by J. L. Drake
ESCAPE
Blackstone Series, Book 2
J.L. Drake
ESCAPE
Copyright © 2016 by J.L. Drake.
All rights reserved.
First Print Edition: June 2016
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com
Formatting: Limitless Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1-68058-690-9
ISBN-10: 1-68058-690-4
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To my stepfather, Gordon. You are a kind, loving, giving man who came into our family with an open heart, and we love you for that. Thank you for reading my words and for your honesty and input. Your ideas helped so much, particularly with this book. We may be hundreds of miles apart, but you are here with us every day.
I love you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EPILOGUE
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CAST OF CHARACTERS
Keith: Member of Blackstone. Secretive. Savannah’s “big brother.”
Lexi: Ex-girlfriend.
Savannah: Held in Tijuana, Mexico for seven months. Saved by Blackstone, fell in love with Cole Logan. Now lives at Shadows.
Cole: Owner of the safe house in Montana called Shadows. Fell in love with a picture of a victim. Found, saved, and married her. Leader of the Blackstone special ops team.
Olivia: Savannah and Cole’s daughter.
Mark: Best friend to Cole Logan, Blackstone member. Uses humor to escape the pain from his past.
Mia: Mark’s girlfriend, nurse, and Frank’s daughter.
Paul: Blackstone member.
John: Blackstone member.
Abigail: Mark’s adopted mother, Cole’s childhood nanny, and now house aide. Dating the house doctor.
Doctor Roberts: House doctor, kind soul, and in love with Abigail.
June: Abigail’s younger sister.
Mike: Agent at Shadows. Scary-looking teddy bear, covered head to toe in tattoos.
Dell: Agent at Shadows.
Davie: Agent at Shadows.
Molly: Nurse at North Dakota Hospital. Signed NDA to work with the Blackstone men when they come in.
Scoot: Moody house cat. Has no shame.
Prologue
Location: Mexico
Coordinates: Classified
Keith
Dust clawed at my eyes as I ran behind the Land Rover. Two cartel members were making away with some medical supplies from our camp. What made the chase fun was they weren’t expecting this from us.
My boots barely touched the ground and my arms beat through the wind. A glance over my shoulder found Mark behind the wheel and coming up quick. Cole had climbed out of the Hummer window to sit on the ledge. Resting his gun on the roof, he reached for his radio, and I heard his voice through my earpiece.
“Move to your nine o’clock.”
I did, and two bullets zipped by me, causing the driver to slow momentarily. I gained ground and made a grab for the roof rack but didn’t make it.
“Damn!” My eyes were streaming with tears as I tried to focus on the Land Rover. With all my might, I leapt forward and latched onto the bar. My knees slapped the bumper and my hips took a beating on the spare tire.
Quickly, I swung my leg up and lifted myself onto the roof. My knees spread, I found my balance and gave Cole a thumbs up.
Four bullets skimmed by my left ear. I crawled forward and snatched my knife from its thigh holster. Dropping on my belly, I reached down and jammed the knife through the guy’s hand and into the fabric on the door.
The driver started to panic, and the vehicle swerved back and forth as the passenger pulled and struggled to get free of the knife. A quick elbow to his temple made his head snap back and flop to the side.
Hooking my heels through the roof rack for support, my body dangled over the side. I pointed my gun through the window at the driver, who was desperately trying to control the vehicle. Sweat dripped off his face, leaving trails down his dirty cheeks. “Stop the truck!”
His hands flew up off the wheel, his eyes wild. The truck bucked from the sudden loss of power as it slowed. We both eyed the machine gun next to him.
“Don’t do it,” I warned, but as predicted, the guy went for it.
Pop!
The man’s head shook back and forth as he eyed the hole in the steering wheel. He was going into shock; not hard to guess he was new.
“Do it again, and the next one’s between your eyes.”
He spoke English. I could tell because of the way he nodded and placed both of his hands back on the wheel and kept them there after we came to a stop.
Cole came around to the driver’s side window and aimed his rifle at the man’s face. Then he looked up at me, his expression as calm and friendly as if he just got up from the dinner table.
“You good, Keith?”
“Couldn’t be better!” I grabbed the edge of the door, released my feet, swung around, and dropped to the ground. “My guess is he’s new.”
“Yup, gave up pretty quick,” Mike chimed in as he grabbed the driver by the shoulders and told him to sit.
“Yeah.” I removed my sunglasses. “We probably weren’t their target, but they figured us for an easy mark.” Opening the door and letting the passed-out passenger fall to the ground, I rooted around through their crap. Christ, they were slobs. Food wrappers, Coke cans, cigarette butts, and beer bottles lined the floor. I chuckled, thinking these two were soon going to be dead of a heart attack anyway, the way they lived.
“Lopez,” Cole called out. “Call it in. We have two hostages.”
“Copy that.”
“Colonel.” I nodded toward a package in the back seat. I reached back and carefully pulled off the dirty blanket, revealing a large bomb.
“Pull back!” Cole called out, and the guys moved fast.
“Go easy, Keith,” he warned.
I carefully assessed. It wasn’t activated, and I gave the okay to stand down.
“Son of a bitch.”
I quickly unrolled a set of blueprints over the hood of the Land Rover and scanned them, noting the circled spot. “Holy shit.”
Cole finished checking out the bomb and joined me. I fought against the breeze to keep the paper flat on the hood, and pointed to where their intended target seemed to be.
My hand flexed as I approached Mike, who had the driver in zip ties. My face tight with anger and not giving a damn, I hauled back and punched him square in the face.
“You son of a bitch!” I hissed as h
e rolled on the ground.
“No, please!” he cried with his hands up as if to ward me off. “I have rules. I hurt no one.”
“They’re children, you murdering bastard! Innocent kids! You were going to kill all of them!” I glanced at Mark, who was being held back by Cole.
I knew a lot of men joined the cartels because they had nowhere else to go. They turned to the drug trade in desperation. But this type of thing, bombing a school and killing innocent children, could only be carried out by someone without a soul. It took a hell of a lot of control not to jam my gun down his throat and unload the clip.
Cole ordered Mike to secure the men in the back of the Hummer, and Mark and I removed the bomb and completely disabled it before we headed to the pickup.
“Good call on that one.” Cole fist bumped me as I climbed in the back.
“Thanks.”
Mark wiped his forehead with a rag. I knew he was struggling more than usual now that Mia was pregnant. It changed a man’s perspective.
I ran my fingers over my forearm while I let my mind slip away for a few moments as a memory surfaced.
Her smooth hand skimmed my bare chest, bringing me out of a deep sleep. Silky hair tickled my face, and her giggle made me wiggle my hips, wanting contact.
“Morning.” Her raspy voice had me standing to attention. Her big eyes held mine as she rocked back on her hips. “I’m hungry.” Her pink lips opened, and I watched as she swallowed me whole.
“Holy…!” I covered my face, wondering how long I could last.
“That, right there,” Mark chimed in and rudely hauled me out of my memory, leaving me with a tight knot in the groin. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” I growled, annoyed.
“Always so moody.”
I sighed and looked over at him. “Just thinking of home.”
He nodded while he removed his hat and shook the sand out of his hair. “I only get that look when I’m thinking about Mia.” He smirked, then it clicked for him. “Someone special on your mind?”
Shaking my head, I looked back out of the window.
I wonder what she is doing right now.
CHAPTER ONE
Boston
High School
“Pass it!” Clark tapped his stick to let me know where he was. I raced down the ice, and the puck slapped against my stick. I made quick eye contact and passed it, only to get it back in two strides. This was one of our moves. I faked to my left but weaved to the right. Once in front of the net, I saw an opening and, without a thought, slammed it into the net between the goalie’s legs. I grinned when the beloved sirens screamed along with the spectators.
Clark grabbed my helmet and bumped our cages together as we cheered. The ref blew the whistle as the crowd settled back in their seats. I headed to center ice, skates on either side of the line, and waited for the puck to drop.
I loved this part, where nothing could be heard but your heartbeat, wildly anticipating the moment the ref took a deep breath and then released the hard chunk of rubber.
The puck dropped, both sticks trying to claim it, then my opponent’s stick came up and tried to hook my neck. I dropped my shoulder and plowed into him, pissed.
At seventeen, I weighed two hundred pounds and stood six foot three. I was a big guy, and not many would easily take me on. Needless to say, I was delighted when times like these came up.
He bounced off my incoming weight and landed on his ass. The referee immediately stopped the game and called a penalty on the other guy, who was just now peeling himself off the ice.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he shouted, pulling off a glove. “Did you not see what he just did to me?”
“Penalty, two minutes, unsportsmanlike conduct.” The ref grabbed his jersey and pulled him to the box.
I skated back around and took my place at center ice again. The puck dropped, and all that was inside my head was to focus and get it.
With the puck safe between my stick and my skate, I moved around the net and tapped it in above the goalie’s ankle.
With a little smirk, I nodded to the dick in the box and fist bumped Clark at yet another win this season. We were three for three, currently holding the top spot for high school hockey.
“Party at my place!” he yelled over the roar.
***
The numbers on my lock made my head spin. I had a hangover from the night before. All I could recall was I drank my body weight in beer, and somehow I ended up in Clark’s patio chair in the morning.
Three, six, nine…
My fingers twirled the knob and finally freed my locker door. With three Advil in hand, I tossed them back and chased them with a lime Gatorade. I replaced my math textbook with my science one and carefully closed the door.
“Dude,” Clark grinned at me. “Heard some fresh ones arrived today.” He looked over his shoulder. “Sisters.”
“And you know this, how?” I started to walk with him to my next class. Clark was a known man whore. He was bored with all the girls in our school, so when someone new came, he was the first to know.
“El and Alexi.” His eyebrows wiggled as he took a seat next to me. “Heard they moved here from Canada.” He rubbed his hands together in excitement. “Canadians! Can’t get much better than that.”
“Yeah.” I opened my binder and waited for the teacher to start his class. It would be only a matter of time before Clark would have one, or maybe even both, in the locker room shower. Another one of his many accomplishments.
Class was boring, as usual. Lucky for me, I was smart, but that was a curse as well as a blessing. It reserved my seat as co-captain on the team, but it also made for a dull day due to not being challenged enough.
The rink was the place I loved the most—the sounds, the smell, everything about it. It was the place where I could just turn off and use my body weight without getting into trouble. I was made for physical contact.
I dropped my bag at my feet and sat on the bleachers next to the football field where the team went for our dry-land training. My head finally stopped torturing me, which was perfect timing, since the coach wanted us to run laps for practice. Most of our school funding went to our hockey team, as our football team was a joke. Nonetheless, they were still a team that would bring our school a trophy for third place every year.
“Let’s go, ladies!” Coach Grant called through a megaphone. He had a twisted way of making us work harder when he called us that. “Can’t beat St. Pat’s High if you can’t run your laps. Now move!”
After I tied my Adidas, stretched, and downed some Gatorade, I joined Clark as he jogged by.
Just as we made it around the fourth lap, I noticed a guy approach the coach.
“Who’s that?” Clark nodded in his direction.
“Don’t know.”
“Oh, better yet, who is that?” Clark nearly tripped as his neck was bent awkwardly, looking in another direction.
“Don’t know that either,” I muttered and picked up the pace. It wasn’t until I came back around that I saw who he was talking about.
She had dark brown hair that hit at her elbows, a small frame, and long, slim legs. I couldn’t see her face, but by the way she was holding herself, I could tell she had confidence. She sat and opened a book, not even glancing at anyone.
“Ladies!” Coach waved us in and waited until we all arrived before he spoke. “We have a new player, and since Jordon got injured, we can sure use him.” Clark gave me the same worried expression I was sure was on my own face. “Meet Elliot Klein. He transferred here from Toronto, which is in Canada, in case some of you ladies don’t know your geography. He played left wing back home, but he’ll be playing right defense for us.”
I couldn’t hide the smirk that broke out on my face as I eyed Clark, and he then gave me the finger. I guessed El was short for Elliot. Awesome.
“Hey, guys.” He gave a friendly nod. “Thanks for letting me join the team. I have no interest in the football
team, and I don’t do baseball.”
“Good to hear,” Greyson, our goalie, called out from behind us.
“Okay, take ten.” Coach pulled out a note pad and started to scribble something on it.
“Keith.” I held out my hand to the newbie. I’d played sports my whole life and never went by my first name, Brandon.
“Elliot Klein.” He returned the shake. “You play center, right?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I did my homework, plus you are hard to miss. Your face is plastered all over the trophy wall by the office.” He looked over his shoulder to the brunette. She still had her head down in a book.
“Friend of yours?” I tilted my water bottle and let the liquid flow down my throat. No air, no cramps. It worked well for athletes.
“You could say that.” He chuckled, then glanced over my shoulder at Clark as he joined us. They did a quick introduction before the coach called us to center field to do pushups.
A hundred pushups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats later, and my ass was feeling the burn I always sought from a good workout. While the rest of the guys headed for the shower, Clark and I did one last easy jog around the track to help reduce the lactic acid in our muscles.
We stopped by the bleachers to grab our stuff and found Elliot speaking to the brunette. He turned when he heard us. “Hey, guys, can you point me in the direction of the cafeteria?”
“We could, but it’s closed.” I hooked my bag over my shoulder, still trying to sneak a peek of the girl. “We’re heading to a burger joint down the road. You hungry?”
His eyes lit up and he turned back to the girl. “Hey, you in?”
