Tammy and Gunner didn’t let anyone know they would be at the hospital. Zack told Tammy his contact had said Swinger was denouncing Randall for going into hiding, and he’d pulled his enforcers off watching Tommy. Since there had been no changes in Tommy’s health in almost a month, Gunner doubted that even Eddie was wasting too much manpower having the hospital watched, and he knew from experience that if the cops didn’t get anything in the first forty-eight hours, they weren’t going to waste their time hanging around there either. He was still nervous and doing his best to walk close enough behind her on the way inside that if someone got off a shot at her, it would hit him instead. He smiled in his head as he thought that at least this time, he’d be in a real hospital and not in the back room of a cantina.

While Tammy got a visitor’s pass, Gunner called the number on the card that Detective Samuels had left him. While he waited for the policeman to meet them at the hospital, he sorted through what he was going to tell him. He didn’t want to get Tammy involved, so he had already decided not to say anything about the kidnapping. He did want to tell him about Sarah and what happened that last morning he saw her. He didn’t know how much information the police had gathered on her death over the past five years, but maybe it would help at least lead Eddie toward that cage.

“Mr. Davis.” He looked up at the sound of the detective’s voice. Standing up, Gunner held out his hand and said,

“Detective Samuels, thanks for coming.”

The cop raised his eyebrow and motioned for them to sit down. Gunner sat back down and Detective Samuels said, “I have to say I was surprised to hear from you.”

“Well, I was surprised when I decided to call you. I have some stuff that I wanted to tell you about Eddie Martini.”

“Maybe we should go to the station and do this?”

Gunner looked around the room. It was crowded, but people were so worried about their loved ones or themselves that none of them seemed to pay attention to what was going on around them. “No. Tamara’s back there with her brother. I don’t want to leave her.”

“Okay. Talk to me.”

“I don’t know what the statute of limitations is on things like this, but the night I was arrested in Corpus Christie, Eddie was the one I was running the drugs for. I used to go down there, and pick up and deliver a package once a week. I never knew what was in any of them, but I suspected. That ferry still leaves every Friday morning.”

“That ferry was almost completely destroyed in a fire about a month ago. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Gunner cleared his throat. He wasn’t as practiced at lying as he used to be, but he channeled his inner teenage thug and said, “Nope. So, you are watching him?”

“We weren’t, until the fire. But we’re about ready to pull back, because we haven’t seen anything we can use and we don’t have that kind of manpower.”

“Well, if he starts up again, watch closely for deliveries in a big truck on Friday mornings before dawn. I didn’t understand what I was seeing back then, and now since it was seven years ago, the details are fuzzy…but I think he doesn’t just trade in drugs and guns and prostitutes. I think he deals in humans.”

“As in trafficking?”

“Yeah. I saw them herding people down the ramp of the truck and toward that ferry. They were all girls, and they were crying and scared. When I was on the streets, girls went missing all the time. We all just figured they went home, or got picked up by social services. But the more I think about it, the more I believe he’s trafficking women and girls.”

The detective took out a pen and pad and wrote something down. Gunner went on to say, “And I think he killed Sarah…uh, Detective Grady.” That got a rise of both the detective’s eyebrows.

“What would make you think that? Detective Grady went missing, but there has never been any sign that she was murdered—most especially, a body.”

“I was having an affair with her.”

“Jesus. You were just a kid.”

“I was almost eighteen. Anyway, I was with her that morning before she went missing. She got a text about the ferry leaving at five and she left. The next thing I heard she was missing. She was obsessed with getting something on Eddie so she could put him away. I think he set her up and then he killed her.” The detective scribbled another note.

“Now that, Mr. Davis, is good information. What about Tommy Covey? Did Eddie put a hit out on him?”

“I don’t know,” Gunner said. “Honestly. I have no idea. But, when you put it all together and add it to the fact that he has one out on me, it’s feasible.”

“He has a hit on you? Why?”

“He set up an underground fight that I was supposed to win. I didn’t and in the midst of it all, the money he’d taken in on the fight was stolen.”

“By who?”

Gunner shook his head. “Don’t know.”

The detective rolled his eyes. “Who did you fight?”

“A fighter they call the Big Indian.”

“Red Crow?”

“You follow underground fighting?”

The detective chuckled. “Hardly, but Mr. Red Crow is famous with SAPD for other things. Where was this fight?”

Once again Gunner did his best to keep a neutral expression as he said, “I don’t know, exactly. It was out in the middle of nowhere. I was taken there and afterwards I was practically unconscious.”

“Convenient,” the detective said, rolling his eyes. “You know that you just implicated yourself in the investigation?”

Gunner nodded. “I know. Ratting on anyone, even Eddie, is not my thing. But it was either that or kill him so I could get on with my life. Which one would you prefer?”

Detective Samuels smiled. “I’ll plead the Fifth on that one.” The smile fell from his face quickly and he said, “Sarah Grady was my partner, and my friend.”

Gunner nodded. “I’m sorry.”

With a sigh the detective said, “Where will you be in case I need more information?”

Gunner looked around again to make sure no one had sat down or was standing close by. “I’m taking Tammy to Massachusetts. I want her out of harm’s way.”

The detective looked around too and said, “I wouldn’t wait too long if I were you. If you change your number, I want it, otherwise I might just show up on your doorstep out there, if and when I have more questions.”

Gunner grinned. “Massachusetts is a big state.”

Again, the detective rolled his eyes. “Kid, how many times did I see you in the police station or jail when you were just a young punk?”

“A few,” Gunner said.

“A few, right. You were wearing a road map on your back every time. Let’s just hope Eddie doesn’t go there looking for you.”

“Not even Eddie would be ballsy enough to knock on my brother’s door.”

* * *

The detective had left about an hour before by the time Tammy came out of the ICU. She looked exhausted and walked into Gunner’s arms as soon as he stood up. He held her against his chest quietly until she finally pulled back and looked up at him. “He looks so bad. I think I’ve lost him.”

“I’m sorry,” Gunner whispered. He wished that he was better at things like that. He had no idea at all what to say.

She smiled at him, sadly. “Thank you.” Gunner guided her down to a seat and he asked:

“What do the doctors say?”

“They keep saying he’s stable. But they have no idea why he hasn’t woken up, and he’s lost so much weight. He hardly looks like himself. I hate that he’s here all alone.” Gunner was afraid she was changing her mind again about leaving with him, but he didn’t say anything. He hoped that she was just venting. He couldn’t leave her alone in Texas. If she stayed, he was staying, like it or not. They sat there in the waiting room and he held her without either one of them speaking for a long time. Finally, she looked up at the clock on the wall opposite them and said, “We should probably get you something to eat and get on the road.”

Gunner smiled. “What makes you think I’m hungry?”

“Your stomach is growling like a bear.”

Gunner was hungry. He’d eaten two candy bars out of the vending machines while he waited for her, but they hadn’t done the trick. He didn’t want to stop anywhere near the hospital, though. If Eddie or someone in the club had contact with anyone inside the hospital, they knew Tammy was back in town. Gunner wasn’t going to rest until he got her far away from there. He put his fingers under her chin and tipped her pretty face up to his. She wasn’t crying, but tears swam in the depths of her caramel eyes. “You’re still okay with going to the ranch with me?”

She nodded. “I had this fantasy in my head that when I saw Tommy it would be like in the movies. He’d sense I was there, or hear my voice and wake up. I’m a nurse. I can see that’s not going to happen. I’m still going to hope it will one day, but at this point there’s nothing I can do for him or my father.” She hugged Gunner and said, “Thank you for bringing me here, though. I feel so much better that I at least got to see him one more time.”

Gunner kissed the top of her head and said, “Anything you want, anytime.”

“I want a hamburger, with lots of cheese and greasy French fries.” Gunner’s stomach growled loudly at the suggestion of the food. Tammy laughed and pulled back to look at his face. “Let’s get on the road.”

Gunner wasn’t about to argue with her. He was going to breathe a lot easier when they were out of San Antonio for good. They walked out the door of the hospital, and once again Gunner used his big body as a shield for Tammy. He had the gun Zack gave him tucked into his saddlebag, but he wasn’t sure how much good it would be if Eddie sent someone after them.

He let out a relieved breath when they made it back to the bike without incident. He slipped onto the bike and Tammy got on behind him. He’d just started it up when they heard the roar of a pack of engines, rumbling toward the hospital. “Shit,” Gunner said, before they even saw them. It was possible they weren’t coming for them, but Gunner didn’t believe in coincidence. Someone inside the hospital must be on Swinger’s payroll. “Hang on tight, baby!” He felt Tammy’s arms go around him as he pulled the bike out of the hospital lot and onto the road. He pulled back on the accelerator, opening it wide as he dodged traffic. “In the saddlebags, baby. Get the gun!” He felt Tammy grip onto him tighter with one hand while she used the other to dig out the gun as he continued to navigate the cars around them. He turned on a side road that would lead them downtown and to a little-used on-ramp to the freeway. They’d gone about a quarter of a mile, with the bikers behind them gaining ground, before he realized that the Head Hunters obviously knew the city as well as he did. The on-ramp was blocked by a line of Harleys. They were fucked.

Gunner had to swerve to keep from plowing into one of the bikes, and when he hit the brakes, he and Tammy both almost flew off the bike. As soon as they skidded to a stop, they were surrounded. Gunner felt Tammy slide the gun into the back of his jeans. He was glad she was smart enough to know that shooting at them at this point would be like poking a hornet’s nest with a stick. They stayed put on the bike and watched as Swinger and two of his enforcers slid off theirs.

“Well, look who it is,” Swinger said, as if he’d just run into them in a bar. “How’s your brother, honey?”

“Fuck you,” Tammy said.

Swinger smiled. Gunner suddenly saw where Zack got it from. “Feisty little thing. I always liked that about you, Tam. Listen, pretty, I have no interest in hurting you—” He looked at Gunner and said, “—or your little boy toy. I just want to know where your daddy has gotten off to. See, you and I both know that a member of the club can’t just decide to take off…especially a member with as much knowledge of what goes on behind closed doors as your father. It makes me start having bad thoughts, like maybe he’s talking to someone he shouldn’t be. Tell me where he is and you two lovebirds can be on your way.”

“I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him since I left and it’s been weeks since I talked to him.”

Swinger sighed. “That’s hard to believe, judging by the way your little family has always been so close.”

“It’s the truth,” Gunner said. “She doesn’t have anything to do with any of this. Let her go. I’ll stay. I’ll help you find him.”

Swinger chuckled. “You’re worthless to me…well, maybe not completely worthless. Eddie Martini would probably pay good money for you. But Tammy…even if she doesn’t know where her daddy is…Tammy’s presence here would very likely draw him out.” Swinger made a head motion at the two men standing next to him and they started toward the bike. Gunner pulled out the gun and said:

“You’re not taking her.”

That only seemed to amuse Swinger even more. “You gonna shoot all of us, little man?”

“No,” Gunner said. “Just you.”

Swinger narrowed his eyes at him and said, “You better make sure that first shot counts, because you’re only going to get one before one of my men puts a bullet in your head. Either we take this sweet little piece alive, and you get out of my town, or dead. It’s up to you, boy.”

“Gunner,” Tammy whispered in his ear. Gunner knew she was going to try to convince him to leave her. There was no way that was happening.

“If I kill you, your club has no leadership, and the fact that I’d be dead too at that point would mean that my club…my brother’s club, the Southside Skulls, would annihilate what was left of yours. So, you choose, Swinger. I ride out of here with Tammy and you live, or we both die.”

Swinger laughed again. “You’re ballsy, kid, I’ll give you that. Ballsy, or stupid.” He was about to say something to one of his enforcers when the sounds of another set of bikes approaching caught all their attention. Swinger squinted in the direction of the sound. Gunner didn’t take his eyes off the old biker but Tammy did. When they got closer she whispered to Gunner:

“It’s Zack.”

Gunner would have loved to be the hero, but the fact was, he would be kidding himself if he thought he or Tammy was getting out of there. He was relieved to hear the sounds of Zack and another three or four bikes approaching. Gunner’s finger rested on the trigger of his gun pointed at the center of Swinger’s chest as he heard the bikes pull to a stop and kill their engines. The look on Swinger’s face was classic when he saw his son. Gunner couldn’t see Zack, but he’d bet all his money that he was smiling.

“What the fuck is this?” Swinger asked.

“Well, hello to you too, Dad. It’s been a long time. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Zachary, what the hell are you doing?”

“I was on my way to see you and Mom, and heard there was something going on down here by the hospital. Thanks for calling me, Bob-O.” One of the enforcers standing with Swinger suddenly looked like he was going to throw up. He looked at Swinger and said:

“He’s lying. I didn’t call him. You can look at my phone…”

Swinger hadn’t taken his eyes off his son. “My boy has always had problems with the truth, Bob-O. Stay out of this, Zack. I’m warning you.”

“What are you going to do if I don’t, Dad. You going to kill me? Go ahead. Killing your own flesh and blood is probably the only sin left that you haven’t crossed off your bucket list. You kill me, Gunner will kill you, and you and I can burn in hell together. Won’t that be fun?”

“I don’t know why you would care if I killed them both right now. He’s a nobody, and she is the reason my family was torn apart. I should have killed her and her daddy and fat brother a long time ago.”

“She’s the reason your family was torn apart?” Zack said. “I guess you forgot that it was me who cheated on her, after I got so drunk I didn’t know my own fucking name, because I was trying to drown out the memories of what you made me do. You’re an evil son of a bitch and I’ve killed you in my head a thousand times. Let Tammy and Gunner go, or today, that fantasy becomes a reality.” Gunner saw Swinger cut his eyes over to the enforcer on his right. That man’s hands went down to his belt. Before Gunner saw the glint of the sunlight off the gun he pulled out, he pulled his own trigger and dropped Swinger where he stood. He didn’t remember much after that. As soon as he shot Swinger, he pushed Tammy off the bike and onto the ground and covered her with his body. He woke up in an unfamiliar room, looking up at a familiar face.

“Damn, kid. I’ve never had a hang-around who caused so much damned trouble. You know we’ll have to take all of this into consideration when we talk about letting you become a prospect.”

“Tammy?”

“She’s okay,” Dax told him. “Thanks to you, from what I hear. I’ll go let her know you’re awake. The ladies had to drag her out of here kicking and screaming to make her eat and sleep for a few hours.” Gunner watched him leave and then wracked his brain, trying to remember what happened. The last thing he could remember was throwing himself on top of Tammy. After that, everything was a blank. He breathed a sigh of relief that she was okay, and then he thought about Zack. He was surprised that he found himself hoping the laughing biker was okay too, and not too pissed off that Gunner had shot his dad.