Tiny (16 page)

“You left, Eva. I’ve got no
son, and you’re not a fighter. The men respect you, but you’re not a fighter.
These men need a fighter.”

Tears filled her eyes. “No,
I’m not going to be marrying Gavin. I love Tiny.”

“
Tiny’s
on a drug run, honey. He’s a criminal, and when he gets caught he’ll be
punished for it. Will you be waiting around for him to come home from prison?”

She laughed. “Dad, you run
an underground fighting ring with known runs with The Skulls. You can go to
prison at any time. Gavin can go as well. Either way, I sit around waiting for
one man or the other.”

Eva rounded the desk and
walked toward her father. “I love you, Dad. This decision is not yours to
make.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. “I’m off for
the day.”

Moving away, she passed all
the men fighting. No one stopped her as she made her way toward the door.
Several women were watching the men fight. She knew they were fighter groupies
for the men. They followed each fight in the hope of landing one of them. Eva
had dealt with her fair share of followers. Heading out into the hot warm air
she didn’t think of where she was going.

There was no destination in
mind, and she stopped in a diner, going to the back for some privacy. She
ordered a milkshake and pulled out the letter Tiny had left her.

Next she grabbed her cell
phone and dialed his number.

“I was wondering when you
were going to call,” Tiny said, answering on the third ring.

“You never told me to expect
something in the mail.”

“It wouldn’t have been a
surprise if I had.” There was a pause. “Do you like it?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you have it on?” he
asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got the ring
on.” She was staring at the small diamond.

“I picked it out. None of my
boys know, and this is between you and me.” Tiny was out in the open. She heard
the purr of the bikes.

“What are you up to?” she
asked, thinking about the compound with all The Skulls ready to go on a run.

“We’ve got a drop off to do.
I don’t want to hear your answer until I get back. It’ll give me something to
think about on the open road.”

“I can tell you now,” she
said.

“Nah, I’m not in the mood to
spoil the surprise. Either way, Eva, baby, you have my heart.”

Smiling, she accepted the
drink from the waitress.

“You’re being an ass.”

“Why? Do you really want to
tell me?” he asked.

“Yes, I do.” She glanced
around the diner wishing with all of her might that she was in Fort Wills,
looking at him. “I wish I was with you.”

“That’s another thing, baby,
we do this, and you’re staying with me. Fort Wills will be your home.”

“Good. I look forward to
it.”

“
Yo
, Tiny, we’ve got to go.”

“Was that
Stink
?”
she asked.

“Yeah.
He’s taking care of Sandy at the minute. She’s
staying at the compound until we come back,” Tiny said.

“Smart
move.
I’m sure I’ve seen Stink looking at her with
something more than sex on the brain.” She sipped at her drink.

“I’m more than just a pretty
face.”

“I know you are,” she said,
remembering the feel of him between her thighs.

He growled. “You’ve got me
thinking about fucking you.”

“Good. You’ll know how I
feel then.” She smiled, feeling an answering heat of her own. The phone sex
they’d shared was fun, but it wasn’t going to do the job.

“I’ve got to go. This run
needs to be done today. I love hearing your voice,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll let you go, but
you ride safe, you hear.” She gave the warning not wanting anything to happen
to him.

“Baby, knowing you’re
waiting for me is all I need to hear.”

He hung up, and she stared
down at her cell phone, wishing there was something more she could do. She
hated not knowing what was happening or if there was anything more she could
do.

Tiny wouldn’t let anything
happen to him. His men, the club were all important to him.

****

“Something doesn’t feel
right about this,” Murphy said, putting his helmet on. Tate and the women were
not invited to see them off this time. Tiny had requested no women as this was
one of their biggest shipments, and he didn’t want anything to go wrong.
Usually only a handful of the boys carried the load to their destination
whereas today all of them were carrying.

It was a risky shipment, but
he’d never backed down from an order. This was his life, and it kept his town
clean.

“Everything will be fine.
We’ve got no choice. After this one we’re on hold for a few months,” Tiny said.

“None of this makes any
sense,” Lash said. “Every run is spaced out, yet this one is on a specific
route. Tiny, we never got the route we’re ordered to.”

Tiny slashed his arm down.
“Look!” His voice carried, and all the bikers stopped. “This is what we’ve been
ordered to do. We’ve got no choice but to see it through otherwise we’re up
shit creek. Alex deals with the order, and this is what he’s said. They want
this specific route or no deal.”

When Tiny was told there was
a route requested by the dealers he’d wanted to turn it away. Alex didn’t feel
there was a problem as the supply was coming from Ned Walker. Tiny wasn’t about
to tell Eva who he was running for. Alex was happy with Ned, and the supplier
didn’t seem to have any priors and it certainly didn’t sound like a trap.

Still, he understood his
men’s anxiety for this run.

Every other run they made
their own path and got the job done. “Sandy’s at home, and if anything happens
we can return to plan B and our failsafe. Never forget to be prepared, boys.
I’m always prepared for on the road.” He kept prospects and some of the women
at the compound during runs for a reason. They were his failsafe if something
was to go wrong.

“Let’s ride.” He straddled
his bike, turning the key in the ignition and kicked off. Tiny was in front of
all of his boys as they made their way out of Fort Wills. The route was
ingrained in his mind, and he wasn’t going to be forgetting about it anytime
soon. He’d never taken the route before as he liked to map his own destination.
Two hours passed, and they made their first stop to get some food, fill the
bikes and recoup.

Unlike so many other runs
this one was silent. No one was saying a word as they went about their
business.

Tiny didn’t like the
silence. He was used to his men messing around and fussing around. Murphy
stared at his cell while Nash and Lash were muttering to each other. They had
vulnerable women at home.

Shouldn’t have let them come.

All three men had wanted to
go. It would be one of their last rides in the coming months as they all wanted
to stay at home. Lash, Murphy, and Nash wanted this final run, and then they
were out until after their babies were born.

He ignored the warning, got
back on his bike and started back on the road. The journey was another three hours
in when the road darkened. An incline was to his right with trees and what
looked like a forest to his left. There were no track marks on the road, and
Tiny felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He slowed the bike
down, and in his mirror he saw the boys do the same.

Something was off. His
senses were on high alert. Tiny didn’t have the first clue what was going on or
why he was feeling concerned. His piece was down by his leg out of reach as he
concentrated on the road.

The first bullet ricochets
off his bike. He jerked at the impact. Out of his mirror he saw the other bikes
coming from the distance. Tiny couldn’t focus, and then chaos ensued. Out of
the corner of his eye he saw Lash and Nash crash off their bikes seconds before
they blew up.

Seeing those boys hit the
tarmac made
Tiny
sick to his stomach. He slipped and
skidded off his bike as another wave of bullets hit. His leg hit the tarmac
scraping along. He was pulled off and landed on the hard ground next to the
trees. His leg, back, and arm were on fire, but he didn’t give himself chance
to assess the damage. The pain was excruciating. Glancing over the grass verge,
he saw Lash stand and take a bullet to the thigh. The men were still coming on
their bikes. The guns glinted in the sunlight. The attack on The Skulls was
intentional. Tiny couldn’t move.

“Failsafe,” he said, hoping
his men could hear him. One by one he watched his men fall all around him. Killer
was charged off his bike at the back. He didn’t see what happened as Killer
stood and started to fight. They were all outnumbered, and there was nothing any
of them could do.

Zero was on the ground,
grunting. Butch was trying his best to hold on, and Murphy’s bike was down and
burning with no signs of the other man. It was a bloodbath, and Tiny couldn’t
wait to see what happened. Getting up from his position he headed into the
trees. His cell phone was by his leg, and he pulled it out.

He quickly dialed Alex’s
number.”

“Hello, I thought you
weren’t—”

“It’s a trap.”

“The cops are there?” Alex
asked.

“No,
another fucking club.”
He glanced
behind him in time to see the symbol he hoped to never see again. Tiny
recognized the symbol for The Darkness, and he knew in that instant Snitch was
alive.

“This couldn’t be. I know
Ned, and he wouldn’t
fucking
betray me,” Alex said.

“He may not know. Where are
you?” Tiny asked.

“I’m in Vegas.”

Tiny nodded as he heard a
scream that sounded a lot like Stink. “My men are dying out there. I don’t know
who survived, but I’m implementing the failsafe. You’ve got to make sure Tate
is fine.”

“She’s pregnant,
Tiny
. I can’t give her that news. She might lose the baby.”

Cursing, Tiny knew he
wouldn’t be able to tell his daughter or any of the women. “Then you make sure
they’ve got an eye on them. I’ll call you when I can. I’m destroying this
phone.”

“What? Why?” Alex asked.

“It’s Snitch, and he’ll know
how to track me even when I don’t want him to.” Without waiting, he slammed the
cell phone against the trunk of the tree. He needed to get moving otherwise
they were all going to be dead. Taking a step away, he gasped as the pain was
unbearable.

Keep moving.

His leg was bleeding from
being scraped along the tarmac. The jeans and protective leathers he’d worn had
saved him from a lot of the damage, but even he knew they weren’t fucking
invincible.

Checking behind him, Tiny
hated leaving his men, but it was something they all agreed on. From the
beginning nothing had changed. They’d all agreed if they were attacked they got
out. The same discussion never changed even when new men had joined. Blaine,
Killer, Whizz, Time, and Steven had all agreed with the terms.

If at any time they were hit
by the cops or by another biker group and were outnumbered they had to disband
and get out of harm’s way. No one stayed behind. Their life depended on them
leaving and regrouping at a later date. Until today Tiny had never had to leave
his men behind. He felt like a coward, and yet there was nothing for him to do.
If he tried to take on the men, he’d be dead before he made the first kill.
Tiny sent a prayer to whatever God listened to him to keep his men safe.
Pulling his gun from his leg he started walking.

During the walk he didn’t
give a fuck about the pain. He didn’t know how long he was walking until he
stumbled upon a small town.

People gave him a wide berth,
which he didn’t mind. When he got to the phone he pushed some money into the
slot and typed in Devil’s number. He’d always been good at remembering numbers.

“Who the
fuck is this?”
Devil asked,
clearly angry.

“Tiny, I need your help.” He
wouldn’t be talking to the leader of Chaos Bleeds if it wasn’t necessary.

“What do you need now? Your
man, Whizz, he pulled through. I found her sister, and I’m having the fucking
party of a lifetime—”

Tiny wished he had all the
time in the world to listen to his friend, but he didn’t. “Snitch is back.”

Silence fell from his
interruption.

“Are you fucking shitting
me?” Devil asked.

“Wish I was, but on a drug
run all my crew and I were just attacked. I don’t know who survived, but it was
a fucking ambush.” Tiny detailed everything even down to the planned route.

“Sounds to me Alex
has
it in for you,” Devil said.

“Nah, this was fucking
planned. Snitch is back, and he’s after revenge. He wants me out of the fucking
picture, and the only way to do that is to get rid of me and my crew.” Tiny
tore some of his shirt to wrap around his bleeding knuckles.