Gage (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #16)

Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

G age pressed his foot hard against the accelerator until it mashed against the floorboards, pulling away from the SUV and steering toward the side of the interstate. He knew he didn’t have the horsepower to outrun the bigger vehicle, so his best bet was to try and outmaneuver him. Having left the outskirts of DFW behind, the traffic had thinned considerably, for which he was thankful. At least there were fewer people who could possibly be injured if his car careened out of control.

Another sharp impact on the back bumper jolted the car forward, and he heard Bas curse from the back seat. He watched Bas swivel around and face the back window, the 9mm gripped tightly in his right hand. Sighing, he knew what had to happen.

“See if you can hit the engine block or take out their tires. We can’t outrun them, so we need to try and disable them.”

“Keep it as steady as you can.”

Bas climbed to his knees on the seat, facing the back, and braced his arm against the flat area behind the seat, the one where the window slanted toward the trunk. Luckily, it gave him a stable place to position for the shot. He only hoped Bas was a good marksman, because he was only going to have one chance to take out the SUV.

Watching in the rearview, he could see the SUV’s speed increasing, the distance between the two vehicles dwindling by the second. Bas needed to wait until they were close enough, make sure that he didn’t miss.

“Gage, watch out!”

He jerked the steering wheel sharply to the left, swerving around the car that had slammed on its brakes in front of him, barely missing their rear bumper. Heartbeat racing, he breathed out slowly, focusing on the black SUV. They’d changed lanes, increasing their speed to keep up with Gage. Outrunning them definitely flew out the window when he spotted the passenger leaning out the window, a gun clenched in his hand.

“Bas, you can’t wait any longer. Take the shot!”

A series of pop, pop, pop filled the interior of the car, before Bas flopped around on the back seat, facing the front. He grinned, though it looked more like a grimace.

“That ought to do it.”

“Did you hit them?” Suzanna tried swiveling around in her seat, but the seatbelt hampered her movement, and Gage’s frown and muttered “stop” forced her to face forward again. Gage watched the rearview, grinning as the SUV slowly limped toward the side of the interstate, the front two tires flattened.

“Nice shooting, Tex.”

“What? Did you think I couldn’t make the shot?”

“Never doubted you for a minute.”

Gage could feel the unevenness of the car’s movements, knew the multiple hits they’d taken had caused some damage. Which meant they probably weren’t going to make it back to Shiloh Springs without help.

“What’s wrong?” Suzanna’s soft hand reached over, touching his forearm.

“I think we took one hit too many. Going to have to pull off, and take a look at the rear end. I don’t think she’s going to make it all the way back to Shiloh Springs.”

“I was afraid of that. I could feel how hard the hits were sitting back here. You find a place to pull over, hopefully a gas station with a mechanics bay, so I can take a look. In the meantime, while you’re doing that, I’m going to call the Big House, see about getting somebody to drive up here and pick us up.”

“Good idea.”

Gage managed to keep the car moving forward, though it was a struggle, and he had to wrestle with the steering to keep her straight and between the lines. Finally after a couple of miles he saw an exit coming up and took it, spotting a gas station sign to the right. He pulled up in front of the one bay where retread tires and oil changes were done, and turned off the engine.

Bas was out of the car practically before he’d put it in park, walking around to the back. Gage got out a little slower, and met him. Squatting down, they examined the cracked bumper, which showed evidence of the hard hits. The right side was smashed in, the right fender not only crumpled but twisted.

“You’re not going much farther. Think you might have a crackled axle.” Bas lay on his back and scooched underneath, by the right rear tired. “Some fluid leaking out too, probably brakes fluid. Definitely not safe to drive without having it looked it.” Climbing from beneath the car, he dusted off his hands on the front of his jeans.

“I was afraid of that. Who’d you talk with at the Big House?”

“Douglas. We’re too far out to have Frank’s Garage tow it. You’re probably going to want to have your insurance handle that anyway.”

An older man sauntered over, his grease-covered shirt boasting the name Sparks above the pocket. Tough and weatherbeaten, he looked like somebody who’d been around the block more than a time or two, and Gage was willing to bet there wasn’t a whole lot the guy didn’t know about cars.

“Can I help you folks?”

“Had a bit of an accident a few miles back. I’m going to have to put in a call to my insurance, but if you’d like to take a look at it, maybe give my your impression of what the major problem might be, just so they don’t try and rip me off?”

“Sure, I can take a look.”

Sparks lay on his back, and began crawling underneath the car’s rear panel, and Gage and Bas moved back a couple of steps. Suzanna was still seated in the passenger seat. Gage hoped she wasn’t took shaken up from what just happened, but if she was he couldn’t blame her. She’d been through a lot the past couple of days. Finding him, asking him to look into proving her innocence, almost being kidnapped and nearly killed, and now it looked like somebody was taking another crack and getting her out of the picture. They really needed to figure out who wanted her eliminated and why, before their next attempt finished the job.

“Shiloh and Ridge were both at the Big House when I called. They’ve already left, heading this way. I need to call and tell them exactly where we’re at, so they can pick us up.”

“You do that. I’m going to check on Suzanna, make sure she’s okay.”

Bas studied him intently, taking his time before responding. “I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit. On the outside, she might seem like a pampered princess, but beneath that exterior she’s got a backbone of steel. I think the whole elite, rich girl persona is exactly that. A fa?ade, a role she dons to keep people from seeing the real woman. I could be wrong, but she’s a lot stronger than people give her credit for.”

“I never doubted it for a minute,” Gage answered, his eyes straying to the passenger side of the car. He saw the phone at her ear, knew she’d called somebody. Before he could do more than wonder who she was talking with, Sparks crawled from beneath the car.

“I going to take a wild guess and say somebody smacked into the back end of your car.”

Gage nodded. “Exactly what happened.”

“Looks like you were hit more than once.” When Gage started to talk, Sparks raised his hand. “Ain’t my business why or what happened, other than to tell you I’ve got some bad news for ya. You’ve got a ruptured brake line, bent rotor and most likely a cracked axle. Would be able to tell you more if I had a lift where I could get a better look underneath, but I don’t have the equipment here. Mostly sell and change tires and do the occasional oil change. You’re gonna have to get her towed to a mechanic.” Sparks wiped his hands on a dirty rag and shoved it in his pocket. “I can recommend a couple of good ones around here, if you don’t want to haul her too far.”

“Appreciate it. We’ve got folks coming to pick us up, and I’d like to have the car situation taken care of before they get here, if I can.”

“You want to come with me to the office, I’ll give you those names. Jimmie has his own tow truck, too, if you wanna use him. He’s good, I’ve seen his work, and he’ll give you a fair price.”

“Sounds good.” Gage turned toward Bas. “Would you keep an eye on Suzanna, see if there’s anything she needs while I handle this?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“Keep your eyes open. I’m not sure how long it’ll take the boys in the SUV to catch up to us. It won’t be too hard to figure we’ve had to pull off to look at the damage.”

Bas’ eyes scanned the road before nodding. Gage knew he was leaving Suzanna in good hands, but he still hated walking away, leaving her vulnerable and exposed. He wasn’t sure how far behind their assailants were, because of the two flats, but it wouldn’t take them long to call backup. Their aggression and skill denoted professionals. Somehow the simple favor he’d owed Brandon had morphed and twisted into risking his life to protect the woman who’d asked for a single favor.

Right now he wished he was back at the Big House. Suzanna needed to be coddled by Ms. Patti. Somehow, he had the feeling nobody had ever shown a whole lot of attention or affection to her. Yet she was turning out to be a surprise. One he wasn’t sure what to make of, except she confused and bewildered him. And he wasn’t sure what he was going to do about the feelings stirring deep in his chest.

Glancing over his shoulder, he watched a smile touch her lips as she talked on the phone, the way her head rested against the car’s headrest. He had to admire the way she hadn’t screamed or complained about anything, not while they’d been in the middle of being attacked nor afterward, instead seeming more concerned about him and Bas than herself.

“Here you go, young fella. Jimmie will get you fixed right up. He’s a whiz with these newer model cars. Me, not so much. All those newfangled computer gizmos make my head hurt. Give me good carburetor or a solenoid and I can fix you right up. Though, I don’t get a lot of call for repairs any. Most folks mainly stop here for gas and then hop back on the interstate.”

“Appreciate your help. I’ll give Jimmie a call now, see about getting my car out of your way.” Gage nodded to Sparks and pulled out his cellphone. After the brief call, Jimmie agreed to head right over with his tow truck. He’d give his insurance company a call after they headed back to Shiloh Springs.

It took about half an hour for Jimmie to show up, get the car hooked up and towed back to his shop. Which meant they still had a couple of hours wait until Shiloh and Ridge would be there. Bas had given them directions and instructions on how to get there, but they still needed to kill a couple hours. Luckily, there was a twenty-four hour breakfast joint less than a block from Sparks’ gas station, and an easy walk.

Settling into one of the booths toward the back, Gage sat with his back toward the wall, leaving him with a good view of the front door. Suzanna and Bas sat across from him, and Gage watched the other man surveilling the lone door by the kitchen that led to the back. Probably an alleyway behind the restaurant, but an egress just the same. So far, he’d been impressed with Bas’ training, his ability to react to dangerous situations on the fly, and his willingness to take orders and follow through. Add in the fact he was a Boudreau, albeit the Cajun branch, but he would gladly have him guard his back anytime.

“Are we going to talk about how fast those guys found us after we left Blackthorn’s place?” Bas showed a french fry into his mouth after asking the question.

“I wondered if I was the only one who thought it strange we were being followed. Do you thing they’ve been following us since we left the police station, or did Donald sic hired guns on us?” Suzanna reached over to Bas’ plate and snagged a fry.

“Hey!”

She smiled and swirled it in her milkshake before popping it into her mouth. “Mmm, good.”

“That’s…yuck. Milkshakes are for drinking, not…that. Fries get ketchup, not strawberry ice cream.” Bas hunched over his plate when she reached for another one. “Get your own.”

“French fries always taste better off somebody else’s plate, didn’t you know that?”

Gage smiled at the interplay between Suzanna and Bas. She was more relaxed now, thanks to Bas and his silliness. “Children, can we talk the tail we picked up after leaving Dallas? You know, the one that tried to turn our car into a flying missile?”

“I didn’t spot anybody when we left the DPD, and I was watching. Unless somebody put a tracker on the car while it was parked in the lot. It’s a possibility, but I didn’t see one when I was looking at the damage back at the gas station. I didn’t get a chance to check the front of the car, so there still exists that possibility. Also have to consider Blackstone wasn’t exactly the most forthcoming dude, and he’s high on my suspect list. He could have called people to follow us from his place. Though they’d have had to be right on the spot or close by to find us after we left his mansion, so I’d say the like scenario is option A.” Bas swatted at Suzanna’s hand, but she was quicker, grabbing another fry, holding it up like a trophy with a huge smile on her face.

“Suzanna, did you believe Blackthorn’s story about your husband pulling the plug on using Sandoval Enterprises because of a glitch with the microchips?”

Suzanna laid the fry on the side of her plate, and rested her chin on her hands. “I don’t know. I can tell you there was something off about his answers. Yes, Steven’s company was working on an advanced microchip, I was aware of that much, because Steven had talked about it a few times, and I heard Steven and Donald discussing it. I hadn’t heard anything about a glitch or a problem. If what Donald said is true, if they really have mastered particle light data transfer, Steven would have told me. That’s something he would have been over the moon about, because of the ramifications of how it would change technology forever.”

“But you felt something off?”

“I don’t know, he seemed—overenthusiastic—about the particle light capability. You have to understand, Donald is not normally someone who shows a lot of emotion. I rarely saw him smile, but today it was almost seemed he was putting on a performance, like his answers were rehearsed. He was ready for us, almost like he knew I’d be showing up eventually, asking about Steven’s last days at the company.” Her eyes met his, steady and without guile. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“What do you have against Sandoval Enterprises? And don’t say nothing. Every time their name is mentioned you get all rigid and there’s a look in your eyes I can’t describe. Have you had run-ins with Gustavo Sandoval in the past?”

He didn’t want to bring her into that part of his world, didn’t want her to see the ugliness he’d dealt with in his job. She deserved to only see the beautiful side of life, not the treachery people like Gustavo Sandoval dished out without blinking. But if her husband had dealings with Sandoval, things might not have been as rosy and sweet in her world as he suspected.

“I’ve run into Gustavo Sandoval a time or two in the past. He’s somebody you want to stay far away from, Suzanna. He is a man without scruples and he doesn’t care who he hurts in his quest for power.”

Her head cocked to the side as she watched him, her golden amber eyes seeming to see into his very soul. It was an uncomfortable feeling, he didn’t like or want to be vulnerable. He’d survived by maintaining his distance from everyone…except the Boudreaus, but that was something different entirely. His relationship with them was personal. And now Suzanna was getting under his skin with her genuineness and openness. The more he learned about her, the more he was convinced she hadn’t been involved in any way with her husband’s murder.

“I can’t imagine Steven dealing with anybody like that. If he had a whiff of impropriety, he’d have never agreed to work with Sandoval.”

“On paper, Gustavo Sandoval and Sandoval Enterprises show up as exactly what they claim, an elite courier service that guarantees transportation and security for companies who require more specialized handling than your national chains can offer. Most people wouldn’t have a clue that beneath his skin, Sandoval doesn’t care about anyone or anything except himself and his quest to take himself to the top. I couldn’t begin to tell you the number of people he’s destroyed on his climb to power. Sandoval Enterprises gobbles up smaller companies that get in their way, leaving hundreds of people unemployed.”

And those are the lucky ones. I won’t tell her about the people he’s eliminated to get what he wants, the body count rising with every business deal gone wrong.

“If Gustavo Sandoval is as heinous as you say, he wouldn’t have taken Steven backing out of the contract well, would he? Do you think…could he have had something to do with having Steven killed?” Her voice quivered on the last words.

Bas quietly handed her a french fry.

“As soon as Sandoval’s name was mentioned, he moved to the top of my suspect list. I need more information, because I don’t want my personal loathing of the man to color my perception. Is he capable of ordering your husband killed? Absolutely. But I’m not ruling out Blackthorn either. He has a lot to gain with your husband’s demise. We also cannot discount there might be a tie between Steven’s death and your near abduction in New Orleans. While your would-be kidnapper wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, we know he was working for somebody else. Add in the fact that he almost killed you, actually took a shot at you, and we need to consider that you might have been as much a target as your husband.”

“Are you saying you think somebody’s trying to kill me?”

Gage wanted to say no. Wanted to pull her into his arms and promise that she was safe, that nobody would ever hurt her. But he couldn’t—wouldn’t—lie to Suzanna. So he told her the unvarnished truth.

“Yes. I think somebody is trying to kill you.”