Betrayed: Military MC Romance (Hell's Fire Riders Book 2) (10 page)

Chapter Eight

T
rudy sat in the corner petting Ivory. The quiet of the shed was almost refreshing for a moment. Dewey, Stone and Boomer were out walking the fence line at the moment. Amanda and Alea were throwing a load of laundry in at Stone’s house with McKenna. There wasn’t anyone else there and Trudy closed her eyes and relaxed. The past few days had run her ragged and she needed a moment to catch up.

When she heard footsteps coming toward her she smiled, thinking Dewey or Boomer had joined her. Then she felt Ivory tense and she growled low.

Fear jumped in and Trudy slowly opened her eyes. Swallowing hard, she saw her brother come into her line of sight. When he paused in front of her, Trudy stared at him for a moment. Then he saw the gun in his hand. “What the fuck do you want Ronnie?” she asked. “How the hell did you find me this time?”

Ronnie snorted and kicked at her. He caught her in the ribs and Ivory growled as Trudy groaned. “I told you bitch, I would find you and when I did, you would be turned over to the cartel. Well, that day is right now. Get up, but first tie that damn dog up. I don’t like being bit, not by a damn dog anyway, now a willing woman is always worth a bit of pain.”

Trudy sneered. “You always were a sick fuck.”

Ronnie kicked out again.

She doubled over as his foot caught her again in the ribs. After she got Ivory tied to the wall, Trudy got to her feet.

Ronnie stepped in closer and back handed her hard, striking her in the face, splitting her lips.

Blood sprayed on the floor and Trudy spit at him.

“Do you know how much trouble I’m in since your little stunt?” Ronnie yelled. “I’ve been worried as hell the cartel will run out of patience and just kill me!”

“Maybe you should just let them?” Trudy yelled back. “Then everyone would be happy.”

“They want their money back bitch and you are going to give it to them.” Ronnie hit her with his fist. Her head snapped back and she fell to the floor with a groan. “I hope they kill you slowly. I can’t wait to hear you scream. Even after they get their money back, they might just kill you,” he taunted her.

“How did you find me this time?” Trudy asked, hoping to delay their departure until someone came along to prevent Ronnie from taking her away from here.

“I found where you stashed Amanda and followed her here when that biker came for her earlier. I had to wait until you were alone to come and get you,” Ronnie boasted.

“Okay, you found me now, how are you going to get me out of here and manage to stay alive, butthead?’ Trudy taunted him. “There are guards posted outside and anyone might come in here anytime.”

“That’s why we’re leaving right now. With a gun at your head, they won’t bother our escape.”

“Are you just plain stupid or what?’ Trudy asked. “You just told me the cartel wanted their money back, if you hurt me they won’t hesitate to kill you. You will have cost them everything they’ve waited ten years for.”

Ronnie scoffed. “I don’t have to kill you. I can just shoot you in the leg or the shoulder, somewhere that won’t kill you.”

“I think all that dope you’ve done has fried your tiny brain.” Trudy shook her head. “You won’t make it out of here alive, shithead.”

Ronnie grabbed her braid and pulled her to him. “You’d better hope we do get out of here, bitch,” he whispered in her ear. “If it comes down to me or you, there ain’t no question, I will kill you. You’ve done nothing but mess up my life. I’m sick of it.” He threw her to the ground in front of him and stomped on her leg.

Trudy cried out in pain and Ivory started growling and barking. She pulled on the rope holding her to the wall.

Ronnie scooted away from the dog and leaned down to grab Trudy’s braid again. He dragged her along until she got to her feet. Then he wound her hair around his wrist and pulled her to her toes.

They stepped close to the door and Ronnie peeked out into the compound. He didn’t see anyone moving around. He hauled his sister close to him and whispered, “If you make any sound at all, I
will
shoot you.

Slowly, they began making their way across the foreyard of the compound toward the main gate. Trudy’s fought against the pain in her ribs and her leg, not to mention the grip Ronnie had on her hair. Her eyes darted along the fence line but she didn’t see anyone in the shadows. For a moment, she fought against the fact Ronnie might just pull this off. He might just be able to get her away from the men who vowed to protect her.

Suddenly, all the lights shining down around the shop blinked off. The darkness was complete and Ronnie dragged her closer to him. “What the fuck is going on here?” he grumbled in her ear.

Trudy didn’t say anything for a moment, then Ronnie pulled her hair even tighter. She hissed in pain. “I think they know you came here looking for me.”

“They won’t stop me,” Ronnie whined. “They won’t risk your life.”

Trudy snorted. “You won’t know what hit you until it’s too late. Do you even know who you’re up against, asshole?”

“I know I have cartel waiting just beyond the fence,” Ronnie bragged. “They will protect me against anyone in here.”

“If you turn me over to the cartel, they won’t need you anymore. If these guys don’t kill you, the cartel will.” She sneered. “Either way, you’re still dead. What would Daddy say then?”

“He’ll still blame you.” Ronnie scoffed. “You are the family fuck up, not me.”

“Oh, I think you’ve proved that isn’t necessarily so.” Dewey’s voice came from behind Ronnie.

Ronnie jumped when he felt a gun shoved into the back of his head. “You have two seconds to let your sister go before I blow a hole in your head.”

“I can’t do that,” Ronnie whined.

“He has cartel guys waiting for him beyond the fence,” Trudy told him.

“Well now, I think they’ll be waiting for a long time.” Dewey chuckled. “That is if they aren’t dead already. My boys like to watch both sides of the fence. Just in case something like this happens.” He paused then jabbed the gun into Ronnie’s head again. “Put the fuckin gun down and give yourself up. I
will
kill you.”

“What makes you think I won’t pull the trigger? I can kill Tremaine before you kill me,” Ronnie boasted.

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll do that,” Dewey hissed in Ronnie’s ear. “By now, my men have the cartel men either dead or unconscious. This is on you and you alone. I’m told you’re quite the coward, looking for anyway to keep on living. If you kill your sister, I’ll make damn sure you don’t live very much longer at all.”

Ronnie swallowed hard as his fingers trembled. He hated the fact he was weak. He tried not to show it but he hated it all the same. The drugs were the only thing that could make him feel strong, but he hadn’t had anything for some time now and he needed a fix. “I’ll live if I let her go?” he asked the man behind him.

“You’ll live but you’ll be my prisoner until this is over,” Dewey promised.

Ronnie tightened his grip on his sister then suddenly pushed her away from him. He held the gun up and allowed Dewey to take it. He then grabbed the back of his head with both hands and surrendered to the other man.

“Lights!” Dewey yelled.

When the lights came back on, Stone moved over and helped Trudy to her feet.

Trudy hobbled over to Ronnie and kicked him in the balls. He screamed and fell to the ground. “You fuckin bastard. You miserable fucking bastard!” she yelled as she kept kicking him.

Dewey grabbed her and hauled her a few steps away.

Stone cuffed Ronnie and then he and Boomer hauled the injured man into the shop.

Trudy watched from the safety of Dewey’s arms as her brother was led away. Then she looked at Dewey.

He growled when he saw the blood and bruises on her face from where Ronnie had hit her. “That little cock sucker.”

“I’m fine.” She told him as she laid her head on his chest. “He didn’t hurt me too bad, this time.” She tried to suck in a deep breath but winced when her ribs protested the action.

Dewey noticed and laid a hand on her ribs. Trudy grunted in pain and Dewey lifted her shirt to see more bruises on her ribs. “Where else did he hurt you?” he snarled.

“He just kicked me a few times and stomped on my leg. It’s just bruises. He didn’t break anything.”

“Tremaine.” She heard her sister call her name. Amanda came running toward her. “Are you okay?”

The others came into the light as well. Alea and McKenna gathered around her.

Trudy nodded then hugged her sister. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. Ronnie found us again.”

“He did this to you?” Amanda asked. “What the hell is wrong with him?”

“He brought the cartel guys with him again,” Trudy informed them. “He said they were waiting on the other side of the fence.”

“They aren’t waiting anymore, baby girl,” Sniper called out. “They’re dead. All four of them.”

Trudy shuddered. “God, will they ever give up?”

“Probably not,” Stone told her as he and Boomer joined the group. “You still have their money. They want it back. They also want the gift you have with computers. With that, they figure they can rule the world from the safety of their own homes. They would be able to hack anything they wanted, even our own government.”

“They would have to kill me before I’d do something like that.” She shook her head.

“Maybe if they took you alone,” Boomer said out loud. “But if they got their hands on your sister, they could force you to work for them. They know you would do what they wanted in return for her protection.”

Trudy growled. She turned and marched into the shop. Gazing around, she saw her brother tied up to the wall in the corner of the room. Ivory was sitting just out of his reach growling at him, daring him to move. Trudy marched over to him and raising her leg, she kicked out at him.

Ronnie screamed and people came rushing into the room.

“You fuckin coward!” Trudy screamed at him. “All this is your fault.” She kicked him again. “The god damn cartel wouldn’t know anything about me, if it weren’t for you.” She kicked him a third time.

Ronnie was curled into a ball at this point. Whimpering as Trudy laid down the law.

“You put us all in danger, you bastard.”

Dewey grabbed her and hauled her away from her brother before she could let lose another blow. “Honey, you can’t kick a man when he’s down. That’s just not sporting. Behave yourself. Ronnie isn’t going anywhere.”

Trudy struggled with him for another moment then stopped. Looking up at him, she glared her disapproval. After a moment, she turned back to her brother and spit on him. “You are a bastard and one day, I hope it all catches up to you. I hope you pay the price for every dirty thing you’ve ever done.”

Dewey passed her over to Boomer who pulled her away from her brother.

Stone came over and spoke quietly to the other man, “I think we need to move this operation to the safe room. If the brother found us, so can the cartel. We don’t have time for this shit right now, not with everything we got going on.”

Dewey agreed. “Yeah, I know. Fuck a duck, between the cartel and good ole Terik, I don’t know which is worse.”

Stone agreed. “Yup, six of one, half a dozen of the other. But we have bodies to protect and we can’t do it here out in the open. Have everyone grab something and haul it down stairs. We leave nothing up here that could give the game away. If Terik comes here, I don’t want him to know where we are. If the cartel comes back, we won’t be here.”

Dewey nodded. “We’ve got security cameras down there that will keep us in the loop as to what’s going on up here.” He turned to Ronnie. “What the hell do we do with him?”

“Keep him as far away from Trudy and Amanda as possible.” Stone grinned. “I’d hate for them to hurt themselves any more than necessary.” Glancing over at Trudy he asked, “Is she okay?”

Dewey nodded following his line of vision. “He kicked her in the ribs a few times and stomped on her leg but she says he didn’t break anything this time.”

Stone snapped his head around to glare at Dewey. “What did she mean this time?”

“I don’t know but I mean to find out.” Dewey growled. Turning to the man tied in the corner, he marched over to where Ronnie lay. Grabbing his hair, he raised his head to glare at him. “What did your sister mean when she said you didn’t break anything this time?”