by Maelani
“I don’t think this is going to be enough to stop the bleeding, Jay.”
“It will be fine,” he said, silencing her. “There are no arteries in the cheeks, so we just need to staunch it until it can be sewn up.” As she held the bandage in place, Jay started the tape and wound it around his head and over the bandage twice. “There, that should hold even if it gets soaked. This tape is sticky-ass shit.”
He looked like a war casualty now, like in the movies. Yet somehow, still sexy as hell.
“I can hear them right outside the cabin, Jay.”
“I know. Are you scared?”
“I am,” she said meekly.
Jay let out a sigh. “There’s not a single person in Las Vegas I can’t handle on my own.”
“But a whole group of them?”
He nodded. “That is the problem. That is the problem,” he mumbled to himself. “Stay here,” he said and slipped back into the bedroom. He came back a moment later with the sweats and shirt they’d picked up for her at a discount shop on the way there and tossed them in her direction. He also gripped a pair of black sweat pants, which he slid onto his muscled legs.
“It’s only fifty degrees out there, but these will be better than nothing.”
Hayley nodded, watching with disappointment as he covered up. He was one fine man, and every bit of flesh he exposed she had savored. It had felt so good inside her.
“Hey,” he whispered, catching her staring. He leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. “There’ll be time for more of that later; get those clothes on.” He winked.
Her face turned scarlet, and she looked away as she grabbed the sweats, hoping he didn’t see her embarrassment in the dark. Hurriedly, she dressed. “So what now?”
Jay pulled up his small, black shaving bag. Only it wasn’t a shaving kit. Inside was a nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol, a couple of magazines, and two dark, pear-shaped objects that looked like—
“Are those grenades?” she hissed, suddenly terrified. As if the guys outside the cabin weren't enough.
“Concussion grenades. Pretty much really loud frickin’ fireworks. These are our ticket out of here.”
“How?”
“Well, the douchebags outside are either relying on their night vision scopes or simply their night vision. Either way”—he paused, holding one of the grenades up—“these are going to fuck up their world. Follow me.”
They army crawled to the front door. For a brief moment, her leg passed in front of a strip of moonlight on the floor, and she heard another tink of glass followed by a thick thud when a bullet slammed into the floor next to her.
“Be careful!” he whispered. Then they heard the sound of a radio by the front door. “Shit, they know we’re heading that way.”
Hayley was terrified, sliding across the floor behind Jay, watching his muscled ass as he pulled his body along in front of her. At least it was a good view. He waved her up to him and pulled himself to a sitting position with his back to the wall right by the door. She pulled up next to him.
“Listen,” he whispered. She could hear the nervousness in his voice. “There are going to be two eagle-eyes out there sniping, one in the back, one in the front. As soon as this goes off, everything is going to go batshit for about ten seconds. Just hold onto me, and whatever you do, don’t stop running.”
Hayley was nodding, her eyes flitting around the room. He reached out and took her chin in his hand.
“That’s all we have, Hayley.”
For some reason, the sound of him saying her name filled her with warmth and hope.
“So follow closely behind me. They’ll be expecting us to go for the car, but we’re not.”
“Where are we going then?”
“You’ll see. Just stay close.”
“Okay,” she huffed. He could be so bossy, but she was damn glad he knew what he was doing. Or at least he sounded like he did. It just made him seem that much sexier to her.
“All right, here we go,” he whispered. “One, two, three.” On three, he yanked the door open half a foot. As soon as he did, it was peppered with gunfire—close-range gunfire. He tossed out one grenade then slammed the door back shut as several bullets tore into the room.
“Hayley, cover your ears,” he cried, then tucked into a ball with his hands pressed against the sides of his head.
She squeezed her hands to her ears as hard as possible. When the grenade went off, the loud concussive blast blew into her and smashed into her brain. Even with her ears plugged it felt and sounded like someone had smashed her head in and blasted an air horn into her ears at the same time.
“Holy shit!” she screamed. Then Jay grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her feet. He opened the door, saw the smoke and several bodies in pain on the ground, then they were running, sprinting over the gravelly earth. As they ran, he flicked the last grenade behind them.
“Eyes and ears!” he screamed.
Hayley screamed as she ran blindly, covering her ears. The grenade went off, blasting them forward once again. The world fell silent before a violent ringing whooshed through her head.
Hayley’s heart beat madly as she pounded after him, desperately trying to keep up with his lithe form. Five seconds passed, ten seconds, then the ground at their feet erupted in gunfire. It seemed to come from every direction, and it was getting closer. The bombardment of noise slammed into them, and she winced as her ears opened to the painful eruption.
“Jay! They're going to hit us!”
“No, they’re not!” And at that moment he changed course, dragging her straight toward another cabin. It took the snipers a moment to readjust, and in that time he had pulled her behind the back of the building. There was an enclosure that held the campground’s smelly dumpster.
“Stay right here. I don’t think they can see us.”
He left her standing against the back wall of the cabin. Her chest was heaving with exertion and fear. Copper-tasting phlegm filled her throat, and she fought the reflex to cough it out. Holy god, how did I get into this? Can’t I just have amazing sex without everyone trying to kill me?
Jay kicked through the door of the wood shed enclosing the dumpster. Chained inside was a big Yamaha VMAX motorcycle. He snagged the key from a hidden spot in the fence, and the bike’s big 1700 cc engine roared to life. He hit the gas and came spinning out of the enclosure.
“Jump on, now,” he called to Hayley, who was watching him with wide eyes. Just the sight of him, all muscled and tattooed up, hunkered over the big bike, made her insides twist in sweet, warm honey.
“Goddammit! What the hell are you doing, Hayley? Get on!” he yelled.
“Okay!” she snapped, hopping over the back of the bike and gripping his waist in a tight embrace against his back. It was warm and firm, and she pressed her cheek into it, afraid to look around.
Would they die tonight?
“We’ll never get away,” she whispered, shutting her eyes.
“Yes, we will. Quit it.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” There was no way he’d heard her over the snapping gunshots.
Jay laughed. “I’ve known you since you were a child, Hayley. You’re either excited, horny or despaired. Always one of those.”
“Hmph. Fuck you,” she grumbled, then the VMAX’s motor roared beneath her. He revved the engine up high, pushing the rpms until they reached his desired point. Bullets began to rain down around them—the hunters had caught up to them. Jay slammed the bike into gear, and 113 foot-pounds of torque tore into the desert beneath them, peppering the men running toward them with high speed gravel, like jagged bullets. The tire caught, and the big bike launched into the air, wheelieing up high under the full-throttle acceleration.
Holy shit, I’m going to pee my pants! Hayley thought, gripping Jay’s torso with all her strength, her nails cutting into his chiseled sides. The bike set down and pounded away from the campground, straight into the black desert. It was the most exhilarati
ng thing she had ever felt, almost as good as sex. Bullets continued to snap through the air around them, but Jay was juking and turning the bike, maneuvering in a serpentine way that prevented the gunmen from getting a good lock on them.
The desert beneath them roughened; rocks and sagebrush peppered the landscape, making their path coarse. Hayley looked down and saw the heavy, knobby tires on the bike chew into the earth easily. But the sound of the bike was blending in with even louder engines behind them, and she risked a peek back to find that the men had given chase in a big Suburban.
“They’re coming after us!” she screamed out. Jay frowned at her screech in his ear.
“Not for long!” he yelled back.
She thought she heard him chuckle after that last part. Then she saw why he found this entirely fatal situation so funny.
Shit!
Ahead of them on the ground loomed a long, dark shadow. Only it wasn’t just a shadow, it was a steep, rocky ditch.
“Holy hell, are we going over that?” Her fear slid up her throat, ready to spew out the contents of her stomach. Jay was out of his mind.
“You know it, babe!”
He gunned the engine once more, making it lurch over the ditch while at the same time Jay expertly hauled on the risers, bringing the front end up just enough for the bike to slam down on the opposite bank. He then jerked the handlebars, slowing the bike to a stop facing the ditch, and pulled out his pistol.
The suburban was making good time chewing across the desert toward them. Jay kissed the barrel of the semi-auto and aimed toward the lights. Hayley covered her ears as he unleashed a three-round burst in the direction on the oncoming truck. The truck faltered, swerving, then straightening. Jay readjusted his stance and sent four more rounds into the big vehicle.
One of them found a target.
She couldn’t see it from the distance, but a single 9mm round pierced the windshield and then cleanly through the driver’s head. He slumped forward over the wheel, and Hayley could hear the horn blaring into the endless night.
Holy shit, what a fucking shot, she thought.
The truck didn’t slow enough, though. In fact, it gained speed as the dead driver’s foot jammed down on the accelerator. They heard panicked screams coming from inside the truck as the occupants realized they were headed straight for the ditch, and the Suburban’s five-star safety features prevented any door from opening while it was in drive. There was nowhere to go but down.
Jay smirked and turned away, revving the engine before taking off once more. They sped into the night where he intended to make a long desert loop, and then go—where? He didn’t know that yet and would have to figure it out. The only thing that mattered was they had gotten away in one piece.
They heard the truck crash into the ditch a few seconds later, the horn unrelenting, and Hayley could finally breathe more easily. Her heart continued its manic hammering as Jay raced across the foreboding landscape, avoiding boulders, small cacti and tumbleweeds in the desolate night, heading toward the lights of Vegas. She let herself relax and leaned against him now, exhausted by the exertions of fear and adrenaline. Her nerves were fried, and she was afraid if she really let things sink in, she’d burst into tears or start laughing hysterically.
Either one would be okay.
“Did you like that?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Fuck, no!” she shouted back, but then a pleasant twinge between her legs as she squeezed them against his hips made her reconsider. Jay was a machine. A sexy killing machine. Damn, it all was pretty exciting, she thought as the rumble of the bike’s big engine numbed her body. “You might have to take me to bed again to shake this off. Like really soon.”
“Ha!” he laughed. “I’m just worried about staying alive for now!”
“That’s paramount, of course. Where are we going?”
“I’m working on it. I’ll let you know when I figure something out.”
“Great.” Like that had worked out the first time around.
Chapter Thirteen
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Hayley tightened her arms around his waist, feeling the cold air biting into her skin. The impenetrable darkness of the desert felt heavy until they made it to the main road and were able to turn their lights back on. Jay didn’t stay on it for long, afraid they would be spotted too soon. Turning down into the neighborhoods once they reentered the Las Vegas Valley, the cloak of the residential areas hid them even more.
But it did nothing for her frozen fingers and face. They had to warm up soon. Even the desert turned into a pit of exposure if they weren’t careful.
“I told you, I’ll figure it out.”
Coming up on a park near the other side of the desert, they spotted people still lingering in the cool evening air. Jay turned into the parking lot and parked behind a brick building holding the main trash receptacles. Turning the motorcycle off, He pushed the kickstand down and hopped off. Hayley followed suit, hugging her arms from the cold of the early winter breezes.
“I’m cold.”
“Just give me a minute.” His eyes darted around the dumpster’s shelter, eyeing the street both ways before relaxing and leaning against the wall. “I need to get to a safe house.”
“Wasn’t that what the cabin was for? A safe place to rest?”
Jay scratched his head, pressing his fingers to the blood-soaked bandage on his cheek before exhaling hard into the cold night. “Yes, but I’ve frequented it a lot lately. We have to go to a place I rarely visit. These guys are good. I had no idea I had a tail. And for who knows how long.”
“Do you have another safe house no one knows about?”
“I can’t be sure of any of them now.”
Hayley stepped closer, nudging his arm. He got the hint and pulled her into his embrace to let her siphon off his body heat. The cool air didn’t bother him; he was used to the dry desert winters. But she was so thin, he doubted she had any kind of insulation against the elements. He rubbed her arms and hoped it would be enough to keep her warm.
“What should we do? We can’t stay out here….” Her voice trailed off and shook as her lips quivered. She was fighting to keep her teeth from chattering. He could hear it in the strain of her voice. Her lips were already turning a darker shade of pink against her stark-white skin.
“I may not know of any, but you do.”
Hayley’s eyes widened.
“You told me something once. You made me promise to never go there unless I absolutely had to and to tell no one about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a complicated woman, Hayley. You never put all your eggs in one basket. There are several safe houses across North America you kept ready in case you needed to find a place to lie low. You never told anyone where they were or of their existence, except me. Even then, you never told me the exact locations of them.”
“And this is helpful to us how? I don’t remember where they are.”
“You don’t, but I know someone who can tell us where you hid the locations for yourself.”
Impressed, Hayley peered up into Jay’s handsome face. His features were appealing, strong willed and sexy. The bandage on his face needed to be changed badly, but it had slowed the blood flow enough that it was no longer dripping.
“How do I find this… person?”
“I’ll take you there.”
“How do you know they haven't gotten to them already?”
Jay cupped her chin, boring his dark eyes into her. “Because you never told anyone about them besides me.”
She nodded. There wasn’t much more to ask. They would find this person and maybe they would have answers for her. Something Jay no longer had.
“Why are they trying to kill us?”
Jay sighed, letting his head fall back onto the block wall. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect it. I’m pretty good at knowing these kinds of things and preventing them from happening. Not this time. I’ve been blindsided, and I have
to do some digging to discover who’s behind this. If they want you dead, there’s no way we can return home now. If this person doesn’t know anything that can help us, we’re done here. On our own. We’ll have to leave the country.”
The thought of running again made her blood heat up in a rage. Why would someone do this to her? Had she been such a horrible person before all this happened? Who had she let down to accrue such a wrath that they’d want her dead? On top of that, they wanted Jay dead too.
They were on each other’s side no matter what now.
“Who’s this person we have to see? Are they here in Vegas?” she asked. Her voice was no longer frantic but an eerie calm which caused her some discomfort. It was disorienting to hear herself talk so seriously, like she had a mission, and nothing was going to stand in her way. Not a bullet, not Jay. Not even the horde of killers on their tail.
“Alejandro Mraz.”
She racked her brain again to find any familiarity to that name, but found none. A man. She had trusted a man over a woman? Why did that sound strange to her? Did she not have any female friends?
“Is he close?”
“He’s on the other side of town, near Sunrise Mountain. He has a few acres there and keeps himself secluded.”
She peered up at Jay, taking in his determination and hoping he didn’t have any hidden agendas.
“And you’ve never visited this man before?”
He shook his head. “No. I had no reason to check him out. You told me not to bother or speak of him again. So I didn’t.”
“Did you always do as I asked?”
Jay chuckled. Hayley was starting to show more and more characteristics of her old self, and it was more than amusing to see them surfacing.
“No. I didn’t.”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
“I have no reason to lie to you.”
