Survivor's Remorse: Brothers of Ink and Steel (13 page)

“You got it,” the man replied.

“What’s the score?” Leo asked Tuck a moment later.

“Two dead outside, plus that guy,” Tuck said with a nod at the covered body. “He was wearing armor?”

“Yeah.”

“You did good,” Two-Tone said.

“Not good enough,” Leo said as he watched the paramedics work.

“Leo, I need to get your statement,” Randy Nodds, the Assistant Police Chief, said. “You two, as well.”

***

“How you doing?” Leo asked as he settled in the guest chair next to Jamie. The last of the police had just left.

“Better.”

“That’s good. You ready to go?”

“What about the bar?”

“What about it? We’ll clean it up tomorrow. You need to get home and get some sleep.”

“Yeah, okay,” she said as she rose. As he rose with her, she turned, took him into her arms, and held tightly to him. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being here. For saving me. For saving us all. I thought you were worried over nothing… but I was wrong. I should have listened to you. I should have closed the bar. People got hurt because I—”

“No!” he said sharply. “You didn’t do anything. The
cartel
got those people hurt, not you,” he added more gently.

“But if I had stayed home…”

“Then it would have been worse. In the bar he had to pick me out of the crowd. That gave me the time I needed. At home, I might not have been so lucky.”

“How did you know?” she whispered.

“Something about him just didn’t feel right. The way he looked when he came in, maybe. He was too intense, or something. I just got a feeling and I have learned to listen to that little voice.”

She continued to hold him. “What were you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

She pulled out of his embrace and looked into his eyes. “You were walking right toward him, like you didn’t care if you were shot. Why would you do that?”

“I had to neutralize the threat.”

“By walking straight into his gunfire?”

“I had him back on his heels. So long as I kept firing, he couldn’t aim. The first two shots should have finished him, but he was wearing armor. I had to get in close, to make sure I didn’t hit someone else.”

“You could have been killed!”

“You could have, too.”

She stared deeply into his eyes, trying to read him. “Promise me that wasn’t just you trying to get yourself killed to atone for your past.”

He smiled at her and kissed her softly on the lips. “I promise. I wasn’t going all cowboy just to get myself killed.” He kissed her again. “I don’t want to die. Not now. I have too much to live for.”

She whimpered softly at his words and put her head on his shoulder. She tried to hold herself together, but she whimpered again as her tears tried to overwhelm her.

“Shhh…” he whispered as he slowly stroked her hair. “It’s okay now. It’s okay.”

She pulled back from his embrace and offered her lips, lips that he took. She melted into him and began to push at his Lima 6 jacket. She needed him. She needed to have him make love to her so she could feel safe and secure again. She needed to feel his touch, his flesh against her own to quieten her fears and doubts. She needed him, here and now.

She pulled back from the kiss and began to undress him with shaking hands. “Please, I need you. Please…”

He needed no further encouragement, allowing her fingers to work as he held her face and kissed her in a flurry of fleeting touches. He released her face so she could push his shirt down his arms, but then brought his hands back to her, quickly unbuttoning her still crisp white shirt. He slowly removed her shirt and bra, admiring each bit of flesh as it appeared, then slowly lowered himself to his knees as he kissed down her body.

She held his head as he kissed her stomach just above the waistband of her clingy black pants. He pushed at her gently and she settled into a chair as he removed her shoes and slipped the pants over her legs. She moved to rise, but the soft touch of his hand stilled her. With a smile, he slowly kissed the inside of her thigh.

Leo kissed along the inside of Jamie’s thigh, his fingers softly caressing the back of her leg as she squirmed and moved in the chair. He had played this game many times, but never had he enjoyed it as much as he was enjoying it this evening. He moved slowly toward her most intimate place, breathing softly on her skin, stroking and caressing with his fingers and lips.

She shuddered as his lips touched her, the merest feather light brush, but it was enough to send pleasure searing along her nerves. She couldn’t help herself as her legs pulled up and tightened on his head in pleasure as she gasped. As she held his head between her thighs, waiting for the surge of pleasure to subside, he began to probe her slowly with his tongue as he drew the fingers of one hand along the back of her leg. His touch was like electricity and she mewled softly as she twisted to one hip, unable to stay still.

He slowly slid his hands inside her thighs and, with gentle but inexorable force, twisted her back to her bottom and eased her legs apart so he could move. Her soft gasps and writhing was seriously turning him on and making him want to give her more, ever more, pleasure. When the pressure on his head eased, he began to probe her more forcefully as he squirmed his face, driving his tongue into all her most intimate places, his tongue touching and sliding about as he watched her face.

She couldn’t stand it! She placed her heels in Leo’s back and, using him for leverage, forced her hips up as her hands tangled in his hair. She had to be hurting him,
had
to be, but he was devastating her and she couldn’t stop.

Jamie’s heels began to dig into his back with painful force, but he didn’t care. He leaned into her while his lips snapped and pulled, wrapping his arms around her legs to hold her still as she thrust and twisted in the chair.

She was in agony, her orgasm climbing higher and higher as Leo gently pinched and pulled with his lips, his tongue darting and sliding through her wetness. He rose higher up on his knees, driving her harder back into the chair has he focused his tongue firmly on her clit, stroking it forcibly with his tongue. Her eyes snapped open as her orgasm began to take her… and she saw him looking at her, his face both intense and joyous. As her orgasm took her, she cried her delight to the world.

While Jamie panted and blew in the chair, coming out from under her orgasm, Leo rose and removed his pants. He crouched and tugged her to the edge of the chair as he took her lips while pushing her legs back and up, curling her up in the chair. She giggled and growled into the kiss as he slid smoothly into her then began to rock her hips in time with him, thrusting herself upon his hardness.

Even after that mind-warping climax, Jamie could sense another orgasm, another strong one, lurking… and she wanted Leo to give it to her. She began to thrust in time with him, teasing the release nearer. As much as she was enjoying the position, having never been fucked in a chair before, she needed more. With a push of her legs against his chest, she forced Leo backwards. He resisted, but he could either go to his back on the floor or she could break him in half, because she wouldn’t be denied.

Leo relented and allowed Jamie to push him out of her then to the floor. That was fine with him because it relieved the strain of holding his crouching position. She followed his backward tumble, taking him once more inside as soon as they were in position. With a deep sigh of pleasure, she settled on him and began to move.

He watched her eyes close in pleasure as she began to move upon him, her breasts swinging and moving in time with her hips. He captured her breasts in his hands and caressed them as he gently pinched and tugged on her nipples. Her shudder and groan as her head tipped back was perhaps the sexist thing Leo had ever seen. He had to feel her against him and taste her lips.

She allowed Leo to pull her down on his chest, his arms going tight around her as their lips met. As he drew his legs up, she moaned softly in anticipation of what was to come. When he began to move, driving into her, slowly at first, but then faster and faster, she pulled back from his torrid kiss with a gasp. The lurking orgasm was coming… and coming hard.

“Harder…” she begged, needing to feel his sweet violence, his pounding strokes reeling in her orgasm. “Harder, she repeated, urging him on and he responded. “Oh god… harder, please harder,” she begged as she warmed with the approach of her climax.

He began to growl, low and deep in his chest as he pounded into Jamie with tender savagery. His orgasm was coming, but he was pushing against it as he pummeled her, wanting to time his release so they reached the peak of pleasure at the same moment.

“Come on, Jamie… come on!” he growled as he held her tight, nudging her toward her release. He growled again, hard and feral, as he fought against his orgasm and the burn in his abdomen. He could sense Jamie tightening up with her own orgasm and he grimaced as he drove into her with swift, powerful strokes, determined to push her over the edge.

“Fuck!” she gasped, the world long and drawn out, as she tumbled into another withering orgasm. As she shuddered through her own release she heard Leo grunt, long and deep, as he pulled her hard into him, holding her tight as he quivered and shook.

They lay still a moment, panting as they relaxed, their lips finding the other’s for a long, tender kiss. As she pulled back, she sighed and laid her head on Leo’s shoulder, once again content at a very deep level. The hard floor had to be uncomfortable for him, but he offered no complaint and she relished the closeness she felt.

“Are you ready to go home?” he whispered softly as he continued to stroke her back in soft caresses.

“Do we have to?”

“My back is breaking,” he admitted with a chuckle.

She sighed as she raised her head and kissed him gently. “I guess, but you have to promise to come to bed and hold me for the rest of the night.”

His tender kiss provided all the assurances she needed. 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Leo called Ron as Jamie drove home, leaving him a message when he didn’t reach him. He kept his sidearm at the ready during the drive, but they encountered no problems. It would be several hours before the cartel realized their little hit and run assault had gone badly for them.

As a change of routine, they went to his house. Leo went into the house first while Jamie sat in the idling truck. Satisfied the house was secure, he came out through the garage. Since his bike was still at Jamie’s house, he pulled the quad-bike and its trailer into the drive so she could put the old Chevy in the stall normally occupied by his Harley and the quad.

With the house once again locked tight, they retired to his bedroom. Jamie had no sleepwear and had to sleep in the nude. Claiming he didn’t want her to feel self-conscious, Leo also stripped completely nude and joined her between the linens.

They snuggled, touched and kissed, talking about the evening’s events. Jamie began to cry over what had happened, distraught that people has been hurt in her establishment, but his kind words, softly spoken, eased her distress and she soon slid into a deep slumber. They were spooning, his knees tucked in behind hers and he smiled into her hair as she relaxed in his arms. He tugged her in just a little bit closer and she wiggled in her sleep, once again becoming comfortable in his embrace as he felt the first tendrils of sleep wrap him.

***

Jamie was on the phone with her insurance agent while Leo cleaned up the broken glass behind the bar. There was a lot of it. One shot had gone into the large mirror behind the bar with the
He’s Not Here
logo etched into it, shattering the glass and, somehow, knocking down a row of liquor bottles, which also broke, of course.

He was sweeping up the last of the shards when his phone rang. It was Ron. “Ron! Is everything okay? I’ve been trying to reach you!”

“It was a long night, Leo. The cartel was on our ass all night. We lost five guys—”

“No…” Leo breathed, sick at his stomach.

“—with another eight wounded. We’re getting them ready to go to BBRMC in Alpine.”

“BBRMC?”

“Big Bend Regional Medical Center,” Ron explained.

“Oh! Right. That’s where the wounded last night went.”

“Wounded?”

“Yeah. We were paid a visit by the cartel last night. They hit Jamie’s bar. Three guys. Tuck took out two; I got the guy inside, but not before he got off a couple of wild shots. He hit a couple of people, a guy in the shoulder, and a woman in the leg. The woman is the worse of the two.”

“Goddamnit! Before it was just property, but when they start shooting people… We need to hit them.
Hard!
We need to bloody their nose but good this time – go right at them and hit them where it hurts.”

“I don’t know, Ron. This could escalate fast. I think we should cool it and see what the cartel’s next move is. They burned our clubhouse; you wrecked their refining and distribution center. They tried to hit Jamie’s place, but we killed three of theirs while we got away with only a couple of wounded. I think we should wait and see if they pull back.”

“Goddamnit!”
Ron raged. “What is wrong with you, Leo? You’re turning into a complete pussy!”

Leo held to his temper. “If this develops into a full scale war, more people are going to die, Ron. We can’t protect the whole town; you know that. The cops can’t either. And the DEA and Border Patrol are fucking worthless.”

“If we don’t hit back, they will see that as weakness!”
Ron screamed from his phone.

Leo looked at his phone as his face twisted in disbelief.
Ron is losing it.
“Before we take on the cartel in a full on war, we need to vote it,” he said calmly.

Ron was quiet for a moment. “Fine,” he said, his voice dripping contempt. “You’ll get your fucking vote. Seven o’clock… the clubhouse… or what is left of the clubhouse,” he said and then he was gone.

“Shit,” Leo murmured as he pocketed his phone.

***

“I need to check on my crews and go to the clubhouse,” Leo said later, giving Jamie a quick kiss as she sat at her desk. “Ron is chomping at the bit to go to war with the cartel and I need to be there.”

“What’s
wrong
with that guy? Why is he in such a hurry to get everyone killed?”

“I don’t know. Over the last six months or so, almost since I was elected Vice President, he’s changed. I don’t know if he just has a problem with me, or what.”

“I don’t know why he would. You’re the best thing that has happened to Lima 6 since they got to town. When they first arrived, they were tolerated, but now, after you started polishing up their image, Lima 6 is a respected part of the community.”

Leo sniffed out a chuckle. “I don’t know if I would go that far.”

“I would. Everyone knows I have the ear of Lima 6, so I hear things. Before people would say things like, ‘Lima 6 keeps the town safe, but I wouldn’t want my daughter dating one’ or ‘I like Lima 6, and I’m glad they’re here, but I wish they wouldn’t shop where I do.’ Now those caveats aren’t there. Now I hear things like, ‘Lima 6 really helped us out with the fair’ and ‘do you think Lima 6 would be willing to help us with our fund raiser?’”

“But they still don’t want their daughters dating us?” he asked with a grin.

“Well, that may take a little more time. But there is one daughter in town that has the serious hots for one of the Lima 6 guys – one of the good looking ones.”

“Oh? Who’s that?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

“Maggie Wilks for Tuck.”

Surprised by her answer, Leo barked out a laugh. “Oh! Her. Yeah, I noticed that.”

“Who did you think I was going to say?” she asked, her face and voice the picture of innocence.

“Nobody!” he said, his grin growing wider as he held his hands up and shook his head in denial.

“Okay then,” she said with a grin. “When will you be back?”

“I shouldn’t be gone long – just long enough to make sure my crews aren’t sitting around on their collective asses and get this shit settled. I kind of thought you would come with me.”

“Me? Why? I have no business with the club and I have my own business to deal with.”

“I know, but it would be safer for you if you came with me, just in case.”

“Leo, I’m still dealing with this mess,” she said as she gestured in the direction of the public area of the bar. “I want to open tonight, if I can, and give those cartel assholes a big ‘fuck you.’ And the adjuster should be here before long, too.”

“I can understand you wanting to open, but…”

“Don’t worry, okay? It’s still daylight. They would have to be seven kinds of stupid to do something in the middle of the day. Just be back by dark, okay? I’m brave, but I’m not that brave.”

He pondered a moment and decided that she was probably right. Hopefully the club meeting wouldn’t take very long and he would be back well before dark. “Okay. Give a guy a lift to his bike?”

Jamie smiled. “Why
shore
, sugar,” she said, laying on the accent.

Leo grinned as she rummaged in her desk for her purse.
Damned if I don’t like Texas women!

***

Jamie looked around the bar. Other than a few bullet holes, and the missing mirror, the place looked normal. The bullet holes would be fixed in a couple of days, and the mirror was on order. She unlocked the door and turned on the
Open
sign in the window.
Fuck you, you cartel assholes!

By seven-thirty, she had put Leo out of her mind. Some of her regulars, and a herd of gawkers that stopped in to see the results of the shoot-out the night before, kept her hopping.

By nine, the crowd began to thin, most people not wanting to be caught out after dark in case of a repeat of last night – not that she blamed them. But of more concern… where was Leo? He had been gone for six hours… two hours past his scheduled meeting, far too long for just a club meeting.

During one of her lulls, she called Leo’s cell. She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when he didn’t answer. She put the phone under the bar for a while as she tended business, but then tried calling him again later – still no answer.

“Leo, this is Jamie,” she said to his voicemail. “Call me as soon as you can. I’m worried that you haven’t called and it is well past dark. So call me, okay?”

As she hung up, she bit her bottom lip.
Something isn’t right! Something has gone wrong, I just know it!

***

“Last call, gentlemen. I’m closing early tonight in lieu of what happened last night,” Jamie said to her last two remaining customers at nine-forty-five. She had worked herself into a right old state worrying about why Leo hadn’t called.

The men had barely stepped out of the door before she tossed Bobi and Tim out and locked the door. She would deal with cleaning up in the morning. She hurried to her desk, retrieved her purse and keys, and bolted for her truck.

She dialed Leo again as she sat down in her truck while fumbling to get the key in the ignition. When his voicemail answered she whimpered softly in fear as she tossed her phone onto the seat. As the truck grumbled to life, she jammed it into reverse and whined quickly backwards before hauling the lever down into first with a chattering growl, the truck protesting her rough treatment. As soon as the lever banged into gear she floored the accelerator and dumped the clutch, causing the truck to lurch into motion.

She braked to a stop at the remains of the Lima 6 clubhouse, the headlamps of her truck painting the dark landscape. She had been desperately hoping that she would find him here, unable to hear his phone over loud music.
Hell, I would be glad to find him passed out drunk… or even balls deep in some biker chick… if I could just find him!

Her eyes tearing in worry, she turned the truck around and started back to town. She drove to her house, hoping beyond hope to see his bike there, but her drive was empty. She sat for a moment, the truck idling quietly, numb with fear and bordering on tears. With a gasp to reign in her pending tears, she pulled away from the curb.

As she drove, she noticed that the headlights behind her always seemed to be there, always following her. Her heart leapt into her throat, but she continued resolutely to her destination.
I’m just jumpy. It’s probably not even the same headlights,
she tried to tell herself. But every time she turned, the headlights followed.

She pulled to a stop in front of Leo’s house and the headlights stopped a half block behind her. She desperately wanted to go ring the doorbell, but the headlights were scaring her. Before she pulled away from the curb, she pulled her purse to her, unzipped the hidden compartment, removed her pistol, and placed the gun on top of her purse in easy reach. She then picked up her phone and tried Leo one more time.

Battling her tears, she tossed the phone back in her purse when his voicemail picked up. She pulled away from Leo’s house… and the headlights followed.

She pulled into the brightly lit parking lot of the local Walmart and stopped under a street light. She watched a black full size Toyota truck, jacked up with oversize tires, pull into the lot behind her and park a dozen spaces away. She watched, but nobody exited the truck.
I should take my pistol, march over to the truck, and find out what the fuck they want,
but then a chill of fear passed over her.
The cartel...

On a sudden thought she found her phone and located Tuck’s number. Her hand shaking she held the phone to her ear as she silently pleaded for him to answer. When his voicemail picked up she canceled the call without leaving a message as she sniffed and struggled to not cry.