Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dagger
We heard the explosion from a mile away.
A bad feeling slid through my gut, and my heart twisted.
My eyes slid left to see Kit trying to get my attention. He pointed to his lit cell phone on the holder attached to his handlebars, mouthed the word clubhouse , and gave me the okay sign.
A wave of relief swept through me, and my shoulders slumped.
Jesus Christ.
What the fuck had gone on? We’d only been gone for two hours.
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure everyone was still in formation, and my stare settled on the van carrying the girls and kids before jerking back to the road.
We’d found ten women and girls they’d kidnapped, along with another five kids who belonged to Sinners. The children were neglected and, in some cases, beaten and abused. Their clothes were filthy, and they were too thin to be healthy.
Not for the first time, I vowed to wipe out every Burning Sinner in existence. Every one of them embodied pure evil. There was no reform program in the world good enough to inject a conscience into them. The Burning Sinners were the Devil incarnate, and the Speed Demons were soldiers of God. It was our responsibility to send them back to the pits of Hell where they belonged.
We turned back onto the main road leading back to the clubhouse and I couldn’t help worrying about what had gone down.
Cash had proven time after time that he had a tactical mind and could think on his feet, but I couldn’t help the stabbing in my gut when I wondered if I’d thrown him in the deep end too quickly. Still, if I was going to pass on the gavel, I had to allow Cash to steer the ship, or else I’d never let it go.
My stare caught on the end of the road, and I sat up straighter.
Hendrix and his boys were already at the clubhouse. I could see their rental bikes gleaming in the morning sunshine, lined up and looking pretty.
My heart calmed, and my pulse began to steady until my eyes veered back to the road and widened again in utter shock.
What used to be a large vehicle was now scattered across the blackened road in pieces.
My heart kicked and began to thud hard again.
What the fucking fuck?
My face jerked toward Breaker, whose mouth was twitching like a motherfucker. He glanced behind him, and I followed his gaze to see Atlas’s lips thinning angrily.
I looked ahead again, trying to make sense of what the fuck I was seeing; then, as we approached, I noticed there was more than one car scattered over the road, and what looked like a huge pothole had been blasted into the asphalt—or was it a bomb crater.
A realization hit me square in the chest like a juggernaut.
Cash had blown the Sinners up.
Jesus Christ.
Jesus fuckin’ Christ.
The clubhouse gates loomed ahead, what was left of them anyway, and I had to swerve to avoid the ten-foot-round pothole, and the blown-up vehicles directly outside.
A muscle ticked in my jaw.
I didn’t give a fuck if any Sinners had been killed—they got what was coming—but those gates were electric and had built-in security cameras. They cost the price of a small house, but now they were mangled, with a hole in the middle of the bars and the metal twisted into weird shapes.
What was left of them opened as we approached, and despite being pissed the fuck off, I almost chuckled at the loud clunking noise they made.
If it wasn’t gonna cost a small fortune to fix, I would’ve laughed my ass off. Except that wasn’t going to happen; in fact, when we rode into the compound, I cursed under my breath because the place looked like a scene from an action movie.
First, my eyes were drawn to Cash, who straddled Bear’s chest and was taking turns with each fist to punch the Sinner’s face, which incidentally was mangled to fuck.
My men were beating the fuck out of the remaining Sinners, and unfortunately for them, there were way more of us. Except for Cash and Bear, there were four or five men smacking the snot out of one rival MC member, and it was fuckin’ glorious.
Henderson stood blank-faced beside the lead commando and his team, who were in a gun-pointing stand-off with Hendrix and his men, while Elise—to my fucking horror—was up in Henderson’s shit, screaming.
I pulled up a few feet away with the boys at my back, then I switched off my engine, removed my helmet, and jammed it on the handlebars before dismounting. Abe waved Mason on, who drove the van carrying the girls on until it stopped at the clubhouse doors. Mase folded out of the driver’s seat and unlocked the back doors at the same time as Layla came racing out, ushering the girls inside.
My neck twisted and I took in Elise’s proximity to Henderson. A familiar burn began to raze through my chest, and I sucked in a breath, trying to calm my ass down before I lost my goddamned mind.
A hand clamped onto my shoulder, and Atlas’s voice rumbled, “Keep it together, Dagger.”
“What’s she doin’ up in his shit when there’s guns pointed at her?” I questioned, slipping my Glock from my cut. “It’s fuckin’ crazy. All these years without her, and I’ve never once breathed easy. I missed her like I’d miss a fuckin’ limb. Then, one day, God puts her in my path again, and she goes and puts herself in the middle of a fuckin’ shoot-out !”
Heads turned at the end of my rant, probably because I bellowed it as I approached. My stare fell on Bear, who Cash had dragged onto his knees, and I altered my trajectory to stomp past him before pulling my arm back and clocking him across the jaw.
His head jerked to one side, and he snarled something under his breath.
“You’ll wait, asshole,” I muttered, leaning down to get in his face. “Got big plans for you and the rest of your pervert brothers. Oh, and, dude, the girls are safe, and your dirty little compound has gone up in flames. When the fire crew investigates, they’ll deduce that your drug-addicted brothers got high and fell asleep while leaving a smoke burning, and the place caught fire. Case-fuckin’-closed. Not that you care, seeing as you left their asses out there swinging. Your pop was a moron too, but at least he was loyal to his men. You’re just a waste of everybody’s goddamned time.”
Bear lifted his eyes to meet mine, and they narrowed.
I turned to the lead commando who stood with Henderson, gun aimed at Leesy. “Lower your weapon.”
“We don’t take orders from you,” he retorted.
I swung my arm up and butted my gun against Henderson’s temple. “Tell ‘em to lower their weapons, or I’ll shoot your fuckin’ brains out.”
The air filled with clicks as the commandos took their safeties off.
“What’s it gonna be?” I inquired, my eyes boring into Robert’s.
Fear flashed behind his eyes. “Do as he says,” he ordered begrudgingly.
The commandos slowly lowered their guns.
My stare swung toward Cash. “What the fuck’s goin’ on? I leave you in charge for two hours, and I come back to fuckin’ carnage,” my hand snaked out and grabbed Elise’s wrist, pulling her behind me, “and the next man to point a gun at my woman gets their ass kicked.”
Henderson’s eyes flickered spitefully. “Good God, Elise. You really scraped the bottom of the barrel with this one, didn’t you? I’m surprised you’re not begging me to take you back.”
Leesy’s body locked, and her hands clenched to fists by her side. She leaned around me toward Henderson and shrieked, “You’re a human fucking trafficker . Who in the world could be lower than you? ”
I turned around to face Leesy, crowding her into submission. “Baby,” I crooned, curling my fingers around her jaw. “Go inside.”
She threw a hand out toward her ex-husband. “Jesus Christ, Johnny. Can’t you just kill him already? He’s a fucking oxygen thief.”
“Do as Prez says, Ma,” Atlas boomed. “Soph’ll be having a conniption.”
A strangled noise escaped Henderson’s throat. “Ma?” he questioned. “She’s not your mother .”
“You’re not very bright,” Atlas retorted in a bored tone. “You’re right about one thing, though, she’s not my mother, but she is my mother-in-law. My wife, Doctor Sophie, is Elise’s biological daughter.” He took a step forward and sneered, “You know, the one you ripped away from her.”
My stare rested on the asshole’s features, enjoying the play of emotions crossing them. It took a beat, but eventually, Henderson realized the truth behind Atlas’s words, and all color drained from his face.
“Heard about that,” a rasping voice called out from behind me. “Mindfuck of the century.”
I turned around just in time to see Cash kick Bear in the face, muttering, “Don’t you ever shut the fuck up?”
The Sinner’s nose exploded, and he let out a pained groan.
My fingers slid around the back of Leesy’s neck. I angled her face up, touched her mouth with mine, and whispered, “Go inside.”
Green met gold, and my heart swelled so big it filled my chest.
Elise’s lips tipped up, and she touched my cheek with her fingertips before turning on her heel and walking back toward the clubhouse. “Bye, Robert,” she flung back. “Detested every second of knowing ya.”
Atlas chuckled.
Henderson’s pinched eyes followed her. “Let Bear go,” he ordered. “Untie him, and we’ll be on our way.”
Turning back, I grinned. “That dirty fucking rat’s not goin’ anywhere except back to Hell, and you’re goin’ with him.”
He turned to the head commando. “Spencer, you know what to do.”
The soldier raised his gun again, pointing it at my head. Clicks filled the parking lot as every one of his men did the same.
“You seem to forget I’ve got an army at my back,” Henderson crowed. “We’re evenly matched, Stone. If I go down, so do you. Your kids lose their father, and Elise loses the love of her life... again.”
“And you seem to forget I have, too.” My smirk matched his, and I raised a hand, lifting my index and middle finger in a peace sign. “Or should I say, I have two?”
A puzzled expression slid across his features as he furiously tried to work out what I meant.
The grin that spread across my face must’ve resembled the Cheshire Cat’s. My eyes flicked to the commando leader, then back to the mayor. He could tell by the look on my face that I knew something he didn’t. And it was big. His eyes narrowed, and he stared at me, clearly confused.
I had the upper hand, and something deep inside him knew because he rubbed his palms down his beige Chinos and his breaths became shorter.
That was when he went on the offense.
“Spencer,” he bit out. “Kill him.”
“He’s got a gun to your head, sir,” the commando reminded him. “The second I open fire, you’re dead, and after you and your goons attacked his property and tried to kill the men here, his actions, and the actions of the other men would be considered self-defense in a court of law, especially after my testimony.”
The leader gave a signal, and suddenly, the commandos swerved their weapons to aim at Henderson.
“What the fuck?” Atlas breathed.
“Surprise,” I sang, turning to face my men. “Did I ever tell you boys about my Marine days?” I asked, taking a step toward the commando. “Remember my buddy who I trained with at Sniper School?” My hand went to the commando’s shoulder and squeezed before turning to stand beside him, facing my men. “Boys, meet Rick Spencer.”
“What the fuck?” Atlas breathed again.
Breaker chuckled.
Bowie looked between us both, gaping.
Cash—the only brother who knew about Spencer—barked a laugh.
Henderson’s shocked eyes skated to Bear, who looked at the heavens and heaved a resigned breath.
We had them on their knees, literally and figuratively, and judging by Bear’s slumped shoulders and set jaw, the realization was beginning to sink in.
“Lying bastard,” the mayor clipped out, turning back to Spencer. “You set me up.”
“No,” Spence replied, jerking his chin toward me. “He set you up. I just went along with it.”
Henderson emitted a low growl. “I’m gonna fucking kill you.” He lunged and launched his body toward me.
Shouts cut through the air, but I was ready. Bouncing on the soles of my feet, I waited until the last minute before spinning to the side just as Henderson flew into me.
The move sent him off balance, and he slipped and fell.
Grabbing the back of the collar of his button-up, I pulled his head up and threw a quick jab at his nose. I heard a satisfying crack as my knuckles connected, and blood flew everywhere.
With a roar, I punched again and again, holding him by the hair and directing a flurry of punches at his face. This bastard took my life from me. He took my woman and subjected her to years of hellish abuse. He made me miss out on not only the birth of my oldest child but also every milestone of her childhood.
A red mist descended, and I kept punching until Henderson’s face turned into a bloody mess.
This was the culmination of thirty-five years of rivalry, the culmination of all the blood, sweat, and tears that those bastards had caused my club and my community. My dad was a true, unadulterated cunt who, more often than not, operated on the wrong side of the law, but he at least had a sliver of honor when it came to looking after the town and all the people in it.
These poor excuses for humans lived their lives having no conscience and showing no mercy, so we would put aside our consciences and our mercy when we did the world a favor by putting them to death.
Strong arms banded around mine, and I watched Cash drag Henderson away. A muscle ticked in my jaw, and my breath sawed in and out, my top lip curling in disgust at the sick piece of shit.
“Get the fuck off me,” I bellowed.
“Killin’ the fucker’s all good, Prez,” Atlas murmured from behind. “But we need him lucid to question him; plus, we all wanna play.” He lifted his head and shouted, “Breaker. Get the women and kids outta the basement. We need to get these clowns down the Cell, but we don’t need an audience.”
Kit gave him a chin lift and marched to the clubhouse.
Cash tossed Henderson toward Bowie, and marched back to Bear, pulling him to his feet by his hair. “Get all those assholes on their feet,” he ordered to the men. “When we get the go-ahead, march ‘em down.”
Murmurs of assent went up along with calls of, “Got it, boss.”
My breathing evened out, and I flexed my pecs, glowering over my shoulder, only for my angry stare to clash with Atlas’s. “You can let go now,” I said pointedly.
His arms released me, and I rubbed at the discomfort in my chest. The big fucker almost busted a rib, squeezed me like a fuckin’ ketchup bottle.
A shrill whistle pierced the ether. “Yo!” Breaker yelled from the clubhouse doors. “Clear. Let’s fuckin’ go.”
My boys hauled the remaining Sinners up from their kneeling positions and yelled at them to get moving. Atlas grabbed Bear by the scruff of his neck and kicked his ass, making him stumble, and Cash hauled an unconscious Henderson up over his shoulder and made for the clubhouse.
Spence appeared beside me. “How the fuck do you get involved in this shit?”
I twisted my neck to face him. “This one was years in the makin’, Spence. We could’ve never got behind them after they went after Abe’s ol’ lady, and that was the day I knew we’d have to put them down eventually. They backed off some after we handed the illegal shit over, but then they made a huge mistake.”
His forehead furrowed. “What?”
“They got greedy, Spence. I knew thirty years ago that one day, it would come to this. The Sinners were never happy with what they had. They wanted to set up in Mapletree back then, and although my dad had misgivings, he had to allow it ‘cause it was out of our jurisdiction. They wanted in on our business and for us to introduce them to all the contacts it took us years to cultivate. We denied them until the time came when it suited us to hand it over, so we offloaded what we didn’t want, and they took it, but they always wanted more. I reckon we could’ve handed them the world, Spence, and they still would’ve demanded the universe. Then the fuckers came after our way of life and flooded our town with drugs designed to hurt people and, ultimately, us. They came after our kids, our women, and they murdered good people for the sole purpose of tryin’ to break my club. They couldn’t fuckin’ stand it, Spence, knowing they weren’t good enough to lick our boots. But instead of puttin’ in the work and evolving as an MC to try and get better, they got spiteful.”
Spence let out a snort. “Jealousy’s a terrible thing, John.”
Slowly, I nodded. “The Bible says, ‘you shall not covetyour neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.’ They coveted the fuck out of everything we had, Spence, and ultimately, it destroyed them.”
Fourteen Hours Later
Bear’s lieutenants had already been dead for a couple of hours.
Atlas recognized one of them as Sparky’s killer, so after we beat a confession out of him, he went out the same way as our kind, gentle, much-loved, and missed prospect did.
With a bullet to the head.
Every Speed Demon member was invited down to the Cell and given ten minutes each with Bear and the other Sinners. Henderson looked on in terror until, eventually, he pissed himself.
Throughout the night, I stripped Robert Henderson of his pride and dignity, the same way he did to me more than thirty years before when he blackmailed the woman I loved more than anything in the world and forced her to leave me. There was contentment in the knowledge that Henderson’s last hours were spent hanging naked from a meat hook in a basement, watching his accomplice, Bear Rawlins, get beaten to death, knowing he was up next.
Bear’s chest had been rattling for thirty minutes, indicating it wouldn’t take long for him to die, so I sat back in my chair and asked the men, “Who wants to finish him?”
“Me,” Breaker snarled.
I noted his blood-splattered tee and the tiny slivers of Bear’s flesh covering his fists.
My boy’s monster was a fucking crazed animal. Over time, I’d witnessed Kit do unspeakable things for the club and his family, but only against the people who did unspeakable things to us first.
Kennedy, Kai, and Kady went to sleep every night knowing they were safe and protected, and I loved that for them.
In a nutshell, this shit was therapy for my youngest son, but deep down, he knew Bear’s kill belonged to somebody else.
“I’m doin’ it,” Cash scraped out.
Kit’s face twisted angrily. “He threatened my woman—”
“Yeah, and he butted a gun to Cara’s head,” Cash interrupted, his tone brooking no argument.
Kit stared at his brother, pausing briefly before finally nodding his assent.
Atlas stepped back from where Bear hung and muttered, “Make it hurt.”
Bowie walked past Cash toward the back of the room where I sat, clasping his older brother’s shoulder in support.
“You good, Son?” Abe asked from where he leaned with his back to the wall, his left leg cocked so his foot lay flat against it.
I smiled.
Abe, ever the support system, even when we were killing people.
Cash nodded, walking over to the chair and getting his Ruger from the pocket of his cut.
This wasn’t easy for him. In fact, none of us relished killing, barring Breaker, but even then, he had to prepare his mind for it. We weren’t built that way, and we certainly weren’t evil men. Every one of us believed that life was precious and should be respected, but we also knew we couldn’t let this slide.
The Burning Sinners signed their death warrants thirty-four years ago when they took Abe’s ol’ lady. Everything they’d done since merely added to their crimes against humanity.
Cash walked back to stand before Bear and lifted his gun, holding it with both hands. A second later, a deafening bang ricocheted through the Cell.
Leaning forward, I watched the bullet rip through Bear’s throat. His shocked eyes widened as big as they could through all the swelling, and a sickening choke filled the room as he fought for breath.
Then his eyes turned vacant, and his life slipped away.
Atlas approached Cash and rested a hand on each shoulder, his arms locked straight. “You did good, Veep.”
Cash’s eyes lifted to meet Atlas’s, and he nodded.
My chest tightened painfully because I knew taking a life would mark my boy. But I also knew he needed to do it. Since the day Bear used Cara as a human shield, back when he’d stormed our compound looking for April, Cash had vowed to get vengeance for his Wildcat.
Killing Bear meant he wouldn’t sleep easy for a week, but if he allowed somebody else to do it, he wouldn’t sleep easy for a lifetime.
My stare swung to Henderson, and my fingers touched the knives laid out on the table beside me. The cold metal sent a thrill through my skin, sinking into my blood and bones.
It was time.
The guys had tied Henderson’s hands and hung him from a meat hook. He was exhausted from crying, screaming, and sobbing for hours on end. He couldn’t hold his head up anymore, so it lolled to one side.
Atlas had stripped him naked, and we’d turned the heat off, so he hung there shaking in shock and shivering from the cold.
He must’ve known what was coming because, finally, he lifted his head. His soft, pain-filled groans filled the hole in my chest that appeared the day Elise confessed the truth of what she’d endured. My Leesy, my Duchess, had been violated by this man. He cut my daughter from her womb and kept her from her mother and me for thirty-four years.
My gaze slid toward the knives I’d laid out on the table beside me, watching the steel blades glint in the solitary light of the Cell. Standing from my chair, I carefully picked one up and tested its sharpness with my index finger.
It was ready to slice.
Turning back to Henderson, I pulled my arm back, aimed, and threw.
An animalistic scream filled the air as my dagger sliced into his groin, the blade sticking out at an angle.
“That one was for every time you raped my woman,” I scraped out.
Atlas cackled, drowning out the sound of Bowie sucking air in through his teeth.
Whimpers came from Henderson’s throat.
My eyes lifted to meet his. “Where do you want it next?”
Henderson threw his head back and screamed.
Atlas chuckled, folding his arms across his broad chest. “Do ya ever miss?”
“Nope,” I replied, taking my next dagger from the pouch, pulling my arm back, and lobbing it through the air.
It landed in Henderson’s sternum, missing the heart by inches, and another scream went up.
“That one was for my daughter,” I spat.
“Fuck!” Atlas barked out, leaning down to examine where the knife landed. “You swerved his heart. Thought you didn’t miss?”
One side of my mouth hitched. “I didn’t. The evil fucker’s not gettin’ a quick death.”
My SAA jerked a nod.
Henderson sobbed. “Please,” he begged. “Please kill me.”
Ignoring his plea, I picked up my next knife, aimed it as if I was about to throw a dart, and threw it with every ounce of strength I possessed.
It sliced into his stomach, and Henderson let out a blood-curdling scream.
“That was for every girl you sold,” I bit out. “For every daughter who was ripped from her parents and trafficked to some pervert.”
Henderson’s eyes lifted to mine, full of shock, his face white as snow through pain, terror, and blood loss. “I’m sorry!” he cried. “I’m sorr—”
The next knife cut into the side of his torso, perfectly placed to nick a lung.
I cracked my head from left to right, “You weren’t sorry when you blackmailed and manipulated my girl into marrying your sorry ass.”
“I loved her,” he croaked. ‘I just wanted her to love me.” He gurgled as the next knife hit his throat, trying to catch his breath, much like Bear did minutes before.
“That one’s for being a stupid cunt. How could my beautiful Elise ever love a snake like you?”
His eyes almost popped out of his head.
“That’ll do it,” Abe muttered.
I picked up my last knife. “No, Abe, this will.” I cocked my arm back and lobbed it as hard as I could, and my heart soared as I watched it slice into Henderson’s heart.
Bullseye.
I pulled my back straight and grinned. “And that one was for me.”
His body jerked violently, and his head lolled forward one last time.
I drew a breath in through my nose, eyes glued to Henderson’s body, and something hit me hard in the chest.
It was done.
It was over.
A weight I hadn’t even realized I was carrying lifted from my shoulders, and my throat heated with years of pent-up emotion. Tipping my chin up, I looked to the heavens, and for the first time since he’d died, I finally spoke to my old man.
“We did it, Pop. We’ve been avenged.”