Eighteen
We had been riding for about forty-five minutes when I could see, up in the distance, a trailer on its side; traffic was light at this time of night, and no one was stopping to see what happened.
Riding up, I could see a body on the ground and someone crouched over it, with some kind of weapon in his hand. I recognized Breech, and was immediately off my bike and running. “Get the fuck away from him!” I screamed, drawing my gun and sliding off the safety.
“No, I won’t let you kill him,” the hooded figure replied; its voice immediately told me that it was a woman. “You’ve already shot him twice; you’re not getting another chance.” She waved the hooked weapon at me.
“Honey, you don’t take a blade to a gunfight; you can’t win.” Flicking the safety back on, I holstered my weapon. I’d heard Murph moving behind me; I knew he had my back. “Who shot Breech, woman?”
She hadn’t moved; she was still crouched over him, and her meager weapon was still pointed at me. “Who are you and what do you want with him?” she shot back. I walked closer and she waved the hook at me. “Stay back!” she said.
I kept advancing and she braced herself then launched her body at me. Using her momentum against her, I pivoted and she flew harmlessly over my shoulder. Landing on the ground, I placed a knee in her back, knocking the weapon out of her hand and pulling her arms behind her back, locking them together at the wrist. She squirmed and bucked, trying to get me off of her, but I was too strong for her.
“Honey, you’re only expending your energy. You have no hope of getting away from me. So quit it and answer my questions.” She stopped struggling and lay quiet. “My name is Sonny, and that guy over there on the ground is my brother. If you know anything about who shot him, I need to know.”
She turned her head and looked at me. “You’re his brother?” she questioned.
“Not by blood, babe, but in every other way. I would lay down my life for him, and he for me.” Murph had gone over to Breech as soon as I had the girl secured. He had his phone out and I figured he was talking to Dukes. He swiped his phone and put it back in his pocket.
“Boomer said the girl did the right thing putting pressure on the wound.” He’s on his way with Dukes and a couple of the boys. He said to keep him warm and keep steady pressure.”
Turning back to the girl on the ground, I flipped her over, causing her hood to fall away. Her light brown hair was stained at her hairline and I could see blood. Her heart-shaped face was pale but her blue eyes flashed fire at me.
“You’re hurt,” I said, reaching a hand to her head. She flinched and tried to move away from my hand but couldn’t move with the hold I had on her.
“I’m fine,” she retorted. “Let me go, please.”
“Tell me what happened,” I responded.
She sighed. “If I tell you what you want to know, will you let me go then?”
“That depends on what you tell me.” She looked up, read my eyes, then let out a breath and bit her lip. “Stop that,” I grumbled.
Startled, she looked at me. “I’m sorry, I’m nervous,” she retorted.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Gia,” she answered without thinking, then frowned.
I smiled because I knew she was thinking she should have lied. “Okay, Gia, tell me how Breech got shot and how you are involved in all this.”
Pulling her lip into her mouth again, she chewed on it for a second. “If you don’t stop that, I’ll give you something else to do with that luscious mouth of yours.” She immediately released her lip and her whole body tensed under my hands. “Gia, relax, I’m not going to hurt you, honey.” Slowly I loosened my grip ‘til she could pull her hands free. She sat up, rubbing her wrists.
She looked over at Breech briefly, but then her head swung back to me. “Is he going to be okay?”
Without taking my eyes off her face, I replied, “Murph is looking out for him and we’ve got people on the way to help us help him.”
“They took the girl that was with him, and his bike,” she said.
I sat forward immediately, which scared her because she started to scuttle backward like a crab. “Who took her and where did they go?” I shouted.
Her eyes blazed at me. “Don’t yell at me, I can hear you just fine. There were two people helping them move the horses. The driver’s name was Manny and the handler’s name was Dave. They both work for Brom Hensley.”
“He’s the guy who owns the farm where Breech and Jiji picked up the horses?” I asked.
She shuddered. “Yeah, that’s him.”
I noticed her movement and was about to comment when she cut me off. “He’s also the one who hid those guns in the trailer,” she said. When she said guns, my head snapped up.
“Guns, what guns?”
She pointed behind her to the overturned trailer. “They were in a crate in a secret compartment built into the trailer. I saw them load the crates but didn’t know what was in them ‘til the driver and handler were talking during the drive a little while back.”
Getting up from where I’d been squatting next to her, I reached down and helped her up as well. Grasping her hand, I pulled her with me as I walked over to inspect the trailer. I whistled through my teeth when I got close enough and saw the AK-47s laying near the rear end of the trailer. The horses were still inside and were growing agitated.
Gia tried pulling her hand from mine but I tightened my grip, not letting go. “Please,” she said, “I need to get the horses out of the trailer.”
“You’re not going to run away are you, Gia? We need your help if we are going to get Jiji back—and we will get her back.” I looked into her eyes and she tried to duck her head. “Please, Gia.”
Sighing again, she said, “I promise, Sonny. I wouldn’t wish what Brom wants from Jiji on any woman, even my worst enemy.” Before I could ask her what she meant, she walked away and was climbing into the trailer, murmuring soothingly to the horses.
Turning my back to her, I walked over to Murph and Breech. Kneeling down, I asked Murph, “How’s he doing, man?”
Before Murph could answer, Breech spoke up. “He’s a fucking pain in the ass, and I’m doing just fine, thank you very fucking much for asking.”
Laughing, I looked down at Breech. “Same old fuckin’ ornery Breech,” I said.
“Where’s Jiji?” Breech asked, looking around me. “Why isn’t she here by me, what aren’t you telling me? Is she hurt, what the fuck is going on, Sonny?” He reached out and grabbed me by the front of my shirt, balling it into a fist and pulling me towards him.
“She’s not here, Breech, one of the guys traveling with you took her,” I said.
Breech immediately tried to get up.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “You can’t get up, Breech. You will bleed out before you can get to her, and what good will that do her? Plus, I do not want to be the one to tell her you’re dead. So lay the fuck down and wait for the guys to get here to help us.”
Breech stopped struggling and lay back down. I don’t think he wanted to, but he was weaker then he thought from blood loss. Grabbing my hand, he looked up at me. “Sonny, we have to get her back, man! You have to help me get her back.”
Gia had walked up to us and kneeled down by Breech. She took his other hand in hers, gripping it tightly. “I’ll help too, Breech. She was yelling at them when they threw her in the truck. I don’t think they will hurt her; Brom would be pissed.”
Breech narrowed his eyes as he focused on Gia. “You’re the girl in the stall,” he said.
She smiled. “Yeah, that was me; no one else ever bothered to help me, but you pitched right in, literally.”
He smiled back at her. “That pitchfork was bigger than you are.” He groaned and drew in a harsh breath. Closing his eyes for a second, he opened them again and I could see pain cross his features. I wasn’t sure if it was for him or because Jiji was missing.
Murph was on the phone again; he walked over to his saddlebags and came back with a bottle of Jack. He unscrewed the cap and lifted Breech’s head so he could drink from the bottle. “Boomer says this will help with the pain, Breech.” He swallowed a couple of times and then pushed the bottle away. Murph moved his leather out of the way and quickly poured some on the wound in his shoulder, then lowered the bottle to his side and repeated the gesture. Breech was cursing a blue streak and he tried to knock the bottle out of Murph’s hand. Murph backed up fast enough that Breech missed.
“You son of a bitch, what the fuck are you doing, Murph?”
“I’m sorry, Breech, Boomer told me to do it, I was just following orders,” Murph apologized.
“You’re lucky I can’t get up right now, man, but when I can, I’m going to kick your fucking ass!” Breech yelled.
Gia giggled and I laughed. “I’d sleep with one eye open, Murph,” Gia said.
He looked at her and grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind, Gia.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I shouldered Murph away from Gia. “Go stack up those AKs, Murph. I want to get them loaded as soon as the guys get here.” Murph rose and saluted me, winked at Gia, and walked over to the trailer.
Gia watched him go then turned back to me. “That was mean,” she said. Getting up, she dusted off the seat of her jeans, and was about to walk away when I stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“I wasn’t being mean, Gia, we need to roll as soon as the guys get here; Breech needs medical care and we have to go after Jiji. If you can stay here with him, I’ll go help Murph.” With that, I got up and walked away.