"It says not to worry about it and that she needs to get to Minnesota," read Tank...

"This is bullshit. Give me the phone. I'm calling him," said Slammer.

"You think that's a good idea?" asked Tank.

"You gotta better one? Adriana's life is on the line. We need to try and resolve this without her getting hurt," said Slammer.

Sighing, Tank handed the phone to him.

Slammer shoved Misty toward me.

"I'm so sorry," she wept. "I didn't think they were going to kidnap your girl."

"What the fuck did you think they were going to do?" I snapped at her.

"I don't know. I "

"Shut up, Misty," warned Slammer, putting the phone on "speaker."

"Yeah?" said the voice. It was definitely Mud's.

"It's Slammer."

There was a long pause. "Slammer, huh? What's up?"

Slammer laughed coldly. "What's up? You know exactly what's up. Where have you taken Adriana?"

"Adriana? Adriana who?" he replied, sounding bored.

I grit my teeth. "You know exactly who, motherfucker."

Mud chuckled. "That you, Raptor? How are things going these days?"

"Listen to me," I growled, "you fucking piece of shit. You'd better let her go or I'll "

"You'll what?" he hollered. "Send The Judge to come looking for me? Your crazy, psychotic brother?"

Slammer and I looked at each other.

"Didn't think I knew, did you?" asked Mud.

"What the fuck do you want?" asked Slammer.

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"Cut the bullshit," said Slammer. "What the hell do you want because we really don't fucking know."

He sighed. "At first, I just wanted straight revenge, for all of the shit you've caused for us. Burning down our building, threatening us with some bullshit story about having proof that we were somehow involved in Krystal's death. I mean, where did you come up with that? Shit, Tank probably killed her when he was fucking that little bitch."

"You piece of shit!" snarled Tank. "You're fucking done, man. Done!"

"Watch your mouth, Son!" shouted Mud. "Right now, I've got the floor and I've got the goods, so you listen up and keep your shit quiet!"

"What do you want?" asked Slammer before Tank could respond.

"I've been thinking," he replied, in a friendlier voice. "There have been enough deaths, don't you think?"

"There certainly has and that girl you've got, Adriana? You need to let her go. If you don't, the war we've shared in the past will look like a fucking cookie convention," warned Slammer. "I'm as serious as shit about it, too. Let her go."

"Actually, I have two girls who should be arriving here shortly. Adriana and some girl named, Brandy. If I remember correctly, you two were an item once, weren't you, Raptor?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "You have Brandy, too?"

"It was an accident. She claimed to be your Old Lady when we picked her up outside your house. Fortunately, she confessed to who your real Old lady was and now we have both."

"Are either of them hurt?" asked Slammer.

"They're alive. That's all you need to know."

"Listen to me, Mud, Brandy is pregnant," said Slammer, looking at me. "If someone beat her, she might need to see a doctor."

Mud laughed. "Pregnant, huh? Tough break. Is that your brat, Raptor?"

"Fuck off," I muttered.

He laughed.

"Enough of the bullshit. What do you want from us?" asked Slammer.

"I want two-hundred-fifty grand to start out with. I also want The Judge. Give me those two things and I'll give you what you want."

I swore. Two-hundred-fifty thousand dollars. I didn't have that kind of money. My house wasn't even worth that much.

"Why do you want The Judge?" asked Slammer.

"He killed Breaker. Why do you think?"

"Are you trying to tell me that all of this is because of that shit-bag, Breaker?" sneered Slammer, staring at us in disbelief.

"He was a Devil's Ranger. You can't tell me you wouldn't want to avenge the death of one of your brothers," he answered.

"I wouldn't have a piece of shit in my club and I certainly wouldn't consider him a brother," replied Slammer.

"Bullshit, you have several degenerates in your club. What the fuck are you talking about?" said Mud.

"What a crock of shit," I said. "We don't rape innocent women. We don't have to."

"You lying cocksucker," he said, laughing. "You all act like you're a bunch of choir boys but you don't fool me. Besides, Misty tells a different tale."

We all looked at her and she shook her head quickly.

"Speaking of Misty, we have her in our custody, obviously," said Tank. "You interested in a trade?"

Mud laughed. "Why the fuck would I want Misty? She's of no use to me. Not now, anyway."

Misty's mouth dropped. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, there she is. Enjoying the conversation, darlin'?"

"Fuck you, Mud," she snapped.

"Done that and you're still not worth the trade. No offense."

Her eyes filled with tears. "You... you fucking lied to me. You said that you'd always take care of me."

"That was Breaker. I don't recall saying anything to you other than 'bend over so I can do you doggy-style'." He howled in laughter at his own joke.

"You're such an asshole!" she cried, staring at us in shame.

"Jesus, will someone just keep her fucking quiet, she's giving me a headache," said Mud, no longer laughing.

She was about to tell him off again when Tank pointed at her and mouthed "Don't."

Misty's eyes hardened.

"So let me get this straight," said Slammer. "We give you two-hundred-and-fifty grand, and you'll let those girls go?"

"The money along with The Judge," he replied. "I'll let you have them."

"I don't think he's going to be a willing participant," said Slammer.

"That's your problem. I'll give you until midnight tomorrow. I want the money in unmarked bills, by the way, and that asshole delivered to me, or the deal is off."

"Where do we make this deal?" asked Slammer, as if it was achievable "Don't worry about the location right now. Set it up and call me back when you have the other details figured out."

"I don't know. We're going to need more time than that," said Slammer.

"Take it or leave it," he replied Slammer looked at me. "We'll take it."

"I thought so," he replied and then hung up.

"You're really going to pay that asshole?" asked Tank.

"Fuck no," he replied, smiling. "One thing about Mud is that he never thinks these things through."

"What about Adriana?" I asked, frustrated. "I need to get her back."

"Don't worry about it, Raptor. You will," said Slammer, pulling out his phone. "In fact, I'm going to track The Judge down right now."

"In other words, you're paying Jordan and not Mud," I replied, relaxing slightly..

"Of course. He wants The Judge, that's the one thing we're going to make sure he gets. I think The Judge will be interested in Mud's obsession with him, too. Hell, maybe he'll even kill the sonofabitch for nothing."

"If he agrees to help us, I want to be there when it happens. I want to make sure Adriana isn't hurt when the shit goes down," I said.

"Same here," said Tank. "I want to see that fucker pay." He looked at Misty, who was listening in. "What do we do about her?"

"Hey, I'm innocent in all of this," she said quickly. "I mean, at least this thing with Adriana."

"Shut the fuck up, Misty," I said, my patience for her long gone.

"I just can't believe you did all of this because of Breaker," said Tank, staring at her in disgust. "A convicted rapist. What kind of demented human being are you?"

"You can't help who you love and... I swear to God, I didn't tell Mud anything about Adriana or Brandy," she said, crying again. "He wanted to know about your club's business affairs. I didn't even know much about that. I barely gave him any information. I swear to you..."

Slammer laughed coldly. "That's all, huh? You've been spying on us since the day I hired you! Feeding them information. You're lucky we don't put a bullet in your head."

Her eyes widened. "No, I wasn't spying on you back then. I met Breaker after you hired me."

"It doesn't matter one way or another," he replied. "You've fucked us over and now you're going to help us fuck Mud over. You feel me?"

She nodded quickly. "Yes. Whatever you want. I'll do it."

"Damn right you will," I said angrily. "And if Adriana dies, you're as good as dead yourself."

Chapter Twenty-one.

Mentally exhausted from everything that had happened to me that day, I fell asleep in the van. A couple of hours later, I woke to the sound of the door being opened. My back was stiff and sore from lying on the hard floor, but I moved away from the back door quickly, frightened of what they were planning to do with us.

"Wakey, wakey," said Skull, smiling coldly in the moonlight. "Your limo ride has come to an end, I'm afraid."

"Fuck you," mumbled Brandy.

"Let's wait and get you cleaned up first," he said, winking at her. "Then we'll talk about it."

"I'd rather die than let you touch me," she said, glaring at him.

"That can also be arranged." He pulled out a gun and pointed it at us. "Get out. Now."

We obeyed, although Brandy moved very slowly, which irritated Skull.

"Come on, we don't have all day," he muttered, waving the gun. "Get that ass moving, bitch."