“Well, I guess that answers at least one of my questions. I take it Butch is there with you,” Frederick said.
“Listen, f**ker, if you even think—”
The sound of Cheryl screaming, begging cut through the air. Butch froze. His woman was in danger and in pain.
He shut the f**k up.
“Now, I see we have your attention,” Frederick said. “In case you haven’t noticed it’s a simple yes or no answer.”
Butch stared at Tiny.
“Do you want Cheryl back?”
“Yes,” Tiny said.
“Good. Will you do anything to get her back?”
Tiny returned his stare. The anger in his eyes was pure to see. “Yes.” Butch would owe Tiny and the club big. He wasn’t worried about that.
“Good. You see, we can do this. This is what I like about communicating. We can get what we want and work through the problems.”
Hearing Frederick’s voice made Butch want to hurt the man. He had Cheryl and was using her to get to The Skulls. Butch had forced their hand, and now they were at Frederick’s mercy. The club either took Cheryl back or they listened to them die. Butch wasn’t under any illusions that Frederick would let them live.
“What do you want?” Tiny asked.
“I just want you all to know that if the answer is no I will kill Cheryl’s son. He’s playing nicely at the moment with some colors. You’ve got a nice son here, Alex.”
Looking toward Alex, the pain was so evident on his face. “Leave my son alone.”
Frederick sighed. “Well it all depends on one thing really.”
Silence filled the room. Butch rubbed at his eyes, waiting for the revelation.
“What do you want?” Tiny asked.
“Simple. I’ll give you back Cheryl and the kid unharmed, and in return you work for me. I’ve got drugs, weapons, money, and girls that need looking after. You work for me, no one else.”
It was what Devil had had to do. Frederick controlled the MCs.
“The deal expires within the next two minutes. You don’t give me the answer I want, I start breaking fingers. I’ll make Cheryl and Matthew hurt well before I terminate them. Once I start you will not get the chance to make me stop.”
“Deal,” Tiny said, without hesitation. No one wanted to listen to the torture Frederick was sure to dish out, or at least get one of his men to do the job.
“Good. I’m pleased. Now, I’ve got a shipment of girls coming in three weeks’ time. Devil and his gang are housing half of them. Tiny, you’ll take the other half. I want them in a safe house and earning their keep.”
Butch tuned out as Frederick started to make the rules.
“Also, to protect our investment I may as well tell you that I’ve got men everywhere. If I think you’re reneging on the deal, I pull the plug on your women and your kids. Lash and Angel look beautiful on their Italian vacation. A bullet can kill all three of them just as easily.”
Nash held Sophia a little tighter.
“No one runs away or tries to fight. If you even look like you’re planning shit, I will end you.”
“What about the f**king social worker and the cops with the charges?”
“Consider them gone as a gift of friendship. Don’t think you can manipulate me, Tiny. I will hurt everyone you ever care about. Cheryl and Matthew will be back at the fair within thirty minutes. I want you there in forty. Good day, gentlemen.”
The call ended. Staring at the phone, Butch looked around at his brothers.
Like Devil and the Chaos Bleeds crew, Tiny and The Skulls were now owned by Frederick Gonzalez. It was all his fault.
****
Later that night
Tiny downed another shot of scotch. It was his fifth in the last few hours, but it still wasn’t doing what he wanted it to do. The only way for him to look at Eva was for him to be blind drunk. He’d fallen into Frederick’s trap, and now he was owned just like Devil. Listening to a woman and kid get tortured was not his idea of fun. Frederick would have killed them just to prove a point.
“Why did you do that?” Alex asked, stepping into the office. After the call and forty minutes passed up they all headed back to the picnic to find Matthew and Cheryl alone and unharmed. Butch stood beside them as if he was part of the club even though he wasn’t yet. Tiny was allowing him to come back to the clubhouse, and Lash was on his way home. They’d be taking a vote very soon on allowing Butch to come back. Cheryl and Matthew needed protection.
With the new threat Tiny had no choice but to call Lash and Angel home. He couldn’t protect them in Italy whereas in the club, he could. They were going on lockdown until he’d talked with Devil. Shit was about to hit the fan in a big way.
“Bastard had your kid and Butch’s woman. Gonzalez had two winning cards.” He stared at his friend.
“You didn’t give Butch his patch back. Why are you waiting for the club to make a decision? You wanted this.”
“If I recall correctly, you wanted me to blackmail Butch. I couldn’t do it, but I can’t have a man who’s prepared to leave when the going gets tough. I need to know Butch wants to come back before I allow him back,” Tiny said. “I’m not into giving free rides to men.”
Alex took a seat opposite. “Butch made a mistake, but he’ll be loyal to the club.”
Tiny shrugged. “I don’t care what he’ll be, Alex. He left the club, and like Nash, he’ll prove himself as one of the brothers before I give him back his patch.” He poured another large shot into his glass. In his lap was Butch’s leather jacket. Tiny wanted to give the man his jacket back, but he stopped himself. He wasn’t wrong in making Butch earn his spot back.
“Eva doesn’t blame you for what happened,” Alex said, changing the subject.
“For once in my life I want her life to not be hard. Every time I think we’re getting there a newfound f**king enemy emerges. I mean, shit, we’ve not even got Gash out of f**king prison. He’s going to be coming to a club that’s owned by a crazy ass**le.” Tiny threw his glass against the opposite wall. His club was no longer his own. They were all owned by Gonzalez, to do his bidding like good little minions.
“We’ll deal like we always do.”
“He holds all the cards.”
“And we’ve got a lot of favors. We’re not a small club, Tiny. Devil is pissed. Together The Skulls and the Chaos Bleeds can fight it all. Gonzalez is going down. Ned Walker is pissed as well. I just got off the phone with him. He’s been threatened, too. There are men out there wanting to end this f**ker,” Alex said. “He threatened the kid I’ve only known for a couple of weeks. I’m not going to stand down while he takes everything I hold dear. I’m not wired that way.”