Chapter 8
8
DARREN
D arren’s stomach growled and he was dying of thirst. What he wouldn’t give for an ice cold beer right now.
He sat on the dirty cot with his back and head against the bars. He closed his eyes, refusing to guess at what kind of stains there were on it and tried to nap. So far that’s all he managed to get, little naps here and there. Nothing that amounted to much. The more exhausted he got, the harder it was to control the urge to find relief for his aching dick with his own hand. For a while just remembering what he’d seen Otis and Henry go through was enough to keep him from trying to get himself off, but as time passed it was getting harder and harder not to try.
If this much pain came with using the drug, how the hell did they think they were going to sell any of it and how did they expect to gain repeat customers?
“Hey, Henry? Have they ever given you the drug and then given you a woman shortly after or have they always made you wait a long time?”
Henry lay on his cot completely exhausted. He’d tried getting off with both of his hands to the point he could barely raise them. Now he lay on the cot, tears streaming down the sides of his face in frustration and his hard dick pointing straight to the ceiling. Not that he’d examined it too closely, but the damn thing seemed to bob with the beat of his heart. How close was Henry to being as bad off as Otis was when he took that woman in front of him?
“Yeah,” he had to clear his throat. “The first time they gave me the drug and about the time it kicked in, they brought me a woman. We fucked a couple of times and everything was fine. Got off harder than I ever have. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait to try it again.”
“This time?”
“This time is my third dose. All I want is to fucking come and get the hell out of here. They can keep their damn money.” He swiped at his eyes with limp arms. “If they’d just give it like it’s supposed to be given, the drug wouldn’t be half bad. They just like fucking with us and watching us go insane with pain.”
Darren didn’t like the sound of that. He’d managed to get through it so far by meditating. He’d picture taking his bike engine apart and putting it back together. Then he’d picture taking his gun apart and cleaning it. That one was one of his favorites because it ended with him shooting every last Phantom in this club.
Yesterday, he guessed it was, they’d come and gotten Otis, presumably to set him free. By the time he left he’d acted like, well, for lack of a better word, a normal person.
His stomach growled again. Despite his misgivings about whether or not he should eat anything they gave him, he eventually caved and inhaled whatever they brought him. So far, it had been a peanut butter sandwich without the jelly or a ham sandwich without the cheese or mayo. He should probably be grateful they brought a bottle of water whether it was luke warm or not.
From his best guess, they only fed them once a day which meant he’d gotten three sandwiches. That meant he’d been a guest of the Phantoms for at least three days, maybe four. He doubted they fed him the first day they had him. They were too busy kicking his ass.
He turned a little to see what Joe was up to in his cell. He was sitting much the same way he was except his eyes were becoming more and more vacant as the days went by. They’d only dosed him that one time, but they hadn’t released him yet. They were probably keeping him because he could identify them if he went to the police. Joe had to know the Phantoms would never let him out of here alive. No matter what, Darren vowed to himself, when his club came to get him, he was taking Joe with him. He just prayed it would be sooner rather than later.
He hissed through his teeth at the sharp pain shooting through his dick. Squeezing it hard until the feeling passed helped less and less. He banged the back of his head on the bars and hoped he wasn’t still here when it didn’t help at all. He feared what the might mean.
The sound of a door opening and heavy footfalls landing on stairs had him straightening on his cot. Three men came into view. One carried sandwiches, another carried bottles of water and the third, the key to the cell doors. The man with the sandwiches placed one on a paper towel outside Henry’s cell and slid it forward. The other guy handed him a bottle of water that he pushed through the bars. Next, they stepped outside his cell and repeated the process. Moving on to Joe’s cell, he’d been shocked to see them unlock the door and step inside.
Joe jumped up from his cot and backed away. He slid along the concrete wall at the back, holding his hands out to ward them off. “No. Stay back. Whatever you’re going to do, just leave me a lone.” They dropped the food and water to the floor and advanced on Joe. The guy with the keys pulled a syringe out of his pocket. Fuck! They were going to drug the kid again.
Darren’s food forgotten, he moved to the foot of his bed where it didn’t block the bars between his and Joe’s cell. He watched and waited as sandwich man moved closer. He kept his eye on Joe and by doing so, didn’t see how close he’d gotten to Darren. He reached his arms through the bars and when the opportunity presented itself, he grabbed hold of the man and got him in a headlock against the bars.
“Stay the fuck away from the kid!” he shouted and squeezed harder on sandwich man’s neck.
Too tired and too weak, Joe was pinned face first into the wall. The Phantom pulled the cap from the syringe, spit it out and stuck Joe in the arm, and pressed the plunger. Joe roared in anger as he tried to buck them off. Too late. Darren was too fucking late to help him.
Over his shoulder he heard his cell door being thrown open, four Phantoms storming inside. They worked on getting him to loosen his grip on their brother. When that didn’t work, they resorted to punching him in the back and sides. Forced to let go in order to protect his already bruised and beaten body, he started to pull his arms back through the bar, only to come up short. Somehow, the ones in Joe’s cell had grabbed onto his arms and were pulling him up against the bars, holding him in place. That allowed one of the brothers on his side to stick him with a needle in his arm.
“Motherfuckers! I’m going to kill you all!” He struggled to get free, but didn’t make it in time to get his hands on one of the men in his cell. Before the one’s in Joe’s cell could turn him loose, he took a step backward and yanked them face first into the bar. One ended up with a gash on his forehead and the other busted his nose. It wasn’t nearly enough damage.
The clang of his cell door closing told him they’d all gotten out. His chest was heaving as he turned to face his captures. Crockett stood outside his cell smiling from ear to ear, thoroughly pleased with what just happened.
“God damn it! He broke my fucking nose!” The injured man cupped his hand under his nose and let the other guy with the gash lead him out. “Why the fuck did you break my nose?” The man was a pussy whiner.
“I was trying to fix your ugly face.”
“My face wasn’t ugly!”
“It is now.” Darren felt both sides of his face tip up into a satisfied smile.
Broken nose turned and whined to one of his brothers. “How bad is it?” The other guy said it wasn’t bad and offered to fix it for him. Getting the go ahead, he shoved it back in place.
“What the fuck!” Broken nose yelled, then punched the other guy in his nose. “That hurt.”
Like two five-year-olds fighting over a toy, they went after each other until Crocket sighed, “RIP.”
RIP didn’t need to be told anything else. He grabbed them both by the scruff and shoved them hard down the hall. “Get upstairs. Now!”
“Wow. You got quite the crew there. I’m impressed with your recruiting standards. Or is it your leadership abilities that I’m seeing play out?”
“Boys will be boys.” Crockett didn’t seem too concerned.
“Why the fuck did you give me more of that goddamn drug?” He hated that he asked, but he had to know.
“The first two doses didn’t seem to be affecting you like the others. Figured it was because of your size. Probably didn’t give you enough the first couple of times so we gave you a little more this time.” The Phantom president shrugged a shoulder. “Mostly because I can. I wanna see how bad you get before you breakdown and fuck someone.”
“I am not fucking anyone,” he growled. Shit, he could already feel it moving throughout his blood stream. He had a feeling this one on top of the others was going to be bad. He dropped his ass on his cot and dropped his head in his hands. He wasn’t sure how much they increased the dosage by but he definitely felt a difference this time. “Why the fuck do you have to stick me with a needle? If this is how you plan on selling it, your sales won’t be all that high.”
Crockett stepped closer to the bars. “We sell it in a pill form on the streets.”
Darren’s head rose, his eyes narrowing. “Then why?”
“Would you have taken a pill of your own free will?”
The look he gave Crockett clearly said it all because he laughed and said, “That’s why you got a needle.” He tapped his hands against the bars, then added, “Might wanna eat your sandwich. You’re going to need all your strength in a little while.” He pushed off the bars and led the rest of them away.
As they were walking away, he heard one of them say, “Did you see the size of his dick? What the hell was that thing?”
Darren shook his head against the disorienting effect of the drug. What the fuck just happened?
He looked toward Henry’s cell and saw him curled up against the wall in the corner, trying his best to blend in with the shadows. Darren got up and moved back to the bars between him and Joe. The kid was sitting on the edge of his cot, his head in his hands, rocking back and forth.
“Joe? You good?”
“No, I’m not fucking good! They just shot me up with more of that shit!” His head came up and Darren’s heart broke at the tears and desolation in his eyes. He wished there was something he could do, but he was as much at the mercy of the Phantoms as the kid was.
“What if I end up like Otis or Henry? What if they make me wait a long time like they’ve been doing with you?” He started rocking again. “I just want to go home.”
Darren went back to sitting on his cot. He leaned with his head and back against the bars and closed his eyes, sending up a silent prayer. Please God, help the Sons find me and Joe and even Henry. No one deserved to be put through this hell.
TUCK
“Please, someone , tell us we have some good news,” Dagger gave voice to what Tuck and everyone else was thinking. Something had to give soon. They were all losing their minds.
He sat anxiously waiting for everyone in attendance to take their seat. Kylie had given him new information right before everyone was called to church that he felt was promising.
“Any movement at the rentals?” Race asked Jackson and Trick. They’d been the ones tasked with keeping an eye on the Phantom properties in Redemption. “Anyone show up?”
A look passed between Jackson and Trick, before Jackson replied, “We asked Kylie to let us know if she ever got a hit at any of the properties since we’ve been doing drive-bys. She got an alert that someone was at the rental house. When we got there to check it out we spotted Avery, a stripper from Bottom’s Up, moving around the house last night after what would have been her shift. We called to confirm with the manager that she had worked last night and he said yes. Someone called out and she took their shift.”
Tuck remembered Kylie’s phone going off last night. He’d been pissed someone had woken her up after he’d finally convinced her to come to bed. After he found out it was an alert she’d set up on the Phantom properties, it had been hard to stay mad. Hopefully, it was a lead that might get them one step closer to finding Darren.
“You’re positive she’s one of our dancers?” Dagger asked.
“Yeah. She had the lights on and the curtains open while she was walking around the living room,” Trick confirmed.
“What the fuck?” Race’s voice dropped to deadly quiet. “Do we have another Phantom spy working for us?” That was a sure sign he was about to erupt. Tuck couldn’t blame him. The thought of another spy in their midst was both worrisome and getting old.
“Not sure, but it is rather strange that one of our new dancers would have access to one of the Phantom properties,” Trick replied.
“Can’t be coincidence,” Maverick said.
“Is she still there?” Race asked.
“As far as we know. We left Miles watching the apartment while we came to church. He’s supposed to let us know if there’s any movement.” Jackson rocked back in his chair so it was balancing on the two back legs.
“We’re going back after church. Maybe we can catch her unaware and get some answers out of her.” Trick scratched his scruffy chin.
Race grunted his approval. “Tuck, you said Kylie has something new for us?”
“Yeah.” Tuck pulled up the information on the laptop Kylie gave him, then slid it across the table to Jackson since he was second to Kylie in computer skills. “Can you get this up on the TV screen?” They had a seventy-inch screen mounted to the wall for just this sort of thing. It also came in handy when Jackson, as treasurer, had financial reports he wanted to go over with the brothers. A couple of clicks of the wireless mouse and the image popped up.
“What are we looking at?” Race asked.
“These are satellite pictures of the Phantoms’ clubhouse and surrounding property.” It was at the edge of town, woods on two sides and a fence surrounding the clubhouse and immediate area. “From what Tulsa and Lance has discovered there is always someone on guard duty at the gate. They take six-hour shifts.”
“Okay. This is interesting and all, but what else are we looking at?” Dagger commented.
Tuck got up and walked around the table in order to get closer to the screen. “See this area? This gray color here? She thinks they might have another building back here in the trees.”
“Can you blow it up a little more, Jackson?” Dagger squinted at the picture. “Okay. That’s good.”
“She says if one of our guys down there can use a drone, we could get a closer look. Other than that, she said someone would have to go in on foot to check it out. She’s hoping this is where they’re holding Darren.”
“A drone?” Race appeared intrigued by the idea.
“Where would we get one?” Chris asked.
“She could order one and have it delivered to the UPS store in town for them to pick up.” Tuck looked around the table, checking to see how the brothers were feeling about this information and the idea of a drone.
“Do any of them know how to operate a drone?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t know,” Tuck shrugged a shoulder. “We’d have to call and find out.”
“If we could use a drone instead of sending a brother inside, that would be the quickest and safest way to get the information we need.” Maverick sat with his arms crossed over his chest.
Race was silent for a moment as he weighed the pros and cons of this idea. “Find out. If one of them feels comfortable enough to do it, have Kylie get the drone to them ASAP. I want to know how many guards they have on the property. How many are on this building out back? How many doors and windows in this building? Is there a way to come in through the back?”
A knock at the door stopped Race from continuing. He waved his hand for Trick, who was closest to the door, to answer it. He exchanged a few words, took something from who was more than likely Cutter and closed the door. He stood near the door with a cell phone to his ear. “Miles?” Whatever the prospect was saying must have been important. Trick’s body stiffened and he shot a quick glance Jackson’s way. “Okay. Thanks. Be there in a few. Don’t lose her.”
Trick disconnected the call and held it up. “Miles called Cutter’s phone. Avery the dancer is on the move. He’s following her. I told him we’d catch up.”
Race jerked his chin up. “Go. Follow her and find out where the fuck she goes.”
“Can you track Miles on your phone?” he asked Jackson.
“Yeah. Gimme a second.”
Trick had his hand on the door knob getting ready to leave when there was another knock on the door.
What the hell is going on ? Tuck wondered. Phone calls during church were highly irregular, as in, it never happened.
Another phone was passed through the open door, a few words were exchanged, then Trick walked it to Race and handed it over.
He frowned when he realized it was his phone.“Bellamy?” he asked Trick. Race’s wife was two months away from giving birth so Tuck thought it was understandable that he’d be jumpy where she was concerned.
“No. Tulsa’s name popped up on your screen. Since he kept calling, Cutter thought it might be important.”
Race pushed the button to put him on speaker. “Tulsa? You’re on speaker. What’s so urgent?” He waved for Trick and Jackson to head out.
“We’re sitting four houses down from Crockett’s house. His old lady’s ’vette is getting repoed. She’s out on the front lawn in a short pink satin robe beating the guy with a throw pillow and screaming at the top of her lungs. She’s telling him it’s paid for and he has no right to take her car. She’s also got her phone to her ear chewing Crockett’s ass out. Wait. The guy has it loaded and is driving away.” Tulsa’s bark of laughter almost made his next words unrecognizable. “Oh my god! She’s chasing him out into the street! I think she might be naked under that robe. Uh, yeah. She is definitely naked. Her tit just bounced out.”
“Holy shit, that’s funny!” Lance could be heard in the background laughing.
“Uh oh. Crocket just pulled up and is grabbing her by the arm and escorting her back toward the house shouting ‘put some goddamn clothes on, woman!’” A loud noise could be heard over the line like Tulsa or Lance was slapping the steering wheel or dash really hard. “Oh my God,” he wheezed. “I think I just pissed myself.”
Tuck watched the other men around the table and everyone of them was grinning like idiots after hearing the way Tulsa described the situation. He could just picture it all exactly the way their brother described it.
“I can’t…breathe,” Tulsa’s voice hitched, trying to catch his breath.
The club hadn’t had much to celebrate or to enjoy lately so Tulsa’s descriptively hilarious play-by-play was very much welcomed. It was at a time like this that Tuck wished Darren were here. He’d have found the whole thing as funny as the rest of them. Thanks to Kylie, he’d become less and less reserved, opting to speak his mind more and more instead of kicking back and watching the world go by.
Fuck, Tuck rubbed a hand down his face. He could only imagine what the Phantoms could be doing to him right now. He refused to believe that they’d killed him because if they had they would have made sure the Sons knew about it.
Race’s next question drew him back to the conversation. “Can either of you or Jed fly a drone?”
“A drone?” Tulsa asked.
“Yeah. Can any of you down there fly a drone?”
“Yeah. Lance says he can. Why do you ask?”
“Kylie is going to get one shipped to a local UPS store for you to pick up. I’ll have her text you the details.” Race went on to explain what he wanted them to find out. With the end of the phone call, church was dismissed.
Tuck retrieved his phone from the box outside church and went to tell Kylie to order the drone and have it shipped. Hopefully, she could get it overnighted. The sooner the better. He had this sinking feeling they were running out of time. He was worried that they’d get bored with whatever they were doing to him and end it. Permanently. They couldn’t allow that to happen. Kylie was as much in love with Darren as she was him and losing either one of them would be too much. She’d never recover.
DARREN
Well, shit. Crockett was back outside Darren’s cell with an evil smile spread across his face. He had a bad feeling that this time the man was going to test him by putting a woman in with him. His breath caught as one of the Phantoms escorted an obviously drugged woman to Henry’s cell. She was naked, had tattoos and a rough look about her. Her blonde hair was teased and her makeup around her eyes smudged. Her lipstick wa smeared around her mouth and he wondered if maybe she was one of the club whores.
“Henry, back against the wall,” he demanded. He waited until Henry did as he was told then unlocked the door and shoved the woman inside. “Henry, meet Regina.”
Henry, despite the amount of pain he’d been suffering, didn’t immediately pounce on Regina. He gave her a minute, then slowly approached her. His shaking hand tentatively reached out to touch her arm. When she didn’t immediately jerk away, he slid his hand down to hers and guided her to his cot. Darren could see from where he was at that Henry was shaking as he tried to show a modicum of restraint, giving her time to get used to him.
Another woman was brought in and Darren tensed. She showed the same signs of being drugged as well. He fisted his hands at his sides and held his breath, knowing his time was up. They were going to force a woman on him. He honestly didn’t know if he could hold back and it terrified him. The red-haired woman looked to be late twenties, early thirties. She was athletically built with long legs. They passed by his cell and opened Joe’s. The young man jumped to his feet and backed to the wall, not because they told him to, but because he was scared.
They opened the door and pushed her forward, slamming it behind her. She must have been given the drug recently because she had a predatory smile on her face as she stalked toward Joe. Yes, she stalked him like a freaking cat. Joe trembled as he watched her closely.
The sound of a woman whimpering had his head swinging to the front of his cell.
“Put her in with him.” Crockett tipped his head toward Darren.
Oh, fuck no . Two Phantoms with a woman held between them.
“What if he tries something while we’re putting her in there?”
“He won’t. He’s feeling too good.” To Darren he said, “She hasn’t been given the drug, but if you try anything with my guys, I’ll dose her. Understand?”
He backed toward the wall, hating that Crockett was right. He really didn’t want to fight despite how enraged he was.
“What the fuck, Crockett? She’s no more than a girl. What the fuck are you doing?” Darren growled, backing away from the woman. His dick twitched without his consent. She looked terrified. He bet she was a virgin. If not, she hadn’t been with more than one guy. If she’d been with two, he’d be surprised. When Crockett didn’t immediately respond, Darren added, “I’m not fucking her.”
“You might think that, but that Euphoria we gave you will change your mind.” Crockett was sure of what he was saying and it terrified Darren that he might be right. “Come on. Let’s give them some privacy.”
She shuffled inside his cell only far enough that the door could close behind her.
“How the hell does that little woman of his take him without being torn apart?” It was the same brother who commented on his dick earlier. Darren bared his teeth and growled. Crockett laughed and turned on his heels with his crew following in his wake.
The woman backed herself into a corner at the front of his cell, watching his every move and wrapped her arms wrapped around herself. He studied her as thoroughly as she studied him.
She had long dark hair that varied in several different shades, like she spent a lot of time outdoors. Her dark brown eyes were huge in her pale face. Her nose was slightly upturned and her straight teeth bit into her full bottom lip. She was on the small side, maybe five feet four inches. She had a round ass and small tits that she tried to keep covered with her arm across her chest. Her eyes grew impossibly rounder as she got a good look at his rock hard cock. He covered it with his hands, trying not to scare her anymore than she already was.
Darren chanced a quick glance toward Henry and found he and the woman were fucking like rabbits.
He rubbed his hands over his face and groaned, partly in frustration and partly because it took all he had not to take what his body needed. The only things stopping him were the scared girl herself and the thought of Kylie ever finding out.
He dropped his hands and realized what he’d done as her eyes were glued to his very hard cock. He covered his dick again and tried to reassure her. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not even going to touch you.”
No response.
“You can have the bed, I’ll sit in the corner.” He motioned with his head to the back corner. He took a seat with his back to the cold concrete wall as far away from her as the space allowed. She didn’t make a move, opting to stay in her own corner.
He closed his eyes and asked, “What’s your name?”
The girl stayed quiet so long, he just about gave up trying to get her to talk.
“Amy.”
“What’s that?” He opened his eyes.
“My name is Amy.” She let her long dark hair help cover her nudity. Probably gave her sense of security as well.
“That’s a pretty name. How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
She was young. So damn young. Like Joe. From the sounds of it he and the redhead had started fucking. From the shouts coming from Henry and the woman he was with they’d both found their releases. Damn it. He felt a cold sweat break out across his brow and a bead of fluid leaked from his dick. He cleared his throat and continued asking questions as a way to distract himself from what he really wanted to do. Fuck. He wanted to fuck hard and long, until he no longer felt the drug in his system. Until he no longer felt the need to rut like an animal. Crockett had been right, the need to fuck was becoming too strong to ignore and it scared the hell out of him. “You from Redemption?”
“Where?”
“Redemption.” She frowned as if the name was unfamiliar to her. “Colorado?”
“No. I’m from here in Taos, or a least I think we’re still in Taos.”
That’s what he figured. They’d taken him from Redemption and brought him to Taos. He hoped and prayed the brothers knew to look down here.
“How did you end up here?”
“I was with a couple of girlfriends at the Phantom Furies’ clubhouse. We met them at a shady looking bar. They invited us to come party with them. One of my friends wanted to try it. You know, the whole ‘I partied with bikers’ thing.” She stared off in space like she was remembering the incident. Her eyes must have connected with Joe and his partner because she immediately jerked her head back toward him. “I don’t really remember exactly how I ended up here. I think I got separated from my friends. I went to use the bathroom and when I came out, I ran into one of the Phantom Furies. I felt someone cover my mouth from behind and then,” she shook her head. “And then I was here with you.”
They probably chloroformed her and kidnapped her. If they took her from the clubhouse he doubted they had far to take her. Were they still on Phantom property? He thought so, but were they in the basement of the clubhouse or some other building?
He knew exactly what she was saying about bragging about partying with bikers. They got a lot of hang arounds at their club parties, too. The difference was the Sons never drugged or forced any of them to have sex.