The Rising Sons Motorcycle Club (36 page)

Gunner leaned in. “If I were you, I wouldn’t bother fixing that tire. This area ain’t safe.”

The new biker released his grip on Allan’s arm. The cop let it drop, making a point not to show his pain. With five bikers standing around him, Allan moved slowly around Gunner’s hulking figure. All the Rising Sons stood strong as Allan slid behind the wheel of his cop car.

He threw it in reverse, the flat tire flapping as he backed away. Hoser’s hand hovered right beside his handgun, daring Allan to trying something. Backing up another twenty feet, Allan gunned the engine and whipped the front of the car around. With the tail lights facing them, he took off north and away from Raven, Gunner, and the others.

“Well, I’d say mission successful,” Gunner said, grabbing Raven’s hand and heading to his bike.

She stood firm, yanking him back. “Is that what you’d call it?”

“Uh, yeah. Problem solved. Come on, babe.”

Raven’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? Me getting a gun pointed at my head wasn’t in the plan. I waited for Trask to take a shot, but it didn’t come. Then I got thrown into the back of his car. I got kidnapped.”

“Did you really want Trask to shoot him? Did you want to have to deal with another dead cop? I highly doubt that would have gotten the heat off our ass. Allan never would have shot you. Without you, he had nothing.”

Raven was pissed off, even though she knew Gunner was right. Trask had made a brilliant decision to shoot out a tire. He had waited long enough that Allan hadn’t heard the shot. Despite the stress, the plan had gone off without a hitch. She’d forgive Gunner, but not for a little while.

She shook her head. “Let’s just get the hell out of here. I need a beer.”

Gunner couldn't have agreed more.

“Mr. Rivers, you’ll never guess who this is.” The voice was low and strained, like each word was too much effort.
 
Trask took the call as he dismantled the rifle.
 
His mind was barely on the sound.

Trask didn’t recognize the weathered voice, but he was in no mood for games. “You’re right, I never will, so why don’t you just spill?”

The strange voice got colder, as though upset that Trask wasn’t playing the game. “You know, I think your mother wouldn’t approve of your tone, Mister.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, what the fuck do you want?” He was tired and wanted nothing more than to fall into bed beside Hope and doze off for more than a few hours at a time.

“You really don’t recognize my voice? That is amazing. Let me cut through the bullshit. You almost killed me, and I’m just a tad upset about that.”

Trask’s eyes flew open, and his heart jumped into high gear. He
did
recognize the voice, or at least now he could place it: Vegas.

He opened his mouth, but Vegas kept going. “Now you know, don’t you? I thought that taking out your dear old dad would be enough, but it ain’t. I still got this desire inside of me, you know?” The way Vegas said
desire
frightened Trask. It wasn’t an emotion he felt often, but it chilled him to the bone.

He tried to keep his voice hard. “What do you want? You put my pop in the hospital and tore the club to the ground. We’re starting from scratch.”

Vegas laughed. “If you think starting from scratch means half a million in cash, I’d love to start from scratch.”

Trask didn’t like how much Vegas knew. The Rising Sons had just gotten one greedy son of a bitch off their back, and they didn’t need any more. Captain’s contact in Sin City still hadn’t located Maldonado, so there was no one to make a move on. Trask sat in the truck just off the road. He didn’t like hearing Vegas, or anyone for that matter, toying with him.

“What cash, Vegas?” It was a risk to try and play dumb, but Trask wanted to find out just how much Vegas knew.

“You know what cash. The cash in a safe under the bar. Do you really think everyone takes your secret organization as seriously as you?” Vegas spoke with distain and sarcasm, shredding every word. “Your bikers get a drink or two in them and are more than happy to let secrets slip. You really ought to lock that down. In the meantime, I have loyal men that I need to pay.”

“You have to pay? Doesn’t sound all that loyal to me, Vegas.”

“I’d rather pay good men than delude myself into thinking that my friends were trustworthy. Loyalty comes at a price, which is something you and your precious Sons seem to have forgotten. I want that money, Trask, and I’m going to get it.”

He knew Vegas was pissed, but Trask didn’t care. No one spoke about his club that way, and he wasn’t going to take it. “That money is already spent. Go finish the job I tried to do and save everyone a shitload of hassle.”

“Tsk, tsk. Such a temper on you, Trask. You know, I really did think I was going to die. The only thing that kept me crawling away from that shithole of a bar was the thought that I would get even with you. It gave me strength. It gave me strength while I laid face down on a table and had neurosurgeons splitting me open from top to bottom. It gave me strength when the pain was enough to make me vomit.”

Vegas took a long breath. “Enough of this. You think I should kill myself? No. I tried to kill your father, but the bastard is apparently too stubborn for his own good. It was strange… standing over his body in the hospital.”

Trask nailed the gas pedal at the realization that Vegas had been to the hospital. It could mean only one thing.

Vegas laughed. “I couldn’t get the trick done with your pop, but maybe I can with your sweet mother. I want that cash, Trask Rivers, and you are most definitely going to give it to me. We’ll talk in the morning, once you’ve had some time to think it all through.”

Trask was speeding away from what was left of Los Bandoleros. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to do, but as he heard his mother crying out in pain, he knew that standing by and doing nothing would get her killed.

Raven and Gunner were heading back into town when Trask flew past them. He was going fast enough that Raven’s hair changed direction for a split second. She leaned forward. “Wonder why he’s in such a hurry.”

Gunner didn’t turn back to say anything. He shrugged, knowing she would feel it. He wanted nothing more than to take his girl home and strip her down. They both needed a good, long shower. He was getting sick of running around twenty-four-seven for the club. The day at the reservoir had given him just a taste, and he needed more.

Not thirty seconds after the pickup truck barreled past them, though, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Can’t be good news.

Gunner fished out the phone, and his suspicions were confirmed. It was Trask. He took the call.

Yelling over the wind, he asked, “What’s up, Speed Racer?”

“Vegas has my mom. I think he hit the hospital. I’m heading there now. Get everyone together at someone’s house. We gotta head out tonight.” Trask’s voice was hard. He was out for vengeance.

“Captain hasn’t gotten any info on where we can find Vegas’ boy. We’re riding blind.”

“Then we’re riding blind. Vegas wants half a mil, or she’s dead. It’s as simple as that.”

Gunner could see the hot shower and the hot sex fading away. It would have to wait for another time. The matriarch of the Rising Sons had been taken. He tried to remember who was on duty. He didn’t know if they had been taken, knocked out, or killed. He had underestimated Vegas, believing he would stick to the shadows. Instead, he had struck inside Bakersfield again.

He nodded. “I’ll get everyone together and text you the location. We’re down on guns and we’ve got some real inexperienced guys. I’m behind you one hundred percent, but you need to know that the odds aren’t great.”

“Fuck the odds. We’re outta here first thing in the morning.”
Click.

Gunner slid the phone back into his pocket and twisted the throttle back. He decided that at the closest gas station, he and Raven would play phone tree and get every biker in the know.

The couple were parked at a drive-in diner. Raven was sitting on a picnic bench beneath neon lights with a drink between her legs. Gunner watched her from his bike. She looked gorgeous and in charge. She was calling every biker on her contacts list. It had been her idea to meet at Tanner’s place. It was close enough to the highway and not too far out of the way for most of the Sons.

He downed the last of his hot dog and pulled out his own phone. He dialed Captain and prayed to the god of gasoline for good news.

After two rings, the old-timer picked up. “Yeah?”

“Timeline’s been pushed up to first light. You gotta have something for me. They got Faith.” Gunner heard exhaustion in his own voice. He was getting real sick of getting and giving bad news.

Captain sighed. “I heard. No word from my brother-in-law. He’s out looking, though. I’ll light a fire under his ass.”

“We’re gonna need more than fire. We are heading straight into unknown territory. Your boy’s gotta get us something, or we’ll be sitting ducks in Vegas. The club rides from Tanner’s place. I’ll text you the address.”

“Don’t bother, kid. He and I painted that Mustang of his. I know the place. I’ll see you in the morning, and I’ll do what I can about finding Maldonado.”

“At this point, we’ll take any info we can get. Addresses of businesses, any job history, family—anything.” Gunner hung up.

For a minute he stared at the ground. He wadded up the wrapper for his dinner and tossed it into the can fifteen feet away next to Raven. She gave him an exaggerated look, telling him that she was impressed. He dialed Trask.

Gunner didn’t wait for Trask to say anything. As soon as the ringing was interrupted, he dove in with his status report. “Raven is getting everyone up to speed. Captain didn’t have any more info on Maldonado, but he’s gonna push hard tonight. We’re gonna take off from Tanner’s place, since it will get us onto the highway fastest. Anything on your end?”

Trask didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Gunner almost thought the connection had been lost. “Hoser and Boss are missing. The nurses were drugged. I found them in the cafeteria. Bear is all right—I don’t think they touched him. Mom’s missing, and the ICU is a mess, so he wasn’t bluffing.”

“We’re gonna get them all back.” Gunner didn’t like the sound of Hoser and Boss gone. Bikers rarely took prisoners that weren’t bargaining chips. Vegas would kill them in a heartbeat if the Rising Sons got too close.

“We don’t come back to California without them. If there’s any more news, let me know.”

Gunner nodded. “See you first thing in the morning.” He hung up. Looking over at his girl, he saw that she was off the phone, so he took the opportunity to stroll over to her. Even in his weary state, he smiled at Raven. She was a real force. She pissed him off, she made him feel pure ecstasy, and she made him feel everything in between. She made him
feel,
and that hadn’t happened in a long time.

She smiled at him and took a long drag from her soda. “Progress?” Instead of sliding the Styrofoam back between her legs, Raven wrapped one of those legs around Gunner, pulling him in.

He nodded. “Progress.”

“We’re gonna get this done ASAP, then you and I are going on vacation. There are plenty of lakes around here. We’ll visit them all.”