Chapter 33 #2
Jonas’s head snapped back. Blood sprayed from his nose, and he slumped sideways and moaned.
Junior grabbed his chin and hauled him upright again, forcing him back into a sitting position. The guy’s eyes watered, and blood dripped down onto his shirt.
Wrecker tsked, like a disappointed teacher. “Is that how you talk to guests in your room?”
Jonas’s eyes flashed. “You broke in here—”
“You beat one of our women,” Wrecker cut in, voice sharpening, “and then you tried to kidnap her but took the wrong woman.”
Rocket flinched.
Dusty’s jaw tightened.
Wrecker leaned forward in the chair, elbows on his knees. “And the woman you took, by the way? She belongs to him.”
He pointed at me.
My blood turned to ice.
Rocket’s gaze snapped to mine.
Dusty’s eyes narrowed.
Jonas sneered like he wanted to, but the fear slipped through anyway.
“He recently got the road name Joker,” Wrecker continued, voice almost conversational, “because he is literally on the edge of freaking the fuck out and killing all three of you.”
My hands flexed at my sides.
I didn’t deny it.
Wrecker pointed at Cole. “And Cole? That’s the other one you need to worry about. His woman is the one you attacked in the parking lot.”
Cole’s expression didn’t change. But his eyes? His eyes were pure fire.
“I wouldn’t want to be any of you right now,” Pipe said calmly.
Rocket shook his head fast. “We didn’t do anything! It wasn’t us!”
I let out a short laugh, the sound sharp and ugly. “The fuck it wasn’t,” I said.
Wrecker’s gaze stayed on them. “You know, we hadn’t even heard of the Northbound Reapers until recently.
But the one thing we’ve learned about you assholes in the last week is this.
” He leaned in. “You’re all fucking liars.
From your VP down to the bottom feeders in front of me. Just fucking liars.”
Dusty jerked his chin. “We don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure,” Cole said, his voice low. “And I’m the goddamn Easter Bunny.”
Jonas spat blood onto the bed. “We didn’t touch any women.”
That was it.
I moved.
I crossed the space in two steps and backhanded Jonas across the mouth.
Not enough to knock him out.
Enough to make him feel it.
His head snapped to the side. He tasted the truth.
“Lie to us again,” I growled, “and I’ll remove your tongue so you can’t anymore.”
Rocket whimpered.
Dusty tried to puff up, but his eyes kept darting.
Wrecker held up a hand. “Easy, Joker.”
I took one step back, my chest heaving.
My mind flashed to Clove sitting on the bed, watching me tuck a gun away like it was normal.
Come home to me.
I forced air into my lungs.
Wrecker nodded toward Dusty. “You want to explain the camper?”
Dusty’s face tightened. “We don’t know what camper.”
Cole lunged forward and punched Dusty in the stomach.
Dusty doubled over, gagging.
Cole grabbed his hair and yanked his head up. “You wanna keep pretending?”
Rocket blurted, his voice panicked, “It was supposed to be the girl from the parking lot!”
The room went still.
Cole’s eyes went murderous.
“Keep talking,” Wrecker said, calm as hell. “Because I’m getting tired of the spitting.”
Rocket swallowed hard. “We… we got told she hung around the club. We thought we could grab her again and—”
“And what?” Pipe asked, his voice quiet.
Rocket’s eyes darted. “And make her pay for Timmy.”
Jonas coughed out a laugh that turned into a groan. “You guys are going to pay for this.”
Wrecker’s eyes narrowed. “Pay for what? Taking out the fucking trash? None of you deserve to fucking breathe, let alone tell us we’re going to pay for it.”
Dusty spat to the side. “We just wanted to scare her. She was a dumb bitch who didn’t know her place.”
Cole hit him again. “Call her a bitch again,” he growled.
Dusty slumped to the side.
Rocket started shaking. “We didn’t mean to take the wrong one.”
I leaned forward slightly, my voice cold. “But you did.”
Rocket looked at me, terror fully on his face now.
“And when she got away?” I continued. “You chased her. You were going to kill her.”
Rocket’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. “We… we couldn’t let her go.”
Wrecker stood up slowly, chair legs scraping.
The sound made all three of them flinch.
“I think,” Wrecker said, voice almost mild, “you’re starting to understand the situation.”
Jonas glared through blood and swelling. “You can’t do shit. You touch us, Yogi—”
Wrecker laughed.
Not humor. Not joy.
A straight-up are you dumb laugh.
“Yogi,” he repeated, like the name tasted sour. “The VP who’s pretending he doesn’t know what you did?”
Jonas’s face faltered for half a second.
Wrecker stepped closer to the bed. “You guys need to deal with the consequences of putting your hands on club women.”
Rocket’s breathing turned ragged. “We’ll go to jail; just call the cops—”
Junior leaned in with a smile that wasn’t a smile. “You think cops are the consequence?”
Rocket went pale.
Wrecker nodded at us. “Let’s finish this. Back the van up,” he told Junior.
Junior nodded and headed out of the room.
Cole’s fists were still flexing like he wanted another round. My whole body buzzed, rage demanding release.
Pipe stepped forward, his voice like a warning siren. “You even think about running, I’ll put you down before your feet hit the pavement.”
Dusty swallowed hard, his eyes flicking to the door like he was picturing it.
I leaned toward Dusty. “Do it. Try running. I’ll give you a five-second lead.” I pulled out my gun and pressed it to his temple. “I’d like to see if you’re quicker than my Glock.”
He didn’t move. Tears streamed from his eyes and he whimpered.
“Let’s go,” Wrecker said.
We got them up, rough and fast, and marched them out of the room.
The hallway outside felt colder now.
As we hauled them down the stairs, the motel seemed to hold its breath. Curtains twitched. A door down the hall cracked open and then shut again fast.
No one intervened.
No one wanted to.
Junior’s van was already pulled around, engine running, headlights washing the lot in pale light.
The three men stumbled toward it, tied and scared, their bravado stripped down to nothing.
I watched Rocket’s face as he saw the van.
He knew.
He knew this wasn’t “get arrested” trouble.
This was “you don’t come back” trouble.
They got shoved into the back in a heap of bodies and fear.
Wrecker stood at the open doors with Pipe beside him. Cole and I flanked the other side, our silhouettes blocking the parking lot lights.
Jonas twisted as much as he could, anger finding its way back in. “You’re gonna pay for this!”
Wrecker smiled like he’d heard a toddler threaten to run away. “No one’s gonna know you’re missing.”
Dusty’s expression flickered.
“No one’s gonna know you were even here,” Wrecker added, his voice calm as ice. “And if Yogi’s smart, he’ll keep playing dumb and stay far away from us.”
Pipe leaned in slightly. “Because if he doesn’t…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t need to.
Wrecker slammed the doors shut.
The sound echoed.
Final.
Junior put the van in gear.
Pipe looked at Wrecker. “I’ll go with him.”
Wrecker’s eyebrows lifted. “You sure?”
Pipe nodded once. “I don’t mind taking out the fucking garbage.”
He bumped fists with Wrecker, then looked at Cole and me. “See you back at the clubhouse.”
Cole nodded. “Be safe.”
Pipe climbed into the passenger seat.
The van pulled away, tires crunching gravel, then rolled toward the highway, taillights shrinking until they were just two red dots swallowed by darkness.
We stood there beside our bikes, the night air suddenly too quiet again.
“It’s fucking done,” Wrecker said.
“Yeah,” I answered, voice rough. “Finally.”
Cole exhaled slowly. “No one’s gonna miss those dumbasses.”
I watched the empty road where the van had disappeared, then looked at Wrecker. “What about Yogi?”
Wrecker shrugged. “Fuck him. He’s a lying asshole. If he’s smart, he’ll never sniff around us.”
Cole swung his leg over his bike. “And if he’s not smart?”
Wrecker’s smile turned sharp. “Then we teach him.”
My chest eased a fraction.
I thought of Clove. Of her counting. Of her fear. Of her mouth against mine when I promised.
Always.
Wrecker fired up his engine, the sound ripping through the stillness like a promise of its own.
He looked back at us. “Let’s go home.”
Cole’s bike roared to life.
Mine followed.
And as Wrecker led us out of that parking lot, away from that motel, away from the last loose thread of a nightmare, all I could think was I’m coming, baby.
I’m coming home to you.