Ox (The Devil’s Riders #5)

Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

Ox

I was going to kill Ghost. There were no two ways about it. The cocksucker was a dead man. He just didn’t know it yet.

“You doing okay, Ox?” German asked, his shrewd eyes taking in every micro expression my face was throwing off.

Blowing out a breath, I stroked my beard to calm my fraying nerves. “As soon as I get my girl back and kill that motherfucker, Ghost, I’ll be great.”

I’ll hand it to my Brother. He didn’t latch onto the fact that I’d called Kayla mine. In truth, he dealt with it like it had already been a known fact. Which should have further angered me, being so easy to read and all. But it didn’t. I was too far gone with rage to care. I needed to plant my fist through that Watchmen’s face before I’d be able to release any of the poison snaking through my veins. Draining it completely would require Ghost’s blood and brains splattered on the ground, courtesy of my boot.

German nodded his understanding. “I know, Brother. Ghost and the Watchmen’s days are numbered. As soon as Reaper gives us the go-ahead, we’ll make them all go extinct.”

I appreciated my brother’s brutal words. They were the only thing that could have comforted me in this moment.

A knock on the hotel door let me know that the other men from our MC had arrived. German rose, unlatched the bolt, and ushered them in. Hawk, Bishop, Hammer and Pipe were all wearing equally dark and somber expressions as they strolled inside.

None of the men took off their coats. They wouldn’t be staying long enough to bother. We were all driving over to the Watchmen’s Clubhouse to confront Maze about Ghost. If the fucker didn’t fork over Kayla, we were going to unleash a world of hurt onto their MC the likes of which they’d never seen. Hell, even when they gave my girl back, we were going to make them pay. As German had mentioned, their days were numbered.

Hawk glanced in my direction and studied my face in a way that only my VP could. “I can’t have you going off half-cocked when we get to the Watchmen compound,” he warned, like he could read the horrors unfolding in my brain.

Though I couldn’t promise not to emanate rage while there, I wouldn’t do anything to endanger Kayla. “I can hold it together.”

“Let me do most of the talking,” Hawk suggested with a grin. “Your fucking scowl is expressing everything your fists are itching to say.”

The men laughed and my frown only grew more furrowed. “Let’s get going,” I said, strapping my gun in the holster at my hip. “Every moment waiting around at this hotel is another Kayla is waiting around with the Watchmen.”

My Brothers all bobbed their heads in mutual understanding, and German said, “Let’s go get your girl back.”

We pulled up to the compound in a string of SUVs. The Prospect at the front gate nearly pissed himself when he saw us approach.

Hawk, at the front of the line because he was acting in our Prez’s stead at the moment, said, “Tell Maze the Devils have arrived to see him.”

The man’s unstable Adam’s apple convulsed as he whipped out his phone and made a quick call. In under a minute, we were ushered into the compound. Once inside, bikers dotted the front, dirt yard that looked more like an abandoned lot than a home.

Exiting our vehicles, we strode as a solid unit to the front porch of the Clubhouse. The place was as run down and as hopeless as the men who lived inside of it. As we were led through the battered front door, the Watchmen surrounded us on all sides. My senses pricked with warning. There were few men I trusted to have my back. However, I’d trust every single one of my Brothers to keep me safe just as fiercely as I would them.

Maze made us wait a few minutes inside the Clubhouse just to fuck with us. As we stood in his disgusting rec room, I took in how run down and filthy the place was. Which, in truth, was an apt description for the women milling about it as well. The sickly creatures were littered around the open space, some nodding off while others were moving jerkily like only junkies could. One woman in particular, a stringy-haired blonde with dead eyes, was actively shooting up in a dark corner. The MC was indistinguishable from a damned trap house, for Christ’s sake. It was one of the most depressing things I’d ever seen.

The thought of Kayla locked away in some room, or the basement, made my inner beast roar with rage. Needing to do something, anything, I strained my senses to see if I could feel Kayla inside this Godforsaken building. It sounded crazy, trying to do that. But we had a connection unlike any other, so where she was concerned, I was willing to try anything.

My gut clenched when I felt nothing. No inkling of her presence. Telling myself I was acting insane, and it wasn’t because these animals had done the unthinkable, I shoved down my concern and focused on what was going on around me. With this corrupt group of men, it was imperative that I stay vigilant. Anything could happen at any time. If I needed to fight, or to shoot, I had to be fully aware of my surroundings. I couldn’t afford distractions.

Maze graced us with his presence then. He didn’t give us any bullshit greetings, which I appreciated. But he did walk into the room with a fuckload of cockiness, which I didn’t.

“I’m sorry you drove all this way, boys, but your bitch isn’t here,” he callously replied, like we were talking about an article of clothing instead of a real, flesh and blood, human woman.

I might have agreed to keep my cool when talking to the Watchmen Prez, but I hadn’t agreed to stay silent.

“She might not be here, but she is with one of your men,” I responded in my deepest baritone, calling the asshole out on his lies.

“Look, I’m not sure what happened between you and your woman, Ox, but it’s none of my concern. Maybe check the bitch’s mother’s house. They tend to scurry off home when things aren’t working out with Club life.”

My temper, always in check, bubbled to the surface. “Kayla’s not at her fucking mother’s house, Maze. She’s with your fucking Road Master. The psychopath kidnapped her from a parking lot five hours ago.”

Maze’s eyes crinkled at the corners like he was not so secretly mocking me. “I asked Ghost about that and he says he hasn’t seen the cunt in weeks. From what I’ve heard, he’s already shacking up with another sweetbutt. One snatch is the same as the next with him, I guess.”

Fire, hot and furious, scorched the inner cavity of my chest at his lies and insults about my girl. “Kayla’s no fucking sweetbutt! She’s my woman. And she’s under the protection of the Devil’s Riders!” I announced, letting him know exactly what was about to happen if he didn’t make Kayla appear sooner rather than later.

“Maybe you should tell her that,” Maze returned, seemingly bored with the conversation. “Sounds like the bitch doesn’t want to be found.”

Hawk stepped in then, seeing the fever of rage reach out of my chest and directly into the depths of my wild eyes. “Ghost has been obsessed with Kayla for months now and you want us to believe he had nothing to do with her disappearance?”

“I don’t care what you believe,” Maze smugly answered. “She ain’t my bitch so she ain’t my responsibility.”

Hawk took a meaningful step forward then, impressing upon everyone how serious he was. “She might not be your responsibility, Maze,” he spoke, calmly, but deadly threatening, “but it will be your problem if anything happens to her.”

My heart constricted at the mere thought of Kayla being injured–or worse. To deal with my raging emotions, I clenched my fists at my sides to stop from hauling off and beating the man to death for his unforgivable sins.

“Is that a threat?” Maze queried, his blue eyes flashing coldly.

“It’s a promise,” Hawk returned, his head tilting slightly to the side. “And if Kayla doesn’t show up in the next twenty-four hours, Maze, it’s one my Club is going to see carried out.”

Kayla

The minutes seemed to both crawl by and speed up simultaneously. I’d never been more aware of time in my whole life. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Ghost returned. And when he did, he’d expect to cash in on his earlier threats.

Though Ghost had left me untied when he’d left, he’d also padlocked the door behind him. There was no way I was going to be able to break it down without some powerful, mechanical equipment. And without any windows to crawl out of, I didn’t see any other obvious way to escape.

Telling myself not to panic, I racked my brain for an alternative route out. If the walls had been sheetrock, I could have kicked my way through. But, seeing as they were solid concrete, I was shit out of luck there, too.

Reaching into my pockets, I extracted the contents of what was inside and my shoulders slumped in defeat. A crumpled tissue, a worn nickel, and a receipt for gum weren’t going to help me much.

Just as I was contemplating the many uses of a nickel, I heard someone coming down the basement steps. My heart skipped a beat as I listened to those footfalls get closer and closer until they were right outside my door.

Fuck! Ghost was back, which meant I was out of time. There’d be no chance for escape now. This was it.