Free Kade: Santanas Cuervo MC by Kathryn Thomas Page B

tears of relief turned into tears of sorrow. “I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “Yes, I’m okay, thanks to you.”
     
    “I tried Kade but he’s not answering his phone. Do you know if he’s back from Houston yet?”
     
    “He’s right here.”
     
    “Let me talk to him.”
     
    She passed the phone to him. “It’s Tryst. Dugger didn’t make it,” she said softly as she wiped at her eyes.
     
    He took the phone. “Good to hear from you, brother. I thought you were dead. Are you okay?”
     
    “Yeah,” Tryst said, though Kade could tell from his voice he wasn’t. “The rig guys picked us up a little while ago. We found the truck that was chasing us. This was no pissed off landowner unless you know someone who can afford a brand new Raptor. There were no plates, no registration, no nothing in the truck.”
     
    “Cartel,” Kade said softly.
     
    “That’s what it looks like to me.”
     
    “Fuck. This is bad. But I don’t understand why they’re targeting Winter. It makes no sense.”
     
    “I don’t know, but I remember what happened the last time we went up against the cartel.”
     
    “Yeah, so do I. Where are you now?”
     
    “I’m on Eagle Pass Road. We’re waiting on the Sheriff to arrive.”
     
    “You need anything?”
     
    “A drink. No, I’m okay. But I’m going to find out who did this, then I’m going to kill them.”
     
    Kade nodded in sympathy and understanding. “We’ll make this right, but don’t say shit like that in front of the cops.”
     
    “I hear you, brother. I see dust, so that’s probably the Sheriff.”
     
    “Take care of yourself. Can you go with me when I break the news to Dugger’s old lady? She’ll want to know how it happened.”
     
    “This is fucked,” Tryst snarled. “We shouldn’t even be having that conversation, but yeah.”
     
    “I’ll call as soon as I get Winter squared away.” He hung up the phone and handed it back to her. She looked back him, her eyes full of tears. It wasn’t her fault Dugger was dead; if anything, it was his. He’d underestimated the threat. He reached over, took her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to give her strength.
     
    When they arrived at her RV, all fifteen of them squeezed in and listened as she recounted the story, Kade adding what little he knew from talking with Tryst. The men’s faces went from hard to sad then back to hard again. When she finished she stared at the floor, unable to meet their eyes.
     
    “It isn’t your fault Dugger’s dead,” Kade said firmly. “It’s mine. But it’s obvious now two men aren’t enough, not out here where the shooter can stand off.”
     
    “What are we going to do?” Bickers asked.
     
    “Do you think we can handle seven or eight men teams? Six or seven in a parameter, one inside close?”
     
    He saw the men wince. That was going to stretch them thin, very thin. “We’ll make it work, somehow,” Anders said firmly.
     
    “Things are slow at the moment with work,” Kade said. “I’ll stay on Winter full time. I’ll be in close with her. I don’t want anyone else getting shot.”
     
    Bickers and Anders looked at each other. “Kade, we need to talk. Outside,” Bickers said, jerking his head at the door.
     
    “Nothing to talk about.”
     
    “I think there is,” Bickers replied.
     
    Kade looked at him a moment then turned and stepped out of the RV, Bickers and Anders following him out. “What?”
     
    “What are you doing?” Bickers asked.
     
    “What do you mean?”
     
    “He means, Kade, why are you putting yourself on this twenty-four seven? Why are you the one in the kill zone all the time?”
     
    “Nobody else is going to die doing this.”
     
    “We knew the risks when we agreed to take this job,” Bickers said.
     
    “Dugger wasn’t your fault,” Anders added. “It’s the fucking cartel’s fault.”
     
    “I’m the one who took the job. I’m the one who asked the brothers to put their life on the