Shade (Shade #1)

“Mmhmm … Fat Louise needs a ride home, so the brothers and I are going to pick her up.”


He would tell Lily when he returned exactly why Fat Louise needed the ride home. There was no way Fat Louise wouldn’t spill the beans when she got back. She was the biggest tattletale in Jamestown and Treepoint.

“That’s nice of you all.”

“I thought so. As soon as Killyama asked, I offered. I had to talk the rest of the brothers into it, but they eventually gave in.”

“That’s so sweet.”

*

“Do you see them yet?” Shade asked Killyama over the radio in his hand.

“Dude, when I see them, you’ll be the first to know,” she snapped back at him.

Shade flung the radio down on his lap. Taking his cap off, he ran his hand over his hair before putting it back on.

Train was sitting at the control of the helicopter, waiting for a signal from either Killyama or Viper, who was on the roof of where the helicopter was with binoculars. The latest intel they had received had said they were thirty minutes away, and that had been over an hour ago.

“Shit!” Viper came running across the roof. “Let’s go.”

Shade put the radio in his front pocket then picked up his rifle. Train started the helicopter, lifting off with Cash talking over the radio he had in his ear.

Shade looked out, seeing Killyama running toward Fat Louise and the man who had been hired to bring both her and her sister home. They were racing toward the border, Killyama was running toward them with soldiers parallel to her. The soldiers had the advantage of being closer and were going to reach them first.

“I’m going to beat her. She was supposed to stay out of sight,” Train said over the intercom.

“You really didn’t expect her to listen to anything you had to say, did you?” Cash’s amused voice was heard next.

“Shut up with the chit-chat and get us lower so we can fucking fire before they’re all dead,” Shade snapped.

Train dropped the helicopter, blocking the Jeeps.

“Get in!” yelled Rider, giving cover fire to the fleeing women and Cade.

Shots rang out as the soldiers began firing at the helicopter. Shade lifted his rifle, returning the fire with Viper by his side, giving them time to get inside.

Bailey threw herself into the helicopter, and then Fat Louise was lifted in by Cade who flung himself inside with his body covering hers.

Shade, Rider, and Viper kept firing, waiting for Killyama to get her ass inside. As soon as she jumped in, she yelled, “Go! Go!”

Train lifted the helicopter, flying back toward the United States’ side of the border.

Shade sank back into his seat right as Fat Louise threw herself into Killyama’s arms, bursting into tears.

Shade studied Killyama’s reaction. Her expression was rigidly controlled. If he hadn’t seen the bitch’s arms tighten around the sobbing woman, Shade would have thought her unaffected.

Killyama was saying something to Fat Louise which had her nodding then talking. They went back and forth for a while before Killyama pulled out a protein bar and handed it to her.

She had told them of Fat Louise’s medical condition, and they had used it shamelessly to get the government’s aid in helping locate her.

Killyama stared at Cade. The poor fucker didn’t know what he was in for. He probably had thought he was home free when he had jumped into the helicopter.

“He wasn’t doing a great job, was he?” she sneered, yelling to be heard.

Cade stiffened. “I was doing fine until Bailey took off like a bat out of Hell.”

Bailey flushed yet defended herself. “It worked out fine, didn’t it? We’re all safe now.”

“No thanks to you,” snorted Killyama.

The two women glared at each other.

It was twenty minutes later when they safely set the helicopter down on the roof of a hotel.

“Everybody out. I have to get this baby back before someone notices it missing,” Train yelled over the loud noise.

Cade jumped out first to help the women out. Bailey took her time, clinging to Cade much longer than necessary, and Shade rolled his eyes at Viper as Cade lifted Fat Louise out next. Then he turned back to help Killyama, but she ignored his and Rider’s helping hands as she started to jump out.

“Killyama!” Train yelled loud enough to be heard over the blades of the helicopter, stopping her. “Remember our deal. I’ll be calling it in soon.”

“Deal with this!” Killyama shouted above the roar of the blades, making an obscene gesture before jumping out of the helicopter.

“You can handle her later,” Cash told Train over the intercom. “I want to get back to Treepoint.”

Train gave him a thumbs-up, but his angry expression showed he had been about to shut down the helicopter and show Killyama how badly she had misjudged him. He was possibly the only other Last Rider who could equal him in the number of kills made. Shade’s had been made with his rifle, whereas Train had been trained to kill with whatever he had on hand.