Free Kade: Santanas Cuervo MC by Kathryn Thomas

He was going pale and his breathing was getting shallow and fast.
     
    “He’s going into shock!” Winter cried.
     
    Tryst ground his teeth and looked behind them. The dust cloud was drawing closer. “We can’t outrun them. Winter, you get ready to drive! When we stop, Dugger and I are getting out. You get behind the wheel and drive as fast as you can, got it!”
     
    “What?” she screamed.
     
    “It’s the only way! Maybe we can stop them, or at least slow them down enough for you to get away!”
     
    “No!”
     
    “Yes, Goddamnit! Get ready!”
     
    “No!” she cried again.
     
    “One…two…three!” Tryst called, then opened his door as Dugger slammed on the brakes, the Jeep sliding to a stop. Tryst was out even before the Jeep stopped moving, Dugger right behind him. “Go!” he roared, waving his hand frantically.
     
    Winter scrambled out of the back and into the driver’s seat, banged the Jeep into gear, and floored it, the doors thumping shut as she surged away.
     
    ***
     
    “Come on, you bastard,” Tryst growled as the Ford Raptor bore down on them with terrifying speed. In the length of time it took them to change drivers the truck was nearly on them.
     
    He and Dugger opened up, emptying their guns into the windshield and nose of the truck. They tried to leap aside at the last moment, but Dugger was too slow, his reactions dulled by the loss of blood and his slide into shock. The truck slammed into him with a sickening thud, his body tossed up and to the side like a rag doll.
     
    Tryst scrambled to Dugger as soon as the truck passed, but he knew he was dead the moment he reached him, Dugger’s head turned at an angle that made him sick to his stomach. He flopped into the dirt beside him. They’d failed. Dugger was dead and they hadn’t been able to stop the truck. He knew it was a long shot, but he’d hoped that with eighteen shots between them, they could have hit the driver or something vital in the truck.
     
    “I’m sorry, brother,” Tryst said as he sat and stared at his dead friend.
     
    ***
     
    Winter drove recklessly fast, the big Ford pickup slowly closing the distance. She didn’t know where she was going, unable to read the GPS as the Jeep crashed and banged across the landscape. There was nowhere to hide out here, and the Ford was faster than her Jeep. All she could do was run as far and as fast as possible, hoping she reached a road, a house, anything that might cause her pursuers to break off.
     
    The Ford was nearly on her, less than two car lengths back, steam pouring from the engine. In desperation she slammed on the brakes, the Ford hitting her so hard she thought her Jeep would roll. As she floored the Wrangler again, she began to pull away, the Ford falling farther and farther behind. The truck stopped, then she heard the crack of a rifle and the rear glass and windshield shattered.
     
    She screamed, ducking down as low as possible, but kept her foot down. There was another report from the gun, then another, then nothing. She risked a quick glance behind her and saw the truck was well back and had disappeared in her dust cloud. She breathed a sigh of relief, but didn’t slow until she was sure she was well away.
     
    ***
     
    She stopped when she reached Eagle Pass Road. She’d driven nearly fifty miles off road from the drill site. She sat, the Jeep idling, unsure of what to do, then pulled her sat phone and dialed Kade. The phone rang then went to voicemail. She whimpered softly.
     
    “Kade, call me. Dugger and Tryst are dead. They saved me but they’re dead. I—” She whimpered again, trying to hold it together, but couldn’t. She ended the call and sobbed quietly into her hands before forcing away her tears.
     
    She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, realizing she wasn’t out of it yet. She was alone and unarmed in the middle of the desert and would have no chance if the gunmen showed up again. Gritting her teeth against the