Cajun Protection Read online

  Taking the driver’s seat, I drive off, hoping that we just made the right choice. Either Andrew will back off and let us catch him, or he will escalate more and come after her. In which we will be able grab him, either way, Andrew is going to go down.

  Chapter Five

  Zoey

  I can’t stop my body from shaking, and I’m cold. I can handle so much, but now everything is gone. My apartment is ransacked; I can deal with that, it’s Gran’s house I have issues with. Why? Why do that? The name-calling is normal and after the first few years of living here, it became normal for me, but Gran’s house? No one cared, and I couldn’t save it. I tried, I did, I tried to save it. But the more I ran and got water, something else would catch and go up in flames. The only possessions I have left is whatever Hawk grabbed from my apartment and if I know Andrew, that isn’t much. I told myself I will not cry, I will not let the town people get to me again. I’m stronger than that. All my life I had no one but Gran. I love my dad, but he was there because he had to. I’m a constant reminder of my mom, well the chunkier version of her. Why can’t I stop shaking?

  “It’s an adrenaline rush. You’re coming down from it. Here, eat this.” Hawk passes me what looks like a bar of something. I shake my head. I’m not hungry, just shaky.

  “Eat it, chéri,” Wolf snaps at me. I lift my hand and take the bar Hawk opened for me before taking a bite. It tastes of peanut butter and chocolate. Not bad, but I don’t feel better. I finish the bar and hand the wrapper to Hawk as we drive off. I don’t know where we are going, but I do know Andrew won’t get me there. I watch as the world starts to get hazy and black.

  I wake with a jolt. Where am I? Am I moving? So many question, but the musky smell makes me hum with excitement. It is yummy, and not cake and jambalaya good, but a hot sexy man good. My eyes pop open and see that someone is holding me.

  “Sleeping Beauty wakes.” Wolf is holding me and walking. Shit, I’m gonna break his back.

  “You can put me down, I know I’m not light.” He starts walking up the stairs. Fear grips me and instantly I grab around his neck praying he won’t fall or drop me on my bubble butt.

  “You’re light as a feather, and I gotcha. Just relax, we are almost there.” I take a chance and lift my head to see Hawk already ahead of us and a door wide open. Huh, I would have thought they would drop me off at a motel or something, maybe their office. But the more he walks the more I realize this is their place. Wolf sets me down on a couch before leaving, I’m shocked. Their apartment is small, maybe a little bigger than mine and it is hard to imagine two grown men, and as large as both of them are, living here.

  “Drink.” Lifting my head to the voice, Hawk holds his hand out with a cup. Taking it, because I’m thirsty, I nod my thanks. Smelling it, I can tell it is whiskey, and I drink it quickly. I enjoy the welcome burn as it warms my insides. I’m not much of a drinker and despite my size, I’m a lightweight. I had a friend I went to school with who is like a size zero and she can drink everyone under the table.

  “So, um, thanks for everything, but I should be going now and find a place to stay.” I make to stand, but Hawk and Wolf stand in front of me, arms crossed across their chests. Both have a scowl on their face. “What, do I smell or something?” I look down and see my clothes are a hot mess and I raise my arm, and yikes. I reek, despite my shower this morning

  “You’re staying here.” Say what? I look at both of them, and I swear they can be twins, except Hawk has longer hair and silver eyes and Wolf is scruffy and has blue eyes. But their expressions are similar. Damn them both.

  “Look, guys, I thank you for helping me when I went a little psycho, and for hunting down the rat bastard, but I can’t stay here.”

  “Why not?” Hawk asks.

  “Because, well I’m sure you don’t want me here, and there is no room for me.”

  “You can have my room, problem solved and yes we want you here,” Wolf answers this time.

  “Well, I gotta work and stuff.”

  “You quit, you’re not going back there,” Wolf says as if I have already agreed upon this. I stand this time, though be it on shaky legs.

  “Look, I appreciate everything you all have done for me, but I’m a big girl, and no I’m not talking about just my size, but I have bills to pay, and things like that. You might hate the town, Lord knows I do too. But I can’t just quit. I need the money; I need to keep my life going. If I sit still it will eat at me, and I am not going to let him win this time. I want him caught and I will be in the way here. Just let me find some place to stay.”

  “Where you gonna stay, chéri? Do you even have enough money for a room somewhere?” Wolf asks as he raises an eyebrow at me. Cheeky bastard, because he is right. Damn it. I nibble on my lower lip, another bad habit I have, trying to find the right words. “Your car is back at your apartment, and in case you forgot, it was broken into. Not much is there. So give in and stay here, no more arguing.” Hawk turns and leaves, leaving Wolf glaring down at me.

  “You know he’s right. I set your bag in my room, shower is there too. I expect you to sleep right after. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow is gonna be busy.” And like that, the bastard leaves me.

  Oh wait, where the hell is his room? I walk to the back and find one room, but my bag isn’t there. Another one is a bathroom, and so the one at the end must be his since it’s the only room left. My bag is sitting there on the extremely large bed. I open it and find some clothes, but not much. Pulling out a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, I rummage and find no panties. Either Hawk didn’t pack any or—well I don’t want to go there again. I found only two bras and not my nice ones. Grr, this totally sucks monkey balls. I hate this, all of it. I make my way to the bathroom, which is attached and find it to be fairly clean. I start the shower and I have to wait for it to warm up so I look at myself in the mirror. I look pale, haunted even. My hair that once was nice and clean is hanging in clumps with black soot. My face reminds me of a chimney sweeper from Mary Poppins. I quickly strip my clothes and jump into the shower. It’s time I face that things are going to be different and I will not let him break me. No, Zoey Thornburg is standing on her own two feet and taking a stance. Well after he is caught and put behind bars that is. So tonight is shower and sleep, I can handle that.

  Hawk

  I felt bad Wolf had to sleep on the couch, but he is up before I am. In the kitchen, I see Wolf cooking something. It’s some eggs and bacon. Either he is hungry or he is thinking the same thing I was. “She had no food in her place,” Wolf states. Shit, and we didn’t feed her at all last night either.

  “I know. He destroyed a lot of her clothes, she is gonna need more.”

  “Her panties were gone too, weren’t they?” Wolf never stops what he is doing. Making myself useful, I grab some juice and start a new pot of coffee.

  “Yup, I didn’t find any, and only grabbed the bras that weren’t ripped. She didn’t need to see that place.”

  “You know it was him?”

  “Yeah, it is him. Remember what she said about a bear, there was one on her bed with a flower. Can’t be hard to put two and two together.”

  “Son-of-a-bitch. I swear I’m gonna kill him before we get our bounty.”

  “Not kill, but rough him up some. I think she has been doing everything on her own and she is easy prey for him. Not anymore. I have a plan, and yes she is part of it.”

  The coffee finished so I pour myself a cup and sit at the small table as Wolf starts to put food on three plates. I turn on my iPad and check for any leads that came in or if we have a new bounty to catch. We can’t always be in the office, and to be honest, we lost our last office chick because Gunner fucked her. Wolf broke his nose because of it. We have a rule, no fucking people at work. But my plan with Zoey might stretch the rule some. She called to me on a deeper level. Growing up I always relied on myself, but Wolf and his mom, Liz, were always there if I needed them. Zoey had no one. I grew up with shitty parents and people a
lways looking down on me, running me out of places when I tried to look for work or food. Zoey survived her childhood, but it wasn’t until her gran passed that things got worse. Me, it was the opposite. It wasn’t until I left that things got better. Maybe that’s why I feel so connected to her, the overwhelming need to protect her, and fuck her, which sent all my rules out the window. But was she worth it was the bigger question I needed to ask myself.

  I look up a few minutes later and see her, hair damp and pulled into a side braid thing, she is wearing baggy clothes. Oddly enough my cock took notice too, because I know beneath those sweat pants she has no panties on. Damn, I have to reach below the table and readjust my jeans. Fucking zipper.

  “Sit,” I say, and she does, but she is biting her lip. I notice that about her. I had heard that some chicks do that, normally I will ignore it but she has these fat plump lips and I want nothing more than to bite and suck it too.

  Wolf sets a plate piled high with scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Nothing too complicated, but still real food. Zoey picks up her fork and takes a small bite of her eggs. I watch as her eyes close and she enjoys the flavor. A small hum comes from her and she starts to dig in with gusto. Both Wolf and I watch as she inhales her food. When was the last time she ate a real meal? Damn, we need to feed her more. However, our silence must have startled her as she looks up at us both and drops her fork.

  “Sorry,” her head hanging down.

  “Don’t be, eat your food. I’m glad to see you eating. When is the last time you had a real meal?” I ask her. But she doesn’t start to eat again.

  “I had dinner the other night,” she says, getting defensive with me.

  “And that was what?” I’m not letting this go. She needed to answer my question so I know what she has been through. The only time I got food was at school when we got free breakfast. Or when I went over to Wolf’s house.

  “Food.” Okay, she did have some spunk in her. God, I love women with spunk.

  “Answer the question, what did you eat?” Wolf commands.

  “I had PB and J,” she says in a hushed voice.

  “You had a sandwich?” I ask. But she snorts.

  “I wish I had bread, nope, right out of the jar, but I only had a little bit of jelly. So mostly a spoonful of peanut butter.”

  “Shit,” I mumble under my breath. She really is stretched to the max.

  “Eat then, and we will make sure you’re taken care of,” I say.

  “I can do that,” she yells.

  “No, here is what’s gonna happen. You will eat everything on your plate, we then will head into the office and take care of some things. You will work for us until this shit is resolved. But you need clothes and we can do that too. There is a small shop next door. And, Zoey,” I want to make myself clear before I finish the sentence, “if you don’t do as we say, I have no problem spanking that sexy ass of yours until it’s red and you won’t sit for a week. Understand?” Wolf lets out a small growl of approval and it’s good to know he is on the same page as me. I watch as she swallows and nods. Good, now that everything is settled I dig into my food.

  Today is going to be fun.

  Chapter Six

  Wolf

  I watch as a mix of emotions play on Zoey’s face, but she doesn’t say anything. I can tell she is doing her best to deal with a shitty hand. But what is shocking me more is that she is going with the flow and not crying over it. I have never run across a woman as strong as her, or maybe it is just a front. Either way I don’t have time to analyze why she is the way she is. Drinking my coffee quickly, I cringe as once again coffee grounds have found their way into it. Shit, I need to figure this one out. I notice she ate all her food, but didn’t touch her coffee. Maybe she isn’t a drinker.

  “We leave here in ten,” I say as I pick up my plate and set it in the sink. I hate dishes. Normally Hawk will get mad at me and just do them. I keep everything else clean. After being in the Corp, it’s easy to make as little mess as possible, so cleaning is simple. But I’m in need of a shower. I bypass everyone still sitting at the table and head back to my room. I can see she laid her clothes out in a small pile on top of her bag. And from the looks of it, Hawk didn’t really grab much. It’s all plain clothes, nothing that stands out. Forgetting all of her items, I head to the bathroom. It’s larger than the spare one, but not that big. It has a shower-tub combo, a double sink, and a towel rake. None of which I had a say-so in. I turn the knob to hot and peek around. She doesn’t have any girly soaps one would normally see with chicks. That would explain why she had a musky smell about her, she used my soap. Stripping out of my clothes, I shower quickly, washing off the remainder of my sleep. I’m not one to sit inside a shower for hours, so I wash and dry within five minutes. With a towel wrapped around my waist, I find my clothes in a drawer. Time is on my side today as I’m dressed and ready to go by the time I see Zoey finish tying her shoelaces.

  “Wow, you’re really fast.” Her shocked expression makes me chuckle. To me it’s normal. Don’t waste time on simple shit and spend more time on things that matter. Growing up my mom would set a timer so we were in and out quickly, otherwise I would stay in the water praying school would just go away. But lord help me if I didn’t get out when the timer when off. She would send my dad in with a bucket of ice water, and throw it on me. It only took me twice to figure this out. And oddly it came in hand when I left home too.

  “Ready?” I ask while I pull my jacket on. She stands when Hawk opens the door. Soon we are all outside and in my truck. Since it is going to be an off day, and Snake and Gunner aren’t in, we can show Zoey the ropes and have her go down the street to the shop. I have my younger cousin who can help. Maybe I should call her. After all, she does have a concealed license and it will save both of us time. I’ll call her once we are in the office.

  I pull into a spot in the front of the building. I see Wild Bounty written big and large across the window. The stupid little closed sign hangs for everyone to see. I admit if we had an office assistant we would be open, but damn it if Gunner didn’t fuck that one up, literally.

  “We go straight inside and you don’t touch anything. I got some work to do,” Hawk grumbles at her while he brushes past us and walks to the back office we both share.

  “Can you make coffee?” I hated that machine and the one at the house isn’t any better, but if I wanted a cup, I grabbed it on my way to work.

  “Sure, is there a special way you guys like it?”

  “Um, black, like normal coffee, why?”

  “Oh nothing, I got it.” She turns to walk away from me.

  “Zoey, why did you ask? Is there something wrong with the coffee back at home?”

  “Oh no, well I mean if you guys like slug with grounds its perfect.”

  “I don’t, we just can’t figure out the damn machines. Old one broke and the new one’s stupid. Whatever happened with hitting the fucking on switch?” I complain, but she giggles.

  “Okay, I got it. How about I be in charge of coffee then, okay?”

  “What else can you do?” But as the words leave my mouth, I can tell I hurt her feelings, but she doesn’t say anything, just nods. I notice this is a giant pattern with her, stupid nodding and not saying anything. I’m waiting for the day when she doesn’t nod and she starts to yell. It will be a loud, scary, and hopefully therapeutic day for her. “I gotta make a call.” Turning on my heel, I head back to the office. Hawk is talking to the guy we use to help gather traps. But I need to put that aside for a second. Fishing out my cellphone, I hit the number I wish I didn’t have to.

  It rings twice before she picks up.

  “Hey, cuz, fancy you callin’, something goin’ on?”

  “Hey, Shaylene, gotta a favor to call in.” Shaylene is my cousin, and maybe the only other person I can stand to talk to in my family. Not that I don’t love them all, their great, but very loud and in your face type of people.

  “Ah huh, sure ya do? Let me guess, got anothe
r tourist who is hanging around too long after last night? Oh, no wait, you and Hawk are in jail this time? Okay that’s all I got, only on my second coke today.”

  “Shit, Shay, nothing like that. We have this case and the chick involved, well she lost everything, and, well, now she needs clothes.”

  “Wait what? Then why don’t you ship her ass home to her momma?”

  “Ain't got one. No family, nothing. Her family home burned down this morning, and the town ran her out. Bad stalker case. So ya up to it?”

  “Well damn, shopping. As much as I like it, I was hoping to sit on my fat ass and do nothing. You owe me, ya hear.”

  “Loud and clear.”

  “Be there in twenty then.” With that, she hangs up the phone. I just hope Zoey can handle Shay, she is sweet, but has a wicked tongue when she is pissed. But then again, maybe it will be good for her. However, right now, my nose caught the whiff of something amazing. Fresh coffee, oh yeah, this is going to work out just fine.

  Zoey

  I don’t know what he is talking about with this coffeemaker. It is a dream machine, top of the line, and something I would love to have. After fixing the setting, I made a fresh pot. I also saw a pile of paper on the desk and a computer. Whoever the office assistant is sucks. Nothing is organized or anything. Not sure what exactly I should be doing other than making coffee according to Wolf, I start cleaning. Old plastic coffee cups tossed in the trash, and food wrappers.