Hard Money (Bad Money #3) Read online

  "So you guys think Adam was Jon's brother?"

  A bang at the door had Kate turning. Jon was standing in the window, his face red, and lines of tension pulling at his brow.

  "One second, please." Clay got up and disappeared outside.

  Kate pulled out her phone and texted Marcus to come and get her. They had nothing on her, and Jon had simply pulled his antics to get her into a room. He hadn't been interested in the new murder case, only in letting her know that he'd somehow seen the video from L.A. It wasn't at all what he thought it was, but that was only because Marcus saved her from having to fuck both him and Victor that night.

  "Damn drugs," she mumbled as she tried to call instead, but the phone went straight to voice mail. She tried again twice more and stood up. Something was wrong.

  Not hesitating another minute, she pushed the door to the room open and walked out in the hall to find Jon and Clay arguing. She turned her attention to Clay.

  "Do you have a warrant for my arrest on this case?" she barked as she moved toward him, completely ignoring Jon.

  "What? No." Clay held up his hands.

  "Fuck, kid." Jon turned to her. "We're getting one. You're not going anywhere."

  "You're on suspension, so fuck off." She turned to Jon and gave him the nastiest look she could muster. Funny how loving someone and losing them turned people into the biggest monsters imaginable. She was no different, nor was Jon.

  "How do you know...?” Jon turned to Clay and started to let the kid have it.

  Kate sidestepped them and walked to the door, not concerned at all about Jon's retaliation to her next move. She walked down the side alley, took the set of keys hidden on the side step of his bike, and got on it.

  He came around the corner as she buzzed past him, lifting her hand in the air and flipping him off. Marcus was in trouble, and where she wished like hell that Jon was the man he was supposed to be - he simply wasn't. She was on her own. Like always.

  Kate had almost forgotten how good it felt to drive a bike. Her body hummed with the power that pushed her forward, but she couldn't seem to concentrate. Marcus rarely didn't answer when she called. At least not after the shit that had happened the night Victor had shown up at her door to do some damage.

  Pushing the throttle harder, she sped through the belly of the city and parked in the back of her club. It would be opening again soon, but for now, it was dead to the world.

  Bourbon Street sat at the front of the club and was already starting to get busy, though it was just after lunch. Most people had no clue of the time or day in the midst of the haze that New Orleans provided. It was a private getaway like no other.

  The darkened stains on the concrete caught her attention and she ran toward the door, not hesitating to pull it open and walking in. Three steps inside she realized that Marcus's car wasn't sitting on the street. The back door should have been locked. She reached for her pistol before realizing that it was in the office. Jon had hauled her down to the station without letting her even grab her I.D. It was a good thing of sorts. No way they would be good with her packing a weapon at the station.

  She tiptoed down the hall, holding her breath and listening for the sound of voices. Blood was on the floor, long streaks as if someone was drug through it. Her heart constricted painfully in her chest, and she lifted her fingers to her mouth, stifling a soft groan. If anything happened to Marcus, she would never forgive Jon for dragging her out of here.

  Marcus was a tough bastard, but no one could stand against two or three of Billy's guys. Surely the sick fuck had come after them. Why would he not?

  Kate moved to stand in front of her door and walked in. The room was empty, but a heaviness sat on her. Someone had been wounded, and she couldn't help but believe that it was Marcus. Sinking down into her chair, she called him again. Nothing.

  "Where the fuck are you? What happened?" She got up and left her phone on the desk, but retrieved her pistol out of the safe.

  She coached herself internally to calm down. Marcus was fine. He had to be. The world couldn't go on without him. She couldn't for sure.

  Lifting her gun in a defensive position, she moved out of the back hall and into the club, keeping her back to the wall.

  Movement by the bar caused her to pause until she recognized who it was.

  Jeffery.

  "Hey." She moved toward him, tucking her gun into the back of her pants. "Did you hear gunshots?"

  He glanced up as surprise moved across his features. "Fuck. You scared me, boss. Gunshots? Um, no."

  "Someone was shot in my office and drug out the back from what I can tell." She glanced around as her heart raced. "Where is Marcus?"

  "No clue." Jeffery moved around to stand in front of her.

  She had to tilt her head to look up at him, the loyal bartender being the perfect size to play basketball. His long blond hair was pulled back out of his face, and his expression tight.

  "We need to call the cops, Kate." He reached out and touched her shoulder, pulling her from her daze.

  "What? Fuck no. We need to find Marcus." She turned on her heel and jogged back toward the back of the club. "Just finish cleaning up and do inventory for me. We're not opening for a few days. If Marcus shows up, tell him I'm looking for him."

  "You got it, boss. Be careful, Kate," Jeffery called after her, but she was already moving back down the hall and out into the alley at the back of the club.

  Tears burned her gaze as she tried to call Marcus again. "Answer you sorry mother fucker. Stop playing your games and answer the phone."

  The sound of someone honking behind her caused her heart to race. Just someone being an idiot and trying to use the back alley as a cut-through.

  "This is private property. Back up and get back on the street." She moved toward the red Firebird and lifted her hand, shooing him backward. The windows were tinted, but something told her that she shouldn't be in the back alley alone.

  He revved the engine and rolled down his window, lifting his left hand out and flipping her off. "Move."

  "No." She moved toward him, and he revved the engine again.

  "Fuck you." Kate pulled out her gun and pointed it at him, letting off a round toward the top of the car.

  It had its intended effect. The driver put the car in reverse and within seconds she was standing alone in the alley, sweat having collected at the edge of her hairline and her breathing completely off.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and called the only one she knew left to call.

  "Victor Parence." His voice was low, smooth, oddly comforting.

  "It's Kate. I just got back from the police station and Marcus is gone. There's blood everywhere." She tried to calm herself, but couldn't seem to do it.

  "Get inside and lock yourself in your office. I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't let anyone in, Katelyn."

  She couldn't even correct him for misusing her name. She was too lost to fear. Satan himself could come looking for her, but not Marcus. Anyone but Marcus. He'd been her rock, her protector - her savior for far too long to have anything happen to him.

  Unable to speak, she nodded, dropped the call and went into her office and slumped down into her chair as her tears came.

  Why hadn't she told him how much she loved him? How much he meant to her outside of their friendship? It was so much more than what they'd made it out to be, at least for her. She cared about Jon too, but that didn't lessen her feelings for Marcus. They seemed to only grow stronger because of the wayward cop.

  "Please be okay. Please. I'll do anything. Just be okay." She closed her eyes and let her head drop back as she swallowed her terror. Marcus would be fine.

  He had to be.

  Chapter 3

  Marcus

  Marcus forced his eyes open, blinking slowly at first while trying to get his bearings. He turned his head and groaned softly. Everything hurt like someone had pulled his ass through a meat grinder.

  "You up?" The gruff voice beside him wa
sn't one he was too familiar with.

  He turned his head the other way slowly, realizing that he was in the hospital, and for some reason, Victor's brother, Zak, was beside him lounging in a chair.

  "Fuck," Marcus murmured and closed his eyes, taking a slow breath. "What happened, dude?"

  "What do you remember?" The chair creaked beside him, and Marcus assumed that the smaller man was getting up.

  He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling as concern for Kate rolled over him. "Where's Katie?"

  "She's with Victor. I'd assume he'll be headed up here as soon as I tell him that I'm with you." Zak touched the side of the bed, catching Marcus's attention.

  "He doesn't know you're here?" Marcus asked as he gave the guy an odd look.

  "No. I wanted to understand who those guys were before I brought Victor into the middle of the drama. My job is to protect him, even from the simpler things in life." Zak rolled his shoulders and stared down at Marcus. "Kate's fine. Tell me what happened. Who were those mother fuckers?"

  "That was Billy Turner. He was the big shit before Seth." Marcus blinked a few more times, trying to clear his head. "He busted out of a maximum security prison a few days ago. How the fuck am I here? I figured I was as good as dead."

  "I showed up as they were dragging your limp ass out of the back of the club. I took one of them out, but the other two got away." He shrugged. "He's in the back of the car. I'll take care of him later."

  "Which one?" Marcus tried to sit up, but the pain forced him back down. He groaned loudly and tugged the covers down, patting the thick gauze that covered his muscular center.

  Please let it be Billy who's dead.

  "Tall black guy." Zak moved to the door and closed it. "I'm thinking this Billy guy is around for a while?"

  "Um, yeah. This is his territory, though I have no clue what the fuck he thinks he's going to do. Honestly, with the cops from Texas after him, it shouldn't be any time before he's caught. He's not being inconspicuous." Marcus rubbed his hand over his chest. "What happened? Bullet to the chest?"

  "Yeah. Someone hit you a few times pretty good in the face, but it only took a few stitches to get you closed up." Zak took a seat on the couch.

  "Why were you coming to the club? Victor need something?" Marcus nodded at his phone and motioned for Zak to hand it to him. The guy stood up and tossed him the phone before sinking back down with a soft groan. He looked tired. Bone tired.

  "Just wanted to check up on you and Kate. Victor was pretty sick after that party in L.A. We were concerned that one of you might have been sick too." He brushed his hands down his thighs. "My timing's just really good, I guess. Thank God Kate wasn't there."

  Marcus nodded and checked his phone, seeing text after text from her. He lifted the phone to his ear and listened as her sweet voice got more and more pinched. She was terrified by the last call. His heart contracted in his chest and he groaned again due to the pain that laced the center of him.

  "Who got the placebo at the party?" Zak's voice brought him from his worry.

  "I did. Kate wanted to make sure we were all good." Marcus let his eyes move across his new associate's face. The guy looked nothing like Victor. Their new boss was tall, dark and surprisingly good looking, or Kate seemed to think so. Zak was shorter, stocky with long brown hair and tats covering his body, or at least from what Marcus could see. There was something about him that left Marcus more comfortable around him than he should have been.

  "It's going to be a game changer." He ran his hand over the top of his head and smirked. "Fuck, it already is."

  "I can see why. Everyone loves pleasure. Mixing the highs of ecstasy with the thrill of acid? I'd buy the shit." Marcus set his phone down as worry continued to roll around in his stomach. "Victor doesn't know Billy, right?"

  "No. We're new to America. We've done a little bit of business here, but Billy's nothing to be concerned with. Victor will take care of him. He's small time. Just watch and enjoy."

  "I'm not so sure about that. He's a drug dealer with a bent toward killing for sport. He's a sick mother fucker." Marcus swallowed hard. "I was so damn glad he got popped the day he did. I was happy to let Seth take the leadership role in our organization just to say thank you."

  "Why didn't you just off the sick bastard?" Zak asked. "You don't seem like the type of man that would let someone intimidate you."

  "He had Kate under his thumb. I wanted her out, and he gave her to me, but the things I had to do after she left." He closed his eyes as bile rose up his throat. "Let's just leave it at the fact that I had no choice but to support him. I traded my soul for her freedom."

  "Does she know that?" Zak's voice softened a little.

  "No, and she's not going to." Marcus turned and pinned the other man with a hard stare.

  Zak lifted his hands and chuckled. "No problem, man. Call the girl. I know you want to."

  Marcus lifted the phone and pressed Kate's number, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for her to freak out.

  Zak stood and walked to the door. "I'm going to call the boss-man. I'll be back."

  He walked out as Kate answered the phone, her voice filled with fear. "Marcus?"

  "Hey, girl." He smiled, loving the sound of her voice.

  "Don't you, hey girl me, you sorry bastard. You had me scared to death. Why didn't you answer your phone? Where the hell are you?" Her voice shook, and something inside of him threatened to break. She loved him, far more than she was willing to admit.

  "I'm in the hospital, Katie, but I'm okay. I'll live." He turned his head and coughed before groaning softly.

  "Oh shit. I'm on my way. I knew something was wrong." Her voice broke, and he could tell she was either close to tears or already crying.

  "Okay, baby. I'll see you when you get here. I'm okay, really. I'm tough like that. It's why you like me, remember?" He smiled again, unable to help himself from teasing her a little.

  "Yeah, it is." By her response, he figured that someone must have been in the car with her. Victor most likely.

  "Come see me." Marcus dropped the call and laid the phone beside him in the bed as he closed his eyes and let his memory run over the events of the day.

  Jon's dumb ass taking Kate downtown was actually a blessing in disguise, though the sorry mother fucker deserved to have his ass handed to him. It was a thought Marcus couldn't get out of his head. He knew the cop was in love with Kate, but his determination to cling to the right side of the track was hurting everyone. Something was up with him. Marcus wanted to know what. No one set their lives up in a black and white schemata the way the cop had. Sometimes life forced you across either line to help those that you love - those that loved you. Jon was fighting hard against moving into the shadows to help Kate.

  Odd. Marcus would do anything for the girl, and had.

  Zak walked back into the room and closed the door. "Victor has her. They're headed up this way. Now... tell me what happened with this Billy character. What was he after? Information?"

  "No. Kate. Or so that seemed to be his purpose. He was looking for her." Marcus lifted his right arm and ran his hand over his bald head. "They were a couple a long ass time ago when Kate was a teenage girl. She was always way too much woman for the scumbag, but he offered her an out, and she took it."

  "Victor's not going to like that at all. He's rather possessive about his money and his drugs, but he'll flip his shit over his woman." Zak dropped down to the couch again.

  Marcus wanted to correct the guy. Kate wasn't Victor's woman, nor would she ever be, but he needed to be careful. He was talking to Victor's right hand man. No matter if the guy had saved his ass earlier that day, he was still Victor's boy. Plain and simple.

  "You and Victor look nothing alike. And yet you're brothers?" Marcus lifted his eyebrow.

  "Just good friends from childhood. I've always had his back, though we've had a few bumps in the road like everyone does, I suppose." Zak shrugged.

  Marcus nodded and closed hi
s eyes, needing a minute to himself. He was so damn grateful not to be in a basement somewhere with his hand cut off and bleeding to death. Billy was fucked up like that for sure.

  Kate would be there soon, and things could somewhat get back to normal. With both the Texas and Louisiana cops after Billy, someone would find him soon. If not the authorities, then Marcus would work with Jon and Victor to find him. All three of them had a vested interest in getting rid of the vile bastard.

  Whether Jon wanted to admit it or not, Marcus had no doubt that he would do anything to help them protect Kate. There was too much emotion sitting on the cop that morning when he came to arrest her. He was torn, broken, hurting.

  Marcus had been there many times himself. He understood, but where he accepted the shit storm and moved on, Jon seemed to have built a fucking tent in the middle of it.

  The door opened and Marcus turned, hopeful that it was Kate.

  A large, broad-shouldered woman in a white coat walked in with her clipboard in front of her face. "Evening gentlemen."

  Marcus mumbled his reply and closed his eyes again. His disdain for cops was at the top of the list, but doctors were a close second. It felt like they thought that everyone was a number and those that didn't measure up were usually not a number worth concentrating on.

  "Looks like you've got about a three-day stay with us." She moved toward Marcus and touched the side of his arm. "Just going to take some vitals. The cops will be by in an hour or so to take a statement from you."

  "I don't remember anything." Marcus opened his eyes and glanced up at the masculine woman. "They're wasting their time."

  "Someone tried to kill you. They're going to ask a few questions. It's only in an effort to protect you, sir." She gave him a tight smile.

  "Right." He glanced down at his chest. "Did you save the bullet from my chest?"

  "Yes, they did. They'll be handing it over to the cops." She finished up and walked to the door. "Visiting hours are over in twenty minutes."

  Marcus turned a hard stare on the woman. "My girl is coming in a few minutes. She'll leave when she wants to leave."