They'd not only killed his nephew, his second in command, but they'd escaped. Shaking with anger, he stormed over to the bar and poured himself another whiskey. As he was about to slam it down, the lights flickered off.

"Who's there?" he hollered, crouching behind the bar, his gun raised again.

Someone started whistling a tune and it made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. He raised his head and fired a shot toward the sound. The whistling stopped but Mud wasn't stupid enough to believe that he'd hit a bulls-eye.

"Heard you wanted me," called a deep voice on the other side of the room. "So, here I am."

Mud swore. "That you, Judge?" he growled.

"Why don't you stand up and find out? Or, are you missing some of your balls, like that guy in the bedroom?"

He fired the gun toward the voice. "Fuck you, asshole."

"No, you're the one who was fucked the minute you started shooting your mouth off about taking me down," he replied, his voice now in a different location.

"You don't scare me," answered Mud, before racing over to a sofa near the pool table in a crouched position. "Now, why don't you show yourself and we can do this like men."

"Put your gun down and I'd be happy to."

Mud wasn't about to give up his gun, although from his calculations, he was almost out of bullets. He thought about the shotgun, the one he kept under the bar, and swore to himself. He needed to go back there and get it.

"What is it with you, anyway?" said Mud, trying to keep him talking. "You too good for the club life?"

"I don't need it."

"Don't you want to be part of something that means anything? Like the Devil's Rangers?"

"What kind of lies have you been telling yourself? There's nothing special or honorable about your club, Mud."

"Don't talk to me about honor. I live and die for my brothers. They look up to me. They respect me because I steer them right. They fucking chose me as their leader."

"You're nothing."

"Nothing? I'm the fucking president of the Devil's Rangers, Hayward Chapter, motherfucker," he spat. "Me! What are you? You're just a pussy gun-for-hire. And what is with that fucking stupid ass road name? The Judge."

"I didn't come up with name, but I don't mind it. I guess some think that I bring justice to scumbags like you and Breaker, when the law fails. Getting paid to do it only sweetens the deal."

"Oh, I get it," he laughed. "You see yourself as some kind of crime-fighting vigilante. What a crock of shit. You're no better than any of us. You know it and I know it," he said before creeping back over to the bar.

The Judge didn't respond and Mud smirked. He'd obviously hit a chord. Amused, he reached under the bar, to where he'd kept the shotgun and frowned when he noticed that it was missing.

"The real problem is that you're the one who doesn't know shit," said a voice above him.

Mud jerked his head up and found himself looking into the barrel of the shotgun he'd been searching for. Closing his eyes, he could hear his heart pounding as he waited for a violent end. After a few seconds of nothingness, he opened his eyes, only to find the shotgun sitting on the bar and The Judge gone.

"What the fuck?" he laughed coldly, grabbing the gun. "You could have had me right there."

"Too easy and messy," said his voice, near the exit. "I've had enough of that for one night."

"Too messy?" he hollered and then remembered Skull's body. "You're the one who killed my nephew? Not that little bitch?"

"Negative. I'm the one who killed the both of you," he replied, slipping out of the building.

"What the fuck?" mumbled Mud, standing up. He looked around the room, confused.

Smiling to himself, Jordan took the detonator out of his pocket as he headed toward his rental. Without looking back, he pushed the button and the clubhouse exploded.

Chapter Twenty-seven.

Five minutes earlier...

I didn't waste any time getting Brandy out of Skull's bedroom and April was kind enough to help us escape before Mud finished with his shower. Grabbing a blanket from the other bedroom, we wrapped it around her and hurried out of the building. As we reached April's car, I realized that I'd left the shotgun inside.

"Don't you dare go back inside for it," said April. "That's how most people die in movies. Someone going back for something that they think they need but really don't."

"Good point." I turned to look at Brandy, who was staring blankly outside. "We should get her to a hospital. And call the police."

"Are you sure you want to do that? She tore his shit up, you know. Murdered him," said April as she began driving. "Your friend will be the one who gets locked up if they see what she did."

"But they kidnapped us and raped her. She did it out of desperation. They've got to realize that."

"I suppose a lawyer could get her off on some kind of a temporary insanity plea," she replied.

"I didn't do it," whispered Brandy.

I turned back to her. "Brandy. Are you okay?"

Brandy nodded.

"What did you say?" asked April.

She cleared her throat and spoke louder. "I said, I didn't do it. I didn't kill him."

"Girl, I don't know if you realize this, but you bit off part of his nuts and he bled to death. That's what certainly killed him," said April.

She shook her head. "No. A man snuck in when Skull was raping me. The guy put him in some kind of a headlock until he blacked out. Then," she grimaced, "he took the knife and cut him. I can't believe that Skull didn't wake up. It had to have been painful and there was so much blood."

"So that guy who put him in the headlock is the one who cut him in the nuts?" asked April.

"Yes. He also told me not to tell the cops that I'd seen him."

I stared at her in shock. "Are you kidding?"

"No."

"What about your face?" I asked, noticing that we hadn't managed to clean all of the blood off.

Brandy let out a ragged sigh. "I put it there. To make it look like I'd killed him myself."

"Why would you bother with all of that?" asked April, looking horrified.

"I don't know. Maybe because the guy who killed Skull was so nice and I didn't want him to get arrested," she said, staring back outside.

"Nice?" said April, smirking. "I guess he did save her. That was pretty nice."

"Was he a Gold Viper?" I asked Brandy.

"I don't know. I don't think so."

"What did he look like?" I asked, curious.

"The lights were dim, so I didn't see much other than his dark hair. I think he was good looking, too. I'm really not sure about anything else."

"Did he say anything else?" asked April.

"He told me that he was going after Mud, too," she said and then grunted. "Thank God, because Trevor would have never come through for me. Maybe you, but not me."

"Right," I mumbled.

"He hates me," she said miserably.

"Trevor doesn't hate you. It's pretty obvious," I said, frustrated.

"Well he sure doesn't love me. Not like you, anyway."

"The man doesn't know what love is." I ran a hand through my hair. "If he did, he wouldn't have had sex with you yesterday," I reminded her.

"We didn't have sex."

It took me a while to respond. "What do you mean?"

"I had sex yesterday, but it was with someone else. A guy that I met at Griffin's. You thought it was me, because I had Trevor's phone."

"What were you doing with his phone?" asked April. She smiled, sheepishly. "Sorry, I don't know who this Trevor is, but I'm already caught up in the drama. I need to know."

I turned back and stared at Brandy in disbelief. "So, it wasn't him?"

She nodded. "I didn't mean to fool you. I swear to God. When I dialed your number, it was completely by accident."

"But, I heard you say his name," I said, confused.

"That's because I wanted it to be him. I imagined that it was him." She started to cry. "But it wasn't. I still love him, I can't help it. I'm sorry for being such a bitch. I'm not normally like that."

I couldn't help it; staring at her bruised face and knowing how much she'd been through in the last few hours, my heart went out to her. I reached back and squeezed her shoulder. "It's okay, Brandy."

"No, it's not. It really isn't," she sobbed. "I know how much he loves you and I've been so jealous and pissed off. But, the truth is, I don't deserve him. I cheated on him with so many guys. Not just the ones he knows about either."

"I don't get it, Brandy. Why did you cheat on Trevor like that?" I asked. "If you loved him so much?"

"I don't know. It's like, sometimes I get so turned on by other men that I can't help myself."

"She doesn't love him," said April. "That's why."

"I do," she protested. "But sometimes, I think... I'm actually addicted to sex, especially with strangers."

"So, you're a sex addict?" said April.

She shrugged. "Maybe. I guess it makes sense. I didn't even mind too much about having sex with Skull."

April gasped. "Even when he was raping you?"

"I'm fucked up in the head. What can I say..." she said, looking disgusted with herself.

"You can get help for it," I said. "Treatment."

She smiled grimly. "The truth is, I don't know if I'm ready. I like doing it too much."

"I'm sure many drug addicts feel the same way and that's why they end up with nothing in the end if they don't quit using. Anyway, you need to get help. At least do it for the baby's sake," I said.

"You're pregnant?" asked April, staring back at her through the rearview mirror."

Brandy laughed nervously. "Actually, about that. I'm... I'm not pregnant."

Chapter Twenty-eight.

We were just entering Minnesota when my phone rang. I recognized the number right away.

"You getting closer to Hayward?" asked Jordan Steele.

"Almost there. Where do you want to meet?"

"About that it's done. Your women are safe and Mud will never be a problem for you again."

"What do you mean?" I asked, shocked. "I thought we were going to do this together?"