Tease: Mojave Boys MC (17 page)

“Four days. I’ll be back before them.” Vance turned and stalked from the building. He was full of angst, and when he saw one of the ignorant boys leaning against his bike with a cocky grin, it was too much. Vance strode up to him and grabbed him by the throat, punching him hard enough to break his nose. The kid landed on the ground, and Vance kicked him, over and over.

“Hey, man, stop!” Raoul was behind him, pulling him away, but Vance didn’t want to stop.

“What happened?”
Tres Amenazas
was beside him, and the little prick scrambled to his feet, blood pouring from his nose.

Raoul spoke for Vance, who couldn’t get the words out in his blind rage. “Miguel was on his bike.”

The boss glared murderously at the kid. “What have I told you about respecting our guests? That includes their vehicles and anything else that belongs to them!” Without giving the kid a chance to speak, he pulled a gun and shot him dead. He turned to address the very quiet group of boys around him. “Let that serve as a lesson. Obedience is
muy importante
. Do not disobey
el jefe
.”

He turned back to Vance. “I apologize for that. I am still trying to discipline my prospects. It won’t happen again.”

Too shocked at the violent disciplinary measures, Vance merely nodded in response. Raoul released him, and he climbed on his bike, leaving a trail of dust as he gunned away from the Scorpions’ clubhouse.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

“Let me get this straight,” Dusty said, gawking at Vance. “They don’t want our business, and they don’t want our territory. They just want us to help them run their product through our territory.”

“That’s what the big guy said,” Vance confirmed bitterly, as he took a long pull on his beer.

“So, what’s the problem?”

On the surface, it seemed simple enough. But Vance didn’t buy it. “I don’t trust that son of a bitch. He’s got something up his sleeve. We have to find Maya.” He didn’t care about
Tres Amenazas’
little warning. He had enough resources and could call in some favors. He’d find Maya, and he’d get her out, even if she was right under
el jefe’s
nose.

But Dusty threw his hands up in exasperation. “You know, we could charge a fee and make some money off this, and it would be a great opportunity for a truce. Why are you so adamant on being a vigilante?”

Vance scowled. “That’s not what this is about. The Scorpions just want to find a way to get into our territory. We’re not looking over our shoulder because we gave the okay, and then they take us out and take everything we’ve got. And that’s if we even get that far. I don’t think he’s going to hand Maya over that easy.”

“You are incredibly paranoid,” Dusty told him, but Vance could tell he was considering the possibilities now. “We could take advantage of the opportunity to start taking them out. Same thing. They aren’t watching their backs because they have our permission, and they start disappearing.”

That was true. But there was still the initial problem. “We still have to get to that point, and I don’t want to risk it. I want to find Maya, sooner than later. I have four days; that much I believe. So we’ve got to start looking.”

Dusty scoffed. “You’d have it easier trying to talk these boys into working with the Scorpions than searching the damn desert around them for a bunker that could be anywhere.”

“I can do it by myself, then. It doesn’t matter anyway because if I don’t find her in time, I’m dead. It’s my business and no one else’s.”

“Cut the shit, Ice. You know damn well that some of us will help you, no matter what. And we can convince some of the others to run with us out of vengeance for the Boys they killed. We’ve always got your back, even when you don’t deserve it.”

“Great, that’s good to know,” Vance muttered sarcastically.

Dusty sighed. “First, you’re paranoid. Then, you’re depressed. Now, you’ve got multiple personalities, and this one is grumpy. Come on, man. You need to pull it together, or we’ll never find that girl.”

Vance finished his beer. “You’re just confused. Or confusing. One or the other.” He stood and stretched with a sigh. “Okay, gather whoever you can get to help, but make sure enough guys are here to hold the place down if something goes wrong.”

“Where are you going?”

Vance was going to call in one of those favors. “I’m going to get an aerial map of the Scorpions’ territory and see if I can find something that looks out of place. Maybe we’ll find a place or two that we should explore.” He made his way back to the office and got on the horn. He knew a guy at the local news station who worked on the weather team. Vance had cleared up a gambling debt for him in return for a few random favors here and there. It was the first time he’d had to call, so he didn’t think he’d see any resistance.

“You’re making this way harder than it needs to be, man,” Dusty said, shaking his head again. But if you really think that’s the way this needs to be done, I’m with you.”

Vance gave him a smile and a man hug, shaking his head and pulling him in to bump shoulders. “It means a lot, Dusty. Thanks.”

He left, deciding he might as well go home and relax for a bit. He’d call in his favor and spend a little time in the hot tub, cooling off. It sounded strangely conflicting when he thought about it like that, but the heat relaxed his body, which cooled his temper.

Then he’d watch some television, eat a decent dinner, and try to get a good night’s sleep. He’d get up early and meet his contact, who damn well better have his map by then, and he’d take it back to the clubhouse to start pinpointing anything and everything that stood out. One of those odd stops was where
Tres Amenazas
had Maya hidden away. As he rode away from the clubhouse, several of the Mojave Boys eyeing him curiously for his antisocial behavior, he chuckled to himself. That stupid saying
el jefe
had quoted about soldiers and scouts was some happy horse shit. Vance was going to make him swallow those words with the bullet he shot into him when Maya was safe.

Twenty minutes later, he was in his house, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he sniffed the air. He was usually much cleaner than this, but he’d been traveling with Maya, then hiding out. He’d gotten lazy while they were doing nothing but having sex and watching television, and now the general odor of stale leftovers, dirty dishes, and trash was the reminder of it.

It was a good thing he didn’t have a dog, or there would be piss and shit everywhere. And with his luck, the poor animal would be sick from climbing on the furniture and counters to eat the nasty food.

This demanded a change of plans. Vance got on the horn and spoke to his contact, who promised to meet him at a Denny’s halfway between the two of them early in the morning, and then he got busy with a thorough deep cleaning of his house. He changed the bed sheets, throwing the dirty ones in the wash. Then, he cleaned up the living room, picking up the trash and wiping down the tables. He vacuumed, too, and then he tackled the kitchen full of dishes and random leftovers.

Finally, he scrubbed the bathroom until it sparkled again. Only then did he bury himself in the hot tub, sinking in up to his neck, as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the edge. He was pretty sure he was missing calls and texts that could have been important, but he didn’t really care. He needed this, and he was damn well going to enjoy it without interruption.

He dozed a bit and lost track of time. When he finally got out and wrapped a towel around his waist, his fingers were wrinkled. A glance at the kitchen clock told him he’d spent nearly an hour soaking, but he definitely felt better. Some of the tension had left his body, and he was much less touchy. He checked his phone and had a missed call from Dusty. The voicemail said he’d had a little luck getting some guys together, and Vance decided to call back later.

There were no other calls or messages, which was a pleasant surprise, so he dressed in a pair of pajama pants, put some pasta on to boil, and plopped down on the couch to flip channels until his food was done. But the minute he tried to settle in, his mind turned back to Maya.

He wished he could believe this situation would bring them back together, but it was more likely to confirm her fears were true. She didn’t belong with him. And Vance couldn’t really blame her. What right did he have to ask her to stay anyway, when all he did was put her in danger? He claimed to be able to keep her safe, but every time they turned around, there was another threat to her life that rested on his shoulders.

The truth was, he didn’t deserve her. He didn’t really deserve anyone with the life he led, and that was why he’d been perfectly content going from woman to woman. It was part of being a biker, of course, but it also kept him from having feelings for anyone. Feelings complicated everything. He wouldn’t have to rescue a one-night stand. That sort of woman wouldn’t appeal to him after a night of nothing but good sex. And she wouldn’t be worth anything to the Scorpions because he had no feelings for her.

Maya was a different story, and he had no one to blame but himself.

Restless and frustrated that his peace had lasted such a short time, he marched into the kitchen to finish making his food, and he sat down hard in the kitchen chair, stabbing violently at the noodles. He finished quickly and regretted it the minute his stomach started cramping. Pain increased his frustration, and since he couldn’t seem to find comfort in his home, he got dressed and headed back to the clubhouse. It was nearly dark, but that was the best time to find some company to drink with. In a couple of hours, he could be far enough into a bottle to forget for a little while what a dumbass he was for falling for a woman he could never have—and that he still had to find and rescue because he loved her.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

She was a prisoner tied up in a strange place, but that bothered her less than having no clock in the room. She knew it spoke volumes about her own neurotic obsessions. She should have been angry at the Scorpions for kidnapping her and roughing her up a bit, at the circumstances, at Vance for getting her into this mess, and at her own stupidity for getting wrapped up with someone who led a completely different lifestyle. She was now a hostage, a prisoner of a war that didn’t even involve her.

Instead, she was mostly complacent.

Most of her frustration came from the lack of device to tell time. The rest was just pure boredom. She worked at the bindings, starting by gently shrugging her shoulders and wiggling almost imperceptibly. The guard wasn’t really watching her, only turning hateful glances on her now and then, as if it was her fault he’d gotten in trouble. But she didn’t want to get caught, so she kept the movement minimal.

She’d still managed to loosen the rope around her chest a bit, moving it an inch or so to a narrower part of her arms closer to her shoulders. She’d given up on her hands for a bit. She’d made a lot of progress when the chafing and burning from the rope had turned into bleeding. The damage she’d done could easily be blamed on the guard, but any further injury wouldn’t be believable.

Maya had also found a way to slide her legs until they were almost free of the rope, and she practiced a few times to get faster at it. But ultimately, that would have to be a last minute thing or she’d be in real trouble. Her ankles would be the biggest problem, and right now, she had decided to wait and see what would happen with Vance and what sort of proposal
Tres Amenazas
had for her. She wasn’t going to get hurt; she had the ringleader’s word on that.

But she was starving, and she needed to move. Her entire body was cramping up from being in the same position for too long. And the thought of not knowing precisely how long made her livid again that she had no time piece. She would have to ask the leader if he would at least give her a sense of day and night by leaving her a clock or watch or something.

In the meantime, she was growing anxious. It had to have been plenty of time for Vance to have met with the big guy. So, where were they? Or at least, one of them? She didn’t mean to be impatient, but she was worried that
el jefe
would come down with one of his lackeys, dragging Vance’s dead body. Or that they captured him and were going to hold him hostage, right next to her.

And Maya knew he wouldn’t be as cooperative as she had tried to be.

She could hear voices outside the room, around the corner probably, since it was hard to make out the words. She scooted her chair as quietly as she could, her guard having finally fallen asleep. Maya hoped he would get ‘disciplined’ again for that. She managed to get about two feet closer, and the words were a little clearer. Unfortunately, half of them were in Spanish, and she had to call on her high school language courses to piece it together.

Focusing hard, she discerned two voices, both male, and one slightly deeper than the other. “
El jefe
is playing with him. Sure, he wants access to the
Hijos de Mojave
territory, but that’s not his main goal.”

The higher pitched voice answered, “He made promises, though. Promises none of us agree with.”

“It don’t matter. You think
el jefe
is going to make good on those promises, Felipe? No way. I told you, he’s playing around. The white boy wants the girl so bad he’ll do anything. But then he’ll have to do something else. And then more until he screws up. And while he’s running around like a crazy man,
el jefe
is going to make bank with the woman.”

“What are you talking about?” That was exactly what Maya wanted to know. What did they plan to do with her that was going to ‘make bank’? She’d thought
Tres Amenazas
wanted to rape her bank account, and she was ready to let him do it to get out of this mess without Vance getting hurt.

The answer came from the deeper voice. “I don’t know the plan exactly. But
el jefe
told me he’s going to use the girl to pad our finances so we’ll have all the resources we need. I’ve never heard him this confident, and it sounds like he’s not talking about a few hundred bucks. I think he’s talking about more like five figures.”

Maya scowled. Is that all they wanted? Twenty or thirty grand? She would gladly pay that much, maybe more. She’d expected to hear a much higher number. Things were looking up, despite the fact that she still hadn’t heard anything about
Tres Amenazas’s
meeting with Vance.

She pulled at the bindings some more, wincing at the pain in her wrists as the newly scabbed sores opened up, but she managed to get a little space and thought she might be able to squeeze her hands through if she needed to. She froze at the sound of familiar boots closed in, and her lungs seized.
Tres Amenazas
stopped at the door, where the guard sat with his legs stretched out and his head lolling to the side

With a nasty scowl, he drew his leg back and aimed between the guard’s legs, and the lazy man howled in pain, rolling over and curling into a ball. “You fall asleep on the job again, and I’ll cut them off! Go!”

The guard pushed to his feet and took off, bent at the waist as he cupped himself. The boss stepped into the room and met Maya’s gaze. “I guess the guard had nothing more to say to you.”

She snorted. “He’s been snoring since about three minutes after you left. And for that time, he glared at me like I was gum on his shoe.”

Tres Amenazas
actually laughed. “He is not going to last long under my authority, I can tell.” He grabbed the same chair and faced her again. “I have spoken to your boyfriend, and we have reached an agreement.”

“And what agreement is that?” Maya recalled the discussion outside her door and didn’t like the sound of that.

“Let’s just say that, in the next couple of days, you should no longer be under my watch. It just depends on your boyfriend’s power of persuasion.”

So, he had to convince the Mojave Boys to do something, and that’s what the other two men had referenced. Maya doubted they would agree to whatever this guy was asking. “And if he doesn’t succeed in this task?”

“I’m willing to work out other arrangements,” he hedged. “I think maybe I have more faith in Coldman than you. I believe he will make this trade with my men so that both sides may benefit from the arrangement.”

“I’m sure he would,” Maya agreed. “But I don’t think the rest of the gang is going to be so eager.”

He shrugged. “That is up to them. Like I said, I have a Plan B, and you can help if the bargain doesn’t work.”

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I have money. How much would it take to get you to release me and leave Vance and his boys alone?”

He chuckled again. “I haven’t thought of a figure, but perhaps that is something I should consider, just in case. Are you hungry?”

The abrupt change of subject gave Maya mental whiplash, mostly because she was starving, and the drugs hadn’t completely worn off just yet. “I could eat. And some more water would be nice.”

He didn’t move at first, watching her closely. Eventually, he said, “I don’t want to treat you like a child. If I untie your hands so you can eat and drink on your own, will you behave yourself?”

This was probably her best opportunity. “I would love to feed myself, and I’ll be a good little girl,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm at the term.

He simply nodded and stood, coming around behind her. Maya heard the distinct sound of a knife being drawn, and the yank at the rope as he sliced through it made her hiss in a breath. “Your wrists are torn. We had you tied up too tight. I’ll get you some dinner, and then we’ll put some salve on these wounds”

She appreciated it, but she still didn’t trust his intentions. Something wasn’t right, and Maya was going to be cautious going forward.