by Ruin, Olivia
The wind died down enough to speak while we were a hundred yards away.
“I don’t like it,” I said into her ear.
“Me neither. I think we may have gotten here too late.”
I looked to either side of the road, trying to spot the danger that we may be running into to. If we were lucky beyond belief, Zach had only injured Jed and there was still a chance of finding him alive.
“Careful,” I said.
The road was elevated, and there was more of the thick brush and stunted trees in copses to either side. There was no sign of anyone, but that didn’t mean anything. A whole company of men could hide in this crap.
Kat rolled to a stop, and we both got off. Tension gathered in a knot at my shoulders, and I rolled my arms to try and keep limber. The fight with the other woman earlier had strained a few muscles, but I may have need of them in the near future.
“Do you still have your gun?” I whispered. She looked at me and nodded.
I crossed to the side where the bikes were. There was no noticeable damage on either of them, but there were a couple boot marks in the dust off the shoulder.
“Over here!” I hissed. When she got to my side I pointed down at the ground. “They must have gone out there, in behind the stand of trees out there.
There were a few taller trees a couple hundred yards out. Whoever was out there had likely heard the bike drive up. We wouldn’t have the element of surprise unless we got really lucky.
With unspoken accord, Kat surrendered the gun to me. I felt touched by her trust, and it was the right move. Not only had I always been a natural, but I had proven myself in the attack on the Devil’s Roost where I shot three men dead with three quick shots. If either of us had a chance of knocking Zach out before he could get one of us, it was me.
There was a bit of a trail out towards the grove, which surprised me. There didn’t appear to be anything special about it but obviously someone came here fairly often. It must be another one of Zach’s special hangout spots. I wondered if he had some kind of voodoo doll setup out there. Considering what the other campsite looked like, it wouldn’t surprise me.
I gestured Kat to stay back when we got closer. She shook her head. Stupid girl. She won’t be able to do anything without a weapon. I had to admire her guts though. Hopefully we both got out of this alive and I had the chance to actually get to know her. I had the feeling that I might be pleasantly surprised.
I took us off the trail and into the dark woods, careful to keep the gun out and ready in case Zach laid in wait for us. There was no sign of him, but as I had proven earlier that didn’t mean that he wasn’t there.
I heard a faint scraping noise, and held my arm out to stop Kat. We looked at each other. Puzzlement registered on her face as she listened to the repetitive sound.
At least it wasn’t that close, and it didn’t sound like Zach was trying to hide what he was doing. Maybe he didn’t hear us come up the road after all.
We continued forward. We were close to the other side of the stand of trees, and I put my shoulder to one as Kat did the same beside me. I held up a finger and pointed at my chest. I’ll look. She nodded.
I leaned out carefully, ready to pull back in an instant if I saw the slightest hint that I was about to have my head blown off.
I was dumbfounded by what I saw.
DECLARATION
Jed stood there, patting dirt down over a short mound.
“Jed!” I shouted. I couldn’t stop myself. I ran out and threw my arms around him. His shoulders and back were reassuringly solid under my hands. I hadn’t been sure that I would ever embrace him again.
He looked down at me and smiled. “Hey Leslie. I wondered when you would get here.”
Kat and I fired off questions without giving Jed time to actually answer any of them.
“Are you ok?”
“Did you get our messages?”
“Where’s Zach?”
He grinned and put his hands out. “Girls, slow down. It’s ok, no need to rush through anything.”
I stomped my foot. “I thought we were going to find you dead, what do you mean there’s no rush? Where’s Zach? We can’t waste time when he’s out here somewhere! We have to find him and stop him!”
A serious look took over Jed’s face.
“It’s a bit late for that, Leslie. He’s already stopped. You don’t have to worry.”
“What? What do you mean? Where is he?”
He pointed down at the fresh dirt underneath his shovel.
“What?” I stared at the ground. My worries flew around my head, beating against my skull, and I couldn’t process what was going on.
“You killed him?” Kat’s voice was low and uneasy. “Oh, Jed, I’m so sorry you had to do it.”
Then it clicked. Fresh dirt. Shovel. Two bikes. One man.
Jed had killed Zach. All that worrying, we had assumed that Jed would be in trouble, and he had been one step ahead of us. He’d already taken care of the menace that plagued the club, just like he’d promised he would. I remembered how serious and low his voice had gotten when he’d woken up in the hospital, and that was even before Tim was murdered and Nathan was shot.
It reminded me that I never wanted to really piss Jed off. It was scary to realize just how capable he was.
At the same time, I was glad he was fine. More than glad. My heart, which had slipped into an irregular pattern of fits and starts ever since Kat had told me that he had put himself in danger unknowingly, finally settled into a relaxed rhythm.
“Wait, so when did you figure it out? Did you get our voicemail?”
He shook his head. “I don’t have any reception out here. Neither do you, I bet.” I patted my pockets sheepishly and handed Kat her phone back, useless as it was with no charge. “I was almost certain last night, and then after the night attack on you I was positive. Zach had left the headquarters to go home only half an hour before then, and he wasn’t anywhere to be found afterward. He told me that he had been sleeping, but there were enough coincidences that I was sure enough to take him out here and force a confession from him today.”
Jed shook his head slowly. “If he had killed you before I took care of him… I was so angry at myself for sitting on it for the night. My caution almost got you killed.”
I reached up and put a finger on his lips. “Shh, it’s OK, baby. I’m OK, and you’re OK, and that’s all that matters. We don’t need anything else.” I found myself drawn into his compelling dark eyes. “I love you.”
It felt right. I expected the judgmental back of my mind to scream at me that it was too soon to be talking like that, but the nagging voice of self-doubt was silent.
Jed’s hand came up to cup my cheek and he kissed me tenderly. “I love you, too.”
We looked into each other’s eyes
A throat cleared behind us. I had forgotten about Kat. Is she in love with Jed too? This is awkward, but I don’t think we can avoid finally clearing the air between us.
I backed a couple steps away from Jed and turned to Kat. “You know, Kat, I can get past the fact that you almost killed me-”
“What?” Jed asked. He looked between us, bewildered. “You almost killed Leslie?”
I shushed him. “We’ll explain in a bit. I thought she was the killer, as I told you, and she thought I was the killer. We ended up almost killing each other over it. Anyways, Kat, as I was saying, I can get past that, since I know exactly where you were coming from. What I can’t get past, however, is if you think that you are going to take Jed back. I love him, he’s mine, and I’m not willing to share.”
Her mouth dropped. I felt like a queen at how aggressively I took charge of the situation. Let’s see her try and win Jed over. I won’t let her try to worm her way back in, and I won’t go away without a fight!
She tried speaking a couple times, but words wouldn’t come out.
A hearty guffaw from Jed startled me. “Oh Leslie, I wouldn’t worry about that.”
Jed grinned as I started speaking, and I got angry as his smile got wider and wider until he started laughing, unable to help himself.
“And what exactly is so funny?”
Kat cleared her voice again - a quiet, innocuous sound that I would have found endearing if I wasn’t so annoyed at that moment.
“Um, Leslie? Jed’s saying that we aren’t going to get back together. In fact, that’s not even on the radar. Furthest thing, really.”
“What do you mean? You two get along so well, and I mean I saw you hugging outside Tim’s house and then ride off together.”
Kat’s face fell.
“Actually,” Jed said, “Tim was Kat’s uncle. She was really close to him growing up ever since her parents passed away.”
I felt as though I had been punched in the gut. No wonder Jed had been so angry when I had spent the better part of ten minutes accusing Kat while her uncle’s body was still warm.
It would have been nice if he had seen fit to tell me that!
“I’m so sorry,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say.
“It’s OK,” she replied. “I’ve managed to process it now. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it, but I think the worst is past. Jed really helped me get through it.”
“Kat and I aren’t in danger of hooking up though, Leslie. I mean, it’s not really something that she would be interested in.”
I felt entirely out of the loop. My brain was so fried from the events of the last few days that I couldn’t make simple connections anymore.
Kat finally bailed me out. “I’m a lesbian,” she said.
“Oh.” I reeled. “A lesbian? But… I mean, that’s great, but…” It didn’t make any sense to me. How could any woman see Jed and not want a piece of him? He was such a powerful, handsome, amazing creature. And Kat dated him for years, they were even close to getting engaged, she knew what he was capable of in the sack!
She nodded. “You know, if I were to pick between the two of you, I think I’d rather spend the night with you, Leslie.” She looked at me shyly.
Whoa. I didn’t see that one coming. I was flattered, flustered, and didn’t know what to say.
Jed took my arm gently. “It’s the reason that we broke up back when we did. Between that and Frank not letting her join the gang, she left town rather than stay here.”
My world was shattered. All of the preconceptions - misconceptions - I had been walking around with for the past three days were wrong, and now I needed to recalibrate.
I hit Jed on the arm as hard as I could with my good hand. “Lesbian? Are you fucking kidding me? And you couldn’t have told me? How hard would it have been to say: Oh, Leslie, here’s Kat. She’s completely cool and gorgeous and everything, but no worries, she doesn’t like dick.”
Jed shrugged. “I didn’t think about it. I guess I probably should have said something.”
Fucking men. They never know when five words will save a world of misunderstanding. Why can’t they understand women just a little better?
I shook my head. “Honestly, Jed, I can’t believe you would let me just think that she was a huge threat to our relationship. Can’t you see how pretty she is?”
It was Kat’s turn to blush. “Aw, thanks Leslie. I thought Jed had told you, I’m sorry I caused you so much grief. And then the incidents started happening…”
The mood dampened a little. There was still a lot of aftermath that we had to deal with. The trust in the club would be severely damaged after one of their own caused such mayhem, no matter how new of a member. Zach had practically grown up inside the gang.
We stood there, the three of us, in a comfortable silence.
“We should probably be getting back,” Jed said. “I called Nathan at the hospital and let him know what my plans were. I wanted someone to be able to coordinate things if it turned out that I let Zach get the upper hand on me.
I rolled my eyes. “And you couldn’t have told us? Jed, what the hell?”
“I couldn’t do that,” he said. “I knew that either of you would come after me if I did, and I couldn’t risk Zach growing suspicious or you getting hurt. I thought you’d be more than safe together.” He scratched his chin. “I didn’t really think that you might try to kill each other.”
Kat and I shared a look.
Oh yes, I think we’re going to be pretty great friends now that all this is behind us.
I nibbled on my fingernail as I looked on. The DEA tech worked away under my watchful gaze.
“How long does this usually take?” Kat asked.
“It really depends on the safe, sometimes it takes a lot longer than others. We should be just about there.”
Jed paced across the small width of the office.
The big safe that I had discovered had sat there for two weeks while we sorted out the damages from Zach’s murderous spree and waited for the safe guy to come out to the town. In the meantime we had shared rampant speculation on what was inside.
Kat was of the firm opinion that it would just be money and valuables. I was banking on there being information that would lead us to Frank’s partners in crime. The big dogs that were the ultimate goal of my undercover sting.
Jed had remained silent. He would have the best guess having been closest to Frank for the longest time, but he refused to comment, no matter how Kat and I had cajoled him.
The two of us got along fantastically ever since our heart to heart out in the field. As different as we were, it pulled us closer together. We were able to teach each other new things that we’d never had access to before, and the one thing we shared in common was a love of learning.
I’d even let Kat start to teach me how to ride a motorcycle, although I’d sworn her to secrecy and hadn’t let Jed know yet. I wanted to surprise him. The look on his face would be priceless.
“Here we go,” said the tech. I took my hand from my mouth and Jed turned around on the spot.
All three of us subconsciously leaned forward as the tech, well versed in the showmanship of safe-cracking, gave the wheel one last spin and flung the door wide.
Silence.
“Well, shit. That’s something, isn’t it?”
~~~
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Olivia Ruin is a long-time writer and new author who dreamed of making her living through her craft. Only in her twenties, she chooses to believe that she writes with wisdom beyond her years, although she admits that it is likely just wishful thinking.
She hopes to live off her words and travel the world armed with a smile and friendly attitude. Nothing pleases her more than hearing from readers and meeting them far and wide.
Ever an idealist, Olivia gets along with everyone she meets. Always willing to share a round of beers or pop a bottle of wine, she believe that life is meant to be lived and the world is meant to be seen.
Check out her website at OliviaRuin.com, and don't forget to sign up for the mailing list to hear about future releases.
Please feel free to email Olivia about feedback or requests about things you would like to see her write more about, [email protected]. She is also always open to the possibility of adding more beta readers or ARC reviewers, so make sure to apply via email if interested!
I would like to thank everyone who read this novella, especially those who also purchased Undercover. I was so pleasantly surprised at the mostly positive reception for Undercover, and I strove to make Under Fire even better in appreciation.
My support group and dear friends at HB, of course, deserv
e a colossal amount of credit for propping me up and giving advice and input. I wouldn't be in the position I am to be able to chase my dreams if it weren't for you.