BILLIONAIRE BIKERS: 3 MC Romance Books (61 page)

After driving for about four hours, Lucas pulled into a tiny restaurant on the edge of Salton City. He had traveled along the edge of what was known as the Salton Sea, an unintentional creation by California developers in the early twentieth century. It reminded him of a mini-sized version of Utah’s Great Salt Lake.

The little restaurant served Mexican food, and he chose a tamale breakfast accompanied by two eggs over medium, a tortilla, and pico de gallo—along with a carafe of coffee to wash it all down. He didn’t eat breakfast that often, but once he hit Calexico, he was going to be preoccupied and likely wouldn’t think about eating again for a while.

Lucas decided that as far as El Toro Blanco was concerned, they had been barking up the wrong tree in Nogales. Blanco’s reach definitely went that far and, obviously, way beyond, but he was beginning to think that they needed to look elsewhere to find the man himself.

He was intently spreading the egg yolks atop the tamales and layering it all with the pico de gallo, so he didn’t see the man standing at his table for several seconds. When he looked up, fork poised for the first bite, the five-pointed star of the U.S. Marshal badge registered before anything else.

“Have a seat,” Lucas said, gesturing toward one of the empty chairs at his table.

The officer sat down, removing his hat and shades. He reached over to Lucas. “Marshal Nick Fetsko,” he said, as Lucas shook his hand.

Lucas continued to eat as the waitress came up and filled Marshal Fetsko’s coffee cup with one hand while proffering a menu in the other. Fetsko took the menu.

“Cream?” the waitress asked, but Fetsko declined.

“How are you doing on your carafe?” she asked Lucas.

“Fine,” he said, smiling at her. “I’m only on my second cup.”

“You’re lucky you decided to come down 86,” Fetsko said once the waitress had moved away from the table. “You got me.”

“How did you find me?” Lucas wanted to know.

“We knew you were with Jerry Davidson, but we sure didn’t know where you disappeared to. But once you were back on the state highway system in Jerry’s vehicle, it wasn’t hard to pick you up.”

Lucas nodded, his mouth full of tamale. “What did you mean by lucky?”

“The Service has several officers spread over a number of different highways keeping an eye out for you. Each one seems to have a different agenda of his own.”

“I see,” Lucas responded. “And yours would be…?”

“Unlike a lot of gung-ho agents who want to ‘bring you down,’ I just want to see how we can get this whole thing back on track. Where’s the girl?”

“Somewhere out of harm’s way.”

“Like you thought she would be in Calaveras County?”

Lucas wanted to come across the table and grab him.

“Don’t start out pushing my buttons. If you really want to work with me, you’d better start talking fast about how you see that happening.”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“Why don’t you tell me what you know?”

“All they are telling us is that you have ‘gone rogue’ with a witness.”

“Nice. No wonder some people want to take me down.”

“Is it true?”

“I think what matters most is why it might be true.”

“I’m all ears.”

“So you don’t know about Brighton?”

“Who’s…oh, wait. That was you?”

“What did they tell you?”

“That an Officer Brighton out of Sacramento took down an agent and made an attempt on another agent, and that somewhere along the line he got his face eaten off by a mountain lion.”

Lucas almost choked on his coffee. “Too bad they’re not putting that all in context for you.”

Lucas proceeded to tell him of the escapade in Angels Camp and out at the camp near Sheep Ranch, as well.

“So, if he’s dead now, why are you…?”

“He was working with somebody on the inside.”

“On the inside of the cartel or…you mean inside the Service?”

“I’m pretty sure Brighton didn’t know where the camp was, and I’m quite sure the cartel didn’t know where the camp was, before Brighton anyway; so, he had to have tracked us down somehow. Besides, the cartel would have given him a lift. The Service insider left him dangling in the wind to keep his own ass covered.”

Fetsko nodded slowly as he took in everything Lucas was telling him. When Lucas was finished, Fetsko stood.

“Where are you going?” Lucas asked.

“To the restroom.”

“Are you going to turn me in?”

“I don’t think so. I want to hear more of your story first.”

Lucas turned back to finish his coffee as Fetsko ambled off. How could he be sure the guy could be trusted? He’d have to be guarded with his plans until he had a clear idea of the just how trustworthy he was. He hadn’t sensed Brighton’s duplicity quickly enough and that bothered him sorely. He was just not on top of his game, but that was exactly why he needed someone to trust.

“So why won’t you tell me where the girl is?” Fetsko asked, slipping back into his chair.

“Because if the Service doesn’t know where she is, then it’s a good bet no one else does either. I’d like to keep it that way. My efforts to protect her haven’t been entirely successful.”

“You have to tell them sooner or later.”

“No, I don’t. I just need to be able to produce her when they want her. There is no other reason for their involvement. Right now, she is protected beyond what the Marshals Service can do for her.”

“Aren’t you worried about your pension, or at least your job?”

Lucas snorted. “Those are the last things I’m worried about. I don’t want to be charged with anything, so I would like to get certain things ironed out. But right now my priorities are keeping the girl safe and locating El Toro Blanco.”

“So what are you doing down here?”

“We’ve been using the Nogales route to try to locate him for two years. We’ve brought a whole shit-load of trouble on ourselves from there, but locating Blanco has completely eluded us. The house where Audra saw him was somewhere between Calexico and Yuma.”

“Your witness has seen El Toro Blanco?”

“The Service is doing a bang-up job of keeping you guys in the dark. That’s another part of why I’m feeling set up.”

Fetsko looked at him, waiting for him to go on, and Lucas wondered how much he should tell the man.

“Look,” Lucas said. “The questions pinging back and forth in my head about whom to and whom not to trust are making me crazy. For some reason, my gut is resting easy with you.”

Fetsko gave him a tight-lipped smile as a manner of thanks and urged Lucas to go on.

“But if something else happens as a result of my telling you this, I will disappear with the witness so deep no one will ever find us.”

“I understand.”

“Let me give you a brief synopsis. If you have questions, you can ask them later.”

Fetsko nodded his assent.

“Blanco got my wife killed and killed my son outright. Then, I was compromised during a sting operation, my cover blown, and I lost it during debrief. The Service took me out, put me into psychological evaluation and treatment. They brought me back prematurely, pulled too many strings, and I get rushed into this witness assignment with zero preparation, not even knowing that Blanco is the one who has the hit out on her. In light of everything that’s happened since, you might get a glimpse of why I’m paranoid.”

Fetsko swallowed in such a way that told Lucas that he had not heard the story from that angle before.

“So what’s the plan?” Fetsko asked.

Lucas shrugged. “I’m thinking we might find out more in Calexico. It only makes sense when you think about it. Mexicali is right across the border, and it’s now one of the richest cities in Mexico and inhabited by the rich of many different nationalities. I’m guessing Blanco might even be Cachanilla.”

“Cachanilla?”

“A Mexicali native.”

“So you’re talking an undercover operation in Mexicali?”

“That’s the only way it would work.”

“But you’ve been made.”

“Yup. Not quite as tough for you to blend with those dark, Hungarian looks. We can turn you into a Latino in a heartbeat.”

Fetsko dropped his jaw. “Hungarian—how did you know?”

“Uh, Fetsko ain’t Irish,” Lucas grinned. “Do you speak Spanish?”

Fetsko nodded. “Comes with the territory working south of Los Angeles.”

“Good. How’s your accent?”

“Fair to middlin’.”

“Start practicing. It needs to be perfect.”

Fetsko nodded. “I’m just rusty. I can get back into it pretty quickly.”

“Good. Time’s a wastin’,” Lucas said, as he stood and handed the check to Fetsko. “You’re still on the government’s dime.”

Lucas left a generous tip, and the two men rejoined in the parking lot.

“So, how’s this going to work?” Fetsko asked, climbing in the Jeep with Lucas. “I’m on a tether and you’re not.”

“You could tell them I overpowered you and held you hostage,” Lucas said.

“That’s one option, but how about I just tell them I think you’ve gone to Calexico, and I’m going down there to sit.”

Lucas thought about that. “Who are you reporting to?”

“Nichols.”

“Don’t know him,” Lucas said, shaking his head. “Are you sure he’s a good guy?”

“He’s been my POC for a couple of years now, and he’s never steered me wrong. Who were you reporting to?”

“Someone new this time out, which, again, makes me suspect.”

“This is finally beginning to make sense,” Fetsko said. “Maybe that’s why the left hand doesn’t seem to know what the right hand is doing. Maybe your guy is running his own little operation somehow and keeping everybody out of the loop, or at least on a need-to-know basis only.”

“He’d have to be pretty high up on the food chain to do that.”

“Yes, he would. But when you think about it, anyone who could bring you back off medical leave prematurely, and get you reinstated and assigned to this case in nothing flat would have to be really high up there.”

“And when I disappeared, just to sic the dogs without any information, causing them to come out like bloodhounds would take some doing, too.”

“Yep.”

“So maybe I’m not as crazy as this is making me feel.”

“Seems to me like you’ve made the only decisions anybody could make given the circumstances.”

Lucas just nodded. “So how are you going to handle your end of it?”

“I’m going to go back in and call my contact via landline. I’m going to tell him what I suggested…that I think you’ve possibly gone to Calexico and that I’m going down to sniff you out.”

“See you in Cali.”

Since the Service had gotten no bites from any of the other officers they had perusing the highways for Lucas and Audra, Fetsko’s contact was in favor of his foray into Calexico.

“Get me reservations for the Holiday Inn,” Fetsko requested.

He drove the hour into Calexico from Salton City, and checked into the hotel. In the meantime, Lucas drove to the Towne Suites, leaving Jerry’s Jeep in the parking lot and hoofing it to the Fairfield Inn where he checked in under an assumed name.

Fetsko took a cab to the Fairfield, leaving the official car behind.

“Tomorrow,” Lucas said, “I’ll have you get the Grand Cherokee and trade it for a Rubicon.”

Fetsko raised his eyebrows. “Planning on doing a little off-road recon are we?”

Lucas smiled. “If we’re actually in a chase, I’d like to be able to disappear.”

“I can handle that,” Fetsko said.

Lucas looked at Fetsko. “Maybe we’ll give it 48 hours instead. I think the Grand Cherokee can sit there that long before somebody starts worrying about it, and in the meantime, you need to grow some handles on that mustache.”

“Handles?”

Lucas gestured, running his index fingers down the sides of his mouth.

“Ah.
Sí, Señor.
”

“You’re getting it.”

“I took the liberty of putting you in the adjoining suite. Don’t want this to look too cozy.”

Fetsko grinned as Lucas handed him his key card.

“Guess I’ll go grow my mustache and tune in to the local Hispanic cable channel.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lucas said.

Audra felt lost without Lucas. It amazed her that in a less than a month, she could feel so bereft of someone’s presence—she, who never felt the need for anyone! It was like looking at herself from outside herself. She didn’t miss her friends—despite the fact that when she had gotten on the plane in Tucson, she thought that leaving them behind was the end of everything.

But that’s all she had known then. She supposed she shouldn’t find it so strange to feel so attached to Lucas, considering all they had been through. She left two Audras behind her, maybe more. At the very least, the senseless child and the numb victim were gone. Everything within her had been tested in the last few months since the fateful night when she and her friends were driving home from San Diego.

Of course, it was harder being a feeling victim than a numb one, but she was trying not to think of herself as a victim at all. She had been, of course, but she refused to take a victim stance. She wanted to be strong, for herself, and for Lucas. Because of Lucas.

Lucas. His parting “gift” had clinched it. She still wasn’t sure why he withheld himself from her, but the fact that he had wanted to make her feel so…so cared for, making sure that she knew he had feelings for her beyond just lust.

Now, here she was in this desert fortress, safe and guarded, while he was out there, so vulnerable, trying to bring them both some closure from their grief.
Closure. Ha!
That was a nice term, but what she would feel was avenged, and she was sure Lucas would as well.

The question often in her mind was whether justice would actually be served. With all the compromise around them—double-crossers, inside men--how could anyone trust that the right thing would be done? It seemed that deep pockets had the furthest reach. But whose pockets were the deepest?

She knew there were a lot of people who wanted to see El Toro Blanco’s reign of terror end and him brought to justice, but could the human rights desires of the law overcome the billions of dollars of payoff money from the cartel?

She couldn’t believe how cynical she was becoming. Less than six months ago, the deepest thing she had to think about was what might come out of an internship she was considering and what were the best classes to take at the university. Now, she was questioning crime, justice, politics, and payoffs.

A knock came at the door. She answered it to find Jerry outside.

“Gordon’s made quite a brunch for us today,” Jerry said.

“Oh, what’s the occasion?”

Jerry shrugged. “Lucas making it to Calexico?”

“So you know where he is?”

“For the time being. We’ll see what happens from here.”

She stepped outside the Airstream into what should have been blazing heat, but instead she felt the perpetual cool of the concrete dome. Later, perhaps, she would explore the whole thing. She and Lucas hadn’t gotten too far in their adventure. Literally.

When she recalled the encounter in one of the dome belt rooms, she didn’t want to eat, she just wanted to retreat back to their room--yes, their room, even if he wasn’t in it now--and to just immerse herself in the memory—every sight, sound, and sensation.

Fortunately, Jerry and Gordon were telling funny stories and cutting up, making her laugh and helping her forget for a while. She helped with dishes afterward, and then they played cards. It made her think of playing cards with Brighton, but she forced herself to push that memory out as well.

By the time she returned to their room, she was feeling brighter, but she still missed him terribly. With the wifi shielded and turned off from her Kindle, she was able to hunker down with one of the many books she had collected over the past few months. If she was going to be here for a while with little more than occasional outside diversion, at least she was going to educate herself.

She looked at all the titles she had downloaded, everything from history to literature, politics to economics—especially after that crack Lucas had made about her not worrying her pretty little head about how the gold standard worked or didn’t—and art to technology. But, suddenly her eye was drawn away from her Kindle to the Nora Roberts book she had picked up at the general store in Railroad Flat.

She grinned. That was the education she was most interested in right now.

# # #

Audra helped herself to more mashed potatoes. She had helped with dinner tonight. Gordon rarely let her make the whole thing by herself, and the majority of the time, he cooked and either she or Jerry helped.

She never ceased to be amazed at the food that came out of that kitchen although there was never a delivery of any kind.

“So, tell me again how you manage to have such fresh-tasting food here.”

“Two ways,” Gordon said. “The dome tends to be its own natural preservation core, so things that would generally have to be swapped out in the average prepper’s stash last indefinitely here. Secondly, we have a vast amount of freezer storage.”

“Doesn’t your electric bill send up red flags somewhere out there?”

Both Jerry and Gordon laughed. “In the middle of the Mojave? It’s all solar. I don’t ever have to worry about equipment failure. Nothing disrupts it naturally, and I maintain it well enough, replacing parts sporadically as necessary, so that it just keeps on chugging.”

“Well, I, for one, am grateful to not be eating MREs, and I hope Lucas isn’t having to, either.”

“I sincerely doubt that he is.”

Silence prevailed at the table for a few minutes. Then, Gordon asked, “Audra, have you thought through what will happen after the trial, or in the event that there is no trial?”

“No trial? I have never even thought of that as a possibility. As far as after the trial, I don’t know….” Her voice trailed off.

“So, you don’t know and you don’t know.”

She could tell he wasn’t intending to be offensive, so she didn’t allow him to see her irritation.

“Or, you don’t know and you don’t want to say.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to say?” she asked.

“Because I’m guessing that, at least in some vague way, you think whatever happens afterward will involve Lucas.”

She looked at him, startled. She had entertained those thoughts, of course, but mostly she just didn’t pursue that line of thinking.

“I think I prefer your ‘don’t know’ and ‘don’t know’ postulation,” she said calmly.

Jerry spoke up. “We’re not trying to upset you, Audra, and we know this was kind of an abrupt way to bring it up. But we think you should think about it.”

“About being with Lucas?”

Gordon cleared his throat. “About the likelihood of not being with Lucas.”

Audra just sat, staring at both of them.

“We know what your heart is telling you, and it’s completely understandable because Lucas has encouraged your heart in that manner. But we want to walk you through it logically.”

She said nothing, knowing they would go on with or without her consent. There was no escaping this conversation.

“First, there’s the Service. He will either go back, or he won’t. If he doesn’t, there will be penalties—perhaps even imprisonment. If he does go back, do you think they will allow him to be with a witness? Being with you would mean a full-time job for the rest of your natural lives.”

              Now she couldn’t help but become visibly upset.
The last statement was completely conjecture, wasn’t it? Or was it? Will I become a complete liability to anyone with whom I keep company?
She laid her napkin onto the table, gulped the last sip of wine from her glass and stood.

“I’ll take your advice under strict consideration,” she said. But as she turned away, she had to blink back tears. She quickened her pace across the floor and out of the door, fairly running back to her Airstream living quarters.