“I’m sorry Jack,” Seth said.
“Why?”
“I need the money.”
“More than your million?”
“I’m sorry. I’m in trouble. I’m going to go to jail if…”
“If what?”
“I’ve made some bad decisions. I’m in trouble. I’ve been cooking the books at work. I need the money, Jack.”
“How much?”
“Twelve million.”
Jack’s eyes opened wide. “Twelve million? What the fuck is wrong with you, Seth?”
“I didn’t mean to! But… I couldn’t get out, and it just kept getting worse and worse!”
“Why didn’t you come to us at the beginning? The Sons, we would have helped you! We take care of each other, you said so yourself!”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?” Jack cried.
“Because, the Sons was your club, your people. No matter what anyone else did, it was always about you, Jack!”
“What the fuck are you talking about Seth? You’re the fucking President!”
“But it was still your club. You would have been elected President forever. Everyone always looked to Jack for answers. The great Jack Carter, who passed out favors. I busted my ass for the Sons! But it was always, ‘What do we do, Jack? Help us, Jack!’”
“I’m sorry, Seth. I’m sorry you feel that way. We were a family—you were part of our family.”
“Well fuck your family, Jack.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Jack. I’m going to take that truck and leave. So long as you don’t try to stop me, you and Tina won’t be hurt. A couple of hours of walking and you will reach the town up ahead and you can call Marshall.”
“Is he in on it too?”
Seth laughed sourly. “No. They’re too loyal to ever turn on you, Jack. That’s what I’m talking about.”
“There is nothing wrong with the bridge is there?”
“No.”
“No roadblocks either? Was there a reason to avoid Dallas?”
“No and no. I just needed you here, near New Orleans, so I can ship the cars.”
“Did you send the men to steal the cars? Did you turn me in to the police?”
“Yes. I hated to do it. I really did. But I needed the reward money. But you slipped away and… the reward was for the cars and your arrest.”
“You played me the entire time, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. When our buyer backed out, I knew I was fucked. I can’t go to jail, Jack. I can’t. So I turned you in for the reward. But when you stole the cars again, I knew that was my chance, my chance to get free of this fucked up mess and start over. But that fucking Cheryl, I don’t know how she did it, but she found Goremykin. So, I had to do this. Why couldn’t you just let me take the truck at the motel?”
Jack fumed. “If I ever find you again, I will kill you. Count on that.”
“Get Tina,” Seth said as he glanced at Michelle.
Michelle smirked, nodded, and walked around the front of the truck. She hoped the little bitch put up a fight, because after Jack jerked them around this morning, she felt like kicking some ass, and Tina’s would do just fine.
“Tina,” Michelle said as she opened the door. “Jack wants to talk to you.”
Tina looked at her irritably for interrupting her while she tried to figure a way out of this mess, but then laid her phone on the dash and crawled out.
“What’s he want?”
“Beats me.”
Tina stepped around the corner of the truck and saw the gun pointed at Jack moments before Michelle took her by the arm. She stepped back into Michelle and drove her elbow hard backwards.
***
Michelle expected Tina to struggle, to try and run or jerk her arm free, but she didn’t expect her to drive her elbow backwards into her gut. She woofed out a gasp of air as Tina jerked her arm free, spun, and drove a hard left into the side of her head before she bolted around the front of the truck.
“Nuh-uh,” Seth barked as Jack started to move. “Go get her,” he ordered Michelle as she straightened.
She grimaced as she rubbed at the side of her head. “With pleasure.”
***
Tina plunged into the brush along the side of the road. That fucking Seth! I knew I we couldn’t trust the bastard! she raged as she battered her way through the undergrowth. She had gone only a short way before she burst out on the muddy bank of a small river. Fuck! Now where? She turned and ran as fast as she could in the slippery mud along the edge of the bank before plunging back into the trees. I have to get back and help Jack!
Tina burst out of the trees at the edge of the road. She must have run at an angle because the truck was hundreds of feet up the road. Staying low she crept along in the ditch, swearing silently to herself as the thorns tore at her clothes. When she reached the trailer she paused, unsure what to do. She thought about trying to get into the truck and get Jack’s gun, but she was afraid she would shoot Jack instead of Seth. She fretted and fumed a moment and decided it was up to Jack.
She snuck up behind the trailer, took several deep breaths, and stepped out into the open. “Hey, you fucker! I just kicked Michelle’s ass!”
The gun moved as Seth turned his head toward Tina’s voice. That was all the opening Jack needed. He stepped in and took Seth’s gun hand in his own, then pivoted and locked Seth’s arm under his own as he used leverage to wrest the gun from Seth’s grip. Before Jack could turn, Seth pulled his arm free with a roar and drove him hard into the side of the truck. Jack shoved his arm back once, twice, three times, but he might as well have been elbowing a concrete wall.
Seth felt the gun leave his grasp and pushed Jack hard into the truck as he tried to get an arm around his neck. Jack elbowed him hard in the ribs but he was too enraged to feel anything… until Jack bit his hand, that is. With a scream of pain Seth backed off and saw Jack turn and swing the gun at him. He tried to get his hand up to block the blow, but it was too little, too late as the harsh, heavy metal of the weapon smashed against his head.
Seth went down in a heap. Jack flipped the gun over so he could use it for something other than a club and turned to Tina. Except she was no longer there. Fuck! “Tina!” he roared.
Tina heard Jack’s call, but she didn’t have time or the breath to answer as she bulldozed her way through the trees. Michelle had burst out of the brush behind her and Tina had run. Tina could handle herself pretty well, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with Michelle. Michelle was bigger and stronger, and if Jack was right, a scrapper too, and that was a combination she didn’t want to take on.
“Fuck!” Jack snarled again. He started toward the end of the truck where Tina had disappeared, but then stopped and climbed into the cab where he killed the engine and took the key. He climbed out, turned, and plunged into the brush.
Tina could hear Michelle crashing through the woods behind her. When Tina popped out on the riverbank again, she turned to face Michelle. Her only hope was that she was faster and willing to fight dirtier than Michelle.
Michelle punched into the opening at the river, slipped, and fell. As she stood, she could see Tina standing not twenty feet away with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
“Alright you bitch,” Michelle snarled, “I owe you a couple.”
Tina took one last deep breath and got ready to take on Michelle. “Whenever you think you’re ready.”
Michelle started striding toward her when Jack appeared. The gun cracked and a tree near Michelle’s head splintered on one side. “One more step and the next one is in your head,” Jack snarled. Michelle froze and put her hands up.
“Sorry. I guess you are going to have to still owe me a couple,” Tina sneered as she walked well around Michelle toward Jack. “Thank god you’re okay!” she said to him.
“Jack! This is all a misunderstanding. I never wanted to go along with Seth’s cockamamie plan!” Michelle called.
“Just shut the fuck up. You seemed on board with it enough five minutes ago. Are you okay?” he asked Tina as he walked to meet her.
“Just a little scratched up, that’s all— Jack!” she screamed as a bloody Seth burst from the woods and took Jack down like a football lineman. Jack was lifted completely off his feet as Seth drove him into the ground.
Tina watched in horror as the edge gave way and the two men tumbled over the river bank and into the water. She stared at the gun lying in the mud a moment before she ran and picked it up. It wasn’t like Jack’s gun, and before she could figure out how to work it, Michelle was there.
“You motherfucker!” Jack screamed as he kicked, punched, and clawed at Seth. The fall hadn’t hurt, as it was only a three foot drop to a soft muddy bottom, but Seth had hit him so hard he had lost the gun along with his breath. He finally caught Seth with a punch in the ear and the man fell back with a roar. Jack jumped to his feet, but Seth was slightly quicker. As Jack turned to face him, Seth tackled him again and drove him backwards into the edge of the embankment.
Michelle tore the gun from Tina’s grip, but before she could turn the weapon on her, Tina fired two hard rights into Michelle’s face. The bigger woman’s head snapped back and she went down hard to her hands and knees, but she still had the gun. Tina kicked at her face, but Michelle blocked it with an arm. The force of the kicked forced Michelle to roll to her back and Tina dove for the gun in her hand.
Seth was a fucking bull and Jack had no hope to compete with him on strength alone. Grimacing in pain as Seth tried to crush his ribs, Jack got a hand under his chin and pushed Seth’s head back with everything he had. As Seth’s hold began to fail Jack brought his left knee up in two hard thrusts, catching Seth in the ribs. With a grunt, Seth fell away. Finally free of the crushing embrace, Jack levered himself off the embankment and threw a hard left, right, left combination at Seth’s face. As Seth staggered backwards and fell with a splash, Tina screamed.
Michelle grabbed Tina by the hair and pulled hard. Tina had her hand on the gun, still clutched tightly in Michelle’s hand, and she didn’t dare release it, no matter the pain. Tina’s position was bad, and her punch weak, but it doesn’t take a lot when you hit someone in the throat. Michelle gasped when Tina’s punch connected and she released her hair.
Jack was clawing his way up the embankment to help Tina when Seth grabbed him by the collar and hauled him back. The water wasn’t even knee deep, but it was enough to drown in when someone holds your head under water. Jack grabbed at Seth, finally getting a handful of his shirt. He pulled with desperate strength, tearing the fabric as he tried to get free. He couldn’t topple Seth, but Jack felt Seth’s weight shift just enough. Jack dug his heels into the muck and shoved hard as he could. He didn’t move much, but it was just enough to offset Seth’s balance enough for Jack to pull him down into the water with him.
Free of Michelle’s agonizing pull on her hair, Tina went for the gun again. Michelle shoved her hard and she fell away. When Tina realized she didn’t have the gun, she looked at Michelle, who was staring at her own empty hand. The gun was almost equal distance between them. They went for the gun as the same moment, crashing into each other as they scrambled for the weapon. When Tina felt the cold metal of the weapon leave her grasp, she shoved hard at Michelle, toppling her to her side. Desperate to get the gun back, Tina threw herself on the woman.
As Seth tumbled into the water, his hold on Jack’s neck failed. Jack popped up and gasped in a huge lungful of air before he rolled to his feet and took a rising Seth into a headlock. Jack began to throw punch after punch into Seth’s face as he clawed at him. With a roar, Seth picked Jack up and tumbled over backwards to drive his back into the embankment. Jack struggled to his feet, out of breath from a near-drowning and the rib-loosening fall.
Tina managed to pull the gun from Michelle’s grasp, but she couldn’t hold it herself as Michelle shoved her away. Fuck the gun! Tina grabbed Michelle by the shirt and pulled as hard as she could from her knees. Michelle’s roll for the weapon was checked by Tina tug, but only until the buttons of her blouse sprayed like shrapnel. Michelle slipped from the shirt and lunged for the gun again. Tina threw herself at the woman, landing on her with a grunt, and used both hands to pin Michelle’s arm to the ground.
“Get off of me, you bitch!” Michelle snarled as she slid her free arm under Tina’s chin and pushed her off.
Tina let Michelle push her off, but held fast to her wrist. Michelle turned with Tina as she tried to muscle her arm free, then changed tactics and forced Tina to her back and began to bear down with her forearm across Tina’s neck.
Jack tried to clear his arm from the tattered remains of his shirt. The fabric was twisted and torn and his hand was stuck in one of the tears. As Seth struggled to his feet Jack jerked his hand free, further tearing his shirt, and it slipped from his shoulder and let it dangle by his left side. With a snarl, he ripped it free. Seeing a topless Michelle choking the life from Tina, Jack tried to crawl up the slope again. The crumbling bank made it difficult, but he gained the top just as Seth snagged his foot and jerked, trying to pull him back down. Jack kicked furiously but couldn’t land a solid blow as Seth held him. Finally Jack slipped Seth’s grasp and rolled to his feet.
Darkness began encroaching on Tina’s vision. In a desperate final attempt to escape, she raked Michelle hard across the eyes with her nails. Michelle screamed and released her chokehold. Gasping and coughing Tina tried to get to her feet, but Michelle grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her to her feet. Michelle’s nose was still bleeding and she had three nasty scratches across her face as she hauled Tina up.
“I’m going to kick your fucking ass!” Michelle screamed as she drew her arm back.
Tina swung a sloppy left hook, but it was the best she could do. The punch was weak, but it was enough to throw Michelle’s own punch off and she hit Tina on the forehead. Staggered, but not seriously hurt, Tina stumbled backwards and fell to her ass. Michelle didn’t let go of her shirt in time and fell with her.
Jack reached the struggling women just as they fell. He tried to haul Michelle off of Tina when Seth hit him from behind again. Both men went to the dirt. They scrambled and kicked as each fought for advantage. Jack threw a weak punch at Seth from his back, and though it caused Seth’s already broken nose to spray fresh blood, the larger man continued to bear down.
Tina rolled as Michelle fell, using her own momentum against her. She came to rest on top of Michelle and threw a hard punch into her face as Michelle ripped and clawed at her. Tina drove in another hard punch, then another, and then a fourth before the fight went out of Michelle. She covered her face with her arms to protect herself from another blow, so Tina rocked back and sat on her heels a moment, exhausted, before she rose unsteadily to her feet, her breezy blouse ripped and hanging open.
Jack knew he was in real trouble. Seth’s face was a bloody mess, but he had Jack by the throat and was slowly choking the life out of him. Seth was simply too big, too strong, and could take more punishment than Jack could deal out once Seth got him on the ground. He threw one more weak punch, a right that glanced off Seth’s cheek… and Seth smiled at him.
Tina staggered to the gun, picked it up, and walked the three steps to where Seth and Jack struggled. She turned the gun so she held it by the barrel and hit Seth with it as hard as she could on the back of his head.
Jack pushed Seth’s limp body off of himself and gasped for breath, holding his throat. He rolled to his knees and panted for a moment before he rose shakily to his feet. “Thanks,” he rasped out before he coughed.
“Don’t mention it,” Tina panted.
Tina’s shirt was open and one breast was hanging out of her bra. She was covered in mud, dirt, blood, and debris. But never had a woman been more beautiful. Jack wanted to kiss her, but instead asked, “Are you alright?”
“Yes. Well, enough for someone that nearly had her ass kicked.”
Jack chuckled then coughed again. He was a mess. Covered in mud and dirt, dripping with river water, and smeared with Seth’s blood, he was missing his shirt entirely. “I know the feeling. If you hadn’t shown up when you did…”
Jack took the gun from Tina, looked at Michelle and Seth, and then threw it into the middle of the river. He shambled back to Seth, who was just beginning to stir. Jack dropped to his knees and grabbed Seth by the hair and jerked his head up. “If I ever see your face again, I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?”
Seth said nothing, his face a bloody, bruised pulp, but Jack kept his head back until he nodded. Jack threw him to the ground in disgust.
Tina tucked herself back into her bra as Michelle slowly stood, one eye already swelling shut. “And you, you fucking bitch,” Tina snarled as she stepped in close. “If you ever want to go again, look me up. I’ll be happy to bury my foot in your ass again.”
“Fuck you, you cunt,” Michelle slurred.
Michelle didn’t have time to block the punch when Tina took exception to her remark.
***