“Why?” she finally asked, but now she sounded a little wary. “Why are you asking me that? What’s wrong?”
He pressed down on the accelerator to push the car uphill and around the next bend. He’d slowed a little while glancing in the rearview mirror and trying to watch for the other car.
Yes, it was definitely a vehicle from the gas station.
And when there, he’d been too busy listening to—or, rather, trying not to listen to—Nami’s rantings about Joaquin to pay much attention to the nearly dozen Hispanic men in the store. Being from Tampa, that honestly hadn’t even blipped on Ken’s radar at the time. With a large Hispanic population to start with, and a high number of migrant workers, it wasn’t something that crossed his mind as being out of place. Plus, they’d all been well-dressed men.
But this was Idaho.
Way out-of-the-way, Idaho.
A deep part of Idaho without a lot of farmland, without a lot of tourists who weren’t there for the fishing or hunting or hiking, and where a wolf on the run from a Mexican drug cartel was hiding out.
And the men in the convenience store had not been dressed for fishing or hiking or hunting.
Not hunting in the traditional sense, anyway.
Shit.
Nami looked over her shoulder. “That car behind us?”
“Yeah.” He heard his phone ring. It was Dewi’s ringtone, but between keeping his focus on the road, and now the possible pursuers, he didn’t dare risk answering it.
“There’s only one main road out of this area—the one we’re on,” Nami said. “If they’re heading south to the interstate, they have to take this road.”
From her tone, she didn’t sound convinced of her own argument.
“Yeah, but awfully coincidental, don’t you think?” Ken asked her. “All of them there, and only one of their cars comes after us? Why didn’t they stay together?”
“What?”
“You didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention back there, did you? At the gas station.”
If he remembered correctly, there was a pullover not too far up ahead, a scenic turnout where he could whip a U-turn and race back the way they’d come from, hopefully before the other vehicle realized what they were doing.
Dewi had hammered into him to trust his instincts, to listen to his gut.
His gut was telling him something was wrong.
Horribly wrong.
Ken pushed the car harder, the little four-cylinder engine and front-wheel drive now straining, the wheels occasionally losing their grip on the loose road surface around the turns.
Which wouldn’t have been so disconcerting if not for the steep drop-off to the west, on the passenger side, where there were no guardrails between them and death.
“Ken, sugar,” Nami said, now sounding worried. “How about we slow down just a little, huh? This ain’t a flat Florida road.”
“Can’t.” He reached up and adjusted the rearview mirror so he could more easily keep one eye on the road in front of him and one on the view behind them.
Yes, it looked like the other vehicle was trying to gain on them. No logical, innocent reason for that, either, when Ken was already going fifteen miles over the posted speed limit and had started out at least a mile ahead of them.
This wasn’t a flat, open stretch of highway, perfect for letting all their horsepower gallop unfettered.
This was a treacherous stretch of road that could become deadly in an instant.
Maybe even sooner than they thought.
Nami sounded scared now. “Uh, you can, and should slow down. Trust me, I’m a professional driver, and you’re goin’ too damn fast!”
They rounded another bend and there was the turn-out. He braked hard, whipping the wheel around and sliding a little, his sphincter clenching as the car drifted sideways for a few feet on the loose scrim before the front wheels gained purchase again and he got them turned around and heading back in the other direction.
Nami let out a screech, grabbing at the passenger-side handle on the doorframe. “Ken!”
“Hold on.” He gunned it again, the Honda straightening as he sped around the bend. Now he was thankful they had the little car. He never would have dared to take the road this fast in one of the larger SUVs, all-wheel-drive or not.
The other vehicle appeared from around another bend, heading toward them. Then, they did something Ken wasn’t expecting.
They braked, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. The driver cut the wheel hard and came to a stop with his vehicle angled to block both sides of the road.
Ken didn’t let up on the gas, thinking they were going to move.
“Ken!” Nami screeched.
Finally, realizing the other driver wasn’t going to end this game of chicken, Ken scanned the west side of the road, spotted a less-steep and fairly wide break in the trees along the downward slope, and purposely aimed the little Honda toward it.
“Ken!” Nami screamed. “What the hell are you doing?”
A bitter, metallic taste coated his tongue as he fought back bile rising in his throat. “Shut up and hold on!”
They sailed over the edge.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Manuel Segura wasn’t sure what was going on but when he turned around he realized the clerk and the other customer had disappeared. They’d been there one second…
And then just gone.
After sweeping his gaze around the store, he softly snapped his fingers once and headed for the door, his men immediately rising and following him. While he hadn’t sensed anything off about the clerk other than the man being a typical American hick, Manuel hadn’t stayed alive as long as he had by not trusting his gut.
His gut told him to get the hell out of there.
Immediately.
They piled into the two vehicles, Manuel riding shotgun.
“Which way?” the driver asked.
Manuel pointed up the road. “To that property we researched.”
The same corporation that owned the shell company that owned the apartment Carlomarles’ lived in also owned a lot of shell companies and properties all over the world, including a large swath of land just outside this town, and several houses situated on that land. The satellite views they’d obtained from Google Earth showed dozens of residences and several camping and recreation areas within the property.
Somewhere in there, he suspected Carlomarles was hiding out, or someone in there knew where he was hiding out.
And he would find him, even if he had to slaughter every last man, woman, and child in there to get the answers he sought.
He’d hoped to go in with a better idea of exactly where the man was hiding, but it didn’t matter. He had a picture of the guy from the security cameras at Raul’s house and knew who he was looking for.
God’s mercy on anyone who was hiding the animal, or helping him hide. Manuel would make them suffer the way his sister-in-law and nieces and nephews—his own mother—were now suffering.
He would have his vengeance. No one just came into a Segura home and killed one of theirs. It just. Did. Not. Happen.
And it would be answered, blood with blood.
The animal’s blood.
* * * *
Beck drove the lead SUV with Dewi riding shotgun and trying to reach Ken on his cell to get their location. Dewi assumed if they didn’t run into Ken and Nami by the time they reached the main road in town, that they hopefully would have continued on toward Spokane without realizing they were being followed. That meant she and Beck would have to catch up with them.
She knew the probability of Ken sensing something wrong and heading back to the safety of the compound was slim, but it was the only hope she held on to.
“How the hell did they track Joaquin back here so goddamned fast?” Beck growled.
“I don’t know,” Dewi said. “Not my immediate concern. They’re here now, and right now we need to shut their asses down before they hurt any of ours. We can figure out t
he whys once we have them neutralized.”
“It’s a concern we need to figure the fuck out, though. To see what else these jackasses know.”
“And that’s a concern we can figure out later once we’ve got them all rounded up and accounted for.”
“Are we even sure these are the cartel guys?”
“I’m sure it’s suspicious that a dozen or so non-local Spanish-speaking men who aren’t wolves suddenly show up looking for Joaquin and asking questions about him, yes.”
Behind them, Badger was behind the wheel of the other rented SUV and had Peyton, Trent, and a couple other wolves riding with him. Trent and Peyton were putting out calls to warn everyone of the threat, mobilize the pack, and to get children and human mates inside and to safety.
And to arm themselves.
Peyton had Primed Lu’ana, Reggie, and Da’von. He told them the sheriff’s office had called and said they were looking for several dangerous escaped convicts. Gillian and Asia were deadly with weapons, and all of them had holed up in Trent’s secure, reinforced basement shelter, with Bebe. Trent and Asia’s kids, also armed and deadly, even young Chelsea, were there, too.
They’d also called Jack and Moraine, who had a basement shelter, and told them to take refuge there to protect Malyah, while ordering Joaquin to catch up and join them in the pursuit.
Web had called Peyton back and told him it looked like four of the guys had taken one vehicle and followed Ken and Nami, while the other seven piled into their other two vehicles and, as best he could tell, left his store and headed toward the compound.
They had almost reached the entrance to the compound when they spotted a car matching the description Web had given them. It was parked along the shoulder and nudged up into the trees. The average person probably wouldn’t have paid it any attention.
It appeared to be empty.
Beck hit the brakes and slid to a stop, drawing his gun as he left the engine running and he and Dewi jumped out.
The other wolves joined them.
Peyton’s expression grew grim as they studied the evidence. “They’re heading into the compound. In another vehicle, and some on foot.”
Dewi sniffed around. “At least three on foot. Maybe four.” This stretch of road, where every vehicle entered the compound, was so well-used that all the scents sort of mixed together in the dry dust, making it difficult to tell for sure exactly how many had taken off on foot.
“Come on,” Peyton said. “We have to go back.”
“What about Ken and Nami?” Beck asked.
Peyton shook his head. “We’re days before a Muster. There are an extra couple hundred people, including mates and children, already in town and inside the compound right now. Many of them out of communication range because they’re shifted and running, or out of cell phone range. I need every available wolf I’ve got tracking these fuckers down now and stopping them before any of our people get hurt.”
He turned to Trent. “Call Web back. Have him mobilize wolves in town to make sure none of these fuckers double back that way. Have them run a sweep. Then have them get as many extra people as they can spare and assemble at the great hall inside the compound for further instructions. And have Gillian and Asia start calling people in town. I want everyone armed and indoors who isn’t actively involved in the hunt. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
“What do you want them to do with any of these guys they find?” Trent asked.
“Make sure they really are with the Segura cartel and after Joaquin,” Peyton growled. “After we find out where the rest of these assholes are, and how they tracked down Joaquin, use extreme prejudice. If they happen to be innocent, hold them until we can Prime them and get them the fuck out of here.”
“What about Ken and Nami?” Dewi asked.
Peyton ran a hand through his hair before speaking to Trent again. “Have Web send someone down the road after them. If they can’t find them by the time they hit I-90, then they come back. No more than one person, well armed. Anyone else he has who can track needs to be sent here to the compound after they complete their sweep of the town.”
Thus given a pack Alpha order, Dewi and Beck both swore and returned to their vehicle. Besides, it wouldn’t do any good to argue.
They knew Peyton was right.
Two mates, whom they weren’t even sure if they were in jeopardy or not, versus a town and compound full of mates, and kids?
No contest.
“Wait,” Dewi said. She pulled a knife from her back pocket and cut the valve stems off all four tires on the car. “Now they won’t be able to go anywhere in this car, if they make it back here.”
If the wolves had anything to say about it, none of the cartel assholes would leave the compound alive.
After completing his calls, Trent took three armed wolves and headed off into the woods after the scent trails of the men who were on foot. The intruders now had at least a thirty-minute head start.
Peyton ran ahead of Badger’s SUV, nose in the air and trying to home in on the second vehicle. There were dozens of fire roads and trails that would accommodate vehicles and which split off from the main road running through the southern part of the compound. They couldn’t use tire tracks, because hundreds of vehicles had passed through over the last several days. The dirt road was too soft to hold good tracks, anyway. It would be like trying to find one exact needle in a crate full of needles, much less a haystack.
Locating the other vehicle might take some time, depending on how much of a head start the men had on them. And they didn’t know for sure exactly how many they were up against, or how well they were armed, or what the other vehicle even smelled like, for sure. All they had were Web’s descriptions, and his report of eleven men total, but no telling if there had been any others outside the store whom he hadn’t seen.
Dewi also didn’t like that her calls to Ken’s phone were now going straight to voice mail. When she tried calling Nami’s phone, the same thing happened.
Finally, after ten minutes, Peyton shook his head and walked back to them. “I can’t track shit in these conditions.”
“Want me to try?” Dewi asked.
“If I can’t track them, you can’t track them. You’re every bit as good as I am, but the problem is sheer volume. Too many scent trails to tell one car from another, unless it’s scenting gas over diesel. Let’s get back to the great hall and start there by splitting people into groups to search based on sections. We also need to get people out to round up everyone who’s out of range right now and get any kids and human mates to safety.”
“We’re wastin’ time,” Badger said. “Bloody well decide somethin’.”
“We’re off the playbook,” Peyton said. “We’ve never had anyone come into our compound like this. Not multiple threats in the modern age.”
“And flappin’ our jaws here ain’t findin’ ’em, lad.”
“Great hall,” Peyton said, getting into Badger’s SUV. “Now.”
* * * *
Manuel pulled out his phone and looked at the screen.
Dammit.
No service. That meant they couldn’t communicate with Jose, and he couldn’t call Saul, who was leading the group of men he’d sent in on foot.
“Which way?” Guillermo asked.
They’d taken a turn off the main road. Manuel had pulled up the pictures on his tablet, the ones they’d saved off Google Earth, since apparently the stupid local fucks didn’t believe in maps that actually included the dirt tracks they called roads in this wilderness.
Or maybe that was deliberate on their part.
“I think we need to head east,” he said, pointing to the road to their right.
“Okay.” Guillermo turned down that trail. If they’d picked correctly, it circled around a grouping of houses from the north.
He was hoping they would be able to park somewhere and go in the rest of the way on foot.
Unfortunately, now that they were here, Manuel realized one c
ritical miscalculation he hadn’t really considered in his rage to be underway, taking off with ten of his best men in his private jet.
None of them were dressed for this shit, and none of them looked like they remotely belonged in the area. Scouting the rugged rural terrain by car would be virtually impossible without being spotted.
Then again, he had a pocket full of cash, and they all had guns. That would likely be enough to ensure the cooperation they needed from the local hicks.
The sky was beginning to cloud up a bit, too. In fact, it looked like it might be working up to rain later. Maybe even snow if the temperature dropped enough.
“Wait,” Manuel said.
Guillermo brought the car to a stop.
Manuel looked around. Since reaching this area, what had been marked as part of the national forest surrounding it, they hadn’t seen any other cars. Which seemed unusual based on the way the main road had looked, all the car tracks, like it was really busy.
He didn’t like feeling unsure.
Checking his phone again, he still had no service.
They were separated from the others, in a strange territory, out of contact, and definitely outnumbered by the locals.
Dammit.
He had honestly thought he’d walk into the office in town, smile at some bubble-headed receptionist, talk his way into someone’s office…
And then pull his gun and demand answers.
He hadn’t honestly expected going on an actual hunt. A lot of his dealings now were with “corporations.” They had to appear legal to skirt past the law. People in offices were usually easy to intimidate and extract information from.
Why the hell would an office be closed for this long this time of year? Over the holidays, yes, he’d understand that. But a legal office that was closed for a damned month? And no telling how long it had been closed before they arrived.
That had been miscalculation number one.
When they’d chased the animal from Raul’s home, yes they’d had to cross national borders, but they’d been in their own territory, so to speak. They’d had allies, or at least people they could pay to be loyal for the duration of their time there. They’d all spoken the language and fit in. They’d counted on and received help, especially when they told people why they were chasing the man.
A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3) Page 20
