Chapter Sixteen
(Jax)
“That halfwit is going to get what’s coming to him,” I seethed.
“He’s no fool Jax. He’s unpredictable as a snake in the grass,” Dino cautioned.
I looked at my watch; it was nearly 5pm. “We will drill him for information all night if we have to. I swore to protect Chloe and I will.”
As ready as we would ever be, we started up our bikes and hit the road. Dino and I tore down the highway with the determination of an army.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the front as the sun had almost set.
“Ready?” I asked, as I turned to Dino and removed my jacket.
Dino nodded. Then headed over, opened the opened the steel door to Roy’s garage and entered.
I followed, looking left and right to see if Roy’s apprentice is still around – the place was clear. I closed and locked the steel latch of the door behind us and we walked across the cement floor to find Roy.
A pair of shabby, worn boots were sticking out from under a pristine 65 Chevy Camaro.
The sound of a steel door opening had alerted Roy that he had company he rolled himself out from under the car.
“How are you, Roy?” I asked.
He stood up as we walked his way. He wasn’t at all happy to see us and shoots me a fiery glare. “Is there a problem, Mr. Coltrane?” he asked with a sly and smug grin. An unlit cigarette hung in the corner of Roy’s mouth as he leaned up against the bonnet of his car, cool and indifferent.
“The small matter of a kidnapping Mr Harris. The kidnapping of your woman’s daughter. I thought it only right to tell you about it,” I said, accusingly.
Roy became instantly defensive. “You think you’re going to scare me Jaxson. I haven’t done anything the cops can come after me for.” He withdrew a filthy towel then wiped grease and sweat from his forehead. “What have you guys got on me? Nothing.”
“Who’s got her, Roy?” I stepped toward him, my voice a threat.
“How should I know? Even if I did, I’m no a rat.” Roy sneered.
“You’re the only person that knows who her father was aside from her mother. And you want revenge on me. Look at you. You’re sweating like a guilty motherfucker.”
“Why do you care about her anyway? My guess is the notorious Jaxson Coltrane has gone soft for a woman.”
“Shut your mouth. Just shut the fuck up!”
“You sayin’ I’m wrong? If it isn’t true, forget her then. She can go to hell for all I care. That girl is dead to me,” Roy said with a disturbing flicker of contempt in his eyes.
“If you don’t tell me Roy, you are a dead man. I’ll repeat the question on more time. Who took her? And, where’d they take her?”
“What’s it worth to you?” Roy lit a cigarette, turned and started to shammy the bonnet only half listening. “Anyway, this was you’re doing, not mine.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you made the mistake of messing with me,” Roy replied simply, his back still turned on us, looking down at his car.
While I distracted Roy, Dino walked around to the open driver’s side of the car and pulled the keys out of the ignition.
“Hold on. What the fuck do you think you’re doing with my keys?”
Dino tossed me the keys as Roy approached him. “Hand me the goddamn keys, you fucking cock-sucker.” Roy instantly started to sweat profusely. “This is a 65 Chevy. Too good for the likes you.” He threw his arms up in the air and the shammy went flying. “What the fuck is this? Give me my fucking keys!” I threw the keys back to Dino and Roy shoved me hard toward the door. “GET OUT. GET OUT OF HERE!” he yelled in a rage.
Dino’s fist flew in and connected with Roy’s jaw.
Roy doubled over for a second with the impact of the blow and then straightened again, fuming mad.
“You beat Chloe and nearly raped her like a whore, and all I asked you to do was to stay out of our goddamn way. I will take great pleasure in watching you meet the fate you deserve.” I sneered.
“Who the hell are you, Jaxson Coltrane?” Roy asked.
“I’m the guy who’s going to drive you into the ground unless you tell me where the fuck Chloe has been taken.”
“Is that so?” As Roy straightened his body, he grabbed the torch to the oxy – acetylene bottle next to a vintage motorcycle covered in a tarp that stood near the side wall. He flicked his lighter to ignite the flame. Thrusting the flame toward us in warning.
Dino and I stepped backward to distance ourselves from the intense blue flame that Roy was slicing through the air at us. In just a few seconds, we were just a few feet from the back wall. I looked to my left as we reached the blue point engine stand beside me. I gave Dino a look just before I grabbed a metal five-litre can of paint thinner and threw it at Roy so we could escape.
Roy ducked before it could hit him, and the thinner bottle hit the floor with a thud, rapturing the bottle which started to leak over the concrete floor.
“You fucking idiot that could have hit my car!”
Dino and I had bolted toward the front door.
Now completely enraged, Roy dropped the torch which unbeknownst to him was still lit, to chase us.
As we passed him, I noticed the flame. I shouted at Roy but he was too worked up to listen.
I heard the slam as Roy chased after us out the door. “Fuck it, ok! You could have wrecked my car just then you goddamn idiot! I don’t give a fuck about you and that girl. The Blood and Bones MC have her. She’ll still be at their clubhouse. If she’s still alive.”
Dino and I heard him but we legged it toward our bikes. No way were we sticking around for the surprise Roy was about to receive.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the deafening sound of an explosion and crashing came from Roy’s garage.
All three of us ducked for cover.
“Fucking Hell!” Roy yelled.
Dino and I stopped in our tracks. I already knew exactly what had happened.
Moving like lighting, Roy legged it back to the entrance and swung open the door to raging fire inside. As he did, he let in a burst of oxygen that made the flames that set his car ablaze burn ever more fiercely and the blow forced Roy back. A blinding flash of yellow and orange light escaped through the door.
Dino and I stared, stunned for a moment, at the flames in the garage.
“Shit noooo! Fucking give me a hand! Holy fuck, my car!” Roy bellowed, waking us from our trance.
There was nothing Dino and I could have done even with a fire extinguisher and a water hose. The garage was a renovated wooden barn, filled with paint thinner, paint, and vehicles with engines full of fuel, and did it ever blaze. His car had exploded due to the thinner that had been ignited over the garage floor.
It was an awe inspiring explosion of fire. Thick smoke and the chemical stench started to emerge from the building.
“You got any insurance on this place?” Dino shouted with a laugh.
Neither us felt any guilt. Roy had brought this upon himself.
Dino and I mounted our bikes and I stared over at Roy for one final indulgence. I savored the moment as he stamped his feet on the ground in anger and frustration. If I had watched any longer, I was sure I would have seen him boil in his own skin. And if I were completely honest, I would have enjoyed it greatly.
As we rode off, I glanced over in my rear-view mirror to look back at the scene. Roy stood, hands on top of his head in resigned defeat as he watched his entire business go up in smoke. Finally, his hand flopped onto his thighs as plume of yellow-white flame flared and invaded the air.
He got what he deserved. My only regret was that I couldn’t stay longer to watch him suffer. Chloe needed me. I only hoped we weren’t already too late.
We accelerated as we hit the main road.
Dino asked when we stopped at a red light, “What’s the plan, Jax?”