Broken Road

by Char Marie Adles

  Soon after her late night getaway she had gotten a call from Royal. He had demanded to know where she had gone so he could have his men come and protect her, but she had refused. He said Dutch would attack now that she had no one to look after her. So to solve to problem of protecting Lilla Devil asked Cee to look after her for a while till everything was over a done with. Cee had agreed when she saw the pleading look in Devil’s eyes.

  Devil was pissed however and couldn’t wait to get on the stage and let it out.

  “You sure you’ll be fine?” Cee asked a final time as she stopped the car in front of the Billings’ Airport.

  “I’m sure. I’ll be alone in first class and when the plane lands I’ll just go straight to the Arena.” Devil smiled at her friend, gave Lilla one last kiss and got out of the car. The Billings’ Airport was swamped with people, rushing around like hordes of ants at a sugar fest.

  Men coming home from business trips, traveling families from trips around the world, and even each person who unboarded looked tired, but happy in some way. And just when Devil was about to turn away she saw a mom carrying a sleepy two-year old on her hip.

  I want that, Devil thought sitting down on the nearest bench, when had I started wanting that?

  But she knew, she had wanted to finally start that life, the life she hadn’t had as a kid and give it to a child to call her own. And now she would have two.

  “And I blew having it be the perfect life too, but we can have part of it,” she sighed getting up.

  Finding terminal 37 and boarding the plane Devil put her carry-on in the chair next to her seat in first class and sat in her plush white leather chair, waiting for the plane to take off for Great Falls where the concert was being held.

  It had been decided to move it from Billings to Great Falls on the account Celia thought it was to close of a call for Devil. And Devil was grateful that Cee had done that for her.

  “Miss Runner we’ll be taking off in a few minutes if you would please buckle up for the take off.”

  Devil looked at the curtain door and nodded, the pretty flight attendant smiled and left.

  Not much longer now. She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes.

  A little girl’s scream jerked her up right, but was cut off soon after it started.

  “Everyone get off the plane now, we have no business with you, however, we suggest you leave,” called out an accented deep male voice.

  For some reason, with a sinking feeling in her gut she knew who the man was. Dutch. And he was here for her.

  Panic flooded her as she tried thinking of how to get off the plane, but the only entrance and exit were in middle class blocked by Dutch and his men.

  She was trapped.

  Chapter Thirty

  Devil’s fear however didn’t last long do to the fact her mind immediately switched into mafia mode. Be fast, be efficient, and be ready for anything. That had been the first thing Royal drilled into her head after adopting her. He wouldn’t stand a weak child, and Devil was far from weak.

  It didn’t help however that Devil didn’t like being trapped; she had had enough of that to last a life time thanks to her father.

  Devil slipped out of her leather seat and over to the curtain doors that separated her class from the coach class. Parting it the barest inch, she looked out. When her eyes landed on the man giving out orders she had the insane urge to laugh. She had expected a big man, well muscled about Royal’s size and his 6’3’’ height, to be Dutch. But instead this was a man shorter then Devil by many inches and gangly too. This little blonde man was no other then Dutch.

  But never did she lose her caution. No matter the man’s size he was trouble and his six giant clods of men were an even bigger problem.

  Dutch came over to the young attendant who had been nice to Devil when all were off the plane and asked, “now where is it we can find out little Devil?” He had only the faintest German accent to his rounded words.

  The poor girl shaking in her seat burst out crying and Dutch Tsk, Tsked. “Make her talk,” he told one of his men that stepped forward and grabbed the girl’s arm while raising his other hand to hit her.

  Devil gritted her teeth. If he even dared-!

  The large man pulled back his arm and let his fist fly at the girl; Devil however had already started moving and was fast enough to block the girl with her back. A heavy fit landed on her spine, popping it, and doing it had enough that would leave a giant bruise thanks to the man’s beefy hands.

  Devil smiled down at the attendant and mouthed, “Thank you”, then turned glaring at all of the men. Her shaking knees forgotten she started down at Dutch.

  “You make me sick. You have no guts if you can’t do your work yourself,” Devil growled.

  Dutch smiled brightly. “I knew you would come out for where you were hiding. It is nice to meet you, my dear.” He came forward and brushed the back of his hand along Devil’s chin. “Even more beautiful then that whore sister of yours.”

  Devil slapped his hand away.

  The girl sneaked around the men, but Dutch caught her. “Go and tell the pilot we are ready for take off and don’t you dare say a word,” he snapped.

  The girl went to the front of the plane to do so.

  He turned back to Devil with another smile and a slight chuckle as he slid into one of the chairs. “Sit.” He waved a hand at a chair from across him.

  Devil sat slowly, keeping an eye on all his men.

  “You have been very hard to find, my dear. It took me alone two years to find your sister Wylde. She was smart like you, but didn’t have so many friends to help her out like you. The Russian and Italian Mafias? Clever girl you are, and even ex OPS members from the United States services.” A note of satisfaction rang in his voice. He tilted his head studying her. “You don’t look like the type Royal would take to his bed. Children were the man’s weakness? Who would have thought?”

  Devil launched herself at him from his seat and grabbed his neck in both hands squeezing. “Don’t you ever talk about my father that way!” Devil hissed at him, slamming Dutch’s head into the window with each word.

  Dutch tried to pry her hands from his neck and finally one of his men picked up the girl and threw her back in her chair. Gasping he glared at her. “You fucking bitch!”

  Devil spat at his feet. “Damn straight!”

  After a long moment when he had his breath back, he stood over and smacked her across the face hard enough to whip her head to the side.

  Being forced down with two heavy hands on her shoulders she had to take Dutch’s smack. However it was more hilarious to Devil then painful, so she laughed.

  “Why do you laugh? Hadn’t had enough,” Dutch snapped.

  “No,” Devil said with one last laugh, “you hit like a women. After a lifetime of beatings from my father, you hit like a little girl. What kind of grown man smacks a woman?”

  Devil watched in satisfaction as Dutch’s face burned red with suppressed rage.

  Taking a deep breath his sat back down and ground out, “You are just like the name your father gave you, a devil.”

  Devil smiled her lip split and bleeding from his hit. “Thank you.”

  Running a hand threw his hair he sighed and calmed himself. When he looked at her next his calm expression was in place and his voice cold. “Your father owes us a lot of money, even though he is dead. His debt falls to you as you are the last of his family. And we expect payment in full.”

  “The plane is about to take off, all passengers please buckle up now,” the pilot announced over the intercom.

  Damn, Devil though. It looked as if she wasn’t going to get off the plane before it left. Not only that, but she had the sinking feeling as she looked into Dutch’s frosty blue eyes she would never get that help.

  The plane then took to the air.

  …

  Dutch tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair and explain just what he wanted from this Devil woman. She was truly be
tter looking then her sister, but she was too wild.

  He smirked. He would just have that beat out of her. Then he remembered when he read her recodes that that idea wouldn’t work. It was the ten years of beating at her father’s hands that had made her like this. She was a piece of work to be sure, but one way or another he would have her in his bed.

  “To pay back your fathers debt you will do what your sister had been doing for me till she ran away. You will always be by my side, and in my bed.” Dutch sneered at her, “That ought to be something you can do. Your sister was very good at it you know.”

  Fury was building within Devil and she had already started on a plan when the plane had taken off five minutes before. All she had to do was get to the control room and alert the pilots of what was happening, for she would bet the attendant hadn’t said anything, being afraid for her life. If anything they could also make a call and a landing.

  Devil just had to wait for the right moment and Dutch gave it to her.

  “I am going to the restroom, you men stay here and make sure she doesn’t do anything,” he ordered his men and left toward the every back of the plane.

  After there was the faint click of the door closing Devil made her move not waiting a second.

  She ran for the front of the plane.

  “Hey-!” one of her guards exclaimed.

  She tipped over the cart of items in the isle and ran for the closed door. When she reached it she banged on the door until it was opened by the co-pilot.

  “What do you want woman,” he asked huffily poking his head out. He caught a glimpse of the man running after her and she forced her away in. When in the cockpit, Devil slammed the door and locked it.

  “What the hell is going on!” the pilot exclaim, not taking his eyes from his work.

  “There is a gang of mafia terrorists on this plane and you need to land now,” Devil ordered in huffs.

  That got him to look at her disheveled clothes and bleeding lips. The young pilot’s lips thinned and he nodded looking back out the windows.

  The banging on the door started and Devil felt the door shiver at her back.

  “Make in a call to the nearest port now, Jacobs,” he ordered his co-pilot who was still standing, stunned.

  The other pilot sat down and immediately started to make his call.

  “Where the hell did she go?” Devil heard Dutch shout on the other side of the door.

  “She’s in the cockpit, Boss,” answered a deep timber.

  “Well then open that fucking door and get her out! We cannot afford her stopping this plane!” Dutch screamed.

  The pounding stopped and a body was hurled at the door from the other side. The door bulged and Devil moved away from it, breaking out in a sweat.

  A sudden pain striked her in her stomach.

  “Hush,” Devil whispered putting a hand to her still flat stomach, “everything is going to be fine.”

  “This is a code 427, I repeat a code four-two-seven! We need landing clearance!”

  One, two, three, more times the door bulged and then creaked.

  “One more time but harder,” he ordered his men.

  As a unit two of them ran at the door and it crashed open. That’s when everything turned wild.

  Devil went crazy on the men who came in the door using her street fighting skills to lay one flat and then another but as the rest crowded in the small room there wasn’t the time or room to fight them all.

  A fist grazed her chin and the co-pilot hopped out of his chair and took on one himself even though he was little better then a stick. The man Jacobs had taken on slammed him with a fist to the gut that sent the man flying in to the pilot flying the plane. And without warning both men fell to the ground as shots went flying from a gun.

  Devil saw blood soaking the floor before the plane dipped south.

  Dutch panicked as he saw the pilot lying on the floor with a bullet hole in his temple and ran of the steering controls pushing Devil out of his way and tried to take them over.

  Devil landed hard on her arm and cried out, but no one noticed as they panicked to keep the plane in the air. Devil knew that none of them could fly it.

  Smiling grimly she crawled out of the pit and pulled herself into one of the seats. She strapped herself in, placed her hands over her belly and did something she hadn’t don’t in twelve years, she prayed.

  Chapter Thirty One

  After dropping Devil off at the Billings airport she did something she had been itching to do a week as she watched her pregnant friend cry in bed. She made the hour drive back to the Lone Star Ranch and she was going to rip the bastard a new one.

  Devil was not only her best friend, but had been like her sister ever since they had known each other.

  Cee had a fire burning in her and she was going to burn the man who had gotten her friend in trouble and then thrown her out for no reason.

  Cee parked her car, got out and slammed the door before making her way up the gravel path to the ranch house. When she can to the screen door she pounded on it till the very man she was going to kill answered it.

  “What do you want?” Winthrop snapped at the woman at his door. She looked familiar, but right now he couldn’t give a fucking damn. He was pissed and not in the mood. Devil had left like he had wanted her to do to protect her, but that didn’t stop her leaving from hurting him.

  “You have a lot of nerve you stupid clod of a man!” Cee started in on her rage.

  “Now hold on a moment,” Winthrop growled, but was cut off by her poking him in the chest.

  “Who in the hell do you think you are, doing that to Devil and then just shutting her out like that? I thought you loved her, but then you go and send her off calling her a-a-!”

  Oh, so this had been his Devil’s little friend from town. No, not his Devil anymore.

  “Now listen here, little lady, she made the choice to leave-”

  But Celia wasn’t listening to him, because the TV blaring in the room behind him had caught her attention. She pushed him out of her way and entered the house going to stand in front of the TV.

  “What do you think you're doing just coming-?”

  “Shhh!” she hushed him.

  “-a plane from that left the Billings airport earlier today has crashed. The Flight A-07 requested soon after taking off an emergency landing, however never made it. The plane crashed ten minutes after taking off in a field. There is known to be only one survivor in the Billings Hospital and is unidentified…”

  Winthrop grabbed her arm and swung her around to stare at him and he was shocked when he saw her stricken expression, her face pale white.

  Frowning he asked, “What’s going on with you?”

  “That was her flight,” Cee said in a whisper, her body starting to shake violently.

  “Her who?!” Winthrop demanded with a sinking felling of dread in his gut.

  Cee started to wail. “That was Devil’s plane! And it’s crashed!”

  Winthrop cussed and went slamming out the front door. “Kip!” he roared. Kip came running.

  “What, Boss?” he asked, eyes wide.

  “Watch the freaking ranch for me and the lady in the house,” Winthrop said running by him and slamming into his truck. He floored the gas and left speeding down the road.

  Kip started after him dumbfounded for a moment and then went inside the house.

  …

  Devil caught flashes of white lights in between her spells of pain, as well as blurs of people running around her and drifted out once more.

  …

  Dr. Ross Wesley Giler paced the hallway outside the ICU unit housing the only living victim of the Billings’ plane crash. There was nothing he could do for them unless someone of their family came and signed for them, and quick. Once had the victim already fail and had to be brought back after a half an hour of her having been here. She had come in lucky to be alive do to the fact the plane took a direct nose drive to the ground, crumpling in like a squished
soda can, and then catching on fire.

  A loud commotion at the hospital entrance drew him from his deep thought and he saw two of his male nurses holding back a large younger man in place.

  “Sir, you can’t be on this floor,” one of the man nurses told Winthrop.

  “Like hell I can’t. Where is she?” he asked desperately, looking around. When his gaze landed on Dr. Ross he made a beeline for him.

  Dr. Ross met him half way with a hope that this was the man he had been looking for.

  “Do you know the female victim from the place crash,” Dr. Ross asked bluntly to cut through all the crap. He had a life to save.

  “Yes,” Winthrop said breathlessly.

  “Who is she?”

  “Her name is Devil Runner, she’s nineteen.”

  Dr. Ross looked Winthrop in the eyes. “She needs surgery now to save her life. Are you related to her in anyway to sign for her?”

  “Yes, she is my fiancée.” He didn’t even blink as he said it, and if he got his way it would be the truth one way or another.

  The doctor sighed in relief and started giving out orders for her surgery immediately. After a quick signature on a sheet of paper she was carted out of the room to the OR.

  Winthrop saw only her face as she was taken out of the room and sank to his knees on the floor with a silent cry of grief and horror.

  Dr. Ross looked at him with pitying eyes. “I’ll see how bad it is and I’ll be out when I can tell you what we will need to do.”

  Then they left him there by himself to see if they could even save her.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Four hours. Four torturous hours that seemed to eat away at his soul. For each hour that passed his thoughts drifted to different emotions from a deep sorrow to be swallowed in a burning fury at not only himself, but for having been the one to do this to her, but to the man’s who fault it was that she lay there dying.