53. Kane
FIFTY-THREE
KANE
Twenty-Six Years Old
Kane stood gaping at the load in the back of the truck. His attention swept through the cargo box, covertly counting the heads that were covered by sacks.
Seven.
There were seven fucking girls in the back of this truck.
All of them were bound.
Shaking and whimpering.
Their terror hitting him in a full body blow.
What the fuck was going on?
Disbelief bashed against the reality that laid siege to his brain.
Rage ate up his insides. A fucking monster that devoured every ill-intention he’d ever had and stirred a thousand new.
The thirst for blood and vengeance a bitter taste on his tongue.
“Don’t ever change. Don’t ever let that beautiful light fade. Fight for love and what’s right. I know you will…because it’s who you are.”
He nearly crumbled with the truth. With the truth of the foul, abominable man he’d become.
Tyke howled with laughter as he clapped Kane on the shoulder .
“Surprise. Told you I had something extra special for you.” He lowered his voice, deviant lasciviousness curdling his words.
“Every one of them are delectable. I made sure to test them out for myself. We’ll be sure to make a pit stop so we can let you have a little fun, too.
Wouldn’t want to leave our brother out.”
Disgust churned in Kane’s guts, and his hands twitched with violence. How fucking bad he wanted to reach out and strangle the life from this motherfucker.
But there were at least six other guys moving around the abandoned warehouse where they often transferred loads from one truck to another.
Mixing things up to remain more undetectable as they moved product to its final destination.
He attempted to gather himself before he gave himself away. Before he went on a straight rampage and murdered every single one of these bastards.
He had to play this smart.
Tyke lifted his hand and waved for Kelp to start backing up the second truck, and once he got it into place, Tyke threw up the rolling door as Kelp came ambling around to the back.
“Get ’em moved,” Tyke ordered. Kelp went to work, yanking the girls up from the one truck and shoving them into the other.
Cries of terror ripped and cut. Knives that scored and flayed.
Kane wavered, so fucking sick he couldn’t move, but he knew he couldn’t stand there and not act the part. So, he grabbed a girl who was huddled against the wall, her body shivering with silent sobs.
He tried to act the beast that the rest of them were on the exterior, while he wished with everything he had that he could whisper in her ear that he wasn’t there to hurt her.
She only whimpered as he jostled her into the other truck, no strength to even stand on her feet.
He turned and went for the next.
He swore to God, her spirit fired.
This ricocheting of energy that bounced against the metal walls of the box .
He inhaled a shattered breath as he hauled her onto her bound feet from behind.
She thrashed, shouting, “Let us go. How can you do this?”
He couldn’t. He couldn’t.
Only he forced himself to comply for the moment, and he jumped off the back end of the truck and lifted her up to place her into the bed of the other.
She fought him the whole time.
Fought and fought.
A warrior scratching and clawing and kicking.
“Don’t fuckin’ fight me, you bitch.” He spat the abhorrent words, playing the same as Tyke and Kelp.
But Kane? He wanted to weep.
She gripped onto his arm, and her nails dug into the flesh.
Drawing blood.
Surprised, he jerked his arm back, and when he did, her fingers snagged on the bracelet he’d always worn, snapping the clasp that held it together.
Kane didn’t know what he wanted more—to snatch it out of her hand or promise that she would have the chance to return it to him later.
He stood there unable to do either.
Tyke laughed, completely oblivious to his turmoil. “Watch that one. She’s feisty.”
Then the bastard hopped up to stand on the bumper and pulled on the leather strap attached to the handle to drag the door closed. He latched and locked it then made a swooping motion with his hand overhead. “Let’s roll.”
Nausea burned in Kane’s guts, but he followed Tyke around the passenger side of the truck while Kelp headed to the driver’s.
Tyke climbed into the front seat of the cab, and Kane opened the back door and hopped in.
Antsy.
Itching .
Sweat drenched his skin as Kelp and Tyke slammed their doors shut and Kelp put it into gear.
The truck rattled as the diesel engine gained speed, the entire thing swaying and lurching as Kelp ground through the gears.
The sun was just going down as he took to the road.
They were in the industrial part of San Diego, their destination the docks in Los Angeles. Kane had thought it would be some kind of expensive, black-market weapons that they would be transporting when he was told he was being sent south for an important job.
One that he was warned not to fuck up.
Oh, the ways he planned on fucking this shit up.
They traveled for about ten minutes, through the heavy industrial area before they made it to a more commercialized one.
Streetlights flickered on and their headlights illuminated the road in front of them.
They made several turns, moving farther and farther away from the dirtbags back at the warehouse who wouldn’t have the chance to intervene.
Anxiety buzzed in Kane’s body, and his knee bounced a million miles a minute as he waited for the right opportunity. Trying to calculate his every move before he took action.
They turned onto a side road that was less traveled, winding around so they could take a loop to get them onto the freeway that would lead back to LA.
A stop sign was up ahead, and Kelp started to slow.
This was it.
His chance.
Kane flew forward, lurching between the two front seats and yanking up the emergency brake.
In the exact same moment, he lifted his gun with his other hand, put it against Kelp’s temple, and pulled the trigger.
Blood splattered against the driver’s side window as the truck careened back and forth before it came skidding to a stop.
Kelp slumped over .
Kane knew he had only one second to move before Tyke would process what was happening.
That Kane was staging a full-scale mutiny.
He swung his arm around to point his gun at Tyke, but Tyke was already reacting. Both hands flew out to grip onto Kane’s wrist to deflect the shot.
“You fuckin’ disloyal bastard,” Tyke hissed through gritted teeth. His entire face flamed red as he struggled against Kane. “I knew it. Knew your whole fucking crew was gonna flip.”
“You think I’m going to stand aside and watch this sick shit?” Kane growled, a surge of strength taking him over when he thought about the girls in the back.
Kane managed to rip free of Tyke’s hold, and he angled to the left, trying to get in a position where he could get a clean shot.
Tyke twisted around and leaned back in his seat, and he kicked out with his foot. His heavy boot struck Kane’s wrist.
Kane couldn’t keep hold of his gun, and it toppled to the floorboard. Kane ducked down to grab it.
Without warning, a crack hit him in the back of the head.
Darkness threatened, the pain that splintered so close to knocking him out. But he fought it. He knew he couldn’t give. He had to do this.
He finally got the gun then launched himself into the front seat, hitting Tyke hard, trying to pin him down.
Tyke fought back, locking one arm around Kane’s neck and driving his fist into Kane’s ribs with the other.
It knocked the air out of him, and he choked for air, trying to get a breath as he continued to fight the motherfucker who was trying to get hold of his gun.
Both of Tyke’s hands were wrapped tight around Kane’s wrist.
Only Kane was higher than him, and Kane managed to pin him sideways to the seat with the gun locked between them.
Kane gritted his teeth, fighting with everything he had. For those girls. For his mother. As retribution for every sin he’d ever committed.
A gunshot went off, and Tyke cried a pathetic sound before he slumped back as blood started to gush from his side .
Kane gasped for oxygen, through the relief as he reached out and yanked at the door handle. It opened, and he scrambled out over the top of Tyke’s body.
He hit the pavement running for the back of the truck.
Darkness rained from the sky, no stars visible against the glow of city lights that blotted them out. The only thing he had was the hazy fog of a streetlamp to light his way.
Thank fuck, he had the key, and his hands were shaking out of control as he fumbled to get the right one. He slid it into the heavy-duty padlock.
The lock gave, and he tore it out of the slot then shoved the door upward to the sound of screams and pleas. Torment hit him as hard as a rogue wave.
The desolating type.
Their fear so distinct he couldn’t breathe.
Their heads covered without a clue as to what was going on.
He jumped into the back and hauled up the first girl he could reach. She screeched in terror.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he rushed, not taking the time to explain what was happening. He jumped down with her curled in his arms, hating that he basically tossed her to the side of the road where there was an embankment of grass, but knowing he had zero time to waste.
He did the same with the next and the next.
Before he was dragging up the one who’d fought him.
“It’s okay,” he promised again, his breaths jagged from the exertion.
She gasped as he jumped down with her, and he set her beside the rest. He turned quickly and ran back for the cargo box.
Only gunshots started to ring out, and he dove to the ground, hands going to the back of his head like it would be enough to protect himself. Bullets pinged against the metal siding of the truck and kicked up pebbles of pavement where they struck the ground.
Fuck.
Asshole was still alive.
Adrenaline surged through his veins, and Kane grappled for his gun that was tucked in the waistband at the back of his jeans, and he flipped around onto his back so he could take a shot as Tyke rounded the end of the truck.
But the asshole was still firing.
Shot after shot.
Kane rolled back onto his stomach and frantically crawled to get out of the spray of bullets. His breaths short and rasping as he ducked behind the embankment on the opposite side of the road.
Air wheezed as he flung around to try to get in a shot, but he wasn’t sure he could take Tyke down without risking hitting one of the girls.
Agitation burned a hole through him, and he swiveled his gun from left to right as he aimed.
Sirens suddenly shouted in the distance.
Kane could feel the deviant’s uncertainty. His attention darted between the four girls who were screaming in the middle of the mayhem and dust and the back of the truck that was still gaping open with three girls remaining inside.
The sirens grew closer, and hope bloomed inside of Kane, and he lifted up on his knees so he could fire.
He couldn’t get it off before Tyke popped off two wayward shots in Kane’s direction just as he jumped up and hauled back down the door. He slammed it shut and twisted the latch.
He didn’t take the time to put the lock back into place.
Tyke raced for the driver’s side.
Violence screamed inside of Kane. He couldn’t let this bastard get away.
No matter the consequences.
He jumped to his feet and took off after him, lifting his gun and taking aim. He fired. It pinged on the back passenger door on the driver’s side, just over the top of the scumbag’s head.
Tyke whirled, firing again.
Kane dove for the ground as dust flew through the night, and one second later, he lurched back to his feet as Tyke ripped open the driver’s door. The bastard fisted Kelp’s shirt and tossed his body to the ground, jumping in to take his place .
Kane fired again. It struck the inside of the door just as Tyke was slamming it shut.
The engine ground as he shifted into gear and the truck started to roll.
No.
No. No. No.
Kane couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t let him get away with them.
He ran after him, pushing himself as hard as he could go. His feet pounding on the pavement as he chased down the truck that increased in speed.
The truck gained distance with each second that passed.
Kane strained, gasping as he struggled to keep up.
But there was no chance. No chance as the truck skidded around the corner at the next street, tires squealing as he made a sharp left turn.
Kane stumbled to a stop, air raking from his lungs as he bent over at the waist, grief nearly cutting him in two.
He roared in agony.
Because he knew there was no chance that Tyke would end up at the docks with those girls.
No chance that Kane could find them.
And undoubtedly, his death warrant was being signed by Cutter right then.
He failed.
He failed.
Cries echoed on the deepening night as the sound of the truck disappeared into the nothingness and the shriek of the sirens increased.
Kane lumbered off the side of the road and dropped to his knees.
Hatred and shame and regret battered his soul.
Every mistake and sin he’d ever committed laid out in front of him as if it were proof.
A devastating condemnation.
And he submitted himself to it.
Gave his complete surrender.
His one purpose distinctly clear .
Because as he hid himself on the far side of the embankment in the distance and watched as four police cruisers came skidding to a stop where the four girls had staggered to their feet and out into the middle of the road, their silhouettes lit up in the blaring glare of the cars’ headlights, Kane knew.
“Don’t ever change. Don’t ever let that beautiful light fade. Fight for love and what’s right. I know you will…because it’s who you are.”
His mother’s last words fell over him, and he welcomed the pain.
The grief.
The shame.
He might not ever have love, but he would fight for what was right.
It would be his life’s mission to hunt these bastards. End them one by one. And he wouldn’t stop until he took his last breath.