It was raining again as they pounded east in Arsen’s Cadillac CTS V. It was a good thing he’d planned to bring the car anyway. He loved his bike, but riding four hours in the rain sucked, no matter how dedicated he was.
They’d just passed Wilcox, Arizona, when Arsen’s phone rang, trilling over the speakers in the Cadillac. He touched the screen to answer the phone.
“Arsen.”
“We took out four this morning,” Phil’s voice said.
“Tell me one of them was that Stacy bitch or Todd Yuggers.”
“No such luck. We did have to kill a woman when she tried to pull a gun on us.”
“You taunt the bull…” Arsen began.
“You get the horns,” Phil finished. “We found them holed up in a rent house. Four men, three women. One of their old dealers rolled on them. They are not popular, even on their home turf. You offer a couple of Franklins and people fall all over themselves to help.”
“What happened to the other women?” Quinn asked.
“Quinn wants to know what happened to the other women,” he repeated so Phil could hear.
“They were scared shitless so we made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Get out, keep their mouths shut, or have their brains blown all over the back wall. They took the deal.”
He looked at Quinn who was nodding in approval. “Keep it up. Any other leads?”
“Not yet. It’s only been a day. Cut me some slack. Jesus!”
Arsen chuckled. “Keep it up. Any idea how many people we’re after?”
“Word on the street is we got all but about twenty. That’s not counting the assholes who didn’t have the good graces to die when we shot them.”
“So that leaves thirty-seven?”
“Give or take. Less the eight or so still in the hospital. Call it twenty-five to track down. I thought we’d save those still in the hospital for last. We can’t get to them.”
“Understood. Good work. Keep on them until I tell you stop.”
“Are you going to tell me to stop?”
“Only if they call it quits and turn over Stacy and Todd, along with those responsible for killing Chet, Greg, their old ladies and my family. If they do that, then I’ll consider it.”
“They’ll never agree to that.”
“Fine. Then we’ll kill them all.”
“That works for me.”
“Just keep it clean. I don’t want anyone going to prison over this.”
“The team was in and out in ten minutes. Nobody saw nothing. Gage is a total hard ass. He shot the woman without a blink. I was about to ream his ass out, then I saw the gun. We need to put him on delivery. He’s so easy going you wouldn’t know it, but you do not want to fuck with that guy. He’s the real deal.”
“We’ll talk about it when I get there tonight.”
“Looking forward to you and Zane joining the party.”
“So am I,” Arsen said with a grin. “Anything else?”
“No, but I knew you’d want to know.”
“Okay. Keep me in the loop. See you in about six hours.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Quinn said quietly after Phil was gone.
“I have to. The brothers are putting their asses on the line for the club. I can’t do less.”
“I know how it works, but I don’t have to like it.”
“No, you don’t, but it’ll be over soon.”
“I don’t know how. Until you kill every last one of them, we’ll never be safe. All it takes is one guy with a gun.”
He looked at her and gave her a cold smile. “I know.”
“This is only going to end when every member of the Horsemen is dead, isn’t it?”
“Almost certainly.”
She looked out the windshield, watching as the wipers thumped. “I guess I can live with that,” she said after a moment.
The meet was scheduled for noon, and at eleven-thirty Arsen pulled the Caddy to a stop in the rest area in Lordsburg, across the interstate from the Love’s Truck Stop, so they could switch drivers. Just like they always met the Advocates at the end of the runway in Yuma, the truck stop was the standard exchange point for the Dirty Bastards. There was plenty of traffic flowing in and out and a large parking lot that allowed them to get some distance from prying eyes.
“Make a left and stay on this road until you see the Love’s,” he instructed. “Pull in there and stop,” he ordered then tapped on the screen, selecting a number from his contacts.
“Mason Trucking.”
“Mason, it’s Arsen. I’m at the Love’s, but I’m in my car, a white CTS.”
“You pussy,” the voice chuckled. “Afraid of a little rain?”
“No, but I couldn’t haul your order by myself on a bike.”
“Where’s your regular crew?”
“On other business.”
“I’m about five minutes out. I’ll meet you at our regular spot.”
“Roger that, but if you’re not here, and I can hear you, you’re obviously not on your bike. Now who’s the pussy?”
Mason chuckled. “Man, I’m from Albuquerque. I don’t ride in the fucking rain.”
“Well I’m from Tucson and you expected me to ride in the fucking rain.”
Mason chuckled. “I’m about to get off the interstate. I’m in the blue and silver Ram, along with a red Durango.”
“See you in a couple of minutes,” Arsen said then hung up the phone.
“Suddenly I’m very nervous,” Quinn said softly.
“It’ll be okay, but remember, you’re the one who wanted to tag along.”
“I know. I would be even more nervous if I were at home and I knew you were out here by yourself.”
“Don’t get jumpy on me now,” he cautioned. “If you get nervous, that makes them nervous. Just stay in the car and stay calm. You’ll know if it goes to shit, otherwise, everything is fine.”
She swallowed hard and gave her head a quick nod. Now, more than ever, she decided she had to grow B3 so Arsen and the Blades didn’t have to do this anymore.
A couple of minutes later blue and silver Ram pickup and a deep red Durango pulled to a stop in front of the car. “Keep the motor running. This won’t take long. Pop the trunk,” he said as he opened his door and stepped out in the rain.
She watched in the mirror as he walked around to the back of the car and pulled out the duffle, closing but not latching the trunk. As he did, a man slid out of the passenger seat of the pickup and pulled a similar duffle out of the back seat of the pickup.
“You said you were alone. Who’s that with you?” Mason asked as Arsen approached.
“Bodyguard.” He extended his hand and they shook.
“A woman? You’re shitting me.”
“No. She’s an Olympic shooter. She can put one through your eye at a fifty yards without breaking a sweat.”
Mason looked around him to the small woman sitting in the car. The way she was glaring at him made him distinctly nervous. “I’ll take your word for it.” He handed the bag to Arsen. “You want to count it?”
“Do I need to?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll take your word for it this time. I want to get out of this rain.” Arsen handed his bag across. “One hundred thousand, just like you ordered.”
The bags were exchanged and the men shook again. “See you again in about three months,” Mason said before he turned and walked back to his vehicle, Arsen doing the same. He lifted the trunk lid, tossed the bag inside, then shut the lid.
“See, nothing to worry about,” he said as he slid into the seat. “Drive away, slow and easy.”
“What was that guy looking at?” she asked as she slid the car into gear.
“You.”
“Why?”
He smiled. “I told him you were my bodyguard.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did. I told him you were an Olympic shooter and if he made a wrong move you would shoot his eyes out.”
“You did not!”
He chuckled. “Okay, I didn’t tell him the part about you shooting his eyes out, but the rest I did.”
“Why would you do that? What if I had to prove it?”
“If you had to prove it, then I would have a lot bigger problem than telling a lie. You wanted to watch my back? Well, you did, and I helped you by giving him something else to think about.” He paused a moment then changed the subject. “You want to drive back or do you want me to do it?”
“You do it, otherwise you’ll be telling somebody I’m Jimmy Gordon or somebody.”
He laughed. “Jeff Gordon. Stop over there by the truck stop. I need to take a leak anyway.”
She pulled to a stop in front of the store portion of the truck stop, and followed him in. By the time she was done in the bathroom the heavens had opened up and it was pouring rain. He was standing by the door, two bottles of water in his hands. He handed one to her as she approached.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” he said as he pointed the fob at the car and unlocked it. “You ready?”
“No.”
“Too bad!” he called as he dashed out. She ran out behind him and slid into the car as he opened the door. He slammed it and ran around to the other side and threw himself under the wheel.
“I hate the rain,” he said as he slicked the water from his hair. “It’s why I live in Arizona. I only have to deal with this shit a couple weeks a year.”
“It could be worse. You could be making the exchange now.”
“Fuck that. I’d send you out to do it,” he said as he cranked the car to life.
“Nuh-uh. I’m the bodyguard, remember?”
He chuckled as he put the car in reverse and backed out of the space.
***
They were in the big nothing between Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona, and they had been driving in the pouring rain the entire time. If it was still pissing down like this when he got back to Tucson, he was taking his damn car to Phoenix.
He looked over at Quinn and grinned. She had tipped her seat back and gone to sleep. “Some bodyguard you are,” he muttered, chuckling as she slowly raised her left hand and give him the finger.
He was doing about fifty, the torrential rain slowing traffic as the car’s wipers working furiously to clear the windshield. He didn’t notice the silver Ford pickup creeping up beside him, but even if he had, he wouldn’t have thought anything about it…until the passenger rolled down the window and began firing into the car.