On Borrowed Time (Men of Honor book 3)

by Rhonda Lott

  “You have me, now leave them alone.” Alana pleaded.

  Bates pulled Alana by the arm and backed up towards the door. “Keep them covered boys until we're out, then you know what to do.”

  “You’re a dead man Mason Bates. That’s a promise.” Ace shouted.

  Bates pushed her outside. Alana closed her eyes, her heart in her throat, gunfire erupted the instant the door clicked closed.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ACE

  Something about the way she sat in that black sedan, her head held high, back ramrod straight, slashed Ace’s heart open. He hunkered down low on the back of his motorcycle and pulled onto a side street. The car came to a stop in front of a construction site. The place was dark, rows of skeletal framed homes and a hand full of completed ones dotted the site.

  They were in one of the older neighborhoods of Atlanta. The post-Civil War homes were being bought by big businesses and converted into mini mansions. Another car sat out front of the home where Bates was dragging Alana. Lewis’ no doubt. Ace jumped off the bike, his body moving on autopilot. The urge to rush Bates and get Alana the hell away from the little prick rode him hard, but he needed to give Kane enough time to get there.

  The condominium was crawling with cops and David’s lawyers. Dead police officers scattered around your living room was quite the thing to explain, but Ace didn’t give a shit. Dawn and Alex were safe and that was all he needed to know. David was skilled at handling that side of things all on his lonely. Right now, he had to concentrate on Alana. His palms were slick and his heart thundered in his chest. Alana was way out of her league with these guys. Bates was a coward and cowards were the worst. He would do anything to save his own ass, and right now Lewis had him, believing that getting that flash drive back would save them. No way. That ship sailed the second they put their hands on his woman, the moment they burst into David’s house. McAdams wouldn’t sleep tonight with Lewis and Bates still breathing.

  Alana stumbled and fell onto her knees on the gravel walkway. Ace clenched his teeth. She didn’t talk much about her time with Esteban, only that she was basically ignored. A fucking cartel boss treated her with more respect than this “man of the law”. Bates shoved her into one of the completed model homes. Ace kept to the shadows, eyes trained on the pair.

  Waiting was something he hated with a passion. With Alana’s life in jeopardy, the pain of having to wait ate away at his insides. His fear for Alana moved him from the shadows up to the side window where a faint light glowed. Once she disappeared behind that door, in the grip of two men who had nothing to lose, he felt a dark urgency take hold of him. A panic of desperation so strong it compelled him to rush in, guns blazing and get his firecracker back whatever the fucking risk. Ace pulled air in and relaxed his tense muscles, attempting to pull himself together. He wouldn’t be any use to her if he didn’t get his shit together.

  Alana wasn’t some random woman in trouble. They weren’t together only for her safety, no she was his. He steered clear of commitment, because with commitment came disappointment and pain. The deep down fear that the woman he opened up to would one day leave remained constant in the back of his mind. Ace had to face the fact that this beautiful woman was worth the chance. He didn’t know the reason why she felt like forever, but she did, and now he had to keep her alive and free long enough to convince her that they had something real and deserving of a chance to grow.

  A door slammed inside and Ace peered in the window, but all he could see was from mid chest down. Furnisher filled the place, giving buyers an idea of how their new home could look, but it also obscured his view. Lewis was speaking to Bates, his voice so low that it was impossible to hear what he was saying. Alana was on a flowered sofa, her hands stuck in the pockets of her jeans and her eyes darting around the room. She sat poised on the edge of her seat, prepared to make a break for it at any minute. And yet, she appeared to be calm, a little too calm. How did his little firecracker appear to be at afternoon tea when she was minutes away from torture or worse?

  Fuck this. Ace wasn’t waiting any longer. He crouched under the window and jogged up to the back entrance. Kane would have to play clean up because right now, his woman needed him and standing around with his dick in his hand while they threatened her wasn’t happening. The detective in him wanted answers, justice. The man simply needed heads to roll.

  ALANA

  A fucking lunatic, Bates was a fucking lunatic. He stood facing the chief of police, face red and sweaty, black tactical gear crumpled and stained, unruly blond hair sticking up in awkward spots. He reminded her of a spoiled kid throwing a temper tantrum. Why did she fear him in the first place, oh yeah, she was a wuss. That was the reason she didn’t stand up to Bates when he blackmailed her that night the bastard killed Rosa. Hiding from life, from people, or from conflict was the way she lived back then.

  Alana scooted closer to the edge of the overstuffed sofa. For some unknown reason the body numbing fear that took her over whenever there was conflict was absent tonight. Bates was away from the condo and that was all that mattered. She prayed Alex and her unborn child were safe. The flash drive was in Ace’s possession. Even if the night turned out badly for her, the evidence was safe. That was a comfort of a sort.

  The chief banged a meaty fist down on the desk. His captivating presence overpowered the room. The chief obviously was once a large well-built man, but now his clothes hung on his body and his skin seem to sag in places. The old warrior in him remained evident in the way he held himself. This guy was pissed. He must have seen and done a lot of scary shit over the years, he wore it like a second skin. The two men were both staring daggers at one another. The chief ignored her and that was more frightening than if he was engaging with her. Being nonexistent, meant he didn’t have any qualms about disposing of her once he got what he wanted.

  The urge to run was unbearable. They were in the office of an empty house. It was furnished and cozy, a stage set for viewing, vacant of life. The model home sat deathly quiet, as if cut off from the rest of the world. Alana wasn’t familiar with this part of Atlanta; she only knew that she was miles away from the condo, miles away from Ace. She was stuck. They held all the cards and any minute now, they were going to want that drive, the drive she didn’t have.

  “What the hell are you doing? The chief stood banging his fist down on the desk again hard enough to break the wood. “Raiding McAdams’ house was not the plan, asshole.”

  Anger radiated off Chief Lewis. Alana shuttered, bowing her body back slightly away from the hostile heat coming from the men. She clutched her cell phone in her pocket, her mind racing. What to do? Could she get her phone out and recode this? She might not survive this night, but maybe, she could record something Ace would be able to use. Alana twisted her body slightly to the side, afraid they would notice any sudden movements. Taking quick peeks down, she tapped her voice recorder on. Luckily the two were so engrossed in each other they didn’t pay her any attention. Yet.

  “I changed the plan.” Bates shot back. The little cowered appeared non-paused by the chief’s obvious temper. “I got tired of waiting for you to end this shit. We will both go to prison for drug trafficking if that flash drive sees the light of day, chief. My brother was one tough son of a bitch and he took his own life because of the hell of that place. That’s not going to happen to me.”

  The chief slid a hand across his sweaty bald head. His eyes black in his ashen face. “Everything I loved was lost to me when I got involved with the cartel. Bates don’t you understand. The money was fast and good while it lasted, this graveyard of my dreams around you. This was my grand idea. Use my ill-gotten gain to build a legacy for my sons. So stupid of me. Everything is gone, my money, my fucking dream, my family and soon my freedom.”

  “Please. It wasn’t the money that enticed you to get into bed with Esteban. It was the drugs, plain and simple. Yeah, I knew you were hooked. The drugs ate away at your life until you would kill your own mother to keep g
etting high.” Bates sneered.

  All anger drained from Lewis’ face. His body sagged back into his chair. Alana watched what once must have been a proud, honorable man; sink into a dejected, self-loathing clump of humanity.

  “You going to kill this woman?” Lewis asked, his voice strained and low.

  Both sets of eyes shifted her way. Lewis’ dark, sad, conflicted.

  “Not until I get that flash drive. I’m not going to be caged up like my brother.” Bates turned his full focus on her, his icy blue eyes traveling up and down her. “I might enjoy searching those luscious curves.”

  White-hot fury ignited in the center of her being and electrified every cell in her body. Too long had she allowed her fear to hold her back? Life had sent one disaster after another her way. Losing both her mom and dad in one fell swoop broke something in her young heart and mind. Fear occupied her body from then on, shutting down her ability to be confident and form lasting relationships. Why venture out in the world and forge bonds with people when they would die or leave you. She lost Rosa and Ms. Kate, her only family. Now she was alone and fear was spreading through her once more. Alana gazed into Bates’ face. In that moment, she knew this terror would be her last.

  “I won’t be a part of this.” Lewis grumbled.

  “Then get the fuck out. You’re useless to me.” Bates shot Lewis one last scowl of disgust, then brought his attention back to Alana.

  She stiffened, the picture she built in her mind of Bates, as the sniveling coward was shattered by the mad gleam in his blue eyes. A demonic cruelness emanated from him. Gone was the man she told herself wasn’t a threat to her any longer. Bates had flipped a switch and wasn’t playing the part of the inapt, slouchy cop anymore. He dropped the act and what stood before her was evil. Death was the promise in his gaze. His body straightened and seemed to grow larger before her eyes.

  Alana’s breathing quickened. She felt that fear she carried pushing its way into her, holding her in its grip. No. She clamped down on that rising tide of panic. Holding herself as still as possible, she inhaled slow, deep breaths, her eyes locked onto his. I can’t show him fear; if I do, he wins. He can’t beat me again.

  Flashes of memories assailed her. Alana was back in her bedroom. Bates was glaring at her with his soulless eyes in the darkened room. Anger and fear warred within her. The anger would have to win out, this one time, it had to win.

  “The drive.” He barked, pulling her back to the present.

  “I don’t have it on me.” Alana stammered.

  “You have to have it, I’ve searched everywhere.” He stepped closer.

  “Don’t touch me. I swear it’s not on me.”

  He glared at her, as if weighing her words. “Take me to it.” He demanded.

  Bates put his face inches from hers. A move of intentional intimidation, meant to frighten her into capitulation.

  Alana was shaking inside. She had to stall him. Raw determination to get the damning evidence poured off him.

  “No.” Alana snapped.

  Bates’ face tightened, he grabbed her by the front of her shirt. “Oh, hell no. You’re not gonna grow a backbone now bitch.” He lifted her up off the sofa and slammed her down hard onto the hardwood floor. “What makes you think, for one second that I won’t hesitate to drag your fat ass back to that girls home of yours and let you watch me beat the living shit out of them little hoes till you give me what I want?”

  Her girls. He would kill each one of them with ease. He had no soul, the bastard. Something snapped inside Alana. She felt it shift in her. Anger won at last. No way in hell would she let this living piece of filth get near them. Her need to protect the girls fired her blood to boil.

  Alana struggled up onto her feet, facing her worst nightmare with her head held high. She would not cower, hell no. If she was going to die, she would do it fighting with all she had.

  “I said no, you motherfucker. You don’t scare me. You’ll have to kill me right now, because I’d rather die than let you close to my girls.”

  His fist connected with her face. Knocking her back onto the floor. Intense pain shot through her face and the room spun. She pressed her palms to the cold wood, her body shaking and her face throbbing. Alana glared up at him, crawled up to her knees and spit blood on his feet.

  Bates laughed, a cold grating sound in the deadly quiet of the house. “Before I’m done with you, big girl, you’ll give me that flash drive and any damn thing else I want.”

  He raised his fist to land another blow. Alana calmed her mind and readied herself. Not today asshole. Today I fight back.

  ACE

  One single panel, ordinary interior door stood between him and his Alana. Ace pushed the door open a sliver to search the dimly lit room. Lewis was there behind a black stained desk, his fist clenched on top of it, his body slumped. The only movement on the man were his eyes; they flashed around the room like a cornered animal. Ace held his breath, scanning the room. Alana knelt before a laughing Bates, his hand raised, poised to strike. He could make out her body’s slight trembling, but her face glowed with courage and resolution. Her chin jutted out in challenge, she was waiting for his next move, infusing her body with bravery that came at a cost to her. A dark red mark marred her cheek. Bates had hit her. His firecracker, the son of a bitch hit his sweet girl.

  Fury unfurled in him. Ace burst into the room his revolver drawn, aiming at Bates’ head.

  “Touch her again and I drop you where you stand.”

  Bates shifted to the side slow and easy. Ace braced himself, the man standing before him was not the comically inapt detective he was expecting. He didn’t reek of alcohol and he moved with the assurance of a fighter accustom to and ready to battle. This Bates before him was a completely new version. His body appeared loose and expectant.

  From the corner of his eye, Ace caught a movement from Lewis.

  “Hands where I can see um, Chief.” Kane’s deep command sounded behind Ace. Lewis sunk back in his chair, his hands flat on the desk.

  In a flash Bates grabbed Alana to his chest and pressed a blade to her neck. Ace’s heart dropped. The sight of the sharp metal on Alana’s delicate skin enraged him. Ace tightened his grip on his gun. He clamped his jaw down so hard, his teeth ground together and his face muscles jumped. He had been in tighter situations than this before. The calm detachment he used his entire career as a soldier and cop vanished. His vision narrowed and sweat broke out in a fine sheen across his body. Alana was inches away from death. He forgot his training. Fuck negotiating. One wrong move and Bates would slice her throat. Calm was not happening. He had to get Bates away from her.

  “Put the knife away and I’ll give you the drive.” Ace pulled the small plastic device from his pocket.

  “You are beyond predictable.” Bates pressed the edge of the blade into Alana’s skin. A trickle of red slid down her throat as she stiffened, her eyes growing round in her face. “I’m not an unreasonable man. I want that drive and I want you dead.”

  “You want me, you got me. Let Alana leave with Kane.”

  “Ha, what kind of stupid shit you take me for. Nobody is leaving. Slide me the drive and both your guns, then I’ll release the woman.”

  “No.” Alana screamed and in one blinding moment, Ace knew he’d lost her. Her body jerked back, then all he saw was blood, and heard Bates’ bellow of outrage.

  ALANA

  If Bates got his hands on Ace and Kane’s guns and the flash drive, they were all dead. She wasn’t thinking about dying or how frightening Bates was. She felt a surge of anger that filled her up completely. Ace would give up his only weapon to protect her. She saw it in his eyes, he was barely in control of his rage. She lived in fear her entire life, but no more. She had two choices, do nothing and watch the man she loved murdered or act and possibly die herself.

  Cold steel pressed to her throat, Alana shivered. The sharp edge loosened as Bates’ concentration shifted down towards the floor. Alana gazed into Ace’s eye
s. She tried to show all her love for him in her expression, in case things went bad. He had to know that he was the only person that believed her to be special. He believed her to be strong when she wasn’t. Ace’s eyes were bright. His face set and determined. She needed to distract Bates.

  Alana shifted her body forward. Pain of the knife cutting into her neck, stunned her for only a moment. She pushed the pain aside and crashed her head back hard into Bates’ face, at the same time, ripping the blade from his hand. She spun on her back foot and brought the blade down into his thigh. He bellowed with rage and pain, dropping down on one knee, blood pouring from a gash on his cheekbone and his thigh.

  Ace was on her instantly, shoving her behind him. Bates groaned and gripped his leg, putting his weight on his non-injured leg; he sprung up, pulling another blade from his boot. Ace jumped back, the silver streaked towards him, slashing his chest. A thick arm wrapped around her and pulled her away from the battling men. Alana screamed at the sight of bright red blood seeping through and soaking the front of Aces shirt. Bates came at Ace like a man well practiced with his weapons. He wasn’t mindless in his advance; he was calculating, and deadly accurate, managing to keep Ace on the defensive. Bates pivoted and sliced Ace’s arm on the upswing, causing Ace’s gun to fly out of his hand and hit the wall. Bates brought the knife down towards Ace’s chest. Ace blocked the move and landed a blow to Bates’ jaw that sent him reeling back.

  Alana fought to get free of Kane’s iron hold.

  “Stop fighting me, you’ll distract him if you get close.” Kane warned.

  She stopped fighting, as agony bore down on her. Watching the man she loved fighting for his life shook her to her core. Life without Ace, that wasn’t life at all. He was a good man, but good did not always defeat evil.

  Blood ran down Ace’s arm and torso. He rained down powerful blows on Bates knocking the man back as the piece of shit slashed at him repeatedly. Spinning, he cut a huge gash down Ace’s side. Alana’s heart twisted with every slice Ace took. Ace swung and connected with Bates’ stomach, the man doubled over, yet quickly recovered. Pressure in the room pressed down hard on her as she watched Ace fight the smaller man with bare hands. The tangy sweet smell of blood filled the air.