Trista stood up from her seat. “You have to leave him. Cruz and Blaze will be picking up the pieces and any other fallen comrades. They will also be the ones to then call the police on a burner phone, and report the accident. Our trucks and bikes will be gone by then, and they’ll be the two picking them up.”
Bones shook his head slowly from side to side. “I don’t know, Tris. I’m not cool with leaving any of the guys behind. That’s not how we operate here.”
Rogue hit the table with his fist. “Didn’t you just hear her? We’re not leaving them behind. She has a plan. And, as long as all of our guys make it back to this clubhouse in one piece, I’ll be satisfied.” No one spoke, but I could feel the shift at the table. The guys weren’t sure whether or not to trust her plan, and if somebody got scared and pussied out, we were all in trouble. “Any problems?”
Everyone shook his head. Ryder looked at Axel, and whispered to him, “You and me, bro? If I’m going down, I want you to have my back.”
Axel nudged him and nodded. I wondered who would go with Trista. I wouldn’t be by her side to protect her, and I didn’t like that. But I knew how to follow the plan. I’d gone over it with her a hundred times. It would work. I just hoped that there weren’t more Mexicans in those trucks then we planned on. If there were, this could all go down in flames.
After church let out, I pulled Trista into the pantry behind the bar. No one could see us in there. “You have to be careful tomorrow, okay?”
A smirk played on her lips. “I’m always careful.”
“No, you’re not. You’re reckless and you’re trouble. And those are two qualities that I love about you. But you have to be safe.”
She nodded at me as I put my hands on her face, and pulled her soft sweet skin onto mine. Her lips tasted like the whiskey she just taken a shot of before walking back here. It was a harsh taste against her warm mouth. She pulled away and chewed on her lower lip, only turning me on even more. I considered turning around right then, and dropping my pants, reminding her that reckless could be fun at certain times. But I knew we couldn’t do it here, not now. The bar was full of people who didn’t know about us yet. And she wasn’t ready for that, no matter how much I wanted her to be.
“You better stop that.”
“Stop what?” she asked innocently.
“Stop making me want to fuck you right here, because we both know that we can’t.”
She put her hand over my dick and squeezed. “Then, why do you think I’m chewing on my lip?”
“You’re infuriating,” I told her through gritted teeth.
“Don’t I know it,” she countered.
She turned on her heel and walked out, leaving my blue balls and me alone.
FOUR
TRISTA
I bounced on my heels like a child on Christmas morning, except that I didn’t know what gifts would be under the tree when I got there. Bones stood next to me, taking slow drawls off a cigarette while I waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. Blaze and Cruz were already at the bar; acting like nothing was going on today. When I had walked in to grab some coffee, I saw Rogue sitting on the old couch across from the bar. That thing was disgusting, but I knew from my mom that Rogue didn’t go home last night. That meant that he was as anxious as I was, even though he wouldn’t say anything to me about it. But, my mom never hid anything from me; she wanted our relationship to be open. There were definitely things about the old days that she hadn’t told me, like before I was born, but ever since I was a teenager, she’d been upfront with me about her and my dad’s relationship, and anything else that was going on in the family. She knew I could handle it, that I was strong enough, and that, even though Rogue had slept on the couch at the Raven's Nest, it didn’t mean he was stepping out on my mom. That just wasn’t the way their relationship worked. It was built on trust and loyalty, qualities that reminded me why I was in an MC.
I looked over my shoulder just as he emerged out of the clubhouse. He had on a black T-shirt and dark jeans, we all made plans to wear a similar outfit. No cuts today. We wouldn’t want anyone to recognize us, or to tip off any cops. We had to stay anonymous to keep our name out of this heist.
We had Red Dragons covering the warehouse. Chen had called me just a little bit ago, and said that the Feds had left once again. I still didn’t know what Victor was up to, and that there was no way he knew about the job that was going down today. Chen seemed concerned that some dark-haired girl had been talking to Victor at the docks, but I couldn’t worry about that now. She wasn’t one of our whores, or we would’ve known about it. None of them would betray us.
“You ready for this, kid?” Rogue said as he put a hand on my shoulder.
“Yep. Just waiting for the other jackasses to show up. I swear, I told them eight o’clock on the dot. And Bones is the only one here.”
He smiled a toothy grin at me. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m sure they’ll all roll in shortly. Come to think of it, I think Ryder is already here somewhere.” He pointed to Ryder’s bike just around the corner of the building. That wasn’t where he usually parked. Maybe my dad wasn’t the only one to spend the night here last night. I guess things with Sawyer still weren’t patched up.
Ace, Rocco, and Axel rolled in just a couple minutes later, and Ryder came up behind me from the bar. Pops wasn’t riding with us; he just couldn’t ride like the rest of us. Old injuries had been bothering him lately, and I didn’t want him to get even worse. I knew that he was upset, but Axel had spoken with him, and made sure that he understood. He would meet us at the warehouse, and keep an eye on things down there until we arrived. If there were any trouble, he would let the Red Dragons know.
“Are we fucking ready to do this or what?” Ace asked as he sidled up to me.
“I’m ready,” I said, as I pulled a handgun out from the back of my pants. “Are you?”
He lifted up his shirt to reveal a gun tucked into the front. I considered what a bad choice that might be for him, but I didn’t say anything. If he shot his own dick off, it would just be karma.
“Then, let’s move,” Rogue instructed. We all nodded, and made our way to the trucks and the bikes. I was riding on my motorcycle; I couldn’t go anywhere without her.
I looked back at the clubhouse one more time as Axel and Ryder slipped into two cargo trucks. I hoped I would see Blaze before I left, but he didn’t come to the doorway. I waited a second longer, thinking about his arms around me, his safe protective ways.
“Trista, you ready?” Rev yelled to me.
I kicked my bike into life, and roared off in the opposite direction of the trucks.
We had a three-hour drive ahead of us, heading off the trucks just before the California border. Blaze and Cruz wouldn’t leave for another half hour, coming to clean up behind us. As we drove, I felt like my plan had promise, but knew that, if we failed, the consequences would be deadly.
***
As we got close to the heist point, a spot along Route 37 that curved along the mountain, I could feel the anxiety getting to me. We chose this spot specifically because hardly anyone drove up here. I was sure that’s what Las Almas picked it. We were in the middle of the wilderness, a lone gas station where Axel and Ryder were waiting with their trucks, and we hadn’t seen any other cars for miles.
I fell back along the other bikes, and Rogue took point in front of us. It would just be a couple more minutes before we would spot the trucks, and Axel and Ryder would pull out in front of them. Rogue turned up the speed, and we proceeded to follow him around a few more dusty curves, seeing the trucks in the distance. I took a deep breath, and pulled my gun out from the back of my pants, clutching it in my right hand as I drove. I would have to leave my bike, and I was hoping to be one of the ones to drive the truck to the warehouse. But I didn’t know what was about to happen, and I couldn’t count on anything. Rogue held his hand up in front of him, and signaled for us to slow down. I looked around me to see Rocco and Ace also with
their pieces out. Bones was in the way back near Rev, keeping an eye out for cops and other drivers. I tightened my legs around my bike as we came up behind the three huge tractor-trailers. The cars were inside, protected from the elements.
I held my breath and waited for Axel to hit his brakes, as he pulled off of an on-ramp directly into traffic. He would be the one to cause the accident, and chaos to follow. As soon as I saw the truck start to break, I prepared for impact. Axel and Ryder threw their trucks in front of the tractor-trailers, and immediately the front vehicle began to swerve to avoid them. The driver hit the brakes so hard that the trailer tried to dislodge from the truck, and it jackknifed along the desolate highway. The second and third hit the brakes so as to not hit the first truck and came to a screeching halt as we drove our bikes off to the sides of the road beginning to shoot. I heard the pop of gunfire coming from the front of the fleet. Axel and Ryder would have to take out the front drivers and any guys that they had with them, it was our job to take out the back two trucks. Two people per vehicle, and we hoped that they didn’t have that many more with them. I hoped off my bike, and sprinted to the back of the first truck, pressing my back against the hot metal. Rocco and Bones followed suit, but were slightly slower.
I waited in silence and was shocked not to hear any gunfire coming at us. I held my finger up to my lips as Rocco passed by me with his gun outstretched. Rev sprinted past us, killing a member of Las Almas as he got out of the passenger side of the truck. I heard a single shot to my right on the other side of the vehicle letting me know that Rogue had taken out the driver. I signaled to Rocco and Bones to lift the back door up just an inch, and I peered in looking for feet, but I didn’t see anything. I nodded to them, and they yanked at the door, finding only one guy before us, with a gun trembling in his hands.
“No shoot!” He put up his hands in surrender. “I’m hired. No MC,” he added, in broken English.
I nodded to Bones and Rocco, and they shut the guy back in. We would worry about him later. I wasn’t about to shoot some innocent bystander when there was work to be done. Couldn’t waste my bullets.
We made our way back around the left side of the truck up to the second vehicle. I could still hear gunfire occasionally from the first truck, but we had to clear both of the back vehicles first, because they were the two trucks we would be grabbing. But, as we rounded the front of the truck, I saw Rogue lying on the ground.
“Dad,” I whispered, praying he would move just an inch to let me know he was okay. Fear paralyzed me. Bones gave me a concerned look before dashing over to the unmoving body lying on the ground. If something happened to Rogue, I would never forgive myself. He was my dad after all. And this had been my plan, my job. If he died, it was on me. I shuddered at the thought. I stood waiting on the dusty road when I heard a sound to my right, and lifted my gun and shot a man wearing the Las Almas cut from behind. I didn’t care that he was trying to run away. If he hurt my dad, he deserved to die.
Bones sprinted back to us, slightly out of breath. “He’s out cold, but there’s no bullets. Must’ve got in a fight with someone.”
I grabbed the front of his shirt. “You promise me, promise me he’s okay.”
Bones simply nodded. We continued our quiet walk up to the front of the second truck, but both the passenger and driver’s side door were already open. The guys were nowhere to be found. I suddenly realized why we heard so much gunfire at the front. The men in the second vehicle must’ve gone to help the first, meaning Axel and Ryder were outnumbered. Fuck! We sprinted up to help them, forgetting to be quiet, and found Ryder with his hands behind his head, and a Las Almas member with his gun to the back of it. Axel stood, and he still had his gun up pointing at one of the Mexicans. They were at a stalemate.
“Put your gun down,” I instructed to the man that had his gun to Ryder’s head, but he didn’t move. “Are you hard of hearing? Or should I go get that asshole hired gun in the back truck? Maybe he can translate for me.” He still remained motionless. “Put the fucking gun down.”
He gave me a look of pure hate, and slowly lowered his gun. “You killed my men.”
I walked towards him with the confidence that I didn’t expect to have. “Did we? I’m very sorry about that. Mostly, we’re just here for the cars. But, you knew that, didn’t you? You saw us at the auction the other day. One of your people did, at least. You followed us all the way out to the end of the parking lot, but then you gave up. Because you know you can’t win against the Fallen Idols. So why even try?”
“Should I just shoot you, or should I shoot him first?” he asked me.
“No need for that. Listen, I’ll even make you a deal. We only want the two back trucks. The he first one seems to be in better condition than I thought it would be. It’s jackknifed, but it’s not turned over. If you let Ryder go, I will promise you that Axel won’t shoot your guy, and you can take the truck and go home.”
He shook his head, “You know that’s not how this is going to go down. You’re going to shoot my man there,” he pointed to the man that Axel still had his gun raised at. “And then you’re going to kill that guy that’s in the back of the truck. Which, honestly, I don’t give a shit about him. But, you know as well as I do, that I can’t show up to the auction with just one truck, or El Presidente will kill me. And I don’t feel like dying today.”
“Then, what do you propose?”
“I get my guy, and I take the truck to wherever the hell I want.”
I shrugged my shoulders, “Sounds fair to me. I don’t care what you do with them. Not that you have a buyer anyway. Don’t know why you people suddenly think that you can come onto our turf, and act like you know what you’re doing. Cars are the Fallen Idols deal, we know everything about them. We know the market, the sellers, and the buyers. Particularly the ones that pay the most. You don’t know shit.”
He smiled at me, and was missing a tooth right in the front. “You might know what happens here in California, but you don’t know anything about Mexico.”
This time, Ace spoke up. “You’re going to try to cross the border with a truck full of stolen cars?”
Even I realized how dumb that sounded. No way would he ever get through customs or border patrol.
“Yep.”
“Then, it’s your funeral. Have a wonderful trip, and don’t come see us again soon.”
Axel lifted his gun, and the two men walked backward toward the first truck. I tossed my head over my shoulder as Bones ran to get Rogue, and Ace and Rocco ran to the trucks. Axel and Ryder made their way to the front of the fleet once more, and took off with their trucks as well.
Bones pulled Rogue into the last vehicle, and I went to the back and yanked up the gate.
The hired gun was still standing there, looking terrified. Where had they even found this guy?
“You have to go. I don’t care where, but you need to get the hell out of here. Because, when my guys show up, they’re going to blow your brains out.”
The guy clutched the gun to his chest, jumped down off the rig, and took off. I looked around me as the vehicle started to move. This had been easier than I was planning. Maybe I actually did know what I was doing. I ran back to my bike, and kicked it into gear, as I tore off down the highway in the opposite direction. That way, I would pass Blaze and Cruz as they came to pick up the rest of the bikes, and dispose of the bodies. They should get here right before the cops. Hopefully, no one had called yet. There was no one out here to hear our shots.
Las Almas had suffered more than I had planned on, which just made me feel good. Not only did we shoot out three of their guys, but also they had a problem with loyalty. And, if there was anything worse than losing your men to the bullet, it was a rat, and I’m sure they would realize that they had one once that truck was across the Mexican border. Las Almas was fucked, and I was about to get a huge payout. My job was done.
I was the first one to arrive back at the clubhouse. Axel and Ryder came in behind me just a f
ew minutes later, having picked up the rest of the guys at the warehouse after meeting Chen’s men.
“Did they take the three extra cars?” I asked Axel, as he got out of the truck.
“Yep. Except that there weren’t three cars, there were an extra six. That second trailer was bigger than the other two. He said that he can call a couple guys, and offload the other three cars, but right now they’re kind of sittin’ in the open. We covered them up, but if Victor comes around, we’re gonna get caught.”
I pulled out my cell, and immediately dialed Chen’s number. He picked up after only one ring. “You have extra cars?”
There was a lot of commotion in the background. “Yeah, and my dad isn’t super happy about it. How did you not count them first?”
I shrugged. I hadn’t even considered extra vehicles. “We just had to get the hell out of there before the cops, or anyone else, came. I hadn’t planned on the second trailer being bigger than the others. But I guess that does make sense.”
“Well, we have a couple buyers that are coming by in the next half an hour. That’s a lot of people at the warehouse, Trista. I don’t know how we can keep this quiet. I have my guys crawling all over this place, and the old man is still here monitoring the situation. By the way, I saw Rogue, what the hell happened to him?”
I glanced over, as Bones helped Rev carry him out of the back of one of the cargo trucks. He looked pretty beat up as my mom ran toward him. I could tell he was almost conscious, waving her off like it was nothing. Typical him. I was just so relieved he was alive. I couldn’t imagine what it would have felt like to lose him. I sighed. “I guess he just got into a little bit of a fight with the Mexicans. And I guess he lost.”
Chen chuckled at the other end of the line. “I would’ve liked to see that. I didn’t think anyone could take down the old bastard.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him that. But really, Chen, what are we going to do?”
Hidden (Motorcycle Club Romance): Trista and Blaze 3 (Fallen Idols Motorcycle Club Book 7) Page 2
