Ride Free (7 page)

She leaned forward; her gray eyes glazed with lust, and thrust her breasts at him. Spurred on by her desire, he lashed one rosy tip with his tongue and delighted in the instant response from her body. The other nipple hardened into a twin candied peak and he rubbed his face through the small valley between her breasts as he traveled from one to the other. Her soft floral scent surrounded him as his lips closed around the crinkled bud of flesh. Between her thighs, his fingers never stopped their rhythmic coaxing.

Ali’s hands raked through his close-cropped hair, cradling him to her breasts. She groaned softly as his tongue traced down her cleavage and under the gentle swell of one breast. All the while he rubbed her clit until her erratic panting told him she was close. Then with a wicked grin he slowed his fingers until they just barely danced against her, loving the way her eyes darkened with irritated greed.

“Alejandro… Please…” She clutched at him, her face flushed with unfulfilled desire.

“You want to come?” His fingers slid lazily over her and she squeezed her thighs together in desperation. She thrummed in his arms, a live wire of sexual excitement, and as he thrust two fingers into her, Ali swiveled her hips in a maddeningly tempting measure and stared him dead in the eye. The look she gave him told him he wasn’t the only one who could play the teasing game.

Her soft fingers sought and found his straining bulge and he gasped as her fingernails scratched lightly over the denim. Sparks sizzled down his spine as he involuntarily bucked his hips toward her.
Damn that little minx
.
Fuck, that feels so good.

He was going to give into her.

Her fingers paused for only a fraction of a second on his zipper before tugging it slowly down over his swollen cock. Her mouth was willing and luscious, and for a moment he considered taking her that way until his fingers thrust inside her molten pussy.
So fucking hot and wet. That’s what I need.
Ali writhed on his hand as she worked the pull down inch by inch. He thought he might come in his pants like a teenage boy before he ever got inside her tantalizing heat.

Then, from behind, he heard a set of boots clomp into the garage. He groaned aloud, hastily pulling Ali’s top up and smoothing her skirt back over her thighs. His erection throbbed miserably in his half-opened jeans and he practically snarled as he heard Benny’s voice calling, “Hey, Shakespeare? You got another visitor.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“What can I do for you, Prospect?” Alejandro’s voice was deadly calm.

The kid’s face reddened as he took in the scene: Ali gasping for breath on the workbench, her lips swollen; Alejandro planted between her thighs, unwilling to turn around; the telltale scrap of coral-colored lace signaling from across his boot. Benny’s eyes flickered back to Alejandro’s and he stammered, “Uh… Dobie’s here.”

Shit
. “Be right there. Give me a minute.”

The kid couldn’t get out of there fast enough. It would’ve been hilarious had it not been for Ali, clearly even more embarrassed than Benny had been to be caught like that. She wriggled out of his embrace and snatched her panties. “I should go.”

“I won’t take long, Baby. I’ll text you when I’m done.”

She nodded, but her smile was forced as she tucked everything back where it belonged and finger-combed her hair.

Fuck. She regrets it. Again.
He grabbed her wrist and tugged her back to him. Thankfully he met no resistance when he pulled her against him, and her eyes blazed with lust again as he cupped her jaw and brushed his lips over hers. “We’re not done here,” he breathed against her mouth, reaching for her damp panties. “I’ll hold onto to these until later.”

If her head was telling her no, it was the only part of her sending that signal. She melted against him, exquisite temptation, and they kissed breathlessly as he tucked the delicate fistful of fabric into his pocket. He was still distractingly hard. With a final soft kiss, she left him, passing Dobie in the doorway.

The older man eyed her appreciatively, leaning to watch her walk out of the garage, and Alejandro had to suppress the violent urges caused by Dobie’s lecherous stare. “She’s mine,” he said, a little too forcefully, when Dobie turned back to him and wiggled his bushy eyebrows.

“Old lady?” The admiration in his voice was obvious.

“Not yet.”
But she sure as hell should be.

“Feel like sharing?”

Just the thought knocked the wind out of him, and he forced himself to sound like he was joking to keep the violent haze at the back of his brain. “Not a chance, you horny bastard. But let me know if you want any pussy, I can find you plenty around here. Lots of beautiful women in Arroyo Flats.”
But that one’s off-limits
.

“So I see.” Dobie took the hint and didn’t press further. “Listen, Shakespeare, I’m here because I’m worried about the Berserkerz.”

“Talk to me.” He pulled two bottles of beer from the fridge and handed one to Dobie.

“There’s some infighting,” Dobie began, taking a swig of the cold ale. “Normally it wouldn’t be anything to give a shit about, but they’re our link to the DEA. Specifically, Crockett’s our link because his cousin manages to keep the feds off our backs.”

“So what’s going on with them that affects us?”

“Their Prez told me he thinks Crockett’s going to split off, form his own club. If he goes, that’s another club after a piece of our pie and we no longer have the benefit of that connection.”

“If Spidey told you that it must be all but a done deal.
Fuck
.” He rubbed his head in frustration and paced the floor.

“Fuck is right. We can’t afford either loss. Any thoughts?”

“We’ve still got Hennesy in our pocket.” Though the local police had the Padre Knights on their radar—a fact not lost on Alejandro, who knew Dawson money secured police loyalty—the sheriff’s department took another stance. They played both sides of the fence as and when it suited them. Sheriff Hennesy was a local boy with a taste for very young whores, and that knowledge had proved beneficial for the Padre Knights in their dealings with him. Although Alejandro despised that aspect of the business, he also knew it was the cost of keeping things running smoothly. When he thought of the money that flowed back into his community to people like his parents, who’d worked hard all their lives to be crushed under the heels of rich white pricks like Carmac Dawson and Police Chief Terry Anderson, he felt perfectly justified if a few prostitutes were part of that bargain.

“For now. If ATF shows up, though, we might be fucked.”

“Are the warehouses ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Is Haji ready with those passports?”

“Yep.”

“So we’ve got six million dollars of cocaine coming through on six undocumented illegals and now we don't know if we’re safe from the DEA? Jesus...”

“For now we’re safe, but once Crockett goes…” Dobie threw his hands up.

“Fuck. Nothing can happen to Crockett, you hear me? Maybe we can work something out. I’d hate to split our take three ways, but if it’s gotta be done…” He took a swallow of beer, swore, and took another swallow.
Fuck. What a mess
.

Dobie nodded.

“Thanks for telling me. When do we have to meet Haji tomorrow?”

“Four o’clock. The other guys already know. We’ll meet at Turk’s house and go from there.”

“This handoff tomorrow has to be perfect. You hear me?” He pointed the bottle at Dobie. “Flawless. Make it happen.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

When Alejandro and the others pulled up at the old industrial park it was far too quiet. The rumble of the bikes hadn’t so much as disturbed a pigeon. He gestured to the others to kill their engines and huddle.

“Something’s not right.” The hairs rose on the back of his neck, but he kept his voice calm. “I can feel it.”

Pitbull nodded. “Shakespeare’s right. It’s never this dead around here. I got a bad feeling.”

Fuck.
He texted Prez.
Truck on its way?
Pitbull already had his hand on his gun. They exchanged glances. “I’m holding the truck.”

Affirmative
, came the immediate buzz from Prez.

“You think he bailed on us?” Crapper asked.

Alejandro’s fingers flew over the keys.
Pause it. Trouble. I’ll call in a few
.

Pitbull’s voice was quiet. “I think there’s someone else here,” he murmured.

The six men spread across the drive in formation and headed toward the self-storage units, weapons drawn. They were halfway there when gunshots sprayed the gravel in front of them.

“Motherfucker!” Popeye cursed, turning and firing a series of shots in the direction of the open fire. Alejandro watched as Motormouth staggered, seizing his side. He raced to the older man’s side and dragged him as best as he could manage around the corner of the building. One by one the others followed.

“What the fuck was that?” Pitbull panted. “Who knew about this besides us and Haji?”

“No fucking idea.” Alejandro swore as he looked at the bullet hole in Motormouth’s vest and the blood that seeped from between the man’s shaking fingers. “Must have something to do with the coyotes. Maybe Border Patrol followed them out here.” 

Popeye peered tentatively around the corner and quickly ducked his head back. “Fuck. They’re out there,” he whispered. “Three giant motherfuckers packing plenty of heat. Not Border Patrol.”

“What are they doing?” Alejandro asked. They didn’t have much time before they Motormouth had lost enough blood that they’d have to get him to the hospital.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. It was supposed to be an easy handoff.
He peered around the corner himself and saw the men in question. He didn’t recognize a single face, and Popeye was right. All three men were far more heavily armed than the six of his crew put together. Suddenly he wished he hadn’t canceled the truck.

Just then a fourth man appeared, with two men tied together and stumbling as he dragged them down the driveway. His voice rang out in their direction. “I found some rodents in this place,” he called in a thick Eastern European accent Alejandro couldn’t quite place. “Some rats. Or perhaps little mice.” He paused and lit a cigarette.  

Shit. The prisoners were clearly two of the men they were supposed to be transporting to Dallas. He heard the soft pleas from one and said a silent prayer that the others were still alive.
Where the fuck were the coyotes?

“I wonder what price is for little mice?” the man wondered aloud.

Alejandro realized it was time to make his move. “Cover me,” he whispered to Popeye and then ran behind the next bank of storage units, popping out of the next aisle with his hands raised.

“You started the party without us,” he called to the men, swaggering toward them. “Those are
my
mice you have there. What happened to the men who brought them?”

The tallest of the men, a giant with a sloping forehead and exaggerated iron jaw, raised his weapon. The blond man next to him spoke softly and the giant lowered it, but only halfway.

The other man forced the illegals to their knees and put a gun to the closest temple. “They didn’t want to talk,” he said. “We made sure they won't have to talk anymore.”

Alejandro swallowed hard. If that was true, they had just lost their most valuable coyotes.
Shit
. He tried not to think about Oscar, who had showed Alejandro a picture of his newborn son when they’d had the last handoff. He tried not to think of Oscar’s wife, at home and waiting for her husband to return, unable to go to the police to report him missing.

“What do you want?” Although he knew already what they wanted. What they already had, unless the Padre Knights were somehow able to wrestle it back from them. He racked his brain for who might have known about the cocaine. Who might have known about today’s meeting. There was no one. No one who knew, and so it could be anyone, which was an even scarier thought. His mind raced with the domino effect this fuckup would have. The people who wouldn’t be paid, the fragile alliances that might be broken. He had to get the drugs, and it meant all four men would have to die but not before he found out where the hell they came from.

The man threatening the illegals smiled. “You’re the one they call Shakespeare,” he observed. “I have heard of you. A smart man, they say. So, smart man. I think you know.”

“That’s our cash,” Alejandro said. “This is our territory. You want your share? Pick a spot on the border, any spot, and get your own.”

“I pick this one,” the man said smoothly.

“This ain't the border,
pendejo.
” Alejandro replied. He reached for his gun just a fraction of a second before the other man swung the muzzle of his from the captive's temple. Alejandro’s bullet hit its mark. The man howled in pain as his fingers exploded in a spray of blood and his gun flew against the metal door of one of the units.

Alejandro was on him fast. His brothers poured out from between the storage units and opened fire on the other men as he twisted the bleeding man’s good arm up so high between his shoulder blades that the man shrieked in pain. On their knees, the two prisoners murmured what Alejandro knew to be a prayer, even though it wasn’t in his language or to his god. He stepped in front of them and shielded himself with the cursing man in his grip.