Page 78 of Never Wed an Outlaw

Got to a hundred and twenty before I looked at Firefly. He was just as confused as me, whispering in the darkness while he stroked Hannah's brow. “What the fuck?”

The cops never waited this long if they suspected something was up. And with our biker convey roaring out on the road, in a town that just had a murderous rampage at the hospital, they had to by now.

What. The. Fuck?

I repeated it as soon as the van started moving. We were on the road again, heading down the highway.

For once, the prayers I hadn't even said were answered.

We droveon through the night, only stopping for gas a couple times before we hit the Arkansas border, still a long ways to Tennessee. Didn't bother asking why we'd gotten away 'til we were filling up, roughly halfway home.

Found ourselves a hospital out in the sticks, where nobody would ask too many questions. Carried my girl in, told them to get on her, and waited with half the brothers in the lobby, holding my son for the very first time. The other boys helped Joker in, making sure he got patched up good and proper, faking a story about a hunting accident.

“Anybody gonna tell me why we ain't sitting in a cell right now?” I asked, trying my hand at giving the little man some formula.

“Bribes go a big way in the boonies,” Skin said. “So does smooth talking truth.”

“Truth?” My eyes narrowed, and I pulled the bottle from my son's mouth. “What'd you tell 'em?”

“That the bastards they were looking for fled on foot, up the road. Had them do a quick check on the Sicilian Brotherhood. They'd never heard of our MC before, but there was plenty online about the mafia for anybody to see. Every Sheriff and his boys in these small towns wants their chance to play hero. I told him he'd find one dead bastard back in the parking lot and some property damage we'd be happy to pay for. Said we were no angels, and asked him if it really mattered who the fuck we were, long as we kicked a global crime syndicate outta their town.”

I frowned. What he'd just done...crazy didn't begin to describe it. He'd effectively given them a full confession,something that would bite us big if the cops took the initiative to get the Feds involved.

“Wait. You're telling me they took the bait and agreed to keep their mouths shut, Skinny boy? How fuckin' lucky can we get?”

How much can we trust them to follow through?I thought, keeping it to myself.

He shook his head. “They didn't promise anything, Prez. But the older one, he said he'd seen a lot of shit before – used to be on the force in Baltimore. He'd heard about the big wolves running on his turf, seen plenty of evidence, and never caught any 'til now. Only took a few minutes for his men to head up the road and get the assholes who'd fled in custody. As for us, he didn't seem too interested, especially when I dropped fifteen-K for them to share.”

“Christ, Skin. Bribery. You got any clue how damned –“

“Risky? You bet it was. And it saved your ass, Prez. Saved all of us.”

How could I argue? We'd rolled the dice for the tenth time since we went off on this mission, and our winning streak held one more time.

“You know I wouldn't have gone this crazy if I thought there was another out. Didn't see any, especially with Joker bleeding in the backseat, next to that sick fuck still waiting for us outside. I wish there'd been another way, Prez. Really.”

“Quit wishing. Come here, brother.” I shuffled the baby over to one arm while I threw the other one around Skinny boy, hugging him tight.

We'd saved each other's asses plenty of times. This was one more, and I'd lost track of the tab a long time ago.

Skin pulled away, smiling, rifling a hand across the top of my kid's head. “Looks like he's gonna be strong, Prez. He's got your eyes.” He paused, leaning in closer, lowering his voice. “What the fuck are we gonna do with mafia man, anyway? Wait 'til we're home to figure it out?”

I looked down at my son, who'd had his fill for dinner, sucking on the bottle just a little while ago. Hugging him tighter, he squirmed a little in my arms, slowly easing into a heavy sleep.

I'd get him checked up as soon as some doc had an opening. He seemed healthy enough, at least. Thankfully, the jackals we'd downed hadn't done any lasting damage. But fuck, the scare they'd given everyone, plus the scars they'd left on my girl...

“Let me make sure my boy's ready for bed. Then we'll go out to the van, drive up the road, and finish this shit once and for all.”

Less than five minutes later,I rode with Skin while he drove the other van we'd commandeered, sitting in the passenger seat. We found ourselves a farm field about twelve miles up the road – abandoned, judging by the overgrown road leading up to the broken buildings.

“Stay put. Watch my son,” I said, handing the sleeping baby off to Skin. Firefly took my spot in the passenger seat a second later, ready to play big uncle, pulling double dutyso my kid would never be leaving our sight again.

I motioned for them to drive down the road. Not too far, but enough so there was no chance of my son hearing any screams.

Not like there was a lot of risk out here. We had wide open spaces, plus the walls of these vans were pretty thick. It wasn't a battle anymore, with Dom chained up like a dog in the back, awaiting his fate. Sixty and Crawl stood next to the van, near the back. They swung the doors wide open as soon as I nodded.

“No more. Please.” Asshole raised his hand, still conscious and strong enough to protect his eyes from the flashlight I shined in his face, stepping inside.

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