Relentless

by Sybil Bartel

  All the guys had taught me something different, and each had something they excelled at, but they’d all emphasized one crucial point besides protecting the client—know how the fuck to disarm someone.

  Ty Asher had spent hours with me in the gym at Luna and Associates doing exactly that. He’d also taught me a critical detail.

  Know where to get shot if you can’t avoid it.

  Turning, I pressed the barrel of Summer’s gun into the exact spot on my shoulder where a through and through would do the least amount of damage. Then I put force into my tone. “Put the gun down, Summer.”

  Her hands shaking, she half snorted. “Now I’m Summer?”

  “You don’t want me to take that gun from you.” I’d learned well. I’d twist the fuck out of her wrist.

  “Maybe I do.” Her eyes dilated, her chest rose and fell rapidly. “Maybe I want you to try so I can shoot the shit out of you.” Her nostrils flared. “Then we’ll be fucking twins.”

  “You’re not shot in the shoulder.” I was giving her five more seconds of this bullshit. “Put the gun down.”

  “Fuck you, Mr. Cowboy Hat. Give me my goddamn pills.”

  “I’m not wearing my Stetson now, girl.” I grabbed the barrel and pushed up as I twisted.

  “Ow!”

  I took the gun from her, threw the pills out and put the window back up.

  “You fucking asshole!” Grabbing my arm, she yanked so damn hard, the sleeve of my polo ripped. “My pills!”

  I floored it.

  The Maserati shot forward, and she was thrown back into her seat. “You don’t need Percocet. You need to detox.” Shoving the gun on my left side where she couldn’t reach and ignoring my ripped shirt, I pulled my phone out and dialed.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” she yelled. “Go back! Those were my pills!”

  I ignored her as the call went through.

  My boss picked up on the first ring. “Luna.”

  “I’ve got a situation.”

  “Hang up, asshole!” Summer demanded. “Who the hell are you calling?”

  “Jesucristo,” Luna muttered. “I hear her. Do I want to fucking know?”

  “She doesn’t need to go back to her father’s.” Where she’d given me the slip once already and apparently gotten more shit to take. “Summer Amherst needs rehab.”

  FIGHTING FOR PATIENCE, I DIALED her number again.

  My stepdaughter’s voice mail picked up immediately. Just like the last ten times. “This is Summer. You know what to do.”

  I waited for the beep. “Summer, where are you? You were supposed to be here hours ago, and I’m tired of waiting around for you. Call me. Now.” I hung up and thought about calling her father, even though he was the last person I wanted to deal with.

  I glanced at the clock.

  Damn it. Summer was a lot of things, and she had a lot of issues, but shockingly, blowing me off without calling or texting wasn’t one of them.

  Resigned, I dialed Leo’s number.

  He picked up on the second ring like he always did. “Fallon.”

  I frowned. There was no intonation in his voice, and I wondered what I was interrupting. It wasn’t like my ex-husband to not be salacious when I called.

  Clearing my throat, I did what I hated to do. I asked for help. “I’m sorry to bother you, Leo, but have you heard from Summer? We were supposed to have our usual Sunday night dinner, except she never showed.”

  “You’re never a bother, Fallon.”

  I relaxed only marginally. After our divorce turned ugly last year, we were just now on speaking terms again. “Thank you, I appreciate that. Have you heard from her? I haven’t spoken to her since before she went to that music festival yesterday, and she’s not answering my calls.” I got that I wasn’t on her short list, but her lack of response had taken me past irritated into worried.

  “Heard from her personally?” Leo asked evasively.

  “Please, Leo, just tell me if you’ve heard from her. I’m worried.” At this point, I didn’t care if it was one of his hired bodyguards who’d spoken to her or had to pick her up somewhere, I just wanted to know if she was all right.

  Leo sighed. “We need to talk.”

  Anxiety washed over me. “What happened? Is she okay?”

  “Hold on.” He held the phone away and spoke to someone. “Give me a minute, please.” A woman muttered something I couldn’t quite hear in a whiny tone before Leo came back on the line. “We should speak in person. Can I come over now? I’m already in the limo.”

  My hackles went up. He had some woman with him and he wanted to come over? What was he going to do? Leave his date in his limo while he came inside my house? This was why I tried to avoid all communication with him.

  “No, Leo, you can’t. Just tell me what’s going on with Summer.” If she’d gotten arrested, I was done with her.

  “The less you know, the better,” Leo answered cryptically.

  I tried to hold on to my composure. “Was she arrested?”

  “No.” Pause. “But, Fallon, it’s… not something you need to be involved in.”

  This wasn’t like Leo to drag something out. He didn’t have time for dramatics. Or at least he didn’t use to. “Leo, I don’t have time for this. She was here yesterday, and she was on something. That’s the fifth time in a row I’ve seen her and she’s been—”

  “Are you at the house?”

  “Of course, I’m at the house. I made Sunday dinner.” Like I always did, even though that had never mattered to him while we’d been married.

  “I’m sending you a security team for the time being. Don’t worry, I know how you feel about that, so I’ll tell them to stay on the perimeter of the property.”

  My heart started to pound with anxiety. “Okay, you need to tell me what’s going on right now, Leo. And, no, you’re not sending any bodyguards to watch over me. I can handle myself.” If I truly needed security, I’d hire my own damn protection.

  “This isn’t something you can handle, Fallon.”

  Goddamn it. “Leo,” I warned. “Spill it.”

  “She’s going to be fine.”

  My heart jumped to my throat, and my hand went to my chest. “Going to be? What the hell happened? Is she injured?” I grabbed my purse and keys. “Is she at the hospital? Where is she?” Oh my God, did she OD?

  “Fallon, I know how you can get. Take a breath, or take a pill and just calm down. This isn’t worth getting worked up over. I’ll handle this, and you need not concern yourself.”

  I refrained from telling my ex to fuck off. “I don’t need a breath, and don’t you dare tell me what I should and should not be concerned about. Where is she?” Unable to stand still, I walked toward the garage.

  “She’s not at any hospital, and she won’t be going to one. That’s all I’m going to tell you over the phone.”

  My hand on the door, I stilled. “What did you do?”

  Indignant anger crept into his tone. “It wasn’t what I did. Why do you always assume the worst of me?”

  Because he’d been a cheating bastard for our entire marriage. Trying and failing to rein in my temper, my voice came out stilted as I punctuated every word. “Where is she, Leo?”

  “She… fuck.” Leo let out an exasperated sigh. “We can’t have this conversation over an unsecure line. Wait there. I’m coming over.”

  I lost it. “The hell you are. Tell me where Summer is right now.”

  “Fine. If you won’t let me come over, then meet me at Luna and Associates.” Leo hung up.

  My stomach in knots, my hands shaking, I rushed to my car. In a panicked hurry, I drove too fast out of the gated community and almost hit two men on black motorcycles who were turning in. Not caring that I was in the wrong, I honked as I narrowly missed them and swerved into the wrong lane.

  Righting my course, not looking back, I drove to Luna and Associates.

  “YOU STOP THIS CAR RIGHT fucking now,” Summer screamed. “Or I swear to God
I’ll get out while you’re driving. Try explaining that to Leo fucking Amherst!”

  Ignoring her rant, I pulled into the underground parking at Luna and Associates. André Luna and two other former Marines who worked for him, Tyler and Collins, were standing next to a limo that was parked by one of the company Escalades. Looking at me, Luna tipped his chin toward the passenger door of the company SUV.

  “You’re a goddamn piece of shit, Cowboy!” Summer punched my arm. “Don’t you dare hand me over to my father like this!”

  Pulling up next to the passenger door of the black Escalade, I slammed on the brakes at the last minute.

  Summer bucked forward, her hair flew all around her, and she slapped the dashboard. “You motherfucker!”

  Collins opened her door and took her arm. “This way.”

  “Fuck you!” She kicked out at him. “Don’t touch me!”

  Standing in front of the Maserati, Tyler smiled his playboy smile as his hands went to his hips.

  “Fucking trouble,” Collins muttered, narrowly avoiding a foot to his balls as Summer’s heel landed on his thigh.

  Tyler smirked. “Need help, Collins?”

  Taking the keys out of the ignition, I grabbed her gun and purse and got out of the Maserati.

  Luna looked from my ripped shirt to where Collins was pulling Summer from the car. He shook his head. “Dios mio.”

  “Ow, you motherfucker!” Summer spat at Collins. “Watch the gunshot wound, you stupid jerk!”

  “Yeah, Collins.” Tyler grinned wider. “Watch the gunshot wound.” He opened the passenger door of the Escalade.

  Summer whipped her head toward Tyler. “Shut the fuck up, asshole. I wasn’t talking to you.” Yanking her good arm out of Collins’s grip, she spun back on him. “Let the fuck go of me. I can walk, you dumb shit.”

  I tossed Summer’s purse in the Escalade, but I handed her gun to Tyler. “She was armed.”

  “The fun never ends.” Smirking, Tyler took the piece, checked it for ammo, then shoved the small-caliber gun in his back waistband.

  “Hey!” Summer snapped. “That’s my gun and I have a fucking concealed permit for it. Give it back!”

  Tyler smiled his playboy smile and lied. “As soon as you get in the SUV, ma’am.”

  “Fuck you,” Summer spat.

  The back door to the limo opened, and an older guy in his sixties in a custom suit got out with a phone to his ear. “Meet me at Luna and Associates.” He hung up and glanced at Luna. “Thank you, Mr. Luna.” His inscrutable gaze focused on Summer. “Summer, you’re going with these men. Get in the SUV.”

  “Fuck you, Leo.” Summer cursed at her father. “I’m not going anywhere with them. Call Fallon,” she defiantly ordered. “Get her in on this. See what she has to say about your bullshit.”

  Leo Amherst glanced at Luna and gave him a barely perceptible nod before getting back in the limo and slamming the door.

  Jaw set, Luna looked at Summer. “I’m going to advise you to get in the Escalade, Miss Amherst.”

  “Oh, shut the fuck up, André. I’m Miss Amherst now? You’ve known me since I was thirteen. Cut the formal bullshit. You and I both know because of your stupid cowboy over there…” She jerked a thumb in my direction. “…I’m getting a first-class ride to the nearest rehab. And for what? I got fucking shot. I have two goddamn bullet holes in me. I can’t take a stupid painkiller?” Her voice pitched high as hell. “I can’t fucking unwind after some asshole has his lackeys gun me down at a music festival, all because I say I don’t want to hang out with him anymore?”

  Luna’s jaw ticked, but his tone remained calm. “First of all, chica, that wasn’t just some asshole you were hanging out with. It was Julio Estevez, a known sex trafficker, and you were willingly giving him names of girls your age in exchange for drugs. You were on his payroll, he’d embedded a tracking chip in your arm, and you were breaking the law. Just because you came to your senses and decided to cut free from his grasp doesn’t mean you didn’t participate in a whole host of illegal activities as you sold out your chicas for a fix.”

  “I was not selling them out!” Summer yelled.

  “You’re right, I have known you since you were thirteen.” Glaring at her, Luna dropped his voice in warning. “Remember who the hell you’re talking to.”

  To her credit, Summer didn’t wither under his stare, but she did backtrack. “Fine, whatever. But those girls were all looking to make a buck. Who was I to stand in the way of free commerce?”

  “Making a buck is a hell of a lot different than being sold into sex slavery, chica, but I’m not having this conversation with you. You’re lucky to be out from under him, and now you need to address the bigger issue.”

  “I’m not addressing shit,” Summer clipped defiantly. “I was fucking shot, by no fault of my own, and your cowboy here threw out my pain pills.”

  Luna glanced at Tyler. “How many times have you been shot, Tyler?”

  “Five, boss.”

  “You ever take unprescribed pain meds for that? A Vicodin and Percocet cocktail chased with alcohol?”

  Tyler shook his head. “No, sir. Definitely not.”

  Luna leveled Summer with a look. “We’re done here. Do yourself a favor and get in the SUV, chica.”

  “You’re a fucking dick, you know that? You’re also a coward. Doing my dear old daddy’s dirty work, how does that make you any different than me? Leo’s your Julio Estevez.”

  “Your father doesn’t sell young girls as sex slaves.” Luna strode to the passenger door of the Escalade and held it open as he flashed Tyler a warning look.

  Tyler nodded once.

  Luna looked back at Summer. “Get in, Miss Amherst.”

  “No. And for the record, I fucking hate you.” Summer turned toward the Maserati.

  Collins and Tyler stepped in front of her in a coordinated move that I was sure had been utilized many times.

  Spinning on her heel, Summer glared at the two former Marines before looking back at Luna and growling at him. “I don’t forgive you for this.” She got in the SUV.

  Luna shut the door.

  “I’ll check in after she’s settled.” Tyler walked to the driver door and got behind the wheel.

  Luna nodded. “Copy that.”

  Tyler took off.

  “Jesus Christ,” Collins muttered. “Was she really selling out her friends?”

  The window on the limo went down. His phone to his ear, Leo Amherst glanced at Luna. “I’ll be in touch. Let me know if there are any problems. Fallon might show up here looking for answers.”

  At the mention of Fallon, anticipation ate up every thought in my head.

  “I’ll handle it,” Luna replied, looking less than happy.

  Fallon Amherst. Here.

  “She’ll want to know where Summer is,” Leo warned. “She’ll be persistent.”

  The woman I hadn’t laid eyes on in over a decade. The woman who was no longer married to the prick in the limo.

  “Then I’ll tell her the same thing I told you.” Luna tapped the top of the limo by the driver door twice. “I’ll be in touch.”

  With a clipped nod, Leo Amherst put the window up, and his driver took off.

  Luna’s hand fell to the holstered gun at his waist as one of the company Escalades pulled in to the garage with Ty behind the wheel and Talon Talerco in the passenger seat. Ty pulled up next to us as Talon put his window down.

  “What up, ladies?” Talon grinned and tipped his chin at me. “How’s it hangin’, Tripod?” Not waiting for a response, he glanced at Luna and Collins. “Y’all havin’ a party in the garage without me?”

  Luna ignored him and looked at Ty. “Julio Estevez handled?”

  “You were there last night,” Ty clipped. “You know what went down.”

  Luna leveled him with a look. “Estevez wasn’t a one-man operation. Taking him and his right-hand man out didn’t eliminate the problem. He had—”

  “Yeah, thirteen foot sold
iers,” Ty interrupted. “I get it. I said they’re handled.”

  “All of them?” Luna asked with no little patience.

  “Are you asking if I did my job?” Ty challenged.

  Grinning, Talon stepped into the mix. “That’s Trigger’s code for yes.”

  “For fuck’s sake, quit calling me Trigger,” Ty growled at Talon.

  “What?” Talon asked innocently. “It’s not a fittin’ nickname? Because if you ask me—”

  “No one asked you,” Ty snapped.

  Luna cut in. “Estevez’s men? Handled or not?”

  Glancing at Talon, Ty gave him a warning look.

  Talon grinned harder as he looked back at Luna. “All handled except for those pesky fuckers on rice rockets. Those bastards are fast.”

  “It’s handled,” Ty growled. “Estevez and the scum who worked for him aren’t gonna be a problem. You cut off the head, no blood flows.”

  Luna muttered a curse in Spanish. “If you didn’t handle all of his foot soldiers, then we still have a potential problem.”

  “I wouldn’t say they were on foot,” Talon interjected with a laugh. “More like breakin’ every speed limit on tricked-out, matte black Ninjas tryin’ to evade Trigger here. Did you know he drives as fast as he pulls the trigger?”

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Ty muttered.

  Talon glanced at Ty. “What? Am I wrong?”

  Luna ignored Talon again and spoke to Ty. “How many are left unaccounted for?”

  “Two of the Ninja fuckers,” Ty admitted.

  Talon held up three fingers. “Three.” Another finger popped up. “Maybe four.” He glanced at Ty. “Four, right? We had nice conversations with seven of those pussies, and since Estevez and his trigger-bitch went on a permanent vacation, that leaves four.”

  “Cristo,” Luna muttered, shaking his head. “Let’s hope that’s not enough to regroup.”

  Talon winked. “Pretty sure the rest of ’em got the message tonight.” He slapped Ty on the shoulder. “Right, Trigger?”