They stood in the fresh air, each of them taking a deep breath before anyone moved. “Meet at the bar after a shower?” Shady said softly and all of the women agreed.
“First a vote?” Freedom said quietly.
Shady nodded. “All those in favor of remaining Bitches?”
Everyone said ‘Aye’ and Shady nodded and then said, “Shower then a drink.”
They all walked slowly to the main house. Harmony, Free, and Shady had brought clothes to the main house to change into. They didn’t want to track blood into the sanctuary of their homes.
*****
“So she said the shipment was in a week?” Creed asked the girls.
They had all returned to the main room of the clubhouse and gotten a drink before the guys descended. They wanted to know what they had found out, and their patience had come to an abrupt end.
“Yeah, the guy and Dom are meeting at the storage place. They have both drugs and guns. That is not all though,” Harmony said and looked at the girls at the table.
“What?” Creed said and frowned.
“The cages you all saw? They are for the girls they had kidnapped. They are selling them to this guy,” Shady said.
All of the men leaned back and started cussing. “What the fuck?” Cajun whispered.
“Yeah, they have them all over the place, hidden. Children too. Lola said she doesn’t know where exactly, only that Dom had several safe houses where he did his business,” Freedom added.
“We need to stop them,” Fork said slowly. “We need to stop them and kill them.”
“Agreed,” Creed ground out. They were pissed off and shit just got real. The guys would never mess with kids. That was fucked up, and so far over the line, they were disgusted. Especially when Lola said that one of the girls they were supposed to be delivering, Dom had taken for his own. She looked like Shady enough that he wanted her.
Shady had almost thrown up when Lola had told them that. She held it down long enough to find out the girl had gotten ill before Dom had gotten to her. She was taken to one of the safe houses to be tended to and then was to be brought back. It made her sick to think of the terror the girl was going through. They needed to find her before she was sent back to Dom. Shady would never forgive herself if she didn’t.
“Did she have any idea where the houses were?” Easy asked.
“No, she only knew they weren’t in town, but the one where the girl was taken was close because she heard Dom talking to whoever was transporting and they were pissed about her puking in their car on the short ride,” Freedom said.
“We need to make some calls,” Poke said and the guys nodded. It was time for them to reach out and start getting things shut down slowly so when next week came, they had everything covered.
The Diablos were going to scatter, and the Warriors needed them contained so they could be dealt with. Nothing was going to ruin their plan, too many people depended on it. Hearing they had no idea where the safe houses were, was not a good thing. They needed to find them and find them before next week. That meant hundreds of miles in the desert they had to search. It was going to take time, time they didn’t have.
“Where do we start?” Freedom asked and turned to look at her men and the other men that were at the table. They were going to help, they had to, after listening to what the plan was with those children, they were hell bent on finding the kids before anything else could happen to them. Even thinking about what they had been through so far was too much.
Chapter Seventeen
Slider and Cajun were riding next to Shady as they searched the stretch of road they were assigned. They had been at it for more than three hours already. Shady pulled to the side of the road, the guys followed and she was off the bike before they even parked.
Cajun heard her scream with frustration when he cut his engine. “Motherfuckers!”
Slider got off his bike and walked to Shady, wrapping his arms around her from behind. She was still screaming into the air. It was a tortured cry and Cajun felt helpless. He had been in that space before and he knew where her head was. She needed to get it out and not let it fester, he knew this, but it still broke his heart. He walked so he was standing next to the couple, grabbing Shady’s hand and held on.
“Why?” she screamed into the desert, but there was no answer.
Neither of the guys answered her because there was no answer for the question. This entire thing was fucked up, and Shady was blaming herself because one of the girls looked like her. It was fuckin' with her mind, because all she could think about was what she went through as a child. No one should have to go through that.
“I hate that fucking asshole,” Shady screamed and Slider held on tighter.
“Get it out, babe,” Cajun said and turned to look at the desert. There was nothing, yet there was everything. The scarce desert was the perfect thing to take on all their misery.
Shady screamed and screamed as Slider held onto her. Cajun stood and let his anger flow out of him, he gave over everything that had been done to him. It had been long enough carrying the burdens of his captivity. Shady was doing all of the venting for them as he held her hand tightly.
“Help me, babe, let it all out for both of us,” Cajun whispered and Shady turned to him, tears streaming down her face and she nodded. Then she raged some more. With each breath, the tortured scream let more of the pain go.
When she was finally done, she sagged against Slider. The rage was gone and all that was left was acceptance. Shady didn’t know what to do now, how did she move on from this?
“Good, baby,” Slider whispered. “Now fill the empty space with our love.”
Shady’s breath hitched and she leaned her head back against his shoulder. “I can’t.”
“You can, feel it,” Slider said softly and kissed her forehead. “I love you.”
Shady cried softly. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Fuck, baby, the three of us deserve each other,” Slider said. “We are claiming you as our, and nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to come between us.”
Cajun took a deep breath, picked her up out of Slider's arms, and held her close to him. He felt the connection growing stronger; her need for their comfort, a declaration in and of itself.
“I love you,” he whispered and he felt her jerk at the words.
“Why?” she whispered.
“I love you,” Cajun said again. “Finding you has made me complete. Everything I was missing is you. I need this—I need you, that's why.”
Shady put her head in his neck and sobbed. “Damn you.”
Cajun chuckled a little, “Most chicks wouldn’t cuss when a man told them he loved them.”
“We are seriously a fucked up mess,” Slider laughed.
Shady shook her head. “We are the perfect fucked up mess though.”
“Come on, babe,” Cajun said. “We need to get on the road.”
*****
Two hours later, the sun was just beginning to go down when Cajun saw it. A dim light on the horizon that seemed to be floating in the middle of nothing. He watched it for a few minutes before he signaled the others.
Shady and Slider nodded and pulled over. Cajun yelled over the roar of the engines. “Do you see that?”
They both turned and looked and Shady pulled out a map from her pocket. Before they left, they had circled the area they knew were known safe houses for some of the drug cartels that came up from Mexico. Where the light was there was no circle.
“Let’s check it out,” Shady said and they nodded.
The light was at least three miles off the main road, they drove two of them then pulled over to walk the rest of the way. Of course, they didn’t walk down the road, they turned and walked parallel to the light for a while then turned. There was a small grouping of trees they could hide in while they watched.
As they drew closer they could tell someone was inside the house, there was smoke coming from the chimney and a black SUV was pulled off to t
he side of the small cabin.
It looked like it had been an old hunters' cabin, because it was planks of wood thrown together, making it lean slightly. Hell, the whole roof could come down any second, Slider thought as they kneeled in the shadows of the trees and waited.
There were two windows, both covered with sheets it looked like and the dim light showed one shadow of a man sitting at a table. They knew it was a man because of his bulk.
“Is he alone?” Shady whispered and the guys shrugged.
They waited a few more minutes and when Shady was losing her patience and ready to just walk up to the fucking door and knock, they heard it. A scream, the man who was sitting in the front room stood and yelled for whoever was screaming to ‘shut up’. It didn’t stop the screaming. Cajun, Slider, and Shady pulled out their guns and held them at the ready.
Apparently, this was some ritual because the man was yelling about it not working still. That no one was going to hear her because they were in the middle of nowhere, and no one cared. Shady was ready to yell back that she fuckin' cared.
They couldn’t make out the words from the female who was screaming, they could only hear the man, but whatever was happening in the cabin was not right. Even if it wasn’t the girls they were looking for, there was something wrong. None of them could walk away from that.
“We need to call the guys,” Slider said and Shady nodded.
“Go, I will wait and watch,” Shady said and Cajun shook his head.
“No, where you go we go,” Cajun snapped.
“We need to get help, and if they leave, we need to be able to follow. Go call the guys,” Shady whispered and Cajun shook his head again.
“Not happening,” Slider agreed.
“Damn it,” Shady said and went to back up when they heard the man yell loudly that he was gonna make whoever was yelling sorry.
“Shit,” Slider said and pulled out his phone and hit the number as they ran to the front of the shack. “Trace this, and send backup with a wagon,” he yelled into the phone and then dropped it as Cajun ran to the front door and kicked it in.
The door slammed against the side of the shack and Shady thought the place would fucking fall around their ears, but it didn’t. Inside was a little larger than they thought, a small alcove held a chair and a TV that they hadn’t been able to see. They entered into chaos. There were two men not one, and both of them had a girl in their arms struggling.
“What the fuck? Are you with the Diablos?” the largest man yelled and tried to grab the weapon on the table. They had their answer, they had found at least two of the girls. Slider kicked the table and the guns flew against the wall and fell in the corner.
“Let them go,” Cajun said and raised his gun and pointed it at first one and then the other.
“Fuck you. Who are you?” the larger of the two men yelled.
“Your worst nightmare, motherfucker,” Shady said. “Let them go.”
Both men pulled the small girls up in front of them, holding them as a shield. Shady heard one of the girl's whimper while the other one looked to be close to passing out. Shit, she was skinny and her hair was matted to her head. She looked like she had been here a while. But Lola said the kids were all new, who was this girl? She had blond hair so she wasn’t the one who looked like her, no that was the other girl, the one who apparently had been yelling. Her hair was long and black, just like Shady’s. She had whimpered because the man who was holding her had his hand wrapped in her hair.
Shady made eye contact with the girl and nodded. Shady saw the fear in her eyes and wanted so badly to run to her and grab her out of the man's hands, but she couldn’t. The girl could get hurt worse than what she already was. Shady could see the bruises on her arms and legs, the fucking pricks were going to die.
“Not lettin’ ‘em go,” the large man ground out, he was holding the girl with the dark hair. He was the leader, Cajun thought and turned a little to Slider who was reading his cues perfectly.
“Listen,” Slider said talking to the large man. “There is only one way this is gonna go, bud. You need to let them go and get the fuck out of here. In about five minutes a whole bunch of pissed off bikers are going to come roaring down the road. Now, we are willing to let you have a fair chance to get the fuck out of here and leave the girls with us. If you wait—they will kill you.”
“Right, like you are going to let us leave,” the man spat.
“We will,” Slider said firmly, pulled up his hand with the gun, and held the end in the air. With his other hand, he held it up as if to tell him that he was safe. Cajun lowered his weapon but didn’t put it away or anything. Shady stood ridged and waited.
The large man glared at the trio but looked at his friend and said, “Ricky, back away to the door. Hold her in front of you until you get there. We will let them go when we have a clear path to the car.”
“Okay, man,” Slider said softly and shuffled his feet a little, so there was a path in between Cajun and him to get to the door. The smaller, skittish man’s eyes darted back and forth and he didn’t move.
“Rick, move your ass,” the large man ground out and the smaller man jumped. He pulled the unconscious female up and held her close to him, making sure that Cajun and Slider couldn’t get to him unless they hurt the girl.
Shady kept her eyes on the girl who was awake, she didn’t break the contact at all, the girl seemed to hold onto Shady’s eyes in desperation. She whimpered again when the man holding her pulled her closer and his friend moved. The large man shifted so he was in a better position, dragging the female with him. She stared in panic at Shady who nodded again, trying to tell her it would be okay. They girl tried to nod back but couldn’t.
Now Ricky was at the door with his back to the opening and the large man was across the room with Cajun and Slider in the middle. Shady was standing off to the side, neither man looking at her. Dipshits, they didn’t consider her a threat. Hell, she was probably the biggest threat in the room because of the rage she was feeling, these two men weren’t walking out of here alive, she was going to see to that.
“Let her go and walk out the fucking door,” Cajun growled and Ricky looked at the large man and asked.
“Gary?”
“Go,” the man growled and Ricky nodded slowly and then squatted and put the girl on the floor, moving quickly out the door. They could hear him moving toward the SUV. The larger man nodded and then took a hesitant step, obviously he thought they were actually going to let them go. It was a joke, because they weren’t letting these two motherfuckers go anywhere.
The man took another step when Cajun and Slider did not move a muscle. Slowly he made his way across the room, dragging the poor girl with him. She struggled a little but Shady shook her head briefly, keeping eye contact.
The large man got to the door and realized that Ricky had left the girl in the doorway. He had to step over her, which was hard with the girl he was holding. He cursed under his breath. Shady looked out the window and almost laughed. Ricky was standing next to the SUV trying to open the doors. Apparently, Gary had the keys. Her gaze went back to the girl and she grinned a little and then motioned slightly with her head to duck. The girl frowned but then nodded briefly when Gary tried to pull her with him but was losing his grip and she was sliding down lower.
Cajun and Slider were tense, but Shady could tell they were ready to move when the time came. It was going to come down to who had the best shot.
Shady took a deep breath, she was hoping the girl would give them the opportunity to take Gary boy out, and she wasn’t wrong. Because when Gary tried to step his other foot over the unconscious girl's body, the girl he was hanging onto went lax in his arms and slipped. She ducked her head and brought up her hands to cover her head as Gary dropped her to the ground on top of the other girl.
“Fuck,” Gary bellowed and Cajun raised his hand and fired the shot. It hit the guy in the shoulder and he fell back into the doo jam.
“Gary,” they heard
Ricky yell and Shady stepped to the window, knocked it out with her elbow, and aimed, then fired. She shot him in the leg as he tried to come and help his friend.
Slider and Cajun moved to secure both men, they were going to have to be questioned. Shady moved to the girls and pulled the one with the long dark hair off the other one.
“You okay?” Shady said gruffly to the girl who was whimpering as she ran her hands over the unconscious one. Shady didn’t do the whole touchy feely thing she was sure these two needed.
“No,” the girl mumbled. “Who are you?”
“Name’s Shady, this is Cajun and Slider. We are here to get you the fuck outta here,” Shady said with a snap.
“My sister,” the girl said sadly. “I need to call my sister. She has no idea where I am, I was supposed to be going to school,” the girl cried.
“We will take care of that in a while, first we need to get you somewhere safe, and then we will call everyone we need to,” Shay said briskly.
“I have been gone for a week,” the girl sniffled and Shady turned and looked at her.
“Listen, I know this sucks and is rough, but we need to get the fuck outta here before someone else comes. Once we are gone, I promise I will call your sister myself. What is your name?” Shady asked.
“Tami,” the girl whispered. “That is Jas,” she continued and pointed to the unconscious girl. “She has been here for a lot longer than me. She told me what they were going to do to me. I cried and screamed hoping they would get pissed off and let me go.”
“That is good,” Shady said and checked Jas’s pulse, it was weak but it was there.
“I made myself sick, threw up on some guy's shirt to get sent here. He was going to do things to me,” the girl whispered. “He scared me.”
“Yeah,” Shady whispered. “He scared me too, when I was younger.”
Tami looked at Shady, “Are you Francesca?”
Shady: Ops Warriors MC Page 15