AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ella tells me more about Dylan, praising Marilyn for all the help she gives her with watching him as we make it up the track toward her home. I offer to pitch in if she ever feels tired and needs to rest. I remember when Tayen was pregnant, all she ever wanted to do was sleep. And when I leave Ella by her lodge to head through the trees back to my people, I can’t help feeling a little disappointed.
Church is tense, but it don’t take us long to reach a decision. The girls ain’t gonna be at the fight. In all fairness, the option was never really on the table. And if that means we have to tie them up in the basement then so be it.
Hawker is a bigger problem. Now he knows about the fight, we have to make sure he doesn’t do anything to stop it. Squealer suggests tying him up in the basement too, but the aftermath of that ain’t worth the drama.
Instead, we decided to keep eyes on him, same way he is on us, and that job goes to the temper twins.
I leave church and ride up to my cabin. I need to take a run before I hit a session in the gym with Jessie. Hell knows if Autumn’s gonna show his face, but I can’t let that shit bother me. I’m juggling enough balls in the air without throwing him to the mix too.
I quickly get changed, put in my earphones, and head off on my jog around the perimeter. I wonder if I’ll see Shaniya when I pass the reservation, she’ll be back at the village helping Tayan by now. She’s always helping people, it’s when she seems at her happiest. If I had any worries about her settling in around here, the girl’s little display of union earlier has put all that to rest.
I’m almost at the top of the hill where our boundaries meet when something slams me hard in the back. Caught off guard I topple forward, only just managing to stop myself from falling, and I instantly take a defensive stance when I spin around. A man with more muscle than brain cells stands in front of me. His size ain’t an advantage on me, but the gun in his hand that’s pointed in my direction is definitely a problem.
I hold up my hands while trying to gauge the right moment to roundhouse kick that mother fucker right out of his grip.
“I’m not here to shoot you, I’m here to give you a message,” he tells me in a thick accent that suggests he works for Alteo.
“Most people prefer a text,” I eye the gun he’s holding steadily in his hands. “You got three seconds to tell me what that message is before I force you into using that thing.”
“Cooper wants you to throw the fight,” he tosses an envelope at me, and I open it, pulling out the contents. There’s a photo of Shaniya, sitting on the back of my bike. It must have been taken while she was waiting for me outside the gas station last night. Then there’s another of us together the night of Maddy’s party.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask him through clenched teeth, scrunching the photos up in my fist.
“Cooper knows the girl means something to you, so he’s prepared to offer you an opportunity.”
“I ain't a fuckin’ traitor, and you’re a walking dead man for coming on to our territory.”
“Cooper won’t build on the reservation, and the Indians can stay, he’ll even throw you and your Native bitch enough cash to get out of town and go somewhere your brothers will never find you,” he offers, ignoring my threat.
“You really think I’d turn my back on my club?” I laugh at the stupid son of a bitch.
“If you have any sense, yes.”
“I’ll be seeing Kullolli five days from today, and the only thing I’ll be throwing is a knock-out fucking punch.”
“You make a mistake.” He goes to move, but I move faster, kicking the gun out of his hand and snatching it up. I grip the fucker by his throat and slam him down into the dirt.
“Now you can take this message back to Cooper from me,” I press the barrel of the gun deep into his temple.
“What’s that?” The sadistic son of a bitch laughs back at me.
“You are the fucking message.” I pull the trigger, turning the fucker’s lights out for good. Sitting back on my knees, I wipe the blood off my face as I pull my cell out of my back pocket and dial-up Jessie.
“Troj, someone better be fuckin’ dying,” he answers, sounding breathless. I’m guessing him and Maddy are making up.
“Will you take someone already dead?” I answer, staring down at the sorry fucker in front of me.
“Hurry up and shoot your load, I’m waiting for ya top left of the perimeter.” I hang up, getting up and taking a seat on one of the fallen trees then lighting myself a smoke while I wait for him.
This could really fuck things up. We had an agreement with Cooper, and now I’ve just killed one of Alteo’s fucking men.
Jessie arrives not long after, looking a lot less angry than he did when he left church.
“What the fuck is this?” He looks confused when he sees the half headed man on the ground in front of me.
“One of Cooper’s. He came to offer me a deal, wants me to throw the fight.” I hand him the crumpled-up pictures.
“This one was taken on the compound,” Jessie notices, and all that anger comes back to him with full force.
