Mixed with Trouble: A CASH BAR NOVEL

by Faiman, Hayley

  “And you’re in love with someone else?” I guess.

  He clears his throat. “Nope.”

  “You lie,” I cry out.

  Coda chuckles but doesn’t confirm or deny my guess. He’s been giving me mixed signals for days, but I’m glad that he hasn’t really tried anything.

  Friends would feel nice.

  Especially, right now, I could really use a friend. I don’t have any of those, I haven’t really ever had them. I’m sure Baby will hate it, and maybe that’s what makes it so much more appealing. Friends, yeah, I definitely want to be friends with Coda.

  “Friends,” I whisper. “Yeah.”

  His hand squeezes my bicep, but he doesn’t say anything else, together we walk into the dark forest and for once the silence and the darkness doesn’t scare the absolute shit out of me.

  BABY

  Or is she?

  Martel’s words repeat inside my head as I reach for my cell. Finding the first prospect’s number, it rings and he quickly answers.

  “Are you watching Cash Bar?” I bark, foregoing all formalities.

  He clears his throat. “I’m outside. Coda’s inside with Lea,” he explains.

  “Find her. I need to know you have eyes on her,” I demand.

  There’s some rustling around and then I hear the door open. The music gets louder and louder. I hear him shout to Traci. She shouts back, but I can’t understand what she’s saying. There’s a pause, then the music disappears.

  “She ain’t here. Traci hasn’t seen her and I can’t find her or Coda anywhere.”

  “Where’s his bike?” I roar.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chants, his breath coming out mixed with puffs of air. “Bike’s gone.”

  “Go on a goddamn search, get the other men with you and fucking find them,” I shout.

  Ending the call, I pull up Coda’s number and press send. It rings, and rings, and fucking rings before his fucking full voicemail picks up. I can’t even scream at him over his voicemail the motherfucker.

  “Problem?” a voice asks.

  Spinning around, I come face-to-face with a man dressed all in black. He looks like he’s some kind of black-ops specialist and I immediately reach for my gun. His hands move quicker than mine. I’m looking down the barrel of his gun before I can even touch mine.

  Lifting my chin, I look straight toward him, refusing to cower. “What the fuck do you want?” I ask.

  He chuckles. “My boss wants your girl. He also wants to transport his product.”

  “Women and children?” I ask.

  He looks down his gun barrel at me, then tilts his head to the side. “They sent a crew to find her and bring her back,” he explains.

  “Why are you telling me this?” I ask, my legs beginning to shake.

  He takes a step closer, tilting his head to the side, I watch as his lips tip into a small smile. “Know who your club is, what they’ve been capable of. I need my sister freed. She can’t be like the rest,” he murmurs.

  “Fuck,” I hiss. “I help you and then you’ll help me?”

  He reaches for his phone, then lifts it to his ear. “Yeah? Call off the hunt, we got what we needed,” he murmurs into the phone then ends the call.

  “Don’t know where she is, bike was crashed but the two of them got away so they ain’t dead. I just called off the crew that was sent to find her. I’ll take care of this end, as long as you deal on yours.”

  “Get your sister out of whatever human trafficking bullshit Martel has her in? I don’t know if you realize it or not, but Snake is not gonna even take one load of transport.”

  He chuckles. “He will,” he mutters.

  “Doubtful.”

  He shakes his head. “Martel always gets what he wants, by now he’s already threatened your entire club and their families. He will kill them, he will traffic the women and the children. He will not give one single fuck or lose one minute of sleep.”

  He jerks his chin to the side of the building and I follow behind him. Thankfully, I’m not staring down his gun anymore, so there’s fucking that.

  “You better start talking, because I am not going to stand around here with my thumb up my fucking ass for much longer,” I growl.

  “My sister is twenty-one years old. She was just a waitress at one of the restaurants. I got her the fucking job. Thought it would be better than sitting around doing nothing all day. He saw her, he liked her, he had a client for her. Took her a couple days ago. I know she’s on his next transport,” he rambles.

  “He takes them to a holding area, then on the trucks, then to an undisclosed location for pickup. Nobody on his crew knows where the location is.”

  “But if we took the job, we would,” I drawl.

  He nods once. “You would, and I could get her back. I won’t stand for her being sold to some sick motherfucker for whatever sex games he has planned.”

  “But you didn’t seem to mind for the other women and children?”

  He gulps, his guilty gaze going from me to the ground, then back to me. “It was a job. Just a job. Someone had to feed my sister. That’s how I justified it,” he rasps.

  “What’s your name?” I demand.

  “Benoit Caron,” he says without skipping a beat.

  “Fuck,” I sigh, lifting my hand and running my fingers through my hair. “What happens if Snake doesn’t take the shipment?”

  “I find out who does and you still get her,” he practically demands.

  Lifting a brow, I cross my arms over my chest and just look at him. He looks desperate, he’d probably do whatever I asked him to do right now. I’m not that guy, I’m a lot of guys, but I am not that guy.

  “Leave Martel. Once this is done you leave him and I’ll help you.”

  Caron’s brows knit together and he inhales a deep breath, then releases it. “And do what? Martel will kill me if I try to leave.”

  “Maybe you join us.” I shrug.

  “Find my sister, save her, and I’ll do whatever the fuck you want,” he agrees.

  Holding out my hand, we shake. “Help me save Lea from that man and it’s a deal.”

  “If she’s found, she won’t come to any harm. I won’t allow it,” he vows as our hands break their shake.

  “What’s her name?” I ask.

  “Camille.”

  Turning from him, I walk away, our meeting over. I have her name. I don’t know where Lea is, but I feel marginally better that she is under this man’s protection. Now, I just need to fucking find her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  LEA

  I limp, each step seeming like I’m climbing a mountain. Everything hurts. I’m dying and everything hurts while I’m dying.

  “Coda,” I whimper. “I can’t, no more.”

  I stumble and he finally releases me. Without the strength to hold myself up, I fall into a heap on the muddy ground. He sinks down next to me, lifting his knees and dropping his head.

  “I’m a fucking idiot. I don’t know where we are, and we’re both too fucking hurt to try and make it anymore.”

  “I’m going to die here, aren’t I?” I ask.

  He shakes his head, then looks up at the sky. “No. I won’t let you. This isn’t how we go down, babe.”

  “How do we go down?” I breathe.

  He chuckles, his head still tipped back. “You’re gonna live until you’re old and gray. You’ll still be a hot fuckin’ piece, a GILF for fuckin’ sure. You and Baby will have a whole fuckin’ hockey team of kids and grandkids.”

  “A GILF?” I ask.

  “Grandma I’d like to fuck, because I’m sure I’ll still want inside of you, even when you’re a granny.”

  “You’re disgusting.” I laugh, then moan because of the fucking pain.

  “I know,” he sighs. “Think I’ll live past this bullshit?” he asks.

  “You’re gonna be a GILF, too. Whoever marries you is going to be lucky as hell. I’m already jealous,” I breathe.

  �
�Never gettin’ married, babe. Honest to fuck, thought I was in love once and all it did was fuck me over and love does not use lube,” he chuckles.

  I close my eyes, thinking about this predicament and how all of this is relationship related. Between Carter and Baby. Not to mention Baby and whoever that woman is to him. His fake fiancée, or whatever the fuck she is.

  “Okay,” he sighs. I watch as he pushes off of the ground, a groan of pain escaping him. “You stay here. I’ll bring help back to you.”

  “You’re going to leave me, alone?”

  He looks down at me, his face completely serious. Gone are the jokes about GILFs and marriages and kids.

  “You’re going to be fine. You can’t go on, you’re in pain. I’m going to get some help and come right back here.”

  I gulp, nodding. Coda reaches out and touches the top of my head before he limps away from me.

  I’m going to be okay.

  I’m going to be fine.

  I’m going to be okay.

  I’m. Going. To. Be. Fine.

  Inhaling a deep breath, I slowly lie down. My body hurts too bad to sit up for even a moment longer, then curl into a ball. It’s the best position that I can be in. Closing my eyes, I inhale through my nose, then let my breath out through my mouth.

  It’s cold, it’s dark, and hopefully this will all be nothing but a bad nightmare. One way or another, this is going to be over tonight.

  I just hope that I’m found by any of the Notorious Devils before I die. I honestly don’t care who finds me at this point.

  Skinner, Snake, Free, Crooner…Baby.

  I tell myself that I don’t want Baby to find me, but I’m a liar. Baby is the only person that I want to find me. I want him to save me. I want him to be the knight that I’ve always dreamed him to be.

  BABY

  Snake lifts his chin when I walk into the cabin. His eyes look like they’re full of hate and anger. I don’t blame him, Martel is a fucking prick.

  I shake my head once, signaling that I don’t have Lea. His eyes harden, then his gaze shifts to him.

  “Where is she?” Snake asks.

  “The girl? Who knows.” He shrugs.

  “Your deal will never happen, Martel. Throw me in jail, I don’t really give a flying fuck.” He shrugs. “But know that if Lea is hurt, you won’t live to do that.”

  Martel doesn’t even blink, he doesn’t act even slightly surprised by Snake’s words.

  “This is my largest shipment. I’m in a pinch, my last company met untimely circumstances that led to them being unable to fulfill their contract. This is a non-negotiable transport,” he announces.

  I lift my gaze to Benoit, he glowers. He told me that this was going to happen, and he was fucking right. Lifting my hand, I run my fingers through my hair and let out a sigh. Camille Caron. The name is etched into my brain.

  “We’ll take one job, this one only,” I offer. “We want it in writing that our ties will be severed after this and there will be zero repercussions.”

  Snake growls but doesn’t say anything to discount my position. This man, he’s too fucking good to us in this club. If I were him, I’d probably shoot my ass at this point. But I can’t think of anyone else. Lea and Camille, they’ve invaded my fucking brain.

  “Draw it up,” Snake growls. “I’ll sign it. One time only, nothing more. All our shit with you ceases and we keep Chardonnay,” he adds.

  Martel Junior opens his mouth, but the father raises his hand. “You’ll do this for free, this one job, free.” He demands.

  “I’ll do it for free,” Snake agrees.

  “Consider it a deal. Keep the bitch, she’s of no use to me now anyway.” He shrugs before he turns away.

  Martel Junior follows behind him like the bitch that he is and I vaguely hear Chardonnay screaming for them to help her. He ignores her and we watch as his men slowly disappear as well.

  “I’m going to beat the shit out of you,” Snake growls.

  Turning to look at him, I shake my head. “You won’t once I explain.”

  “It better be a really good goddamn reason,” Snake rumbles.

  I snort. “One of his men found me outside. He called off the hunt for Lea. She’s missing. They tried to run her and Coda off the road, they escaped, but his men were still looking for them,” I explain.

  Skinner makes a noise in the back of his throat from across the room. I ignore him, keeping my gaze connected to Snake’s.

  “What did he want for calling the search for her off? For us to do this job?”

  I shake my head. “He wants his sister,” I state.

  “Shut up,” Chardonnay shouts. “You better just fucking shut your goddamn mouth,” she calls out.

  Without thinking, I tug my gun out of my shoulder holster, I point it at the bitch’s head and I pull the trigger. I watch as the life drains from her eyes.

  Lifting my eyes to the wall behind her, I smirk at the sight of gray matter, blood, bone, and hair that’s splattered and stuck to the space.

  “I thought we were torturing her,” Skinner calls out.

  Shifting my gaze over to his, I dip my chin slightly. “I’m tired of her. Tired of everything about her. I think we’d have a lot more fun torturing the Martel men.”

  Skinner smirks. “You got a plan?” he asks.

  Nodding once, I turn my gaze back to Snake. “Caron said he’d leave the organization if we got his sister out, said he’d be at our mercy. We can use him and his knowledge to bring them down.”

  “Why doesn’t he get his own sister out?” Free demands.

  “He says that they’re under heavy guard. Then they’re transported to an undisclosed location before they’re picked up by their owners. He claims that none of his men know where the women are going.”

  “Just the men doing the transport,” Snake guesses.

  “Yeah,” I agree.

  “Fuck,” he sighs. “Fuck.”

  I nod my head. Fuck is absolutely right.

  “We do this one job, we have men waiting at the location to take down the whole fucking group. Plus, we have men at both Martels to bring them to us. We do the entire takedown at the exact same moment, to the fucking second,” Snake growls.

  “Call in Idaho?” I ask.

  “And Nevada,” he agrees. “I’m not fucking around with this one. Martel Junior is a senator and I’m not about to get thrown in prison, no matter what I bluff.”

  “They are going fucking down,” I growl.

  “You’re still getting your ass beat,” Snake announces.

  I shake my head, my lips twitching into a grin. “It’ll be worth it when we bring this guy down. When Lea and Caron’s sister are safe. When those other women and children are safe. It will be fuckin’ worth it.” I nod.

  “Fuck,” Free grunts. I turn to him and he shakes his head. “Shit’s been too calm around here. I knew some kind of trouble would pop up. As soon as Lea appeared, I knew that it was her. But goddamn, I didn’t think we’d be back in the world of human trafficking. I miss the days of drugs and guns. Fuck this people bullshit.”

  “I can’t say that I don’t agree. Strippers and whores are one thing, but this shit, this is unacceptable,” Snake growls.

  “We’re all in agreement that this motherfucker and his puppet son aren’t going to live a minute longer than necessary,” Crooner announces.

  “Agreed,” we all sound off.

  “Call in the body to be disposed of. We need to get back to the clubhouse and find out exactly what this job entails. I have a feeling that piece of shit has probably already emailed that contract to me.”

  “What about Lea?” I ask.

  Snake’s eyes darken, he dips his chin and his gaze flicks from me to Skinner.

  “I got the prospects out looking, but I haven’t heard back,” I inform.

  Snake lifts his phone to his ear. “Keys, I need you to find Lea,” he states. “Talk to the prospects that are out looking for her. They should have a last s
een location by now.” He ends the call, shoving his phone in his pocket

  “Let’s get the fuck back to the clubhouse,” Free announces.

  We all walk out of the cabin and climb onto our bikes. I want nothing more than to ride away from the group and go in search of Lea.

  I need to talk to the prospects first, get closer to the clubhouse, then I’m going to find her, even if it fucking kills me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  BABY

  Coda’s bike looks like shit. It’s tore the fuck up. Lifting my gaze from the metal, I look at Snake who is frowning at the bike himself.

  “Prospects haven’t found shit?” I ask. “We need a fucking tracker.”

  Snake nods, his eyes slowly lifting to mine. “We do,” he agrees.

  There’s a moment of silence, then Ice appears, stepping away from the shadows against the wall.

  “I’ll track them,” he murmurs.

  Snake only dips his chin as his answer. Ice turns around and is gone before I can even respond. “One thing done is the best that we can expect for now. Next up, we deal with this contract, then we devise a plan to take the girl.”

  “Camille,” I breathe.

  “Yeah, then we end the fucking Martels.”

  I grunt. “The fucking Martels.”

  Turning away from Snake, I take a couple of steps before he calls my name. Pausing, I look over my shoulder at him.

  “You only have to deal with Skinner for Lea. Once this is done, you won’t get any resistance from me about your relationship.”

  “Obliged,” I drawl. “I’m going to go and find her.”

  He blinks, his eyes widening then he shakes his head. “Ice is tracking her, just sit tight.”

  “Fuck that,” I growl. “She’s mine. I’m going to go and find my woman.”

  Turning my head back around, I jog over to my bike, only to see Skinner standing in front of it. Mother fucker. I just want to go and find Lea, I do not want to deal with this shit, not now, not fucking ever.

  “We gotta have a talk,” he announces.