Cassie
I heard the engines behind me just as I saw the lights of the city rise in the distance.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw headlights. Lots of them. Mason had called the Ghost Riders on me.
Fear lanced through me and I sped up. My fear of crashing was outweighed by fear of the reprisals I’d suffer for stealing from the GRMC, let alone for slighting their leader by running off. Mason didn’t strike me as someone who’d forgive and forget.
The wind tore through my hair as I gulped oxygen. I just kept chanting, I’m going to make it.
I didn’t know what the loud sound was when I heard the first gunshot. I’d never expected them to shoot at me. Was Diesel among them? The brash man with a joke for any occasion ever-ready on his lips?
A second gunshot sounded, and the motorcycle jerked wildly.
I looked down to find that they’d shot the back tire out. I instinctively tried to slow down, but the motorcycle was impossible to control. It bucked once and slewed off the road. I crashed into some scrub. I cried out as thorns snagged my skin and clothing.
“Grab the bitch before she runs off,” a voice barked from up on the road.
Some of the motorcycles had already pulled up and their riders had dismounted and were jogging towards me. I tugged frantically at my sleeves, to free them from the scrub. In desperation, I slipped out of my jacket and took off into the desert.
There were shouts behind me. I looked back and caught sight of the insignia on their vests and jackets. They weren’t Ghost Riders. That left only one possibility. They were the Cartel’s men.
I cursed under my breath and ran blindly on, out into the desert.
There wasn’t much in the way of cover, and it was freezing. Luckily, running made up for the coolness of the night-air.
My breath came in short bursts. Sweat stung my eyes as I dropped down out of sight to catch my wind. I heard boots stomping towards me over the desert sand.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“Come out,” a voice shouted. “It isn’t like there’s anywhere to go!”
He was right. I was pretty much stuck.
I rose and, keeping low, slowly made my way toward the city lights in the distance. I was cold and sore and exhausted. I couldn’t keep this up, I realized. Eventually, I’d have to make a run for it, and they’d spot me instantly. A beam of light swept over the desert, and I just managed to duck out of its way in time.
“Oh god,” I muttered.
“We aren’t here to hurt you,” the voice called out again. “If you don’t come out though, I can’t vouch for my men’s good humor.”
I sucked a breath between my teeth. If I went with them, there was no telling what Ruiz would do to me. If I stayed where I was, it was likely they’d find me anyway. I was only delaying the inevitable. The hope that the GRMC and Mason might be looking for me strayed into the back of my mind, but I knew I couldn’t depend on anyone anymore.
I took a deep breath and took off running.
The shouts of the men behind me let me know they’d spotted me. I ran until I couldn’t run anymore. Just as I thought I’d pass out, a hand grabbed my hair and I was falling. Dust swirled up around my face as I landed hard with a body on top of me. The man’s knee was in my mid-back.
“Get off me, you jackass,” I spat.
He pushed me down into the desert sand. I could feel the grit against my face. Boots crunched past my head. I closed my eyes against the dust they kicked up.
A voice I very clearly recognized spoke to the man holding me.
“Let her up, Charlie.”
The man holding me dragged me up with my arms pinned behind my back. Ruiz gave me a smile that made my skin crawl.
“Let me go,” I said.
I hoped I sounded unimpressed. The truth was the man scared the hell out of me.
Ruiz shook his finger at me.
“Now, now. I think you owe me.”
I snarled at the man.
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“Well, actually you do,” Ruiz said.
He looked like he was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by one of his underlings as he handed him a coil of rope.
“Ah, just what I needed.”
Ruiz uncurled some of the rope and wrapped it around his hand as he spoke.
“See, Cassie, you and Mason have cost me a lot of money. Money that you are going to earn back for me.”
I shook my head in confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
He smiled at me and motioned for Charlie to hold me. Charlie forced me around, and I felt rope against my wrists.
Panic built inside me as Ruiz leisurely wrapped the rope around my wrists. He yanked it tight, and I grimaced at the burn of the rope across my skin.
“Those warehouse raids,” Ruiz continued, “cost me a lot of good merchandise.”
I ground my teeth together.
“Those were women, not merchandise,” I hissed.
“You run with a known sex-trafficker. Do you honestly expect me to be impressed by the righteous indignation of a hypocrite?”
Ruiz laughed, and I felt the rope being tied around my feet.
“No, Cassie, you are going to earn every dime back for me, even if I have to make you fuck every single person who’s willing to pay for a piece of your ass until you are dead.”
I trembled. I was going to take the place of one of his girls. Punish me, punish Mason. I shook my head.
“If it’s revenge you’re after, then you need to find a new girl. Mason doesn’t give a fuck about me. We’ve parted ways.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s not true,” Ruiz chuckled. “Give yourself some credit, love.”
Charlie turned me around after Ruiz had pulled the rope tight around my feet. I couldn’t move my arms. I stumbled. Moving with your legs and arms tied together is hard. Ruiz grabbed me roughly and hauled me over his shoulder.
“Get the men out looking for the GRMC. They have to be somewhere nearby. That’s Mason’s bike.”
“We’re on it, sir,” Charlie said.
As Ruiz threw me over the back of his motorcycle, the last thing I saw was five or six of the other men heading back up the road the way I had come.
I felt a stab of fear that they’d find Mason.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Good. Let them find him. Serves him right. I reminded myself that I’d only myself to worry about from now on, not him or anyone else for that matter.
I blinked through my tears as Ruiz revved up his motorcycle. The ground began to rush by as the motorcycle sped forward and I wished I could take back my last few decisions.
I closed my eyes against the sight of the speeding asphalt a few feet below my head.
I wished it was all just a dream. If only I could just wake up.
***
The bike lurched to a halt. Hands grabbed me and pulled me upright. The same hands dragged me forward. I had to bunny-hop to try and keep up. I felt dizzy as the blood rushed back into its proper places after the ride on the bike.
A face came into focus in front of me. I blinked. It was Ruiz. He was standing beside a trailer that looked like the kind people haul cattle or horses in. I heard a groan. It was then that I made out shapes moving inside the cattle trailer. Fingers wrapped around the trailer bars and my blood went cold. There were people in there.
Two men manhandled me toward the trailer. I fought, but the men paid my struggles barely any attention.
“What a miserable looking lot,” Ruiz spat as he peered into the trailer. “This the cream of the crop?”
A man to the side nodded. “Best we could round up.”
“Good, put her in there.” Ruiz motioned for the men to put me in the trailer.
Despite my struggles, I was forced up to the gates of the trailer. When they were opened the girls inside all moved as far back as they could, as if they were afraid of being seized. I was shoved inside, still bound. I stumbled and fell on the trailer’s metal grates.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“Fancy a European vacation, ladies? Looks like you lot are headed overseas.” Ruiz laughed.
The man’s eyes locked on mine as I pulled myself up on the bars.
“The Russian Mafia is willing to pay a pretty penny for American women. You don’t mind Russians, do you?” He chuckled. “I bet you’ll even like it.”
A woman behind me cried. Another begged to go back to her family.
How did he expect to get away with this? Surely someone would notice these women gone?
“You won’t get away with it, Ruiz,” I said, trying to sound bolder and more confident than I felt.
Ruiz smiled at me.
“On the contrary. I’ve been getting away with it for years, love. I expect to continue to get away with it for many more to come.” He looked over at another man. “Get them to the warehouse. I’m eager to sample some of the wares in this batch.”
I looked around at the girls in the trailer as the truck engine roared into life.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said softly.
The women huddled toward the front of the trailer, as far from the gate as they could get. The trailer lurched harshly as the truck pulled forward sending me into the grate.
The ropes hindered my ability to hang on, and I fell again as the trailer bumped over the dirt and onto the road.
One of the girls scrambled over to me. She was dirty, and her eyes were wild with fright.
“Are you alright?” she asked, her hands patting me all over as if testing for broken bones.
I nodded.
“Just my pride hurt,” I said with as much of a smile as I could muster.
I knew what she must feel like, but she had been braver than me. She hadn’t completely shut down yet.
“I’ve got friends. They’ll be looking for me,” I assured her.
She nodded, but there wasn’t much hope in her eyes.
“Of course they will.”
She helped me into a sitting position and, before, long we had loosened the ropes enough for me to slip my wrists out. I sighed in relief and rubbed the sore skin.
“Thanks,” I offered the girl my hand. “I’m Cassie.”
Her hand grasped my hand shakily.
“It’s been a while since anyone cared to know my name.” She pushed some dirty brown strands behind her head. “I almost forgot I had one. It’s Rachel.”
“Nice to meet you, Rachel,” I said with a smile.
I looked around the faces of the other women in the truck. They all looked so afraid. I had no real hope to offer them. Despite what I’d said, I had no idea if Mason would bother looking for me. With the GRMC’s resources already stretched, I somehow doubted that one ex-bitch like me would qualify for a search party.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Rachel gave me a small smile, which I tried my best to return.