The heavy sounds of feet on stairs woke Jess. With no windows, her sense of time was all messed up and she had no idea if it was morning or night. When Karen and Greg appeared at the bottom of the steps, Karen stepped farther into the room as Greg crossed his arms and stood on the last step, watching.

 

“You severed the nerves in Marc’s arm, you cunt,” Karen snarled. “He may never have use of that arm again.”

 

“Boo fucking hoo,” Jess sneered. Karen was Marc’s old lady, a rough and tumble bitch about her mother’s age, but not so heavily built. Jess liked Marc, or did until he helped keep her captive, but she never cared for Karen. There was just something about her bleach blonde hair, blood red lips and nails, cattiness and her slightly slutty ways that rubbed her wrong.

 

“If he can’t ride for three months, he is going to lose the vice-presidency. I worked too hard to get where I am for some over privileged little bitch to take that away from me,” Karen said as she advanced on Jess.

 

Jess began to back up, not wanting to tangle with Karen because she had the reputation of being one tough bitch who loved to fight, and she had beat the shit out of more than one woman in the club. “You touch me and Val will kill you.”

 

Karen smiled. “Uh-uh. That shit won’t fly anymore. Jason called him last night and told him what you did. I can’t kill you, but Val won’t care if I take it out of your ass.”

 

“Greg! You can’t let her—”

 

“Let her, what?” he interrupted as Jess continued to back up. “Marc was my best friend. We drew straw to see who was going to kick your ass first. She won.”

 

“Help!” Jess screamed.

 

Greg smiled nastily. “Keep screaming. Everyone’s at the hospital with Marc. It’s just the three of us here now.”

 

Jess turned and bolted for the bathroom, but she couldn’t get the door closed before Karen slammed into it with her shoulder, trying to force her way in. Jess held her own against Karen for a moment, but then she began to slowly lose the battle of strength. It was a full size bathroom and she couldn’t get her feet against anything to brace to prevent her shoes from slowly sliding backwards on the tile floor.

 

The two women strained in silence for a moment before Jess suddenly gave up, stepping back quickly and allowing the door to bang open, causing Karen to stumble into the room badly off balance by the sudden release in resistance. Jess grabbed her as she passed, adding to her momentum and shoving her toward the bathtub.

 

The woman grabbed Jess as she passed, pulling her with her the last two steps before she crashed into the tub, tearing down the shower curtain as she partially fell in, dragging Jess down with her. Jess’s arm bounced painfully hard off the spout as she scrambled to hold her balance, trying to prevent Karen’s weight from dragging her down. Jess shoved at Karen, trying to get away, but the two women were tangled in the curtain as they grappled, each trying to not fall the rest of the way in the tub while at the same time preventing the other woman from gaining any advantage. After a moment of each woman trying to shove the other the rest of the way into the tub, Karen lost her footing and fell over the side.

 

“You fucking bitch!” Karen screamed as she turned, still holding Jess by her shirt to prevent her from escaping. Jess was braced against the side of the tub with one hand to prevent herself from falling into the tub with Karen as she used her free hand to battle woman.

 

When Karen realized what Jess was doing, she jerked Jess’s hand down, causing Jess to tumble into the tub on top of her. They twisted and turned, wrestling with each other, neither able to gain a clear advantage, the tub confining them and preventing them from escaping or inflicting significant damage upon their opponent as first one, then the other, was on top. Frantic to get free from the trap they had fallen into, they slipped and slid about in the bottom of the deep tub, grasping and holding, pushing and shoving, as they clawed at each other, their arms and legs tangled as they tumbled and fought to subdue their opponent, wrapping themselves ever tighter in the curtain.

 

Jess cried out as Karen thrust up hard with her hips as she twisted, turning her and slamming her hard into the back of the tub, causing pain to radiate outwards from her shoulder in a white hot flash. She was desperate to escape the snarling, spitting wildcat in the tub with her, but they were hopelessly ensnarled in the curtain. When she felt hair in her hand, she tightened her grip and jerked Karen’s head sideways into the wall. Her hand was caught between the woman’s head and the wall of the tub, and she cried out in anguish once more, but Karen’s scream of pain was far louder.

 

Karen’s struggles slowed slightly, giving Jess a momentary advantage and she twisted hard, rolling back on the top of the other woman. Karen still had her by the shirt, but she still had Karen by the hair, so she pulled Karen’s head up and slammed it hard into the bottom of the tub.

 

The other woman shrieked again as she clawed at Jess, tearing her shirt, putting her hand under Jess’s chin and forcing her head back to prevent her from slamming her head down again. Jess felt like her neck was going to break, so she grabbed the woman’s arm with her free hand and tried to pull it away from her face. Karen released her hold on Jess’s chin and grabbed the hand still tangled in her hair and, in an amazing feat of strength and pain endurance, ripped Jess’s hand free. Her advantage lost, Jess struggled to break free from Karen’s grip, the enraged Karen clutching at her to keep her pinned in the tub with her to prevent her escape. Jess levered herself up and finally managed to break free of Karen’s grip enough to tumble over the side of the tub and to the floor. As she rose, Karen still clinging to her like a leach, she could hear Karen struggling to get the rest of the way out of the tub while holding onto her prey. As Jess got to her feet, Karen found her own, and drove Jess to the floor again just outside the bathroom door.

 

Jess felt the other woman’s grip loosen when they hit the hard wood floor, and she turned, kicking at Karen, but the other woman seemed to be immune to pain. Karen was bleeding from the side of her head and scratches on her cheek as she threw herself at Jess once more, each grabbing the other by the hair.

 

The women screamed in pain as they tore at each other, their rage boiling over as instinct, the kill or be killed responses, flooded their bodies with hormones. As they grunted, strained and thrashed on the floor, they each realized there was no surrender, no quarter given or asked, and the fight would only end in the utter defeat of one of them.

 

Something snapped in Jess. Karen became Luke and she was once again lying in the pool of the murdered woman’s blood as they fought for his knife. Her world seemed to slow as she looked into the snarling face of Karen, but not Karen, the woman’s blood matted hair replaced by the sneering face of the blood-covered Luke.

 

Jess’s scream was more animal than human as she released Karen’s hair and began to scratch her face and chest, her nails opening up deep red gouges in Karen’s skin. Karen reared back while shrieking in pain, but didn’t release her grip on her opponent’s hair. Jess twisted, no longer concerned with pain, forcing Karen onto her back. She tried to drive a fist hard into Karen’s face, but with her head being held down, she couldn’t deliver her punch with any significant power. Jess powered herself to her feet, pulling Karen up with her by her shirt, the buttons flying like shrapnel as the fabric ripped. Still bent over at the waist, Jess drove Karen back, her legs pumping hard until Karen’s ass hit the pool table. Jess continued to drive forward, all rational thought gone as she fought for her life.

 

Her back breaking as Jess bent her backwards over the table, Karen finally released Jess’s hair as she sought to relieve the pressure on her back. Finally free, Jess grabbed the other woman by the neck and head and spun her around in a half arc to throw her to the floor. The fight was going out of Karen, but she wasn’t out of it yet, and she tried to rally by holding onto Jess’s arm. Jess tried to jerk her arm free but only succeeded in only in pulling them both off balance. The two women crashed to the floor in a tangled mass where they kicked and ripped at each other, muscles straining to the breaking point as they each took the other into an awkward head lock.

 

Locked together, unable to retreat, they grunted and kicked as they rolled and tumbled in near silence, unable to spare the strength or breath to scream or curse, each intent on destroying the other. Jess strained, grunting in effort as she tried to roll Karen over again to release the pressure on her neck when she felt Karen’s grip slip. Suddenly Jess’s head popped free of Karen’s hold and she was able to drive one, two, then three hard punches into Karen’s face as she held her. Karen grabbed at her, trying to stop the blows, but Jess dodged her grasping hand and fired another right into the woman’s face.

 

Karen began to cower, covering her face with her hands. Jess hit her twice more before the red mist subsided, Karen’s sobs finally breaking through her frenzy. Panting hard, she rocked back onto her heels, her knees to either side of Karen for a moment before staggering to her feet. She was covered in blood, both hers and Karen’s, and her shirt was ripped open at the shoulder and partially down the front, but compared to Karen, she was the picture of health. Karen rolled to her side, drawing her legs up into loose fetal position as she sobbed in pain and defeat, her shirt flopping open and exposing her breasts, the entire side of her head covered in blood as more leaked from her nose and mouth. Jess wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, tasting blood, as she took a step back and looked at Greg.

 

She knew Karen was out of the fight, but there was still Greg to deal with. Still panting hard, shaking in fear and rage as she tried to decide what to do, she noticed his thundering erection creating a noticeable bulge in his pants.

 

“Come fuck me,” she cooed while stepping away from the sobbing Karen, pulling open her shirt and throwing her ripped bra away, her hard breathing making her breasts heave.

 

“What?” Greg asked, not knowing what to do. If he went to help Karen, Jess would be able to slip past him and escape.

 

“I’m so fucking horny right now. I need a hard cock in me. Please…I need you to come fuck me long and hard,” she breathed as she sashayed up to him, exaggerating the swing in her hips.

 

Greg licked his lips, unable to believe his luck. He had just spent the last five minutes watching two incredibly sexy women go at it hammer and tongs in the most brutal catfight he had ever witnessed, and now the winner wanted him! Hell, if I’m really lucky, it will turn into a threesome, he thought as he stepped off the bottom step, Jess smiling at him and opening her arms to him to, the shirt opening farther to reveal even more of her breasts. As he stepped in close, unbuckling his pants to fuck her like she had never been fucked before, he sensed her fast rising knee, but it was too late.

 

Her knee connected solidly with Greg’s balls, and he went down with a grunt, first to his knees then to his side as he gripped himself with both hands. With a groan he puked onto the floor, but Jess didn’t notice as she was already at the top of the steps.

 

***

 

Scott floored the pickup as it swung onto the gravel drive leading to the Ingersson home, the engine wailing as the truck fought for traction. Angela was in the seat beside him riding shotgun, the other six brothers in the back. It was late afternoon and, after a lot of discussion, it was decided that a frontal assault was their best bet.

 

They had met ten minutes ago at the nearby mini-mart, where they had piled into Scott’s pickup to ride the last three or four miles to Val’s farm.

 

As the Ford skidded to a stop, the men bailed out of the back, Rick running around to the back of the house, Randy taking up guard at the front, while Scott, Ed, and the other brothers banged through the door, weapons drawn. Val’s wife and four kids were sitting at the kitchen table, eating.

 

“What the fuck?” the woman cried, moving to protect her kids. “Ed, what the fuck are you doing?”

 

“Don’t do anything stupid, Jodi. Just send the kids upstairs.”

 

“I don’t want to, Momma. What’s going on?” the oldest boy, a fair-haired lad of about ten asked, his eyes wide and full of tears.

 

Jodi turned toward her son. “Just go upstairs. Take your sisters with you. You four go up there and play. You can watch TV if you want. Just stay up there until I call you, okay? It’ll be all right,” she said, her voice calm and reassuring.

 

The four kids nodded somberly then did as they were told.

 

“We just want Jess,” Ed said as he jerked his head down the hall toward the basement door.

 

“Jess isn’t here!”

 

“Bullshit!” Scott spat.

 

“She escaped! She’s not here!”

 

“The basement is wrecked, and there is blood all over the place, but nobody is down there,” Will reported as the men poured back out of the basement.

 

“Where is she?” Scott raged.

 

“I told you! Val is going to kill you all when he gets back,” Jodi snarled.

 

“Where’s Val?” Ed asked.

 

“Fuck you, Ed, you backstabbing bastard.”

 

Scott said nothing, but pointed his weapon at the woman’s head. “We won’t ask again.”

 

Jodi went white. “You wouldn’t dare!”

 

“Try me,” Scott growled.

 

Jodi looked around at the men and saw there was no help there. “Everyone is out looking for Jess.”

 

Scott lowered his weapon. “Can Angela handle a gun?”

 

“Well enough,” Ed said.

 

“Get her in here to watch her.”

 

Ed jerked his head and Peabody ran out, returning a moment later with Angela. “Sit,” Ed growled at Jodi as he kicked a chair back from the table then opened the drawer in the kitchen where he knew Val kept a gun. He quickly checked it before handing it to Angela. “If she moves, kill her.”

 

“You bastards, after all the club has done for you,” Jodi muttered as she sat down.

 

“Val has gone too far, Jodi,” Ed said quietly.

 

“He’s the fucking President!”

 

“He’s still gone too far. You got this?” Ed asked Angela.

 

“Kill her if she moves. Got it.” Angela pulled a chair away from Jodi and sat down, the handgun pointing at her. “Go! Find Jess!”

 

As the men piled out of the house, Jodi glared at Angela. “You, and that fucking Jess, always were trouble. I’ll kill you myself for this.”

 

Angela smiled sweetly. “Maybe I should just kill you now, then, for my protection. What do you think?”

 

Jodi glared at her but didn’t answer. “Why are you doing this?”

 

“Doing this?” Angela asked in disbelief. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Val kidnapped Jess and locked her in the fucking basement. After all she’s been through, you’re asking me why I’m doing this?”

 

“It didn’t have to be this way.”

 

“No, it didn’t. So why didn’t you stop it?”

 

Jodi continued to glare at Angela. “That’s the problem with you…you’ve forgotten your place.”

 

Angela nodded. “Maybe so, but I can sleep at night. Can you?”