As the door opened, Cade fell through it to land face down on the floor. Rio hooked his hands in under Cade’s armpits, dragged him clear of the doorway, and kicked the door shut behind him. “Cade?” Turning him over, he ran his hands over every inch of him he could reach, brambles and twigs, along with rips in the other man’s shirt told him that Cade had run through the forest. Sticking his finger into every hole in the clothing, he eventually found the one on Cade’s hip, where his fingers came away with enough blood to know something had happened. Rage bubbled up in this throat, the sourness of it tasting like vomit, who the fuck dared shoot this man. “Cade?”
“Mmh, fuzzy.” Cade mumbled in response.
“C’mon,” Rio struggled against Cade’s weight, “We gotta get you to the couch.”
“Drugged.”
“What did you take?” Fuck, if there was one person Rio had never thought would take narcotics, it would have been this man. For one his boss, the asshole he had met at their house in Brazil, didn’t seem like the type to allow it, and for another Cade just seemed too… he wasn’t sure what the word in English was, but despite the short amount of time they had spent together, Cade hadn’t seemed like the type.
“Tranqed.” Cade tried to help Rio move him, but his limbs were having an Uncle Charlie day. Did they not know that now was not the time to take an Un-Certified sick day?
Somehow, they made it to the couch. Rio almost landed on top of Cade as he sank into the cushions. He had no idea how, but the broken lamp, the knocked over coffee mug, and the scrunched-up rug in the middle of the floor told Rio that it had been as difficult as he thought it had been.
“Phone,” Cade shifted on the couch, his hands fumbling, trying to reach in his pocket. Rio slapped his hands away and dug into the pocket, pulling out Cade’s cell phone.
“Zero, zero, one.”
At least that’s what he thought Cade said. The words were slurred, mumbled. Rio stared at the phone, pressing the button to turn on the screen. Nothing happened, the phone stayed dark. “It’s dead,” He shook the other man, “Cade?” Receiving no answer, he pressed his fingers against Cade’s neck, feeling for a pulse, and blew out a breath of relief when he felt the thready thump, thump against his touch. “Cade, wake up.” Slapping his face, Rio hoped for the best. He didn’t know if El’ Mencho’s men were still looking for their target or not, but could he really take the chance?
The smell, the coppery-tang of the blood, reminded him that Cade was injured, he might not be able to do much to counteract the effect of the drugs in his system, but Rio could start with cleaning up his injuries.
“Dreamland, gotta get home.” Cade muttered. His eyes opened to slits, eyes that looked like they’d seen hell. Eyes that no longer wore the shutters Cade normally kept in place. The ones that hid the tortures of the wars he had fought in over the years, hidden from the world. Those shutters were missing, allowing Rio to glimpse the horrors, Cade’s drugged state could no longer hide.
“Bring me home?”
“Okay.” Rio agreed. “You must tell me where we go.” He shook Cade’s shoulder, “Cade, you have to wake up. I need to know where to take you.”
“Other side of Guadalajara.”
Okay, that he could do. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Cade was covered in blood and fuck knows what else, that he was still mostly out of it worried Rio. He pushed his foot harder on the gas pedal. He tried not to focus on if he was doing the right thing or not. He shoved aside the thought that warned him he would get in so much shit for this, if either El’ Mencho or his father found out. But hell, he’d been living on the edge for so long that one more day couldn’t hurt… right?
Hitting the accelerator to the floor, the car sped forward, narrowly avoiding hitting the back of a truck. He already knew he was probably breaking every speed limit in Guadalajara, but he didn’t give a shit. His only thought was on his destination and getting Cade to safety as fast as possible. If the cops stopped him, well, that’s what calling in favors was for. His father may hate his fucking guts, but he would not tolerate the insult of the cops dishing out something as simple as a speeding ticket.
Thank fuck, they hadn’t seen the men who had been hunting Cade during their stumbling trip from the living room to the car. He lifted his eyes from watching the traffic in front of him, to glance in the rear-view mirror. He couldn’t see if they were being followed or not, which didn’t help the anxiety and rage he kept pushing back. Any one of those movies that told you adrenaline trumped all? Yeah, they forgot to mention the constant battle of wills it took to keep yourself moving forward.
“You still with me, Cade?” Rio’s heart was hammering in his chest, panic and fear clawing at his guts, but that adrenaline kept winning the battle between fear, rage, and getting Cade to safety. Rio knew what it took to escape El’ Mencho, once his men had you in their sights. He didn’t know how the fuck Cade was still alive. Based on Rio’s years of dealing with these assholes, Cade should be dead.
“Huh?” Cade shifted in the seat, shaking his head, as if to clear the fog that had to be there. “Go south.”
South? What the hell?Rio steadied his fingers on the steering wheel, tightly gripping it. relief flooded his veins.Thank fuck, he is talking.“Go south?”
“Yeah.”
“You gotta give me more than that,” Rio flipped the indicator lever, down then up. “Give me a left or a right?”
“Straight,” Cade’s swallow was audible, “Go straight.”
“Okay.” Rio hit the accelerator harder than he had wanted to. On green, rubber squealed on the barely there asphalt as they sped through the lights, the ass of the car fishtailing into the path of an oncoming vehicle.
“Watch out,” Rio used the split-second to slam his right arm across Cade’s chest, bracing for impact, but it wasn’t enough. The ass of his car hit the nose of the other. Both of them flew forward as the airbags deployed, their heads nestling into the puffed-up balloons of material before slamming back into the seats with more force than there should have been for a fender bender. Pain exploded through Rio’s face and chest, but he didn’t take the time to cry about it. Nope, his ass was out of the car, before running around to the opposite side and helping Cade step out onto the street.
Even though he mostly ignored the yelling of the man whose car he’d hit, Rio still took time to toss his emergency bundle of cash in the man’s direction. Hopefully, that would put him off calling the police. He did not have time to deal with that shit right now.
“Ow.” Cade touched his nose, his fingers clumsy, making it hurt like a mother fucker. “Fuck.”
