by Brook Wilder
“Go pack up the money. I’m going to call Hub and… tell him what’s going on.”
Melody could hear the reticence in Christian’s voice, and she didn’t envy him that job at all. Hub would go ballistic at the news.
Come to think of it, if she’d learned that Enrique had taken Christian and beaten him, had him tied up, she would go ballistic too. She would be out for blood.
But she didn’t say any of that as she rushed downstairs. The money seemed like such a trivial thing to her now as she shoved stacks of bills haphazardly into the bag.
She knew what Christian thought. He thought they could make a clean break, use the cash to get out of town and disappear. But none of that mattered to her. Not now that Bianca’s life was in the line. No amount of money was worth that.
Melody rushed to finish packing, and she felt like she hadn’t drawn a breath the entire time. It was just too hard, thinking about Bianca, worrying what terrible thing Enrique and his men might be doing to her.
It drove her into a tizzy until she couldn’t stand still. They had to move. They couldn’t wait around.
She nearly cried in relief when Christian sprinted down the stairs and told her they were going.
“We are going to meet up with Hub at Bianca’s farmhouse. He… didn’t take the news well.”
Melody snorted, sure that was the understatement of the year. But she didn’t blame him one bit. She would be doing exactly the same thing. Actually, she would be planning for an all-out war, but she had no doubt that Hub was practically doing the same.
“Let’s go. I have everything packed,” Melody said, rushing towards the front door. “I can’t stop thinking about her, Christian. I know how cruel Enrique can be, especially if he let’s go of his temper.”
“Hush, Mel,” he said, giving her a quick but fierce kiss. “We are going to get her back. No matter what we have to do. We aren’t going to give up on her.”
“Heck no, we’re not,” Melody said, just as fiercely, and Christian gave her an odd look before tossing her a helmet.
“Alright, my bloodthirsty little warrior. Let’s go get Bianca back.”
Melody didn’t say another word. She just climbed on the back of Christian’s motorcycle and held on to him as tight as she could as it flew into the early morning mist.
Honestly, she held on to him tighter than she strictly needed to, but just the thought of Christian being at Enrique’s mercy made her break out into a panicked sweat. Because Enrique had no mercy.
He was cruel and manipulative, and he would do anything to get what he wanted. He had a massive superiority complex, and if he thought that somehow Christian had been able to steal the money right out from under him, he would be out for blood. He wouldn’t be able to stand thinking that anyone was better than him.
They arrived at the ramshackle farmhouse quicker than Melody could believe. She was just grateful that they hadn’t passed any cops on the way, because she knew that Christian had broken nearly every speed limit to get their as fast as he possibly could.
Christian leapt off the motorcycle as soon as he had it parked at the end of the driveway, stopping to help Melody to her feet, which she was also grateful for. After that ride, her legs were so shaky it would take a moment or two before she could take a step on her own.
She gave Christian a comforting smile as they turned towards the rundown looking old farmhouse.
Suddenly, the crack of gunfire brought them both up short, and then Hub’s voice hollered across the yard at them.
“I know you’re that asshole’s man! What did you do with my woman? What did you do with Bianca!” Hub shouted, sounding crazed and more than a little unstable. “I want her back, do you hear me? Don’t make me shoot you again!”
“Dad, it’s me! It’s Christian. And Melody,” Christian shouted back, trying to keep his voice as calm as he could, as he kept his hands in the air, though he moved to stand in front of her, blocking her body from any more pot shots. “She’s carrying your grandchild, remember? You really don’t want to shoot her.”
“Christian? Is that really you?”
“It really is. We’re coming up to the house now, just put down the gun for a minute.”
Christian held her hand, careful to keep her behind him as they made their way cautiously closer to the door.
When they got inside, Melody’s heart went out to Hub, even though he had just shot at them. His eyes were red-rimmed, from either lack of sleep, tears, or booze. Or some combination of all three of him.
He looked haggard and fearful, and for the first time since she’d met him, he looked like an old man, beaten and broken down.
Hub was pacing around the small house, still holding a loaded shot gun.
“I thought she was just working a late shift at the bar,” he said, speaking into the air, not directed at either Melody or Christian. “And then she didn’t come home. And I thought, well, maybe she just stayed at a friend’s house closer to town. She does that sometimes if it’s too late when she gets off of her shift. Says it’s safer than trying to drive these country roads in the dark. But she never came home.”
Hub turned to them then, the old man looking lost, and Melody’s heart broke for him all over again.
“She always comes home.”
Just as suddenly, Hub’s expression changed again, and back was the hard-faced, mean-countenanced man she was used to.
“Let me see the picture,” he demanded, his voice gruff.
Melody turned to Christian to stop him, but she didn’t need to. He was already shaking his head.
“You don’t need to see it, dad. I already told you what it was.”
Christian turned, heading into the kitchen, and Melody followed. But so did Hub, and she could see the determination in the old man’s gaze.
“Show me the god-damned picture, Christian.”
Melody glanced back over her shoulder at the odd note in Hub’s voice, and gasped when her gaze landed on the shotgun that he had raised and pointed straight at Christian’s chest.
“I’m not joking around Christian. I deserve to know.”
Christian didn’t flinch. He just let out a soft sigh, grabbed his phone from the back pocket of his jeans and slid it across he kitchen table towards where his father was still standing with the gun.
Hub leaned forward, grabbed the device, and stared at it in horror.
“They hit her. That son of a bitch hit her.”
Melody let out a scream, ducking and covering her ears as the shot gun fired. Hub had released the rest of the bullets into the china cabinet in his rage, and the plates shattered into a spray of porcelain shards and fine dust.
“Jesus, dad! Give me that damned thing before you actually shoot one of us,” Christian yelled at him, taking the gun out of his hands.
But Hub didn’t even seem to notice. His gaze was locked on the image on the screen of Christian’s phone.
“He’s a dead man,” Hub finally ground out, the words like broken glass in his throat. “You hear me? Dead.”
“I hear you, dad.”
Melody nodded in agreement. She wasn’t normally violent, but this time Enrique had gone too far. This time he’d messed with her family.
“Come on. Let’s just all sit down and figure out what the hell we are going to do next,” Christian said, trying to calm the situation as he placed the gun well out of Hub’s reach and gestured for them all to take a seat and the kitchen table.
No one spoke for a long moment, and Melody clasped her hands in her lap, trying to keep her fear and panic under control. She wasn’t doing a very good job and jumped when Hub spoke next.
“Any idea what he wants?”
Christian shrugged.
“Not yet. I expect he’ll let us know his demands soon enough though. He’s not the type to be able to wait when there’s something that he wants.”
“Actually,” Melody chimed in softly, swallowing hard when two nearly identical sets of blue eyes turned to
stare at her. But she forced herself to go on. “Actually, I think I know why.”
“I’m telling you, Mel. It’s not the money.”
“What money?” Hub demanded.
Christian just sat back, his arms crossed over his chest and a surly expression on his face. When it was obvious he wasn’t going to say anything else, Melody sat forward and explained.
“There’s no use keeping it a secret. At the meeting, during the shoot-out, Craig snatched the bag of money from Enrique. The money that was supposed to pay off his debt. It’s… a lot of cash. Craig gave it to Christian and told him to take it. That’s what Enrique wants back. He wants his money.”
A tense silence fell between the two men, only interrupted a few minutes later by another text message.
With a hard curse Christian opened his phone and looked at it. His face went so pale Melody was worried he was about to pass out.
“Well, what does it say?” Melody asked.
But he didn’t answer. It was like he couldn’t even hear her words.
“What does it say, son?”
Christian didn’t speak. He just put the phone on the table, so they could both read it.
Melody gasped in shock. Enrique didn’t want the money. He wanted her.
Chapter 14
“No! Fuck, no!”
The words exploded from Christian’s throat like machine gun fire, hard and sharp, ricocheting in his head. They repeated over and over. No. No. No.
“Christian, let’s just talk about this…” his father started, still looking more haggard than he’d ever seen the old man.
It didn’t matter. Christian shook his head.
“Not going to happen. That’s all that needs to be said. Fuck. NO!”
“Please, Christian.”
“Fuck. No! What don’t you understand about that? Is it the ‘fuck’? Or the ‘no’?”
Fury beat at him with violent wings of rage. He wanted to scream and shout. He wanted to break something. He wanted to grab that gun of Hub’s, track down Enrique himself, and end it once and for all.
Christian hated that Bianca was in that asshole’s hands, but he was not about to let him get Melody too. Especially when she was carrying his child. He wouldn’t let her take that risk. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t’ survive it if anything were to happen to her. He would just curl up in a ball and die.
He looked over at Hub, pleading with his father to understand.
“You have to know why I can’t let her do this,” Christian said softly when he felt anything but soft at the moment. “She’s my life.”
Hub stared at him for so long he wasn’t sure the old man had heard his words, but when he spoke his voice was just as soft, just as sharp.
“Bianca is my life, too,” Hub sighed, and his face crumpled, and he looked away. “So, yeah, I understand it. All too well.”
Hub turned slowly to Melody and patted her on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find another way. There has to be another.”
All Melody could do was stare back, to-and-fro between the two men, in complete shock. Christian sat back when she jumped to her feet in anger.
“What the hell are you two talking about! Bianca is in danger! Enrique is going to kill her if I don’t turn myself over to him. I am not about to let that happen.”
“Out of the question,” Christian shot back at her, fighting to keep his fear and temper under control, but it was damned hard.
Especially when Melody turned on him. That same anger flared in her dark eyes and was riding high up on her cheeks, and she was so god-damned beautiful that it made him want to cry. And scream. And rage.
Because he couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t let her go. He just couldn’t. It went against every single instinct inside him that was shouting at him to keep her safe. To protect their child.
He didn’t know how to make her understand as his father had. It wasn’t out of the question, because he would go insane if anything happened to her. It would break him apart and he knew that would be a mortal wound that he would never be able to recover from.
“Please, Mel,” Christian begged her. “Just sit down and we can talk about it.”
“Not until you agree to let me make the trade. Once Bianca is safe…”
“No,” Christian interrupted, and Hub nodded, butting in before Melody could explode again.
“Christian’s right, Melody. We need to talk about this. We’ll get Bianca back,” he said softly, and reached out to take her hand.
Christian was surprised at the gentle gesture from his normally gruff father, but it seemed to help calm Melody, and she reluctantly sat back down.
“We will get my Bianca back,” Hub went on. “But it won’t mean a damned thing if we lose you in the process. And you know Bianca would never let me live it down. I’d spend the rest of my days in the doghouse if I let anything happen to you or that baby.”
“Alright, so what do we do?” Melody asked after a long moment.
Christian let himself relax, just a little bit. At least he knew now that she wasn’t completely hell-bent on going forward with a suicide mission.
“I’ll call Craig. He always has some trick up his sleeve, and I know he was released from the hospital last night. Apparently, he was driving the hospital staff crazy,” Christian muttered, grateful to be doing anything.
“I can call Bones. We’ll get some back-up in place, once we figure out where he’ll want to meet.”
“Wait a minute, we’re still going to meet with Enrique?” Melody asked, shooting them a confused look.
Hub just grinned, and it wasn’t a pleasant expression.
“I think our best bet is a weasel.”
“Excuse me?” Melody choked.
Christian nodded his head as he explained.
“It was something gunslingers and crooks used to do in the wild west. They would go to the drop off with a bag of money, get the goods, hand over the bag and ride off as fast as they could.”
“Except what was in the bag wasn’t money at all. But a weasel or a snake. Something damned mean. The other guys would be too busy dealing with their new problem to give chase, by which time it would be too late.”
Melody nodded her head, her eyes lighting with understanding and a small grin.
“So, who’s going to be my weasel?”
“That’s my girl,” Hub said with a mean chuckle. “I have a few ideas but need to run it by Bones first. We’ll find someone mean as hell, but about your size. We have a few smaller guys in the crew. We’ll put a bag over his head, so Enrique won’t know it’s not you until it’s too late. Then, while they’re still recovering from the shock, we can send in the ambush and finish them off.”
Melody nodded and then her brows furrowed.
“So, we need to know where we’re going to meet and when.”
Christian nodded slowly.
“That means we need to call him.”
All three of them stared at the cell phone in the middle of the table as if it had just turned into a viper.
Hub drew in a deep breath, grabbed the phone and hit the call button. He put the call on speaker so they could all hear it as it rang. On the third one, it was answered.
“Hello, Melody,” Enrique’s smooth, greasy voice sounded from the other end of the line.
Christian saw red, but he clamped down tight on his anger. This was no time to lose it. Too much was at stake.
“This isn’t Melody. It’s Hub.”
“I won’t speak to anyone but Melody. I know she’s there. Put her on the phone now or Bianca dies.”
Muffle female screams echoed in the background, and Hub flinched.
“I’m here!” Melody said quickly, her own expression just as pained. “I’m here Enrique. What do you want?”
“I want you,” he purred.
Christian thought he was going to throw up.
“I want Bianca back.”
“She’s all yours, angel. You just have to
do one little thing for me.” Enrique laughed, “Just come back home, sweetheart. I miss you.”
Melody swallowed hard, fighting back her fear, and Christian had never been more proud of her.
“Okay, Enrique. Let her go first, and then I’ll meet with you.”
“NO!” he growled, turning so suddenly that Christian was even a little surprise. “I know what a bitch you can be. I want you home, with me first. Then I’ll let Bianca go. You know I would never hurt you, sweetheart. Not you, or my baby.”
