Hot Extraction: SEALs, Marines, and Infantry - A Military Romance Boxed Set

by Kathryn Thomas

  Jamie saw Leo immediately rise from his stool at the end of the bar and intercept Copper before he had made it two steps in. He took him by the arm and turned him to escort him out.

  She was too busy to do anything, but she began to fret when Leo didn’t immediately return. She was just about to take her shotgun and go outside to see what was taking Leo so long when he returned. He appeared to be unharmed, but his face was hard.

  “Everything okay?” she asked as she pulled three beers, the mugs held in one hand as she worked the tap with the other.

  “Yeah. Peachy.”

  “What did Copper want?”

  “He threatened me.”

  “He what?” she hissed as she set the three mugs on Rachel’s tray and began to fill the next order.

  “Yeah. He knew Kat came to see us yesterday. He told me to stay away from her. He’s afraid, Jamie. Afraid for Kat.”

  “She came here! It’s not like you went looking for her. Did he know why she came?”

  “He didn’t say. He just told me to stay away from her or there was going to be trouble. He knows Lima 6, or anyone associated with it, is no longer welcome here. I have to guess he knows it wasn’t a social visit and had something to do with the club.”

  “Well he can just go fuck himself as far as I’m concerned. If he had stood up to Ron at the beginning then he wouldn’t have anything to be afraid of now, would he? Besides, if he can’t control his old lady, that’s his problem, not yours.”

  Leo smiled at her. “You’re not very sympathetic to his problems.”

  “Like I give a shit what happens to Lima 6. After what they did, they can all go straight to hell as far as I’m concerned, and I won’t shed a tear at their leaving.”

  Leo nodded. He could understand her feeling like that. “Yeah, I know. But they are not all dirty. Copper, Fitz, Allen, TC, and all the rest that have been frozen out. They are probably frozen out because Ron knows they are not comfortable with what the club is doing.”

  “Then they need to man up and do something about it instead of depending on you to do it all. You and Will, and the rest of the cleaning crew, did your part, and look what happened. As far as I’m concerned, they are all guilty until they prove otherwise.”

  “But if someone does come forward, wanting to take on Ron again, are you okay with me helping?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Yes,” Leo said softly. “It matters to me.”

  “So if I asked you to not get involved, you wouldn’t?”

  “No. We are in this together. You and I. Nothing is more important to me than you are. I won’t risk losing you over this.”

  Jamie paused to think it over. Having Leo get involved with the club again would be dangerous. On the other hand, living while always looking over her shoulder had been no picnic either. If he could take the club back, then they wouldn’t have to live like that anymore.

  “If you think you can take the club back, and you have inside help, then I guess I am okay with it. But you have to promise me you will be careful! That you won’t take any unnecessary risks.”

  He took her hands, warming them in his own. “I promise.” He tugged her gently into a brief kiss before letting her go. “I don’t know if this is going to go anywhere. Copper and I didn’t exactly part on friendly terms just now.”

  Jamie shrugged. “Fuck ‘em then.”

  ***

  Later that night, as they locked up and left the bar, Gigolo was at the farthest point in the parking lot, propped on his hog. Leo pulled his weapon and hustled Jamie into the 1950 Chevy, but Gigolo made no hostile moves.

  As they drove away, Leo began to relax when Gigolo didn’t follow. It was just the club letting him know they were watching.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “My god, Kat! What happened?” Jamie asked as she stepped up to Kat and examined her face. Kat was waiting on them as they arrived at the bar Tuesday evening, stepping out from around the corner as she and Leo started to unlock the doors.

  “Copper. He beat me. In front of the entire club.”

  Leo’s gritted his teeth. “That bastard. Come on, let’s get you inside.”

  “Why?” Jamie asked as they stepped inside and she deactivated the alarm.

  “For coming here and meeting with you. He had no choice. Ron was going to have someone else do it. To teach me a lesson. But Copper stepped in and said I was his old lady and he would take care of it. So he beat me, in front of everyone.”

  “So that is what Lima 6 has become now? A bunch of thugs that beat women,” Leo spat. “You should call the cops. Have his ass thrown in jail for assault.”

  “I can’t do that, and you know it.”

  “You’re taking a big risk by being here. Next time they may not stop at just beating you.”

  “I know. But the club is tearing Copper apart. After… this… he took me home and cried in my arms. He begged me to forgive him. I don’t blame him, Leo, for beating me. He probably prevented much worse.”

  “Maybe. Seems to me you’re not the one that needed their ass kicked though.”

  Kat smiled. “Can I get a beer, please?”

  Jamie was in the back, getting ready to open, so Leo stepped around behind the bar and drew one for her. “On the house.”

  “Thanks, Leo,” she said as she took a sip.

  “What do you want from me, Kat?”

  “I want your help getting Copper out. Or taking back the club. I don’t want to be part of the club anymore.”

  “Then leave.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, Leo, I just can’t. I can’t leave Copper, and he won’t leave the club. I love him, and I think he loves me. But I can’t live like this. Before, we partied pretty hard, but we were the good guys. Now, everyone in town hates the club. They hate me for being part of the club, for being Copper’s old lady. I don’t like them whispering behind my back and the nasty looks. I want it to go back the way it was.”

  “I understand,” Leo said as Jamie reappeared with the cash drawer for the register. “But I still don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

  “I don’t either,” Kat admitted as she stared into her beer. “Maybe I thought you could just snap your fingers and make it all better. You always seemed to have the answers before. You always knew the right thing to do.”

  “I’m sorry, Kat. I really am,” Leo said quietly. “But I have no influence anymore. Anything I say or do will only make things worse. Look what happened to you for just talking to me.”

  “Yeah. Ron, he’s out of control. He sees plots against him everywhere.” She waved her hand at her face.

  “What do you want, Kat?” Jamie asked suddenly.

  “I don’t understand what you are asking,” Kat replied.

  “If Leo could snap his fingers and make it better, what do you want?”

  Kat thought for a moment. “I want it to go back to the way it was. When the club was all on the same page and working together to make Vallecito a better place. That’s what I want.”

  “What are you willing to do?”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “It’s not a hard question, Kat. What are you willing to do to get what you want.”

  “I don’t know what I can do.”

  “That’s not what I asked. Are you willing to fight to get what you want? How far are you willing to go?”

  “What are you driving at?” Leo asked. Jamie ignored him as she continued to look at Kat, waiting for her to answer.

  “Yes. I am willing to do whatever it takes to get Copper out, or to take the club back. I won’t hurt Copper though, and I won’t leave him.”

  “Do you mean that? Are you willing to go to the mat for this?”

  “Jamie, what are—” Leo began to ask before Jamie held up a hand to silence him.

  Kat stared at Jamie. “Yes. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

  Jamie stared at Kat a moment, trying to
read her. “I believe you. But don’t even think about screwing with us or I will kill you myself.”

  “Jamie, what the hell are you talking about?” Leo demanded.

  “Kat. She’s your in. If she can bring Copper around, then you can start rebuilding the cleaning crew.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” Kat demanded. “I’m just an old lady. I don’t have any say in the club.”

  “Maybe not, but you have Copper’s ear. You can convince him that Leo was right before, that he was doing the right thing in trying to take over the club. How much do you know about what went on?”

  “Only what Copper has told me. That Leo was trying to take over the club. That he thought Lima 6 is muling drugs.”

  “What do you think?” Jamie asked.

  “I don’t know. I know that before, when Leo was still the VP, that things were a lot better.”

  “What does Ron say is going on?” Jamie asked.

  “That Leo sold the club out to the DEA, and the DEA is putting the squeeze on the club. That they can’t run the risk of doing intercepts anymore and now the club is allowing the drugs to pass through Lima 6 territory, but the club is watching to make sure there are no exchanges and no violence.”

  “Uh-huh,” Jamie grunted. “What did he say about the DEA shoot out?”

  “I don’t know. Just what I heard. That the cartel gunned them down and our guys were caught in the middle.”

  “Did Copper talk to you about what Leo told him?”

  “Only that Leo was attempting to take the gavel.”

  “He didn’t mention that the club is muling? That the hit on the members was orchestrated by Ron? The hit on Tuck and Two-Tone too? That Lima 6 were actually the ones that gunned down the DEA agents? He didn’t mention any of that?”

  “No…” she gasped. “Only the muling part. The rest, is it true?”

  “It’s true,” Leo confirmed.

  “Why didn’t you come forward with this before?”

  Because, Kat, I don’t have any proof. Just what I witnessed with my own eyes. I told Copper this after I was stripped of my colors, but it seems he didn’t believe it.”

  “No. I think he did believe it. Or at least he does now. That explains why he is becoming so bitter about the club. Why he feels like he has been sold out. If you told him this, that explains a lot. It’s tearing him apart Leo. He is one of the founding fifteen. He wants to leave, but can’t, and he wants to stay, but he can’t do that either.”

  “Then he needs to do something about it, Kat.”

  “I know! Give him an out, Leo. Give him a way to make it right.”

  “How? What would you have me do?”

  “I don’t know! Reach out to him. Something!”

  “No,” Jamie said quietly. “This is all on you, Kat. Leo and I talked about this, and Leo is willing to help, but you are going to have to get Copper to make the first move. He has to make the commitment to wanting to change the club. He has to reach out. If he wants to change the club, if he really wants too, then this is his chance. But it has to be something he wants to do. He has to make the first move.”

  “What will you do?” Kat asked.

  “Same plan as before. Take the gavel. But now it is a fight to the death. No more games, no more parliamentary procedures. We find out who is with us and who isn’t. Those that are with us stay. The remainder are… removed… but whatever means are necessary.”

  “Killed?”

  “If that is what it takes. Yes.”

  Kat stared at him a moment. “Okay. How can I help?”

  “To start, you have to get Copper to agree to meet with us. You have to help us convince him this is his last chance to make this right,” Jamie explained.

  “Then what?”

  “Then, you begin to recruit other women. Women you can trust. Women like you, the ones that don’t like where the club is going, whose men are not happy with where the club is going.”

  “I don’t know how this is going to work,” Leo said. “Women don’t have a voice in the club.”

  “Maybe not, but they have their men’s ears. That’s the key. They can help us convince the members there is another way, that they don’t have to stay with the club and be drug runners or leave. There is a third way. They can take the club back and make it what it once was.”

  Kat began to nod. “It won’t be easy.”

  “Nothing worth doing ever is,” Jamie said. “But I have a feeling that the women of the club, if they are united, hold more sway than they think. Are you going to sit there and tell me you have no influence over Copper?”

  Kat smiled. “No.”

  “Kat, listen to me. If Copper is on the outside, what do you think will happen if Ron suspects he is plotting against him? It doesn’t matter if it is true or not.”

  “They will kill him.”

  “That’s right. And probably you too, to set an example.”

  “I know.”

  “This is the club’s last chance, Kat. Their last chance to become the good guys again. Because right now, they are no better than the thugs and drug runners that were infesting the town ten years ago.”

  “I know.”

  “Then make Copper see. You can do it, I know you can.”

  “Yes. Okay. I will talk to him. I’ll have him get in touch with you.”

  “And start working on Fitz’s old lady. I can’t believe Fitz is any happier about this than Copper,” Leo said.

  “He’s not. He and Copper have talked about it. But Fitz, he’s afraid of Ron. Afraid of what might happen to his wife and kids after the cartel hit.”

  “I can understand. But his kids are out of school for a few more weeks. He can send his wife and kids away for a while. Get them out of harm’s way. Kat, this is going to be hard enough as it is. I need as many people on my side as I can get.”

  Kat nodded. “I’ll talk to Karen. I know she isn’t happy with the way things are going. I’m sure I can convince her.”

  Leo smiled. “With Copper, and maybe Fitz, on board, we might have a chance. Maybe.”

  Kat a looked at him a moment then rose from her stool and kissed him ever so lightly on the lips before pulling him into a hug. Jamie felt the green monster start to wake up at the kiss, but the hug made it clear that Kat wasn’t interested in him, only grateful for his help in saving Copper. Leo held her a moment as he looked at her and smiled a bit sadly.

  “Thank you, Leo. I knew I could count on you,” Kat whispered then pulled back and wiped at one still swollen eye.

  Jamie plucked a card from the holder behind the bar and wrote her cell number on the back. “Contact me when you know something, one way or the other. Don’t contact Leo directly. That will only put everyone in danger if anyone found out.”

  Kat pocketed the card. “I understand. I can’t thank you enough, Leo, for helping me. For helping Copper.”

  “Don’t thank me until Copper is on board with this.”

  Kat smiled. “Just leave that to me.”

  “We need one other thing from you,” Jamie said.

  “What?”

  “The date, time and location of the next intercept.”

  “How the hell am I supposed to find that out?”

  Jamie shrugged. “Use your imagination. But if you want Leo’s help, we have to have the info. We need proof that Lima 6 is muling. We need that information to get the proof. And when I say ‘we’, I mean the three of us. We’re all in this together now.”

  Kat glared at Jamie a moment. “Fine. I’ll find out. Somehow.”

  Jamie followed her to the door and let her out and flipped on the open sign while she was there. It was only five forty-five, but she was ready. Bobi and Tim would be here soon enough to bring the staff up to full strength, but she could handle it alone until then.

  “You want to let me in on the plan?” Leo asked when Jamie returned to her place behind the bar.

  “It’s simple enough,” Jamie said as she dumped out Kat’s barely touc
hed beer. “You said yourself that most of the club won’t want to go along with actually muling the drugs, much less the killing of their own members. So, we get some proof that Ron’s hoods are actually muling the drugs, not just letting them pass through. If we can pick off some of the men, then we can bring up the cleaning crew. Maybe find someone in the club that knows the truth.”