Chapter Twenty One
Early the next morning, Justice knocked on Ace’s door, until he opened up.
“Dude, seriously. It’s five in the mornin’.” Ace ran a hand through his rumpled hair. He was dressed in a pair of drawers, so he must have rolled right out of bed.
“Yeah, I know. Sorry.”
“Hey, how’d it go with Etta?”
He grinned. “She said yes.”
Ace gave him a bear hug. “Congrats.”
“Thanks, but I got an issue.”
“Can it wait?” Ace yawned. “I miss your pothead days when you didn’t wake up until three in the afternoon.”
He’d never slept in, even as a teenager. His father was a military man and believed everyone should be up by dawn, but that wasn’t the point. Justice didn’t have time for jokes or camaraderie.
“I need your help, brother.”
“To do what?”
“I’m goin’ after Etta’s ex-husband, Grady.” Justice could hardly sleep last night. When Etta had told him the location, he’d wanted to go to the campground right away, but he’d held off until daylight because he needed backup.
“Then I’m your wingman. Let’s do this.” Ace had a gleam in his eye. He loved to kick a little ass.
“We’re workin’ with Ten and Butler though.” He’d given Ten a call on the way over.
Ace grunted, making a low noise in his throat somewhere between a groan and a curse.
“You and me got this. We don’t need those dicks.” Ace went inside and grabbed a four Horsemen hoodie, and a pair of jeans.
“We need all the help we can get. This bastard deserves a serious lesson in manners.”
He scowled. “And what if the mafia boys rat us out?”
“Trust me, they won’t, because I got some leverage.” Justice had been witness to a murder Ten committed. “We need backup, the vicious kind.”
One of their brothers, Duke, had a brutal side, but he’d mellowed out since he’d taken up with his old lady, Rose. As far as Justice could tell, both Ten and Butler were pretty far afield, still.
“What are we gonna do with this prick when we find ‘em?”
Under normal circumstances, they’d extract an asshole free, their term for a fine. When the aforementioned asshole, refused to pay child support, or a rapist eluded the cops, the Horsemen stepped in to assist. They charged the perpetrator a fee for their trouble, not the victim.
Justice wasn’t sure. “Let’s find him first, then we’ll figure it out.” They might get to the campground, only to discover Grady wasn’t there.
“You wanna take ‘em for a ride to the desert?”
“As much as I’d love to, I can’t. I promised Etta he’d live to see another day.”
The MC had gotten rid of evidence in the Smoke Desert before. It was full of all kinds of critters who didn’t mind an easy meal, and after they scattered the bones, no one was the wiser.
“Why’d you go and do a fool thing like that?” Ace laced up his boots and threw on a pair of aviator shades.
“She made me promise.”
Ace sighed as though he was put out. “Fine, but we’re gonna beat the snot out of him, right?”
“Oh yeah.” Justice clenched his fists. “And I get the first crack at him.”
***
When they pulled up at the state park, it was quiet. Most folks were probably still in bed, which suited Justice. He spotted Ten’s SUV in a parking lot near the entrance. Justice pulled out his phone and dialed the mobster, who answered on the first ring.
“Follow me.”
“We got your six.” The mobster pulled in behind Ace’s motorcycle.
They both drove past the guard station but didn’t stop.
Justice could check at the front desk, but he doubted Grady had been foolish enough to use his own name when he booked the campsite.
And, no witnesses, no problems. They wouldn’t be drawing attention to themselves.
So they drove around, looking for his old Ford pick-up truck, and eventually found him in the rear of the campground, near the lake.
“Is that his?” Ace asked as he pulled his motorcycle along beside Justice’s.
He nodded. “I think so.”
Etta had said he slept in a red tent, and sure enough, it was pitched beneath an old oak tree. Justice didn’t see any movement at the campsite, so he must be sawing logs.
They parked, and Ten pulled in behind them. All of them approached the tent slowly. The trees gave them cover.
When they got closer, sure enough, he heard snoring. Justice withdrew his gun and silently made his way over, careful not to step on any snapping twigs. Ace, Ten, and Butler followed him, their weapons drawn. He unzipped the tent slowly.
Inside, Grady was lying on his back, mouth open, snoozing, completely oblivious to their presence.
Justice cocked the gun. “Rise and shine, asshole.”
Grady shot straight up in bed. His eyes were wide and wild.
“Allow me to be clear, Grady, if you move, I shoot.”
He sucked in a breath.
“Raise your hands.”
He did, lifting them over his head. “Uh, Justice, what are you—”
“Shut the fuck up and do what I say. Get to your feet. You’re comin’ with us, and you’re not gonna draw attention to yourself. If you do, you won’t like what happens.”
His chin jutted. “Why shouldn’t I kick up a fuss, and make this as hard as possible for you? We both know you’re gonna kill me.”
“You have my word, you’ll live through this.” Even though, he hated even saying the words. This bastard deserved to die.
“Why should I believe you?” Grady reached into his sleeping bag, and Ace lifted his gun.
“Don’t even fuckin’ move.”
Grady froze.
“Yeah, don’t do anything stupid, Grady,” Justice said. “And to answer your question, the woman you tried to murder, made me promise I wouldn’t kill you.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. I never—”
“Save it.” Justice was done with this guy’s bullshit. “Don’t even bother tryin ’to deny the facts. We both know you set the fire.”
He sneered. “What if I did?”
Justice trembled with rage, actually trembled. He swallowed, and the gun wobbled in his grasp. He wanted to shove the barrel right beneath the man’s jaw, and pull the trigger, spatter the tent with even more crimson.
“Easy now, brother.” Ace said. “This ain’t the time to paint the town red.” He glanced around them, in case any campers had woken up. Thankfully, no one had.
Justice lowered the gun, and gulped in some air, as though he were suffocating.
When he was calm again, he spoke to Grady once more.
“Like I said, nobody’s killin’ you, but if you don’t cooperate, I will make it hurt. Bad.”
Although, Justice knew he’d be hurting Grady anyway, probably a lot.
Slowly, with his hands raised, Grady left the tent.
“I’ll have a prospect come over and pack his crap up,” Ace said, as he texted one on his phone. The prospects were biker wannabes, and like the new guys in his SEAL unit, the rest of the club hazed them until they got kicked out or were made official members.
Ten walked over. “Why don’t we take him to Beauregard Manor?” His black-eyed gaze slid over Grady, in an assessing way.
“Works for me.” Justice needed room to work.
“He can come with us,” Butler said. “We can make him comfortable in the trunk. Ain’t that right?” He slapped Grady on the back, and then shoved him toward the car. The mobsters got in their SUV and headed out.
Justice and Ace followed them.
They arrived at Beauregard Manor, and pulled all the way to the back, by the shed. After opening the trunk, Justice grabbed Grady and pushed him inside.
Although, Justice didn’t tie him to a chair.
“Need any help?” Ten rested against the wall, a lean black shadow.
“No, I got this.” Actually, Justice was looking forward to it.
“I’m sure you do. Looks like you’re ready to dole out some punishment.”
Across the room, Grady paced back and forth, gaze darting toward the door. Butler stood in front of it, wearing a wicked grin. He acted like a child who’d been promised a trip to the amusement park.
Ace was more guarded, watching Justice with a concerned expression. He was glad his brother had come, in case Justice needed anyone to pull him back. Ten and Butler would push him in the opposite direction.
“Come on, Grady, let’s do this, once and for all.” Justice put up his dukes.
Grady shook his head. “No, I don’t want this.”
“Too damn bad. I gave you a chance to walk away, and you didn’t take it.”
He backed off, and beads of sweat formed on his upper lip.
“You’re such a big man. You’ve got, what? Seventy pounds on her?” Justice circled Grady, his fists raised, at the ready. “You liked throwin’ her around, didn’t you?”
Grady shook his head. “No, it wasn’t—”
“Don’t lie! Did it make you feel like a man, huh?” Justice swung, and when his fist connected with Grady’s face there was an explosion of pain, and then bliss.
His head rocked back.
“Tell me!” Justice socked Grady in the jaw again.
“She—” He broke off.
“She? She what, Grady? What the fuck are you tryin’ to say? Etta had it comin’?” Justice hit him in the nose, and blood spurted from his nostrils.
This time, it didn’t make Justice sick, it made him happy. The blood might as well be confetti, and this was a fucking party.
“No! I didn’t mean to—”
Justice smashed a fist into Grady’s throat, choking him. “You tried to kill her. It isn’t enough that you brutalized her, beat her up, you wanted to end her life.”
Grady didn’t defend himself.
“Come on! Fight me, you son of a bitch.”
“Please stop!” Grady swiped at his nose, and shook his head, pressing himself into the corner.
“Not much of a fighter, are you? I am. I can shoot just about any gun, but I like gettin’ my hands dirty.”
He rushed Grady, shoved him on the floor and kicked him in his ribs, again and again. Just like he’d kicked Etta in the stomach when she’d been pregnant. He wore steel toe boots, so it probably hurt like a bitch.
“Don’t kill me.” His eyes watered. “Please don’t kill me.”
His vision clouded. All Justice could see was fucking red.
“Is that what Etta said? Did she beg you to stop, when you beat her? And did you ever show her any mercy, Grady? Did you?” Justice kicked him again for good measure.
Grady grunted, and blood gushed from his mouth.
Justice knelt beside him and spoke real low. “Unlike you, I listen to Etta, I care about what she thinks and says, so I’m gonna keep my promise to her.”
“You are?” His eyes widened with hope, evidently wondering if the worst was over.
“Yeah, but first, I want you to tell me you’re sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
Justice didn’t buy it. “No you’re not, you’re tellin’ me what I want to hear. And anyway, you should be sayin’ this to Etta, not me.”
“I will if you let me leave. I’ll apologize, I’ll beg her for forgiveness. I’ll say anythin’.”
“But you won’t mean it, and you’ll never see her again. Well, actually, that’s not true. You’ll see her, but you won’t even be aware.”
“What do you mean?” Grady blinked rapidly, as though having difficulty comprehending him.
And then Justice slammed Grady’s head down on the cement floor. Once, twice, three times.
Justice whacked him again and again, until the man passed out.
***
A week later, Justice sat across from Frost at the police department. It was a familiar if depressing sight. Over the past couple of years, he’d been hauled in for questioning more times than he cared to admit.
They couldn’t prove a damn thing though.
He took a sip of the coffee and then spit it back out into a cup. Ugh, it was lukewarm and so watered down, it might as well be tea.
“This stuff could gag a maggot.”
“Then don’t drink it.” Frost paged through a manila file folder. Justice caught glimpses of his previous mugshots.
“Where were you, one week ago, exactly?”
At Beauregard’s place, taking out the trash.
“Maybe I should wait for my lawyer to get here.”
“Why? Are you guilty? Where were you?” Frost spit the words out.
“Hmm, let me see.” Justice scratched his chin as though thinking it over. “I don’t rightly recall.” If he didn’t get specific, the cops couldn’t pin down his whereabouts.
“You don’t remember?” A vein throbbed along the side of his jaw. If Frost didn’t watch it, he’d give himself a stroke one of these days.
Given his moral flexibility and relationship with Etta, Justice doubted Frost wanted to be doing this interview, but he had to keep up appearances. The other cops would think he was crooked if he didn’t give Justice a hard time. He bet they stood on the other side of the two-way mirror on the opposite wall.
“Sorry, I got no clue where I was.”
“You gotta do better than that.”
“It’s the truth.” Well, no not really. Justice remembered every single second of the encounter.
Talk about moments to treasure.
“Grady’s in the hospital, and he just got out of a coma. Somebody bashed in his skull.”
“You don’t say.” Justice widened his eyes with the appropriate amount of shock.
“Any idea how his head got smashed in?” Frost asked.
“None.”
“The doctor said Grady has permanent brain damage. They doubt he’ll ever walk again, let alone talk.”
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
“Ain’t that a shame?” Justice struggled to keep a straight face.
“Not from your perspective, since he allegedly tried to murder your girlfriend.”
“Hmph, allegedly.” They both knew Grady had set the fire.
“Fine, let’s play the hypothetical game. What do you think happened to him?” Frost asked, scooting his chair forward, getting in Justice’s face.
Justice smirked. “Personally? I think he fell down the stairs.”