Chapter 10
Slay
That son of a bitch pulled a gun on her. I squeezed the binoculars as I watched the scene unfold and seethed.
If he hurt her, I would kill him.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I didn’t want to take my eyes off Cass or the elderly couple that just passed her and the Russian. But I was expecting to hear from Wolf, so I kept watching my girl and removed my devise.
“This is Slay.”
“Sorry to take so long to call. Have you seen Alek?”
“Wolf, right?’
“Yes.”
“I have eyes on Alek right now. He’s got a gun pointed at my woman.” Regardless of what Cass believed, she would always be my woman. Might was well address her as such.
“Kozlov Bratva runs a mail order bride business. American women bought as wives for men in other countries. It’s illegal.”
“Obviously. There’s no way in hell Cass would voluntarily agree to be sold as a wife to any man.” Like I knew mail order brides was a thing but in San Diablo? It sounded crazy.
“Some women do,” Wolf replied, plainly. Never met him before and I knew very little about him, only that he was Russian and married to an Italian Mafia princess up in Canada. But Jefe trusted Storm, who said Wolf was a straight shooter.
“Not my Cass.”
“That’s fair. I spoke to my brother who lived in Russia until a couple of years ago, and he knew about Kozlov’s business. He’s not sure why he would be after a prominent business owner. Usually, he takes women nobody would notice missing, cleans them up and puts them on the dark web to be bid on.”
“Jesus, Christ! He just shoved Cass into the backseat. Where will he take her?”
“I don’t know. Again, he doesn’t work in small towns. She must not have been part of the plan.”
“I need to go!” I ended the call and got on the Bluetooth speaker. “Do not lose them,” I told my crew as the BMW pulled away from the curb.
“I’m on them,” Tequila replied.
“Me too,” Dom said next.
Both men had a prospect with them. El Jefe was waiting on the north side of town. It was the only road out of San Diablo and Quino was on the south exit.
But there was no way in hell I’d let them get that far. I ran to my Harley that had been idling in the alley, jumped on it and raced down Main Street after them.
I couldn’t lose Cass like this, with a criminal snatching her off the street. It could have been a fluke that she’d met Alek. Maybe he genuinely liked her. But I knew in my gut there was another player involved and I had a feeling it was Deputy Mitchell.
“Fuck!” I yelled at the top of my lungs to burn off some tension. “Fuck!”
“They just blew through the intersection at Green Street,” Tequila said. “They’re picking up speed. They’ve gotta know we’re onto them.”
“I’m sure they do.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Block the road,” I told him.
“Done.”
I looked ahead and saw the garbage truck we’d borrowed, slowing pulling out of the side road. Dom was driving it. If the Bimmer hit it, we’d be in deep shit.
They stopped hard, just as I imagined they would.
“Box them in!” I shouted as I got closer.
My buddy from the fire department appeared in his massive red engine, sirens blaring. He blocked Alek’s escape.
I swerved around the fire truck. Guns were going off in front of me. My crew against Alek and a masked man, who had a similar stature as Deputy Mitchell. They were on foot running into someone’s backyard.
“Don’t lose them!” I hollered into my microphone. “Anyone see Cass?”
I slowed my Harley, parked it and bolted toward the car where she could still be, but before I could reach it, the vehicle blew up.
I jumped, stumbling back from the inferno. “Cassandra!” I yelled, dodging debris falling from the sky. “God no! Cassandra!” I fell to my knees, bile racing to my throat as I watched the engulfed car with the love of my life trapped inside.
What would I tell her parents? Jesus, they couldn’t lose another child. And Steve? I didn’t think he could handle it either. I hardly could.
The heat from the fire didn’t even bother me. I’d rather burn in hell than be without Cass on earth.
“Corcoran has her.” Tequila’s shaking voice came through my earpiece.
I jumped to my feet and scanned the area. “Corcoran, where are you?”
It was hard to see through all the black smoke.
“He can’t hear you,” Tequila shouted, sounding out of breath. Yes! He was going after Alek and the masked man. “Lost Alek but got the other one in the back.”
“Where are they?”
“Who?”
“Never mind.” Movement on my left, an overgrown bush rustling drew my attention.
Corcoran appeared with Cass in his arms. She was limp and her eyes were closed.
“Is she breathing?” I ran toward them, pounding the pavement in time with my pounding heart. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hector running as well with his EMT bag in hand.
“Yes, but she’s unconscious,” Corcoran said. “Probably drugged.”
“Nothing else?” I did a quick once over, looking for blood, and didn’t find any.
“Let me check her out,” Hector said, directing Corcoran to lay her on the sidewalk.
A crowd of people were filing out of their homes but staying in their yards.
Curious to see what all the commotion was about, of course.
Most locals knew who the Kings of Anarchy MC were and didn’t dare to take their cell phones out to record what was happening. I appreciated them showing us respect.
I literally wanted to cry right now, after having the shit scared out of me. My limbs violently shook and my stomach felt like the organs inside were twisted into one big knot.
“I thought she was still in the car,” I said to no one specific, touching her head. “Thought she was dead.”
“Nah, they wouldn’t have taken her. She would’ve been dead weight for those guys to carry while running for it,” Corcoran said. “Tequila told me to check the car, so I did. Figured I’d take her out and hide in case one of them came back.”
“That was smart thinking.” I put my hand on his shoulder and gave it an affirming squeeze. “Thank you.”
The roar of motorcycles approaching gave me comfort. We were out in the open on the sidewalk. Vulnerable to anyone who might want to take us out. I had no clue how many people were working with Alek, so it was good to have back up.
“How is she?” Jefe asked and crouched beside me.
“She’ll be okay,” Hector replied. “Her pulse is a little weak because of the drug. Just going to have to keep an eye on her and wait for her to wake up.”
“Can I take her to clubhouse, or would the hospital be better?” If Hector said she needed to be admitted, I’d do it. But I preferred to have her with me so I could protect her better.
“I know how you are about hospitals. I’ll go with you to the club and call my friend Kelly, a nurse, to see if she can stay with her until she wakes.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“Well, let’s get her out of her,” Jefe said, standing up. “I need to check in with Tequila. He’s with your dead informant.”
I whipped my head in his direction. “Mitchell is dead?”
“Tequila never misses. Mitchell should have keep going straight instead of veering off to the left. The bullet hit his heart when it was meant for his right shoulder.” Jefe shrugged like he couldn’t give a shit.
I didn’t care much either. But now we couldn’t question Mitchell. There were unanswered questions floating in the atmosphere.
“And Alek?”
“Gone.” Jefe stalked away. “Fucking gone.”
Dammit!
With Alek somewhere out there, I wouldn’t be able to let Cass leave the clubhouse. When she was awake and alert, I hoped she didn’t give me shit, because there was no chance in hell I’d let her go home with that Russian maniac on the loose.