Whiskey: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 7)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “Don’t even think about it,” he cut in. I just stared at him for a minute. “I know what you’re thinking right now. It’s the same fucking thing I think when I look at Maggie in that hospital bed. But this isn’t on us. We’re not going to blame each other for what those fuckers did. We’re going to regroup and we’re going to take out every single one of them. If I even hear you utter the words I’m sorry, I’m gonna make sure that you get installation duty for the next year. You feel me?”

  I nodded.

  “Good talk.” He walked away and headed back to Maggie’s room.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Derek,” Alec, from team five, came over the mic as we pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “We’ve got a tail.”

  “I see it,” Derek responded. “Let’s keep going and see if we can lose them on the way out of town.”

  I was driving the vehicle with Cap and Maggie. Usually, I would drive with my team and Knight would drive with Cap, but seeing as how they were both too preoccupied with Kate and Maggie, there was no way they could drive together. Ice and Jules drove with Knight and Kate, while Cazzo and Vanessa drove with Sinner and Burg. Derek, Hunter, and Lola had the lead vehicle and Alec, Craig, and Florrie were in the last vehicle.

  Cap was in the backseat with Maggie trying to keep her comfortable. She had to keep her hand raised to keep the swelling down and she had been pumped with morphine before we left the hospital because of all the stitches on her back. I knew she wouldn’t be able to make the entire twelve hour trip in one sitting. It would just be too uncomfortable for her.

  We all had our earpieces in so that we didn’t disturb Vanessa, Kate, and Maggie. They had been through enough and didn’t need to hear every detail of what was going on.

  We wound through Pittsburgh, trying to lose our tail, but there were just too many of us and it was too risky to split up at this point. We needed to stick together.

  “Alright,” Derek said in frustration. “We can’t risk trying to take them out on the road. Not with the girls in the condition they’re in. Let’s just keep driving and, as long as they don’t make a move, we’ll wait them out. We already know that Maggie won’t make the whole trip, so we’ll find someplace to stop that’s not too busy and we’ll take them out there.”

  “I can’t be sure, but I think there are about six of them in two vehicles,” Craig said over the mic.

  “Keep me informed on their movements. As long as they don’t try anything, we’ll stick to the plan so no one gets hurt,” Derek said.

  “Which route are we taking?” I asked. “Chicago or Indianapolis?”

  “Fuck, neither is a great option, but I think Indy is the lesser of two evils. I don’t want to risk the traffic in Chicago. I think we can bypass Indy easily enough,” Pappy said. He had been studying the map before we left and since Derek was driving, we were all relying on Pappy to get us where we were going.”

  “I agree,” Derek said. “Let’s go south. Indy is the better option. Alec? Are they trying anything yet?”

  “Just tailing us, Irish. Looks like they just want to see where we go.”

  “Let’s not make this first leg of the trip too long. I don’t think Maggie will hold out long. She looks uncomfortable as fuck,” I said as I kept looking in the rearview mirror.

  I could see Maggie starting to squirm in the back. The morphine was only doing so much for her and no matter how Cap repositioned her, she couldn’t get comfortable. We drove for a few hours, but we were still in Ohio and I could tell Maggie had had enough.

  “Pappy, you need to find someplace for us to stop. Maggie’s hurting.”

  “No,” Maggie whispered. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Bullshit,” Cap said fiercely. “Derek, we need to find someplace soon.”

  Cap was whispering in Maggie’s ear and trying to soothe her. I could tell that he needed to get her out of the SUV and into a bed.

  “I’m on it,” Derek said. About ten minutes later, Derek came back over the mic. “There’s a place up ahead. About twenty more miles. Small town B & B about a mile outside the town. That’s our best bet. I don’t know how long we’ll be staying, but hopefully, we can give the girls a reprieve before we get back on the road.”

  “Good. Let’s get there fast,” I said.

  By the time we pulled into the B & B, Maggie was in tears from the pain and I had my hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel in rage. I hated that Maggie was in such pain and I was just glad that I didn’t have Vanessa in the same vehicle. She had just lost a baby. I didn’t think I could handle seeing both of them suffer.

  Derek ran up to the window and I quickly lowered it. “I’m going to check in. Why don’t you guys go ahead and get everyone out. We’ll get the girls settled and Alec’s team can keep watch. Then we’ll set up a rotation.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  I turned around and nodded to Cap. “How do you want to do this?”

  “Fuck, I don’t have a clue. I’m not sure she can walk, but carrying her is going to hurt her even more.”

  “Why don’t you piggyback her? I’ll help her onto your back and then we’ll get her to the room.”

  “I’m going to need to change her bandages. I think she’s got a popped stitch.”

  “I’ll tell Hunter to meet you in your room. He can look her over before she passes out for the night.”

  We got Maggie out of the SUV and onto Cap’s back. Her tears were ripping my heart to shreds as I tried not to hurt her as I helped her onto Cap’s back. The woman at the front desk stared at us with wide eyes as we helped Maggie upstairs. I knew we were going to have to explain some shit to her.Vanessa wasn’t in too much better condition. She was cramping as she walked up to her room. Kate was practically catatonic as Knight led her upstairs.

  “Ice, maybe you want to work your charm on the lady?” I nodded toward the counter.

  “Aw, come on, man. Why do I always have to do this shit?”

  “It’s those gorgeous baby blues. Women practically drop their panties when they see them.”

  “You know, I really don’t like being objectified like that,” he grumbled.

  “Ice, I’ve seen the way you let women objectify you. Don’t give me that bullshit.”

  We walked over to the counter and I turned my back, looking around the lobby of the B & B. I didn’t give a shit about the interior. I was really keeping watch on the outside. Even though Alec’s team was watching also from inside, it didn’t hurt to have another pair of eyes keeping watch.

  “Hi. My name is John, but my friends call me Ice,” he grinned.

  “Lindsey. Do they call you that because you look like Val Kilmer?”

  He grinned his cocky grin. “Something like that.”

  I turned and watched her roll her eyes at him. “Very original. I’m sure all the ladies go crazy for it.”

  Ice’s smile faltered for a second, but I nudged him on. We needed this chick to leave or she might end up hurt.

  “Maybe you could take me out tonight, show me the town?”

  “The town has about two thousand people. What exactly did you want to see? The four bars on Main Street? Or the grocery store that went out of business three years ago?”

  Ice glanced over at me and I could see little beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He’d never had a woman act like this toward him. He was fucking lost. Best to just go with the truth at this point.

  “Look,” I said turning around. “We’ve got some bad shit following us and it would be best if you weren’t here tonight.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “You really expect me to fall for that? I’ve poured my heart and soul into this place and there’s no way I’m leaving so that you can rob me.”

  “Lady,” Ice cut in. “Did you see those women walk in? That’ll be you if you don’t get the fuck out of here.”

  She scowled at him and her temper flared. “I’m not going anywhere and if you do anything to my property to damage it, I’ll
make sure you pay for every repair.”

  “Let’s go,” Ice said as he pushed away from the counter. Sinner walked up to us, giving a chin nod.

  “What’s going on? What’s with the long face?” he asked Ice.

  “He struck out. Tried to woo the lady and she wasn’t taking his crap.

  Sinner sucked in a breath and grimaced, then patted Ice on the shoulder. “You know, maybe it’s time you found yourself someone to settle down with. Looks like you’re losing your touch.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Ice said, shrugging off Sinner’s hand. “I’m not losing anything.”

  “Right,” I nodded. “Just couldn’t snag the one eligible woman in this town.”

  “You don’t know that she’s the only eligible woman. I’m sure there are plenty of other women who don’t have her bitch attitude.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “In a town of two thousand, I’m sure they’ll be lining up to get you. Young, old, women…men?”

  He punched me in the arm and walked away leaving Sinner and I chuckling.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  We waited for most of the day for something to happen. We could clearly see the two cars parked down the street. They must have thought they were being slick. We had all taken up position around the house, watching from the inside.

  “I hope to God they aren’t waiting for reinforcements,” Ice said as he walked over to me.

  “If they do, we’ll deal with it when the time comes. We don’t exactly have a lot of options right now. We can’t risk any of the girls getting hurt.”

  Ice glanced over at the front desk and I saw Lindsey scowl at him.

  “I don’t think you’re getting anywhere with that one.”

  “Didn’t plan to.”

  “What the hell are we going to do when they make their move? She can’t be involved in this,” I said.

  “Give her a gun and wish her the best,” he snapped. “If she’s stupid enough to stick around, she gets what’s coming to her.”

  I rolled my eyes. This wasn’t at all like Ice, which could mean only one thing: he liked her. I chuckled as I shook my head at the thought of Ice finding a woman that could wrap him around her finger. The man was fucking hard as steel on the best of days. He was a great guy, but not exactly the type of guy that women saw in the long term, which I guessed was exactly what Lindsey saw when she looked at him.

  The darkness settled around us until it was nearly impossible to see anything outside. Without the lights of the town, we were working based on instinct more than anything else.

  “We need to kill the lights,” Ice growled.

  “Yeah, why don’t you go talk to your woman about that?”

  He sneered at me and walked over to her. “We need you to shut off all the lights.”

  “I don’t think so. I don’t shut down the B & B until eleven and even then, I leave a light on,” Lindsey snapped.

  “Listen, do you want to get a fucking bullet in your head? With the lights on, we can’t see jack shit outside.”

  “Oh, sure,” she said unbelievably. “I’ll just shut off all the lights and then you guys can go do whatever you want and rob me blind. Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

  “Incoming,” Alec said over the mic.

  “Listen, we don’t have time to argue. They’re on their way,” Ice snapped. “Do you have a fucking death wish?”

  “I wish you would go away,” she replied.

  “Ten seconds,” Alec said.

  “At least go back in the office where we don’t have to watch out for you,” he urged.

  “Two at the front door, two at the rear. I can’t see the other two,” Craig said.

  “Lady-”

  Bullets tore through the windows, shattering glass and hitting the walls, leaving holes everywhere. Ice dove over the counter and tackled Lindsey to the ground. I crept over to the front door and stood just inside out of sight. There was only one thing I hated more than being fired at, and that was idiots that didn’t even have any aim. I waited for the firing to die down. They weren’t shooting at anyone in particular, so it was a matter of waiting for them to run out of bullets.

  I heard the crunch of glass as one of them approached the front door. Stealthy they were not. When his shoulder slid through the doorway, I yanked him inside and twisted his neck in one swift movement. It was better if I didn’t give away my position just yet. I slowly lowered him to the ground out of the way and leaned back against the wall.

  “Hey, mira a todos los cabrones?” one of them asked from outside.

  “Todos muertos,” I said in my best Spanish accent. The guy stepped through the doorway without any hesitation and I wrapped my hand around his face, cutting off any noise he might make.

  “Did you call it in? Tell the rest of your gang where we’re at?”

  He shook his head violently and he mumbled against my hand.

  “You so much as raise your voice above a whisper, I’ll slit your throat. Got it, hombre?”

  He nodded and I slowly released my hand from his mouth. “We were just supposed to follow you to your location.”

  “Then why did you come after us?”

  He didn’t say anything and I saw him looking down at the floor. He jerked his head toward the dead guy. “He thought we could take you all out.”

  “He thought wrong,” I said as I swiftly slid my knife across the man’s throat. “Two down by the front door,” I said through the mic.

  “Two down at the back door,” Craig confirmed.

  I heard some chuckling and frowned. What the fuck was that?

  “You should see these two fuckers out here,” Sinner laughed. “The one guy is trying to show the other guy how to use a gun.”

  I stepped silently onto the front porch and made my way over to the side of the yard where Sinner was positioned. One of the gang members was showing the other how to hold the gun. When he handed the gun over to the second guy, the second guy held up the gun like he was a fucking badass, holding the gun sideways. The problem was, holding the gun like that gave you shit for aim.

  I saw Sinner walking in the trees behind them and carefully pick up a branch. He watched as the second guy pretended like he was going to shoot someone and then he snapped the branch in half. As expected the guy spun around, firing the gun before fully turning and shooting the other gang member. I heard Sinner chuckling over the mic as the gangster’s eyes widened and then he spun around wildly looking for where the sound came from.

  “No te tengo miedo!” he shouted. “Salir y luchar, tu coño!”

  I stepped from the shadows, no longer wanting to wait out this asshole. “Pussy? You want to fight?”

  He spun around, his gun pointed at me with a shaky hand. “I’ll fucking shoot you,” he said with a thick Spanish accent.

  “Not like that, you won’t.” I walked slowly toward him. Sure, it was a risk considering he was nervous and had a gun pointed at me, but he also didn’t have any aim. I decided to take my chances. “Here, let me show you how to use that thing before you kill another one of your friends.” He looked at me funny and I continued. “Do you know why you don’t hold a gun that way?” I asked as I stepped right in front of him.

  He shook his head, obviously confused. I grabbed the gun quickly from his grip and shot him dead center in the head. “That’s why, you stupid fuck.”

  Sinner stepped out of the trees, shaking his head and grinning. “That wasn’t nearly fun enough. I was expecting something more.”

  “They were only supposed to follow us. One of them decided they could take us on their own.”

  “Stupid fuckers,” Sinner said, kicking one of them.

  “Cap, time to move out,” Derek said over the mic. “We need to hit the road before anyone else shows up.”

  “On our way down,” Cap replied.

  We walked back to the house where I heard arguing and walked in on Lindsey yelling at Ice for destroying her property.

  “I told you to fucki
ng leave,” Ice shouted.

  “I didn’t think you were serious! Who actually has a gun fight anymore? This isn’t the OK Corral.”

  “Look, now you’re fucking stuck with us. We could have handled this more discretely if you would have listened, but you didn’t. Now we’re going to have every single fucking gang member coming here for answers and they’re going to be looking for you.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because this is your fucking business,” Ice shouted.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t even know you,” Lindsey shot back.

  Ice pulled her out from behind the counter and pointed at the two men on the floor that were dead. “Is that how you want to end up? Because if we leave you here, you’ll be joining them in the ground very shortly.”

  I saw Lindsey pale and then she swayed. “Is that…blood?”

  She looked up at us and then her eyes rolled back in her head as she passed out. Ice caught her and slung her up over his shoulder, shaking his head and grumbling about stubborn women.

  “And you wanted to give her a fucking gun,” I muttered.

  He took her out to his SUV and then came back in with a scowl on his face.

  “Should we leave you two alone?” I asked.

  “That woman drives me fucking crazy and I don’t even know her.”

  “She’ll do,” Sinner grinned.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Ice snapped.

  “That, my friend, was some of the hottest foreplay I’ve seen in a while. Well, aside from Derek and Claire, but not many can keep up with them.”

  “You’re off your fucking rocker,” Ice said as he stormed away. I sighed and started dragging the bodies off to the back yard. I saw a lake in the back. It was a good place to drop them for now. By the time Sinner and I were done, everyone else was loaded and ready to hit the road. If we were lucky, we could hit Iowa by early morning.