Fat Louise

  “I’m starving,” Bailey complained.

  Jane sat down, hugging her knees, feeling her sister’s glare on her as she complained. She tugged her backpack closer and unzipped it to take out the last candy bar. Tearing it in half, she gave a piece to Bailey, and then tore the other part in half again, giving that piece to Cade.

  “No thanks, I’m good. You eat it.” While Cade gave her a hard stare, refusing to take it, Jane returned the stare, continuing to hold the candy out until Cade gave in, taking it from her.

  “We don’t have too much farther to go. We’ll be crossing the border at Hidalgo, Texas, but it won’t be safe to stay there, since the same criminals do business on both sides of the border. When we get to Corpus, I’ll buy you both a steak,” Cade promised, taking a seat closer to the opening.

  “Let me have your backpack, Jane.” Bailey rudely held out her hand.

  Jane lifted her head. “Why?”

  “I want to use it as a pillow,” she snapped, taking it without so much as a thanks when Jane handed it to her.

  Cade frowned, opening his mouth then closing it, and Jane wondered what he had been about to say.

  While she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible, Cade straightened out his legs. Reaching out, he curled his hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her down until her head rested on his thighs. She lay stiffly, unable to relax with Bailey’s eyes spitting fire. Jane closed her own to shut her anger out. Cade’s comforting hand didn’t move away; instead, he gently stroked her neck until she fell asleep.

  It seemed like only a few minutes before she was being shaken awake.

  “Is it time to leave already?” she asked drowsily.

  “Yes, I want to get started,” Cade answered.

  They crawled out of the crevice.

  “What time is it?” Jane asked, staring at the large expanse of land around them.

  “Around noon.”

  They walked for a while before Jane realized she had left her backpack behind.

  “Forget it. We don’t need it,” Bailey said.

  Jane looked at Cade in question. “It’s too far to go back for it now. Hopefully, we won’t need it.”

  Jane nodded unhappily. There wasn’t much left in the bag. Besides, the contents weren’t important to anyone other than her, although it was handy to have when she wanted to stash something.

  “We’re getting closer to the border. They’ll probably have people stationed at a few of the crossing, watching for us,” Cade warned.

  They passed several small villages on their way. The curious looks from the town people heightened Jane’s fears that they would be stopped.

  Bailey quieted, the tension finally succeeding in silencing her.

  “Let’s stop here while we still have a little cover. As soon as the sun goes down, we’re going to reach the border,” Cade informed, telling both women without words that they were entering dangerous territory.

  Jane nervously ran her hands along the sides of her pants.

  “You don’t think Raul would really hurt us, do you?” Bailey asked when Cade went to scout ahead.

  Jane remained silent, not wanting to lie.

  “Why would he hurt us when he can get money out of Dad?”

  Jane couldn’t keep the contempt out of her eyes at Bailey’s unconcern for their father being extorted by her husband.

  “Don’t look at me that way!” sneered Bailey. “You’re no goody two shoes. You hang out with bikers and trash.”

  “Don’t talk about my friends that way,” Jane warned in a low voice.

  “It’s true. Hell, you’re nothing but their little ass kisser. Anytime they need something done that none of them want to do, they just get you to do it.”

  “It’s not true, and you know it for a fact.” Jane leaned forward so Bailey couldn’t mistake her meaning. “You don’t like them because they know you’re a fucking bitch. You’re afraid of Sex Piston, Killyama, T.A., and Crazy Bitch.”

  “I am not.”

  “Yes, you are, and we both know why.” Jane had dealt with enough.

  Standing up, she walked away to put a few feet between her and her sister. She walked farther than she realized and stared around in dismay, not seeing Bailey or Cade. She spun in a circle, not spotting anything she recognized, and began to panic. She was totally confused as to which direction she had come from.

  While her instincts screamed at her to keep moving, calm reasoning kicked in, and she stood still, hoping the soldiers didn’t find her before Cade.

  She didn’t see him until he was almost on her.

  “What in the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “I’m sorry. I got lost.”

  His hands reached out, grabbing her arms. “You’re lucky I don’t pull those pants down and smack that ass.”

  “I’m sorry,” she repeated with tears brimming in her eyes.

  “Stop crying!” Cade said heartlessly. His face was a mask of harsh recrimination. “Are you trying to get us all killed? Were you trying to get my attention?”

  “No!” Jane was aghast at his interpretation of what had happened.

  “Well, you have all my attention now, so what are you going to do with it?” he went on, ignoring her denial.

  “What?”

  Cade jerked her to his chest, his mouth cruelly covering her trembling one. She tried to turn her head, but his hand went to her jaw, holding her in place.

  “You wanted to kiss me again, didn’t you?” he gibed.

  He covered her mouth again before she could deny his accusation, trying to part her lips with his tongue. Jane refused to let him deepen the kiss, but Cade wasn’t a man who took denial easily.

  “Open your mouth.”

  Jane tightened her lips, giving a whimper as his knuckles brushed against her nipples. With a gasp of shock, her lips finally parted, and his tongue claimed her mouth, discovering the sweet interior without caring, seeking to humiliate her. Jane managed to put her hands on his chest, thrusting herself away from him.

  “You bastard.”

  “That’s right. I am. And I’m fed up with you two. Both of you need to quit worrying about who’s going to get inside my pants instead of getting our asses out of here alive!”

  “Bailey can have your damn dick. I don’t want it.”

  “Oh, you want it, Jane. Don’t lie.” His eyes traveled insultingly over her body. “I don’t even mind taking both of you up on your invitations, but you’ll have to wait until we’re in a hotel where I don’t have to worry about being sneaked up on by drug runners while taking a piece of pussy.”

  Jane could only look at him with wounded eyes at his sarcasm. She refused to deny his accusations any further.

  “Which way back?”

  When Cade pointed to the direction over her shoulder with a mocking twist to his lips, Jane pivoted on her blistered feet and began walking. She didn’t say a word to him, dismayed at how long it took her to walk back to a furious Bailey who was waiting for her return.

  “Could you be any more childish?”

  “Forget it. Let’s get going,” Cade interrupted Bailey’s coming storm.

  The three took off. Jane was already tired from her impetuous walk, and Cade hadn’t given her time to rest. He pushed them toward the border with no consideration that both women were tired and hungry.

  “Fuck.” As Cade came to a stop, Jane barreled into him from behind.

  “What?” she asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

  “We have a welcoming committee.”

  Chapter 13

  The three of them stared at the mass of people trying to get through the border. Well before that were several men in Jeeps who were looking through the crowds as they passed.

  “They’re searching for us,” Jane stated.

  “No shit.” Cade ran a hand through his hair.

  “What are we going to do?” Bailey questioned.

  “Won’t the soldiers on the other side help?” Jane aske
d.

  “No.” His answer dashed any hope she had that there would be an intervention to save their lives. “We’re going to have to find a place in town where we can stay until we can—”

  “I want to go home,” Bailey whined. “I didn’t want to be here in the first place. If the soldiers see us trying to get through, they’ll help. They won’t watch us die.”

  “Yes, they will,” Cade told her. “It’s not safe for us to stay in Reynosa.”

  Jane knew she was in trouble from his words, beginning to feel sick. She tried to think of what to do next when Bailey took off running, finally having reached her breaking point at Cade’s words.

  “Bailey!” Jane yelled, trying to stop her, which wasn’t the smartest move.

  One of the soldiers pointed in their direction as Jane ran after Bailey, trying to catch her, but the woman had received a burst of energy from God knew where and was covering the ground with remarkable speed.

  Cade ran past her, taking Jane’s hand. “It’s too late. They’ve spotted us. We have to make a run for it.”

  While Cade pulled her along after him, she almost tripped and fell several times. If he hadn’t been holding her hand, she would have.

  The soldiers had just started their Jeeps, intending to cut them off, when Jane heard a shout. At first she thought it was Bailey yet then realized the sound was coming from the edge of the crowd.

  A woman separated herself from a large group that had entered Mexico.

  “Killyama!” Jane screamed in excitement and terror that her friend had just placed herself in danger. Three men came to flank Killyama as they all ran toward Jane, Cade, and Bailey. The soldiers were going to reach them first, though.

  They all pointed their guns at them, and Jane waited for the pain of the bullets to hit her. Instead, what she felt was a sudden gust of wind that nearly sent her flying. A large helicopter appeared, dropping down to block the Jeeps.

  “Get in!” yelled Rider.

  Shots rang out as the soldiers began firing at the helicopter. Guns appeared from the inside, and the enemy fire was returned with deadly accuracy.

  After Bailey threw herself into the helicopter, Jane felt herself lifted by Cade and flung inside with his body covering hers.

  Jane stared as Rider, Viper, and Shade shot rifles out of the opening of the helicopter. She felt others climbing in then recognized Killyama’s voice.

  “Go! Go!”

  The helicopter lifted off with Train at the controls and Cash next to him.

  Cade didn’t lift his body off hers until the sounds of bullets were a distance away. As soon as his body moved to the side, she found her friend staring at her grimly.

  Jane threw herself into Killyama’s arms, bursting into relieved tears. All the terror she had suppressed since she had made the decision to save Bailey was now released in the safety of her friend’s arms.

  Killyama’s arms tightened around Jane. Her usually frigid demeanor didn’t soften as she held her, but her tight hug showed she cared.

  “I’m going to beat the shit out of you for this. You know that, don’t you?” Her harsh statement wasn’t effectively delivered with the choked voice she tried to clear.

  Jane nodded against her shoulder. “I deserve it,” Jane hiccupped, trying to gather her control, feeling silly with The Last Riders and Cade silently watching.

  Killyama pushed her back a few inches, staring into her eyes. “You okay?” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a protein bar and handing it to her.

  “I am now.” Jane grinned back.

  “Sex Piston is going to be furious when she sees your hair.”

  Jane self-consciously brushed her hair back from her face that was dirty and probably sticking out in all directions. “She can fix it.”

  Her eyes went to Cade and Killyama’s followed.

  “He the one your dad sent in after you?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “He wasn’t doing a great job, was he?” she sneered.

  Cade stiffened. “I was doing fine until Bailey took off like a bat out of hell.”

  Bailey flushed yet defended herself. “It worked out fine, didn’t it? We’re all safe now.”

  “No thanks to you,” snorted Killyama.

  Bailey threw her a dirty look, which Killyama returned with one of her own.

  It was twenty minutes later before they set the helicopter down on the roof of a hotel.

  “Everybody out. I have to get this baby back before someone notices it missing,” Train yelled over the loud noise.

  Cade jumped out first to help the women out. Bailey took her time, clinging to Cade much longer than necessary. Next was Jane, who felt a spark of electricity as his hands circled her waist when he lifted her to the ground. Killyama moved next to her, not wanting help to exit.

  “Killyama!” Jane and her friend both turned around at Train’s yell.

  “Remember our deal. I’ll be calling it in soon.”

  “Deal with this!” Killyama shouted above the roar of the blades, making an obscene gesture before jumping out of the helicopter.

  Jane noticed the wary look on her friend’s face as they waited for the helicopter to take off with The Last Riders inside.

  “How did you get them to help?” Jane asked, watching them fly away, no doubt heading straight home to Kentucky as soon as they dropped off the helicopter.

  “You don’t want to know. Put it this way, you owe me one, bitch.”

  “I already knew that.” Jane smiled at her friend.

  The four went down a flight of stairs before finding an elevator.

  “Your dad is here. He’s booked several rooms for us to stay in until we can get a flight out.”

  The elevator reached their floor, and Killyama led them to a suite. When the door opened, Bailey broke away from them, running to their father who stood up from a chair.

  “Bailey!” Her father embraced Bailey with tears in his eyes. “My baby.”

  Jane stood by, feeling like a third wheel. After several minutes, he turned with his arm around Bailey.

  “Jane.” He held out his free arm to her. Jane stepped forward, letting her father embrace her for a moment before stepping away.

  “Are you two all right?” he asked, gazing down at Bailey.

  “I’m fine. Jane is, too,” Bailey answered. “What I need is some food and something cold to drink.”

  He laughed. “I’ll order it now. What would you like?”

  Bailey gave her father a large order, which he relayed to room service.

  “Jane?”

  “Anything is fine, but I’ll take a hamburger if they have it.”

  “Cade?”

  “I’ll grab something later. What I want is a shower and a bed.”

  “Of course.” Her father finished their order before hanging up the phone, and then he went to a side table, handing Cade a card key to his own room. “Thanks, Cade.”

  Cade nodded before turning to leave without saying a word of goodbye.

  Jane swallowed back the lump in her throat.

  “Wait, Cade. Don’t forget you promised me dinner when we got back,” Bailey stopped him.

  “I remember. I’ll meet you downstairs tonight at eight,” he said, going out the door.

  She felt the silent scrutiny of Killyama as Bailey gave a bright smile to their father.

  “I think I’ll grab a quick shower while we wait for the food,” Jane said, wanting to escape from her friend’s watchful gaze.

  “Certainly.” Her father pointed to a doorway. “You can take that one. Bailey, the one next to it.”

  The women separated. Jane went into the bedroom, aware that Killyama was following on her heels.

  “I packed you a bag,” Killyama said, throwing herself down on the bed.

  “Thanks for everything.” Jane shut the bedroom door.

  “You’re welcome, but you’re still not out of trouble with me.”

  “I know.” Jane grimaced in dread as s
he opened the suitcase. She pulled out a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and knee-high, black leather boots. Killyama had picked the clothes she usually wore around her friends, not the more conservative ones she wore around her father and work.

  She showered then changed as Killyama took her turn in the shower.

  As Killyama was getting dressed, she stared at her intently.

  “What?” Jane asked.

  “Nothing.” Her friend shrugged, putting on her boots. “Cade’s a good-looking man.”

  “Yes, he is,” Jane acknowledged.

  “You fuck him?”

  Her bluntness didn’t startle Jane. “No, he’s a mean person.” Jane licked her dry lips. “Besides, Bailey has her eyes on him.”

  “So what?”

  “You know what Bailey’s like when she wants something.”

  “She been up to her old tricks?”

  “No, she’s too scared of you and the rest of the girls to be too nasty to me.”

  Killyama relaxed her fighting stance. “So, what’s the problem, then? You have the same equipment she has.”

  “I haven’t decided if I want him yet.”

  “Well, you better make your mind up,” she said matter-of-factly. “We’re going home tomorrow, and I’m willing to bet Bailey won’t be sitting around, trying to make up her mind.”

  “I’ll think fast.” Jane grinned.

  “Think about what? Fuck him then make up your mind. He might fuck like a steer instead of a bull,” Killyama warned.

  Jane laughed. “Is that what happened between you and Train?”

  Killyama gave a wicked grin. “Hell no. I thought I had myself a steer; instead, I had a mother fuckin’ bull.”

  Chapter 14

  The meal with her father and Bailey was a disaster. She blamed their father for overreacting about Raul, telling him she had been perfectly safe, that it was only when Jane had shown up that the situation had become dangerous.

  Jane didn’t try to defend herself, though she did roll her eyes several times. Jane had, however, reminded Bailey that she had witnessed Raul raping a woman and that the mark on her face was from him slapping her.

  “It was an extenuating circumstance,” she said, brushing over the incident of her abuse, not mentioning the attack on the other woman.