“Can I get you anything else, hon?”

Hunter looked at the pretty bartender. She had tattoos running across her chest and disappearing into the front of a tight, low-cut t-shirt. Her long auburn hair was swept to the side in a curly ponytail and she had the shape of an angel. There were so many things she could get him. But he had to work. Fuck it all anyways.

“I’ll just have another beer when you have the time, darlin’.”

“Sure thing.” He watched her walk away and his body ached for a second. Forcing his attention from her shapely ass back to his target made any chance of an erection disappear. Larry Woods was a con artist and a thief. He was as ugly on the outside as he was inside as well, which was why Hunter couldn’t understand how he’d talked the not-too-ugly woman he was sitting with into having a drink with him. He was beginning to wonder, as he sat in the out-of-the-way cowboy bar, if maybe they were running a brothel out of the back. So far, he’d seen a few really ugly, desperate-looking men disappear into the door that led to the bathrooms and not come back. The women they were courting throughout the night disappeared as well, out the front. Hunter was itching to check it out, but he didn’t want to lose Larry. It had taken him three weeks to track the piece-of-dirt down and he was taking him in tonight if he had to shoot the greasy bastard in the head to do it.

Hunter shuddered every time Larry smiled. His teeth wouldn’t be in too bad a shape, if he would brush them. They were yellow and from three feet away, Hunter could see whatever the son of a bitch had for dinner…or maybe lunch…stuck between them. Just because you’re a criminal doesn’t mean you get a pass on flossing. Hunter couldn’t see the woman’s face, but he wondered how she was able to sit across from him and not get sick. The very idea of anyone kissing that guy made his stomach roll. She had to be getting paid…a lot.

“Here you go, hon.” The pretty little barmaid sat his beer in front of him.

“What’s your name, darlin’?”

“Carrie.”

“Well, Carrie, I hope you don’t mind me telling you this, but you sure are a pretty thing.”

She didn’t look embarrassed or blush at all, which told Hunter she was used to the compliments. In a place like this, he was surprised she didn’t have to carry a baseball bat under her arm to fight them off. “Thank you. I don’t mind when men say it respectfully. I appreciate you not feeling like you have the right to touch my ass.” She winked at him and picked up his empty beer bottle. Hunter laughed and said:

“You know, I might have if you didn’t look like you could take me.” She had nice muscles in her arms. He’d love to know if her hands were just as strong…wrapped around his…

“Oh, I could,” she said, with another wink. Hunter held out twenty bucks and she said, “I’ll get you some change.”

“No, darlin’, you keep it. I’m sure, from the looks of this place, tips don’t flow freely.”

“You’d be right about that. Thanks.” She gave him another smile that made his cock dance in his jeans and then once again he was treated to the sight of her walking away. He groaned to himself and focused back on Larry. The woman he was with stood up and leaned down seductively to say something into Larry’s ear. Definitely getting paid. Larry laughed, close enough to her face now that she’d have to be able to smell all that nasty in his mouth. She didn’t flinch…She must be a true professional. Hunter watched her leave through the front door, and he knew now would be the best time to take Larry. But he thought about how much more fun it would be to follow him through that door in back instead, and he smiled. Hunter loved his job. He loved the adrenaline rush that taking down these losers who skipped out on bail gave him. He loved doing side work for the Skulls too. Dax had him on a big job at the moment, something that could bring the club and Dax down hard if it wasn’t taken care of. Hunter didn’t have any beef at all with Dax. Sure, the guy didn’t make all his money on the up and up, at least according to the law. But he gave even more back to his community than he took, and Hunter had to respect that. Besides, the jobs Dax hired him for paid twice as much as his “legitimate” job as a bounty hunter, and he didn’t have to claim it with the IRS, so it was a win/win.

Larry stood up, and Hunter picked up his beer and drained it as the other man headed for the door in the back. Hunter and Larry had never met face to face, so Hunter wasn’t worried about Larry recognizing him. He got up just as Larry disappeared through the door marked “Restrooms” and followed him. When he got into the bathroom, he saw Larry exiting through another door that read “Emergency Exit Only.” Hunter moved fast and stopped it before it slammed shut. He heard Larry say:

“Rose Oil,” and then another man’s voice saying:

“Be back here in an hour. Don’t make me come up after you.”

“Sure thing,” Larry said. Then he said something stupid about lasting an hour and laughed at his own joke. Hunter waited until he heard footsteps on the wooden stairs before going through the door himself. He was instantly stopped by a man who looked like he’d been created from a liaison between the Incredible Hulk and an Amazon princess. His skin might have even had a slightly green tinge to it. Hunter looked up at the huge man and smiled.

“Rose Oil,” he said. The man’s beefy fist connected with Hunter’s face before he even saw it coming. Damn, bigger than shit, and fast. Maybe Hunter should have thought this through a little better.

“Who the fuck are you?” The man now standing over six feet above him bellowed.

“I’m a bounty hunter. I’m after the toad you just let through. I don’t give a shit what is going on back there…I’m just here for my bounty.” Hunter pushed up to his hands and knees, and a size 14 boot caught him in the ribs and propelled him back into the wall of the stairwell they were in. Even if he had a chance against this behemoth, there wasn’t room for him to even stand up. He coughed and spit up blood as the monster towered over him and watched. His gun was in his boot, but he was afraid if he went for it, the Incredible Hulk’s offspring would just use it on him. “Seriously,” he gasped out as soon as he could breathe. “I’m not here about the business that’s taking place upstairs. I could give a rat’s ass. I just want the sleazeball that just went up.” The giant looked like he was rearing back for another punch. Hunter rolled onto his back, which made his view worse, but at least he could see what was coming. “I’ll wait until he comes down if you prefer…I was just trying not to cause a scene for y’all in the bar.” The huge paw froze mid-air. Hunter had struck some kind of chord so he kept going. “I’ll bet the owner hates that shit, when there’s a fight and things get busted up…I was just trying to save him some trouble by waiting. Hell, I was going to take the guy in the bathroom, but he snuck through that door too quickly. I thought I was following him outside. Come on, man…I don’t want you, your boss, or those girls…just the pig who went up with the blonde, that’s all.”

“What’s in it for me?” the guy asked.

“Excuse me?”

“I let you go upstairs and take that guy, you get paid for him, right?”

“Well, yeah, but not all that much and I have kids to feed…”

Hunter took another shot to the face. Fuck! His mouth was bleeding and he was probably sporting a couple of black eyes. When he finally caught up with Larry, that son of a bitch would pay hell for this. “I have kids of my own,” the monster said. Hunter shuddered to imagine who would make babies with this guy and hoped he was lying too.

“Okay, I understand.” He had to gasp for each breath and his face hurt like hell. “I’ve only got a few hundred on me.” He had seven hundred on him, but four of it was in his boot. Hopefully Attila the Hun didn’t want him to strip.

“I’ll take it.”

With a lot of effort, Hunter sat up with his back to the wall and started to reach into his front pocket. The giant slapped his hand away and tried to put his own in Hunter’s pocket. It was too big to fit. Hunter waited until he gave up and patted across the front of his jeans to make sure he didn’t have a gun, then the bounty hunter said, “You’re not gonna charge me for that hand job, are you?” Another stupid mistake. Damn my mouth. As the man’s boot connected with his thigh Hunter decided he’d underestimated the size. It felt more like an 18.

“You got anything else stupid to say?” Unfortunately, Hunter could probably go on all night if pain wasn’t involved.

“No sir,” he said, through teeth that were gritted with pain.

“Good, get the cash out.”

Larry was only going to net him a thousand dollars. He’d only make seven hundred after giving this guy three. Larry better hope he had some cash on him, because the mood Hunter was in at that point wasn’t going to make it a pleasant encounter. He took the money out and handed it, clip and all, to the hulk. The big guy counted it and when he was satisfied he said:

“First room on the right.” Surprisingly, the guy handed him a key. “Don’t hurt the girl and don’t tear nothing up…if you want to get out of here with your bounty and your head.”

Hunter tried to smile. “No problem, mate.” Hulk didn’t smile back. Rude asshole.

It took Hunter a good ten minutes to get up to his feet and upright enough to walk. The big guy stood back and watched him without any expression on his face. Once he could stay on his feet, Hunter grabbed the banister to the stairs and used it to pull himself up each step until he was at the top. He paused there and tried to pull himself together. He was bruised, bloody, three hundred dollars light, and pissed off at the world. He slid the key in the lock and once the door was loose, he kicked it in for effect. Larry’s naked white ass was pointed in his direction and he screamed like a girl when Hunter grabbed him from behind and pulled him out of the woman.

“What the fuck, man? What is this? I paid!” Larry was on his back, naked, on the floor and he looked like he might cry. The woman was going for something in the dresser drawer. Hunter didn’t want to turn his back on Larry, but he was sure she was going for a gun. He grabbed the naked woman just as she stuck her hand in the drawer. While Larry was acting like a little bitch, the woman fought like a wildcat. She scratched and clawed at Hunter’s face and arms until he finally got her tucked under one of them and tossed her into the dirty little bathroom. She came at him again as he pulled the door closed.

When he turned to look for something to lock her in with, he saw that Larry was gone. Motherfucker! He left the woman naked and screeching and ran after Larry. As soon as his feet hit the stairs he saw his skinny white ass near the bottom. The Hulk was just standing against the wall with his arms folded.

“Stop him!” Hunter yelled. Hulk didn’t move. Hunter jumped the last six steps, hit the floor with both feet, and felt the jolt all the way up to his neck. By that time, a naked Larry had rushed out the outside door. Hunter followed him out into a back alley and by the time he caught him, Larry had run out into the middle of a busy street. They grappled on the asphalt long enough for Larry to realize he wasn’t going anywhere, as cars honked and skidded to a stop around them. When Hunter had the plastic cuffs on Larry’s wrists, he pulled the idiot to his feet, barely able to stand on his own…and realized he was looking into the eyes of an angel. Or at least that’s what he thought before he saw her arm move and felt the sting of something metal slam into his head. Just before his world went dark he heard the woman with the gorgeous aquamarine eyes say:

“Get in the car, Dad. Jesus, this shit is getting old.”