Chapter Nine
Simone felt like she was in a tunnel; she was aware of her brother sobbing as he begged for forgiveness. They said they would take Lisa and kill her and the baby she was carrying if he didn’t tell them something.
“I told them you were a P.I. and would come looking for me.”
His hand weakly grasped hers, catching her attention.
“Sim, one of them that kept questioning me, knew who you were before you left New Orleans.” He went quiet then, Jesse spoke up.
“How much would these guys know about you, Sim?”
She peeked around the headrest by Jesse’s right ear, looking around at the men surrounding them and saw there was more than one she either been trained under or had been part of her ‘punishments.’
She murmured in his ear, “At least three of them were part of my training.”
She looked discreetly out the back window then whispered, “Maybe four, I can’t say if that’s him or his brother.”
He gave a bare nod, “So, they know all about you?”
A wicked smile teased the corners of her mouth, “Not everything.”
She sobered, “But they do know I won’t go down without a fight.”
She looked at the tree line to the left of them.
“When I was a teen, I made a point to have an exit plan. I checked the clearing, it’s still there, and we can be right on the highway and back to town in half the time.”
He made a sound of realization, “That’s why you wanted the jeep.” She hummed in agreement, “I hoped I wouldn’t need something for off-terrain, but wanted to be prepared. Get this thing into four-wheel drive and be prepared to haul ass on my count.”
One of the men in front of the jeep, lowered his gun slightly, “Sabine, you have ten seconds to come out, or we open fire.”
A cruel smirk twisted the older man’s face, “We have orders to bring you in alive, Binny. Didn’t say anything about you being in one piece or the other two coming in alive.”
When he shifted his weight, Simone saw their chance; she leaned in and said one word in a tense voice, “Now.”
The idle engine roared to life as Jesse floored the gas and turned the wheel, narrowly escaping two men being hit. The third wasn’t so lucky as he went flying with a yelp and landing with a thud.
By the time the rest of them were on their feet again, Jesse was plowing down the path Simone set with directions barked in his ear.
The leader let loose a roar and opened fire at the back of the Jeep, screaming, “I’ll kill that bitch!”
Then went tearing toward the heavy-terrain truck, gesturing the rest, “Get you asses in the trucks!”
They scrambled to comply, racing after them. Simone gripped the headrest tightly as she guided Jesse deeper into the bayou as they pushed the jeep to its maximum speed. Their head start didn’t last long as she heard a ping-ping and saw the head lights flash into the rearview mirror.
“Damn,” she hissed.
She scrambled over the back seat, checking Jimmy as she did. In the back, she felt around the floorboard and found the false piece. Pulling it out she grinned as she pulled the hidden rifle out and a mental note to thank Harry the next time she saw him. She loaded and cocked it, calling out to Jesse to open the window and pulled the barrel into the corner. Like she had done hundreds of times, she lined up her target and took aim. She fired a shot off and hit the front wheel of one of the trucks following them. Her second and third shots hit the other front tire and fractured the windshield. This put the truck out of the fight, but not the other one. They side-swiped them, knocking Simone into the side, jarring her. She scrambled back over the back seat and seated herself on the window side. Just as she was readying to shoot their tires out, they rammed them again, Jesse lost control of the wheel, and they started to spin. They picked up speed and suddenly, they were airborne, then they were upside down, and metal and glass rained down as Simone’s head connected with the hand rest above, then darkness.
***
When Simone came to, she didn’t know if it had been minutes or hours. Only that she could smell smoke and getting out of the vehicle was a top priority.
She unbuckled the seatbelt which she was glad she had the foresight to put on and put out her hand to stop herself from landing on the jeep roof. She glanced around and saw Jimmy was still buckled in and dangling in his seat. As she neared him, she didn’t like his color. Chalk had more color than the boy did. She held her breath as she felt for a pulse.
Tears burnt her eyes as she felt a steady pulse, but her relief was short-lived, the fire was spreading, and they were still in the jeep. She grabbed the pack that managed to survive the crash and starts the task of getting her injured brother out of the jeep. He was near dead weight, and while Simone was strong, she was still dragging a nearly grown unconscious man. Finally, they were free of the jeep, and she pulled him over to the large willow she spotted. Securing him, Simone went back for Jesse. She crawled back in and unhooked him. Sim struggled to catch him and heard to her relief, his groan. As she pulled him free, he came to. She leaned over him, her hand over his mouth. Her finger pressed to his lips, indicating quiet. She had heard the other truck pull up and leaned in so close her lips brushed his ear, “Can you move?”
He nodded, his fingers brushing the blood from her temple from a trickling cut. She didn’t even realize she had been hurt. She looked to the rapidly burning vehicle and made a decision. She looked down at him, “When I start for the jeep, move as fast as you can to the large willow over there.”
She gestured, “Jimmy’s there and out of it.”
She handed him a pendant she had under her shirt, and showed the stone in the center, “I sent a distress call to Harry when they started chasing us in the bayou. He should be here soon.”
Hopefully with backup.
She brushed her lips across his cheek and whispered in a voice so soft she didn’t think he heard her, “I love you. Be safe and watch out for Jimmy.”
Then she crawled back into the burning vehicle. She made a show of kicking the back window out, then climbing out of the window and onto the grass with several men surrounding her as she crawled a short distance from the now engulfed vehicle.
All were armed, and they let her know they were willing to take the chance she didn’t come back in ‘one piece.’
She hid the smirk she felt as they pulled her away and shoved her to her knees. She heard one say the jeep was engulfed, so there was no way the other two survived. She only hoped they didn’t check the surrounding area. As they secured that there were no others, they moved her a safe distance from the burning jeep.
She saw they kept a tight grip on their weapons and their body language said they expected trouble. They feared her. She bites back the smirk, they were smart to.
Some of the older ones had trained her and seen her in action. They wanted the assassin, they motherfucking got her.
The leader, Bobby, looked down at her, a sneer at her knelt form, “I hope the Boss tears your little high-n-mighty ass up, you little uppity bitch. I just hope I get a lick in too.”
He leered down at her as she knelt at his feet, he didn’t see her palm her knife, till it was too late.
In a fluid motion, she sliced him from thighs to throat and left him dying in the grass. The next had her knife buried in his chest and his gun in her hand, firing at the next opponent before he hit the ground. The next one was younger and didn’t underestimate her like his older counterparts. He disarmed her and backhanded her, splitting her lip and jerked her head to the side. She narrowed her eyes and pulled her arm back, and swung, connecting hard with his jaw, before kicking him in the torso, knocking him onto his back. When he reached for his gun at his side, she was quicker and fired a shot. He was alive, but defiantly wasn’t going to get back up anytime soon.
The next one she saw was running away. The gun was up and aiming, setting him in her sights. Simone was fighting that cold-blooded side of her that
said, “Make it a head shot.” Instead, she aimed for his leg and fired two rounds, taking his knee out and falling him. He went down with a scream but didn’t get back up.
Like she was in a tunnel, she became aware of clapping. She looked up to the lone truck still running and saw a man standing in the bed of the truck.
“Well done, little Binny. Or is it Sim, now? I must say I like Simone a lot better. How’s my girl?”
That was when Simone really knew fear. When she was a child, he had been her father’s gopher, though she didn’t remember him at the time. When she was eighteen and still so shy and naïve of men, this man taught her. He was also worse than her father. Raymond LeVeu never truly hid the monster he was. Gabriel hid his behind a handsome face and a charming smile. One she didn’t know about till it was too late. He walked down to her and brushed the blood from her chin, making her flinch. The gun in her hand was shaking so bad, she couldn’t have aimed if she tried. Memories were flooding back, both good and bad, of her brief time with this man.
The smile that used to set her heart aflutter now had it thundering hard in her chest. Everything was screaming at her to run, run and never look back.
“I never forgot you, little Sabine. I still want forever with you. Be mine, and we’ll rule New Orleans together. The way we should have from the start.”
And this was the reason for all of this, she realized. The old family law dictated the right to be Boss had to be either won or by marriage. Despite her not being Ray’s birth child, marrying her would cement his position as Boss.
What made this man so dangerous was that eight years ago, she would have yes in a heartbeat. No matter how wrong it was, she would have said yes, because she was so in love with this man. She would have given just about anything to be by his side for the rest of her life.
But not anymore. This man wasn’t what she wanted or needed; if anything, he taught her he was the very opposite of what she needed. And what she needed was currently hiding in the trees. She took a slow step back, then another, shaking her head.
“No, Gabriel. I’m not little Sabine no more, and I won’t be yours. Not ever again.”
And just like that, the monster surfaced, and he backhanded her hard, making her taste blood from her split lip. The blow stunned her, but she remained on her feet. The switch inside her flipped; after seeing her mother suffer under a man’s fists, she swore no man would ever lay a hand on her. She swung her arm back, and she put all her rage, hurt and pain behind that blow and connected. His head turned to the side, his cheek laid open from her ring and stumbled back a few steps. She then landed a spinning kick to his skull, knocking him to the ground. Holding a broken and bleeding nose, he looked at her with fury burning in his eyes and pulled the gun from his side, only to find she was faster. He was flat on his back, her foot at his throat and his gun pointed at his head. This time, the gun was steady in her hand. She stood there for what felt like hours, debating with herself, end it all with one shot or not.
Slowly, she became aware of footsteps coming her way. She turned her head to the sound; a few feet away from her, was a man she hadn’t seen since she was fifteen and was trying to outrun both the floods and her father. Her uncle Michael and behind him, the oldest of the Corbin siblings, Harry. Michael slowly moved to her, keeping his hands where she could see them. She knew the rest of their team had to be nearby.
Waiting.
Michael gestured to the gun in her hand.
“It’s over Sim. He’s finished, his empire is in pieces now, and his boys are either dead or in custody. Just give me the gun.”
“Are you sure, Uncle Mike?” she whispered.
“Are you certain he’s done? That he’ll go to prison now?”
She pulled the hammer back till it clicked, “Cause if he’s just going to get out of it. I can end it all now and save the tax payer’s money.”
Harry cleared his throat, drawing her attention to him.
“They're alive, Sim. Jimmy’s being treated now, we’re going to medivac him out of here soon, so is the other guy.” He shook his head, “Take it from me, not getting to see your baby sister every day, not getting to see her for years, is not something I would want to do again.”
Mike saw her starting to waver, “Your mama’s already lost one baby, don’t make her lose another one. Don’t make your brothers and sisters have to see you through a plate-glass window.”
Slowly, she nodded and handed the gun, butt-first to Michael. He gestured, and a swarm of agents came over and picked the downed man up, handcuffing him and reading him his rights. Mike wrapped an arm around his niece’s shoulders while they walked over to the awaiting ambulance. They were feet away from the bus when the adrenaline left her system, and she became aware of her various bruises, bumps, and injuries. Her uncles got her between them when her legs gave out. A headache she had been fighting since she came to came back with a vengeance. The last thing Sim had heard before she lost consciousness was her uncle Harry calling a medic over.
***
The next few hours were a whirlwind for Simone once she regained consciousness. She hadn’t been out long, but the doctors were still keeping her overnight not wanting to play around with a head injury. Sim said no and told them she was going to be in the waiting room for her brother to come out of surgery. They could check her there.
Once the doctor cleared her to talk with the Feds, they moved in and began the process of both processing her and asking questions about her case and what she had done. She fully cooperated with the FBI, but not the agent interviewing her. When she said she would only talk with Agent Nick Abbott or the Director, he tried to kick up a fuss. Till a tall African-American man came in and flashed his badge as Agent Abbott, she had the other agent shown the door.
Once he was gone, she gave Nick all the back-ups she had for the cases they had been working on that had crossed paths. He looked through the files she handed him and the other information she had found and given him. Some of it was old information she had while she was a teenager, but some of it was still relevant. He looked up at her from his file, “This could finally put the nail in the coffin in the New Orleans crime bosses.”
She nodded, “Good. Just sorry ol’ Ray won’t be included in the round-up.”
He smirked at her, “I’m sure you are.”
He stood up from the chair he was sitting in and gathered all the files in one hand, holding out his other hand for her to shake. She held out her opposite hand, her other one was sprained and wrapped up. He smiled down at her, making his solemn face change into a surprisingly attractive one.
“It was a pleasure to work with you, Lieutenant Brandon.”
She shook it, a wan smile tugging at her mouth, “Please, call me Sim. And the same to you.” She shifted in the bed, wincing when a sore spot was aggravated.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but if our paths cross again, I hope it’s not so…. crazy.” He laughed, “Same to you, though I’m impressed with what I saw tonight. You sure you won’t reconsider joining us. We could use more agents like you.”
She shook her head, “My fighting days are done. Give me a cheating spouse any day of the week!”
***
The elevator dinged and Simone got off at the floor she was looking for. She hobbled down the hall to the surgery waiting room.
She actually wasn’t supposed to be up; she was supposed to be in her room resting. But she would rest after she heard how Jimmy fared, Sim hadn’t seen her little brother since she pulled him from the jeep and he hadn’t been looking good then.
She made her way up to the waiting room and saw Gunn was already there, along with a man and woman that must be her Aunt Stella and Uncle Tommy, based on Gunn’s description of them. Having met them for the first time, she was glad her uncle Mike had stopped by her motel room and picked her up a change of clothes. She would much rather be meeting them in a pair of old yoga pants and t-shirt, than the hospital gown she had been in.
She sat down next to Gunn, “Have you heard anything yet?” He shook his head, “No, but the doc said his heart was holding up pretty strong, and they’re in there now resetting his arm. Heard the doc say they would check his ribs make sure nothing was hurt worse in the crash.”
Hesitantly, he took her hand, “There is no way to tell you how grateful I am you found him and brought him home, Sim.” He lifted her hand to his face, brushing a fatherly kiss over her bandaged hand. He cleared his throat, patting her hand, “How glad I am that you both did. I can’t express how relieved that both my youngins made it out of there.” He searched her face, “You are okay, right?”
She nodded, “Yeah, the sprain’s the worst. I’ve had worse during spar sessions with Jane.”
He raised his eyebrows at the mention of the petite detective. Sim shook her head, “Hey, don’t look surprised. There’s a reason for the saying ‘big things come in small packages,’ and Jane fits the bill!”
He nodded, he could believe that. His Celeste had been like that; she didn’t stand more than five foot but would and could wipe the floor with him if she was given a reason. Heaven knows, he gave her a lot of reasons in their short time together.
Thinking about his late wife made him realize how close he came to losing that last connection to her. And that got him thinking; he looked over at his daughter, the child he had always wondered about after he left Louisiana, but thought he’d never have the chance to know. A woman he was proud to call his daughter.
“So Max came to me last night. Told me the truth. That they weren’t dating and it was him and a girl in her band.” Gunn gave a weak chuckle, “Apparently, I’m going to be a grandpa.”
A full-blown laugh erupted from him, one that went on for a full minute before he could contain it.
“I’m sorry. It just hit me now, I’m gonna be a granddaddy.”
Sim smiled in understanding, and it clicked for her then. She had been aware Jimmy’s girlfriend was pregnant, but after everything, it fully clicked what that really meant. She started laughing too, “I’m gonna be an aunt. Again.”
Simone's Midnight Call (Mississippi Series Book 2) Page 7
