Chapter thirteen
King
King was dozing in his post-sex haze when his cell phone rang. He knew it was in his pants pocket and they were somewhere on the floor. Point being, it wasn’t in arm’s reach and he was too fucking comfortable to move. It eventually stopped wailing. Two seconds later it rang again. That was never a good sign. He slowly pulled Bianca’s arm from his chest and moved his leg from underneath Bones’. His body protested from being in one position too long.
Reaching his jeans, he pulled out his phone and saw it was Cobra, one of the club prospects. He was currently staked out in front of Dane’s office building, waiting to see if he turned up. So far, they’d found out that Dane hadn’t been seen for three weeks and that he was ‘working from home’. The fucking bastard was hiding, but with his resources he could be fucking anywhere.
He answered the phone, “Tell me you’ve got some fucking news.”
“Got more than that, brother. Just seen one of Riot’s enter the building. He’s in a suit and cleaned up a fair bit but I recognised his neck tattoo. Fucker’s go some shitty scorpion crawling up it.”
King’s fists clenched. Finally, they had a fucking lead.
“Stay there and if that bastard leaves before we get there, you follow and shoot out his tyres as soon as you can. We need that fucker in our hands. You in the truck?”
Bones and Digger were both sat up now, having heard his side of the conversation.
“Yeah, parked out front, opposite side of the road.”
He hung up and they each scrambled for their clothes. King took a second to make sure his gun was loaded. How Bianca slept through that commotion he didn’t know. He saw Bones scribble a note for her and then they were out of the door.
They couldn’t go on their bikes as they would attract too much attention and no doubt the Riot brother would recognise the noise. They needed him caught off guard. Sitting in traffic, he wanted to plough all these other fuckers off the road. He couldn’t understand how people did this everyday without losing their minds. Ten minutes later they pulled up behind Cobra. King got out and got in truck with Cobra.
“No movement yet,” Cobra informed him before he even had the door closed.
“Good eye, recognising him suited up.”
“Don’t know his name but I definitely saw him at their compound when we went after Nic.”
They sat watching the building. There were a few people coming out of the doors. A big bastard was following them out, looking like he was being strangled by his suit.
“Incoming.”
King watched closely as the guy, who he recognised as Track, Riot’s road captain, walked towards a parked piece of shit car. He had nothing in his hands so he obviously hadn’t been picking anything up. They followed three cars behind until they entered a residential area. People littered the sidewalks so they couldn’t T-bone the car to stop him.
Bones, the impatient fucker, swerved around their truck and rammed the back of the car. There was hardly any time to react before Bones was wrestling Track out of the driver’s seat. People were watching but he knew Bones wouldn’t give a flying fuck. Prez wouldn’t be happy, but they’d have to deal with him later.
He got out of the truck in time to see Bones retraining Track’s hands with a cable tie, his knee rammed in his back, keeping him pinned to the road. He hauled him up as Track swore and fought uselessly. King was sick of his voice already and took the opportunity to knock the fucker out. The burn in his knuckles was satisfying as they let his body hit the asphalt.
“You can put this piece of shit in the back of the truck now he’s a dead weight.” Bones smirked at him, “I’m going drive whatever type of car that’s supposed to be back to the compound. We might find something inside.”
“Fuck, let’s get out of here, there’s too many eyes.” He nodded towards the small groups gathered watching them.
He hauled Track over his shoulder and dumped him on the metal floor in the back of the truck. He was just coming round in time to see King slam the door shut, barring any escape. He laughed to himself as he joined Cobra in the front. He felt fucking high. They were finally getting somewhere with this shit. When they pulled in through the gates of the compound he saw Bianca in the yard talking to Shel. They didn’t need her seeing this cunt being dragged to an outhouse.
He got out and walked towards her. She hadn’t noticed them yet and she was looking intently at Shel’s cut. Shel was pointing at different patches. They needed to get one sorted for her soon. It was the ultimate sign of commitment to their old lady and let everyone know she was owned.
“Angel.” She spun towards him, a big smile spread across her face. She was always happy to see them. He pulled her into his arms, “I need you to go inside now, we’ve got some club business and you can’t be here.”
He could tell she wanted to ask questions and peer around his shoulder but knew better than that now. She pressed a kiss on his lips that was too short for his liking and followed Shel into the clubhouse.
Prez, Duke, Hollywood and Slam were on a run, so it was up to them and Razor to get the bastard talking. He loved this part. Digger was dragging Track across the yard while Bones was searching the car. He doubted they’d find anything useful.
Razor came out of the clubhouse and saw Track being hauled across the yard by Digger, “You three always bring me the best gifts; fresh meat!”
He laughed loudly and noticed the little color left in Track’s face drain away. Razor had a brutal reputation to rival theirs and clearly Track knew it too.
“Just gotta take Nic some ice before she rips my head off. She says my nephews are trying to boil her alive. I said they were already hot just like their uncle and she threw the bedside clock at me,” Razor sniggered. “I’ll be over in ten.”
King helped secure Track to the metal chair that was anchored to the floor in the second outhouse.
“You think you cunts will get anything out of me? Riot is gonna burn this place to the ground with you bastards in it.” Track threatened.
Bones swiftly spun around and shoved his face right up to Track’s, nashing his teeth and snarling like a rabid dog. Track let out a small yelp and jerked away, betraying himself.
Bones stood up and let loose a taunting laugh, “Yeah, if you are what is left of Riot, I’m not really worried.”
The sound of scraping drew their attention. Digger was perched on a work bench sharpening his favourite knife. It was wicked sharp and twelve inches long with a curved blade. It looked like it would carve skin from bone like a hot knife through butter. Digger’s eyes looked murderous as he circled Track, letting the knife travel along any exposed skin. Every time Track flinched, a small line of blood would trickle down.
“I’d sit very still if I were you. Don’t want you to loose too much blood too soon.”
Saying that, he put more pressure on the blade and cut a shallow line across Track’s nape. He would be able to feel the blood falling down his back and it would feel like it was a lot more than it actually was. King’s teeth were gritted as he let Bones and Digger work him into a state of terror.
He stayed casual in the corner and spoke plainly, “Your gonna die in here today. Nothing’s gonna change that. The only thing you can control is how long the pain lasts and how quick we finish you. Answer quickly and cut out any bullshit and death will be instant. Fuck with us and we’ll drag that shit out for hours, taking pieces off of you, one cut at a time.”
King enjoyed seeing his eyes widen as Track realised there was no out.
“You can’t…”
Bones cut off whatever Track was going to say with a solid punch to the face that burst his nose open. Blood poured, staining his beard and neck with crimson.
“We haven’t even asked any questions yet and you’re talking. We don’t give a shit about what you want to say. We only give a shit about what we want to hear.”
He thought this might turn into a long night.
Bianca
Bianca was back in their room trying to concentrate on the dimensions of the family room for the new house, but her mind was elsewhere. She knew her guys were here and probably doing something she wouldn’t want to witness, yet she wanted to know what was going on. She knew it must have something to do with Dane because before King blocked her view she saw Digger and Bones looking riled about something. They only got that agitated when it was something concerning her.
She loved how protective they were and how they wanted her sheltered. It made her feel cherished and she didn’t want that to change. They’d told her to trust them and she did, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to be kept up to speed with what was going on. She was desperate to reach out to her sister and nephew. It was going on three months since they’d left and she knew Maggie would have expected her to have contacted them by now. She was nervous that Maggie would do something hasty if she didn’t hear from her soon.
Neither of them has anticipated that Dane would go to the lengths he had, or had the influence that he clearly does. They figured it would be a couple of weeks, a month tops before Dane gave up and moved on. They never counted on his ego. He didn’t like to lose and his wife and son escaping his clutches was a blow to him. She’s accepted that the only way for any of them to move forward was for Dane to be taken out of the picture completely and now she was impatient for it to happen.
She couldn’t wait to introduce Maggie and Brandon to Digger, Bones and King. She could picture her sister’s face when she realised they were all hers and Brandon would finally know what a real man was like, not an abusive piss-ant like his father.
The room door opened.
She tried to hold her tongue, she really did, yet she still blurted out, “What’s going on? Did you find Dane? Can I find my sister now?”
She let the hope show on her face. Digger walked forward, cupped her face in his big hands and kissed her.
“Do you listen when we talk?”
“What? Of course I do!” She insisted.
“I’m not sure you do. We’ve told you, it’s club business. When there’s something we can share we will.”
“How is it club business even when it’s about me? Don’t I have a right to know what’s happening in my own life?”
Digger looked exasperated, “No, you don’t.” She went to protest and he covered her lips with his hand before she could speak. “We’ve explained how this works. It has to work this way to keep the people we love safe. You have to trust that we’re doing all we can and keep shtum.”
“I do trust you all…I promise. It’s just… I miss my sister.”
She ducked her head and tried to hold back the sobs that were pushing against her to let them free.
Digger pulled her in tight, and she felt Bones and King surround her as well. Their scents mingled, blanketing her in all that was them. A few stray tears escaped but she pulled herself together rapidly so they wouldn’t notice.
“You have no idea how much we want to be able to reassure you and tell you what we’ve found out, but getting just part of the overall picture isn’t helpful and what we could have told you might change. You’ve been through enough with this shit. It’s our turn now. Try to be patient, beauty.” Bones added.
“Okay,” she sniffled, cuddling closer into them, conceding for now.