Fatal Fugue (The Deadlier Sex Book 1) (7 page)

The desert beneath them roughened; rocks and sagebrush peppered the landscape, making their path coarse. Hayley looked down and saw the heavy, knobby tires on the bike chew into the earth easily. But the sound of the bike was blending in with even louder engines behind them, and she risked a peek back to find that the men had given chase in a big Suburban.

“They’re coming after us!” she screamed out. Jay frowned at her screech in his ear.

“Not for long!” he yelled back.

She thought she heard him chuckle after that last part. Then she saw why he found this entirely fatal situation so funny.

Shit!

Ahead of them on the ground loomed a long, dark shadow. Only it wasn’t just a shadow, it was a steep, rocky ditch.

“Holy hell, are we going over that?” Her fear slid up her throat, ready to spew out the contents of her stomach. Jay was out of his mind.

“You know it, babe!”

He gunned the engine once more, making it lurch over the ditch while at the same time Jay expertly hauled on the risers, bringing the front end up just enough for the bike to slam down on the opposite bank. He then jerked the handlebars, slowing the bike to a stop facing the ditch, and pulled out his pistol.

The suburban was making good time chewing across the desert toward them. Jay kissed the barrel of the semi-auto and aimed toward the lights. Hayley covered her ears as he unleashed a three-round burst in the direction on the oncoming truck. The truck faltered, swerving, then straightening. Jay readjusted his stance and sent four more rounds into the big vehicle.

One of them found a target.

She couldn’t see it from the distance, but a single 9mm round pierced the windshield and then cleanly through the driver’s head. He slumped forward over the wheel, and Hayley could hear the horn blaring into the endless night.

Holy shit, what a fucking shot,
she thought.

The truck didn’t slow enough, though. In fact, it gained speed as the dead driver’s foot jammed down on the accelerator. They heard panicked screams coming from inside the truck as the occupants realized they were headed straight for the ditch, and the Suburban’s five-star safety features prevented any door from opening while it was in drive. There was nowhere to go but down.

Jay smirked and turned away, revving the engine before taking off once more. They sped into the night where he intended to make a long desert loop, and then go—where? He didn’t know that yet and would have to figure it out. The only thing that mattered was they had gotten away in one piece.

They heard the truck crash into the ditch a few seconds later, the horn unrelenting, and Hayley could finally breathe more easily. Her heart continued its manic hammering as Jay raced across the foreboding landscape, avoiding boulders, small cacti and tumbleweeds in the desolate night, heading toward the lights of Vegas. She let herself relax and leaned against him now, exhausted by the exertions of fear and adrenaline. Her nerves were fried, and she was afraid if she really let things sink in, she’d burst into tears or start laughing hysterically.

Either one would be okay.

“Did you like that?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Fuck, no!” she shouted back, but then a pleasant twinge between her legs as she squeezed them against his hips made her reconsider. Jay was a machine. A sexy killing machine.
Damn, it all was pretty exciting,
she thought as the rumble of the bike’s big engine numbed her body. “You might have to take me to bed again to shake this off. Like really soon.”

“Ha!” he laughed. “I’m just worried about staying alive for now!”

“That’s paramount, of course. Where are we going?”

“I’m working on it. I’ll let you know when I figure something out.”

“Great.” Like that had worked out the first time around.

Chapter Thirteen

“Do you even know where you’re going?” Hayley tightened her arms around his waist, feeling the cold air biting into her skin. The impenetrable darkness of the desert felt heavy until they made it to the main road and were able to turn their lights back on. Jay didn’t stay on it for long, afraid they would be spotted too soon. Turning down into the neighborhoods once they reentered the Las Vegas Valley, the cloak of the residential areas hid them even more.

But it did nothing for her frozen fingers and face. They had to warm up soon. Even the desert turned into a pit of exposure if they weren’t careful.

“I told you, I’ll figure it out.”

Coming up on a park near the other side of the desert, they spotted people still lingering in the cool evening air. Jay turned into the parking lot and parked behind a brick building holding the main trash receptacles. Turning the motorcycle off, He pushed the kickstand down and hopped off. Hayley followed suit, hugging her arms from the cold of the early winter breezes.

“I’m cold.”

“Just give me a minute.” His eyes darted around the dumpster’s shelter, eyeing the street both ways before relaxing and leaning against the wall. “I need to get to a safe house.”

“Wasn’t that what the cabin was for? A safe place to rest?”

Jay scratched his head, pressing his fingers to the blood-soaked bandage on his cheek before exhaling hard into the cold night. “Yes, but I’ve frequented it a lot lately. We have to go to a place I rarely visit. These guys are good. I had no idea I had a tail. And for who knows how long.”

“Do you have another safe house no one knows about?”

“I can’t be sure of any of them now.”

Hayley stepped closer, nudging his arm. He got the hint and pulled her into his embrace to let her siphon off his body heat. The cool air didn’t bother him; he was used to the dry desert winters. But she was so thin, he doubted she had any kind of insulation against the elements. He rubbed her arms and hoped it would be enough to keep her warm.

“What should we do? We can’t stay out here….” Her voice trailed off and shook as her lips quivered. She was fighting to keep her teeth from chattering. He could hear it in the strain of her voice. Her lips were already turning a darker shade of pink against her stark-white skin.

“I may not know of any, but you do.”

Hayley’s eyes widened.

“You told me something once. You made me promise to never go there unless I absolutely had to and to tell no one about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re a complicated woman, Hayley. You never put all your eggs in one basket. There are several safe houses across North America you kept ready in case you needed to find a place to lie low. You never told anyone where they were or of their existence, except me. Even then, you never told me the exact locations of them.”

“And this is helpful to us how? I don’t remember where they are.”

“You don’t, but I know someone who can tell us where you hid the locations for yourself.”

Impressed, Hayley peered up into Jay’s handsome face. His features were appealing, strong willed and sexy. The bandage on his face needed to be changed badly, but it had slowed the blood flow enough that it was no longer dripping.

“How do I find this… person?”

“I’ll take you there.”

“How do you know they haven't gotten to them already?”

Jay cupped her chin, boring his dark eyes into her. “Because you never told anyone about them besides me.”

She nodded. There wasn’t much more to ask. They would find this person and maybe they would have answers for her. Something Jay no longer had.

“Why are they trying to kill us?”

Jay sighed, letting his head fall back onto the block wall. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect it. I’m pretty good at knowing these kinds of things and preventing them from happening. Not this time. I’ve been blindsided, and I have to do some digging to discover who’s behind this. If they want you dead, there’s no way we can return home now. If this person doesn’t know anything that can help us, we’re done here. On our own. We’ll have to leave the country.”

The thought of running again made her blood heat up in a rage. Why would someone do this to her? Had she been such a horrible person before all this happened? Who had she let down to accrue such a wrath that they’d want her dead? On top of that, they wanted Jay dead too.

They were on each other’s side no matter what now.

“Who’s this person we have to see? Are they here in Vegas?” she asked. Her voice was no longer frantic but an eerie calm which caused her some discomfort. It was disorienting to hear herself talk so seriously, like she had a mission, and nothing was going to stand in her way. Not a bullet, not Jay. Not even the horde of killers on their tail.

“Alejandro Mraz.”

She racked her brain again to find any familiarity to that name, but found none. A man. She had trusted a man over a woman? Why did that sound strange to her? Did she not have any female friends?

“Is he close?”

“He’s on the other side of town, near Sunrise Mountain. He has a few acres there and keeps himself secluded.”

She peered up at Jay, taking in his determination and hoping he didn’t have any hidden agendas.

“And you’ve never visited this man before?”

He shook his head. “No. I had no reason to check him out. You told me not to bother or speak of him again. So I didn’t.”

“Did you always do as I asked?”

Jay chuckled. Hayley was starting to show more and more characteristics of her old self, and it was more than amusing to see them surfacing.

“No. I didn’t.”

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

He pulled her close and squeezed enough to make her gasp. To bystanders, it looked like they were about to kiss, but he knew Hayley understood it was more of a challenge than a lover’s embrace.

Instead of looking frightened, it appeared to turn her on. Her lips were inches from him, parted and enticing him with their soft promises. Her hooded eyes twinkled with the wickedness that often passed over Madame H.’s expression every time he demanded something from her, whether it be sex, backup or cooperation. She’d made him pay for every favor he asked, and this was the same look she always gave him before she twisted the knife in his side and negotiated her own demands.

It stirred his loins, and he fought to keep it under control in the middle of this godforsaken park. If they’d been alone, he would have turned her around, ripped her sweats off and fucked her from behind. His desire burst through his insides like a violent storm, and he breathed hard and fast to keep his urge under control, nostrils flaring.

Madame H. had this effect on him all the time. She’d been the only one to evoke such a desperate response from him. Almost the only one who could make him feel anything besides the constant hollow emptiness of his non-existent soul—almost.

Maybe her old self was returning faster than either them could tell. Maybe… maybe she was lying about not remembering anything and held more expensive secrets than Fort Knox.

“I think it’s time we pay this Alejandro a visit.” Her lusty voice was too much to bear. He agreed and abruptly let her go. The disappointment on her face was worth it as he mounted the bike again, bringing it to life with a roar.

“Get on.”

Hayley obeyed, straddling the seat behind Jay and circling her arms around his chest as he kicked the kickstand. Pushing off, they sped through the parking lot and back onto the road. He had to avoid the main road and took several turns before getting to the right one that would take them where he wanted to go.

He had lied to her about not knowing who Alejandro was. Of course he’d been curious enough to go looking for the guy after she’d told him to keep him a secret from anyone else. It’d been years ago. So long that he hadn’t thought about the guy in forever. Whoever was chasing them had most definitely never heard of Alejandro Mraz.

The sound of his name infuriated Jay.

If there was any other man who’d finagled his way into Hayley’s life and possibly her heart, it would probably be Alejandro. The guy ran a ranch at the edge of the city where the developers had left half-built and forgotten expanses of land, no longer bidding to construct any new housing due to the high influx of poor and lower middle class into the area. The land was riddled with patches of desert and decrepit housing which had seen better days. The eastern side of the valley was where the immigrants, down on their luck, and outsiders gathered in hopes of a better life. Far from the lights of the Las Vegas Strip, it was the best place to disappear.

Just like Alejandro.

Jay doubted the man went by his given name and hid under the guise of some pseudonym. The rancher bred horses and shipped them off to other states for those in need of them. He had a tight-knit staff kept under his iron grip. Nothing got past the guy, and no one crossed his path. When Jay had looked into him previously, he’d found a trail of carnage leading all the way back to the dredges of Juarez and farther into the center of Mexico. Cartels, drug trafficking, human trafficking and any other unsavory businesses he could get his hands into.

Now he let his
capos
and lieutenants run the businesses down south, sending him his due. His frequent trips to check up on his interests with his most trusted
sicarios
ensured things stayed running like a well-oiled machine. Alejandro wasn’t one to be messed with, so Jay had avoided confronting him all those years ago. Even when he’d discovered Alejandro had been heavily involved with Hayley when Jay had taken off to work overseas for several years.

It had hurt him more than he could have ever imagined. But Hayley had never spoken of the guy again, so Jay had assumed they were through. When they got there tonight, Jay was determined to find out how close he and Hayley had really been.

Not that he was afraid of being replaced by some psychotic drug lord. He just thought he’d known everything about Hayley. Every last, miniscule secret she’d tucked away. Apparently not. Discovering she’d hidden this from him without thinking twice had cracked his confident exterior and had sent him into a profoundly reckless mood. He wanted to know why she’d hidden this relationship and not any others. Why would she do that?

The things he’d done during those dark times when he was away were forever branded into the back of his mind. He hoped it had all been worth losing Hayley to this other man.

Brushing the thought away, he turned, and the road transitioned into dirt as they got closer to the ranch. Fencing and the whinnies of horses greeted them as they rode on. Other animals called out into the night as the motorcycle disturbed their rest. After what felt like forever, they arrived at the entrance of the ranch only to be met by guns and a spotlight pointed right at them.

“Come any closer and you die,
caballero
. Don’t fucking move.”