Rush - Blue Devils MC Book 2 (Book 1 Included FREE for a short time only!) (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Hannah Blue

The crying was over. At least for now.

No, for sure. No more crying. None.

She wondered dully where Rush was. Of course she didn’t want to see him, but she still wanted to know if he was okay. Was he still out riding? Trying to escape the world? He’d been gone for hours. Maybe he was trying to figure out what to do with her. Maybe he was busy trying to figure out how to get her to leave already. He probably wanted his couch back. And his dog back.

Goddammit, now I sound like a country song.

Yesterday, all she’d wanted from him was for him to tell her that she was wrong, and then
prove
it. Show her how he hadn’t been a blind follower, agreeing to whatever asinine plan Lain had come up with. Show her how he’d had a backbone, a moral compass, an internal decision making process that didn’t involve just saying “Yes” to others.

But he hadn’t. He hadn’t fought back. He seemed to realize that she was right, for all the good that did either of them.

Never had she so badly wanted to be wrong. Wanted it with every fiber of her being.

With a sigh, she turned off the TV; channel 7 had long ago switched back to its regular programming, which seemed to include nothing but soap operas -
gag
- so leaving it on was just annoying background noise.

She needed to think. She needed to decide what to do. She couldn’t just wait for Isabel - for
all
of the students - to be found. That could be months from now.

Years.

Never.

She couldn’t just wallow in her grief on Rush’s couch until then. She had to apply for jobs. She had to update her resumé, although it seemed like “Getting shot and letting my students get kidnapped” was probably something she should leave off it. It would be smart to get a job somewhere far away because there was no way she’d have anonymity in the U.S. or Mexico.

What about Taiwan? They’re always looking for English teachers. And I liked that one vacation that I took there
.

And other than the fact that it was stupidly muggy and crowded and totally lacking in the Rush department, I could totally love it there!

Goddammit, she couldn’t seem to be able to lie, even to herself.

Slowly, her body aching with pain and grief and anger, she pushed herself off the welcoming cushions of the couch and into a standing position. It was time to go pack her shit and leave. She could go to Mexico, pack up her stuff in her apartment, and then…

Well, go to her dad’s house for the time being. Until she got that job in Taiwan.

Ugh.

The idea of working somewhere so green and lush and kill-me-now muggy made her slightly ill.

Well, there are a lot of countries in the world. You’ll just have to pick a different one.

She had visions of spinning the globe in her father’s office and stabbing her finger on a country.

It seemed just as logical as any other process.

“C’mon, Turbo,” she said, all enthusiasm and energy in her voice gone. “We…I should probably pack up before Rush gets home. He’ll want me out of his hair.”

A tear spilled over and trailed down her cheek.

Apparently, I can lie to myself about not crying anymore
.

She dashed the tear away with the back of her hand.

Okay, from here forward, really, no more crying. You’re not one to wallow around and feel sorry for yourself - don't start now.

She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine. She just had to survive packing her clothes and toiletries. One step at a time. She could face calling her father and telling him the truth after that. But first, she just had to—

The front door burst open.

“Blue!” Rush gasped, shoving his sweaty hair out of his face. “You have to come with me.”

She stood and stared at him in shock. He was bloodied - his arm had gravel and dirt mixed with blood trailing down it - and his shirt was soaked in sweat. His cut, his jeans, his shoes…all of them were covered in dust and filth.

“What the hell have you been doing??” she exclaimed, the words finally coming out and she just stared at him and blinked. Stupidly. Like an owl. But she couldn’t help herself.

“Not right now,” Rush said with a growl. “We have to go. I’ll tell you all about it when we get there.”

“There? Where’s there?”

But he was tugging on her arm, yanking her out of the front door, and he gave a sharp whistle to the three Blue Devils on duty. “Follow me!” he yelled at them as he dragged Hannah down the front sidewalk.

Which totally threw her for a loop. Rush
never
left the house unattended, even when she and Rush weren’t there. He wanted at least one person as a lookout, in case the
Chupas
showed up.

Unless…the
Chupas
were out of the picture somehow?

She quit fighting against his pull on her arm and instead began running down the sidewalk, skittering to a halt next to…a Harley? Not Rush’s Harley. Where was his bike? But he was swinging his leg over and hollering for her to move, so she slid on behind him and wrapped her arms around him, and Rush hit the gas, engine thrumming, roaring down the road. Her stomach tried to lodge itself in her throat when they took a corner at top speed, tires squealing. Taking a deep breath, Hannah closed her eyes and tucked her head against his back, figuring that watching the speedometer rise wouldn’t help the situation at all.

She would just have to trust Rush.

Just like he’d always trusted Lain.

She froze.

Did that make her a lapdog, just like she’d accused Rush of being?

The thought made her dizzy. She’d thought Rush had been such an idiot for just blindly trusting Lain, believing his advice to be right, and yet…hadn’t she always done the same thing with Rush? She relied on him to kill…slithery things for her and break her out of hospitals and fight off
Chupas
and drive breakneck speeds without killing them, but that hadn’t made her a lapdog. It had made her
happy
. Happy knowing that she could always trust Rush. She’d always been able to trust him.

Always.

She felt the pavement become uneven under the tires of the bike, breaking into her thoughts, and she clung even harder to Rush. He’d slowed down, but only a little, and as they dodged cracks and potholes in the pavement, she couldn’t help but wonder where the hell they were and where they were going. When she opened up her eyes enough to take a peek at the passing scenery, she saw saguaros whipping past, but not a building or power pole in sight. They had to be in the middle of Fuck Nowhere.

What if Isabel is here?

But no, she couldn’t allow herself to hope for that. Not yet. Not before she knew it was true. Because if it wasn’t, and her hopes were dashed
again
…she wasn’t sure she could live through that.

Finally, she felt Rush slow down some more and someone began shouting at them. As they came to a stop, Hannah sat up and pulled away from Rush’s sweaty back, the heat of the July sun pounding down on them. A cop was headed their way, and behind him…

Oh my God, half the free world.

There were reporters and police officers and ambulances and EMT personnel and a fire truck and Blue Devils and a lot…

A lot of little girls.

Hispanic little girls.

She threw herself off Rush’s bike and started running up the old, neglected road, hope welling up in her. She heard Rush and the cop’s voices rise as their argument got more heated but Hannah couldn’t pay attention to them. She couldn’t care. She had to find…

She had to know…

“Maestra Wright!” a student’s voice called out and then a chorus rung out from a dozen little girls, tired and terrified and hungry and hot and here was their teacher, someone they knew, and as one, they all threw themselves at her, wrapping their arms around any available body part they could reach. And she reached out and touched their heads reassuringly, lovingly, hugging them, but inwardly she was searching, looking, looking, looking…

Oh God, what if she didn’t make it? What if Isabel is dead? Oh God, oh God, please don’t let it be so…

It was then that she saw Isabel, off to the side, two paramedics working on her. One bandaging her, one…holding her down? Her eyes shot up to Isabel’s face and Isabel yelled, “Maestra Wright, they won’t let me go! Tell them to let me go!”

Hannah waded forward, students clinging to her but she’d somehow gained superhuman strength and she didn’t even notice them weighing her down. None of it mattered except to see Isabel Lara again. To look her over and make sure she was okay.

The paramedic who’d been attempting to bandage the wiggling Isabel finally cursed, threw his hands up, and walked away. Isabel took off like a shot and jumped -
threw
herself at Hannah and Hannah caught her and held her close and cried.

For the second time since the kidnapping, she bawled like a little baby.

“
Mi chiquita, mi chiquita
,” she said, stroking Isabel’s hair, cradling her against her chest, the nine year old wrapping her legs around Hannah’s waist like a monkey.

“I knew you would come for me!” Isabel said in rapid-fire Spanish. “The other girls started to think we would live forever in that cave but I knew. I knew you wouldn’t let us.”

Hannah pushed Isabel’s hair away from her face, tears making it hard to see, verifying that Isabel was okay through touch alone.

“It wasn’t actually me. I,” Hannah took a deep breath, trying to steady her voice, her nerves, “I had some help. From some very good friends of mine.”
If they’ll still have me. If they’ll still claim me.

If Rush will still love me…

As if conjured by her thoughts, she heard Rush’s deep voice behind her.

“You must be the infamous Isabel Lara,” he said, and reached his hand out to shake hers. Isabel screwed up her face and Hannah could tell she was trying to figure out what “infamous” meant. They’d covered a lot in English class, but Hannah hadn’t taught that word.

Hannah whispered in Spanish in her ear, “It means that he’s heard a lot about you,
mi chiquita
. From me. I missed you so much. But right now, you have to put out your hand and shake his.”

“Ohhhhh…” She stuck out her left hand past Hannah’s shoulder and Rush gripped it in a weird hand hold that he tried valiantly to act as if it were normal. As if that’s how everyone shook hands. Hannah hid her smile against Isabel’s shoulder.

The chorus of voices around her was growing quieter, and she looked up to see that the girls were being loaded up into several vans. A policewoman came over, holding her arms out for Isabel.

“We’re taking the girls to Social Services to hold until we can figure out the logistics of transporting them back down to Mexico and their parents,” the cop said, sliding her hands underneath Isabel’s armpits. Isabel just clamped down harder onto Hannah, reminding her less of a monkey and more of a barnacle. She was pretty sure that if Isabel could just melt right into Hannah, she’d do it.

“Isabel,
mi chiquita
, the nice lady needs you to go with her,” Hannah said softly into Isabel’s ear. Isabel shook her head violently.

“I don’t have parents!” she wailed in Spanish, clearly understanding at least that part of the cop’s words. “If they send me back down there, I have no place to go. The
Chupas
told us that Santa Maria’s shut down because they didn’t care about us anymore. They were happy to get rid of us so they could quit working so hard to be our teachers. Maestra Hannah, is it true? Did Santa Maria’s really close down?”

Tears were streaming down Isabel’s face, wetting Hannah’s shoulder. She shifted Isabel so she could look her straight in the eye.

“
Mi chiquita
, Santa Maria’s did shut down. But not because they were happy that they didn’t have to teach you anymore. It’s…a big mess when students get kidnapped. Did those mean
Chupacabras
tell you that you have become news all over the world?”

“Like on the radio?” Isabel asked, screwing up her face as she thought.

“Like on TV.” Hannah looked around for the reporters and found Rush busy trying to fend them off, with the help of a few cops.

The police officer in front of her chuffed out a breath. “Listen, lady, we have to get these kids into a hospital to be checked over, and then into a place for the night, with hot baths and food and water.”

And then Hannah did something she
never
did - she ignored the authority in the room. Or the area. Or whatever.

But the pleasant, polite, law-abiding, non-screaming Hannah Blue Wright had changed a lot in the last few weeks. And she was going to continue the transformation by fighting tooth and nail for the barnacle clinging to her.