The ride to the apartment complex took less than ten minutes. They parked on the street and Ash was the first one off his bike. He saw Jake headed across the street with Brock and Jagger following him. He fell into step with Jagger and just behind Jake.

“Let me at this guy, Jake, please. I know you have your own beef with him...but he killed my friend.” Ash still didn’t know what any of this had to do with the Skulls or the Impalers, but at that moment all he cared about was sending the man who killed his friend straight to hell. Jacob stopped and turned to look at him, and then at Wolf, who was coming up behind them with the rest of the Skulls.

Wolf looked at his men and said, “Bruf, take Ransom, Bully, and Green around back. Manson and the rest of you are with me. Jake, this is not going to be a fair fight and I’d rather y’all were able to honestly tell the police you weren’t on these premises when it happened.” Jacob looked at Brock and Jagger. It was obvious they were ready to follow him wherever he wanted them to go. Looking frustrated, he glanced at Ash and then back at Wolf and said:

“Okay, but mention my name before the cocksucker takes his last breath, that’s all I ask.” Wolf nodded and Jacob, Brock, and Jagger all reluctantly headed back in the other direction toward the big black SUV. Wolf turned toward Ash then and said:

“Guy you’re looking for is called Babyface. You’ll know why when you see him.”

Ash was so happy suddenly that he could have kissed Wolf on the lips. He all but ran up to the door and knocked with a heavy fist. “Who the fuck is it?” came from inside. It was a man’s voice.

“Open the door, motherfucker.”

“Who do you want?”

“Looking for Babyface. Send the cocksucker to the door if it’s not you.”

“He ain’t here.”

“Open the fucking door. I’m not asking again.”

The door was suddenly jerked open and a guy with a furry black beard and eyebrows just as bushy was standing framed in it and holding what looked like an AK-47. Ash felt the draft caused by the bullet that came out of Bruf’s gun behind him. It hit the gun and may have grazed the bastard holding its hand. “Fuck!” he screamed as the gun fell from his suddenly bleeding hand. Ash didn’t waste any time. He raised his already doubled-up fist and it connected with the whining man’s cheek. Blood went flying as he held out his arms and fell back flat on his ass. Ash knew without being told that this wasn’t “Babyface.” For one thing, the guy looked about forty. For another, he hadn’t even tried to protect his face from the punch.

“Fuck!” he yelled again. “What do you fuckers want?”

“Babyface,” Ash said again.

“I told you, he ain’t here.”

“Where the fuck is he?”

“Screw you.”

Ransom moved inside the apartment then, on Wolf’s orders. He pulled the guy up by the back of his shirt and then held him up by encircling his broad chest from behind. Ash threw another hard punch, this one landing squarely on the bridge of the asshole’s nose. More blood flew out...Ash was going to be covered in it, but then wasn’t the time to worry about that. “Now...I’m tired of asking nicely. Where the fuck is Babyface?”

“Chickenshit took off through the back when he heard the bikes coming. I don’t know where he went.” Ash doubled up his fist and the guy said, “Damn it! I’m not a fucking fighter. I can’t take much more of this...do you want to kill me?”

“I got no problem with it,” Ash told him. This time the guy at least turned his head to the side when Ash threw the punch. It landed on his temple, against his hard skull, and Ash wondered if he’d broken one of his knuckles as the pain shot up through his hand and landed in his elbow.

“Jesus! Fucking stop, okay? He didn’t tell me where he was going, but he’s got nobody else in town to hide out with. The only place I can think of is the warehouse out near 12^th Avenue.”

“The Impalers warehouse?” Bruf said.

“Yeah, man. I don’t know if he’s there or not, but he ain’t got no friends around here. My stupid sister keeps letting him back in, but she’s the only one that’ll put up with his shit.”

Ash looked at Wolf. “Let’s go,” Wolf said. He took out his phone, and Ash knew he was texting Bruf and the other guys who had gone out back. Ash was the first one on his bike again. He didn’t know exactly where the warehouse was, but he knew Avenue 12. Another mass exodus of bikes took place with Jacob’s SUV following closely behind. The drive took about twenty minutes, and once they were on Avenue 12 Ash backed off and dropped in behind Wolf and Manson. They drove past a cornfield and made a left turn onto a dusty dirt road.

Ash could barely contain the adrenaline coursing through his veins as they approached the warehouse at the end of the road. He saw the flash of blue before anyone else seemed to see it. Ash loved his bike, almost more than he loved anything on earth, but he dumped it without a second thought, leaving it spinning across the dirt as he took off in a wild sprint after the man that had just run out of the warehouse. Ash took out his gun when he saw him heading toward the cornfield. If he let him get inside of that, he’d disappear, possibly indefinitely. Babyface took one step in, but his other leg was out in the open, and fair game. Ash didn’t even waste time taking aim. He just pointed the gun in the direction of the man’s lower limb and pulled the trigger. Babyface went down with a high-pitched scream, like a wounded animal.

When Ash reached him, Babyface was writhing on the ground and still screaming. Bruf was right behind Ash, and he grabbed the injured man and pulled him up until he got his good foot underneath him and found his balance. His jeans had a huge hole in the other thigh and blood was pouring out. Ash could see the hole the bullet had left there, and he raised his foot and kicked that exact spot with the steel toe of his boot. Bruf didn’t move or flinch even when Babyface screamed even louder and struggled to get out of Bruf’s grasp as hard as he could. The rest of the men were gathering behind Ash with Wolf in the lead.

Ash still had his gun in his hand. He turned and looked at Wolf and said, “What do you want done with him, Boss?”

Wolf stepped forward. “Was this all you?” he asked.

“Fuck you,” the man said, sweating and in agony, only standing because Bruf was still holding him up. Ash used his free hand to punch him in the soft part of his stomach. He cried out in agony and tried to double over, but Bruf kept him upright so that Wolf could see his face.

“You’re not my type,” Wolf said, calmly. “Story I got is you’re pissed off at your daddy and trying to use my club to get the old man into a war he can’t possibly win. Jacob Wright’s team being tied up with us was just a bonus...have I got that all right?”

“Who’s his daddy?” Ash asked, still out of the loop.

“Ogre,” Bruf said.

Fuck. The Skulls were double the size of the Impalers. Wolf was right, that would have been a war Ogre could never have won. Thank God Wolf had a cool head on his shoulders. Ash couldn’t promise even himself that if it had been up to him, he wouldn’t have just wiped them out after Tex was beaten up. He was slowly beginning to figure out why Wolf was in the position he was in, and Ash would never be there...unless he learned how to check his temper.

“So, one more time, asshole, who were your happy helpers?” Wolf said.

Babyface hung limply in Bruf’s one-handed grasp, and his face was going pale from the blood loss. Sweat poured from his face and was actually soaking the front of his shirt. With only one eye open, as the other one began to swell shut, he said, “If I tell you, you let me go?”

Wolf cocked an eyebrow, but said, “Sure.” Ash felt his whole body go tense, but he bit down on his tongue to stop himself from speaking. Doing so in front of Babyface would cost him any respect that Wolf had left for him.

“They’re Dad’s guys, but he has no idea they’re helping me. Marco, Petey, Slate, and Poppa.”

“There were six,” Wolf said. “The night they attacked Tex.”

“Fuck, I forgot Bentley.”

“Bentley Eggert?”

“Yeah.”

“Motherfucker,” Wolf muttered. Ash knew he’d heard that name, but he wasn’t sure where.

“Yeah, he was more than happy to screw you over,” Babyface said, actually chuckling as he winced in pain. “You gonna let me go now?”

“I told you I would,” Wolf said. Ash could hardly contain himself. This fucker killed Smoke. How could Wolf just let him go? Bruf let go of him and he fell to the ground. They all watched for what seemed like an eternity as he struggled up to his feet. He stood cockeyed, favoring the leg that had the hole in it. Babyface looked at them all, standing in his way, blocking the road. Ash still had his gun out. “Where’s your ride?” Wolf asked him.

“Hid it, in the cornfield.” Wolf smiled. That was Ash’s first clue that his boss hadn’t completely lost his mind.

“Good thinking. Okay, you’re off.” Again, they waited. Babyface hopped slowly and he was just inside the first row of corn when Wolf looked at Ash and said, “Alright, I let him go. We’re leaving. What you do with him from here on out is up to you. Ransom will stay behind in case there’s any heavy lifting.”

Ash wanted to hug Wolf. Instead he smiled, nodded and said, “Thanks, Boss.”

Wolf nodded back. “Make sure he knows how deeply we’re gonna feel the loss of our brother.”