by Evan Grace
Huffy glanced over to where LB lay. He was a dead man.
“I…yeah, Fiji is probably beautiful, but―”
Bonnie doubled over with laughter. “If you could see your face. The color literally drained from it. Relax, your shoulders are almost touching your ears.”
“Ha, ha. That was a good one,” he replied sourly.
“Loosen up. My father never needs to know about this. Like ever.”
“Agreed.”
“So, we’ve got some time to kill.”
“How much more fun can we possibly have?”
“True, I think I’ve already seen your good side. It’s probably all downhill from here.” She smirked.
Grasping his chest playfully, Huffy groaned. “That one hurt.”
“And yet you’ll still ride off into the sunset just fine once this is all over. Speaking of being all over―” She left her spot on the couch next to him to go stand next to LB. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
Chapter Four
Bonnie
Bonnie brushed her hand across her father’s forehead. He looked slightly less pale now. Huffy joined her, standing on the opposite side of the table.
“I’m not sure yet.”
He looked like he was holding back. Maybe there was more he wanted to say. One thing she was certain of, her dad would pull through. He’d made it this far. Above the door frame, a small red light blinked. She hadn’t noticed it before.
“There’s something I really need to tell you. I should have told you be―”
“What’s that?” she interrupted, pointing above the door.
Huffy turned to look where she motioned.
“Fuck. No way. It’s not possible.” He never answered her. He moved around the cabin. What was he looking for? she wondered. That was when Bonnie noticed little red lights blinking silently throughout the entire cabin. He looked concerned, and she was afraid. She ran for her duffle. She retrieved her Ruger, checking the ammunition and tucking it in her waistband at the small of her back.
“We have to move him.”
“Move him? Where? Why?”
“Someone is coming. I have a silent alarm set up. It triggers at the turn off, just over a mile down the road.”
“Who? Why would you need security?”
“Better question is how?”
Huffy hurried into the bedroom. Bonnie followed him. He opened the closet door, pushing the hanging shirts to the side. Pressing on the wall, a little panel opened. There were buttons inside. Huffy pushed one, and Bonnie watched in awe as the closet floor dropped slightly before siding aside. He pushed another button, triggering a light to shine on a set of stairs.
“Whoa.” It was like being in one of the mystery movies she loved to watch. She’d never imagined real everyday people had secret rooms like this.
“I’ll get LB. Go on down.”
“Let me help.”
“It’s easier if you’re out of the way.”
Bonnie reluctantly descended into the hidden room. The air dropped at least ten degrees. Once she was at the bottom of the steps, a motion sensor light came on, illuminating the room just enough to see. The space was much bigger than she’d imagined. There was a double cot against one wall. A stack of blankets lay folded on top of it. A small space heater sat on the floor near the foot of the cot.
The most impressive thing, however, was a set of monitors lining the opposite wall. Four black screens faced her. The keyboard rested on the desk below them. Huffy’s voice, even at a whisper, startled her.
“Move those blankets for me.”
She hurried to the stack, setting them on the carpeted floor. “What is this?”
Huffy laid her father on the cot before turning to the space heater. He flipped the switch on and a low hum filled the space. “This is my safe house.” He sat down at the desk, immediately flipping switches. The screens came to life. Different black and white images moved in each frame.
She spotted a figure crouched by her tailgate. On another screen, two men moved between the trees. They didn’t bother tried to conceal their identity. She spotted Preacher coming out of the trees with two additional men behind him. There were six men in total. Her father was in no condition to fight, even if he wasn’t unconscious. The odds weren’t in their favor.
Huffy picked up a small black briefcase from under the desk. Inside was a satellite phone. He punched in a number and waited.
“Hey, it’s me.”
Bonnie could only hear his side of the conversation.
“Trouble. Six. At the cabin. Donald Perry Jones, aka Preacher. Affirmative. ETA? Sooner is better.”
He disconnected the call. He spun in his chair to face her. His features looked the same, but he was a different person. “Who are you?”
“Special Agent Joshua Cavanaugh.”
“Holy fuck. Are you shitting me?”
“No, ma’am.”
“You’re a dirty cop? Is this some sort of setup?” Bonnie pulled her Ruger from her pants, pointing it at Huffy. No, not Huffy, an agent.
“Whoa! Keep your voice down. Lower that.” He nodded at her weapon. “I’m on your side. If I wasn’t, I would have killed you both before we even made it to your truck.”
“Then how did they find us?” she demanded as she put her gun back in her waistband. “You said they didn’t know about this place. No one did.”
His face contorted as if he had a revelation. He leaned back in the chair, rubbing his hands through his hair.
“What?”
“Your truck. It never even registered to me. It has built in Wi-Fi. That must be how they found us. The only person who knows about this place is one another agent.”
“So, if you’re not a dirty cop, explain yourself.”
“I will when this is over. I have reinforcements on the way.”
“How do you know you can trust them?”
He chuckled. “He’s my father.”
He came from a family of law enforcement. She came from a family of criminals and alcoholics. No wonder she was drawn to him.
“They’re just outside the cabin.” He pointed to the monitors. “I don’t want them inside. I want you to stay down here with LB. I’m going up to keep them out. I need them paying attention to the cabin and not the road.”
“No way. I may not have been a patched member of Dad’s club, but he trained me to use a weapon just like his guys. I can help.”
“Fine, arguing will only waste time. Stay low and do as I say.”
She followed him back up the stairs, gun aimed at the floor, as ready as she could be for anything that came their way. The first shot came through the front window. Suddenly bullets entered from all the windows. Bonnie felt like she was in a war zone.
“Get down!” Huffy yelled while pushing on her head. She looked around; there was shit for cover. The cabin had windows on every side. Huffy scurried over to the fireplace, popping a few rounds out of the broken window. She opened the fridge and freezer door to give her body some shield from the bullets raining in from the living room. She returned fire through the nearest kitchen window.
Huffy roared behind her. “Are you okay?” she yelled over the deafening gunfire.
“I’m hit.”
“How bad?”
“Arm. Just a graze. I’m all right.”
“I need more ammo.”
“Back in the bedroom. Pull the bin from under the bed.”
She ducked down, rushing to get the bin to help Huffy. She dropped to her knees, dragging the plastic container. She peeked inside to be sure it was the right one. It was filled with different types of ammunition. It was too heavy to carry the whole container; she grabbed a box for each of them. Not bothering to push the container back under the bed, she turned around right into the bad end of a gun.
“I need you to be nice and quiet for me, Bunny.” Preacher stood before her. She looked around for a way to outmaneuver him. The space was small, and outrunning a bullet wasn�
�t something she had much faith she could do.
“Only my dad calls me that.”
“Let’s go.”
He grabbed her hard. His long fingers wrapped tightly around her arm below the shoulder. His nails dug into her skin painfully. They walked out of the room. Preacher was lifting his gun. He was going to kill Huffy if she didn’t warn him.
“Behind you!” she screamed. Huffy spun and dropped to the ground all at once. His reflexes were impressive. Preacher squeezed her harder, smashing his other fist into her face.
“You stupid bitch!” he spat. Her cheek bone felt like it exploded. Bursts of light filled the room. She felt her knees give way. Preacher yanked her back up, pulling her in front of him as a shield.
“Huffy, it doesn’t have to be this way, boy. Just tell me where LB is.”
“Oh, we both know it’s too late for this conversation,” Huffy answered from the other side of the couch where he was hidden.
“You’re smart. That’s what LB always liked about you. I, on the other hand, don’t. I never trusted you.”
“I don’t get it, Preacher. Why?”
“You really don’t, do you? We’re barely gettin’ by with gun sales. I’m tired of it. Drugs bring in so much more profit. I need more guys. I can’t keep sneakin’ around on my own. LB wouldn’t listen to reason after takin’ over.”
Bonnie’s head was swimming. Preacher tried to kill her dad over drugs. He was just another lowlife drug dealer. Her dad wasn’t a law-abiding citizen, but he was still her dad, and she loved him.
“Enough games,” Preacher demanded. “Come out or poor Bunny is gonna get a bullet in this pretty little head of hers.”
She knew he’d do it too. She could hear it in his voice. She also knew he couldn’t get away with what he’d done. “Don’t you listen to him. He’s going to kill me anyway. You know that,” she pleaded.
“I said shut up!” Preacher shrieked before striking her again. She cried out as pain radiated throughout her head again. There was no way she hadn’t sustained a concussion. Her vision was blurry, but she willed herself to stay conscious. How long that would last, she didn’t know. It was getting harder by the second.
Huffy/Joshua
She was right. Preacher wanted to kill them both. They were witnesses. He wasn’t about to let that happen, but he needed to stall for some more time. He stood up slowly, his gun trained on Preacher. Bonnie looked disoriented. Her face under her right eye was swollen badly. Blood had trickled down her cheek and from the soft lips he’d kissed not so long ago.
Rage bubbled inside of him. He needed to keep his cool and focus on his training. Both of their lives depended on it. He wasn’t Huffy, a patched member of Fallen Angels, anymore. He was Special Agent Joshua Cavanaugh. It was time for him to remember that.
Preacher pressed his gun against Bonnie’s temple. “Why don’t you come around in front of me? Kick that steel over.”
He figured he might as well go for broke. “Donald Perry Jones, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Lloyd Malone. Put down your weapon and put your hands behind your head.”
Preacher laughed. “Is this some kind of fuckin’ joke?”
“Do I look like I’m laughing? Federal agent. Put down your weapon.”
Pure hatred spread across his face. “You lyin’ son of a bitch. It won’t even matter if I don’t kill ya. One of the boys will.”
Bonnie’s eyes were trained on him. She shouldn’t have been in a situation like this. She was a good person. That’s when he realized the shooting outside had stopped. They must all be in the cabin now. Things just went from bad to worse.
Preacher pressed the barrel to her head harder. Bonnie closed her eyes. A single tear streamed down her unmarked cheek. A figure dressed in all black appeared in the doorframe of the bedroom. They moved quickly but without a sound. Had he not been standing there watching, he never would have known.
His features became clear in the light. He had never been so happy to see Jimmy. Joshua focused on Preacher and Preacher alone. Jimmy pressed the revolver to the back of Preacher’s head.
“Drop your weapon, or I drop you where you stand.”
Preacher’s face told a story of disbelief, anger, and acceptance all within a moment. Reluctantly, he lowered the gun from Bonnie’s head and released her arm. She ran to Huffy, throwing her arms around his neck. His leg was killing him, but in that moment, holding her meant everything.
Jimmy raised an eyebrow at him. “You good, Bro?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
The front door opened. His father walked in. Bonnie’s head swung around to face a new enemy. He whispered softly, “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
She looked up at him. One eye was swollen, the skin beneath cracked and bloody.
“Bonnie, meet my father, Special Agent Jack Cavanaugh. Dad, this is Bonnie Malone.”
“Looks like you’ve been through a lot. Are you okay?”
Bonnie nodded her head. “Thank you.” She looked at Jimmy. “Thank you both. I need to check on my dad.”
Sirens sounded in the distance. He let out a deep breath.
Jack put his hand on her shoulder. “Medics are on the way. We’ll get your father. You need to take care of you right now.”
He led Bonnie to the couch and wrapped one of the afghans around her. She was shivering and no doubt going into shock. He went back to his father and little brother. “Thank you for your help.”
His brother beamed with pride. “My first arrest.”
Jimmy had just graduated the academy two weeks ago. He didn’t know it yet, but his classmates would give him a ton of shit for this. Having family in high places wasn’t easy on the force. Any competition would use it against him. Joshua wasn’t going to tell him that now. Let him enjoy the ride tonight.
“Help me get Malone upstairs. We don’t need anyone else knowing about the bunker.”
Jimmy followed him down the stairs where Lloyd Malone lay. His stomach wound was bleeding again. Probably from the fireman’s carry he used to get him down here. He had Jimmy take his shoulders while Joshua carried him by the legs. That way, if LB woke up, he’d see a familiar face first.
They laid him on the bed. Joshua closed the trap door and moved the hanging clothes to front. It looked like a normal closet. Unless you knew what you were looking for, you’d never find the control panel.
The local police department and paramedics arrived faster than Joshua would have thought, but when the Special Agent-in-Charge calls for back up, it probably lights a fire under you. Teams came swarming in. He came out of the room to meet them, pointing one of the paramedic teams to where LB was; the other followed him to Bonnie.
“You’re a dead man,” Preacher spat at him as his brother and another officer led him out the door.
His dad patted him on the shoulder. “Good work, son. Time for you to take a vacation.”
“Three years. What do I even do with myself now?”
“Your first undercover assignment is always the hardest. You take time off. Remember who Joshua is. Leave Huffy behind.”
“Dad…” He trailed off. His dad knew him well enough. He didn’t press him to go on. He waited patiently. Joshua took a deep breath. His dad wasn’t going to be happy. “I don’t want to leave her behind.”
“Son―”
“Listen, she’s not like them. She’s a good woman. A nurse. I can’t shake her.”
“May I finish?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Son, you’ve always made the right decisions. They are your decisions to make.”
Joshua nodded. He looked over toward the couch. Bonnie wasn’t there. He made his way through the crowd of officers outside. He took in the scene outside. Multiple police cars. Two ambulances, the coroner’s van, and a handful of sheet-covered corpses.
Bonnie was sitting in the back of an ambulance. EMTs were taking vitals and patching up her face. He slowly walked over to her. He wasn’t sure if she
would even talk to him. He lied to her. He couldn’t just let her go without trying. She teased him about marriage, and he definitely wasn’t ready for anything like that, but he wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to know her, and he wanted her to know him. The real him. Not the persona he created.
“Bonnie, I’m sorry.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “For lying to me or fucking me?”
The EMTs exchanged a look before exiting the rig. At least they no longer had an audience.
“For meeting you under these circumstances.” He sat down next to her. “Look, the truth is this: I couldn’t tell you who I was. This is my job. It was important. I won’t apologize for that. As for the sex, I’m not sorry that happened either. I like you, Bonnie. I think if you get to know me, you might like me too.”
“So.” She smiled at him. “What do you propose we do about it?”
“Dinner.”
“Are you asking me on a date?”
“Damn right I am.”
“I can’t wait.” Bonnie caressed his cheek with her hand as she leaned in. She kissed him as if she’d kissed him a million times. It was sweet and intimate.
The same medic and her partner came back over. “Agent, we should get her to the hospital.”
“Of course.”
“Will you come with me?” He helped her into the rig. As the doors were closing, Joshua noticed his dad and brother standing on the porch smiling.
“There’s no place else I’d rather be.”
The End
About the Author
Melinda Valentine was born in upstate New York. The youngest of four children (and the only girl) made it easy for her to turn to books as a companion. As a young child, she was whisked away to Baltimore, Maryland. She spent her youth reading books such as Nancy Drew, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Little House on the Prairie saga.
Today, Melinda resides in wild and wonderful West Virginia. She’s head over heels in love with her husband, has three hilarious kids, and three of the cutest furbabies ever.
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