Zack made it clear that no one was going anywhere until Gunner competed in the underground fighting tournament, and he was paid back for his services. Tammy was pissed because she wanted to get back to see her brother. Patty was having a hot and heavy affair with one of the old bikers at the club, so she wasn’t in any hurry, and Billy was getting more free sex and weed than he had in his life, so he wasn’t upset over it either. Gunner still had no idea what he was planning to do. He’d spoken to Dax about it a few times in the past week, since Zack told him he was cleared. Dax encouraged him to go to Massachusetts. He thought that he was a better fit there than he would be with the Head Hunters. Gunner believed that was true. Randall and Tommy didn’t like him, and then there was 8Ball and anyone who was loyal to that piece of crap. The truth was, Gunner hadn’t felt any kind of bond while he was there, other than with Tammy. The trouble with that was, she still hadn’t told him what kind of bond she felt for him. After Zack interrupted them that night, they’d gone back to their room and had mind-blowing sex, the variety of which they had at least once a day, and on Gunner’s one day off from training, at least twice, every day since. He was exhausted, but it was worth it.

“Where is your head at?” He came out of his thoughts and back to the present to the sound of Raymond’s voice growling. It was right in his ear, and he was surprised to see the other man had walked up on him from behind and he hadn’t seen or heard him.

“Sorry, Ray.”

“You’re sorry?” Raymond pushed Gunner’s contender out of the way. The kid moved back without argument. “You’re sorry? I’ve spent the past week dedicating all my free time to you. I get to this fucking gym at six a.m. and I don’t leave until nine because of you. I’m getting blue balls because I never have time to see my girlfriend because of you. You come in here one day begging me to teach you, spend a few days pretending like you’re taking this shit to heart, and then suddenly you look like a kid in his first fight on the schoolyard. I told you to shuffle…three times…before Hector connected with your hard head. Why didn’t you do it?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

Gunner didn’t even see Raymond’s fist coming. He felt it connect with the side of his head, and his neck snapped back. He’d taken out his mouth guard to talk and his teeth snapped together. “You hear that, asshole?” Raymond asked.

Gunner’s first instinct was to get pissed, and fight back. But Zack had hinted that his cut would be in the thousands, and if Gunner was going to start over, he needed that money. He’d spent the money Dax left him traveling. Tammy had taken what Randall had in the safe, but it wasn’t enough to get all four of them to Tennessee. He was flat broke, so this was as important to him as it was to Zack. Gunner rubbed his ear. It was buzzing. “I can hear you,” he said at last.

“Yeah? So, you just weren’t listening?” Raymond threw his fist at him again. That time Gunner dodged it.

“Getting pissed off, kid?”

“Yes,” Gunner said and gritted his teeth.

“Yeah? You want to hit me back?”

“Yes.”

“Come on, kid. Show me what you got.” Raymond pushed him in the middle of his chest. Gunner stumbled backwards. “Hit me.”

“You don’t have any gear on.”

“I don’t need gear. You hit like a fucking girl.”

“I get it, Raymond. I’ll pay attention. Let’s not do this.”

“I said hit me, kid.”

“Don’t call me kid.”

“Don’t like that? Hit me, bitch.”

Gunner pulled back his fist and hit Raymond as hard as he could, on the right side of his face. Raymond’s head snapped to the side and blood sprayed out of his nose. He stayed on his feet, though, and when he looked back up at Gunner, he was smiling. His teeth were bright red with blood. “Good job, Gunner. That’s what I need you to do. You need to take whatever shit is going on in your head and channel it through those big fists of yours. If you’re going to get past the first round of this thing, that’s what you’re going to have to do.”

Gunner nodded. Blood was running out the side of Raymond’s mouth. “Are you okay?”

Raymond laughed and wiped the blood off his chin with his hand. “I’ve taken harder hits from my ten-year-old niece.” He winked before he climbed out of the ring. Gunner smiled and shook his head. Raymond went and cleaned up, and by the time he got back, Hector and Gunner were sparring again and Gunner was managing to keep his head in the ring. By the time he finished for the morning, Gunner’s legs felt like jelly. Every muscle in his body was screaming with pain and he had a bruise on his cheek. He was exhausted, and as he rode his bike back to the clubhouse all he could think about was crawling into bed and going to sleep. Hopefully Tammy would still be there. He had discovered that there was no better way to sleep than with her wrapped up in his arms. Unfortunately, that day it was not to be.

* * *

Zack was the first person Gunner saw as he rode up in front of the clubhouse. He was dressed in his kutte and riding gear, and was sliding a do-rag over his long hair as Gunner climbed off his bike. “Hey. You look like hell.”

“Thanks,” Gunner said. “Just finished getting my ass kicked for three hours. I’m starving and exhausted and I have to be back in six hours, so I can be in shape to win a fight so you can get out of debt.”

“Testy,” Zack said with a grin. “But in my defense, I offered plenty in return.”

“Yeah,” Gunner said, hoping Zack was finished as he started to walk away. He wasn’t.

“Why don’t you ride with us?”

Gunner turned toward him. “Nah, thanks. I’m going to eat and get some rest before I have to go back tonight.”

“The girls have some sandwiches ready in there. Go eat one. We ride out in half an hour.”

“We? Maybe you didn’t hear me say no thanks?”

“I heard you. But my prez and his VP, and one of the sergeants at arms, had to attend a meeting this morning. There’s some club business some of the others and I have to handle. I could use some more muscle.”

“So you’re not really asking me if I want to go? You’re telling me?”

“I’d rather not have to insist. I mean, a person might think you’d want to show your gratitude to the guy that got you out of hot water with the infamous Head Hunters.”

Fuck. “I’m going to eat. I should be ready in half an hour,” Gunner said as he pulled open the door. “If I’m not, feel free to go without me.”

“See you out here geared up and ready to go at one p.m.” Gunner was tempted to hold up his middle finger, but his impulse control was getting better. He wasn’t sure that was a good thing. He was afraid all this pent-up aggression might cause him to explode one day…and then instead of a middle finger or a tap on the jaw, he might do some real harm.

The clubhouse was packed and he sat with Billy while he ate. He felt bad that he hadn’t spent much time with Billy lately. Billy didn’t seem to be upset by it, however. The whole time Gunner ate, he talked…about this woman or that one. Gunner only heard about half of what his friend was saying. His mind was going a hundred miles again, trying to figure out a long-term plan. He was taking his last bite when he heard a shrill whistle. The noise in the clubhouse came to an instant halt, and suddenly you could hear a pin drop.

“Sorry about that,” Zack told the room with a smile. “Just wanted to let my boys know I’m ready to ride. We leave in five.”

Gunner’s eyes were fatigued, but Zack’s eyes were burning through him like a challenge. Gunner wiped his mouth on his napkin and stood up. He wasn’t about to back down from a challenge, especially from that asshole.

* * *

They crossed the state line into Kentucky and ended up in a little town called Hopkinsville. The drive only took about half an hour and Zack never explained to Gunner what they were doing or why they were there. He just handed him a gun as they walked into a little out-of-the-way bar and said:

“Don’t get shot. Tammy will be pissed at me.”

Gunner thought about shooting Zack, wondering if Tammy would be pissed about that. He might have if not for the other four guys Zack had brought along with him. They were all nomads too, and even though there was nothing different about Zack’s patches than theirs, he seemed to be the one in charge. They all had their guns ready as they pushed through the doors, and the first guy in pressed his into the temple of the bouncer at the door. There was a burly, dirty-looking biker with a woman on his lap near the bar. As soon as he saw them, he dumped her on the floor. The bartender froze with his hands in the air, and the other four bikers looked like they were debating reaching for their own guns.

Zack smiled like he always did and said, “Good afternoon, gentlemen. I wouldn’t take out a piece if I were you. You’re outnumbered and we already have ours out. Shrek, check the bathroom and the back. Grinder, take a look in the kitchen, see if we got anyone hiding out.”

While Zack’s men went to do what they were told, the man that’d had the woman in his lap said, “What the hell do you want?”

Zack walked over to him and said, “Stand up, Tweaker.” The man continued to glare at Zack. The nomad continued to smile. He pressed the gun into the man’s head and said, “Stand up,” in an almost eerily calm voice. The man stood up and with the gun still to his head Zack said, “What does your rocker say, Tweaker?”

“You can read, or can’t you?”

Zack chuckled. “You know, I wasn’t really in the mood to get sprayed with brain matter today…that is, if you have any. But you’re pushing your luck here, Tweaker. What does it say?” Zack pulled the gun back slightly and pushed it forward again, slamming the barrel into the man’s temple.

“It says Tennessee. Fuck!”

Just as calmly as before, Zack asked him, “Funny, but I could have sworn this bar was in Kentucky. Where’s your clubhouse again?”

“Fuck, man, you know all this shit. We just had this conversation a month ago. The Bandits wiped out half our club for wearing rockers that said Kentucky over the past two years. We’re right on the border. We’re small and we stay out of Invader business. Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

“See, Tweaker, before we had our little talk last month, our executive board was considering just that. It was brought up at church that y’all were minding your own business and staying out of ours. So, my prez, being the generous man that he is, told us to give you a little time and slack and see what you did with it. We were doing that, and then a little bird flew into my window one night and told me y’all were working with some street gang, moving guns up out of Mississippi. He also told me that those guns weren’t being sold in Kentucky. Nope, they were being distributed to street gangs right in our own backyard in Tennessee. Gangs that we have relationships with. Gangs that have suddenly stopped needing a lot of what we’re selling.” Gunner guessed that Tweaker was not a poker player, since he looked as guilty as hell and like he was about to piss his pants. Sweat rolled down the sides of his face. “You going to deny that, Tweaker?”

His voice was shaky now as he said, “Man, Zack, it’s just pocket change to a club your size.”

Zack reached down and used the front of the man’s shirt and kutte to bring him to his feet. He still had the gun to his head but now they were face to face. “It’s our pocket change and you’re stealing it. You’re using that rocker to let these street rats we deal with believe you’re associated with us somehow. You’re cutting prices and selling them sub-standard shit. Shrek!” The huge biker that had checked the bathrooms and back room stepped up next to Zack. “Got your knife?”

“Yep.”

“Cut that rocker off. Slick…start cutting the rest of them.”

Tweaker was visibly shaking as Zack held him up and Shrek cut off the bottom half of his leather vest where it said, “Tennessee” with what looked like a hunting knife. Slick took a switchblade out of his pocket and stepped up to the guy closest to Gunner. He leaned down and sliced off the bottom of the guy’s kutte. He did that to the other three men in the room and after Zack shoved Twister back down in his chair, he collected them. He piled them on the table in front of Twister, picked up the half-drunk whiskey on the table and poured it on top of them. Then he took his lighter out of his pocket and flicked it at the patches. They sparked up and Twister pushed his chair back away from the table.

“Don’t make me come back and light a match to this whole place, and your clubhouse.” Zack gave his guys a hand signal and started for the door. They were almost there when one of Tweaker’s guys decided to pull out a gun. Gunner saw him first but Zack was between them before he could get off a clear shot, so he yelled out at Zack.

Zack must have seen the guy too in his peripheral vision, because he just made a half turn and before the guy even got off a shot, Zack had put a bullet in his head, right between his eyes. Gunner didn’t know whether to be impressed or scared shitless.