Chapter 37
Eagle
Once Lacy was settled in with Daisy and Shiv having some food and girly talk, all the officers met in Church.
“The two that aren’t dead yet are in the shed,” Jackal said. They had grabbed the Trans Am driver and one of the men from the SUV to interrogate. The rest were already disposed of.
Hawk leaned up. “Trans Am guy said he was being blackmailed. Ran up a big tab with a bookie, the next thing he knows, he’s being contacted about a deal to work it off.”
“So this crime ring is more than just human smugglers?” I asked.
Falcon nodded. “Seems so.”
“And how did Butch tie in?” I asked.
“Trans Am dude said he was in some meetings, but he’s not in charge.”
“Is he still alive?”
Falcon said, “Yep. And one of the guys from the SUV. Figured you’d want to talk to him.”
I stood up and left the room, not waiting to be dismissed. Heading down the hall, I took quick strides to the back exit so Lacy didn’t see me. She was safe and secure inside with her friends, enjoying herself. She didn’t need to know these assholes were out here. They were about to meet their destiny, anyway.
Falcon came with me. It was already dark out and while we kept torches around the property, we didn’t keep it very well lit by the shed. There was a newer member watching the shed and he knocked on the door before opening it. I stepped inside and two members were standing guard. From the looks of the blood on the tarp, they’d been busy.
“We got it for a bit, but stay close,” I told them as I looked at the two men kneeling on the ground. “We’ll need you soon.”
The members put a bat and a length of chain down before heading outside. There were two chairs, but they were moved to the corners of the shed and needed a good hose down.
Trans Am guy was shirtless and I noticed he’d been stitched up. Looking over, I asked Falcon, “Her friend didn’t do that, right?”
Falcon let out a humorless laugh. “Hell no. One of those guys,” he said as he tilted his head in the direction of the members outside. “Just wanted to make sure he didn’t bleed out before we were done.”
Hawk had already been in there with them. There probably wasn’t much more I’d get out of him, but I could try. The other guy was personal. They left him for me to finish.
Standing in front of Kelvin, the Trans Am guy, I asked, “So you got a gambling problem?”
He looked up through swollen eyelids, but didn’t answer me.
“That’s okay.” I stepped in front of the other guy. “What’s your story, then?”
Falcon said, “This guy’s a pro. No ID on him. Won’t say shit. Pulled some hidden weapons off him.”
“How long you been working for your current employer?” I asked.
The man was big and strong, but his black dress shirt was torn and wet, probably with blood. There was a tear in his pants where a bullet hit him. That’s why he wasn’t in very bad shape. It didn’t seem like he’d taken any shots where they’d take him out. His large, square jaw ticked and he looked straight ahead.
Leaning down, I looked him in the eye. “Were you the one who grabbed the blonde?”
His gaze didn’t move but there was a slight tick to his eyelid. Good enough for me. I stood back up and swung my boot, connecting to his face. The crack of his teeth echoed in the shed; that got a sound out of him.
Even with his arms restrained behind his back, he stood and yelled, charging at me. I reached up, wrapping my arm around his neck then slammed his face onto my knee. Another crack, followed by a spray of blood from his nose, let me know his face was properly rearranged.
I let him drop to the floor and there was a whimper from Kelvin. “I was told to stay away from your club!”
“Shut up, you idiot,” the big guy finally said as he moaned on the floor.
Falcon took a swift kick to the big guy’s back as I walked back to Kelvin. “Who told you that?”
His whole body shook and I leaned closer. “The guy with your vest. In one of our meetups at the airport, he told everyone to stay away from Destiny’s Desires.”
“Did he say why?”
“We didn’t ask. But he worked there, right?”
“When’s the last time you were there?”
“It’s been months. Not long after I got roped into this bullshit.”
“Tell me again how you got roped into kidnapping women,” I said with a curious tone.
“Shut the fuck up. They’re gonna kill you anyway,” the big guy said. I didn’t look over, but heard another kick.
Shrugging, I said, “He may be right, Kelvin. But here’s the thing. You’re not as smart as this guy. We know about your wife, and we’ll find anyone else close to you. You don’t want anything bad to happen to them, right?”
He started sobbing. “Please. I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t know what they were gonna do with them until it was too late.”
“You hear that? It was an accident.” I stood. “Just a big misunderstanding.”
Falcon scoffed and I chuckled. The man was shaking even harder. “I swear. I just got in over my head and they said I just had to do a couple of transports and I’d be done.”
“But you used your own car. Which, sweet ride by the way. But your friend Butch took off with it. Did you not think about that? How easy it would be to track you down?”
“Look, man, I run a landscaping company for golf courses. I’m not a criminal. And they said just a few times.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You just said a couple. Which is it?”
“I–I mean c’mon, man. They said it would wipe my debt. My wife can’t find out.”
“So you’re married to a woman, but had no problem picking up other women to be sold off?” I asked, still holding my stance.
“I didn’t know what I was agreeing to until I got my first assignment.”
“And you went along with it because…?”
“I told you. They said they’d wipe my debt, and I’m not dumb. I couldn’t tell them no just because I didn’t like it.”
“How did this offer come about? To clear your debt.”
“Your guy found me.”
Hawk didn’t get to that part yet, but Falcon already seemed to know by the look on his face. They’d already been in here and I didn’t get much info from Hawk before I flew out of Church to come talk to them, myself.
“So Butch approaches you and you accept. Then what?”
“He gave me a phone and said to wait for instructions.”
“Where’s the phone now?”
“In the car.”
Frustration boiled over and I closed my fist and threw it, the smack and the crunch of connecting to his jaw setting off a series of blows to his head from me. I followed him to the floor, unable to stop the repeating hits.
Before I beat the man to death, Falcon was pulling me off. “You’re bleeding, man.”
Looking down, blood splatter was on my shirt but I thought it was his. I pulled my shirt up, though, and sure enough, my stitches had busted and blood was trickling down my side. “Well, look what you did. I’m gonna be in trouble now.” That was a true statement. Lacy would be upset, and Shiv would probably prefer to let me bleed out for being reckless rather than stitch me back up.
As I slowed and caught my breath, I finally felt the pinch in my side. Still breathing heavily, I held my side. “So all you know is you weren’t to go to our club, and all your communication was on a burner phone that was left in your stolen car, right?”
He moaned from the floor.“I was supposed to take the blonde with me.”
Holding my side, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Your guy told me to take her with me and he’d be in touch later.”
I looked at Falcon but he seemed confused.
“When was that?
“Earlier tonight. I already had my target and he said the blonde would be at the airport and to take her with me. The others wouldn’t give me a hard time.”
“But he didn’t say where?”
Kelvin shook his head. “He said he’d text me.”
“On the phone in the car.”
“Yeah, but he was there and he shot me.”
The pinch turned to a burn, so I winced. I needed to wrap this up and go find Shiv. “Who was your bookie?”
“Guy named Randy.” His words came out shaky and he was breathing heavy. “We met at a poker game in a factory downtown a year ago.”
Falcon said, “Hawk has Keys already checking for the factory from the description.”
Wincing again as my side burned, I looked at Falcon. “So we have just about all we need from them?”
He nodded so I pulled a knife from my pocket and walked to the big guy, rolling him on his stomach. I sliced his wrists then rolled him over, leaning over him to say, “I hear bleeding out like that hurts. I hope so.”
As I stepped back to Kelvin, he started pleading for his life. “Please! I’ll do anything! This is all a mistake!”
I thrust the tip of the blade into his neck then pulled it out. “Oh, shit. Sorry, but I already committed. You understand,” I said as I stood over him.
Grabbing some paper towels off the roll, I wiped off my blade and tucked it back in my pocket. After instructing the members to clean up the mess, we headed back inside through the back. I cleaned my hands then stopped back by the Church room to find Hawk still waiting.
“All set?” he asked as he sipped his beer.
“For now. You got Keys already working?”
He tipped his head back, looking at the ceiling. “Yep. This shit just keeps getting deeper.”
“How’s Mama Hen?”
He cut his blue eyes to me. “Says she’s fine, but I don’t see how. He was like my brother.” He went quiet and rolled his beer in the bottle. “Never thought I’d have to kill my brother.”
“Not if I get to him first.”
Hawk looked up at me. “He’ll meet his destiny, Eagle. I’m not too concerned with how. I’m more concerned with when.” He drank down the rest of his beer. “Looks like we need a new enforcer, though.”
“I think I know the perfect person,” I said.
“Looks like you need some more stitches to me,” Hawk said with a chuckle.
Nodding, I turned and Falcon said, “Go to the room. I’ll find Shiv.”
Walking down the hall, I braced myself for Shiv and Lacy.