by Jessie G.
Those kohl-lined eyes looked at him with something akin to pity. There was no fear, no sadness, none of that comatose fog. Just pity. “Go home, Kyle. I know what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, what are you doing?” If Javier could make this decision with a clear head then there was no need for coddling or kid gloves. “Hurting Red? Jeopardizing Saul’s plan? How is this helping anyone?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt Red.” Javier frowned and looked around. “He’ll understand.”
“I’m not sure I would.” Kyle needed to hammer this point home. “Saul has a plan, Javi. You’re not part of it which means if you get caught, you’re hindering the plan. You’re risking yourself for nothing.”
“I love him!” Javier screamed, drawing unwanted attention to them. “You said he didn’t believe me...you said I had to make him believe me! But I didn’t know how, didn’t know what I needed to say or do…..now he’ll know! He’ll know!”
“Javi, no, this isn’t the way at all.” Kyle felt his chest tighten painfully. “Let him come home to us and then you can spend your whole life making him believe it.”
Someone tugged on his arm and he looked back to see Chris trying to get his attention. Right, they were out on the street too long and needed to get moving now.
“Javi, please, listen to me…” Javier walked around him like he hadn’t even spoken. Too late, Kyle saw the dark SUV approach. Unbelievably, Javier was just going to get in that fucking truck. “No! NO!”
Kyle jumped forward and tried to wrestle Javier back. Chris latched on, clutching Javier around the waist while he kicked and screamed. Almost immediately, strong arms grabbed him from behind and started pulling him into the truck. It all happened so fast. Chris tried to maintain his hold on Javier with one arm and grab him with the other, but with Javier fighting him, he couldn’t maintain his grip. Feeling that strong hand sliding away, seeing the horror on Chris’s face, Kyle knew he wasn’t going to be able to save them both. At the last second, Liam came skidding around the corner and lunged for the door of the SUV. After that everything blurred. The sound of a gunshot, Chris finally losing his grip, the squeal of the tires, and then blackness. Nothing but blackness.
ILoveDPG
Chapter 43
Trick
“You had one fucking job!” Trick hissed before throwing his phone against the dash. In the passenger’s seat, Billy didn’t say a word and hadn’t since Trick picked him up an hour ago. Tapping Billy to back him up had been part strategic planning and part fun. He really wanted to see if the rumors were true about the crazy fucker. Now though...now Billy was needed. Still, despite his outburst, Billy sat there calmly. No, that wasn’t accurate. More like statue still. It was honestly getting creepy. “They got Kyle.”
That got a reaction. Billy shuddered hard, so hard it felt like the truck moved beneath them. “How?”
“Javi was going to trade himself...Kyle tried to stop him...blah blah fucking blah. All these damn sacrificial lambs.” Honestly, he’d beat Chase senseless for doing something so stupid. Not that Chase would. He knew the value of a good plan and how to be an asset instead of a hindrance. Kyle had just taken a good, solid plan and become its downfall. “We can’t go in until we’re sure they bring Kyle here. If we screw this up, they could take Kyle anywhere and we’d never find him.”
Billy nodded slowly and looked over. “You as crazy as you seem?”
Sure, they could go with crazy. “You as crazy as they say?”
Billy smiled slowly, the expression one of the most hideous he’d ever seen. That seemed to be all the answer he was going to get, probably the only one he needed. With that little interaction over, Billy turned back into a statue. The creepiness factor was wearing thin. “Does your boy Liam know?”
“No.” Again Billy shuddered hard, as if he were fighting with himself. Saul was right, they were a bunch of fucked up assholes. “How far out?”
It took Trick a second to understand the question. “Not long. Sounded like they got Javier calmed down first before they called. Stupid ass motherfuckers.”
As the minutes ticked by he shot off a text to Clay who was babysitting Chase. It was a sick amusement to call it babysitting only because he knew Chase hated it. Truth was, not being able to go through his routines and having people fuss over him like he was an invalid was making his boy insane. They were intensely private people and the parade of helpful friends wasn’t helping. More truth, it was driving him insane seeing Chase like that.
“Since you mentioned sacrificial lambs…” Billy trailed off, his gaze meaningful.
“Shit, not you too!” Trick was tired of it. Tired of all of them ready to fall on the sword for each other. What happened to the good old days when you just went in guns blazing and whatever the fuck happened, happened. “Look, Billy Bear, we’re going in, getting all the bad guys, and bringing your family home. End of fucking story. If you believe anything else, you can stay in the fucking car because you’ll just hold me back.”
With something of an approving smile, Bill declared, “I think I might like you, Trick.”
Was that supposed to be a compliment? “Yeah, well, you’ll have to get through Chase and, injured or not, my little sex kitten will go ape shit on your ass.”
The sound of a car on the road had never been more welcome. Last thing he needed or wanted was to get into anything resembling a bonding moment with anyone. “Black SUV rounding the corner.”
From their hiding spot they watched the SUV continue on until it stopped at the gate at the end of the road. “You ever notice how all the assholes drive black SUVs? Is there a handbook or something?”
Now statue Billy was making jokes? Maybe, just maybe, he might like Billy too. “It’s probably in ‘How to be an Asshole for Dummies.’”
“Can’t see shit from here. We moving or would you rather bond some more?” Yep, it was official, he liked Billy, liked him enough to jump into the fire with him.
Once Billy was in mode, he was an asset with a capital A. Didn’t need to be told to hold his door and not let it make a sound when it closed. Held his share of the arsenal Trick packed. Super light on his feet considering his bear-like physique and knew how to stick to the shadows. Not that there were many shadows in the middle of the fucking day, but luckily for them the elite were also environmentally conscious enough to use walls of shrubbery to hide them from prying eyes. Hopefully Fancy Pants was working his magic on all the cameras in the area.
Once they had a better view of the driveway, he brought them to a stop. From their vantage point they could see one of the assholes carting Kyle in over his shoulder and by the way his white blond head was flopping around, Trick guessed they either knocked him out or drugged him.
“Just out of curiosity,” Billy began, his voice barely a whisper on the tropical breeze, “was there a plan?”
Trick might have fallen a little in love then. Thank fuck Chase wasn’t around. “Bing, bang, boom.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Billy nodded and swept a hand toward the house, bowing ever so slightly at the waist. “After you.”
In a lot of ways Billy reminded him of Snake. Another problem sitting on his back burner while he tended to this little bit of drama, Snake was a bear of a man, light on his feet, quick with the sarcasm and always willing to get his hands dirty. Up until the incident at the club, Trick would have counted Snake as among one of the few people he might trust. The betrayal only burned hotter because of it.
Forcing the unwanted thoughts away, he took a deep breath, cleared his mind and focused. “According to the blueprints Fancy Pants sent over, this place doesn’t have a basement, so that’s one thing on our side. Open that green bag.”
Setting everything down, Billy opened the indicated bag and pulled out the spy drone. Small, silent and unlike anything he’d ever seen before, it was one of several ‘toys’ Alaric had armed them with. “What the hell is this?”
“Our eyes and ears.” Trick took it from him and grab
bed the receiver. “We’ll be able to see what it sees and he’ll get a duplicate feed on his phone.”
They both watched as the drone lifted off the ground, hovering ominously. “You can control it?”
“Nope.” The front half of the drone tipped forward...a little bow maybe?...before darting up and away, leaving them to wonder who exactly was on the other end. Within ten seconds they couldn’t even see it. “Boy genius has some freaky toys.”
Huddled around the receiver, neither spoke as they got their data. The drone went from window to window, all of which were covered on the first floor. The second floor windows were wide open and there they found Durango and more of his men. No sign of Saul, Kyle, or the evil bitch.
“Durango’s on the move,” Billy whispered and they watched as the drone tried to follow from the outside. When the drone lost sight of him, Trick tucked the receiver in his back pocket and gestured for Billy to move.
As they approached, Trick tried to remember the layout of the first floor. No doubt it would have some grand entrance, and based on where Durango disappeared, the stairs were on the right side of the double doors. That left the kitchen, living room, parlor, ballroom, formal dining room, various bathrooms, an office, and...the glint of steel whizzed by on the right, followed by a painful grunt.
When he looked back at Billy in surprise, the man pointed to his ass and grinned. Trick pulled the receiver out of his back pocket to find that the screen had come back to life even though he was sure he switched it off. Freaky shit. “Were you staring at my ass, Billy Bear?”
Billy rolled his eyes and snatched the receiver. “No, I was saving your ass. Let’s go.”
Those knives made for a nice quiet entrance and Alaric had provided Billy with an endless supply. Billy had assured them that he had his own, preferred his own, but Alaric was insistent, promising they were special knives and that he shouldn’t aim to kill. Alaric claimed the same about the ammunition he also insisted they use. After seeing his toys in action at the club, Trick and Billy accepted Alaric’s assurance at face value.
The entry was empty and it made the hair on his nape stand up in warning. Overhead, the drone buzzed past them and disappeared. Trick wasn’t sure how he felt about relying on technology for what he usually did by instinct. He knew if they went to the right they’d find the kitchen and formal dining room and he didn’t think Durango was serving tea and crumpets to his prisoners.
Itching to get to the good part, he gestured Billy to the left and slithered toward the hall. The man coming toward them was more surprised than he was which worked just fine in subduing him without having to fire his weapon. Just as he was easing the dead weight to the floor, Billy tapped him on the shoulder. A quick glance at the receiver showed him Saul tied to a chair...a wooden chair of all things. Was this amateur hour? He looked a little roughed up, but there wasn’t enough blood to indicate he was incapacitated. More importantly he looked pissed which meant…the drone panned out until it focused on Kyle lying on the floor. Yep, that explained that. Well, at least they were kind enough to put them in the same room.
“...was simple really.” Durango’s voice reached them as they eased down the hall. “They were standing right out on the street. Are you sure you thought this through all the way?”
Fuck, but that laugh was irritating. Billy slid the receiver in his pocket, took one of Trick’s guns, and ducked into the empty room on the right. Immediately Trick went for one of his boomers, pulled the pin, and sent it rolling down the hallway. The blast rocked the ground beneath them and, after that, being quiet didn’t seem all that important. Like rats deserting a sinking ship, the assholes poured out of the room at the end of the hall and they started picking them off. They managed to get five before the wave stopped coming. With a decisive thud, the door slammed shut and Durango’s bellow of rage shook the windows.
“Think he’s pissed?” Trick asked.
Billy shrugged. “You did just put a hole in his wall. Gonna be a bitch to fix.”
It was actually a pretty impressive hole. “Shall we introduce ourselves?”
Once again Billy swept his hand out, telling him to lead the way and took up position at his back. The firefight wasn’t a surprise; his boomers tended to attract a crowd. Billy was fast, switching easily between the gun and his precious knives. Neither of them hesitated in their forward momentum until they got to the door and the hall was clear.
They took a moment to assess the damage and, like Saul, they both looked a little worked over but nothing incapacitating. Before Trick could go for the door handle, Billy pulled the receiver out of his pocket. Kyle was on his feet, a little wobbly and there was an alarming amount of blood in his hair, but he was standing. Not so good was that Durango was using him as a shield.
“I count eight inside, not including that bastard.” Billy looked up and grinned. “Two right in front of the door.”
That was an easy fix. He glanced at the receiver one last time and took aim. Six seemed doable. Taking up position on either side of the door, Trick shrugged and knocked. “Room service!”
Billy reached for the knob, pushing the door hard and ducking low, taking the first asshole out with one of his amazing flying knives. Trick rolled in behind him, taking out the next asshole that came at them. Down to four and at a fucking stand still.
“Put your weapons down or I’ll kill him,” Durango screamed. Kyle winced at the harsh sound and made a disgusted face.
“Oh good, you got the script.” Trick scowled just before he took aim at the asshole standing closest to Saul. Without hesitation he pulled the trigger, dropping him like a stone. “Now, you put your weapon down or I’ll take out the rest.”
Durango looked at him closely and cackled. “So you’re the infamous Trick. My long lost brother-in-law. Take off that mask so we can be properly introduced. I’ve been dying to meet you.
“Fuck man, that was a horrible pun.” Kyle groaned, then laughed, then groaned again. “I think I’m gonna hurl.”
Durango recoiled when Kyle started retching all over both of them and it was the perfect distraction. Saul managed to stand just enough to slam the chair down with all his weight. As it crumbled beneath him, Billy was there to break his fall. Trick surged forward, grabbing Kyle before he hit the floor when Durango pushed him away. Saul jumped up and Trick provided cover when Saul snatched the knife from Billy’s hand and launched himself at Durango.
“Make it stop,” Kyle groaned. “Make the beeping stop.”
Beeping...what the fuck was beeping…“Bear check the receiver!”
Billy snatched it out of his pocket. “Cops!”
God knew he hated to take this from Saul, but they couldn’t afford to tangle with the cops. “Shit! Time to saddle up.”
Saul had Durango pinned to the wall and was beyond hearing him. Dragging Kyle across the room, Trick body-checked Saul, depriving him of the kill. Before Saul could react, Trick shoved a nearly unconscious Kyle at him, grabbed the knife, and shot out the window. With Billy on his heels, they dove through and raced for cover.
“Miami Dade Police! Put your weapon down!” He looked back in time to see Durango swing his gun wildly just before the cops fired.
Chapter 44
Saul
There were some things he knew would haunt him forever. Javier forced to kneel at his feet and beg for his sister’s life. Kyle bloodied and unconscious on the floor before him, a casualty of a war that was not his. No matter how long he lived, those memories would live inside him as reminders of the terrible life he once lived. He wanted to hate Trick for taking his moment away, for depriving him of seeing Durango’s blood on his hands. But he couldn’t. If not for Trick’s quick thinking, he wouldn’t be here now, looking at his two lovers curled up together on the hospital bed. Saul took a deep, satisfying breath. It was over. Durango was dead. Taken out in a hail of police-issued bullets right before his eyes. Javier never had to live in fear again. However it came about, he kept his promise to both
his lovers.
Seeing the body calmed him. When the doctors insisted on checking him over, he didn’t argue. When the cops, who hovered impatiently while the doctors worked, insisted on getting his statement, he didn’t argue. Patiently he walked them through being ambushed on a tow, giving the brothers’ more credit than they deserved, to his captivity and finally the moment they brought Kyle in. After that his memory was fuzzy, recalling masked men, lots of gun fire, possibly an explosion and some white thing flying about the room. Yes, he told them, of course he knew why Durango took him. It wouldn’t take more than a cursory look at his record to know why he went to prison.
The only surprise was in finding out that only Durango was dead. Trick and Billy had been armed to the teeth, the gun fire and the explosion was clearer in his mind than he let on, so he’d been expecting a high body count. Some kind of nerve agent, one of the cops told him, giving him that suspicious once over they learned in the academy. Did he know anything about that? Honestly, he could say he did not. Finally they let him go, asking him to call if he remembered anything else.
Bull was waiting for him when the doctor agreed he didn’t need to be admitted and led him to Kyle’s room. There didn’t seem to be any need for words, or answers he could already deduce for himself, so Bull remained silently supportive. The others were there, loitering in the hallway outside Kyle’s room, looking at him with a combination of relief and worry. Not Trick, but then he knew Trick would need to get back to Chase and honestly, Saul needed a reprieve before he returned that favor. Billy was there, standing in his usual cluster, but holding himself stiffly apart. Despite the need to see that Kyle was recovering, he walked to Billy first and took the surprised man in a tight hug.
“Let him in,” Saul whispered against Billy’s ear. “I lost too many years on revenge, living in limbo, and beating myself with my sins. Please, don’t sign up for that shit. Let him in. I promise he can take it.”
When he pulled away, Liam was there, slinging an arm around Billy and encouraging him to let some of that burden go. It would take time, something they now had plenty of, but they’d work through it together.