Exquisite Danger (23 page)

With a sigh, I pulled on the rest of my gear and looked at the men around me. Suited up in our hazmat clothes we all looked like a bunch of extras out of a medical thriller. Hulk stared back at me through his medical face shield. “Good cop, bad cop?”

“Yeah. I need you to keep a clear head and do most of the talking while the rest of us take care of business.”

Normally, I questioned people, but I wanted to see Hulk in action. I was pretty sure he’d make a good fit down in Austin, but I had to see if he had not only the brawn, but also the brains to do a proper interrogation. It would also free me up to devote myself to this pedophile’s pain. I wanted to have a turn with this piece of shit before us not only for my own personal satisfaction, but because I also wanted to make him suffer for helping to run one of the biggest sex slave rings in the world. Fucker deserved every single bit of agony coming his way, and I burned with the need for vengeance for all of this fucker’s victims. We selected our preferred tools without saying a word. In my case, I pulled out my brass knuckles while Frame took a wickedly big, razor-sharp scalpel, and Icarus grabbed the hammer before turning to look at the man duct taped to a sturdy wood chair in the center of the room.

All emotion, and all thoughts about anything other than getting what I needed from this fucker faded away, leaving me in my killing space.

“Let’s do this.”

Less than an hour later, the barely breathing piece of meat coughed out blood as he moaned. So far, we’d learned that he was hired by an unknown male to make the electronic box that hacked our security system along with a couple of other pieces of technology to invade our clubhouse four months ago, but that he had no idea who the customer was or what the device was for. If he’d known it was going to be used on the Iron Horse clubhouse he would have charged a lot more. Los Diablos were known for doing anything for money—anything—and by this point in our…conversation, he was begging for death.

Hulk squatted down and looked into the man’s face. I doubt the piece of shit in the chair could see him after my brass knuckles had crushed the bones of his eye sockets. “Steve, I can make this end right now. Just give us something worth putting a bullet in your brain and I’ll make it happen.”

“Don’t…know…anything else.”

With a sigh Hulk rocked back on his heels. “You know something? You’re just not givin’ it up. Why? Do you need some more encouragement?”

I stepped forward and calmly whipped my knife out and cut off a portion of his right ear before Frame stepped in and harshly bandaged the wound over the man’s ragged screams. “Talk, motherfucker, or I’ll keep you alive for weeks and every moment of the rest of your short life will be agony.”

“I can’t.” He coughed again, more blood spraying from his lips as the empty spaces in his gums where his teeth had been pulled out continued to bleed, making his words hard to understand. “Kill…my mother.”

For a second, I almost felt some empathy for the fucker, but it quickly vanished as I remembered all the sins he’d confessed to, shit dark enough to make even my gut clench with nausea.

“What if we keep her alive, get her out of here and find someplace for her to be safe?”

Steve cried, but the tears were lost in the blood and sweat coating his face in a grizzly mask. “Swear.”

“I swear it, and you know I always keep my word.”

He sucked in a couple rattling breaths. “Billie is here. Knows Swan and Sarah here. A Russian team…going to retrieve Swan. Can’t get to Sarah.”

Without thought I lunged at the fucker, but Frame held me back by whispering into my ear, “Let him finish. We need this information.”

“Are they already here?”

“Yeah. Arrived last night.”

“How did you know Swan was here?”

“Spy…in your clubhouse.”

“Who,” Hulk almost whispered.

“Don’t know…swear. Some bitch. Down with Los Diablos. Owes…lots of money.”

At the confirmation that a sweet butt was giving out info on us, I exchanged a look with Icarus that promised a swift death to whoever it was. I didn’t give a fuck if the traitor was a female. She betrayed us, and that shit did not fly regardless of gender. Especially when she’d helped lead the Russians right to Swan.

Panic sped up my heart rate, and I struggled to not whip out my phone and call Breaker. His phone was at the clubhouse with everyone else’s being checked for any kind of bugs. He had a burner, but I hadn’t programed the number into my phone yet. Sweat dripped down my back beneath the blood-stained gown and I began to pace. Hulk watched me with a grim look.

“Anything else? The more honest you are the harder we’ll work to keep your mom safe. Think hard, Steve, ’cause that sweet woman’s life is in your hands. I’d hate for Los Diablos to track her down. You know what they’d do to her, you sick fuck, the same things you’ve done to dozens of women.”

The guy wheezed. “Trap set for Swan.”

“What kind of trap,” Hulk said in a soothing voice.

“Cameras you don’t know on…on all roads leading to clubhouse.” He sagged in his chair, a low moan tearing from deep in his chest. “Ambush. Anderson twins bounty alive three million. Private…collector wants ‘em.”

Icarus jerked his head at me. “Call the clubhouse. I don’t care if it is bugged to shit.”

After stripping off the blood soaked gloves and gown I jerked my cell out and called Breaker. The phone rang and sent me straight to his voice mail. A sick feeling hit me right in the chest and I called the clubhouse next. Thank fuck this time I got an answer.

“Hello.”

“Listen, this is Smoke, I need to talk to Khan right the fuck now.” He was the only one I knew I could trust there right now. Terrible visions of someone hurting Swan bombarded my mind, making me close to insane with worry.

“Got it.”

Less than a minute went by but it felt like hours before Khan answered. “Smoke?”

“Are Breaker and Swan back yet?”

“No. Talked to Breaker a while ago. Said he had a tail but lost it and was gonna drive around a bit to make sure. What’s going on?”

“Listen to me. Someone is getting ready to ambush Swan and Breaker at the entrance to one of the roads to the clubhouse. I need you to get a bunch of your men out there and find them. The Russians have cameras on the road, and they’ve been tracking everyone’s comings and goings. Los Diablos tipped them off. They have an ambush set up to get Swan and are probably armed to the teeth.”

Khan didn’t even bother to ask how I knew this. Instead, he started shouting out orders. “We won’t let anyone get your old lady.”

With my heart in my throat I hung up and turned around just in time to see Hulk end Steve’s evil life with a bullet to the head. Thankfully, Hulk had used a silencer or we’d have all been deaf from the gunshot echoing in the cement room.

“Icarus, you got any automatic weapons on hand?”

“Absolutely. I’ll have my boys take care of this garbage. Let’s go find your woman and our brother.”

Swan

Breaker swore as he fought the wheel, trying to get his SUV under control while we slid on the gravel. My seatbelt locked, pinning me against my seat as I struggled to brace myself. There was another loud series of bangs that I now recognized as gunshots, then the windshield took a hit, the glass cracking into a haze. The front airbags deployed and my entire body shook as we hit something hard enough that Breaker’s head busted the window on his side of the cab. I got a pretty good thump on my own skull from the impact. When we finally came to rest it took me a minute to get my bearings as the airbags slowly deflated. I took my seatbelt off as soon as possible, my heart pounding as I jerked my handgun from my waist holster before looking over at Breaker.

He was shaking his bleeding head, the limp white bag in front of him smeared with his blood, and when I grabbed his chin to look at him I saw that his pupils were huge and he was looking at me without comprehension.

Shit, no help there.

Outside, the rain was really pouring down now, creating a curtain between the SUV and whoever was shooting at us. Despite the fact it was late afternoon, the storm clouds had dimmed the area. The instincts that my father had honed within me to a razor sharp edge kicked into gear, and I knew that time was running out. I stripped off the pink shirt I was wearing and laid an unresisting Breaker down as gently as I could onto the floor boards then pressed my shirt up against the wound on the side of his head where he’d slammed into his window. I tied the arms of the shirt together around his head to make sure it would stay on.

“Breaker, can you hear me? You have to keep pressure on your wound.”

He groaned and tried to talk, but his words came out all scrambled and I worried that he had a major concussion.

“Just hold your hand here and stay down.”

He slowly did as I asked, but his hand had no strength in it as I placed it on the wound.

Fuck it, we didn’t have many options at this point. So far, none of the bullets had struck me, probably because I was worth more alive than dead—can’t prostitute a corpse—but they were for sure trying to flush me out. I dug around in my bag for my phone and spent a few precious moments trying to get a signal, but all I came up with was the no-service icon on the screen.

Okay, I just needed to hold on long enough for someone to come to or from the clubhouse. I mean the wreck was halfway in the road, glaringly obvious. Someone had to come by soon. Please God, let someone come by soon.

I quickly scanned the area where we’d come to rest as a huge clap of thunder rattled hard enough overhead that my teeth felt like they were vibrating. I took a deep breath and kicked out the rest of the shattered glass in the window on Breaker’s side, using the rumble of thunder to try and mask the sound. Movement outside my window caught my attention, but I managed to slip out Breaker’s door with my pack before I crouched down and scanned my surroundings.

The SUV had come to rest against a large tree and provided a small space where I could hunker down that kept the big tree at my back and the hood of the vehicle at my front to provide some shelter. With all the tires shot out, I couldn’t crawl under it for cover, so I made do with what I had. For as far as I could see, there were just trees and more trees interspersed with large exposed boulders. Unfortunately, the nearest rock that might provide some shelter was far enough away that dragging an injured Breaker there wasn’t going to happen.

We were well and truly fucked.

It was time for plan B.

Take them out first.

That beautiful, deadly emptiness filled me completely, blotting out thoughts of having to tell Cathy how her husband died, of dying myself, or even worse—being captured.

It wasn’t going to end that way.

I wouldn’t let it.

Adrenaline and a host of other chemicals flooded my body, making my heart race as I became hyperaware of my surroundings. Rain still darkened the area and it made catching anyone moving around even harder as the vegetation moved in the wind. Human instinct in situations like this was to run away, escape. In my case, my training demanded that I stand my ground, protect myself, and eliminate the threat.

Knowing that Breaker was depending on me helped me focus even further until I was reduced to what I had been trained from childhood to become in these circumstances.

A killing machine.

I squeezed farther into the gap between the deflated front tire and the tree where the SUV rested, trying to see and hear through the rain. In the distance, thunder rumbled repeatedly and the storm seemed to be gaining strength. In front of me, there was nothing but more trees and brush, making it hard to see through the sheet of rain. The storm continued to rage around me but I no longer paid attention to my own physical discomforts. While whoever had shot out our tires remained hidden, I pulled out a few toys from my pack and set them to the side.

Silent, watching, I almost laughed at the sight of a bright red laser sweeping through the dim, humid air, pointing straight to at least one of the shooters. I’d been taught to never assume I was facing one enemy when there could be an entire army surrounding me, but if they were all dumb enough to use a laser sight in the rain then this might be a short fight. A bullet passed through the window where I’d been sitting and I hoped that Breaker was still lying down.

I followed the line of the laser to a thick bush and sent six bullets into the dense leaves, my lips curving in a savage smile as a man began to scream. A voice came from my left while another yelled out somewhere else to my right, hidden by the thick trunk of the tree. Panic started to stir in my gut and I began to shake in fear as I listened and realized they were probably speaking Russian. If that was the case, we were in deep shit. I’d rather face dozens of bikers than one group of Russian assassins. Mimi had studied for a while in Moscow with the Novikov
Bratva,
and she said they gave her the shivers.

Bullets peppered the side of the truck, and I had to grit my teeth and resist the urge to drag Breaker through the window. They appeared to be trying to flush us out, and I hoped they thought I was still inside. More gunfire mixed with the thunder, and I tried to calculate where they were coming from. They could be using the shots as a distraction for a member of their group to sneak up on me.

Stealing quick glances over the hood of the truck, I caught movement right before a bullet whizzed past my ear close enough that I could hear the scream as it parted the air.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart while I jerked my pack open and pulled out a flash-bang and two regular grenades.

My dad had packed them for me reminding me that it was always better to be on the offense than the defense.

At the moment, I was the most concerned about the man shooting from somewhere to my left, but I needed to know his general location. Lightning struck close enough nearby that I could smell the ozone, and the fine hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end. Hoping that the men hunting me were distracted by the display of nature’s fury, I stood and threw the flash grenade in middle of the road. I managed to duck and cover my head and ears before it went off a few seconds later.