Betrayed: Military MC Romance (Hell's Fire Riders Book 2)

by K. J. Dahlen

  “Our families,” Dewey concluded.

  Trudy began biting her lip. “He claims he doesn’t know where you are, but he does know a way to bring you all together in one place. A place of his choosing.”

  “Does he mention any names?” Cade asked. “I mean we all come from this general area, is he coming here?”

  “My mother lives and works in Denver,” Danny told them.

  “We can protect her,” Stone assured him. He and his men had joined the crowd. “I can get the fucking Marines in Denver to protect your mother.”

  “What about my family boss?” Cade asked. “They live in Baton Rouge.”

  “Mine live in Little Rock,” Jake told them.

  “Mine are in Oklahoma City,” Colten added.

  “Janet is all the family I have left,” Parker commented.

  “We need to keep them all safe, Boss,” Wyatt stated. “How the hell do we do that when we don’t even know where this little bastard is hiding?”

  “We make him come to us,” Trudy spoke quietly. She could see the various levels of panic running through the men’s faces at the thoughts of their loved ones being in trouble and she knew she had to focus their pain and get them to all work together.

  Dewey turned to stare at her again. “And just how do we do that?”

  “I need you all to remember what you talked about while he was with you.” She began to explain her plan, “Was there one thing you talked about that y’all would do together?”

  “What about Wesley’s mother?” Parker suggested. “He knew we’d all come together if something happened to her.”

  Dewey’s eyes got hard. His face tightened. He turned to Boomer. “Can you send your men to collect her and bring her back here, so we can protect her?”

  Boomer nodded. “I can do that. But why is she so important? What about the rest of your families?”

  “He would know that we would do anything for the family of a fallen member of our squad. Wesley died the day Patrick and Wyatt disappeared,” he explained. “We all vowed to take care of anyone’s family in case we died in action.”

  “Instead of bringing her here, why don’t you take her to my place in Port Arthur?” Trudy offered. “It’s a secure location and they would be able to see if anything or anyone is coming. Besides, once they are inside and locked down, nothing short of a bomb would be able to get to them. I do have a safe room. Even if they did manage to break into the factory, I have a safe room in the sub-basement. There are cameras down there and nobody knows it’s even there.”

  “That would work,” Boomer agreed. “My men could get her there and keep her safe.”

  “If you take Janet with you, Megan would go along much easier,” Parker suggested. “She knows Janet whereas she doesn’t know your guys.”

  Dewey nodded. “That’s a good idea. Pick up Janet then Megan.”

  “What about my mom?” Wyatt asked. “Serif or Patrick or whatever the hell he calls himself, doesn’t know I’m still alive or that I’m back home. If he can’t get to Wesley’s mom, would he go after mine?”

  Dewey nodded. “He just might.” Turning to Boomer, he asked, “Can your men pick up one more?”

  Boomer stood up and yelled, “Cyrus, Sam, Clovis.”

  As the three men gathered around, he gave them the plan. Trudy handed over her keys and the codes to her building and within minutes, the men were ready to leave. Dewey placed a call to Megan and Parker called his sister. When Parker was done, he looked at Dewey. “What about her?”

  “Her who?” Dewey frowned.

  “Trudy, what about her family?”

  “What about her family?” Dewey was confused.

  “She’s my sister’s best friend. I told you guys all about her. Bragged even about how good she was on a computer. I used to rub it in Colten’s face that I bet him she could do the crap he was doing in less time.”

  “Yeah, he did that,” Colten agreed. “I remember telling him he would have to prove that one day.”

  Dewey ran his fingers along his jaw. Turning toward her he suggested, “What about your sister?”

  Trudy stiffened. “What about her?”

  “Patrick has heard about you and your mad computer skills. How easy would it be for him to find out about your sister?”

  She sank back down in her chair. “He wouldn’t be able to find her. She’s hidden from everyone but me. Not even the people who run the place where she’s at know her real name.”

  “What do you mean they don’t know her real name?” Dewey asked. “Just who the hell is she then?”

  Trudy looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “After the accident, I hid her the only way I knew how. I changed her name and found a place to help her with her blindness. They taught her to live in a sightless world. As far as I know, she hasn’t made contact with her family since then.”

  “Who is her family?” Cade asked. “Isn’t her family your family too?”

  “No, not really. You see, my father disowned me the night he found out I ransacked a drug dealer’s house. The General said that his children knew better and that because I didn’t seem to know any better, I was no longer his daughter. He threw me out of his house that night and out of his life.”

  “The General?” Dewey questioned.

  “Brigadier General Alexander Chassen,” Trudy whispered his name.

  Dewey felt a hollowing growing inside him. “His name was on that hit list I gave Brag.”

  Trudy nodded. “Yes, I know.”

  Clovis stepped up to her and wrapped his beefy arms around her shoulders. “We’ll take care of your sister too, baby girl. Don’t you worry about her no more. We’ll make sure she’s be okay.”

  Trudy smiled softly. “She won’t go with you. She’ll want to come here to be with me. She always said that together, we could do anything. Together, we would be safer. She said as we started life together and we would go out the same way.”

  “What do you mean you started life together?” Dewey asked.

  Trudy glanced up at him. “We’re twins. Amanda and I are twins.”

  “Well shit,” he swore.

  Chapter Five

  “Pop, let me go along.” One of Boomer’s men came up to him. “I can pick up the sister and bring her back here. That way, they can be together.”

  Boomer glanced over at his son and nodded. “That might be best.”

  Trudy glanced up. “Thanks Sniper. I would appreciate that. She knows you and won’t fight it.”

  “Anything for you, baby girl.” The man named Sniper grinned. “But just in case, call her and tell her I’m coming. She can get a little feisty.”

  “Not for you though, I think she kind of likes when you come around,” Trudy teased him.

  Sniper just grinned. “That’s the plan baby girl, has been all along. She just needed time to realize it before I made my move.”

  Trudy and Boomer chuckled.

  As he walked away, Trudy rushed toward him and whispered something in his ear.

  When she made her way back to the table Boomer asked, “What did you tell him?”

  “I gave him our safe code. Andy wouldn’t come with him if he didn’t give her that code.” She giggled. “Although, I think she would have come with him without it. I know she likes him a lot.”

  “I have a feeling you and I might become related sometime in the near future.” Boomer laughed.

  Dewey’s men all got busy calling their families and warning them about the possible danger they could be in and Dewey sat down on the other side of Trudy. “So your father is Brigadier General Chassen, huh?”

  “Yeah I guess so, even if he won’t admit it anymore.”

  Dewey stared at her face for a long time. “Tell me something, why do you wear that stupid hat all the time? I’ve never seen you without it. It’s a bit distracting.”

  Trudy raised her hand to her head. “I keep my hair covered because there’s too much of it.”

  Dewey frowned. “That doesn�
��t make any sense at all. How can there be too much of it?”

  Trudy sighed. Glancing over at Boomer, she noticed the amusement in his face. Turning back to Dewey, she told him, “My mother always said that long hair was a woman’s crowning glory, so I’ve never cut my hair.”

  Dewey raised an eyebrow. “So you have long hair, what’s wrong with that?”

  She sighed. “Well, when your hair almost reaches the floor it tends to get in the way whenever you do anything. The hat keeps my hair out of my way.”

  “Can you take off the hat?”

  Trudy got to her feet. Closing her eyes, she grabbed the hat and pulled it off her head. She felt the heavy weight of the rope as her braided hair fall free. The braid was as thick as a man’s wrist and it flowed all the way to the floor. Her white blonde hair sparkled in the sunlight streaking into the windows and she heard several gasps coming from the men around her.

  “Oh my god, that’s beautiful.” Dewey whispered as he took in the picture of her standing there.

  Trudy picked up the braid and wrapped it around her waist to keep it off the floor.

  “It looks like spun silver.” Parker commented. “Why keep it hidden? I never knew you had hair that color.”

  Trudy shrugged. “Our hair color is what tipped off the drug dealer. When he saw it, he knew exactly who we were. That’s another reason I keep it hidden.” Grabbing the cup from the desk, she excused herself, “Now if you gentlemen don’t mind, I need some coffee.”

  When she walked away, Dewey asked, “Why do you and your men call her baby girl?”

  “When we rescued her after the beating, we were going to take them both to the hospital but she didn’t want to go. She begged me not to take her there. She never did tell us her real name, she just said we could call her Trudy. We chose to call her baby girl, rather than a name we knew wasn’t hers.” Boomer shrugged. “I didn’t have a choice, so we took her back home with us and they both stayed there for several weeks while they healed. We sort of adopted them both.” He chuckled. “That’s where she found Ebony too, or rather where Ebony found her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Her dog’s name is Ebony.” Boomer motioned toward the huge Irish wolfhound sitting in the corner. “He was nothing more than a junk yard dog when we brought the girls back to the warehouse. He was about a year old back then but somehow, he knew she was in trouble. The second morning she was there, he found her and they have been together ever since.” Boomer lost the little grin on his face as he stared at Dewey. “I give you fair warning, that dog would die for her, but he’d also kill for her.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “The dealer isn’t the only scum after baby girl. After the attack, she called her brother to let him know Amanda was okay. Ronnie found out where they were and came to get Amanda. He brought with him three other guys we later found out were cartel men. You see the dealer she messed with, was a money man from the cartel. He took in the money from other dealers then laundered it and made it clean again. Trudy not only destroyed the drugs he had in his crib, she also wiped his computer files. She destroyed all the files the cartel had for the last five years. Money they had coming in and going out, all the serial numbers for their bank accounts, everything was gone. When the dealer found out from Ronnie, it was his sister who’d done it…the dealer was of course very upset.” He paused and shook his head.

  Dewey let out a sigh at the unfair treatment this girl had gotten for years.

  “When the cartel found out they wanted her skills more than they wanted her dead, but they also wanted their money back. Without those serial numbers, the money was gone. They couldn’t find it. In other words, she cleaned them out, almost to the point of breaking them. The only way Ronnie could make it right with them was to turn over his sister. The three men he had with him were supposed to take her, but Ebony wouldn’t let them near her. When the fight started, my boys kicked some serious ass and when we found out Ronnie gave her up to save his own ass, let’s just say things got a bit out of hand.”

  “What happened to Ronnie?” Dewey narrowed his eyes.

  “Oh Ronnie, the bastardly coward took off without either of his sisters. He saved his own ass. One of the douchebags went after Trudy but Ebony got to him first. He ripped that mother effer’s throat out before he could even scream. We took the other two guys out of action but didn’t kill them. We sent them home with a message for their boss. As far as we can tell, the cartel has left her alone. They still want her but they also know we’re protecting her. They also knew we’d start a war with them to protect her.”

  “What ever happened to Ronnie?”

  “Ronnie went into hiding. He’s not very good at it though, as he still has a habit he needs medicine for and the cartel knows exactly where he is. He also knows the only way too clear himself is to hand her over to them. He’s been looking for her but hasn’t been able to find her. She’s kept them both safe for a long time now and I plan to keep it that way.”

  “So you think Ronnie would turn her over to them?”

  “The man is a coward. He’d do it in a god damn heartbeat.”

  “Some brother he turned out to be.” Dewey scoffed.

  “Amanda had a hard time believing he would do it until the day it happened, too. Now she believes.”

  “I can’t believe the General puts up with this.” Dewey exclaimed.

  “Oh, he doesn’t,” Boomer informed him. “Every so often, he sends out inquiries about his daughters and every so often, Trudy has to take Amanda into hiding for a while. Then things settle down again, until the next time. He has no idea this is all on his son. The man may be a brilliant military mind but he’s got a blind spot when it comes to his son. He still believes all the lies that kid has ever told him.”

  “Wait a minute, you said she messed up the dealer’s records, but she was only fourteen when that happened, wasn’t she?”

  “Yup, baby girl had skills even back then. That’s why the cartel still wants her.”

  They both watched as she made her way back to the desk. “Okay guys, I need my desk and no distractions. I’m going to find our mystery man.”

  Boomer and Dewey moved away from the desk. They both sat down at another table with a fresh cup of coffee.

  Colten joined them, as did Boomer’s man Vance. He was big and black. Not that the color of his skin made a difference to anyone there.

  They all sat there watching her do her thing.

  Dewey glanced over at Colten and asked, “What were you able to find on him?”

  “Not as much as she’ll get, I’m sure.”

  Boomer and Vance chuckled. “Don’t you worry…Baby girl will find out everything there is to know about your guy. And in less time than you think.”

  “Hey boss.” Parker joined them. “Janet just called. They all got to Port Arthur and are in Trudy’s place now. Cyrus has the cameras going and they’re settling in just fine.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear,” Dewey said.

  “Hey, while I was walking around a while ago, I saw an old cycle in the other shop,” Vance commented. “Is it what I think it is?”

  Dewey grinned. “Would that be the 1920 Excelsior or the ’35 Harley you saw?”

  Colten and Parker grinned. “Those two bikes are his pride and joy.”

  Vance turned to Boomer. “You gotta see these bikes, man, they are cherry!”

  All five men stood and made their way to the other shop.

  Trudy had to giggle to herself. “Boys and their toys,” she whispered. Then she got caught up in her search and the rest of her world faded into nothing.

  It could have been hours or days later when she finally came back to reality. When she glanced up, she saw her sister sitting at the table, along with Sniper. Trudy smiled and yelled, “Andy, you’re here!” Getting up, she flew over to her sister and grabbed her in a big hug. “Oh, thank god, you’re safe.”

  Amanda laughed. “Oh Tremaine, it is so good to
see you again.” She returned the hug.

  Trudy studied her sister’s face. “What do you mean it’s good to see me again?”

  Amanda looked into her sister’s eyes for the first time in years. “I can see again.”

  “How? How is that possible?”

  “About a year ago, I began getting really bad headaches and my doctor couldn’t tell me why. He said it was strain, my eyes trying to focus and make sense of what I couldn’t see anymore. Anyway, then my eyes began to get clouded over. The doctors didn’t know what to make of it but last week I got another bad headache. I asked you to come get Ivory and take care of her for me because the doctor wanted to do surgery and remove the film over my eyes. Well, he did that and the headaches disappeared. Three days ago, I opened my eyes and I could see. “

  Trudy gasped. Tears began rolling down her cheeks. She felt amazed and so happy her sister could see again. “Did the doctors know what happened? What made you blind all these years?”

  Amanda nodded. “It seems tiny grains of sand from the airbags somehow got deep down into my eyes and blocked the nerve next to my cornea. The pressure from that tiny sliver of sand blocked my sight. The cloudiness was the sand working its way out. The sand was like a foreign object inside my body and the cloudy cover was the only way to push it out. Once the doctors removed the cover, my eyes were fine.”

  “Oh, honey!” Trudy hugged her again. “I am so happy for you. You’re whole again.”

  “So tell me why Sniper brought me here,” Amanda demanded. “Is Ronnie still after us or what?”

  “This is so not Ronnie.” Trudy shivered. “This is much worse.”

  Cade came over to the girls and asked, “Did you find that little cocksucker?”

  Trudy glanced over at him and nodded. “Can you bring Dewey, Stone and Boomer in here? I think this is something everyone needs to hear.”

  Trudy turned to go back to her desk but Amanda called out to her, “Tremaine, can you stop whatever is about to happen?”