BILLIONAIRE BIKERS: 3 MC Romance Books (58 page)

Audra leaned against a shelf full of used books in a general store in Railroad Flat. She was deep into a Nora Roberts romance. Romance had never interested her in the slightest before now, but all it had taken was thumbing through the Nora Roberts book to hook her.

She saw that it was a trilogy, but perusing the shelves, she had seen none of the others, so she was determined to find the rest in e-book form when she had a chance to get a new e-reader—whenever that would be.

Lucas was still sitting at their table, plotting something in a notebook. When he felt their position at the cabin had been compromised, he had gotten rid of all devices—except for her Kindle since he could disable the wifi. Good old-fashioned pen and paper were always reliable.

She was surprised she wasn’t curled up on the floor, sound asleep. She and Lucas had left the cabin before dawn, trudged ten miles cross-country, and then took the bus to Railroad Flat. Now that they had fortified themselves with burgers and fries, they were waiting for Jerry, Lucas’s Army buddy, who was coming from Lake Tahoe to pick them up.

Burgers and fries. After a week of MREs, she had readily wolfed down the all-American meal. She just hoped it didn’t wreak havoc with her stomach. She had no idea what would happen next. She noted that Lucas had packed as much of the tinned food supplies as he thought feasible for them to carry, so she had an inkling they weren’t going to be staying in hotels and eating at restaurants.

She studied Lucas, as he gazed across the room, musing. There was always a dangerous look in his eyes, and he always looked completely self-possessed. He had eyes that saw everything, yet there was always a distant sorrow in them. After what Brighton had told her, it was no wonder.

She wanted so badly to hear that story, to know where all that conflict within him lay. She wanted to touch him, to tell him that everything would be all right. However, those were just words. The kind of words that had been said to her after her grandmother and uncle had been frightened, literally to death, by the cartel. But things weren’t alright and wouldn’t be alright for a long time…for either of them.

The door to the general store opened, and a tall bearded man entered and started toward Lucas.

“Hey, hey, L.J.,” he said.

Lucas stood, and they shook hands—although there was this odd tension, as if they would really have rather thrown their arms around each other. She stood and watched, sensing that perhaps she should give them a few minutes to talk before she intruded. Lucas would likely be filling him on some portion of the situation.

She saw Jerry—she assumed it was Jerry—nod his head several times as Lucas spoke low and conspiratorially. At last, Lucas looked toward her and motioned her over. Jerry seemed surprised when she emerged from the book stacks, realizing she had been there all along.

“This is my charge,” Lucas said. She noticed that he refrained from using her name or Jerry’s.

Both men stood. Jerry nodded toward her, and Lucas gathered their things.

“Are you taking the book?”

“Can I?” she asked.

Jerry took it from her and paid for it at the counter along with their food. Then, he headed out to the parking lot. Lucas handed her one of the duffels, which she slung on her back as he had shown her, and they followed Jerry out.

Lucas cautiously eyed the big green Jeep Grand Cherokee.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” Jerry said. “It’s not registered to me.”

Lucas nodded. Jerry climbed into the driver’s seat, and Lucas clambered in back with Audra.

“Nice,” Lucas said and nodded his approval, as he checked out the overhead gun rack, as well as the one inside the lift gate.

“Wasn’t sure what you’d need, buddy; but, I came prepared.”

“I would hope we would never need that much fire power, but who can say?” He stole a glance at Audra’s passive expression.

“I’m thinking, L.J.” Jerry said. “I know you want to get out of California, but 95 has become a drug runnin’ road between Vegas and the border. I just don’t think you want to be seen out there. But, what about Gordon Cooper?”

“What about him?” Lucas asked.

“He’s down in Lancaster or somewhere between there and Edwards. He’s the one to go to for any kind of rogue support that you might need.”

Lucas flinched at the use of the word “rogue.” He was still in denial and hadn’t really come to that in his head, but Jerry had nailed it. He realized that, while cutting ties with the Service may deny information to the cartel, they would now have two organizations looking for them.

With Brighton dead, their information would be cut off, but he didn’t know what other ramifications would come from it. He had felt that there was an insider in the Service besides Brighton. There were too many coincidences. Had Brighton sold out to the cartel or had he been sold out? Brighton had to have been dirty before to be fingered by either side, but not knowing which didn’t help.

Brighton hadn’t known where the camp was, so someone had to have told him. He hadn’t had a gun on him when he came after them, so his access was limited. It was highly unlikely that the cartel knew the whereabouts of the camp…at least beforehand.

“Yeah. Okay. Lancaster, then. At least it’s a place where we can regroup for the moment.”

“I’m going to go on up to Pine Grove and down 88 to Stockton. I don’t think it’s safe to use 4 or 49. Then, we’ll head to Lancaster on 99.”

“Sounds good.”

Lucas put his head back onto the seat. It seemed to relieve him to have Jerry’s clear head to figure things out for a while. He looked at Audra, once again amazed that she wasn’t a basket case. She had killed a man less than 24 hours ago, and it hadn’t even seemed to make a blip on her radar. She had yet to even question Lucas about any of it.

He put his hand around the back of her neck. He wanted to give her a comforting gesture—without Jerry seeing it though. He didn’t need to convey his confused feelings to his buddy. She leaned her head onto his shoulder, which was okay. He really wanted to put his arm around her and hold her to him.

He closed his eyes and started to drift. Elena’s face swam into view. His subconscious began a review of their life together. He and Elena had married right after high school in 2001, and he had joined the Army. She had gotten pregnant with Ethan right away and was only a couple of months along on 9/11. He was born the following March, and was a few months old when his company had started gearing up for Iraq.

He had done two stints in Iraq between 2003 and 2005. When he had come home, he had turned around and joined the U.S. Marshals Service. He no longer wanted to protect “against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” and he was content to concentrate on the bad guys at home. How naïve he had been. He wanted to get the bad guys and bring them to justice, but the baddest of the bad were the ones mixed up with the drug cartels.

The DEA would catch them. The Mexicans got extradited to Mexico City for processing, the Americans to federal court. But it seemed that all too often, the Americans managed to skip out and head across the border to hide out. Then, it was his job to find them and extradite them back to the U.S. Unfortunately, both for him and the cartels, he got a little too good at his job.

They had sent him and his family to live in Nogales, undercover. At that point, the narrative in his head stopped, as he dropped deeper into sleep. He began to dream of a frightening, shadowy night.

Audra sat reading beside him and noticed his head turning from side to side. She realized he was dreaming and squeezed his hand.

In the dream, he stood, looking out into the dark, hearing sounds at the far end of their courtyard. His heart is pounding. He picks up his weapon; he must protect his family. Then, he hears Audra’s voice whispering to him. “Lucas,” she says. “Lucas, wake up.”

He felt himself coming up through the layers to surface back into the daylight.

He sat straight up. “What’s happening? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, buddy. Chill,” Jerry said, looking in his rearview mirror. “You were dreaming.”

Audra held onto his arm. He loved feeling her warmth next to him. But the next second it came to him…that fateful night about which he’d been dreaming had set in motion all the terror and heartache for him. It had expanded to touch, perhaps, countless others—of whom one was Audra.

It was one thing to be responsible for his own misfortune, but how could he confront—over and over—all the other lives that were ruined from his recklessness?

He sat up and pulled away from her.
I owe her so much, but what can I give her? My shame? My insanity? I have to stop thinking about having any kind of relationship with this woman and simply protect her. I can’t give her back her old life, but I can see to it that she makes it to a new life intact.

Audra picked up her book and buried herself in it again. She had felt him withdraw, even though she thought they had gotten beyond that.

When they got into Lancaster, Jerry had to call to find out where exactly Gordon Cooper was. They were about 45 minutes from their destination, out into the Mojave Desert.

Audra was surprised at the Mojave. She was used to the lush Sonoran Desert, surrounded by Mesquite and Palo Verde trees, creosote bushes, and ocotillos. As they had driven down 99, the flora had become sparser, until there was nothing but sagebrush and Joshua trees. Now, as they drove deeper into the desert, even those fell away to nothing but miles of hard-packed sand.

The sun set, and they were still driving. Suddenly, there loomed before the headlights, a tall cluster of five palm trees. The road they were on led directly to the palms. They got out of the Jeep to the urgent barks and growls of two guard dogs. A man appeared behind them, call off the dogs.

Jerry turned off the Jeep. The headlamps went out, leaving them in complete darkness. Lucas took her hand, pulling her forward. One minute it was completely dark, and the next, they were stepping through a portal of some kind. Before them was a vintage airstream trailer with soft lighting emanating from it.

The man seemed to know both Lucas and Jerry, so the only introduction necessary was Audra. She was completely blown away by the inside of the airstream; she expected it to be all dilapidated and grungy inside, but nothing could be further from the truth.

She had to bite her lip to keep from squealing, but not before her first gasp was out. Gordon turned and grinned at her. The whole thing looked like Captain Picard’s quarters aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. On one end was a curved console, lit with points of blue light. A captain’s chair sat in front of it. She realized she was looking at computer and audio equipment. The rest of it was built-in seating, tables, and a small fridge and bar. Pretty uptown for the middle of a desert.

“Do you live here?” Audra asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I do.”

“Where do you sleep? Or cook?” she asked, looking around.

“I actually just flip switches and the couches disappear and other furniture items appear,” he said.

“Really?” She looked startled.

The men all laughed.

“No, darlin’. I have two more of these right behind this one. This is my office and conference room. The others hold my kitchen and bedrooms.”

“Conference room?”

“Yes. I often have meetings and people drop by.”

“Drop by? Clear out here?”

“People just like you.”

“Oh,” she said, realizing that he probably made his living, and apparently a good one, by helping out people like them. She wasn’t sure what all kind of help they would need, but she was guessing that not all of it would be legal. She pictured him entertaining sheikhs and Chinese ambassadors.

They sat down, and Gordon offered them something from the bar.

Lucas looked at the other two men. “Is it okay if I sleep tonight?” he asked.

“You better,” Jerry said.

“Good, then, I’d like a good, stiff drink.”

“My recommendation would be two fingers of Glenmorangie,” Gordon said.

“Perfect,” Lucas responded.

Gordon looked at Jerry, who shook his head, then at Audra.

“I’d like a glass of white wine,” she said.

“White wine? Wait, have you ever had a Fuzzy Navel?”

“A what?”

Lucas laughed. “It’s a drink made with orange juice and peach schnapps.”

“Orange and peach!” she said, delighted.

“I take it that’s a vote for,” Gordon said, and she quickly nodded.

# # #

After a single drink, Lucas was fading quickly. Gordon went to show him where they would sleep, while Jerry and Audra walked out and headed through the portal to stand beneath the stars.

The temperature was perfect on Audra’s skin. “I would think there would still be heat rising off the sand,” she said.

“The temperature drops about fifteen degrees right after sunset,” Jerry answered, “and another five degrees or so by now.”

She turned 360 degrees, looking up into the sky. She saw where the shapes of the palm trees made a void against the stars, but she was mystified when she looked behind her and saw no sign of the airstream.

“Extreme camouflage,” Jerry said. “You notice you didn’t even see it in the headlights as we drove up?”

“All I saw was the palms.”

“Yep.”

“But don’t people come to check out the palms, to see if there is an oasis or something and find it?” she asked.

“We’re so far off the beaten track, nobody comes out here—nobody, unless they’re invited.”

A couple minutes of silence passed between them. Then, Audra asked, “What’s the deal with Lucas? I’ve never seen him so tired.”

“How long since the detail started?”

“About two and a half weeks.”

“And how much sleep would you reckon he got in that time.”

Audra thought and said, “Not much, I guess.”

“Combine that with all the stress and responsibility, the two shootings…”

“Two? One of those was mine.”

“Well, actually three, if you count the other officer. One may have been yours, but it was still Lucas’s ultimate responsibility and worry.”

Silence.

“Brighton, that’s the other officer, the one I killed, told me that Lucas just got back off of medical leave. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Because sometimes he acts really strange. One minute he…” she paused for an instant, not wanting to reveal too much, “he seems angry, sometimes confused, and other times a bit of what I think is the real Lucas shows through.”

“It’s all the real Lucas. Every bit of what you describe. When I think of all he’s been through, I don’t know how he holds it together at all.”

“What all has he been through?” she asked, turning toward Jerry, and only making him out from the glow of his cigarette. “Brighton alluded to a couple of things, but…”

“Probably all true, especially if he told you about the medical leave. Starting out, he and I did two tours together in Iraq. When we got back, they offered us both medical retirements.”

“Were you wounded?”

“Only in the head. Being over there really fucked with your brain—if you’ll pardon my French. I took the retirement. He refused it. He turned right around and applied for the Marshals Service, and they accepted him immediately…decorated war veteran and all that. I’m quite sure he underwent a psych eval for employment purposes, but somehow he managed to pass it.”

“Somehow? So he is…?”

“He is. I am. We all are. It’s the norm now coming back from over there. But that’s not the half of it.”

“Brighton said something happened to his son?”

“You’re getting ahead of the story.”

“Sorry.”

“But we’ll save that bedtime story for another night.”

“What?”

“I’m beat, and I haven’t been through anything like you two have in the past 24 hours. What’s keeping you awake, little lady?”

“I’m just not tired.”

“Well, we’ll get a little R&R here for a couple of days till we make a plan, but you’d best try to get some sleep while it’s cool.”

She didn’t respond, but just then Gordon surfaced to show her where she would sleep.

“I apologize. There’s not a lot of choices, Audra. My bedrooms only have double bunks, so you have to sleep with one of us. I figured you’d be most comfortable with Lucas. Besides, I think he’d shoot me if he woke up in the morning and you were elsewhere. He will want to feel like he is guarding you, even if he’s dead to the world,” said Gordon.

“That’s definitely fine, and thank you so much for allowing us to intrude on your little oasis here.”

“That’s what I’m here for, ma’am.”

He guided her to the next airstream. She was surprised to find it equipped with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. The bedroom had two twin beds across from each other. Lucas was in one, sound asleep, even with the lamp on.

She found that he had brought in the duffels, and she dug through to find her sleep pants and top. She was glad she had had the opportunity to wash them out early yesterday.

She put them on and sat down on the side of the bed to brush her hair. Lucas was on his side, facing her. She looked at him, realizing it was the first time she had ever seen him with his features completely relaxed. She had thought he was gorgeous from the first time she laid eyes on him, but looking at him now, she felt like she wanted to wake up to this face for the rest of her life.

Oh, why am I torturing myself with thoughts like that?
She had to admit, if she could just shut out all the sorrow and shock from her mind, that it was her first real adventure. At that thought, she realized she was tired and addled.

She looked at him again.
It’s a good thing,
she thought,
that the bed is only big enough for one, or I’d be tempted to crawl right in beside him.
She was already missing what they had had at the cabin, even more so when she realized it might not ever happen again.