Rush - Blue Devils MC Book 2 (Book 1 Included FREE for a short time only!) (7 page)

It was depressing. How had Rush, biker in the Blue Devils MC, ended up being the stable one??

But as he showed her the intricacies of a 1920’s flush toilet that operated by pulling on a chain, she realized that it only made sense. Rush had been raised in the largest mansion in town, built by his great-great-(whatever)-grandfather way back in the day, and the Blackburn family had passed it down from generation to generation, adding, restoring, and repairing it along the way. Unlike her father who’d wanted the best and the newest and the greatest and had built a stupidly huge house in the new trendy part of town when she was in high school, the Blackburns had held onto the tradition and the stately lines of their family home.

In so many ways, Rush was totally different from his family but in this respect, it seemed like he’d been bit by the Blackburn bug.

As he showed her the unfinished bathroom upstairs and the intricate backsplash he was in the middle of installing, exhaustion hit her hard. She struggled to keep her eyes open and listen to the differences between ceramic and porcelain tile, but he finally caught her elbow and said, “Oh Blue, you should’ve said something.” She slumped against him, happy to have the struggle against gravity taken from her. It was a battle she was going to lose soon anyway.

He scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the stairs to the master bedroom on the first floor. She tried to open her eyes and admire her surroundings as they went, she really did, but her eyelids felt weighted down by heavy stones and she felt the will to even fight it slip away.

And then he was pulling a light blanket over her and kissing her forehead and she was gone, falling into that comforting darkness.

Chapter Seven

Rush

Rush looked down at his sleeping Blue and smiled to himself.
Some things never change
. He was going to have to change her nickname to Sleeping Beauty if she kept this up. Although, he wanted it to be noted, he’d carried her without huffing and puffing this time, although, again, she’d been asleep and unable to notice it.
Dammit
.
I need to carry her around more when she’s awake. It’s a little easier to impress her when she’s awake. Not that she’d seemed impressed with my muscles at the hospital, though, so maybe I need to carry her around when she’s awake
and
not pissed at me.

As he watched her sleep, her flushed cheeks and wild dark brown curls giving her a cherubic air, his joy at having her back in his life began to fade.

Rush, what the fuck are you doing?

He could only stare down at her in silence. He really didn't know what he was doing, but he was pretty sure he was going to regret it. Last time he’d welcomed Blue into his life, she’d messed around, she’d had fun, and then she’d left. She’d left him behind and traveled the world and he’d never been the same since. Lain had been right - the drinking and the hookers had gotten out of control after Blue’s first departure. Could he handle her leaving again?

Because she was still the same person. And he was still the same person. And they’d make the same fucked up decisions again. And he’d be left behind, broken pieces scattered to the wind.

She didn’t want commitment. She didn’t want to be tied down. She wanted to live in hostels and backpack through Europe and never know where she’d go to sleep the next night. He wanted…well, he wanted this. An old, beat-up mansion that he could return to its former glory through blood, sweat, and a whole lotta passion. Every corner of his house was stamped with his personality now, and that was exactly how he wanted it. He wanted a home that he could pass on to his children and grandchildren.

But without Blue…the idea of trying to fall in love and marry someone else sent a bolt of panic through him. Since Blue had walked out of his life all those years ago, he’d never found anyone who came even close to filling her shoes - sparking that same love and desire and fierce protectiveness inside of him that Blue had. She’d been his all, and when she left, she’d taken a chunk out of his soul that he’d never been able to replace, no matter how many antique finds he’d discovered or sheep he’d fucked or whiskey sours he’d drank.

But
with
Blue…that sent a bolt of panic through him too.
She left you before - she’s going to do it again
.
You can’t trust her. You can’t rely on her. And you sure as hell can’t fall in love with her. Again.

He was angry at himself - being around Blue was like being high on a drug. It felt so goddamn good when she was there, but when she left, the high crashed and the aftermath was ugly. And here he was, getting right back onto that rollercoaster again.
Dumbass.

“C’mon boy, let’s go,” he said softly, and walked out of his bedroom. Turbo thumped his tail on the bed, but didn’t move. Rush looked back, frowning. “C’mon, Turbo, we gotta go. She needs her sleep,” he said in a loud whisper. Blue didn’t seem to hear him, but neither did Turbo. He settled down on the foot of the bed, where he always slept at night, and put his head down on his front paws. And then, he had the audacity to close his eyes!

“Fine, be that way!” Rush grumbled, and then headed out to the garage. Maybe pounding some nails out of old wood so he could reuse it as wainscoting in the upstairs bathroom would put him in the better mood. Bonus points if he managed to complete the project without smashing any fingers in the process.

He was really getting his pounding on and feeling better about life, liberty, and the world in general, when he heard a car pull up in the driveway. It was probably the first Blue Devils, coming to take up watch over his house. They were going to switch out guard duty, three guys, every six hours, around the clock. It made Rush grateful yet again for the support that his brothers gave him.

But when he stepped outside, it was two Copper Lode policemen stepping out of a police car that greeted him.

He waved at the guys in blue and then pulled out his cell. “Police are here,” he texted Lain, and then pocketed his phone. He went over to greet the men, shaking Officer Davis and then Officer Lopez’s hands.

“Is Hannah Wright here?” Lopez asked, once the pleasantries were over.

“Yeah, but she’s asleep at the moment,” Rush said. “Head wounds are nasty sons of bitches.”

Lain pulled up in front of the house under the shade of an acacia tree and cut the engine on his Harley. “Hey guys!” he called out, hanging up his helmet and then striding up the front walk.
He must’ve already been on his way - police must’ve called him before they came over. God, it’s nice to have the police in your back pocket at times like this…

“Listen, I’m sorry to do this to you guys,” Rush said protectively, “but I’m not gonna wake Hannah up. She needs her slee—”

“What’s going on?” Blue asked Rush through a yawn, standing in the front doorway. Turbo was firmly planted by her side. “I heard voices—” She saw Davis and Lopez and then behind them, Lain. “Oh, hi! Sorry, I didn’t see you guys.” Her voice was thick with sleep, her hair tousled, her clothes rumpled, and a big giant white bandage was wrapped around her head.

Rush was pretty fucking sure he’d never seen such a gorgeous woman in all his life.

***

Hannah squinted against the bright Arizona sun. Her head was throbbing and all she really wanted was to take some painkillers and go back to sleep, but these guys were all here for her. She had to do her best to help them however she could.

Help them find Isabel.

“Let’s go in out of this heat,” Rush suggested, and they all moved to the living room. Hannah settled into a gorgeous Mission couch, which was wonderfully even more comfortable than it looked, and Turbo jumped up beside her, half sitting on her, squashing her beneath his weight. He seemed to be taking his self-appointed duty as her protector seriously. She grinned at him and he licked her face in response.

If nothing else good came out of this hellacious mess she found herself in, at least she had Turbo back again. As a puppy, he’d lived up to his name and even if he’d grown old and slow in her absence, his heart was still there. She’d missed his love almost as much as she’d missed Rush’s…

“So, Miss Wright, let’s start with the kidnapping,” Officer Lopez said, taking the lead. “What happened on that bus?”

She felt the stares of all of the men trained on her and she swallowed hard against the rising panic bubbling up inside of her. The last thing she wanted to do was to relive that day.

“Well, as I already told the Tucson police,” she started out defensively, knowing that this sounded slightly bitchy but dear God, didn’t anyone understand that this had been, by far, the most awful day of her life? Why were they forcing her to relive it, again and again and again?

“We were on the bus, on the way to church camp. It’s a long bus ride and the girls were all getting antsy and tired of being on the bus, so when the motorcyclists pulled up on either side of the bus, they all got excited. They were loud and shiny and something to look at other than cacti and mesquite bushes. The riders surrounded the bus though, forcing Miguel, the driver, to stop, and then they busted onto the bus. The first guy had a shotgun in his hand and was waving it around. The girls were screaming—”

“Hold on, how
exactly
did you describe the gang members to the Tucson police?” Lain interrupted.

“Ummm…” Hannah stared at him, confused why this would matter but trying to remember. She’d been in and out of consciousness when the Tucson police had questioned her, and the whole conversation was a little fuzzy around the edges. “I just called them motorcyclists, I think. Why?”

“Do you realize that the Tucson police would then be looking at
any
motorcycle club? God, Hannah, you helped frame the Blue Devils, especially after you—” he pointed a finger at Rush accusingly, “then up and kidnapped her! We’re lucky we’re not all wearing shiny silver bracelets right now!”

Rush leaned over and grabbed Hannah’s hand comfortingly and she looked beseechingly at the Copper Lode policemen. “I promise you, it wasn’t the Blue Devils! They would never do anything like that. They’re a clean gang - all they do is fundraisers and charity events!” The police officers exchanged glances and she felt Rush tense up beside her. Lain looked at her as if she’d lost her damn mind.

Ignoring Lain for the moment - something she was all too happy to do - she plunged on. “It was absolutely the
Chupacabras
. They’re well known in that area - everyone is terrified of them. I saw their leather vests and the tattoos on their necks. You’d have to be stupid to go into that area in Mexico and
not
be aware of the
Chupacabras.
That’s why I got so nervous when I saw them pull up, even before they made Miguel slow down. The girls are little and naïve and didn’t know, but Maestra Martinez and I knew that they’d be trouble from the beginning.

“Once they got onboard, the leader hit Miguel over the head with his gun and then he shot Martinez and then me. I still…I have no idea how I ended up at the Doctors Without Borders Clinic. I never even woke up until I’d been moved to the Trauma Center in Tucson.”

“Well, ma’am, I can answer the Doctors Without Borders question,” Lopez said. “The Mexican police questioned the staff, and they said that a bus matching the description of the hijacked bus pulled up in front of the clinic, you came rolling out of the door, and the bus took off again.”

“Hold on, where was Martinez found?” Rush asked.

“On the side of the road on the way to the camp. It’s where we believe the hijacking took place.”

“Then the bus driver was in on it!” Lain said.

“That’s our suspicion,” Lopez confirmed.

“Miguel?!” Hannah protested. “No way. He was a very nice man. He would come and chat with me about how much he missed his family - he’s an immigrant from Peru and he had to leave his family behind when he moved to Mexico. He’s been working hard on saving up money so he could bring his family to Mexico and then they could all cross together to the US. He loved the students, too. There’s no way he’d hurt any of us.”

But as she was saying the words, she remembered the look in Miguel’s eyes as he’d made eye contact with her in the rear view mirror. At the time, she’d taken it as panic, because she was panicked. But now, as she thought about it, she realized it’d been worry, sure, but also regret. Regret that he’d agreed to do this.

Oh God, Miguel, how could you?!

She had both hands buried in Turbo’s fur then, clinging to him. He pushed his body against hers, practically sitting on top of her, his tail thumping against the back of the couch. Rush ran his hand over her hair comfortingly. She leaned into his hand, trying hard not to cry.

I was such an idiot - I never saw it. I should’ve known.

“We have to find the bus driver,” Rush said. “Maybe he knows something - where they’re going or what their plans were.”

“Well, he chose the wrong kidnappings to participate in,” Davis said drily, speaking for the first time since they all sat down. “I doubt anyone realized what a huge international story this would become. He currently has every police officer in the southwest, the FBI, and the Mexican police all looking for him. And, no doubt, the
Chupacabras
. He’d better hope he found a great place to hide out.”

“He’s at
Lago Santa Teresa
,” Hannah said dully. “He called it
lugar feliz
- his happy place. It’s where he went during school breaks, because he couldn’t afford to travel back to Peru to see his family. He would tell me about spending his days in the sun, fishing. I don’t think he told many other people - he talked to me more than anyone else. I can’t believe he was a part of this…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. She wanted to curl up into a ball and hide from the world and this pain but she knew she had to stay focused. Just a little longer. For Isabel.
Then
she could cry. After these men left. But not before then.

“Well…” Lopez said, drawing the word out suggestively, “
we
have no jurisdiction down there, and I keep hearing rumors that the Mexican police have been bought off by the
Chupacabras
so I’d hate to trust them…” He stared hard at Lain.

Lain answered without missing a beat, “As a businessman in both countries, I’m sure that a little trip down there to scope out the area for new trucking clients isn’t out of line, right?”

“Keep us posted on any new…clients that you get while you’re there,” Lopez said. “We’ll keep the Tucson police in the dark as much as possible because they feel obligated to share what they know with the FBI and US Border Patrol, and they feel obligated to share what they know with the Mexican police. I think it’s best if we get our hands on the driver first.”

“Well, if you want to give the Tucson police a bone, tell them to check the supply closet opposite Hannah’s room,” Rush said. “I haven’t heard it come out in the news yet, so I’m guessing no one has spotted the
Chupacabra
I left under a pile of dirty laundry in the corner.”