Page 63 of Cassie
She stared at the text.Come on in.
Phone back in her pocket, she punched the bike into gear, took in a deep breath before she eased off the brake, and rolled closer to the house.
A man stood on the porch as if to greet her. He was Hispanic and tall, his skin and hair dark with evidence of his heritage.That explains the accent. Without rushing, keeping Hoss’ lesson in the forefront of her mind, she rolled the bike forwards, then pushed backwards to park with the front wheel aimed back up the driveway. The bulk of the device in her other front pocket was reassuring as she unmounted from the bike, and Cassie held her head high as she turned to look at the man.
He stared at her a moment, then something crossed his expression, his lips twisting in what looked like anger. “You, for her.”
Faith’s screams sounded in her mind, and Cassie didn’t hesitate when she replied. “Yes.” She didn’t offer threats of reprisal, of revenge. For all she knew, Hoss wouldn’t bother, not after their fight and his silence. But she couldn’t let him go through losing someone he loved again. Not after he’d talked to her about Hope. How he’d never stopped loving her. If something happened to his daughter, the child he shared with Hope, he would be devastated.I can’t let that happen to him. “Let her go, and I’ll stay.”
“Bedlam,” he called over his shoulder, and the door behind him opened a few inches. “We have her.” A man’s head poked through the gap, the smile on his face poisonous when his gaze landed on her. “Bring the girl.”
“No.” The door opened wider, and Bedlam strolled out. “We keep ’em both. Gonna be war one way or the other. She’s good collateral, man. We need to keep power tilted in our favor, keep all the leverage we can get our hands on. That’s the way of war. We keep ’em both.”
The first man squared up with Bedlam, giving Cassie his back in a move that she didn’t understand.Shouldn’t he keep me in sight or something?“I said, bring the girl.” Enunciating carefully, he repeated his words from before, following with a menacing “Now,” as he leaned forwards at the hips.
“No,mi compadre. I think not.” Bedlam sneered and pushed his shoulders back, puffing up his chest.He’s crazy. This man was named appropriately, and Cassie’s blood ran cold as he again defied the first man. “Not today. Not right now. Not ever, I think.”
“Then you should not think.” She saw the man’s shoulders shift, muscles rippling under the shirt covering his back. There was a holster with a gun on his hip, and she saw the outline of another gun at the small of his back. He held his arms out slightly, as if to facilitate a faster draw. “Take yourself back inside, now. And bring me the girl.” His fingers twitched, and Bedlam looked down, then back up at the man’s face. “Unharmed.”
“Enzo,” Bedlam sneered the name, and Cassie jolted because hatred was clear in his tone. “You ain’t the boss man here.”
“Neither are you.” There was a brief pause, then he finished with, “Friend.” His tone mocked Bedlam’s.
“Then we wait for my prez. Cut and dried, plain and simple. You ain’t the shot caller.” Bedlam moved back to the doorway, the edge of danger that had been so oppressive easing off by millimeters. “Bring the bitch inside.”
Enzo turned, and stared at her then he gestured with one hand. “Cassie. It seems we are stalemated. Itisyour life for hers, and you should know that before you come inside.”
Cassie took a step forwards, then another, and head high, she told him, “I still say yes.”
***
Garrett
“Oh, shit, Dad.” He lay belly-down in the field within shouting distance of the house and had overheard every word of the exchange that just happened. “Did you hear? Cassie’s here.”
“Yeah, boy. Gimme a minute here. Don’t move yet.” Mason’s voice was dark and filled with anger and gravel, rage overtopping whatever barrier had been holding it back up to now. “Myron, if we roll now, how fast can we get there?”
“Minimum two hours, Mason. As soon as we knew what was going on, I checked with the clubhouse closer than we are here, and they headed out then. It’s still at least thirty before they get there in force. At least thirty minutes, Mason. A lot can happen—”
Silence fell abruptly and the quality of the call had changed enough for a telltale.
“Don’t mute me,” Garrett whisper-shouted into the phone and the tone changed back. “Dammit, Dad. I’m here now.Now. And they’ve got both Faynez and Cassie. We can’t let them get hurt.” His mouth flooded with bitter bile and he spat, trying to clear the taste. “Ican’t let them get hurt. You’ve told me for years that our job is to take care of those more vulnerable than we are. Well, I’m not vulnerable. I’ve got a gun, and a knife, and I know how to fight. You and Chase saw to that.” They had, too, Chase taking it on himself to pass along the lessons Slate and other RWMC members had taught him. “I’m not waiting any longer.”
Shouted words overlapped and he picked out the voices of Tug, Hoss, and Myron, but his father was silent. He gave them a minute to them sort themselves out, and then once he was certain his father could hear him, Garrett told him again. “I’m not waiting.”
“Don’t hesitate.” Strength and trust flowed into him through the connection they shared. Emotion thick in his voice, Garrett’s father gave him orders he heard and committed to memory, knowing this was a defining moment in their relationship. Before this moment, and after, they would forever remember it as a turning point. “You go in, and you don’t hesitate. Check your loads, know what you’ve got to use. Then when you see someone, you plug ’em.” There was a pause and Garrett slowly closed his eyes, understanding the struggle inside his father right now. “Gar-boy, if you hesitate, if you falter, you’ll fail. There are too many men in there for you to give an inch, son. Those women are depending on you. You love Faith, yeah?”
Garrett nodded as he forced out a quiet, “Yeah.” He opened his eyes as he took in a deep breath, then admitted in a stronger voice, “I love her, Dad.”
“Then bring her home, son. You go in there, get her, and bring her out. Bring her home. Bring them both home.”
