CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Turning Around
Shelby—
I’m about ten miles outside of Las Cruces when I glance down and see my gas gauge is on empty. “Dammit.”
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Bella asks from her car seat in the back.
“Nothing, honey. We just need to make a quick stop.” It’s two more miles before I find a gas station and flick on my blinker.
Pulling to a pump, I shut the car off and climb out. I’ve got the nozzle in the gas tank and am watching the total scroll by when the customer behind me returns his nozzle to the pump, drawing my attention.
“Mr. Sanchez?” I say, frowning.
When he turns at his name, he grins. “Miss Shelby, what a surprise. How are you?”
“I’m good. Thank you for inviting me to your daughter’s wedding. It was beautiful, and I had such a good time.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was a nice time. My brother-in-law flew in from Albuquerque. He and his wife are still in town visiting with my wife.” He grins. “Her family doesn’t visit often, but of all of them, he is my favorite.”
“That’s nice.” The sun is sinking below the horizon, and the sky is an azure blue with purple streaks. By the time we get to Cloudcroft, it will be late. I hang up the nozzle and screw my gas cap on when the roar of motorcycles carries to me.
Eduardo and I both turn to look down the highway.
“Is that Rio?” he asks.
There are six of them, and they don’t even slow down. When they pass, I spot the patches on their backs. “Devil Kings,” I murmur, sucking in a breath.
Eduardo turns to me. “Those are the ones Rio said to look out for, yes?”
“Yes. I’ve got to go. I’ve got to warn him.”
“Be careful, Miss Shelby,” he replies, pulling out his phone.
Frantically, I buckle my belt and start the car, then speed out, heading back toward Las Cruces. I dig my phone out and call Rio, but he doesn’t answer. “Dammit, pick up.”
I give up and dial Jenny. She picks up on the second ring.
“Shelby. It’s about time you return one of my calls.”
“Are you home?” I ask, urgency in my voice.
“Yes, why?”
“Can you meet me at my place and watch Bella? I have to find Rio.”
“Sure, but I thought you left town.”
“I did. I was, but I have to warn Rio. The Devil Kings are in front of me. They’re heading toward town.”
“Oh my God. Okay, I’ll head there right now,” she replies.
“And call the diner and warn Dolly to spread the word,” I add.
“Good thinking. Shelby, be careful.”
“I will.” I hang up and hit Rio’s number again. This time he picks up.
“Shelby, God. Where are you?”
“I’m on my way to the house. Where are you?”
“I’m at the house right now. Zig and I came to look for you.”
“The DKs are heading to town. They’re in front of me now.”
“What? Where are you exactly?”
“I’m making the turn toward the house. I’m almost home. They’re heading on toward downtown.”
“Hurry.” He disconnects, and I turn down the street and up the drive, punching in the gate code, then climb the hill to the hacienda.
Rio and Zig are waiting outside when I pull up. Rio limps toward me as I climb from the car.
Zig heads to the back door to get Bella. “Come on, munchkin. Let’s get in the house.”
I turn to Rio. “What happened? Why are you limping?”
“Because I couldn’t get the fucking code on the door to work.”
“He kicked it in,” Zig adds.
My mouth drops open. “You kicked the door in?”
“Yeah. I was hoping you were home. But I was too late. You’d already left.”
We don’t embrace, but stand six feet apart, and I hate it. I was only gone a short time, and I missed him terribly. The entire time I was driving away, everything in me was telling me to turn the car around. With every mile, the feeling only grew stronger.
“You okay, Shelby?” Rio asks
Tears fill my eyes. “I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I doubted you.”
He opens his arms. “C’mere, babe.”
I dash to him, burying my head in his chest and clutching his waist.
His arms come around me tight, and he dips his mouth to the top of my head, kissing my crown and murmuring low. “I love you, angel. It tore my heart out watching you drive away.”
“I should have trusted you. I should have given you a chance. I know you’d never let Carson anywhere near me.”
“And I will kill him myself if he ever tries to take Bella from you. You know that, don’t you?”
I nod against his chest.
“Come on. Let’s get inside.”
He leans on me and limps as we move to the door.
Bella is watching cartoons, and Zig is on the phone when we walk inside.
He looks up and meets Rio’s eyes. “The guys are down at the garage. They just saw them ride past. How do you want to handle this?”
Rio looks at me, and I know what he’s thinking. He promised me he wouldn’t use violence, but the DKs could kill someone.
“Go. Save the town.”
He limps toward me, kisses my forehead, then holds me by the upper arms. “Stay put.” When he turns to leave, I can’t let him go.
“Wait. Let me help.”
“There’s no way you can help,” Rio says.
“Except maybe as bait,” Zig suggests.
“No,” Rio snaps, glaring at him. “Absolutely not.”
I grab his arm. “Let me help. Please.”
“If she wants to prove herself ol’ lady material,” Zig says, “now’s her chance.”
“Goddamn it,” Rio roars. “She has nothing to prove.”
“She can drive your pickup.” Zig gestures to the door. “You left it in her garage the other day. You can lie down in the back. Catch ‘em off guard.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
I press against Rio’s chest, laying my palms on his cut. “I need to do this.”
“You need her, Prez. Admit it,” Zig says.
“She stays here. Now, let’s go,” Rio says to his VP, dropping his arms from around me.
“You can’t ride,” I protest. “You can barely walk.”
“She’s right, Prez. That’s your shifter foot.”
“I’ll manage,” he bites out.
“You’ll only slow us down,” Zig insists.
“Please let me help you. I need to do this,” I plead.
“If something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.” Rio stares into my eyes, cupping my face. “Don’t you get that?”
“After you leave, I’ll just follow you,” I threaten.
“The hell you will,” Rio growls. “I’ll pull the damn plug wires on your car.”
“Then I’ll take Jenny’s.”
“Goddamn, you’re stubborn.”
“If I’m going to be your woman, I need to fight alongside you.”
“Better just let her come, boss. We can keep her safer than if she heads out on her own.”
Rio glares at me, his eyes flaring, but he gives in and points a finger at me. “Fine, but you do exactly what I tell you. Understand?”
“Absolutely.”
We follow Zig outside, and he gets the garage door up, then grabs a gun that’s tucked in the back of his waistband. He pops the clip out, checks it, and looks over at Rio. “I’ve got a couple extra clips in my saddlebags. How about you, Prez?”
Rio pulls his weapon and does the same. “Check my bags, will ya?”
Zig moves off to do that while I help Rio to the truck. He drops the tailgate and climbs in.
“Open the rear window, so you can hear me, okay?”
I nod.
Zig jogs over with some clips and an extra weapon. “Here, boss. Take these.” Then he slams the tailgate.
Rio tosses me his keys. “You follow Zig, okay?”
“I will.” I climb up behind the wheel and start the truck up.
Rio leans against the cab, and Zig fires his bike up, roaring out ahead of us. I follow, racing down the hill.
When we get to town, it’s a goddamn circus. Rio’s men from the garage beat us there and are in the midst of a shootout with the DKs at the other end of the street. Windows are shot up in several businesses.
“Get back inside,” I hear Blue yell to a business owner who walks out of his front door with a shotgun.
Zig falls in behind us, using the truck as cover, and I duck down, hitting the gas aiming straight into the DKs. They’ve got their bikes parked across the road, but when they see I’m not stopping, they scatter.
Rio blasts away with a gun in each hand, and Zig follows behind, blasting shots at anyone stupid enough to return fire.
I circle around a block and Zig follows. I bring us back to a cross street where the rest of the Saint’s Outlaws are positioned, and throw it in park, opening my door.
Rio climbs over the side of the bed of the pickup, landing with a grunt.
Zig dismounts and runs over to him, helping him limp toward the corner of a building.
“Stay by the truck,” Rio points at me.
I pause, watching, but I can’t see anything. Needing to get closer, I skirt around some parked cars.
Sirens wail in the distance.
Mauler shoves two teenage boys in a doorway and out of the line of fire.
Squad cars roll up but keep their distance. Even some unmarked cars arrive.
I squeak out a sound when I see Carson standing in the doorway of a business across the street from the diner. He lifts his arm, and I spot a gun in his hand. My heart drops when I comprehend it’s aimed straight at me.
A moment later, I see a flash from his gun, and I’m tackled to the ground by Rio. It only takes a moment for me to realize there’s warm fluid on my hand.
Rio rolls off me, groaning and lifts, aiming his gun toward the other side of the street where Carson was standing a second ago. Now I can’t see him, but I can see the blood on my hand, and then I see the spreading stain blooming on the side of Rio’s shirt.
“Oh my God, Rio.”
He’s up on one knee, standing guard over me, his left hand dropping to hold his side.
“Zig!” I shout, and he and Blue come running while the others cover them.
They grab Rio and me and hustle us to the other side of the pickup.
“He needs a doctor,” I say, my body filled with panic. “We have to get him to a hospital.”
Eduardo and a man in a dark suit holding up a badge come toward us.
“Rio,” Eduardo says. “This is my brother-in-law. He works with the New Mexico field office of the FBI out of Albuquerque. Are you hurt badly?”
The man flashes his ID. “I’m Antonio Sanchez. Call me Tony. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Deputy Carson aimed his gun at me and fired. Rio dived in front of me and took the bullet instead,” I say.
The gunfire has stopped, and we hear motorcycles roar off, then sirens wail in pursuit. I see Mauler, Bandit, and Bagger face down on the pavement, spread-eagle, officers standing over them.
The sheriff comes over, looking furious. He pins his murderous gaze on Rio. “This is all because of you, you son-of-a-bitch. Well, we’ve got you now, don’t we?”
Dolly and another business owner I recognize as the man who tried to come out to defend the town with his shotgun both approach us.
“He and his men didn’t start this, Sheriff,” Dolly shouts. “It was that other bunch that took off. These boys came to defend us all. And they were here a hell of a lot sooner than the rest of you.” Her hands slam on her hips.
The other business owner points at Rio. “I saw the whole thing. He dived in front of this woman to save her from the bullet your own damn deputy fired at her.”
“Pete’s right,” Dolly backs him up.
“Where is Carson, by the way?” the sheriff asks, pissed.
“He’s dead. Caught a bullet to the head from somewhere. Hell, there were so many shots fired, I couldn’t tell where it came from,” Pete says.
“Well, goddamn,” Sheriff Torres mutters, then glances at Eduardo’s brother-in-law. “Who the hell are you?”
“Special Agent Antonio Sanchez. We’ve been investigating the corruption in this town. I saw the same thing those two did. Your deputy tried to kill this woman.”
Torres drags a hand down his face. “Christ. Now what? You hauling us all into custody?”
“You and I need to go to your office and talk, but first, we need to get the coroner down here for your deputy and check if there are any more victims.”
“And you need to let my fucking men go. They didn’t do shit,” Rio snaps.
“Get a paramedic down here for him,” Agent Sanchez snaps, jerking his head to Rio.
We can already hear the siren in the distance, and soon, Rio and I are in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
He’s rolled into the emergency room and wheeled into a bay. A team gets to work on him, and there’s a lot of commotion.
I’m shaking but trying to be strong.
One nurse asks my name, and I’m told they need to check him thoroughly. I’m crowded out and asked to wait in the waiting area.
When I walk through the automatic doors, Zig and the rest of the Saint’s Outlaws are all there. They stand, surrounding me.
“What’d they say?” Zig snaps, worry stamped all over his face. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know. They’re working on him now. The nurse told me they would probably do some imaging to get the full picture, but his vitals weren’t too bad, and that was a good sign.”
Blue reaches a hand and squeezes my arm. “He’ll be all right.”
I try to give him a smile, but I don’t feel it. Until I hear that from a doctor, I won’t stop worrying.
“You want some coffee?” Blue asks, always the attentive bartender.
“Not right now. Thanks.”
Zig puts his arm around me and walks me away. “Sit down. This could be a while.”
I drop into a plastic chair, and he sits next to me. Staring at the floor, I feel lost.
Zig reaches over and pats my leg.
“I didn’t get to tell him I loved him. They rushed me out.”
“He knows, darlin’. The important thing is you came back.”
“I should check in with Jenny. I’m sure she’s worried sick.” I get up and make the phone call, then return, taking my seat next to Zig. “Bella is fine. She’s sleeping.”
“Fuck, that door is damaged. I’ll send someone to fix it. I’d send one of the guys, but I know they don’t want to leave here until they know Rio’s condition. I’m sure I can find a company to do the work.” He steps away to make the call, then returns with a coffee for each of us.
“Thanks.”
We wait for hours, and I watch the big clock on the wall.
Finally, a doctor in scrubs comes out and calls my name.
I stand, and Zig does, too.
The doctor spots me and approaches us.
I try to read the expression on his face for some sign of what’s coming, but he’s got a good poker face.
“He’s stable. Abdominal gunshot wounds can be tricky. They can cause significant damage in the abdominal cavity. The trajectory of the projectile can be unpredictable. There’s always the concern that Internal organs may be affected such as the small and large intestine, the liver and vascular system. Your boy got lucky. In this case, no intraabdominal injury was found during imaging. No damage to large vessels was found, and luckily, there was no damage to his kidneys. There were, however, small bone fragments from his iliac crest, which is the upper part of the hip bone. Because of that, we did an exploratory laparotomy to confirm there was no further damage. Despite the trajectory of the projectile which crossed the abdomen, we found no other damage. We repaired both the entrance and exit wounds. He’ll stay in the hospital for forty-eight hours for observation, and then hopefully, he’ll be good to go home.”
I’m holding my breath the entire time he’s speaking, trying to comprehend his words. None but the last sentence really sinks in. “So, he’ll be all right?”
“He should be. Things look good right now. We’re giving him something to fight any possible infections. Like I said, he’ll stay for observation.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
“They’re moving him to a room right now, and someone will be down shortly to let you know that information.”
Zig shakes his hand. “Thanks, doc.”
The man walks away, and I turn and hug Zig. “He’s going to be okay.”
His arms wrap around me, and I sag against his chest.
I pull back, and wipe away happy tears.
He jerks his head to the others. “Let me tell the boys.”
I slump into the nearest chair, relief flooding through me.
When Zig returns, he nods toward the door. “Come on. Let’s get some fresh air.”
“But they may come to tell me what room he’s in,” I protest.
“The boys will come get us if that happens.”
I stand, hesitant to leave.
“Come on. It’ll be a few minutes before anyone comes.”
“All right,” I murmur and follow him outside.
We walk a short distance from the entrance, and Zig lights up a cigarette, blowing the smoke toward the starry sky.
I’m sure he brought me out here for more than a companion to smoke with, and a moment later, he turns and meets my eyes.
“You drivin’ that truck tonight?”
“Yes…?”
“Look, for a chick, you did good out there.”
I let out a laugh, the events of the night draining from my body. “Wow. Did you choke on those words?”
He grins and bumps my chin with his fist. “I like you.”
“Liar.”
He chuckles. “What I said before, about you not bein’ ol’ lady material? I was wrong.”
“Thanks.”
“Prez needs you.”
“I need him, too.”
He nods. “That’s good. As long as your first instinct isn’t to run.”
“I won’t run again, Zig.”
“Good to know. ‘Cause that man in there took a bullet for you today, and he’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“I know.” A breeze chills my skin, and I rub my upper arms. “That’s what scares me, Zig. All the violence. Is this how it will always be?”
“No, ma’am. If it was, there wouldn’t be a brother wanting this patch. Not gonna lie and say shit doesn’t go down. It does. But the good times far outweigh the bad.”
“I’m glad.” I smile. “So, you and me? We good?”
“Yeah, darlin’, we’re good.” He grinds the butt of his smoke out and loops an arm around me, turning us back toward the door.
“Zig?” I stop us.
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t see what happened to Carson, did you?”
He looks over my shoulder toward the parking lot, then shakes his head. “You and me? We can’t talk about that, Shelby.”
I know in that moment it was him, defending his president, defending us both by taking out the threat. He doesn’t have to say it, and I understand why he and I can’t discuss it. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being there for him.”
His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “Come on, lady. Maybe they’ll let us all up to the room now.”
“All of us?”
“Hell, yeah. We’re a family, darlin’.”
“A family. I like that.”
“You know, after you and Rio got in the ambulance, people like Dolly and Pete, and a bunch of other townies… They gathered around. They saw what happened. Only this time they weren’t afraid to get involved and stand up for what’s right. That Fed dude? They told him. They literally pointed the finger at Carson.”
“Really? Well, that’s all because of Rio. He made them feel safe enough to come forward.”
“Yeah, I guess he did.”
“Maybe it’s all over now. Maybe things will be different in this town,” I whisper.
“Eduardo said his brother told him that the FBI had been doing a months-long investigation with an undercover agent. They’ve got the goods on the sheriff, the DA, several cops, and even the judge.”
“That’s good.”
“Yep.”
I stare at the stars, not worried about the town or what happened years ago. I only have one thing on my mind. “I almost lost him, Zig.”
He wraps an arm around me again, turning me toward the entrance. “Nah, our boy’s too tough. You ain’t gonna lose him, honey. I promise.”