In Walked Trouble (Under Covers)

by Christina Elle

  And then it hit her. What he’d said. Like a bolt of lightning that rendered her immobile.

  She had a relationship with Miguel who was tied to the gang. To the drugs.

  “When we were at the park, you asked me on a date,” she said.

  His face showed confusion. “Yeah.”

  She stepped back from him, making his hand drop to his side. “And you declined sex with me that first night at Max’s.”

  “Yeah, you were drunk.”

  “It wasn’t just that. When we were at Max’s you didn’t know I was close with Miguel. But after the park, when I was watching him and his brother, that’s when you took an interest in me. Suddenly, I was useful to you.”

  “That’s not what happened.” His left eye twitched when he said it, which sent her anger soaring. Liar. Not that she needed the cue to know the truth about him, but the confirmation definitely helped.

  He must have seen the realization dawn on her face, because a flicker of nervousness crossed his. “Okay. Maybe in the beginning, but that’s not—”

  “The beginning.” She took another step back and let out a sharp laugh. “That’s exactly what it was. You needed me. You thought I knew something that could help you.”

  Son of a bitch. How could she have been so stupid? She really did have atrocious taste in men. He’d been using her all along.

  “How far are you? In your investigation?”

  He looked away, giving her a front-row view of the muscles in his jaw grinding. “Not far enough. We’re still trying to track down the supplier and we can’t seem to get close enough to Ronan or Joaquin to crack their operation.”

  “And I was your way in,” she said, her anger level rising to unhealthy levels. “Miguel is Ronan’s brother. And I had a rapport with Miguel.”

  Luke moved toward her, but she flashed a palm. “Don’t.”

  “Cass,” he said, his expression growing weary. “It wasn’t like that.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “Okay, yeah,” he said, gliding a rough hand over his short hair. “Maybe it was at first. Ash thought—”

  “Ash?” she nearly shouted. “He’s in on this? What about Sam? Was she in on it, too?” Cass found it hard to believe, given the woman’s honest, direct demeanor, but really, what judge of character was Cass? Not much if she fell for Daniel’s shit and now Luke’s. “What about Maybel and Estelle? They must’ve been involved, right? After all, they came to my school and made me feel sorry for you and agree to go on that date. Man, you all must’ve had a good laugh at my expense. Oh, look at stupid Cassandra, falling right into our devious plan. She already had a cracked heart, so it should be easy to persuade her to fall in love with Luke, too. She just gives her love so freely. We need her, so let’s go for it.”

  Luke’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently as he swallowed. “Don’t do this.”

  “Do what?” she asked, stepping back until her backside slammed into her couch. “Force you to tell me the truth? Force you to be honest about everything you’ve been keeping from me this entire time? You used me.”

  He looked away again, but she caught the flash of guilt.

  “I trusted you,” she said. “More than I’ve trusted anyone. And I thought you trusted me.”

  “I did,” he said, bringing his burning gaze to hers. “I trusted you. With everything. My past. That shit with my mom. Me. I gave you me, Cass. Don’t doubt that.”

  “Too late,” she said. “I doubt every single thing you ever said and did. You used me for your own purpose and you didn’t even have the balls to tell me.”

  His chest heaved like something was brewing inside him and was trying to break free. “I did, okay?” he said, his voice growing louder. “I used you. I did it. But I had to. You don’t understand. If I’d told you—if you knew what could happen to you. To me. I couldn’t tell you, okay? I just couldn’t. You wouldn’t have stuck around. You would’ve—” He inhaled long and deep, and his next words came out more composed. “You would’ve left me, Cass. And I couldn’t deal with that.”

  She wasn’t going to back down. Not now that she knew the truth. “Well, that’s too bad for you then, because I have no problem telling you what you need to hear. You can go to hell. You can leave right now and not come back. Whatever this was—whatever I thought I felt about you—is done. Over.”

  His lips curled in a sarcastic tilt and he threw his hands up. “Of course it is.”

  She crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “It is.”

  “This is why I never told you,” he said. “Just so you know. This is exactly what I knew would happen. You’d kick me out. You’d walk away. You. You’d give up.”

  Gasping, Cass stomped toward him, shoving a finger in his face. “Give up? I never give up. Not on the people I care about.”

  “Well, I obviously don’t fall into that category then.”

  She hesitated. “Obviously not.”

  He had. She’d cared so much about him. But it was difficult to see past her anger.

  Luke blew a quick breath out through his nose. “So what was this to you then, huh? What were we? Just two people passing time? Or wait, I know. Daniel. You just needed someone to help you get over him. Someone to make you forget that you weren’t enough to satisfy him.”

  Her mouth dropped open. What an asshole. “Yeah. That’s what it was,” she said, letting her contempt seep into every word.

  “I figured.”

  “Too bad you didn’t even help me do that.”

  “Oh really?”

  “Really,” she spat back.

  “Could’ve fooled me,” he said. “The way you moaned my name. The way you reached for me. Seemed like I erased every piece of that prick from your mind.”

  He had, but she’d be damned if she admitted it.

  His nostrils flared, but he didn’t say anything else.

  Her head pounded loud enough that the old man downstairs could probably hear it.

  They stared at each other, at war with their dueling expressions.

  “We’re done here,” she said at a reasonable volume. “I think you should leave.”

  His shoulders dropped on his forced exhale. “You’re right. It’s what I should’ve done from the start anyway. There was nothing here to begin with.”

  “Glad I could do the dirty work for you since you were too chickenshit to do it yourself.”

  He’d stepped toward the door, but faltered when she said that. A grim chuckle sounded. “I tried to protect you, Cass. That’s all it was. But I can see you’re too hurt to realize that. Thanks for nothing, I guess.”

  The closer he got to the door, the more her lungs squeezed. This was it. He was leaving. It’s what she wanted.

  But then again, it wasn’t.

  He lied to you. He deceived you.

  He used you.

  Right. “Have a nice life, Luke.”

  She waited for the door to slam behind him before she crumbled onto the tile floor in the kitchen. The tears came fast and hot. Her shoulders bobbed as she tried to slow her pulse and her breathing.

  That was it. They were over.

  She had a fleeting thought that she should chase after him. Force him to beg for her forgiveness. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t going to break down first. If he couldn’t see what he’d done was wrong, then she wasn’t going to show him. It took both people to make a relationship work. She’d done the one-sided thing. It didn’t work out so well for her in the end.

  A knock pulled her attention from her sulking. She slowly stood as another rapid stream of knocks banged against the door.

  Maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe he’d come back to grovel.

  Not that she cared what he had to say.

  Okay, yeah, she did.

  She pulled the door open. “What do you want?”

  It wasn’t Luke.

  Seeing the tall, tanned figure grinning in her doorway, she screamed. Or she would have if she hadn’t lost her breath.

&nb
sp; Ronan leaped at her and gripped her throat in his tight fist. He forced her into her condo as he kicked the door closed. He pressed her against the wall, lifting her off her feet, squeezing her throat so tight she wheezed. She was at his eye level, and he planted his face an inch from hers.

  Grunting, she kicked out her legs. The pain at her esophagus overtook her senses though. She had trouble thinking of anything else except straining for air. She tried to throw a fist at his face, but he dodged it. When his hand pulled away from her mouth, she screamed as loud as she could. He yanked her away from the wall, then smashed her head back into it. Stars exploded behind her eyes.

  When he spoke, his stale breath blew across her lips. “Scream like that again, and I’ll give you another reason to scream, ya feel me?” His gaze dropped to her breasts and he smirked.

  She clawed at his strong wrist, trying to break his hold around her neck.

  Ronan’s head tilted side to side like he couldn’t decide from which angle he wanted to look at her. “Whatchu doin’ all up in my business, puta? I seen you at school, then you try ta put that bullshit into Miguel’s head about college, now I see you with my buyer, Christian. What’s yo deal?” His upper lip curled to reveal gleaming gold front teeth.

  She twisted her face away, straining for oxygen. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on pulling in each breath.

  “So what is it, Cassandra?” he asked, a roughened Mexican lilt to his voice. “You got interest in my business? You tryna run your own shit or what?” His eyes took on a feral gleam that turned her stomach.

  “Miguel,” she strained to say. “Just. Care. About. Miguel.”

  His features hardened. “I told you, mi hermano ain’t interested in nothin’ you got.”

  She looked over his shoulder into the kitchen, and her heart sank. If only she hadn’t thrown Luke out so hastily. He was gone. He couldn’t save her.

  Ronan squeezed tighter on her throat, detonating a trail of fire every time she inhaled. Gasping for air, she kicked a foot out, but he blocked it and stepped forward, pressing his body against hers.

  “I seen you on the news. You shouldn’t ’ve got involved.” He lowered his mouth to her ear, then sniffed long and deep, releasing a sound of approval.

  “What,” she tried, coughing. Clearing her throat, she said, “What do you want, Ronan?”

  “Christian left you. Alone.” His tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth as he shook his head. “If I had a perra like you, I wouldn’t hit it then run for some other chico to take his turn.” His gaze came up to hers, and she tried like hell to keep her composure. She wasn’t going to let him know he intimidated her.

  “Ya boy wanted some of the ill shit,” he said. “The fuck you up kinda drugs. You know ’bout that?”

  Cass fought against his hold, trying to dig her fingernails into his skin, but with the limited oxygen she could get, it was a feeble attempt.

  “Well,” he said, giving her body another once-over, “let’s see how he like his girl getting a taste of it first. We gonna see just how strong you are, counselor.”

  Before his words registered, a hand holding a white cloth covered her mouth. Almost instantly, her vision darkened at the corners.

  No.

  Hold on.

  But her head started to lull to the side and her hand dropped. The last image she saw was a set of vicious gold teeth grinning at her before everything went black.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Luke released the magazine from his 9mm and counted the bullets. Making sure all fifteen were present and ready for duty, he clicked it back in and secured the gun in his thigh holster. Then he did the same with his M4 service rifle.

  He worked hard to ignore the tug at his heart after leaving Cass the way he did. It wasn’t how he’d envisioned that scene going down. He’d figured he would drop to his knees and beg for her forgiveness. He’d plead with her to love him even though he’d betrayed her trust.

  No such luck.

  Her anger had amplified his and all it did was explode into a mixture of heartless words.

  They were done.

  He wanted to be okay with it, he really did. But he wasn’t. Not at all. He wanted her more now than he did when they were together. Maybe because of the finality of it. The fact that he knew he couldn’t have her. That hurt the most. He took her for granted. He’d had her and he fucked it up.

  If he could do it over again, he would’ve told her everything. He would’ve left it up to her to be strong enough to stand by him. But his fear was too controlling. The fear of losing her. The fear of her losing him. The fear of truly living.

  And now he had to live with loving her and not having her in his life. It was nothing like when his mom left. Nothing at all. Cass had brought him to his knees. He hadn’t known what it felt like to love until Cass had shown him.

  And he’d lost it.

  As Luke was leaving Cass’s in a rush, wanting to head straight to a bar and get blessedly drunk, Ash had called and said they’d located Serrano. So instead, he decided to put his anger to better use by heading straight to Russell Street, to an abandoned building that once held a popular nightclub. All brick with blacked-out windows and garage doors, it was more industrial than alluring. A light-up sign still hung on the front, most of the bulbs broken or burned out. The rest of the street was vacant and poorly lit. Just under the overpass of I-83, the area was on the outskirts of the city, where visitors passed on their way into more happening areas. Trash littered the streets and nostalgic memories haunted the alleyways.

  “We’re sure Serrano’s in there?” The Velcro of Tyke’s vest screeched as he ripped it open, lined it up, and then closed it over his broad rib cage. “Like, no bullshit? He’s actually showing his face?”

  Ash pulled his rifle out of his black duffle bag, locked the bolt back, and made sure the safety was on. He inserted the thirty-round magazine, then released the bolt, letting it slide forward to chamber a round. After glancing through the optic to make sure the red dot was glowing, he attached his rifle to the sling already draped over his shoulder, crossbody style, and let the weapon rest on his chest. “Serrano made contact with Joaquin and they’re meeting here tonight.”

  Luke, Ash, and Tyke were across the street from the club, under the overpass shielded by abandoned cars in an adjacent parking lot. They would apprehend Serrano. Reese was their eyes and ears inside the rafters of the 83 overpass with his rifle if anyone on the other team decided not to play nice on the way out.

  Reese’s voice came over the COMs. “Test. Test.”

  Ash spoke first. “Cooper. Good transmission.”

  Then Bryan. “Tyke. All good.”

  And Luke. “Calder. Loud and clear.”

  “All right, boys,” Ash said. “Serrano’s the objective. Nothing else matters if we don’t bring him in.”

  Tyke slid his night vision goggles over his head. He adjusted the fit and checked the battery, then flipped them up to rest against his forehead. “So if we can get to Ronan or Joaquin?”

  “Added bonus, but we need Serrano,” Ash replied. “Preferably alive.” He sent a look at Luke and something unspoken passed between them. If it came down to it, Luke couldn’t let Serrano walk. Not if it meant Luke would always be looking over his shoulder. Not if it meant Cass’s life could be in danger, too. And Ash knew it.

  “Okay, so we take Serrano alive.” Tyke scanned the surrounding area with his binoculars. “Grab Ronan and Joaquin if we can. Anything else?”

  Ash peered over the trunk of the beat-up car. “Knowing Serrano, he’s with a fucking entourage, so it’s gonna be hard enough to get him. Just focus on those three if we can.”

  Luke’s grip on his rifle tightened and his heart rate kicked into a trot. Take it easy, Calder.

  “Show time, gentlemen,” Ash said with a smile in his voice. “Let’s nail that son of a bitch.”

  Ash, Luke, and Bryan approached the building with soft and slow footsteps. Ash led, rifle at the read
y, toward the front of the building with Tyke then Luke bringing up the rear. Their team leader gave the signal for each of them to flank the door. Silently he communicated that he’d go through the door first, and they should follow with cover.

  Testing the handle, Tyke opened the door and stood at the ready next to it, which allowed Ash to drift in to the right, his back against the wall. Tyke slipped in to the left, same maneuver with his back against the wall as Luke entered. Luke followed Ash into the corner while Tyke cleared his side of the room.

  It was dark and bare. Battered, dirty oak floor. A rectangular metal bar in the middle of the room with empty shelves for bottles and racks for glasses. Dust floated in the air, illuminated by the minute glow of the moon from a smeared window.

  “Clear,” Ash said softly as they approached the back of the building. He signaled to a black-painted door. The guys set up around the door as Ash slowly and quietly opened it.

  Blackness greeted them on the other side. Faint light revealed a staircase leading to the basement.

  “Shh,” a voice drifted up from the dark. “Someone’s coming.”

  There was a rustling sound, then silence.

  What the—?

  The team exchanged looks.

  Ash turned his night vision down over his eyes, then gave the go-ahead signal for the team to follow him down the stairs. Tyke turned, pointing his gun to the direction they came in. Luke tapped a hand on Ash’s shoulder to let his teammate know he was covering his six.

  In sync, Ash and Luke descended the stairs, hyperaware that they weren’t alone and had no clue who or what was waiting for them down below. The foul stench of excrement and bile hit them so hard, Luke opened his mouth to inhale short, shallow breaths.

  “Never a good sign,” their team leader whispered. Ash rotated the optic of his gun, searching the room, Luke swiveled to his other side. Luke caught movement. He made a soft sound deep in his throat, alerting the other team members of his find. They jerked their attention to his side of the room.