“Let him go!” Sara said.
Carter removed the gun long enough to point it at Ian. “Get in the corner.”
Sara obeyed and hurried to the corner closest to Ian so that she could stand in front of him to protect him.
“I guess you do love my sister after all,” Carter said, pressing the gun against Saxton’s head again. “I’m so touched. And you made it so easy for me to kill you. Drop the knife.”
Saxton let it go and with a clatter, it hit the cement floor. Carter put his foot over it and kicked back. From the corner of his eye, Saxton saw the knife slide out of the room. He should have given a weapon to Sara. A knife, a small gun, anything to protect herself. Now it was too late and he’d messed up. She was untied, but that wouldn’t do her much good.
He considered his options as Carter tightened his arm across his throat. If he used his martial arts training to get free, Carter might shoot Sara or Ian. The guy had zero morals, that was clear. He probably would shoot the kid. No wonder he’d shot Liam like he had.
Saxton’s best bet was to go with Carter until they were away from Sara, then try to make some kind of move. That way, she was safer. She would still be locked in that room, but maybe Saxton could get away from Carter and get back to her fast enough. If he could get a text to one of his guys, he could have someone get her out now that he knew where they were. But it seemed unlikely that he’d be able to send a text anytime soon.
Carter stepped back, moving Saxton back with him. They moved out of the room, Carter keeping his arm tight against Saxton’s throat so that he could barely breathe. When they’d cleared the room, Carter kicked the door shut.
Saxton turned his head sharply to the right, like he’d heard or seen something. He felt Carter turn, too, but of course, there was nothing there.
“You have other guys here?” Carter asked.
“No.”
Carter grunted like he didn’t believe him, but it didn’t matter. Saxton’s plan had worked. His faking hearing something and getting Carter to look had given just enough distraction that Carter forget about the bolt keeping Sara and Ian locked inside. He banged the gun into Saxton’s head and pushed him forward hard.
“Walk,” Carter barked.
They approached a door at the end of the hall. When they stood in front of it, Carter shoved Saxton to it.
“Go down.”
Saxton pulled open the door and saw the top few steps of a flight. Carter flipped on a light so Saxton could see to walk down. They entered some sort of cold basement. It looked like this was used as a storage space with boxes lined up in the corner, growing mildew and some toppled over. An old bar mirror rested against a collection of stools and bar taps. A neon sign that read “Cold eer” sat against the wall.
In the middle of the room, surely where Saxton was being led, was a large roundish patch of a dark stain. Probably blood. In the center of the stain was a circular drain. So they killed people down here and let their blood run into the sewer. Nice plan. What did they do with the bodies after? Cut them into pieces and stick them in vats of acid to melt the bones? Or leave them in the streets to rot like they had done with Liam?
Saxton was a little grateful for that, actually. At least having his body meant they were able to bury Liam properly, and in his Jagged Souls jacket and patch. If Carter had dumped his body, they might not have the murder weapon, and they might not even know Liam was dead. He could have run off somewhere.
Carter pushed Saxton down to his knees in the center of the dark mark and pointed the gun at his head again. “Boy, this feels familiar. Hmm. Can’t think of why…”
Saxton gritted his teeth. “Enough with the games, Carter. I know you killed Liam.”
“Oh right.” Carter chuckled. “I almost forgot. Liam. He was a friend of yours, wasn’t he?”
“My second in command.”
“Aww, I bet that hurt to lose someone so close,” Carter mocked.
“What would you know about close? Look how you treat your own sister. You scum. I hope no one is stupid enough to get close to you. You’d just use them.”
“Well, sure. That’s all people are good for. You’re all just pawns in my game. And Liam got a little too close to me.”
Saxton harrumphed. “Is that why you killed him? He could have turned you in or something? Taken your business? What? I’d love to know your reason for shooting someone in cold blood like that.”
“Oh, Sammy, I thought you knew. Liam was a little too close. In more ways than one. He was fucking my old lady, planning to take my spot. Doesn’t that sound like the nice guy you knew?”
“Like you would care if someone was screwing your woman. I’m sure you ran around on her.”
“It’s my business to. But it’s hers to keep her legs closed. Besides, it wasn’t so much that as his plans to take me out and take over the Crows.”
Saxton shook his head. “There’s no way Liam wanted that. He loved being a Jagged Soul.”
“Well, maybe you didn’t know him so well after all. Seems like maybe he just wanted to be in charge. Maybe he even wanted to run your little biker club.”
None of this sounded like the Liam he knew. Maybe he’d screwed Carter’s girl. Any of his guys might do something like that. Hell, Saxton might even do something like that if the timing and mood were right. But to take over a gang like the Cruel Crows? Or to have aspirations to take over the Jagged Souls? No. Liam had been like a brother. Never once had he shown any hint of jealousy or anything close to wanting to be in charge. He was happy to take commands. Happy to go about doing his own thing and not be responsible for a huge group.
One time, Saxton had put him in charge of a project, so that he oversaw a group of ten of their guys. By the time the job was done, Liam had been relieved. He’d told Saxton that ordering those guys around all the time was stressful and he didn’t know how Saxton did it. He didn’t mind being second because it meant he only had to do what Saxton said, he didn’t have to decide what was to be done.
This was probably one of Carter’s tactics. Get Saxton upset and mad so he would react and say something or do something stupid. Well, it wasn’t going to work. He knew Liam and Carter hadn’t. He’d stand by that.
“Seems to me,” Saxton said, “I do remember something about him screwing your woman. Something about her being so skanky and nasty, he was going to give her back to you gladly.”
Carter slammed the gun into the back of Saxton’s head. It sent a spike of pain through his skull, then throbbed hotly.
“Good thing I took Liam out then. He even begged for his life, the sad little fucker. All sniveling like, ‘Please, please, don’t kill me, please!’ It was pathetic.”
There was no way that was true, either. He’d seen Liam take hits to the jaw and not flinch or even respond. He’d seen him have a gun pointed at him and roll his eyes. Liam had been tough. And he’d never have begged someone like Carter for anything. Even his own life.
“So you got Liam. What’s your beef with me?” Saxton asked.
“I don’t like people who ask too many questions or know too many things. And you do both. If you would have let it go and forgotten about Liam, everything would have been fine. But no. You couldn’t let it go. Had to keep searching, had to keep poking around where you don’t belong. You barked up the wrong tree. The Crows stay out of the spotlight for a reason. We take out anyone who threatens to shine the light on us. And besides, if you’re banging my sister, I don’t need her telling you extra insider information. She’s been on close watch as it is. One little toe out of line and I have someone on standby to take her and the kid out. And she just so happened to stick her whole foot out of line when she hooked up with you and tried to protect you.”
“She has nothing to do with any of this,” Saxton said. He had to make sure that if Carter killed him, Sara and Ian would be let go safely. “Leave her and her son alone. She’s loyal to you. Trust me. She left me because I wanted to come after you.”
“I don’t buy that for a second. She practically wet her panties trying to get me to let you go.”
“Well, it’s true. That’s why she came home in the middle of the night with Ian and without protection. I let her go off because she threatened to have me locked up if I hurt you.”
Carter burst out laughing. “My little sister. My true defender. I guess I didn’t give her enough credit. It’ll be a shame to kill her. If she would have been willing to work for me, she could have been my second. Maybe the only person I’d ever trust to do that. And with her kid as a constant bargaining chip, I could have kept her in line. But she thought she was too good for that.” He laughed once again. “Then didn’t she go off and sell herself to you anyway. That little whore. Maybe I’ll find out what she’s worth before I slit her throat.”
Saxton pulled his elbow back and connected with Carter’s knee. It wasn’t a strong move, but it got his point across. Carter took a step back and returned with another slam of his gun into Saxton’s head.
“You don’t like me insulting your girl? So sorry.”
“You are the sickest fuck I’ve ever met,” Saxton said. “I can’t wait to take you out.”
“And you really think you’re in a position to do that?”
“Oh, you have no idea what position I’m in.”
Saxton smiled at the reflection in the dusty glass and waited.