Page 40 of Kade

“I really don’t want to get into a gunfight here.” Kade checked his weapon, noticing how pale Angel was. He knew she despised guns. It was a bone of contention between them from the moment they’d met. She’d always nagged Peter about his, and then Kade when he became a permanent fixture in both their lives. She’d told him she’d give up stripping when he got rid of his guns right after they’d gotten engaged. Wasn’t happening then and sure as hell wasn’t happening now.

“Yeah, too many kids who can get caught in the crossfire.” Conner kicked down on the gas, and Kade and Angel were thrown back at the sudden burst of speed.

“Hey!” Kade shot his brother an angry look, while trying to keep Angel from face-planting against the seat in front of her.

“Sorry, we need to go. There’s five.” Conner leaned forward, and the car went faster.

Kade barked at Angel to put on her seatbelt while he got ready in case gunfire erupted. This was one of KS&I’s SUVs, which meant the windows were bulletproof, but that meant shit if their tires got blown.

The sound of motors revving reached him. The cartel’s cars were older models, muscle cars meant for racing. He didn’t know as much about cars as Nik did, but he’d seen enough of his brother’s racing cars to recognize what the ones behind them were. They could outrun this SUV in a heartbeat. He’d need to look into finding ways to make these things faster.

“We’re not going to outrun them.”

“I fucking know that!” Conner spat. “Let me think.”

He twisted the car at the end of the block, barely missing the Mustang that came around the corner the same time he did. Fuckers. Kade looked back to see all five cars following them. How the fuck were they going to get out of this one?

Damn, he was a stupid fucker. He called Jeremy Bradford, the FBI agent waiting for him at the police department.

“Bradford.”

“Jeremy, we have five cars on our tail. They followed us from the airport.”

“Location?”

Kade looked around and spotted a street sign. “We just turned onto Northwest 20th, heading to Perimeter Road.”

“Stay on that heading and I’ll have cruisers intercept you.” The phone disconnected, and Kade tossed it at Angel.

“Backup is on the way. Stay straight until you get to the turnoff for Perimeter.”

“Gotcha.”

Kade noticed the cars behind slowed just a fraction. Conner must have noticed it as well, because his grip on the steering wheel should have broken it in two.

“They might have a listening device.” Conner didn’t let up on the gas.

“They can’t have bugged the car.” Kade craned his head to watch the vehicles behind them. “Unless they followed you down here.”

“That’s possible, but they don’t have to have bugged the car. There are devices that will allow you to listen from a certain distance away. They magnify voices.” Conner turned on the stereo and maxed out the volume. “You should know this,brat. You’re in private security.”

Fucker would have to point out a shortcoming, wouldn’t he? The brothers were notorious for that, though, so Kade didn’t hold it against him. Truthfully, he should have known. Just one more thing to get up to speed on.

Bullets rang out of nowhere, hitting the glass and sounding like a hail storm. Angel yelped, but didn’t scream, much to Kade’s relief. He had no time to calm her down between trying to find a good angle to shoot from and tune out Conner’s cursing and the blare of the music. He needed to focus.

He rolled down his window just enough to get the muzzle of the gun out and aim at any car that rolled up beside them. He didn’t have to wait long. The old yellow Mustang appeared in his line of sight first. Kade ignored the driver and aimed at the wheels. Two shots, and the tire blew, spinning the Mustang out of control. One down, four to go.

The roar of another engine muffled the sound of shattering glass. An old model Dodge pulled alongside them and got off a shot before Kade could. The glass held, and he aimed at the guy hanging out of the passenger window. Three short shots, and he smiled tightly when the fucker dropped his gun on the pavement. Kade prided himself on his aim. He practiced daily.

He hit the car’s back wheel on the first shot. This driver must have been expecting it because he controlled the spin and kept the car alongside them. The gunman had a new gun in his hand, which was dripping blood. He took his cues from Kade and shot at their wheels.

Conner was zigzagging now, probably having seen what was happening through his side mirror. His brother was quick on his feet and stomped the brakes, letting the Dodge get in front of them. He then rammed the car and drove it into the clump of trees on the edge of the street. Whipping the car around, he shot forward on the connecting street that led to Perimeter.

“Where the fuck did you learn to drive?” Kade hissed when his head bounced against the window. That was going to hurt later.

“Afghanistan.”

Police sirens sounded, but Conner made no move to slow down. He just put his foot on the gas and sped up. Kade didn’t blame him. There were still three cars following them, albeit a little more cautiously. Conner never stopped when they met the four police cruisers that converged on them. He just kept driving, listening to Angel’s directions.

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