There are two ways to initiate an attack: sneak in quietly, and do your best not to be seen as you take out the enemy one by one, or bust in—full throttle with guns a blazing and wipe out your adversaries in a matter of seconds. Considering the fact that Gus’s patience had worn thin, it came as no surprise he chose the latter. We’d lost four of our men in a week and had no idea who was truly behind the attacks. The man with all the answers was just within our reach, and we were all ready to find out exactly what he knew. Gus motioned for us to move forward as soon as we got off our bikes, and like a pack of hungry wolves, we advanced towards the warehouse, keeping our focus on all the windows and doors. Like most of the buildings in the area, it was old and dilapidated with local gang tags spray-painted all over the metal exterior, and most of the windows were already destroyed, making it easier to see inside. There was trash and debris strewn from the front to the back of the building, making it clear that Jasper had no pride in his business.

As soon as the front guard noticed us charging towards him, he lifted his weapon and pointed it in our direction. Unfortunately for him, Gus already had his Glock drawn, and before the guard even had a chance to fire, Gus pulled his trigger and killed him on the spot. By the time his lifeless body fell to the ground, four more guards made their appearance. Gus turned to T-Bone and Murphy and ordered, “Cover the back. Don’t want that motherfucker slipping through our fingers.”

With a quick nod, the pack divided, and in a matter of seconds we’d surrounded the entire building. Thankfully, we were on the outskirts of town, so we didn’t have to worry about being heard as the explosion of gunfire erupted around us. With each guard who was taken down, we continued to move forward until we were just a few yards away from the front door. Once he felt the coast was clear, Gus pointed to the door, giving the go ahead for me and Murphy to enter. As we stepped forward, Murphy turned to me and said, “I’ll go in first. Cover me.”

I followed him through the door, and we’d only taken a couple of steps when gunshots were fired from the left side of the room. As soon as I spotted the shooter, I aimed my gun at his head and squeezed the trigger, taking him out before he had a chance to fire off another shot. We surveyed the area closely with each new step while slowly continuing forward, and it wasn’t long before I noticed Gus, Riggs, and T-Bone slipping through one of the side doors. They fired off several additional shots behind us, and after they took out the last of the guards, T-Bone shouted, “Clear!”

With a quick nod, Murphy started towards the office door. He extended his hand, and just as he was reaching for the doorknob, a round of bullets blasted through the wooden door. As he lunged to his right, Murphy growled, “Goddammit!”

I shot off several rounds directly in the center of the door, and after I heard a loud thud against the floor, the gunshots stopped. With my Glock aimed straight ahead, I lifted my foot and slammed it into the door, and as it burst open, Jasper darted out of my line of sight. He slipped behind his bodyguard—a massive African-American male who was at least six foot seven with muscles bulging from head to toe, including a neck that was as thick as a tree stump. The guy was intimidating to say the least, and the fact that he had an AR pointed at my chest didn’t help matters. I inhaled a deep breath and tried to think about my next move when Murphy and the others came up behind me. The man’s eyes grew fierce, and like an animal that had been backed into a corner, it was clear that he was prepared to do whatever it took to fight his way out.

I kept the barrel of my gun trained at his head and said, “Drop it.”

“And why would I do that?” he asked as his finger twitched against the trigger. I wasn’t sure which surprised me more, his high-pitched, feminine voice or the fact that his fingernails were painted a bright shade of pink. It was then that I realized he wasn’t Jasper’s bodyguard after all.

“Because it’s the only way you’re gonna get out of here alive, Milton.”

He cocked his eyebrow as he spat, “We both know I’m not getting out of here alive, but at least I can take you with me when I go.”

“We’re not here for you,” Gus told him as he stepped up beside me. “We just want Jasper. Hand him over, and we’ll be on our way.”

“What do you want with him anyway?”

“That’s between him and me,” Gus growled.

“What is it about you Satan’s Fury boys? It’s like you think you own the whole goddamn city.”

“That’s because we do, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll hand over Jasper and be on your way.” Gus took a step towards him. “Cause if you don’t … and you even think about pulling that fucking trigger, I’ll do things to you that you can’t begin to imagine. Hell, you’ll be begging me to put a fucking bullet in your head, and once I’m done with you, I’ll go after every fucking person you’ve ever cared about or even thought of caring about, and I’ll do the same fucking thing to them. You got me?”

“Don’t listen to him.” Jasper’s beady, little eyes filled with panic as he pleaded, “If you hand me over to them, there’s no telling what they’ll do to me.”

Lowering his rifle, Milton turned and looked at Jasper as he said, “I tried to warn you, but you were just too damn stubborn to listen. Now, you’re gonna have to face this thing head on.”

“But it wasn’t me.” Jasper’s back stiffened as he continued, “I wasn’t the one who took out their guys.”

“Stop with the bullshit, Jasper. No one wants to hear your fucking lies, especially me,” Gus growled as he took the rifle out of Milton’s hand. “I know you’re in cahoots with someone, and one way or another, I’m gonna find out exactly who it is. So do us both a favor and save us some time and trouble. Tell me what I want to know.”

“I already told you. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Alright then. Have it your way.” Gus looked over to me and said, “Take them back to the clubhouse.”

“Wait! What?” Milton shrieked. “You said you’d let me go.”

I shook my head. “I said you’d walk out of here alive, and you are.”

“That’s bullshit, man. I didn’t have anything to do with this shit!”

“We’ll see about that,” Gus grumbled. “Get them out of here.”

As Murphy and I started to lead them out of the office, Riggs asked Gus, “What do you want us to do about cleaning up this mess?”

“You and Blaze gather up anything we might need out of here … computers, files, whatever—and load it in the truck.” He looked over to T-Bone and instructed, “You and Cyrus help the prospects clean the area. Make sure you clear our tracks, then light a match to the place.”

“You got it.”

Murphy and I zip-tied Milton and Jasper’s hands behind their backs, then took them out to the SUV. They both reminded me of an old married couple when Milton glared at Jasper and whined, “I’ll never forgive you for this.”

With a roll of his eyes, Jasper mumbled, “You weren’t complaining when I bought you that fucking BMW last week.”

“That’s because I didn’t know it was blood money that bought it.”

“Blood money, huh?” I growled as I grabbed Milton and shoved him in the back of the SUV. Glaring at him with all the sarcasm I could muster, I added, “Gotta wonder how you knew about that.” And then I slammed the door.

After that, Milton didn’t say another word. Once we had them both secured in the vehicle, we drove straight to the clubhouse and led them both inside. While Murphy put Milton in a room, I took Jasper on a little tour of the building, starting with Boon’s holding room. When I eased the door open and the foul odor of the room started billowing out, Jasper winced with repulsion. It was clear from his expression that he wasn’t prepared to see his employee bound to a wall with blood and bruises covering his entire body. In his weakened state, Boon was barely able to lift his head, but when he noticed Jasper standing there, utter defeat flashed through his swollen eyes. “Fuck, boss. I was hoping you were gonna find a way to get me outta here.”

“I might’ve been able to help you if you hadn’t run your goddamn mouth, dumbass. I should’ve known I couldn’t trust you.”

“You don’t understand. I took all I could take, boss. I really did,” Boon complained.

Remembering how hard he’d fought to keep his boss’s secret, I turned to Boon and asked, “You reckon he could do any better?”

“Got no idea.”

Jasper’s entire body stiffened when I replied, “Well, don’t worry. I’m about to find out.”

Without giving either of them a chance to respond, I closed the door. Sensing that things were about to take a turn for the worse, Jasper started to resist, but he didn’t get very far as I tugged him down to the next room. I opened the door, revealing Hoss bound to his chair exactly the way I’d left him. Jasper’s eyes widened with horror as he gasped, “What the fuck did you do to him?”

Ignoring Jasper’s comment, Hoss turned his attention to me as he pleaded, “See. I told you how to find him. I done what you asked. Now, will you let me out of this fucking chair? It’s killing me, man. I can’t take it any longer.”

“What the hell is this place?” Jasper asked.

I closed the door and shoved Jasper further down the hall. All of the holding rooms were taken which left only one empty room in the hall. While I’d never used it during an interrogation, I decided it was the perfect place for Jasper. I opened the door and pushed him inside my storage room. As soon as he caught sight of all my tools and devices, he started to cry and thrash about from side to side as he shouted, “Oh, God! What the fuck are you going to do to me?”

The man had lost all self-control, and I had no problem bringing him back to reality. I knocked him out with a swift uppercut to the jaw, causing him to flail backwards onto the floor and fall like a toppled tree. While he was out, I removed his zip ties and replaced them with metal cuffs, then lifted him off the ground. Once I’d secured his cuffs to a hook in the ceiling, I released him, leaving him swinging from his restraints. After several seconds, he finally started to come around. When his eyes started to flutter open, I said, “Welcome back.”

His voice was shaking as he muttered, “Man, you gotta listen to me. This is all just a big misunderstanding. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“Um-hmm.”

“No! Seriously. You’ve gotta listen to me! I didn’t do anything. I’ve been careful. I’ve followed the rules. I’ve kept my distance and stayed out of your territory. I’ve done right by Satan’s Fury. I swear it.”

As I reached for a pair of gardening sheers, I told him, “I should warn you, Jasper. I don’t have much patience for liars.”

“But I ain’t—”Jasper stopped midsentence as soon as I took a step towards him. His face contorted into a painful grimace when I placed the sheers at the tip of his finger, snipping off the first inch or so. It was a subtle but extremely painful technique that I’d use to subdue my target, and as soon as the pain started to register in his brain, he bellowed, “Oh, fuck me! You cut off my fucking finger!”

Ignoring him, I placed the sheers further down on his finger, applying pressure as I growled, “I need you to listen to me, Jasper.”

“Please!”

“Jasper, are you listening to me?” I pushed as I pressed down a little firmer, causing his finger to bleed even more.

“Yes! I’m listening!”

“Good.” Without releasing the pressure on the sheers, I continued, “Now that I have your attention … I want you to think back to Boon and Hoss. I want you to think about the hell they’ve been through. And I gotta tell ya—they both went through a lot before they finally started talking, but the fact is … they answered my questions. Hell, they told me exactly what I needed to know and more. And so will you. This pain you’re feeling right now is nothing. It’s just a drop in the hat compared to what you’ve got coming if you don’t give me every bit of Intel on this guy.”

“You don’t understand … He’ll kill me if I breathe a word about him.”

“Oh, hell. You really are thick in the head,” I scoffed. “Don’t you get it? You’re dead either way, asshole. There’s no walking away from this, but you tell me what I want to know and I’ll take it easy on ya … A quick shot to the head and it’s done.” My voice grew cold and unsympathetic as I continued, “But you hold out on me, and I’ll butcher you—inch by tiny inch—until you finally start talking. And Jasper … you will talk. Don’t think for one second that you won’t.”

A look of defeat crossed his face as he replied, “I’ll tell you everything, but knowing who he is won’t change anything. This guy is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. He’s got an entire army at his fingertips and the type of money most people only dream about. You don’t have the kind of manpower you’re gonna need to go up against him. Before it’s all said and done, he’ll kill every last one of ya, and you’ll never see him coming. You might as well face it, tough guy, you and your fucking club are done, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”