by Lowe, Aden
A surprised laugh burst forth. "Yeah she will." Rita sat up and grabbed the cooler, suddenly ravenous. "And I might starve if you don't feed me."
***
Chapter Sixteen
Falon kept their speed down for the ride back to town, reluctant to leave behind the shelter the little cocoon had given them. The prospect of spending a very long time hidden away with Rita created a very strong temptation. Or they could just keep riding, go right past the Rattlesnake and not stop.
Except she had responsibilities, people counting on her. And so did he.
Eventually, the Rattlesnake came into view and Falon took a deep breath to fortify himself. He needed it to force himself to go through with ending the afternoon. Otherwise, he'd just keep on rolling, responsibilities be damned. And somehow, he didn't think Rita would mind all that much. Too soon, the bike tires crunched on the gravel of the lot, signaling the end.
Rita seemed to sense it too, changing her posture from where she'd been relaxed against his back, muscles tensing as if preparing for something unpleasant. Then he spotted the stacked bikes, at least twenty, maybe more, mostly custom choppers and low-down rat-rods. Not the same crew that had been with Kellen before. Trouble?
On alert for anything, he slowed and took them on around the building, wishing his .38 wasn't packed away in the saddlebag, well out of reach. All he had handy was the little .25 in his boot, useless in a running fight.
They made it to the back without incident and Falon edged his bike in under the stairs to Rita's apartment, and hoped it was both out of sight enough, and accessible enough. As soon as they were dismounted, he dug into the saddlebag and armed himself to the teeth. The ragged old 80s-era military surplus field jacket provided the perfect cover and extra pockets for reloads.
When he finished, Rita just stared at him, then stuck her hand out. "Where's mine?"
"You think you'll need it?" After a moment's consideration, he handed over the .38 and kept the .45s for himself.
"Last time those guys were here, it got pretty bad. They have some association with Kellen's boys, but they're different, harder." She shrugged a little. "Kellen isn't here yet, so maybe nothing's started yet." With the butt of the .38 clearly visible at her waistband, she headed for the Rattlesnake's back door.
Falon followed, admiring her matter-of-fact attitude. If something went wrong, she would deal with it. Inside the kitchen, the usual shouts and hubbub of conversations gone still.
Rita paused beside a tall guy in an apron and hair net and said something too quiet for Falon to pick up. The guy shrugged and shook his head, then leaned to speak quietly in her ear. Rita nodded, grabbed Falon's hand and pulled him toward a little area partially separated from the rest of the kitchen, which seemed to function as her office.
"He said one of the bikers came up and politely asked that the noise be kept down. They're here for a parley, some kind of discussion, with Kellen and want to keep things calm." She shook her head. "That kind of thing has never happened before. And Kellen's brother is with them, sitting with the leader."
Shit. It could be something huge, something that might seal Kellen in the penn for a while. "I need to hear what's said at that table."
"I seriously doubt they're going to let a stranger sit that close, don't you?" She frowned a moment. "Hold on, I might have something." She hit a switch on the wall. "Rather, Georgie might have something."
The tiny blonde appeared almost immediately, silent as a ghost, even on the tile floor. "You hear about this shit, boss? And I can't even fucking get close. That nasty piece of work would recognize me, right through his blacked eyes."
Rita nodded. "I know Georgie. I want you out of sight. Get to the catwalks if you can and take one of the other girls with you to help spot. Falon needs to hear what happens at that table. You have anything that might help with that?"
Georgie's frown turned thoughtful, then she brightened. "I might have something. The problem would be getting it there. It's too big to tuck under the ketchup bottle."
"Get it. I'll take care of getting it there." Falon shed the field jacket and started piling weapons on Rita's desk.
Georgie gave him a quizzical look, but took off for wherever she kept her goodies stashed. By the time he finished removing all his visible armament, she returned.
"Here you go, it's all ready to go." She held up a thin transmitter, roughly an inch and a half square. "This part goes on the table." She held up another piece that looked like a little am/fm radio with earphones. "This is the receiver, range is a little less than a hundred feet."
Falon took the electronics, stashed the receiver in his pocket and palmed the transmitter. At the back of the bar, he paused to check out the situation. The head table was obvious. The men had rearranged the dining room to isolate a six-seat table. Three bikers and Kellen's brother currently sat, talking quietly and nursing beers. The others had taken all the surrounding tables and provided an effective barrier around the actual business.
An idea started to form. "I need something sticky… gum?"
Rita nodded and headed back into the kitchen, and after a moment, she returned, gingerly offering a lump of chewed gum. "Smokers on the cook staff, there's always nasty gum around."
Falon took the sticky mass and spread it to the back of the transmitter. "Okay, I need an apron, tray, order pad, pen… all that." The items appeared quickly, almost from thin air, Georgie and Rita handing them over one at a time. "Let's hope I can pass for a waiter, and they're hungry."
Deep breath. He headed out toward the tables. As he passed between two tables full of bikers, headed for the head table, a rough hand grabbed his elbow.
"Hol' up there, mother fucker, what you think you doing?" The biker stood, jacket open to display the butt of the handgun tucked under his belt. "Ain't nobody going over there."
Falon did his best to appear bored. "Sorry, man. Boss told me to get their order. Lunch at that table is on the house today." He shrugged. "But if you'd rather tell them they missed out on a free meal, go for it, man."
The biker stepped back and studied Falon closely. "Alright. Get the order and get the fuck away."
Falon forced his breath to slow as triumph shot through his veins. Another shrug and he turned once more for the target. Stopping next to the guy wearing the President patch across his chest, Falon poised. "Hey fellas, the management says lunch for this table's on the house. Compliments of the owner. Can I get your orders?"
The President glared up, nothing but stone cold killer behind glittering gray eyes. "Why?"
Falon shrugged. "How the hell do I know, man? Boss just sent me over." He had to fight the urge to hold his breath.
The guy nodded, glanced across the table where Kellen's brother sat. "You know anything about that?" Falon took a quick look and couldn't hold back the wince. Dude's face was a patchwork of nasty bruises, scrapes, and steri-strips.
The brother sounded, and sort of looked, like a ventriloquist speaking, with his efforts to keep his features immobile. "I might. Management is a bitch Kellen fucked for a while. Probably wants him back."
Falon's hackles rose, but he managed to hold in the retort that wanted out so badly.
"Okay, man. Give us the lunch special all around. And there's supposed to be two more coming." The curve of distaste around the President's mouth said he wasn't impressed by someone who came late to a business meeting.
"Coming right up." Falon turned and deliberately tangled his feet to tumble to the floor. "Shit." He scrambled, grabbing his pen from under the President's chair—after he stuck the transmitter to the bottom of the seat, hopefully without being seen. "Sorry, man." He climbed back to his feet. "Bad knee, gives out every once in a while." Breath held, he beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen.
Rita waited in her little office with Georgie, both of them clearly nervous. "Kellen's crew just pulled into the parking lot."
"Good. We need six lunch specials, on the house. Because the owner appreciates their gen
erous business." Falon hurried to dig the receiver out and get it turned on so he could hear.
"…better fucking get here. I don't wait for no motherfucker." That was the President's voice, clearly irritated.
"He'll be here," Kellen's brother kept his voice low, appeasing. "Besides, we have to wait. The boss sent us to get him. Not much choice."
"Why's he want him to do it? I could easily arrange for that fucking sniper to blow his own brains out."
"No, he wants something special for this one. This Barger fellow is fucking a woman the boss wants real bad."
Falon's memory kicked in. Sniper… Barger… Surely it couldn't be his old squad leader.
Someone else at the table said something, but the transmission garbled. At the same time, Kellen and his men came in. Falon watched on the monitor as they swaggered between tables, dozens of weapons in plain view. They'd come prepared for trouble. They sat quietly, ranging themselves among the other bikers until both groups seemed evenly matched.
Kellen's brother stood and relinquished his seat across from the President, and Kellen promptly claimed it. "'Sup." The noncommittal greeting came clearly through the receiver.
"You're late."
"I'm here now. What was so important?"
"Your brother has the details. I'm just here to make sure the message is delivered and you comply with it."
On the monitor, Kellen's eyebrows shot up and he turned to where his brother had taken the seat next to him. "Is that so? Well, out with it."
"My boss has a job you're uniquely qualified for. He wants you to handle something special with an army sniper and a bitch who isn't following orders too well."
"And what's my unique qualification?"
"It's Jakob Barger. Remember him?"
Kellen glared. "Give me the details."
"The boss, Alexander, had his heart set on a lady rancher, but Barger moved in and started plowing that field. The boss is pissed. He wants Barger taken care of in a very painful way, and he wants the woman back where she belongs, signing her land over to him. He thought the past might give you a good reason to get creative."
"Huh. Never thought to hear that name again. Of course, I'm in. I'll be ready to roll at dark."
The President shook his head. "You be ready to roll when we're done here. And if you're nervous about the company, you can bring an escort."
"I have to grab supplies and some other stuff. It'll take at least an hour."
"Alright, man. The management here sent us a free lunch. Might as well eat up before we roll."
Right on cue, a pair of waitresses arrived with steaming plates and set them before the six men. The men apparently considered the business concluded and began to eat.
Falon considered all he had heard. Kellen was leaving, in the middle of a large group of heavily armed bastards. There seemed to be no choice. He would have to follow, carefully. When Kellen arrived wherever he was going, Falon would find the opportunity to take him down. He also made a mental note to find out how Kellen and Barger might be connected. Kellen had a short service record with a dishonorable discharge. Maybe something to do with that.
And now the stakes had increased. Jakob Barger had been his squad leader. But more than that, he was a good friend, the kind of guy you could count on to watch your six and take care of any threat. He couldn't let that kind thing fall into Barger's lap without at least warning him it was coming.
Rita slid an arm around his waist. "I'm going with you."
"What?" Fear filled him at the very idea. He needed her safe at home, not in the middle of a hornet's nest of killers. "You have to stay here, Rita."
She shook her head and drew him toward the back door and privacy. Outside, she turned to face him, eyes filled with some emotion he almost recognized. "Falon, I'm going with you. For one thing, I might be able to help and I know Kellen and how he operates. For another, I have an ace in the hole with him if we need it." She glanced away, then looked up again. "Besides. I just found you. I'm not letting you walk away that easily."
Falon wasn't sure whether to rejoice or handcuff her to the door. "It's too dangerous, Rita. Besides, you have stuff to do here."
"Georgie can run the Rattlesnake while I'm gone. And I'll be back, with you. Falon, I'm not taking the chance of losing you. There's something special with us, something I'm not ready to be done with."
"Rita—"
"No. It's settled. I'm going. Now go get ready." She tiptoed up and planted a hard kiss on his mouth, then turned and went back inside.
Maybe if he rolled out before she was ready, she would be stuck here, where she belonged, safe. Falon bolted for the camper.
****
Rita couldn't believe she'd said those things. Or that she fully intended to go through with it. Inside, she pulled Georgie aside. "I need you to run things for a while. I'm leaving town in a few minutes."
Her friend shook her head and flipped that blonde mop over her shoulder. "It might not be my place to say, but you grab onto that man and hold on tight. He's a good one." She turned away to tend to some task, leaving Rita standing open-mouthed.
Was she that obvious about it? And what was it? There had to be more than the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime sex. And there was, she felt it, just didn't know its name yet. She'd have to figure it out on the road. They would have to figure it out on the road. Together.
She took five minutes, maybe less, to throw a change of clothes and a heavy jacket in a small duffle bag, along with some toiletries and her toothbrush. Tying her hair into a braid, she grabbed the cash she'd hidden in various nooks and crannies, pocketing it all.
Ready. She locked up and ran down the stairs in time to catch Falon walking his bike from under her stairs.
He mounted and paused for half a second and she slid on behind him. "Hang on tight, baby. This won't be an easy ride." Something she'd sensed in him earlier resurfaced as they left the parking lot. He was glad to have her with him, even if he didn't know what was happening between them.
As they roared into the future, she took a deep breath and tightened her arms around his waist. She had no intentions of letting go.
The End
Captured
Hunted Love #3
By Aden Lowe
© 2015 by Aden Lowe
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Acknowledgements:
The Huntresses Street Team and Lowe Down Fan Groups, thanks so much for choosing to use some of your precious time to read and help promote my books. You Kick Ass. All the readers and supporters who don't get involved in the book world stuff, you're just as important. Thank you.
Ashley Wheels, Baby Sister, thank you for being you and for helping me and being my friend, and so much more. None of it would be possible without you.
Elyse, what can I say? Without you, nothing.
Chapter One: Jakob
Jakob reached down to pat Ajax's arched neck and sighed. He'd far rather pat Kate's shapely ass, but she rode ahead, just out of reach. All things considered, he'd say he had it pretty damn bad. Whenever she came close enough, his s
elf-control went to hell and his hands took on a mind of their own. Good thing she didn't seem to mind, or he would always be in trouble.
In the week since he agreed to hunt down the mountain lion killing her horses, they had made love countless times. She seemed as hungry for him as he was for her and never turned him away. One big truth had made itself very clear to him. He would never get enough of her. Every single time he had her, he immediately wanted her all over again with a kind of desperation that terrified him.
That morning, after they woke in a tangle of limbs, and made love yet again, Kate had announced she needed to ride out and check on the herd left leaderless when the mountain lion killed her spotted stallion. They made love in the shower and when she started getting ready, Jakob just invited himself along. Thankfully she hadn't seemed to mind.
So now he found himself trailing after her as the horses picked their way along the rocky path. And there was no place on earth he'd rather be. The only question remaining was whether she wanted him there long-term. Well, that was one of them anyway. Could he walk away from duty? Just turn his back and be okay with it? For Kate, yeah he could. No question. He could leave behind the world of terrorists and the risk of being found out and captured by the enemy. With Kate, he wouldn't even question it.
The trail widened a little, enough for Ajax to move up beside Kate's horse and offer a friendly little nip to the neck. The mare tossed her head and shied in objection, not convinced. "You think we'll find them easily?"
Kate's smile lit up the sunny little meadow ahead of them as she quieted her horse. "I hope so. They shouldn't stray too far from their range, even with Chaser gone. Most of them haven't been far from that little strip of land." She shook her head a little. "I'll have to find a new stud to put with them, and hope he's strong enough to run them."
"No chance of another one just coming along and taking over?"