by Bella Knight
Xenia called Eddie Flores herself. “Eddie, Sheriff Hill here. Avery pulled a gun on someone in a hospital corridor, and I have footage.”
Ivy and Xenia smiled cat smiles at the man’s glee. “I’ve been trying to get Baby Avery kicked out for nine months now. Shot a beagle last week. A beagle! On private property! I’m representing the homeowner, too. His mama is on the school board, which is why he hasn’t been fired yet.”
“Well, get on it,” said Xenia. “I’ll email you the footage. Happened not less than a minute ago.”
“On it,” said Eddie. He hung up.
Xenia put the phone in her pocket. “We can’t hug here because I’m conducting an impartial investigation, but as a Valkyrie, I swear I’ll kill anyone trying to kill Ace.” She pointed to the correct operating room. “Or Lily, his wife.” She pointed at the other. “Got both Valkyries and Iron Knights lining up to be on protection duty. Sorry about Lily’s brother. We’ll take good care of him.”
Ivy teared up, then got herself under control. “Thank you. You’ll find out one of those Texas numbnuts killed him.”
“I assume you have more weapons,” Xenia said.
“Absolutely,” said Ivy.
“Any of those throwing stars I heard about from the ATF report? Didn’t know you were into that.”
“They don’t have wooden boards for throwing stars at the shooting range,” said Ivy. “No reason you should have known.”
“Well, Herja will be here soon. She calls her boyfriend by her own handle, Devastator. So, you get two for one.”
“Why is your name Greek and not Norse?”
Xenia laughed. “My mama is a university professor of Greek mythology.”
Ivy smiled. “Thank the Valkyries and the Iron Knights for me, please.”
“Thank us yourself.” Herja had big ice-blue eyes, pale skin, white-blonde hair in various braids, and amazing tiny braids that merged together, as well.
“Ivy,” Herja said and nodded. “This is Devastator.”
Devastator had dark skin, with many tribal tattoos wrapping around his arms. Then a mass of curly hair caught in a silver clip at the nape of his neck. They were the same height, and both had muscles rippling under their skin. Xenia nodded at her friends, grabbed her box, and made tracks out of the building.
“Thank you,” said Ivy, stepping forward. “The Nighthawks owe the Valkyries and the Iron Knights.”
Ivy’s phone rang. Herja stood in Ivy’s previous spot and Devastator across from her. They leaned against the walls and were obviously armed. Ivy clearly saw both holsters and knives in boots.
Ivy’s stepped away to take it. “I’ve got the kids at the school. We’re going to make pizzas and watch movies later,” said Callie. “Are you okay?”
“Absolutely not,” said Ivy. “Devlin was shot dead right in front of me, Ace is in surgery, Lily is across the hall losing her baby because she got shot, and I wasn’t fast enough to stop any of it.” She took a deep breath. “And the cops have one of my guns.”
Callie gasped. “What the fuck? More shooting?”
“We’ve got the Valkyries and the Iron Knights on it. A Valkyrie is the sheriff here. We’ll be safe, for now. But these were hired, guys.” Ivy heard a beep. “Got another call, baby.”
“Stay safe,” said Callie.
“On it,” said Ivy. She switched calls. “Talk to me.”
“Leticia don’ know nuffin,” said Ghost. “She say she din’ know that white boy still wif us. I tell her he got punished, sent away to work. She say, well, he now dead. She say she don’ want no Nighthawks pissed at her. So, she say, we need somfin, we call in da favah.”
“Don’t need one yet,” said Ivy.
“You need Killa and I dere? We be fas’ on our bikes.”
“Guard our people,” said Ivy.
“Been doin’ dat. De braiding lessons goin’ well. Killa done taught how to put in de beads.”
Ivy’s brain froze at the idea of two gangbangers on the floor, showing children how to braid hair. “That’s real good,” she said. “You keep the kids safe.”
“We good,” said Ghost, and hung up.
Ivy turned the corner. She found a machine and shuddered at the idea of artificial coffee. She chose a Dr. Pepper instead. She popped the top and drank it down. She found a waiting room around the corner, strangely empty. She sat down and let the adrenaline take her into the shakes. She stood up, walked back to the hallway, and leaned against a wall.
Gregory called. “We heard about the shooters. We think it’s the Talamates. Or, it may be someone trying to make them happy.”
“They are supposed to be gone, And, isn’t that nutcase La Diabla locked up?” La Diabla was a Talamates assassin sent to kill Ivy. Ace and Ivy had taken that bitch down, hard.
“We’ve had issues with lawyers,” said Gregory. “We’re trying to find out who hers is.”
Ivy blew out a breath. “I should have thought of that.”
“Tito’s gonna be here soon. We’re splitting up keeping everyone safe, and finding out who did this.” Gregory’s tone was all business; exceptionally calm. Ivy loved that about him.
Ivy took a shaky breath. “We’re in the loop on the shooting. The shooters are dead. They came after me again and they got Lily. She’s probably going to lose the baby.”
He got absolutely silent. “Fuck,” he said. “So, we’re after who sent them.”
“Ghost already told me Leticia had nothing to do with it. Track down the lawyer. The shooters came from Texas. The connection will be there.”
“We’ve got a chapter of the Iron Knights in Texas,” he said. “And they’re real down on assassins.”
“Reach out to them,” said Ivy, “and the name of the bitch’s lawyer. Someone is doing this, and if we pull enough strings, we’ll get to it. I’ll call Wraith.”
“Hold on,” said Gregory.
A voice came on the line. “Wraith here,” said a female voice. “Hey, I hear the assassins are crawling out of the woodwork.”
“They are,” said Ivy. “I’ve got guards on the surgical rooms, and I’m in the same hallway.”
“We’ll run down some things,” said Wraith. “Hang on. When it’s safe enough to move them, there’s this real quiet hospital recovery center we can move them to. There’s this one corridor we use for people with getting-dead issues.”
“Sounds good,” said Ivy. “For now, we’ve got to move on this.”
“Getting the job done,” said Wraith. “And just so you know, the Valkyries tried to recruit me, and the Iron Knights tried to get both me and Saber.” Saber was Wraith, the DEA agent’s boyfriend, with ATF. Both were bikers.
“Well, join whoever floats your boat,” said Ivy. “We’d love to have you, but you have to do what’s best for you.”
“Shut up,” said Wraith. “We told them no. We’re with you. We may have to not be with you if we’re on a case, but we’re with you right now.”
“You complete me,” said Ivy. Wraith laughed.
“Come home when everyone is in the safe hospital. Meanwhile, I’ve got a Valkyrie that can super-help with the bar. You’ll need an income; you can’t just keep shutting down the bar when people try to assassinate you.”
Ivy nodded. “It keeps happening,” she said. “So, who is she?”
“She loves to rock.”
“Okay, we’ll get into that later. We’ve got to find the assassin-sending cretin out there.”
“On it,” said Wraith.
Ivy hung up. She considered the fact that she needed to eat. She also needed to grab a nap; surgeries were either long or ended in sudden death.
She peeked around the corner and said, “There a Sonic around here?” Both Herja and Devastator pointed to the left.
She realized her bike was still at the crime scene by the side of the road, so she summoned an Uber on her cell. She had to have the Uber driver park at the far end of the rest stop. The bikes were far enough away from the meet that they w
eren’t on the wrong side of the police tape. The coroner van was there. A man in a Stetson was there; full police uniform, chatting with Xenia. Xenia nodded at Ivy; Ivy knew then who was behind leaving the bikes alone. A man with a face (wizened by wind and weather) came up to her in full biker gear, helmet in hand, do-rag on his head.
“Herder,” he said. “Michael. Iron Knights. Go by my last name. Some of my flock’s like lost sheep. We got keys from the pockets. My wife Charlie and I will ride Ace and Lily’s bikes back to Vegas with our kids following us. Jamie’s sixteen and Ula’s twenty. Good kids. Take ‘em to a show, let them dance at Dirty Vegas.”
“Only if they’ve got fake IDs,” said Ivy. “Don’t need Liquor Control shutting us down.” Herder snorted. “Don’t know when we’re opening; got a Valkyrie to talk to.”
“She’s already there,” said a woman. She was short, with black hair flowing down her back. “Bella’s meeting her. Cougar’s half black and half Crow; I’m half Sioux and half black myself. Sistas gotta stick together.”
Ivy said, “Word.” The women hugged.
“Go back to the hospital now,” said Charlie, releasing her.
Two girls in a quad cab truck, colored cherry red, drove up behind the bikes. “We’ll leave these at the club.”
“May the wind be in your teeth,” said Ivy.
Charlie laughed. “That’s the way I like it,” she said. They mounted up.
Ivy cringed deep inside when she saw Ace’s American flag and Lily’s white, calla lily keychains.
They went to the exit, and Charlie, Herder, and the girls went to the overpass to go back to Vegas. Ivy put on her helmet, started the bike, and went to Sonic. She got herself cheese sticks; the only thing she thought she could hold down, and a cherry limeade.
When she got back to the hospital, she took in her go backpack from her saddlebags. She went to the surgical floor to relieve Herja at the door. Herja wasn’t having it. Both Ace and Ivy were still in surgery.
“Get some fucking sleep,” said Herja. “Long haul.”
Ivy nodded, clasped Herja’s wrist, and went to the waiting room. She took the bedroll from the bottom of the pack, unrolled it, and laid it over two chairs and a low table at the same height. All after removing the fake flowers and putting them on another table. She laid easily down, the pack as her pillow, and took a catnap.
She jerked awake, stood. She rolled up the bag and tied it to the bottom of her bag. She stretched, popping her spine. She checked her messages. Nothing. She called Gregory. Tito answered.
“Everything is in hand,” said Tito. “Wraith and Saber are doing something undercover. The kids are safe. We’re good. We’ve deployed to Henry’s farm, and the res is on alert. Doubt that’s where they’ll hit, though. They seem fucking determined to kill you.”
“I think they hit Ace because he’s the other one that took La Diabla down.”
“They didn’t see you?”
“Nope,” said Ivy. “I was getting sodas.”
“Good,” said Tito. “Glad you’re not dead.”
“So am I,” said Ivy with a semi-laugh. “Keep me posted.” She hung up and went to see what was going on.
Action
Tito sighed as he hung up the phone. The Nighthawks attacked again, check. His brother Ace was shot, check. His sister, Ace’s wife’s good-for-nothing brother, shot and killed, check. The news that the bastards had come back to finish the job, and that the ricochet had gone into Lily’s stomach and caused her to lose the baby made him feel as if he’d been gut-shot himself. He thought of his wife and his own kids.
Callie stuck her head out of the classroom door. “Can someone bring me more juice boxes? Half grape, half apple,” she said.
Tito looked up at her. “Call your wife,” he said. She took one look at his face, turned white, and pulled out her own phone. “Bathroom break!” she called into the classroom.
“Okay,” said Henry. Callie rushed out toward the bathroom.
Nantan saw his face, and said, “What is it, brother?”
“The killers came by again and shot up the emergency room where Ivy and Lily were. Ivy is fine but Lily was gut-shot by a ricochet before she could kill the bastard. Lily lost the baby.”
The entire room silenced. “Fuck me,” said Numa. “I’ll go out there once we get things a bit more settled here.”
“Good idea,” said Tito, “but, let’s get some more intel first. What do we know?”
“It ain’t Leticia,” said Ghost. “We done found that out. We gotta find out ‘bout anyone not caught by the po-lice in Mexico.”
“I got calls out about that,” said Tito. “The Iron Knights have been particularly helpful.” He pulled up a screen. “Two top Los Zetas cartel people were not shut down when we took out Talamantes’ son. Then his little gang Viento Malvado, and his shooter La Diabla, a few months back. This nasty motherfucker is Werner Banatas. His mother was one of Benicio’s whores that got out of the life and married; of all people, a German hit man. He ghosted when the indictments against the cartel went down. Our ace in the hole, Saber, says he may have been seen in Texas, the home of our two, (just hit) people. Stupid shooter number one was Tonio Munoz, twenty-three, a drug runner since age twelve; mule for the cartel, and now a hit man. Asshole number two, Benvedio Marcelos, was a best friend of asshole one, and was arrested for running drugs at, get this, age nine. He graduated to armed robbery. He’s now twenty-five, and just got out of the penitentiary in Beaumont, Texas; favorite place to hang out with Tonio, who got out six months before he did, for beating his girlfriend.”
“I mourn the loss,” said Numa, dryly.
“As do I,” said Tito. “Asshole bastards may have been in contact with Evil Guy One. Werner Banatas is heading here, according to the reported trail of bodies. He seems to be cleaning up the cartel business, making sure all the cut-outs get cut out, so no one can blab about cartel business.”
“Evil Guy number two?” asked Numa.
“I’m glad you asked,” said Tito. “David Rayalos Talamantes is young, smart, and a bastard Talamantes as well. We think he took Daddy’s money and ran, along with his wife and kids. He’s a stone, cold killer. He supposedly strangled his first girlfriend because, according to rumor, she laughed at the size of his cock. He’s only twenty-six. He is married to Celia Villa Cantos, a hit woman herself, with bright red hair, likes to carry an Uzi. She’s two years older, and twice the man he’ll ever be. If she’s in charge, expect carnage.”
“She’s our biggest threat, not Werner. But, he’s probably the one that sent the Texas assassins,” said Wraith, tossing her white-blonde braid over her shoulder. “They’ve been seen in Arizona, so they’ll get here first. We have another baby Talamantes, people, with a wife more bloodthirsty than he is.”
“I’ll warn Ivy,” said Tito.
“No, I’ll call the woman guarding her, Herja. She’s a Valkyrie. She’ll keep Ivy and Lily safe. Her second is Devastator, the meaning of Herja’s name. He’s the Iron Knight guarding Ace. They’ll look out for these guys.”
“Okay,” said Tito. “We have some time, so let’s get to know our bad guys.”
“We’ll dig deep, send you info, then go deep and dark.” Wraith hugged Numa, grabbed Tito by his wrist, and then took off.
Tito called Daisy Chain, a number Lily had given him with a solemn vow to never, ever call and ask random favors, and to only call in case of emergency. He called her, told him who he was.
“I hate to be the one to tell you, this, but Lily’s brother was shot and killed today. Ace was shot in the shoulder, and Lily was shot in the abdomen. She lost the baby.” He held the phone away from his ear until Daisy Chain stopped screaming. “She’s being guarded, but she’s still in danger. We have names.”
Daisy Chain choked out words through tears. “Killer names?”
“The killers are dead, but their masters are still very much alive and on the move. They’re cartel, they’re dangerous, so cover your tracks.”
>
“On it,” said Daisy Chain. Tito heard typing. “Give me the names.” So, he did.
Information came in fits and starts, as information came in. Benicio from the Iron Knights, DEA, showed up. “Werner is still in Texas,” said Benicio. “Got a body count in Amarillo. His signature move, throat slit with a serrated blade. Two drug mules. He may hire someone and send them here, but I doubt it. I think he sent those yahoos out as a grinder.”
“Send yahoos out against armed people?” asked Tito.
“Exactly,” said Benicio. “Might get your target, but if you lose your idiot shooters, then who cares? He doesn’t.”
Tito sighed. “We are taking this asshole down, aren’t we?”
“Absolutely, but I don’t know who is taking down whom. When Saber and Wraith go dark, they go midnight-dark.”
“Let’s hope they blow those nasties up before we have to deal with them.”
Wraith met with Saber just out of town, on the 15, at a truck stop. They ate bacon and waffles.
“Do you want Werner or Dirty Davie and Cistern Celia?” asked Saber to his one and only, Wraith.
“Cistern Celia?” she asked, sucking on a cola.
“She likes to shoot her victims and leave their bodies in cisterns.”
“That’s just lovely,” said Wraith. “Sounds like the perfect girlfriend.”
“Good God,” said Saber. He ate some bacon. “Woman, you terrify me.”
“Good,” said Wraith. “I need to be terrifying to make that woman feel safe. She’ll want to go after Ivy, and leave her husband for Ace. And, if hubby gets killed…” she shrugged. “No big loss. I’m sure either she’s holding the money, or she has plenty of her own.”
“Lovely. Husband as wallet and/or cutout.” He ate some waffle.
Wraith smiled beatifically. “Got to keep it real,” she said.
