Fat Louise (13 page)

“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 asked.
 

“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 she 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.
 

Her father sat in his chair, listening. “Well, thank God it’s over. I’ll call a lawyer first thing in the morning to see about getting the divorce started. You need to change the information on your accounts and block Raul from trying to get his hands on your money.”
 

“I’ll take care of it,” Bailey promised.
 

“Immediately,” their father told her with a hard glint in his eyes which Jane had never seen before when he was talking to his youngest daughter.
 

“I said I would,” Bailey soothed in the little girl voice she always used to twist him around her little finger. Predictably, her father was pacified.
 

Bailey placed her napkin on the table, standing up. “I’m going to take a nap before I meet Cade for dinner.”
 

“Both of us are meeting him for dinner,” Jane told her firmly. “He offered to take both of us out.”
 

Bailey gave a quick nod, belaying the angry glare she wanted to throw across the room at
her.
 

“Cade isn’t the type of man either one of you should be having dinner with.”