go so well for us.”

“I know. I haven’t forgotten. But if it’s them, we can figure out
why
and what we have to do to get it stopped. If it’s not them, then we can start looking in other places. You can’t protect her twenty-four seven forever. You know that. Eventually you’ll be looking left when they come at you from the right. You were damn lucky the other night. And just getting her out of the area is obviously not enough.”

“Okay, I like your idea, but how? I have no way to contact anybody in the cartel. Do you?”

She’d listened to the men talk without saying anything since this was the same ground she and Big Dick had covered earlier. She couldn’t think of a way to contact a drug lord. It wasn’t like you could look him up in the phone book. She had wondered what ideas Kade might have, but he appeared to be as stumped as she was.

“I have an idea. But it’s risky as hell.”

She looked at Big Dick. “Risky, how.”

Big Dick looked at her. “We used to mule for the Escorpión Cartel. Did he tell you that?”

She nodded. “So?”

“So, we know their routes and drops, assuming they haven’t changed them.”

“Okay,” Kade said. “Surely you are not proposing what I think you’re proposing.”

“That we hit one of their mules?”

“Everly, are you crazy? The last time something like that happened, they killed twenty of us, then later two hundred more!”

“We don’t
keep
the drugs. We just borrow them for a while. When the
capo
calls, we tell him where the drugs are. But if you have a better idea on how to get in touch with him, I’d like to hear it.”

Kade shook his head. “I don’t like it. Too risky and we agreed we were done with drugs.”

“We
are
done with drugs. We’re not moving any. We’re just asking for information.”

“And whose phone number are we going to give him? Yours?”

“No. We’ll get a burner phone. We’ll pay cash and give a false name and address. I supposed they might still be able to track us down, but do you think we’ll be worth all that if we give the drugs back?”

Kade scratched his head furiously. “Let me think on it a moment.”

“Kade! You’re not seriously going to do this are you? They wiped out your entire club!” she cried.

“If we can keep them for knowing who we are…” he said, obviously turning the idea over in his mind.

“Kade! Think about what you are saying!”

“I am thinking about it! I’m open for another suggestion if you’ve got one. But we have to find out, somehow, why the cartel has put a hit on you.”

“Maybe I could change my name or something!”

Kade looked at her. “You think that’ll stop them? They found you in the middle of the God forsaken desert. Hell, I had a hard time finding you the first time, and I had a map and knew where you were. No, we need to do something like this.”

She spun on her toes and stomped out of the room.

“Give us a minute,” Kade said as he pulled off his work boots and followed her to his bedroom.

“Where are you going?” he asked. She was stuffing her bag with what few clothes he’d packed for her when he returned for Gabbro.

“Home!”

“Why?”

“I’m not staying here and watching you get yourself killed!”

“You don’t have a lot of confidence in my abilities.”

“This isn’t funny!” she yelled. “You’re fucking around with the same people who killed nearly everyone in your club. Who probably killed four more, including your two best friends!”

“And have been trying to kill you. They may not miss the next time.”

“It’s been over a week and nobody has tried again! Maybe it’s over!”

“And how much time have you spent outside my house? How many people know you’re here? Are you going to quit Kelly Oil and live like a hermit Rio Bonita?”

“That’s better than you going out there and getting yourself killed!” She zipped the bag closed. “I’m taking your truck to Laredo. I’ll catch a plane there.”

He took the bag from her hand and threw it back on the bed. “You’re not going anywhere.”

She picked up the bag and tried to muscle past him, but he blocked the door. “You know if you go home you’ll die.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe the cartel is trying to finish what they started and you’re the target.”

“You don’t believe that. I’ve been out and about for a couple days now. Everyone knows I’m back in town. I was out working in the middle of nowhere today. Nothing. The target’s you and you know it.”

“Well, I’m still not going to sit here and watch you get killed!”

“We’ll be careful. I can’t protect you if I’m dead.”

“Don’t go, then!”

“I have to! Don’t you see that? Big Dick’s right: it’ll never be over until we get to the bottom of it. Do you want to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder?”

“There has to be another way!”

“Okay, let’s hear it.”

“I don’t know!”

“Then have a little faith. You said you trusted me. Now’s the time to walk the talk.”

“I trust you; it’s the cartel I don’t trust.”

“You think I do? Trust me, we know what we’re doing. We’ll never even see the cartel, except for the mule. We’ll take every precaution we can. But we have to do this. If you’re worried, I’ll find someplace to hide you until this is over.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“You should be.”

***

“You okay?” Kade asked as he snuggled in close.

“No.” Winter replied. She knew he was going to go through with the plan to intercept a mule and send word to the cartel despite her protests. She was terrified of what might happen, but, in the end, she was more terrified of not having Kade protecting her, so she decided to stay.

“It’ll be okay,” he murmured as he kissed her back. She’d been chilly toward him all night. He knew she was afraid.
He
was afraid. But it was something they had to do.

“So you say.”

“You have to trust me.”

She felt a tear trickled down her cheek. “I do, but I’m still afraid.”

He held her snuggly until she drifted into sleep, but he was a long time following her, his mind spinning in ever-tighter circles as he tried to predict all the things that could go wrong.

***

It took the Santanás Cuervos a couple of days of setting up before they were ready to execute the plan. Now it was just a matter of catching a mule. They divided into teams and watched for exchanges, but were turning up nothing.

Winter was being cool and distant. She claimed nothing was wrong, but Kade knew better. She was pushing him away and out of her life. They were still sleeping together, but the intimacy they shared was missing.

By the third night, the grind was wearing him down. He was trying to catch up on his work during the day, and then helping with the stakeouts until the wee hours of the morning.