Protected Pt. 08

Colt shook his head. "I don't like it. It's too risky and we agreed we're done with drugs."

"We are done with drugs. We're not moving any. We're just using them for leverage to get some information."

"And whose phone number are we going to give him? Yours?"

"We'll get a burner phone. We'll pay cash and give a false name and address. I supposed they might still be able to track us down, but do you think we'll be worth all that if we give the drugs back?"

"They might come after us just to set an example for anyone else who thinks they might get away with hitting one of their mules."

Big Dick nodded slowly. "They might, but why bring down the heat for no reason? Remember what happened the last time?"

"What happened?" I asked.

"After the hits, the cops were crawling all over the fucking place for months. A rabbit couldn't move without a cop seeing it, and it was all over the national news. A bunch of fucking politicians up there in Washington and Austin started pounding their chests about cracking down on the evil drug trade, and while nothing much changed in the long run, I'm sure it made it a lot harder for the cartel to move product... at least for a while."

Colt scratched his head furiously with the fingers of both hands curved into claws. "Let me think a minute."

"Colt!" I yelped. "You're not seriously considering doing this are you? The cartel almost wiped out your entire club!"

"If we can keep them for knowing who we are..." he said slowly as he stared over Big Dick's heads at the wall, obviously turning the idea over in his mind.

"Think about what you are saying!" I said, trying to stop this madness before it got started.

He looked at me. "I am thinking about it. I'm open for another suggestion if you've got one, but we have to find out, somehow, why the cartel's put a hit on you."

I thought for a moment, but I was geologist, and I didn't know shit about any of this. "I don't, but maybe I could change my name or something! If everything you've told me about the cartel is true, what you're talking about is suicide!"

Colt held my gaze. "You think that'll stop them? They seemed to have no trouble finding you in the middle of the God forsaken desert. Hell, I had a hard time finding you the first time, and I had a map and knew where you were. No, we need to do something like this. If not this, then something like it. We've got to find out why the cartel wants you dead, and then--"

I spun on my toes and stomped out of the room. "Give us a minute," I heard Colt say behind me.

I marched down the hall to our... his room. I couldn't decide if I was mad or afraid, or maybe it was both. I didn't know. All I knew was I couldn't stand there and listen to him making plans to get himself killed. I jerked the closet door open and snatched out my small bag, the one I'd packed a few clothes in when we'd gone back to Houston for Mafic.

"Where're you going?" he asked, his voice soft, as I tossed my bag on his bed.

"Home!"

"Why?"

"I'm not staying here and watching you get yourself killed!"

"You don't have a lot of confidence in my abilities."

I whirled on him. "This isn't funny!" I screamed, stoking my fury so I could fight off my tears. "You're fucking around with the same people who killed nearly everyone in your club, who probably killed four more, including your two best friends!"

I turned to the drawer in his dresser that he'd emptied so I'd have one of my own. I began grabbing my underthings and throwing them at the bed. I was losing my grip on my tears as fear began to overwhelm my anger.

"And have been trying to kill you. They may not miss the next time," he said, his voice still soft and kind.

"It's been over a week and nobody has tried again! Maybe it's over!" I yelled, trying to hold onto my anger so I could do what I needed to. I turned the closet and yanked at my clothes, the fact they were tangling on the hangers feeding my rage and allowing me to hold my tears just a bit longer.

"And how much time have you spent outside my house? How many people know you're here? Are you going to quit Larke Oil and live like a hermit in Rio Lago?"

"That's better than you going out there and getting yourself killed!" I began shoving everything into the bag without bothering to be neat about it, zipped it closed, and picked it up. "I'm taking your truck to Laredo. I'll catch a flight from there."

As I stomped past him, he took the bag from my hand and tossed it back on the bed. "You're not going anywhere."

I glared at him before I turned back to the bed, picked up the bag again, and tried to muscle past him. He backed up and blocked the door.

"Get out of the way, Colt," I growled.

"No. In case you've forgotten, I don't work for you, I work for your aunt Pam. You want to leave, fine, I'll go with you, but you're not leaving here without me."

"Fuck you, Colt! What are you going to do, kidnap me?"

"Want me gone? Get on the phone and have your aunt tell me to let you go, but until then, you're stuck with me." He didn't move, and I knew I had about as much chance of moving him as I did flapping my arms and flying back to Houston.

"You're such a fucking asshole!"

He didn't flinch. "You know if you go home you could die."

I glared at him. "You don't know that. Maybe the cartel is trying to finish what they started and you're the target."

"You don't believe that. Nobody's been shooting at me unless you're around. If the cartel wanted me, they've had their chance. I've been out and about for a couple days now, and everyone knows I'm back in town. I was out working in the middle of nowhere the last few days... and nothing. If they wanted me, I've given them plenty of opportunity. The target's you, and you know it."

"Well, I'm still not going to sit here and watch you get killed."

He stepped out of the door and approached. I considered trying to dart around him, but knew I'd be lucky to make it to the door before he caught me.

"We'll be careful... I'll be careful. I can't protect you if I'm dead."

"Don't do this! It's too dangerous!"

He put his hands on my arms. "I have to. Don't you see that? Big Dick's right... it'll never be over until we get to the bottom of this. Do you want to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, waiting for a bullet? I wouldn't."

I sniffed. "No." I dropped my bag and he pulled me in close. "There has to be another way."

"I'm all ears."

I again thought furiously for a long moment, but just like before I came up with nothing that was better than what he and Big Dick discussed, and most were far more ridiculous or unworkable than that. "I don't know."

"Then have a little faith," he said softly, laying his cheek against my head. "You said you trusted me. If you do, now's the time to walk the talk."

"I trust you... it's the cartel I don't trust."

"You think I do? Believe me, Big Dick and I both know what we're proposing. If we do this, we'll do everything we can to make sure the cartel doesn't know who we are. The only person who'll see us is the mule, and we'll make sure that our... business... is conducted well away from here." He pushed me back slightly and looked down at me. "We'll take every precaution we can, but we have to do this. If you're worried, we'll find someplace to hide you, and put Big Dick and Goose on you, until this is over."

"It's not me I'm worried about."

"You should be."

-oOo-

"You okay?" Colt asked as he snuggled in close and wrapped me in his arms.

"No," I replied softly.

I hadn't left, and after I'd calmed down, Big Dick left without saying anything to me other than goodbye, barely able to meet my gaze. I finished the dinner I'd started, and we'd eaten in tense near silence. Colt had tried to draw me out a couple of time, but I was in no mood to talk, and he allowed me to have my space.

My emotions were a jumble. It was Colt's job to protect me, it was what Aunt Pam had hired him to do, and he'd done an admirable job keeping me safe. I should let him do this, but all I could think of was all the ways it could go horribly wrong, resulting in his death, and the death of his brothers. I wasn't as close to the men as Colt was, but I didn't want anyone else killed because of me, and the thought of Colt being killed made my heart pound.

He'd become more than my protector. He'd become my friend and lover... and did I dare think, maybe a little more? This morning, when we'd made love, there was something magical in it, something I'd never felt with anyone else. There'd been intensity, passion, need, and closeness that I'd ever experienced with another man. It was like our first time together, after he'd lost his brothers in the RV, but more... much more. Colt often made me come harder, sometimes much harder, but this morning, the way he'd held me made me feel special in a way I never had before. It'd gone beyond fucking, beyond even what I'd thought making love was. This morning, for the very first time in my life, I'd made love to a man.

"It'll be okay," he murmured as he kissed my shoulder.

"So you say."

"You have to trust me."

A tear trickled down my cheek. "I do, but I'm still afraid."

"I know." He paused for a long moment. "We'll be careful."

"You're going to do it?"

"I have to."

"You don't."

"I do. I have keep you safe."

"Why?"

He was quiet for a long time. "I just do."

"Because it's your job?"

He was quiet for another long moment, but I waited him out. "No," he finally whispered.

I pursed my lips so I wouldn't start crying. "Then why?"

"Because I care about you," he murmured. "Because I don't want you see you hurt."

I sniffed. "I feel the same way about you. That's why I don't want you to do this."

He kissed me on the shoulder again. "I have to."

"Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise."

"Hold me?" I wanted him to make love to me, wanted to feel his closeness, but I couldn't stop thinking about him risking his life for me... again, and that slammed the brakes on my desire and made me feel clingy.

"Always," he murmured as he tightened his embrace.

.

.

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COLT

The next evening, after I had Harvey's well up and working again, I called the club together to thrash out a plan and put it to a vote. Haley, Deb--Big Dick and Goose's wives--and Willow where there, in addition to my brothers. Willow was there because I wouldn't leave her unprotected, and Haley and Deb were attending to make sure Willow didn't try to do something stupid when we were in the chapel and she was unsupervised. I could tell by Haley and Deb's body language they weren't thrilled to be babysitting her, but Willow kept her distance and I was reasonably sure the brothers and I could conduct our business without having to break up a catfight.

We argued Big Dick's plan around, but nobody could come up with anything better. The only other option on the table was cutting Willow loose from the club, and I made the motion after we couldn't come up a plan better than Big Dick's. There was no second, and it was then suggested I should keep any other stupid suggestions like that to myself. We then voted to accept Big Dick's plan pretty much as he outlined it. Before we voted, I declared the vote had to be unanimous, and if even one other brother voted no, I was going to cast my vote as no as well. I wouldn't drag my bothers into this without their consent. By tradition, the vice-president voted first, and the president last, and when I cast my vote, the measure passed.

The next day, while Big Dick babysat Willow, Goose drove into Larado and paid cash for a phone, along with sixty minutes of use, at a Walmart. Now it was just a matter of catching a mule. We'd divided into teams and watched for exchanges at our old drop, but were turning up nothing. After nearly a week, I was beginning to worry that we were wasting our time. It was unlikely that the cartel had stopped bringing drugs into the country, but it wasn't unreasonable to assume they'd changed the exchange point since we'd muled for them.

Willow was being cool and distant, and I was afraid I was losing her. She claimed nothing was wrong, but I knew better. She was pushing me away and out of her life. We were still sleeping together, but the intimacy we'd shared was missing, and I hadn't made love to her since the morning Big Dick had made his proposal.

"Any luck?" Willow mumbled as I carefully crawled into bed, trying not to wake her.

It was nearly four in the morning, and she should be asleep. "Nothing," I replied as I snuggled in close with a huge yawn. I'd slept a few hours before I left to pull my watch, and I wanted to try to grab two or three more hours before I had to get up for work.

The grind was wearing me down. I was still trying to catch up with my work while also pulling a three-hour shift as we watched for a mule.

She was quiet for a moment before rolling over to face me. "Maybe they aren't running drugs this way anymore."

"Maybe," I yawned, sleep already pulling at me.

"Then what?"

"Don't know. We need to give it at least a month. We didn't run drugs every day, or even every week, and there's no reason to think that's changed."

She touched my face. "You're killing yourself. You need to take a night off."

"Can't," I yawned again. "There's not enough of us to go around."

"Then take a day shift so you can sleep one night."

"Can't do that either, not for another week or so. I have two more wells to sink, but then I'll be caught up. It'll be easier after that," I mumbled, fighting sleep.

"Why can't you stay here and protect me?"

I yawned again. "Because that wouldn't be fair to the brothers. When it's my turn to watch you, I'll combine that with my night off, and then I can sleep."

"That's not fair," she whispered. "Why does everyone else get a night off but you don't?"

"Because," I mumbled, "I get to hold you..." I murmured.

I didn't know if she responded because my last waking thought was of me caressing her cheek.

-oOo-

Four days later, Willow and I were sharing a quiet dinner when my phone rang. My turn for a night off had finally arrived, and I was looking forward to some quiet time with her. Not only did I need the sleep, but I wanted to try to reconnect with her and ease the strain we were feeling. I picked up the phone and felt a chill. It was Limpkin, and if I remembered correctly, he was the one pulling overwatch at the moment. I pressed the button to accept the call and then immediately pressed the speaker button so Willow could listen in.

"Colt," I said.

"Colt! We've got a hit," Limpkin said the moment he heard my voice.

"You're sure?"

"As sure as I can be. He's at the drop point, alone, and he's standing around like he's waiting for someone."

"Can you handle it until we get there?"

"Yeah. I'll keep an eye on him."

"I'm rolling! Don't do anything stupid!" I said before I hung up. "This is it," I muttered as I began dialing. "Big Dick! We've got a hit! Get the bag team moving. I'm rolling now and will meet them at the station."

"Got it!" Big Dick replied.

I ended the call and shoved my chair back. "Wish us luck."

She rose and threw herself into my arms. I pulled her in tight. It was the first time in days she seemed to want my touch, rather than simply tolerated it.

"Be careful!" she whispered as she held me fiercely.

I wanted to hold her for hours, but I needed to roll. I gently pushed her back before kissing her quickly on the lips. "I will... but I have to go."

I paused at the carport door to glance back at her. She was standing where I left her, her distress clear on her face. I nodded in acknowledgement of her silent plea for caution, opened the door, and stepped into the carport.

-oOo-

The bag team consisted of whoever was on watch, along with Nolan and Whiz, the two brothers closest to where we expected the exchange to take place. Other than Ricky and Jingo, I was farthest from the exchange point and was the last to arrive. I pulled into the abandoned gas station, parking my truck next to Nolan's F-150 and Whiz's Ram. An SUV I didn't recognize was parked beside the trucks. I stepped out of my GMC and quickly taped over my front and rear plates with the roll of duct tape I'd brought for that purpose, before checking to make sure my brothers had done the same.

I tugged on some blue, disposable gloves, and then entered the station. On the floor in what had once been the customer area, a man was on his knees with his hands zip tied behind his back. I glanced at my brothers to make sure they weren't wearing anything that would identify us as part of the BDMC. Like me they weren't wearing their colors and were dressed in simple shirts and jeans, like millions of other guys wore, along with matching gloves. We were taking no chances that the cartel would come back and sweep the place for fingerprints. As we were all licensed to carry a concealed weapon, our prints were probably on file somewhere.

Satisfied we couldn't be easily identified, I turned my attention to the man kneeling on the floor. We'd discussed putting a bag over the mans' head but decided that it was overly dramatic. He'd surely seen Limpkin, Nolan, and Whiz when they'd picked him up, and he'd see me when we turned him loose, and knowing where we were would do him little good after the fact. The long failed and abandoned gas station was on highway 90, between Rio Lago and Comstock, so there was nothing to indicate where we might be from. The only thing special about this place was its location and the fact we could use it to have a quiet conversation with little chance of being interrupted by his friends or passersby.

"Stand him up," I ordered as I stopped in front of the mule. I jerked my head at the door. While Nolan and Limpkin grabbed the man by his arms and hefted him to his feet, Whiz hurried out to transfer the bricks from the mule's Tahoe into my truck. After the two men released him and stepped back, I continued. "I'm going to let you go because I want you to deliver a message for me. Tell Señor Suárez we have his drugs. We'll give them back, but I need to talk to him first." I pulled a folded sheet of paper from my jeans and pressed it into the mule's pocket. "Have him call that number and we'll tell him where his drugs are."

"You have no idea who you're fucking with, you stupid gringo fuck. We'll kill you all," the man snarled.

"Of course I do. You're a mule for the Víbora Cartel. In fact, that's the reason we're having this conversation. I need to get a message to Señor Suárez and, lucky you, you drew the short straw."

The mule spat on me. I slowly wiped the man's spittle off my check with a finger of my left hand and looked at it... before I drew back and punched him in the face as hard as I could with my right. The man went hard to the floor where he lay in stunned stillness a moment before he spat blood. I let him lay there a moment, glaring at me with unadulterated hate, before I nodded. Nolan and Limpkin hauled the bleeding man back to his feet. I scraped the saliva off my finger onto the man's face, and then finished wiping it dry on his shirt.

"Don't mistake my willingness to let you go as fear. I'd just as soon kill you here and now and bag the next mule. He'll get the credit for not only saving the drugs he was muling, but recovering your shipment as well. I have no interest in the drugs and all you have to do is get that phone number to Señor Suárez."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Why would I lie? If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already."

The man spat blood, but not on me. "Señor Suárez may just kill me."