“You’re sure this is secure?” Jules asked as he played with the app Eric had installed on all their phones.

 

“As secure as can be made. The NSA could probably crack it, but it would take time. It will be well beyond what that Schneider chick could do in any reasonable time.”

 

“So we are down to text messages for exchanging information?” Marsh asked. “That sucks. I can’t type worth shit.”

 

“We’ve noticed,” Eric said with a perfectly straight face.

 

Marsh made a sarcastic smiley face as he give him the middle finger.

 

“How did the meeting with the cartel go?” Jules asked. He was the odd man out and hadn’t heard because they didn’t trust their phones.

 

“Don’t know,” Spence said. “Everyone here is frozen out, Jules. But they didn’t kill Todd, so I guess he convinced them it was the Cuervo Cartel or something.”

 

Jules drummed his fingers in the table. “I guess we are going to have to convince them otherwise.”

 

“How?” Eric asked.

 

“Next intercept, I think we are going to have to show the cartel who is actually hitting their drug train.”

 

“How are you going to prevent that from getting back to Todd?” Hugh asked.

 

“We won’t be able too. But if we hit the cartel after Forsaken 99 leaves with the drugs, then the information will get to him from the cartel. And who do you think they are going to believe? Their own people or Todd telling them he had nothing to do with it. Especially since he is already under suspicion?” Jules explained.

 

“And the drugs?” Eric asked.

 

Jules scrubbed at his face. “Marsh, do you think we can handle it if we break into two teams? Four on the cartel and two on the drugs?”

 

“I think that is stretching us too thin. We can barely stop the trucks with three. I don’t know how we would do it with two.”

 

“How about three and three?” Spence asked.

 

“Don’t like those odds with the cartel,” Jules said and Marsh nodded in agreement.

 

“What if you didn’t have to stop the drugs on the road?” Rachel asked. Everyone looked at her. “We talked about this. Put four on the cartel. Me and a couple more of the women could tail the drugs. When they stop, we’ll create some kind of distractions and the two guys could move in and scoop them up.”

 

“That might work,” Marsh said after a long moment of silence. “But I’m still not keen on the idea of you being involved in this.”

 

“I’m with Rachel,” Liv said. “All we would have to do is follow them. How would they even know we were back there? Once they stop, you manly men types move in kick some ass.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Easy.”

 

“I’m in,” Exotic said. “Sounds exciting.”

 

“Wait a minute,” Jules said. “This isn’t some game. What if—”

 

“Are you suggesting we can’t take care of ourselves?” Rachel asked him with a pointed look.

 

Jules recognized the trap Rachel was setting for him. “No… But—”

 

“Then it’s settled. Exotic, Liv and I will trail the drugs. With three cars they will never know we are behind them. Once they stop, we’ll let the guys know and you can move in and do what you do.”

 

“What do you think?” Jules asked looking at Marsh.

 

“I think I don’t want to have to listen to her bitch if I tell her she can’t go. Especially since she will just go anyway.”

 

“Same here,” Jules said. “You and Eric go with them. I’ll take Spence, TC and Hugh and we’ll hit the cartel. Lend me your colors?” he asked Marsh.

 

“Sure.”

 

“Okay. But if it looks like the shit is going to hit the fan, you break it off and get your asses out of there, understood?” Jules said as he looked at each of the women in turn.

 

“You worry too much, but okay,” Rachel agreed. She was surprised at how easily they had won that argument and accepted her win gracefully.

 

The cleaning crew spent another hour or so working out the details of the next intercept. While Marsh and Eric trailed the drugs, the other four members would hit the cartel in Forsaken 99 colors and shoot up their vehicle, but ultimately allow them to escape so they could report back to the cartel. Having Hugh and TC on the crew has given them enough manpower to become more proactive and less reactive.

 

As the meeting broke up and the group wandered outside, everyone’s heads snapped around at the sound of a starting motorcycle. Before anyone could react, the bike bellowed away into the night.

 

“Shit! Get after him!” Jules called as he dug frantically in his pocket for the key to Rachel’s truck. “Wait here and get them back inside!” he snapped at Marsh and Eric as he began to run for the old truck. There was no way he could catch the bike in the truck, that would be for Spence, TC and Hugh who had come solo on their bikes, but he had to be there if they caught him.

 

By the time he got the 1950 turned out onto the road, all four bikes were out of sight, but he had seen the directions they were traveling. He didn’t see any point in straining the old girl in a race he couldn’t win so he drove at a comfortable and safe speed. He motored out of Vallecito for a few miles before coming up behind three motorcycles sitting on the side of the road. He pulled the truck to the side and got out, leaving the headlights on. Dwayne was lying on the edge of the road, his bike a crumpled mess, barely visible, at the bottom of a shallow ravine.

 

“What happened?” Jules asked as he walked up.

 

“Don’t know. We saw him go down. We just got him hauled back up here when we saw your headlights.”

 

Jules crouched down and looked Dwayne over. He was conscious, but obviously in a lot of pain, not surprising considering he looked like he a broken arm, and probably a leg, not to mention several deep cuts that were bleeding profusely.

 

“What did you see?” Jules asked.

 

“Fuck you Jules. Fuck all of you cunts.”

 

Jules stood up and sucked on his teeth. There was only one thing to do, but that didn’t mean he had to look forward to it. “You three need to leave. Now.”

 

“What are you going to do?” TC asked.

 

“What has to be done.”

 

“We’re in this together,” Spence said. “How do you want to play it?”

 

“What about you two?”

 

“I’m in,” TC said.

 

“Me too,” Hugh added a moment later.

 

Jules gritted his teeth as he pulled his sidearm and fired one bullet into Dwayne’ head then tucked the weapon away. He wouldn’t ask these men to do something he wouldn’t do himself. “Let’s make this quick,” he ordered as bent down and took Dwayne’s arms and muscled him off the edge of the road before dropping him. Grimacing, he dipped a finger into the blood and scrambled the rest of the way down to the wrecked motorcycle where he drew a rough outline of a bird’s head on the tank, marking it as a Cuervo Cartel hit.

 

He stopped on the way back up the hill to wipe his finger on Dwayne’s clothes. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. Go home. We left from the meeting and went straight home. Keep it simple, okay?”

 

Spence’s face wrinkled at what they had just done. “Yeah. Simple.”

 

“You okay?” Jules asked.

 

“Yeah. But this isn’t like killing drug dealers, you know? He was a brother, once.”

 

“Yeah. I know. But if he told Todd what he saw, Tammy and your kids would be in danger. Just remember that.”

 

“I know.” Spence looked at the ground then began to kick the sand about, mixing in the blood from Jules’s gunshot until it had all but disappeared in the headlights. “I need to go home and hold my wife.”

 

“Do that,” Jules said as they began to mount up. As soon as the bikes pulled out onto the road, he looked into the darkness for just a moment longer, contemplating what he had done. He had technically murdered men before, but like Spence said, it was different this time.

 

***

 

Marsh and Eric were standing in the door, with Rachel and Exotic close behind, as Jules exited the truck. “What happened?”

 

“Nothing. The other three went home.”

 

Marsh stared at Jules a moment. “Who was it?”

 

“Dwayne.”

 

“Did he go home as well?”

 

Jules never broke eye contact. “Yes.”

 

Marsh looked hard a Jules again. “Understood. Come on, Liv, let’s get the fuck out of here,” he said as he pulled her along gently by the arm.

 

“Us too,” Eric said, having listened to the exchange between Marsh and Jules and understood what wasn’t being said. “What a shitty way to end the day.”

 

Once the two couples were in their cars, Rachel looked at Jules. “Is Dwayne dead? Don’t lie, just tell me.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“How?”

 

“I shot him in cold blood.”

 

She could feel her face scrunch in sympathy at what he had to do. “You didn’t have any choice.”

 

“That doesn’t make it any easier.”

 

“No. I suppose not.”

 

“I need a drink before we go.”

 

She followed him into the bar. “Sit down. I’ll pour it.”

 

He parked himself on what had become his stool as she moved around behind the bar and pulled the Jack Daniels Black Label off the rack behind her and poured him a double. He took the small glass and gave it a couple of slow spins on the bar, staring into the liquid.

 

“You okay?” she asked quietly.

 

“Yeah. No. I don’t know. Maybe.”

 

“Talk to me.”

 

“I shot him, Rachel. A brother. He was injured and rather than help him, I pulled out my weapon and shot him right in the head. I’m no better than Todd.”

 

Rachel went hot at Jules’s words. How dare he compare himself to Todd fucking Webber! “Don’t you ever say something like that again! Ever! I know it was a hard thing you did tonight. A terrible thing. But it was nothing like what Todd did! How can you say something like that?”

 

“Because it’s true. How is what I did any different than what Todd did?”

 

She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but Jules was making her livid. “The difference?” she shouted. “The difference? The difference is you didn’t kill Dwayne out of greed. You didn’t kill him to stay in power.” He hadn’t even tasted his drink and she would be damned before she would pour him another one tonight. “You killed him to protect those that are trying to do the right thing!” she raged as she stomped out from behind the bar. “You six are the last hope to turn the club around. To make it what it once was. You know as well as I do that if Dwayne talked Todd would come for you. For all of you. Is that what you want? Do you want to put Spence’s family in danger? Or Liv or Exotic, or me?”

 

He tossed the amber liquid back, growling as he grit his teeth against the burn. “No, but—”

 

“But nothing! You did it to protect lives. What’s wrong with you that you can’t see that?”

 

“It’s not that simple!” Jules roared as he leapt to his feet. He had to get out, get away. He turned toward the door wanting to get some air.

 

“The hell it isn’t!” Rachel shouted as she took him by the arm and hauled him around to face her, as mad as she could ever remember. She could sense the darkness trying to take him again but she wouldn’t give him up without a fight.

 

“You knew going in that this would probably get ugly! Marsh, Spence and all the rest are depending on you!” She took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. “Baby, I know what you did tonight was a terrible thing. But it was a necessary thing. The cops did all they could, but it was Forsaken 99 that cleaned up the town. You’re like our knights, our paladins, and you protect us. You and the rest of Forsaken 99 are the best of us. Jules, we need Forsaken 99. You have…” she tailed off as Jules’s face became unreadable, his face twisting in a mixture of pain and sorrow, and something else she couldn’t read.

 

A chill passed over Jules as Rachel raged at him. Paladin… she had said they were the town’s paladins, their knights and protectors. Somewhere he had heard that word before, but he couldn’t remember where or when.

 

“Jules? Are you okay?”

 

“What did you call us?”

 

“Who? Forsaken 99? Knights?”

 

“No. The other word.”

 

“What word? Paladin?”

 

Again a chill passed through him at her use of the word paladin. Why did her saying that affect him so? He looked at her as she stared at him, her face a mixture of annoyance, anger and… something else. “Do you believe that? That we’re your knights? Your… paladins?”

 

“Yes,” she said softly, not understanding the sudden change in Jules. “Not now, but when you were in the club, yes. You made them better than they were. And you will again.”

 

“But—” he began.

 

“No buts. War is an ugly business, you know that better than anyone, and this is war. This is nothing less than the fight for survival of Forsaken 99, and for the entire town. You’re a good man Jules. You are! Forsaken 99 is full of good men. You just have to remind them of who, and what, they are.”

 

“Paladins?” he asked softly.

 

“Yes! Exactly! Paladins, or knights, is a perfect way to put it.” He stared at her a moment then lunged for her. She squeaked in surprise and flinched, putting up an arm to ward off his attack, but he pulled her into his embrace and held her. After her initial surprise, she relaxed into his hold, wrapping her own arms around him. He held her, one hand on her back, the other on her head, his head tipped into her own, holding tight, as if to release her would be to be lost forever.

 

“What’s wrong?” she whispered after a few moments.

 

“Nothing. I just need you.”

 

“When we get home,” she smiled.

 

“No. I mean I need you with me. To help me. I can’t do this without you. I’m not strong enough.”

 

She could feel her heart melt with his words. “You are. You have lost so much—”

 

“So have you,” he interrupted.

 

“Yes. But I have you to help me, to give me the strength to go on. Without you… I don’t think I would have made it. That’s what I mean. You are stronger than you think. Even with everything that happened, you were still there for me.” Her tears threatened, tears of sadness, but tears of happiness as well. Tears for what she had lost, and what she had found.

 

“I couldn’t do anything else.”

 

“I know. I just need you to be strong for a little while longer, then you can rest. Can you do this for me? Can you stay strong long enough to bring Forsaken 99 back into the light and make them Vallecito’s knights again?”

 

His embrace tightened down even more. “Yes.”

 

They stood together a moment and she felt silent tears glide down her cheeks, but she didn’t wipe them.

 

“I love you, Rachel,” he said quietly, finally giving voice to what he felt.

 

She began to squirm, pushing herself out of his embrace. “You what?”

 

He swallowed hard, steeling himself for her reaction. “I said that I love you.”

 

She stood a moment in stunned silence. “Do you mean that?”

 

“I do. I have felt that way for a while, but…”

 

“But what?”

 

“But… I have been afraid to tell you.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I was afraid of how you might react. I… don’t want to lose you.”

 

She reached up and touched his cheek, smiling again as the tension seemed to flow out of him as he tipped his head lightly into her palm. She fought the tears that were welling up, but she couldn’t stop them. “I love you too,” she gasped, trying to get control of her raging emotions.

 

He smiled down at her. “Do you mean that?” he asked, echoing her words.

 

“More than anything I have said in my entire life.” She watched his face as it scrunched up, just as it had that night when he told her of the loss of his platoon in Iraq, but this time his grief was replaced with a sweet, small, smile. She moved in and rose to her toes as his head bent down, their lips meeting in a kiss.

 

The kiss started out slow and easy, but having her not only accept him, but profess her love as well, made him want her like no woman before her. Ever. The kiss began to deepen as it became more erotic and passionate. He let her go as she pushed him slowly away then, staring into his eyes with a small smile she began to unbutton her top as she swayed sensuously.

 

As she pushed him away she couldn’t stay still, so alive she had to move. Jules had told her he love her! She had been waiting, longing, for him to say those words, wondering if he felt for her the way she felt for him… and he did! She wanted him so badly that she couldn’t wait to get home, wanting to feel him close, touching her, caressing her, making love to her. He stared as she teased him with her smile until her blouse left her shoulders and fell into a puddle on the floor. Her smile widened as she began to unbutton her bra and he began to remove his own shirt. Their bed may be more comfortable, but she was looking forward to having him take her right here in her own bar.

 

The moment he stepped out of his pants, Jules picked her up and sat her on one of the bar stools, smiling as she gasped from the cold of the wood on her naked ass. His heart was pounding in his chest like a drum as he bent over her while she propped her elbows on the bar behind her. Starting with her lips, he began to kiss down her body, taking his time, savoring each kiss and lick like the finest wine. She was pinned by her position, unable to touch him, forcing her to endure the sweetest of tortures, her head falling back as he nibbled at her breast and dragged his teeth gently over the taut nipple.

 

She wanted to touch him, to take his hardness in hand and stroke him, to return some of the pleasure he was giving her, but her arms were pinned by having to hold herself up on her elbows. She was incredibly turned on, not only by his words and kisses, but also their location. The bar was locked, and only the safety lights were on, but she still felt naughty fucking in her bar. Jules had taken her to places she had never been before. His wickedly skilled tongue, along with his sexual energy and appetite, caused him to exceed every lover she had ever had. But now that she knew this relationship was deeper and more meaningful than just physical gratification, she wanted to explore her own sexuality and experience even more new and exciting things with the man she loved, with the man that loved her. With a groan and a shudder, she could feel herself already beginning to tighten up, her toes starting to curl, as his lips inched ever closer to her most intimate area.

 

Rachel’s groan as a small shiver passed through her made him grin as he slowly kissed down her body. He had always enjoyed pleasing his partners and believed that a woman having an orgasm was one of the most erotic things imaginable. But tonight there was something more, a deeper meaning to his teasing kisses. Tonight, for the first time in his life, he had admitted to a woman that he was giving himself to her, giving her more than just pleasure, but giving her his heart as well. He was hers, and he would never want anyone else. He knelt, sliding under her legs and bending her knees over his shoulders.

 

She gasped as Jules’s tongue began to touch her in all the right places, gently at first then harder and faster, making her squirm. As he slowly ratcheted up the intensity of his cunnilingus she began to gasp. The strain of holding her position as Jules destroyed her with lips, tongue and finger caused her to tighten down on his back, using him as a brace. And still he tickled and probed, his index finger slowly curling and stroking her sweet spot as his tongue and lips slithered and gently pinched. She bore down on her orgasm, trying to hold it off, wanting to enjoy this moment for as long as possible but she knew she wasn’t going to last much longer, and she didn’t care.

 

“I’m going to come, Jules. You’re going to make me come,” she hissed, her words rushed and jumbled together in a long series of sounds. He began to stroke faster as he began to slather his face around, pressing in harder with his tongue and trying to push her over the edge. Her heels began to dig into his back as she levered her ass off the stool, pushing her hips harder into his slashing tongue until with a deep groan she pressed in even harder. She began to twist in her orgasmic throes, so he caught her hips and held her securely, preventing her from tumbling from her precarious perch as he eased off on the intensity of his play until she began to relax.

 

She looked up, catching his eyes as he slowly settled her back onto the stool. A giggle from deep and low in her chest bubbled forth unbidden before she blew out a deep cleansing breath.

 

“I’m never going to look at this place the same way again,” she murmured, then giggled again. With a hiss from protesting muscles, she pushed herself off her elbows and into his waiting arms for a long and sloppy kiss. As her equilibrium returned, she forced him back with light pushes until she had enough room to get to her feet. The moment she regained her feet she took him by the hand and led him to the storage room.

 

“Do you remember when you first kissed me in here? Then later, when you thought Todd had changed?” she asked as she closed the door behind her.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I want finish what we started.”

 

Jules grinned. “You’re adventuresome tonight.”

 

She smiled and poked him playfully in the chest with her fingers to emphasize her point. “I’m in fucking love, okay?”

 

His grin broadened. “Funny… so am I.”

 

“Show me,” she said as she steered his throbbing manhood between her legs.

 

He picked her up and held her against the door, his hands under her ass, as she wrapped her legs and an arm around him, using her free hand to steer him to where she wanted him. As she surrounded him with her warm wetness, he made a sound, part moan, part sigh, and all sex.

 

“I love you, Rachel,” he said just before taking her lips, banging her against the door with his hips and holding her there. “I love you so much.”

 

“I love you too,” she murmured as they parted from the kiss, his lips going to her neck. His breath was hot as flame as he began to drive into her with long hard strokes. Almost immediately her mouth opened in a silent scream as he began to hit her just so, each plunge of his cock causing a searing wave of pleasure to course through her. Like their sitting position on his thinking rock, this was the first time she had been taken against a wall, and the newness of the position and his revelation of his love for her amplified the pleasure. She was going to come again, she could feel it beginning to swell within her, and it was going to be a mind-bender too.

 

He could hear Rachel’s breathing change to the soft pants that he had learned meant she was tipping into a hard orgasm. He began to thrust harder and faster even as his own orgasm began to approach, bearing down on him with the frightening, unstoppable, power of an approaching train.

 

“I’m going to come,” he grunted.

 

Hearing that he was close excited her even more. “Oh god, so am I!” she gasped, her eyes clenching shut as she held him as tight as she could.

 

Her wail started out soft but rapidly rose in volume as she slid into her orgasm, her cry of completion shredding the last of his control. With a final hard lunge of his hips, he drove into her as he spilled his essence into her, breathing hard from his orgasm and his exertions. He held her pinned against the door until he felt the release wash out of him with a final shudder. He kissed her softly on the neck for a moment before backing away from the door, still holding her tight.

 

She didn’t want to let him go, but as he backed away from the door, she lowered her legs to take her weight then stepped in close again. His lips were waiting for hers as they held each other in their embrace. Her need for his kiss finally satisfied, she slowly, almost reluctantly, broke the kiss.

 

“My brave knight,” she whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder.

 

He smiled, liking how those words made him feel. “I will always be here for you. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

 

“I know. I believe in you. I need you to believe in yourself. I need you to believe you are doing the right thing. I know it’s hard, but I need you to be brave and strong for just a little longer. For Vallecito. For me.”

 

“I will.”

 

She backed up so she could look into his face, reading his eyes, and she saw strength and determination there. She stepped back in close and returned her head to his shoulder. “Take me home, Jules. Take me home and hold me, make love to me, for the rest of the night.”

 

He held her a moment more, enjoying the warmth of her skin, before he gently tipped her face up and kissed her softly on the lips. “I will,” he whispered as he pulled back from the kiss, and he did, for a knight always keeps his word.