Guns & Dusty Roads: The Iron Brotherhood Series

by Samantha Westlake

  When he looked back up, Kara had to peer closely, but she spotted a hint of a blush now around the man’s cheeks! Yes, he had definitely been looking at her with those predominantly male thoughts overtaking his more civilized thoughts.

  But as fast as that thought might have come on inside of Cross’s head, it was gone. He gave his head a little shake, and that little flush of color faded from his cheeks.

  Before he could start speaking, however, Kara reached out and put her hand on his chest. It was a light touch, and she pulled her hand away almost immediately, but for just a second, she could feel the heat of his body, the beating of Cross’s heart.

  “Trust me,” she told him, her voice calm and steady. “I got this.”

  And then she turned to the door. Cross opened it, and they headed inside.

  CHAPTER 5

  Agent Kara Sybil knew that the first meeting with an organization, however it happened, was always the most important to get right.

  This was her only chance to make a first impression, her only opportunity to appear with merit in the eyes of the higher-ups in the group. Kara knew that if she made a mistake here, if she faltered, she wouldn’t be able to recover.

  And in this situation, a single slip-up might get her kicked out of the gang…

  ...or worse, depending on this group.

  If they turned out to be true one-percenters, a gang that truly embraced its outlaw roots, she could end up dumped in a shallow grave in the desert, never to be found.

  So as she strode into the house, a half-step behind Cross, Kara made sure that her head was up, her eyes were open and observant, and that her shoulders were pulled back. This also let her observe the inside of the house, trying to observe as much as possible.

  The inside of the house was definitely a man’s realm, she could see at once. The furniture tended towards “bar interior,” with wood paneling replacing any sort of wallpaper, and sagging, well-worn couches pushed up against most of the walls. There was a set of stairs leading to the upper level on her left as soon as she entered, and a living room on the right. The living room’s far wall held up a dartboard, and scatterings of holes revealed where dart throwers had missed their marks.

  Cross stepped over and into the living room, and over his shoulder, Kara could see that the room wasn’t empty. Two other men were sitting on one of the couches, now rising up to their feet at the entrance of this newcomer. As they stood, Kara immediately sized them up, years of FBI training making this automatic.

  The man on the left side was short; even standing up, he looked like he barely broke five feet in height. He had a stout, thick, frame, however, which was further amplified by his shortness. Beneath a leather sleeveless vest, his arms bulged with muscles, and a thick brown beard spilled down his chest. He wore two thin braids in his hair, and the first impression that Kara received from him made her think of a big, burly, good-natured dwarf who had momentarily misplaced his battle axe.

  “Well, well!” the big, burly dwarf chortled, half to himself, as he stood up. “Cross, you’ve brought back someone sexy! How the hell did you manage to pull that off?”

  The man next to him, however, looked much more imposing, and even as the dwarf cracked this joke, his lips didn’t twitch. He was tall, bigger even than Cross, but he carried his weight well on an absolutely massive frame. His eyes glittered darkly beneath a heavy brow, and his hands were each the size of dinner hams. He looked capable of going on a rampage through a city single-handedly, and he looked almost angry enough to do so.

  “She doesn’t look like a whore to me,” the giant growled, glaring down at Kara. “Cross, you better explain.”

  Cross held his ground, even as the giant stared down at him. Cross might be tall, but this big man had a full six inches more to look down before his eyes collided with the top of Cross’s head.

  “She’s here to help us, Bear” Cross said, his voice even. “She wants to put a stop to the Hellraisers.”

  The Hellraisers - that must be the gang that was involved in the weapons smuggling. Kara made a note of the name, but she kept her attention focused on the giant, Bear.

  Bear, for his part, didn’t look impressed. “Her? How?” he snorted, his tone contemptuous.

  Cross, in response, glanced at Kara. This was her moment to step up. This was her in, her story, and she had to sell it.

  “The leader of them, Savage,” Kara said, injecting a note of venomous anger into her voice. “I met him two months ago. He took me out, told me that I was his girl, got me to loan him money.” She raised her eyes to Bear, tightening the muscles in her face to shoot out beams of heat. “And then he ripped me off for everything.”

  Keeping the emotion clear on her face, Kara watched to see how well this story went over. Cross had given her the name earlier, and had told her that this sounded like the kind of activity the man could have committed. Bear didn’t look especially moved by the story, but the dwarf, standing beside him, was nodding.

  “Sounds like the asshole,” he commented, and there was a note of commiseration in his voice. “And just another reason that we ought to put a stop to that gang. They’re too big for themselves, and this is just another bit of proof.”

  Bear was still glaring down at her, however. “And what are you gonna do?” he asked, his tone making it clear that he wasn’t expecting much.

  Kara held her ground. “I used to date a guy with ties to the FBI,” she said. “If we can find proof of what Savage bragged to me about, I can pass that along, and get the whole group arrested.”

  “It’s legit,” Cross cut in. “I checked her out before this. Bear, this is our chance to get the Hellraisers off the street, stop them causing trouble for us - and for everyone!”

  Clearly, Bear held the power of the final decision. Even with Cross’s endorsement, however, he looked less than pleased. “I don’t like it,” he growled.

  “Oh, come on!” the dwarf wheedled him. “We can at least poke around. Seems like a low risk, high reward to me.” The dwarf glanced at Kara, waggling his eyebrows.

  “It deserves to go to a vote,” Cross chimed in.

  At this, Bear sighed, looking down. “Fine,” he finally spat out. “Tonight, at the club meeting. We’ll vote.” He turned his eyes on Kara, and she saw no friendliness reflected there. “But all the risk is on her. And Cross, since you brought her to us, if anything fails, you will take the blame as well.”

  And with that, Bear turned and pushed past Kara and Cross, heading out of the house.

  For a moment, after the man had left, there was silence. It was broken when the dwarf cleared his throat politely.

  “Well, that could have gone a lot worse!” he said brightly, turning to Kara. “Nice to meet ya! Name’s Gimli.” He stuck out a thickly calloused hand.

  “Gimli?” Kara repeated in surprise as she took the hand. “Isn’t that the name of one of the dwarves from-”

  “-from that fantasy movie trilogy, yeah,” Gimli finished her sentence for her, looking a little embarrassed. “Figures that you’d recognize that. But as a short guy, hey, it fits, and I don’t mind. So what’s your name?”

  “Kara,” she replied, smiling a little in spite of herself at the dwarf’s ridiculous nickname. Kara didn’t see any reason to conceal her name; no one would be looking her up, and this way she wouldn’t have to worry about recognizing her own name when it was called.

  “So what, when you decided to get revenge on Savage, you turned to Big, Dark, and Stony here?” Gimli fired back, throwing an elbow at Cross’s ribs. The man dodged the hit, but looked affronted at the nickname.

  Kara felt a brief little burst of small-minded pleasure at seeing how Cross rankled under the nickname. “Actually, I turned to my uncle, Grazer,” she replied. “He put me in touch with Mister Brooding here.”

  At that nickname, Cross actually groaned! Kara couldn’t resist shooting a little smirk at him. Gimli, standing beside them, guffawed loudly. “A good one!” he laughed. “And even
though your new man here might not have much of a sense of humor, I can tell you that he’s a good fellah at heart, and won’t screw you over like that other fucker.”

  Her man? Kara exchanged a look with Cross, and opened her mouth to correct the dwarf. Before she could speak, however, Cross interjected, simultaneously shifting his weight - and stepping down hard on Kara’s foot!

  “Gimli, I’m going to show our newest guest here around the house, before tonight’s meeting,” Cross said quickly as Kara swallowed her wince of pain at the man’s weight o her foot. “We’ll see you soon.”

  “Lock the door if you two start having fun together - or don’t, and give the rest of us a good show!” the dwarf called cheerily after them as Cross steered Kara away, up the steps and towards the second floor of the house.

  Once they were on their own again, Kara turned to Cross, raising her eyebrows. “So we’re together, are we?” she asked. She wasn’t quite sure about how she felt with this aspect of her cover. On one hand, it did lend more support to her story - but it also meant that she’d have to seem affectionate with Cross in public.

  Not that doing so would be the worst thing she’d ever had to do for a cover, Kara suddenly thought, as she focused on his face. The man was big and attractive, after all, and if they had met at a bar, she might have considered letting something happen.

  But now that she knew he was a biker, and likely involved in multiple criminal enterprises as well through the Iron Brotherhood gang, he was definitely out of the running in her mind.

  As she glared up at him, Kara half expected the man to break. But he steadily returned her gaze - in fact, was that a little smile dancing around his lips? Was he getting some sort of enjoyment out of seeing her feel uncomfortable?

  “It does fit the cover,” Cross said. They were standing at the top of the stairs, and there wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver. Kara couldn’t help but notice that Cross’s body was very close to hers. She could get tiny whiffs of his scent occasionally. It wasn’t at all unpleasant. “Besides, I know you don’t mind.”

  The nerve of the man! “That you should be so lucky,” Kara shot back. “Don’t expect anything to happen. I’m just here to find the location of these Hellraisers, and then I’m gone.”

  “And I’ll be happy to see your backside,” Cross returned. “Now, I’m going to go grab a bite to eat. Do what you want - the rooms up here are free to claim if they’re unlocked, if you want a break alone. But don’t forget that the meeting starts right at six tonight, and you better not be late. Not if you hope to get any help from us.”

  The man turned and headed back down the stairs, leaving Special Agent Kara Sybil alone on the second floor of the Iron Brotherhood’s house. She watched him head down the stairs, not glancing back over his shoulder at her.

  It wasn’t until later, as she was laying out on one of the beds in a small, unlocked room just off the main stairs, that Kara reflected on how there could be two different meanings to Cross’s last words.

  Was he simply looking forward to seeing her gone?

  Or had that been a tacit admission that he had been checking out her ass?

  The thought wasn’t entirely unpleasant. But, closing her eyes and focusing, using the meditation techniques she often practiced, Kara cleared her mind of any ideas of something romantic between her and Cross.

  This was all about the mission. Until she’d succeeded, she couldn’t get distracted by anything - especially not thoughts of some man.

  CHAPTER 6

  A few hours later, the meeting of the Iron Brotherhood was starting in the big dining room on the first floor of the rambling house that they called their clubhouse - and Special Agent Kara Sybil was fuming, just outside the closed door.

  Apparently, as Cross had briefly told her, there were some sort of “rituals” that the Brotherhood had to perform at the opening of each meeting, and as an outsider, she couldn’t be present for them! The very thought made Kara snort. Grown men, probably repeating some sort of formal-sounding nonsense and pledges! What a bunch of malarky!

  It never occurred to her that her oath to the FBI might be viewed in a similar light by the men inside the meeting.

  After several long, frustrating minutes of hearing nothing but muffled voices on the other side of the doors, there was the sound of approaching footsteps, and the door opened a crack. An eye peered out at Kara, and then the crack widened to reveal Gimli’s bushy, bearded face.

  “Come on in, girl,” he whispered to her. “Just say ‘I do’ at the pauses, and you’ll be fine.”

  ‘I do’? Kara followed the short but broad man in through the door, and found herself standing on the edge of a circle of men, each one seated in one of the dining chairs. The lights were dimmed, and most of the men’s faces were hidden in shadow.

  Even in the shadowed room, however, it was impossible to miss Bear, up at the head of the oval. The man looked massively oversized in his chair, and Kara wouldn’t be surprised if the wooden frame was groaning under his weight. Bear’s eyes were up and on her, and they did not look happy.

  “Is the outsider who comes here trustworthy and honorable?” Bear called out, his words echoing around the room.

  “She is,” came a voice from Kara’s right. Cross’s voice. Kara didn’t turn to look at the man, but she felt a brief surge of appreciation for his presence. Annoying or not, he was the only one here who could possibly be considered as on her side.

  “And does she swear to keep all our confidences, to respect our laws, and to follow our commands?” Bear continued.

  There was a brief pause, and Gimli tapped lightly at the back of Kara’s ankle. “I do,” she called out.

  “Does she swear to defer to us, and to the law of the Iron Brotherhood?”

  “I do.”

  “Does she come here free of any injustice in the eyes of our members, with honesty in her supplication?”

  “I do.”

  “And does any member here have reason to speak against her, to cast her out from this meeting?”

  Kara held her breath as Bear’s burning gaze roamed around the room. She estimated that there were roughly a dozen other men sitting in chairs arranged in the oval around the table at the center of the room, most of their faces hidden by the dim light. She sensed that, if just one of the men spoke out against her, she would be forcibly ejected from the meeting (and back at square one for her investigation).

  However, none of the men spoke; they just stared back at her, standing towards the middle of the circle. And finally, looking somewhat less than satisfied, Bear cleared his throat as he prepared to speak again.

  “Very well,” he announced sourly. “Than this outsider may be a part of our meeting, and may speak to the Brotherhood.”

  There was no other comment from the circle, but Kara thought that she sensed a few of the men holding their breath, waiting. They were all listening to her, now, she realized. This was her moment - she would either sell them on her story, and get the help in this case that she needed, or she would make some misstep and would be out on her ass - or worse.

  No pressure, Kara, she thought to herself.

  Kara took a half-step forward, bringing her closer to the center of the circle. She kept her body angled forward, towards Bear where he sat at the far side of the lopsided shape of chairs, but she made sure to bring her eyes around to look at all of the men, holding eye contact with each one for a few seconds as best she could.

  “The Hellraisers,” she began, her voice high and clear. “They are your enemy, and they are growing stronger.”

  One of the men leaned forward slightly. “We have an agreement-” he started to say.

  Kara cut him off. “You have an agreement for now, but it is far more fragile than you believe,” she overrode his voice. “You may be men of honor, but I have come to know enough about the Hellraisers to say that they possess no honor.

  “Instead, they are using deceit and lies to further their own goals,” she continued
. “I have heard whispers and comments of how they use truckers to move their shipments of illegal guns - and more and more truckers are now turning up dead.”

  Kara pulled her eyes back to Bear, at the head of the oval. “They are cleaning up any potential threats,” she emphasized, glaring at the man with every ounce of intensity she could muster. “And how long before that list of threats includes other gangs, competition, in the area?”

  In her peripheral vision, Kara could see some of the men nodding along with this story. It was making sense to them. They might have had an agreement with the Hellraisers, but to these outlaws, an agreement was only as good as the word of the man who made it. And once that man had broken one agreement, there was no reason to trust that he would honor any others.

  Bear, however, still didn’t look convinced. He stared at her, his big eyebrows making his brow jut out even more. “And how do you know this?” he asked. The tone of the question was light, but there was a barb hidden in among the candyfloss.

  Kara knew that barb was there, and she expertly flicked it aside. “Savage,” she replied, using the name that Cross had given her. “He likes to brag.” Kara knew that it would take more, so she glanced down at herself, putting on her best impression of embarrassment. “Even to his casual conquests,” she added.

  Her ears caught the murmurs of a couple men off to the sides, and she knew that she had nailed the sympathy play. But when she looked back up at Bear, he wasn’t falling over himself to agree with her argument. He gave her a single nod. That might represent that he believed her - or just that he thought she had made a solid play, even if it wasn’t true. Kara had no way of knowing what thoughts were inside the giant’s skull.

  After a minute, Bear pulled his eyes up to the rest of the gang, scattered around. “The outsider has spoken,” he called out. “Shall we discuss?”

  “Aye!” That was Gimli - Kara already knew the voice. “I move we open discussion.”

  “Seconded.” Cross’s smooth voice, cautious. The man was waiting to see how this would play out, Kara knew. It was the smart play, the play that she would make in his shoes.