“I know, Viper, I know.”

Winter and Viper watched as the missing part of their family became whole again.

Crying, Ton pulled Gavin toward him. He stiffened, but let his father hold him.

“Don’t let them take me back!” he cried.

“I won’t, son.” Ton rocked the man like he was a child.

Gavin didn’t respond. He couldn’t. He had passed out.

“Viper, the ambulance is here,” Dr. Price interrupted as he helped Gavin lie back down. “You and Ton can ride in the ambulance with him.”

They returned to the clubroom to let the EMT have enough room to get the stretcher inside. The broken furniture had been removed to a corner of the room by the brothers who were looking as anxious as Ton and Viper.

Winter held Viper’s hand as they watched the EMTs wheel the gurney down the hallway.

When the men parted, Train could see shock and horror on their faces as they silently watched the gurney being wheeled by. The man who had left their clubhouse one sunny day filled with joy and excitement about going to Treepoint had ended up being unrecognizable to them.

Gavin made no movement or sound until he passed Killyama. Then he reached his hand out, making the EMTs stop.

“Any woman who lets me sleep on her shoulder, smelling like I did, deserves a dozen roses.”

A grin tugged up at the corner of her lips. “It wasn’t so bad once I got the window down.”

“Do me a favor?” He waited until Killyama nodded. “There’s a girl—Ton has her name. Call her for me. Tell her I’m …” Gavin started shaking but managed to finish asking for his favor. “Tell her where I am, and that I need her.”

Killyama lifted her eyes to Train’s, and his heart twisted in regret that the woman who Gavin had left behind was no longer waiting.

“Dude, that’s one call that would be better coming from Ton. You don’t want to make me jealous, do you?” She placed a tender hand on his. “Get some rest and feel better.” With that, she stepped away, letting The Last Riders fall in behind him.

The ambulance’s lights cast a glow over the parking lot as Gavin was loaded inside.

“What are we going to tell him?” Train asked Shade as they stood, waiting until everyone pulled out. It wasn’t the first time the two had stood alone when a mission was over.

The adrenaline was gone, and in its place was a soul-wrenching discovery that the life Gavin had hoped to live was gone. The casket that had buried on that hillside might not be him, but the soul of the man he used to be wouldn’t be coming back.

Grief filled Train in a way he hadn’t expected, knowing the ambulance carrying the man inside wasn’t the one he had shared beer, women, and dreams with. The eyes that had passed by him hadn’t shown a flicker of acknowledgment. If that was hitting him hard, he could just imagine what Viper and Ton were going through.

“We’ll tell him the truth. Gavin’s strong, and Killyama was right; he’s a survivor. Those bastards didn’t break him. You can’t break steel.”

“What did you do with Crash?”

“Knox took him back to the clubhouse. We’ll keep him alive until Gavin can take his revenge.”

“The Reaper will have his revenge. Then The Last Riders can take theirs.”

“Crash will be praying The Last Riders will go first.”

The shape that Gavin was in, it would be a miracle if he survived the withdrawals.

“He better be careful of what he wishes for, because it just might come true.”

35

“It’s kind of small, isn’t it?” Fat Louise remarked, closing a kitchen drawer.

“Bitch, it doesn’t matter. I cook maybe once or twice a year.” Killyama stared around the tiny living room.

“You might decide to. Then what are you going to do?” Fat Louise came around the kitchen counter, her expression showing she liked the living room less than the kitchen.

“Do what I always do—use the microwave.”

“Let’s move on to the other one,” Sex Piston suggested. “Go look in the bathroom. You can’t even squeeze in to put your makeup on.”

“I’ll take the key back to the landlord.” She could deal with a small kitchen and living room, but she had to have a nice bathroom. It was her only necessity.

“This is the fourth one today. How many more are we going to look at today?” T.A. asked as she locked the apartment behind them.

“Just one more. If I don’t like it, we’ll have to come back another day.”

“We’ve made three trips to Knoxville. You sure Hammer wants to move? There has to be better apartments in town than what he’s sending you to.”

“He wants to move. It’s Mama who doesn’t. She calls Hammer all the time, asking him to talk me out of it.”

“Peyton’s ass will be waving good-bye to you before you admit to yourself she isn’t moving.” Sex Piston put on a large pair of blinged-out sunglasses.

“She’ll move.”

“Bet she won’t.”

“What do you wanna bet?” Killyama tilted her head, considering her offer.

“The shoes Lily lent you.” The black lens of the sunglasses turned toward her.

“No.” Those were her shoes. Lily had finally stopped asking for them back. She had already taken grief from her as payment for not giving them back.

“You don’t need them anymore, and I do. Stud gives me a little something extra when I wear them.”

She firmly shook her head. “Pick something else.”

“Then the beer cozy. That had to be cheap. Stud—”

“No.”

“Damn, bitch, nothing else you have is worth betting on.”

“I’ll bet my bike that Mama will move to Knoxville.”

Sex Piston lifted her sunglasses to rest them on her head. “You’d bet your bike, but not a pair of heels or a beer cozy?”

“Sure, why not? I know she will. Think about it while I go take the key back.”

The bitches were already in the car when she came back outside. Sex Piston must have decided not to bet her because she didn’t mention it again.

They didn’t even get out of the car to see the last apartment, driving past without stopping in the sketchy neighborhood. After that one, Killyama decided to take the reins for her apartment search.

“Hammer said it was up and coming.”

“Yeah, they come up to see it and run.” Crazy Bitch rolled her window down, waving at a homeless man who was carrying a sign asking for work. He was going from car to car at the red light with an empty milk jug, asking for donations. One look at Crazy Bitch brandishing her Taser, he backed off, as Killyama was trying to get her money out of her wallet.

“Stop that. I was going to give him some money so he could eat.” Killyama blew the horn to try to get him to come back.

“There’s a liquor a store a block back. Just go there and buy him a bottle; save the fucker a trip.” Crazy Bitch hung out of the window when he tried to approach them again.

Killyama heard zapping coming from the back seat as Crazy Bitch tried to scare him off again. Then, as the light turned green, she saw the homeless man picking up a rock to throw.