by Blue, Jayne
Quicker than I wanted, it was our turn.
“Passports?”
I produced mine and Kade turned his over as well. The border guard looked at us and our paperwork and I tried like hell to seem casual. It was my actual passport but I felt like a fraud: I was lying and I sucked at it.
“What are you hauling?”
They asked this question every time.
“I am empty back there right now. We’re picking up rescue animals.” I produced the letter I needed to prove that I was going to a kill shelter to pick up a dozen animals this time.
While the guard read the letter, another knocked on Kade’s side of the truck.
“We need you to drive over to the side please.” We were being pulled out of the line. What had I done to raise their suspicions? I put the truck in gear and followed their directives.
“We need you to step out of the vehicle and open the cab, please.”
“I’ll do it,” Kade said and I handed him the keys. I prayed he didn’t do anything stupid but I also was thankful that Kade was going back there, not me. I was half afraid I’d accidentally open something, trip over something, or spill my guts. There were guns back there; sure, hidden enough that I hadn’t even known they were there, but they were there.
I sat behind the wheel and took a few deep breaths. It felt like Kade and the guard was in the back forever. It was like being on top of a stick of dynamite.
Several minutes went by. I heard them talk, and then I felt the cab shake a little as they climbed into the truck and walked around.
And then Kade was back and handing me the keys.
“Thank you, Miss. Good work you’re doing for the animals,” the border guard said to me and I smiled.
“You’re welcome.” I put the car in gear and we moved forward, slowly. Kade didn’t say anything as the border crossing disappeared in my rearview mirror.
“You did great,” Kade finally said when we were well clear. He reached out a hand to rub my shoulder.
“I felt sick to my stomach the entire time.”
“They don’t have a single reason to suspect you, plus you look innocent,” Kade said and winked at me.
I thought that crossing the border would be the hard part and now that was over. I’d been afraid of saying something stupid, but we had done it.
While I relaxed a little, Kade seemed to tense up. I realized the real hard part was coming next.
“Here’s the thing, Harlow. I don’t want you anywhere near the drop off for these guns.”
“That’s going to be a little difficult, isn’t it?”
Kade was scanning again, behind us, ahead of us. It was like the first few hours when the Hawks were stalking us on the highway.
“About fifty-miles ahead there’s a safe house. You’re going to go to it and I’m going to take this delivery where it needs to be. Then I’ll come back to get you.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Well, I thought I could do this with you. I thought I could be cool while I dropped these guns to Pilar but I can’t. Anything could go badly and you’d be in the line of fire. That’s not happening again while I’m in charge.”
“You’re not in charge. This is my truck, this is my run!”
I had the urge to stay with Kade. As protective as he said he was, I had the same urge for him. Usually, it was for animals, but this time it was him. I was scared but I also didn’t want him to face this alone. Where was his club, these Dark Saints? He was handling this all on his own and I didn’t want to let him.
“You did the part you needed to. You got us across, now let me do the part that you shouldn’t have a damn thing to do with.”
Kade was intense. The tender man who wanted to know about my past and shared some of his was gone. This man that sat next to me now was one I didn’t want to argue with.
And he was right. As much as I felt bonded to him, I didn’t want any part of the guns in the back of this truck or meeting a Mexican drug runner or the Devil’s Hawks.
“Okay, so where to?”
“We’re going pull off the highway a bit. The safe house is safe because it’s hard to get to.”
“Do we have time?”
“Yep, Pilar knows my schedule. We’re good.”
“Okay.”
Kade told me to turn off the highway and we began down a less-traveled road. I’d gone on this run to Mexico to the Playa De Carmen several times. I knew how to get to there but that was it. I followed Kade’s instructions turn by turn.
I started to relax a little. I wouldn’t have to try to keep my shit together while we dropped off illegal guns. It could happen without me and when it was over, I’d be on track again.
Or at least somewhat on track, to get my animals and bring them back to the Port Azreal and Ruff Life.
The last few days had muddied the waters of my life in a way I couldn’t sort out just yet, but one thing remained: I had animals to save. And I would do that. I could do that, as soon as my truck was my truck again.
“Turn here.” It was a private drive and it was clearly deserted.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a longtime friend of The Dark Saints, Rosario. This is a place I can come to rest, hide, or eat. Whatever I need.”
“This a girlfriend I’m about to meet?” Suddenly, I was a little jealous of this Rosario.
“No, not a girlfriend, but a surrogate mother to some of The Saints, to me too sometimes. She helps us out and we’ve done the same for her now and again. You’ll be safe here.”
I pulled the truck around to the side of the large ranch style home. I supposed there was a story, a history to Rosario and The Dark Saints but one that Kade didn’t have time to tell me. Kade walked me up to the front door and knocked.
A short few seconds later an older woman with salt and pepper coloring sprinkled in her dark hair came to the door.
“Ah, Kade!” A broad smile erupted on her face and she swung open the door. She looked a bit like Kade and I wondered again what the back story was.
“Aunt Rosario, this is my friend, Harlow.”
“Harlow, that’s a lovely name.”
She ushered us into her home and I felt immediately at ease.
“Thank you.”
“Sorry I didn’t warn you, it was better this way,” Kade said to his Aunt.
“I would have had food ready,” she replied and we walked down a hall to an expansive kitchen.
“I’m keeping this trip quiet.”
“As usual,” she added. I wondered how long I would be here. One thing was for sure: it was out of the way. That was a good thing.
“I’m going to run an errand. Can you keep an eye on Harlow here for me?”
“I don’t need babysitting.” I felt bad for imposing on this nice woman. Even though it was clear she’d been in this position for Kade or The Dark Saints before.
“How’s E.Z. doing?”
I had no idea who that was.
“As pissed off as ever.”
Rosario shook her head.
“Make yourself at home. I’m going to grab some ingredients from the pantry. Shame on you for surprising me but I won’t let Harlow here starve to death.”
Rosario walked down another hall shooting off the kitchen and left Kade and me alone.
“I feel strange, imposing on this woman.”
“This is how I want it. You don’t need to be anywhere near these guns again, okay? I’ll do the job and bring you back your truck. Then it’s on to get your animals.”
“Okay.” Kade kissed me. It was a goodbye kiss. I started to wonder how long of a goodbye it would be. I let him hold me and for a moment I squeezed him hard. I was worried about him and the job he was going to finish on his own.
Then the sound of engines cut through the quiet of the afternoon air on this remote Mexican ranch.
“Shit.” Kade’s demeanor changed. It signaled to me the sounds we were hearing were bringing something danger
ous as hell.
The Devil’s Hawks.
13
Kade
“How the fuck did they find out we were here?” I said out loud and ran to the front of the house. Harlow was close behind me.
“You’re going to have to hide. Rosario!”
She came running back into the kitchen.
“Hawks?” She knew before I had to tell her.
“Sound like at least six bikes, maybe twice that.”
Rosario was E.Z.’s first love; she knew the sound of a gang rolling up just as well as I did. She also was my best shot at protecting Harlow.
“I’ve got a shotgun in the…”
“I know. You two get out of here.” We had maybe seconds to spare before the Hawks busted down the door. I didn’t want to wait for them to attack. But I wasn’t going to do a damn thing with Harlow and Rosario so exposed.
“Let’s go, Harlow.”
Rosario was going to take her out back to the barn. Hopefully, I could diffuse this shit or shoot my way out of it before any Hawks decided to lay a hand on Harlow or Rosario.
Harlow looked at me with fear and questions but there was no time to answer.
“Go, hurry,” I said urgently and Rosario grabbed her by the hand. They went out the back door. I heard the screen slam shut as I walked to the front of the house.
Rosario was right, there were ten Hawks. The tires of their bikes were stirring up the dust of the drive.
I was about to yell out, to bluff – anything to slow the momentum of this confrontation – but before I could, a popping noise rang out.
They were shooting first and asking questions later.
I dropped down to the tile floor and looked out the window. There wasn’t a chance in hell I could take all ten of these Hawks. I could only hope to slow them down.
I aimed and my own bullet hit one of the Hawks. It looked like it was only in the shoulder, but it stopped him. A couple were headed for the truck and the rest were shooting again at the house.
I hoped Rosario and Harlow were hidden well and stayed that way. I ventured my head up again to aim for a few more Hawks. A spray of bullets broke every window in the front of Rosario’s house.
I had no choice but to give up and hope I could lure them away from this house and Harlow and Rosario.
“I’m coming out, hold up!” I yelled out to the Hawks.
They stopped shooting for half a second.
“Kade, get your ass out here.”
I stood up and headed for the door. Broken glass crunched under my boots. I just hoped that Harlow stayed quiet and hidden.
I walked out onto the front lawn. The Hawks had arrayed their bikes in a line. A few were shooting from their bikes a few were now on foot walking toward me. I stood with my hands up.
“I’m out, I did what you said. You’ve got what you came for.”
“You aren’t what we fucking came for.”
Talon walked up and got in my face. I felt a right hook land on my jaw, and for a second thought, it might have been broken. I moved my lower teeth. Nope, not broken, but blood filled my throat.
If they were going to beat the shit out me, this was a good start.
“Open this up or we shoot this guy, for fun.” I looked behind Talon to see another Hawk had a gun to the head of someone who was clearly not a biker.
He looked more like a reject from a surfing convention, with flip-flops and a shell necklace. Who the fuck was this hippy?
“Sorry if you’re trying to get me to do shit cause of that guy you’ve fucked up. I don’t know who this asshole is.”
I realized too late that Harlow did know who it was.
“Stop!” I heard her yell as she came around the house toward the surfer hostage.
“Rudy. I’m so sorry!” she pleaded.
It was her boss, the guy who’d upset her on the phone, the guy who clearly didn’t have her interests at heart. But that didn’t matter. It was in Harlow’s DNA to step in front of danger, to take it so others didn’t. She did it for her animals, and now, for Rudy.
“He’s not involved. I can’t let him get hurt because of me,” she said, more to me than the Hawks. And as she said it, another Hawk came up and grabbed her. I saw her wince under his grip. Shit.
“You’re going to take us all for a little ride.” The thought of what he was saying made me sick. How the hell was I going to stop this mess?
“Hey, you guys you didn’t say anything about hurting her. I’ll take her out of here now.” I looked again and there was Rudy, free as a fucking bird.
“You’re getting paid to give us information. We’ll do what we want with her,” Talon said to Rudy. In that moment, it clicked together. Rudy, her boss, was playing both sides.
I thought he was getting paid by The Dark Saints for the use of the truck, but he was taking that money and taking money from the Hawks. It was how they kept finding us. If Harlow wasn’t checking in by phone, Rudy was checking her with the GPS tracker he had for her routes.
I felt like this answer had been right in front of me the whole time and I hadn’t seen it. He’d sold her out a dozen times over.
This slimeball was playing both sides for cash and putting Harlow in the middle of it.
“Rudy, you’re working with these men?”
I saw Harlow put it together in the same instant.
“Look, I needed the cash. You weren’t supposed to know.”
Rudy seemed to be trying to apologize. Harlow wasn’t buying it but then a bullet to the face from a short, stubby-looking Hawk abruptly ended Rudy’s argument.
Harlow screamed and Rudy’s body dropped to the dust.
“Not a single fucking use for him left,” Talon said and turned back to me.
“You shoot her or me, there is no turning back from war, you understand?” I had no other play. I could only hope they understood the shit storm they were causing.
“I fucking don’t want to hear it. Hawks are moving into Port Az and anywhere else we want. And this is your old lady? Cause that’s going to make things even more fun.”
I stood still. The guns were all on me, and they had Harlow. Any move I made could put her in the same place as Rudy.
“Put her in the truck,” Talon demanded to the man who had a tight hold on Harlow.
“We’re going to use her to get back over the border with our guns. You’re going to be in the position of explaining to Pilar and the cartel why you don’t have the shipment you promised. I’m pretty sure that will take care of you,” Talon smiled. He was right. If I didn’t deliver the guns as promised, I was in nearly as bad a spot as my current situation.
But the idea that they were keeping Harlow alive to get back into the U.S. was at least something. That was at least time.
They revved up their bikes. And I watched as they drove away.
I cursed myself that my bike was still in the back of Harlow’s truck. I had seconds to figure something out.
“Aunt Rosario!” I called out and she appeared from the barn, another shotgun in hand.
“I’m sorry Kade, I tried to stop her from running out and then I was afraid I couldn’t get clean shot at the one that had her.”
I hugged Aunt Rosario.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” I needed to move fast. I didn’t want the Hawks to get too far. I had to be there for Harlow.
“Go on, take my truck, keys are in it.”
I hugged her again.
“Thank you.”
I ran to her truck, an old Chevy that wasn’t going to be as fast as I needed, but at least it was a set of wheels. Harlow’s truck wasn’t a speed demon so I hoped I could catch up. There was only one route to the border that could handle Harlow’s truck.
I had no plan but I was going to fucking do anything I could think of to get Harlow back.
They had a two-minute head start on me. I had the truck floored, and I hoped because they were in a pack they would be slower than me. They also didn’t know I had the t
ruck, so maybe, just maybe, they’d think they were home. That was all just bullshit I was telling myself. Talon was going to kill Harlow the minute they crossed. There was no doubt.
It didn’t take me long to catch up. There were four bikes in the back and probably another few in front. I revved up behind the two in back. I was going to run them off the road one at a time. My bumper made contact with the first bike and it was either veered off or got rolled over.
The rider veered and spilled off his bike; the buddy riding next to him did the same. That left two riding in the back. One of them turned around and flipped me off.
“Fuck you too, bastard.” This time I shot out the back tire of his hog. I passed him as he struggled to maintain control.
That left only one bike protecting the back of the truck. The rest had to be in front but I couldn’t see. By now there was no doubt that Talon and his sidekick driving the truck were aware that I was doing everything I could to fuck shit up.
Sudden brake lights and the squeal of tires nearly had me smashed up against the back of Harlow’s truck.
I slammed on my brakes and fishtailed but didn’t crash. They were going to finish this here, on the road. I put down my bike and got low. If they couldn’t see me, maybe I had a chance.
I had to get to Harlow. That as all I could think. I had to get to Harlow.
Bile backed up in my throat when the image of them touching her flashed in my head.
I had to get to Harlow.
14
Harlow
Should I try to hit Talon or the guy driving my truck? Talon, who seemed to be way meaner, and way more in charge than Farkus, had put me in the back. We drove away from Kade and any bit of safety I might have had.
“This will be the perfect spot after we cross the border,” Talon said to me and I had no doubt about what he meant. He yanked the top button of my blouse clean off just in case I didn’t.
“If you’re good to us and get us back across with our guns, nice and smooth, we’ll be nice and smooth with you,” Talon said to me and I didn’t want to think about what came next. Kade was right: every single Hawk was a psycho.