CHAPTER TEN
Robbie watched the people shuffling by without really seeing them. He’d gotten back to Boston hours ago and found a quiet place to think. He thought about how his life had gone to hell. From an early age, he knew there was something off about his mother. He’d seen the indifference in her eyes every time she bothered to look at him.
He’d watched the other kids too. They meant very little to her as well. He knew the only thing his mother cared about was the money she made from selling the kids that came and went from the house. He didn’t know what happened to them after they left, but he did know they might have a better life than he did. When he thought about that fact, it did bother him. Every time she glared at him, every time she slapped him for disobeying the rules, he learned to hate her a little more. The only good thing about growing up in that house was knowing his mother hated Cassie more than she did him.
But after Cassie left with Peaches, his mother’s hate turned back to him full time. When she first locked him that room, he felt he’d done something wrong. After a while, he realized he was no longer useful to her. When he first realized she’d locked him in, he had fought through his panic. He’d been fifteen the first time she’d left him there for days without checking on him. When she finally came back for him, he’d been careful not to make her mad.
He also began searching for his own way out. He knew he couldn’t depend on her anymore. He’d been able to come and go when he wanted to, and that had given him the freedom she never suspected he would have.
Now as he sat in the shadows, the darkness around him didn’t bother him. He’d overcome his fear of the dark a long time ago when he’d become something the city feared the most. His first kill had thrilled him like no other and the others had been good but not as great as the first. He kept chasing the thrill but it was never the same.
Today, had been good for him. He wished he would have had the time to watch as the wolves ripped her apart, but he knew he couldn’t stay. He had too much other work to finish. Now that Cassie was dead, he could go after the man he hated almost as much as he hated his mother.
Leon Vincinti.
But before he could go after someone as important as Leon, he had to have a plan. That’s why he was sitting here alone in the dark.
Off in the distance, he heard the roar of motorbikes but he didn’t give them much thought. He felt safe because no one knew who he was. People change as they grow older and he’d always been careful about avoiding looking at anyone. He had also avoided any cameras wherever he went. No one knew his face.
As the sounds got louder, he still didn’t pay any attention to them. When the first bike passed him, Robbie didn’t move. He could see others hurrying back into the shadows but he paid them no mind. When the second motorcycle passed and slowed down shining its lights on him, he lifted his hand to block the light from his eyes.
The bike passed him then turned at the next corner. Robbie listened but the bike sounds faded. He got up and moved away from where he had been sitting. He didn’t look right or left, just straight ahead. Moving deeper into the shadows, he began paying more attention.
As he was walking away, he heard another growl of a bike behind him. Moving closer to the buildings, he turned away as the bike passed him. When the bike stopped, Robbie froze.
“Hey man, gotta a light?” the biker asked.
Robbie shook his head. “Don’t smoke.”
“Thanks anyway.” The biker rolled away very slowly.
Robbie waited until his engine faded. Then he walked a little faster. He wondered why the biker stopped. They usually didn’t. He’d been watching the streets for a while now and this was unusual. He didn’t know what it meant but he wasn’t sticking around to find out.
Robbie made his way back to the house where he knew he’d be safe. Not looking right or left, he made his way through the city. When he finally got to the house, he made his way around to the back. Glancing around, he pried the siding to one side and slipped in.
~* * * *~
Robbie didn’t see the bikes on either side of him watching his progress.
The man watching from the woods noted his return and the way he got inside. When he made a call, he spoke quietly. Then he leaned in close to a tree and waited for backup. The moon shone on his vest and anyone who was looking could see the Sinner’s logo along with the name Preacher. It wasn’t long before he heard several pair of footsteps coming through the trees where he waited.
“Are you sure it was him?” one of the men asked.
“Who else would know where the back door was?” Preacher grunted.
“So what do you want to do with this idiot?” another man asked.
Preacher glanced over at him. “Well Dix, I called Iceman and told him we’d found the little fucker. He said to take him over to the clubhouse and wait for him. He also said to keep him alive but if he got a few bruises, he didn’t care. What does that tell you?”
The one called Dix grinned. The moonlight shone brightly off the gold tooth he had. Dix glanced at the other two, Jake and Stinger.
They were smiling back. Then they all started toward the house.
Preacher stopped them. “Dix, I want you and Jake to go through the front door. Me and Stinger will wait here in case he tries to leave before we get the chance to meet him.”
“How do we find him once we’re inside?”
“There’s a small door next to the fridge. Follow the hallway and you’ll find him.” Preacher grinned. “Remember…Iceman wants to talk to him, so let’s not hurt him too bad.”
~* * * *~
Iceman hung up the phone after the call from his man Preacher. He almost smiled…almost. He turned and walked over to Deke and Leon. “I found him.”
Deke turned and stared at the other man. “Where was he?”
“Boston. My men followed him back to his house. They’re going to go in and get him, then take him back to the clubhouse. I can guarantee he’ll be alive, but he may be slightly bruised and battered by the time we get there.”
“Can your men bring him out here?” Leon asked.
Deke snapped his head around to stare at the older man. “Why would we bring him all the way out here?”
Leon smiled but it didn’t reached his eyes. “I’m thinking the country would be a better place to question him. Less busybodies around to interfere with us.”
Deke smiled. “Less people to hear him scream too.”
Leon nodded. “Well, there is that too, of course.”
Deke turned to Iceman. “Can you bring him to us?”
“Absolutely.” Iceman grinned. “He’ll be here as soon as the boys can get him here.”
~* * * *~
Robbie groaned as the car came to a stop. His eyes were swollen and his ribs hurt like hell. A few hours ago, two men broke into his mother’s house. He’d watched from the safe room while they ransacked the house. He felt safe in the room no one else knew about. He watched as they stumbled around the kitchen. Then he’d been surprised when they got to the door. He’d locked it from the inside but they broke through the lock. He thought he would get away clean but when he went through the secret door he made years ago, there had been two other men waiting for him.
He barely got out, when they grabbed him. One of the men threw a punch that sent him to his knees. The other man grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. The first guy swung and connected with his jaw. Robbie grunted and felt his lip split.
Then he felt a boot kick him in the gut. He doubled over in pain and must have blacked out at some point, because he didn’t remember anything until he came to, in the truck of a vehicle. When the car stopped, he was slammed up against the interior of the trunk.
When the lid was opened, he saw five men standing there. He didn’t know any of them. He was hauled out of the trunk without ceremony and thrown to the floor. Looking around, he saw he was inside what looked like a warehouse.
With his hands and feet duct taped behind his back, the other men had to almost carry him. He couldn’t scream in his rage because his mouth also was duct taped. When he looked ahead to see where they were taking him, he noticed several men waiting for him.
As they got closer, Robbie recognized at least some of their faces. One was the man Cassie had been sleeping with. Information gathered said his name was Deke Tory. He looked at the other men standing there and his eyes connected with an older man’s. He knew this face, it was the face he’d been hoping to see. This was the man he’d been looking for most of his life. Leon Vincinti.
Robbie struggled to get free. He wanted to see Leon lying on the ground as he beat the hell out of him. Instead, he was thrown on the ground in front of them. He grunted when his body slammed down on the concrete floor.
Deke reached down and grabbing the tape covering his mouth, he yanked it free.
Robbie hissed as the tape was ripped from his face. “You bastard!” he shouted. One of the men standing behind him kicked him in the ribs and Robbie grunted.
Deke squatted down beside Robbie. Grabbing his chin, he turned Robbie to face him. “So this is what you look like. Not much to see really.”
“Fuck you.” Robbie sneered.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Deke let out a cold laugh. He glanced at the others standing there then turned back to Robbie. “Oh that’s right, you can’t do that can you? Cassie made sure of that a long time ago. How does it feel to know that a ten year old girl damn near cut off your dick?”
Robbie felt the cold invade his body. The cold was always present when he knew he would spill blood. It had been present the night Cassie cut him and it had been there when he took her into the woods. He gazed at Deke and turning his head, he stared at Leon. “I got my own back when I watched her die. She was screaming for you to save her, but you weren’t there. Instead, there were wolves waiting to tear her apart.”
Deke slammed his fist into Robbie’s face.
When his fist met bone, he could hear the crunch beneath the man’s large fingers. Robbie laughed despite his pain. He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth. “Did you get there in time to see her? Was her body all torn up?”
“I got there in time to free her before the wolves got to her, you piece of shit.” Deke growled.
Robbie’s eyes got big. “You liar!” he shouted. “She’s dead because of me! She died the same way she killed me, alone and bleeding. I made sure of that. She’s dead.”
“No Robbie, she’s not,” Deke assured with a cold grin. “She’s alive and so is my child.” He brought out his phone and showed Robbie a picture of Cassie resting on a bed.
Robbie groaned. “What the hell does it take to kill that bitch?” he mumbled.
“I understand you threatened my life as well,” Leon spoke.
Robbie glared at the man. He’d hated this man most of his life and now, he was face to face with a killer. Staring into Leon’s eyes was like looking into a mirror, there was no sign of life in them. No sign of mercy or hope, no sign that he had a soul.
“I’ve never even met you before today, nor have I harmed you in any way, so why would you threaten my life?” Leon asked.
“Because you made me what I am!” Robbie shouted.
Leon smiled but no humor showed in his eyes. “I made you what you are?” he repeated. “And pray tell…how the hell did I do that?”
“You took a fifteen year old girl to your bed,” Robbie snarled. “You fucked her until she took your seed inside her and made a child she never wanted or cared about. She ran away from you in fear of her life, your bastard.”
Leon knelt beside him and shook his head. “I never touched your mother. I barely spoke to the child and I never would have taken her to bed. I was married to her mother. I didn’t even like her that much.”
“You’re a goddamned liar!” Robbie screamed. “My mother told me all about how you seduced her, how you forced yourself on her. She wanted nothing to do with you but that didn’t matter.”
“You’re mother lied to you,” Leon told him. “She was nothing more than an evil bitch and you know it.”
“That’s not true, you bastard!” Robbie yelled. “She made me what I am.”
“And what is that exactly?” Deke asked. “You’re nothing more than a sick fucker who gets off on the pain he inflicts on others. How many women did you cut over the years? How many women did you carve whore across their shoulders? We know of at least nine, how many more were never found?”
Robbie sneered at Deke but didn’t say anything.
Deke shook his head. “There is a place in hell waiting for you. Your mother is already there to welcome you.”
“But before you go, we have a little score to settle with you,” Leon added. “I want you to meet my real son, Calderone. He’s Peaches’ father. Also, this is Deacon, he’s Cassie’s uncle and last but not least by any means, this is Iceman, he’s president of the MC called Sinner’s. He’s in love with my granddaughter. He’s the one who holds her at night when she has the nightmares from when she was a child living in your mother’s house.”
“You’re breaking my heart old man.” Robbie scoffed.
“I don’t know if you know who I am or not and at this point, I really don’t care,” Deke informed him in a low chilling tone. “But you should know the name of the man that’s gonna put a hurt on you like none other you’ve ever felt before. My name is Deke Tory and Cassie is my woman.” Deke lifted his foot and slammed it into Robbie’s head. Blood sprayed all over the floor after Deke broke his nose.
Robbie groaned when the other man grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, so he could see his face. “We aren’t going to beat you death, we’re just tenderizing you for later.”
“What are you going to do with me then?” Robbie asked.
“We’re gonna carry you into the woods,” Deacon replied. “Just behind this place and each of us is gonna have our turn with you, then we’re gonna tie you to a fucking tree and let you feed the wolves, just like you were gonna do to Cassie.” He gave him a huge grin. “They should be good and hungry by now, seeing as how they missed the meal you were gonna give them.”
Robbie felt dread. Glancing at their faces, he could read the deadly intent in their eyes. He watched Iceman nod at the men behind him. Then he felt hands grab him and drag him across the floor. When the backdoor was opened, Robbie could see the woods. The darkness of the night hid the evil secrets contained in the woods beyond the building.
He began to struggle as much as he could but one of the men dragging him cuffed the back of his head. Branches snagged his clothes as they took him deeper into the woods. Clumps of dirt and debris clung to him until Deke called a halt. Their flashlights were trained on a place in front of them. Off in the distance, they could hear the wolves howl.
Through swollen eyes, Robbie glanced around. In front of him was a huge oak tree. There was a rope already around the base of the it. He turned to Leon and asked, “Tell me one thing before you kill me,”
“What do you want to know?”
“How did my mother die? Did she suffer much?” Robbie licked his dry lips. He could taste his own blood.
“Yes, she suffered a great deal. You see, she lied to me over and over again when I questioned her about what she’d done. I had the evidence in my hands and she still lied to me. Each time she lied, the punishment got worse for her. When she finally told me the truth...I gave her peace.”
“What was it she lied about?” Robbie was curious to know.
“You,” Leon replied. “She lied about you.”
Robbie frowned. “What about me?”
“Among the papers we found hidden in a secret room in her den was a birth certificate for a child she gave birth to. The certificate claimed the child was a daughter, not a son, not you.”
Robbie was stunned. “That’s not possible. I am her son.”
“No, you are not a child of her blood,” Leon informed him with a cold satisfaction. “You are one of the many children she stole from other people, a child she would have sold. The child she gave birth to was in fact a girl, a girl who died three days after she was born.”
“That’s not possible!” Robbie screamed. “I was her son. I was the child she gave life to.”
“No, the child she gave birth to died. She starved to death because Janelle never paid attention to her. Soon after her daughter died, you came to her house. You were six months old and for some reason, she never explained she latched onto you, she was the mother to you, she couldn’t be to her own daughter. It wasn’t until later in your life, she lost interest in being the mother. She wanted you to be something else entirely. Her twisted mind wanted you to become what you are. She wanted to raise a killer and she got her wish. You became a killer.”
“You are fucking lying!” Robbie shouted, kicking and screaming.
“When Janelle admitted the truth we did some checking, we know who you really are,” Calderone commented.
“My name is Robert Emmerson Pierce. I know who I am.”
Calderone shook his head. “Your real name is Jason Kyle Kinley. You were taken off the streets of Chicago when you were six months old. Janelle was supposed to sell you in her ring. She paid the woman who took you four hundred dollars.”
Robbie simply stared at them. Suddenly something snapped in his brain and he knew it was true. So many things from his childhood made sense now. “I hope the fires of hell are burning her, even as we speak.”
“You’ll find out soon I guess,” Deke stated in a steely voice. He grabbed Robbie’s jacket and pulled him closer to the tree. When he got as close as he wanted, he pulled Robbie to a stranding position. Wrapping the rope around his body, he tied the knot behind him. He then pulled a knife and cut away his clothing.
When his chest was free of the material bunched at his waist, Robbie heard footsteps to his left. Turning his head, he could see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him.
Deacon knelt beside him as well. Using his own knife, he cut the pants Robbie was wearing. Opening the seams all the way up, he uncovered Robbie’s legs.
Robbie could hear them now, shuffling in the background. More noises from the woods penetrated the quietness.
“You cut my woman in order to draw in the wolves. You told her nothing calls the animals faster than the scent of fresh blood,” Deke growled the words out.
Robbie turned his head and nodded. “Yes, I told her that.”
“Then you will understand this.” Deke snarled. He lifted the knife and swiped Robbie’s chest.
The skin split wide open and fresh blood flowed down his chest. Robbie didn’t even flinch. The scent of his blood was strong in the air. He did wince when Deke’s knife bit into his thigh.
Deacon’s blade then bit into his calf and he ripped the wound open.
Then they both moved away leaving room for Iceman to stand in front of him. Robbie raised his eyes to view the blazing hatred in the other man’s eyes. “I hope you live long enough to regret everything you did in this lifetime. I know you won’t, but maybe you’ll regret some of it. This is for what you did to Peaches and Cassie, at least we’ll get revenge for those two.” Then he plunged the knife into Robbie’s belly and ripped a wicked slash in his abdomen.
Iceman paused looked around. He saw several pairs of yellow eyes moving closer. He turned and looked down at Robbie. “This shouldn’t take long at all. They…” He pointed to the shadows. “…Look hungry.”
Robbie glanced around the shadows and saw what Iceman had seen. For the first time in his life, he felt fear. Fear of his own mortality.
Iceman leaned down and wiped the blade in his hand on Robbie’s tattered clothing. He turned and joined Deke, Deacon, Leon and Calderone.
As a group, they all walked away leaving Robbie to his fate.
Before they had taken twenty steps, they heard the first scream.
Deke turned back to watch, he wanted to be sure once and for all that this killer was done.
The eerie sound echoed through the trees. The men also heard the sounds of wolves growling and yelping.
Satisfied, Deke turned and joined the men.
It took a long time for the screams to lessen and the woods grew quiet again.