by Bradley,CD
“Please Javier,” Kira pleaded, “I just need blood samples from a few of the cattle. We don’t have to go into the jungle. If you will help and the men could help restrain them I can be done in just a few minutes.” Kira
“You are lucky I cannot resist a beautiful woman.” He turned and motioned for the captain to take them ashore. Then turning back to Kira. “We will have thirty minutes. No more, then we must be moving. You do not want to be here at dusk. Thirty minutes… No questions no excuses.” His dark eyes glowered down at her. Kira realized as charming as he could be the fire in his eyes was deadly.
“Si. Thirty minutes.” was all she could get out when she opened her mouth. She had started to ask why but the words wouldn’t come. Encantado.
Chapter 15
They had ridden through desert and mountains and back into the desert over the last eight hours. Stopping in Canon City and Montrose to gas up had provided their only refuge from the open road. The sun was just setting as they rolled into Grand Junction. A lone biker in black leather from her neck down the shapely figure to her boots stood next to a black Ducati Multistrada 1200 S. As Stark approached she took off her helmet and shook out her long Blond hair. One deep purple strand shone in the twilight.
“Fuck me walking” Cyrus swore as they stopped just short of the sexy pinup. “You’ve got more pussy tucked away than any other fucker on the planet!”
“Alex is a friend of Paige’s. I need a bike that can get through the dessert. She happens to be a collector. We’ve been pretty good friends over the years”, he laughed and winked at Alex. “Alex this is Cyrus and you know Jayce.” She reached out to shake their hands leather fingerless gloves revealed shiny black nails. A delicate vine from a familiar tattoo crept out from under the edge of her left glove. She caught Stark looking at it and bit her lip and smiled. Her eyes lighting up at the shared memory. Paige had done the work after they had all been on a 3-day road trip all together. He had found a wild rose and picked it for her. Paige captured the vine, the thorns and a rose for each of them perfectly.
Alex had full sleeves of tattoos on both arms. Though they were impressive, Stark knew the intricacies of her large 3D butterfly back piece were mind blowing. The way Paige had framed the wings and tail curls of the butterfly with Alex’s natural curves was fucking genius. Paige’s talent was unbelievable. He had to get Paige back.
“Hey there handsome. Word is you need a toy that can take it rough?” She stood on heels that defied gravity especially when riding a bike and smiled popping cherry red lips “You always did enjoy a wild ride.”
“You know how I like it”. He grabbed her and gave her a quick kiss. “You think you can handle this hog” He smacked her ass and nodded toward his bike.
“I always have. Is that all you’ve got for me cuz you know if you spank my ass your gonna have to pull my hair?” She pouted crimson and stared up at him. Bright Green eyes sparkled like emeralds, Alex could turn a man inside out. She would never conform for any man. She was one of those women who could be anything, accomplish anything. Stark had great respect for Alex. They had even better sex, but like with every woman he had met in the last ten years, she was a temporary fix to fill a void. No one until Kira made him feel alive again. His mind drifted to Kira. How did you get mixed up in this?
“No time tonight baby, I’m going for Paige. Take the bike to my Aspen house and I’ll meet you there when I get Paige.” He straddled her bike and tossed her his keys. “I’ll catch up with you a few days.”
“You better. Take care of my girl and don’t go getting yourself killed! You’re going to owe me one.” Alex yelled standing in the dust as they took off down the road.
The hours on the Harley were nothing compared to the jagged ride of the Ducati over the sand and rough terrain. Stark didn’t give two fucks about a sore taint. He loved the road and was on a do or die mission. The rally they were about to crash was as fucking crazy and dangerous as their final objective. The Dominant Six, outlaw bands that ruled the wastelands, met up in a post-apocalyptic looking orgy where the only law was the mother fucker with the biggest guns. With hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug deals, gun deals, and more pussy than you could shake your dick at, it was inevitable for one of these rallies to end in some bloodshed.
Stark had been one time previous, when he learned just how fucking crazy Cyrus could be. Cyrus had almost gotten them all killed that time, when he took down another biker over a girl. Cyrus was one mother fucker not to mess with. He would bite your damn ear off. Crazy shit, but he never left a man behind and he didn’t take shit from anyone. He was already on the other side of a line Stark could not cross.
Stark was still active duty. He lived and died by a code of honor that did not permit walking into these shadows of the forgotten. The law and freedoms he fought to protect had no place here. Riding with this crew was crossing over into a realm few came back from. He would not only have to watch his six but Cyrus too. They were riding as one crew, live or die, together.
The desert stretched on black before them no light save the full moon cascading across the landscape. A cloud of dust billowed up behind the relentless force as they approach fires that appeared in the distance. The dropped and chopped model T threw on its brakes as they approach the sea of bikes and rat rods. A flat faced man with a weathered hat and dread locks raised and unimpressed eyebrow and asked who the fuck they are.
Cyrus jumped down from his truck train and raised his goggles on his head. “Who the fuck wants to know?” He walked up to the man. The stoic man remained on his stool. He slowly raised his beer and took a sip. Cyrus glared at him, wild eyes reflecting in the moonlight.
The dreadlocked stranger raised his locked and loaded sawed off shot gun into Cyrus’s face. He spat a long thick string of tobacco juice into the sand then turned to Stark and Jayce who approached calmly at Cyrus’ sides. “Keep your dog on a leash.” The old man bellowed at Stark and Jayce. They guided Cyrus between two parked cars that formed the entrance to the revelry. Fires burned in bins and from torches suspended to provide light. Girls with wild windswept hair and scantly rawhide clad bodies danced on the top of wrecked cars left for dead in the desert. Stark and Jayce followed Cyrus to a scrap metal bar. The bar tender was a red head with goggles holding back her wild hair. She had dark gray makeup around her eyes and large black discs in her ears. She wore a leather harness and corset that restricted and exposed her breasts at the same time. She wore two large belts one studded the other with metal rings all the way around. Her shorts were a scrap of black fabric exposing a fine fucking ass and fishnets that were partially covered by garter straps and above the knee ratty stockings that lead down to untied combat boots.
Hell fucking yeah. The fishnets reminded him of seeing Kira in the video at the club. God damn that girl. He couldn’t fight the desire to want her home safe and his. He wondered if the enforcer had seen her at the club for the first time or if he had encountered her before that. The recognition of Kira’s face told him that she had seen him before too. Even if she was too intoxicated to remember where. Where could someone like Kira have come in contact with a drug cartel enforcer? That was neither here nor there now. He turned his mind and smile to the red head in front of him.
The woman’s eyes lit up when she saw Stark. She licked her lips and smiled. “What’s your poison baby?’ Her smooth voice was sexy as hell.
“You got whiskey?” He asked still looking her up and down.
“I got whatever you want.” She purred and grabbed a bottle. Stark had one thing on his mind finding Paige but to do it he was going to have to blend in. If the rat bastard who took Paige was here he would most likely recognize him. He had to look like he was just there with the crew having one hell of a good time. He took the whiskey and downed it while Jayce and Cyrus got theirs. Stark scanned the arena. No sign of the Sinaloa crew.
“Give it time.” Jayce advised putting a hand on his shoulder. “The night is young brother. They’ll show.�
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“I’m not sure how much time she has.” Stark willed himself to believe that she was still alive. He wouldn’t give up till he knew one way or the other and brought her home.
People were clustered in small groups, negotiating deals, gambling or just watching hot girls grope each other. Stark scanned each group cautiously. He didn’t want to appear too nosey. A nark or worse a cop would be ripped to shreds here with nothing left to be discovered. Dead men tell no tales. The cautionary tale was more than an ancient pirate motto. Here abiding could mean life or death.
Another crew rolled in. Stark watched them. He couldn’t be sure but they looked like they could belong to Los Zetas. This would be fucking bad. Stark nudged Cyrus as he went for another drink. Cyrus turned and slowly nodded. Zetas were bad news. Stark knew from his antidrug missions in South America that Los Zetas were the most technologically advanced, ruthlessly violent and dangerous cartel that operated in Mexico. Their organization had expanded beyond the traditional drug trafficking to sex trafficking and gun running rackets. They may be here to expand territory or do an arms or drug trade. If the Sinaloa cartel showed this would end very badly. Stark just hoped they could find Paige before the whole damn place went to hell.
Two women, one in a leather sarong, gun belt and leather bra the other in a metallic mini dress and blue gray hair began fist fighting and knocked over a fire bin. The woman with long blue gray dusty hair climbed on top of the other and waylaid her in the face. The commotion drew a crowd cheering and yelling. From a ratty tent on the other side of the arena a few members of the Sinaloa cartel emerged with ak-47s, and spread out as if they were clearing the area. They stood silently observing the ruckus, but didn’t appear phased by it. Fuck! The Sinaloa enforcers hadn’t seemed to notice the Zetas yet. But the Zeta’s saw them and four men slipped back out of the main crowd. Stark knew the Zetas weren’t retreating. Shit was about to go down. He had to get closer to the Sinaloa tent and see who was in there.
Stark grabbed a woman with short pink hair wearing a top made of leather straps and a short pleated skirt and pulled her to him. She squealed with laughter and stared up into his eyes, her lips turned upward in a carnal smile. He buried his face in her neck kissing and nipping while he grabbed a hand full of semi bare ass and pulled her leg up around him. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his massive shoulders. Stark kept up the farce while keeping one eye on the tent. He moved in staggered steps carrying the woman as if he had too much to drink. She moaned and rocked in to him with each movement. Over her shoulder he caught Jayce’s eye and nodded toward the tent. When Stark got within 20 feet of the tent more enforcers emerged.
The rat bastard they had come to hunt the fuck down stood just outside the make shift door talking to a Mexican man dressed far too sharply to belong in that crew. Who the fuck is that? Stark tried to recall ever seeing him before. He was bald but had a thin black mustache and beard. The enforcers kept up a perimeter around the man. If he was a cartel leader, the Zetas may be coming to take him out. Everyone around him seemed to be oblivious to what was about to happen
Stark needed to move closer without drawing attention to himself. His sexy cover could only get him so far. Still nuzzled in her neck he watched the tent through strands of her pink hair. He moved her up against a beater truck just ten feet from the tent. He laid her back on the hood and began kissing down her abdomen. Her back was to the tent and he was shielded by the bucket of rust. While caressing her breast with his left hand he drew his gun and chambered it with his right. Fernandez Valencia stood with his back to him. Stark watched him take a long draw from his cigarette. This was the sleazy fucking bastard who had taken Paige while trying to break into Kira’s house. He resisted the urge to shoot the fucker in the head. Stark knew he was going to have to make a move before the Zetas returned. He needed answers and he needed to find Paige. Stark wanted to know why he had been at Kira’s house in the first place. How the hell was she mixed up in this crew? Could it have been a mistake? Was he after Paige all along?
Cyrus’ loud mouth arguing with someone distracted him for a moment. He turned in time to see a table flip over and money and coke litter the air like a ticker tape parade. The bounty rained to the ground and the crowd went wild. The object of Cyrus’ tirade fell back into the dust. He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth with a tattooed hand and drew his weapon with the other. Cyrus stood over him a gun in each hand. Their standoff amplified and the echo of a hundred weapons clicking ready filled the air.
Cyrus and his crew stood guns drawn facing the MC crew equally armed and not backing down. In this world a battle of this magnitude could go one of two ways. Either the two men would fight it out to the death if necessary or the whole fucking thing could implode and it would be may-lay chaos. This fire fight was not one they would likely walk away from.
Stark turned back to the tent the older man had disappeared but the Sinaloa enforcers, including the fucker he was after, were emerging like ants from a mound. This shit was about to get fucking real. They descended on Cyrus and his crew.
Fuck Cyrus. Stark dropped the girl he was holding. He had to get closer to that tent. But he had to back up crazy fucking Cyrus. God damn it! Stark shook his head, gritted his teeth and started to raise his weapon.
Chapter 16
Kira watched anxiously from the deck of the boat while Javier went ashore and began speaking to the men in charge of the cattle. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but by the adamant way Javier was waving his hands around in frustration it wasn’t going well. The larger obese man spat in the dirt and countered Javier.
“I don’t think we are going to shore.” Holt snickered.
Kira looked at her watch they were losing daylight. She needed to get those samples. This was the first commercial cattle she had seen on this trip. Javier was really going out on a limb for her. She was probably going to owe him later. Maybe when they made it back to Iquitos she and Brooke and Holt could take him out to eat.
Another man showed up spoke to Javier and the cattle boss. He seemed to recognize Javier and nodded granting them access. Yes! Kira knew she had to make this quick. She hustled off the boat as soon as Javier motioned for her. Holt sulked along behind her. Tying up cows to draw their blood was not part of the written protocol and Holt was suspicious at best.
Once on land Kira asked Javier to explain that she needed to draw blood from a few of the cows. Javier turned to the men and explained in Spanish.
“Dama vampiro loco!” The cattle boss responded and nodded toward Kira. He shook his head and then motioned to his men. Four men roped and wrestled a steer down and did their best to hold it. Kira approached timidly. A veterinarian she was not. The idea of sticking a needle in a 1200 pound animal made her nervous to say the least. Kira did her best to remember exactly where to go to draw the blood according to the chart Brooke had shown her. Please God let me do this right. Kira prayed silently as she prepped the area with the provided betadine swabs. She prepared the needle and attached it to the hub. She asked Holt to hold the draw tubes. The tubes were pressurized with a slight vacuum. If you put it on the hub too soon the pressure with go out and it won’t draw blood. She held up the needle apparatus carefully lining up with the direction she wanted to go. The moment the needle pierced the skin the animal writhed and bucked throwing one of the men to the ground and busting Kira in the face. Kira fell backwards and dropped the draw kit in the dust.
“Shit!” Kira yelled and held her hands up to her bleeding nose. Javier pulled out a white handkerchief and handed it to her to hold pressure.
“This is crazy!” Holt threw out to no one in particular. “Kira you are going to get yourself killed. Why are you so damn stubborn all the damn time?” He paced back and forth and then went over to help her up. “Can we not just stick to the protocol?”
“This is part of what they are requesting now.” Kira mostly told the truth, “I want to do the best job possible. Captain Holt, with your help we c
an knock this out. What do you say?” She smiled up at him.
“Oh fuck.” He responded and retrieved another draw kit from the pack. “Alright what do you need me to do?”
“If you can help hold the tail we can get a sample from the tail vein.” Kira offered.
“You are shitting me.” He replied wrinkling his nose.
“Let’s hope not.” Kira offered and laughed. Holt lifted the tail. Kira took a 4x4 and betadine and wiped the area clean. A little sheen of sweat formed on her forehead. She would be drawing from the midline of the underside of the tail. She inserted the needle at a 90 degree angle to the tail into the coccygeal vein. The animal bucked but this time she was ready. She held firm and maintained her position placing the vacutainer on the hub. This time the process was successful.
“Ok one down! See Holt we make a good team.” Kira was excited with their success. “How much more time do we have, Javier?” She asked beaming up at him.
He shook his head and smiled. “Probably time for two more if they go as smooth as the last one.
They prepped for the next one. Both Kira and Holt moved smoother and more relaxed this time around. See one, do one, teach one. The mantra from Medical school played in her head. Kira was surprised by just how true that was. One success and the confidence builds. After a while, especially in school, that confidence built to the point they could actually teach a skill they had only learned a week or a month before. She remembered the first time she had performed a spinal tap. God she had been so fucking nervous. Inserting a spinal needle into someone’s back. Having the patient roll up and stick their back out like a cat. Prepping and cleaning the area, the whole time praying she didn’t cause them to get meningitis. Then using imaginary x-ray vision to visualize placing the needle between the spinous processes and into the cauda equina or horses tail of the spinal cord. Kira had fought through the fear and remained calm. She recalled other students who passed out. Despite her initial nerves though, Kira had become quite good at it. Her steady hands helped with all her procedures.
