20 Grip
Grip
I stepped into the garage and followed my brothers to the far back corner. My body hummed with excitement.
The space looked like a typical mechanic’s place with a few bay doors and obvious stations, but it was really a chop shop.
People brought stolen cars to us, and we parted them out for a nice chunk of change.
Well, I didn’t, because I didn’t know shit about takin’ apart cars, but other brothers did.
That said, I had spent quite a lot of time here, in the back corner, to be exact.
There was a reason it had a drainpipe in the middle of the concrete area.
I snorted as I saw the man hanging from the engine block lift chains. They had him raised about a foot off the ground, an old seat belt wrapped around his wrist to hold him up. They were one of the best things to use because they were strong and pliable.
The moment he saw us comin’ for him, he started kickin’ and hollerin’. The same high-pitched screams I’d heard not ten minutes ago from outside.
Drain Pipe hangin’ over a drainpipe. It was a little fitting. Pretty sure they called him that because he was the scum beneath the earth, suckin’ up all the shit and piss and filth from everyone else.
My mind clouded with red. Surprisingly, it was calming.
Kneecap handed me a metal baseball bat. My grip was secure as I stared the fucker down. I was ready to swing. Itchin’ to do it. But I waited, breathing in deep to help keep myself calm.
“What did you think would happen when you stole from us?” Ice asked, his stare and tone as cold as his name. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting an answer to the fuckin’ question.
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” Drain Pipe replied.
The fuck was that supposed to mean?
Ice said nothing, and that shit was creepy. It was like he was giving you the frame to hang yourself from. He wasn’t gonna help you hang, but he sure as shit was gonna watch.
“They were questioning me!” Drain Pipe roared. “Said I wasn’t no better than Jack! Started accusing me of killing Jack so I could run the club into the ground.”
Still, Ice said nothing.
“You’re a dick, Ice,” Drain Pipe went on. “You run around thinkin’ you got everything.”
“How’d you know where we’d be?” Ice asked.
I was pretty sure the collective of us was holding our breaths waiting for the very answer to that question. It was one that had been goin’ around and around in my head.
He looked like he wasn’t gonna say shit. Kept his mouth pressed in a thin line and scowled at the lot of us.
Then I took one good swing, crackin’ him right above the knee.
You know, just enough to make him thankful it wasn’t his actual knee.
I felt Kneecap’s eyes on me. If anyone was gonna be shattering leg benders, it was gonna be him.
I sent Kneecap a smirk, but quickly turned my attention back to Drain Pipe.
“Ah! Fuck!” the waste of space roared. “God. Damn.” He breathed out a few heavy breaths.
“Saw your van being filled up a couple of days before you headed out. I was on my way to scope out your property. You know, trying to find a way in. I was hoping for a break in your fence. But luck had other things in mind that day.”
“And?” Bones prompted.
“And I had a bunch of trackers left over from when I was following Jack to get him.” I blinked at him for a few seconds.
This was a lot to process. “Yeah, I might look dumb, but I know how to do shit. I stalked him, waited until he was at a vulnerable moment. Good thing I did it too, or else I wouldn’t have been prepared to track you when you left with that shipment.
Sometimes, I think I’m smarter than I give myself credit for. And everyone else, too.”
I couldn’t help it, I snorted. I wasn’t the only one.
Ice shot a sideways glance to Kneecap, who immediately stepped back into the shadows as he pulled out his phone, no doubt to find out which Prospect gassed up the van.
“Doesn’t explain how you were able to action-movie your way into that crash,” I said.
I glanced at Two Lanes. Even though his face was half hidden in the shadows, I could see it clicking into place for him.
“The road we came from makes a big loop around that farm you passed,” Drain Pipe said, making it sound like we were idiots for not catching on.
Two Lanes confirmed this with a nod. Figured he would know that shit off the top of his head.
“All it took was some speeding to catch up with you. Then, bam! Didn’t take that dumb fuck much convincing to run his truck into you guys. ”
He let out a dark laugh. I pushed the tip of the bat into the middle of his chest to remind him of the situation he was currently in. His face sobered in a blink.
“Yeah, I’m done listenin’ to ya,” Ice said with a chin lift in my direction.
I swung, nailin’ Drain Pipe right in the gut. All the air got punched out of his lungs, and his eyes bulged out of his head. It was a sight to see. Fucker deserved everything coming to him.
Ice stood off to the side, watching with a stance that gave nothing away.
I whacked Drain Pipe again, causing him to scream out when the side of the bat connected with his hipbone.
I heard a crack and knew it couldn’t have been good.
Sweat covered his face and soaked his clothes.
I gave him a few more less-devastating blows.
His body spun and swung in all directions.
Now his face was lookin’ green under the rivers of sweat and blood pouring down it.
He was gonna puke, and if he kept going around in a circle, it wasn’t gonna be pretty.
I took a step back, bat slung over my shoulder, and waited it out.
He finally slowed, but didn’t come to a complete stop.
I was proud of him for holding that shit in.
Blood, I could handle. Puke, not so much.
It was the smell. Okay, and if it was chunky…
no fuckin’ thanks. It didn’t get me the way toes poppin’ outta the socket did to Whip, but it might have been close.
“Were you sellin’ that stash to anyone or just gonna keep it for yourself in your little sick bunker?” Ice asked.
Drain Pipe spat out a mouthful of blood. The glob caught the overhead light and nearly sparkled on the concrete. He didn’t speak a word.
“Nah,” Bone said in that tone that told me he was about to provoke the asshole hangin’ in front of me.
He stepped into the light and stared Drain Pipe down, a crooked smirk on his lips.
“He ain’t got no one to sell it to. He only did it because he was losing control.
No one fuckin’ likes him. Ain’t no one trust him enough to work with him. ”
“Fuck you!” Drain Pipe roared.
Bones chuckled deeply. A menacing noise that sounded like it came from a demon.
With a side glance from Bones, Whiplash lifted his leg and landed a heel-first kick to Drain Pipe’s gut. The man went swinging again. When he came back around, I let loose, gettin’ him good in the ribs.
“Respect, bitch. Show it,” I said, staring at him but pointing the bat in the direction of Prez. “I believe he asked you a damn question.”
His hands were turning purple, and I’d bet he’d lost feeling in them by now.
He opened his mouth. It was clear he was about to say something that would piss us off again.
Whiplash took the opportunity to punch him, forcing that jaw closed with a crack and no doubt breaking some teeth.
Drain Pipe’s head snapped back. It was hard not to cringe at that.
I’d never been on the receiving end of one of Whip’s punches, but I’d seen it enough times to know that if he did land a hit on me, not even a chiropractor would be able to set me right after.
“Just admit I’m right,” Bones said.
“Fine! Whatever. You’re right. I was gonna keep it down there. I tried to find someone to sell it to, but ain’t no one wanna touch it knowing it was yours.” Blood dripped out of his mouth, falling to the floor with a tiny splat.
“And…” Bones encouraged.
“And no one fucking wanted to work with me. They didn’t trust me because Jack was so-called missing.”
That was when all the fight visibly drained out of him.
“Let me go,” he pleaded.
“Can’t do that,” Ice told him, not a hint of care in his tone. It was like he didn’t care either way if Drain Pipe lived or died. Thought we all knew different. This fucker was dead, and Ice would feel relief at his club being safe again… well, safe from this fucker.
Truth be told, lookin’ at him now, he wasn’t much of a threat. Maybe we should have seen it comin’. Maybe we’d gotten complacent. Maybe he just got fuckin’ lucky. Who knew? But I could say for sure, shit wouldn’t be happenin’ again.
With the tip of the bat, I nudged him until he was swingin’ again. Nothing like making them disoriented while we slowly chipped away at what little life they had left.
Whip had his knife in his hand. That thing was big, too. The blade had to be at least ten inches, with a serrated strip on the backside. The kind that is to be used for some serious hunting or survival shit. Worked well for this kinda shit, too.
Drain Pipe’s body arced right toward the tip of that thing. And once again, his eyes bulged out as the blade sank deep into his gut. He swung back, Whip still holding onto the knife.
It was kinda lazy, but I imagined it was more terrifying for the fucker.
He didn’t deserve easy. Not after he fucked with us.
Not after he stole our shit. Not after… whatever it was he’d done down in the bunker to the girl that had Rusty lookin’ like he was about ready to make a deal with the Devil to make Drain Pipe suffer.
My stomach churned. It wasn’t because this shit stick was about to be dead. Wasn’t because I’d had a hand in that death. No, it was because I felt like no matter what we did to him, it would never be enough. He’d never suffer enough for what he’d done in this life.
Only kind of hope left was that he’d keep sufferin’ on the other side.
Whip dropped the blade to his side after Drain Pipe got about five impales on it.
We stood around, watching until the piece of shit wheezed his last breath.
I dropped the bat, my eyes glued to it as it clattered against the concrete floor, splattering blood all around it. The Devil in me was sated for now.
I didn’t take any sick satisfaction in killin’ people.
Not even with scum like him. I never killed anyone that I wasn’t okay with killing.
While I was doin’ it and after. I slept just fine at night.
Maybe I was scum of the earth, too, but I didn’t go out of my way to hurt innocent people.
Did that make me better than Drain Pipe and the rest of them?
Well, the way I saw it, the only one judging me would be the one I met at the end, and we already had an agreement.
I sure as fuck wasn’t gonna be surprised where I end up when the day came.
“Alright,” Ice said. “Grip and Whip, go get cleaned up. Target, you’re on disposal.”
Target’s face showed how thrilled he was to be chosen. He looked like a pouting teen, but he didn’t say a single word.
I spun on my heels. The only thing I could think about was checkin’ on Vike. As I rode across the compound back to the clubhouse, I realized I was a fuckin’ mess. I couldn’t go back to the room because Ivy was there. Didn’t want her seein’ me like this. Didn’t want to ride all the way home.
An idea popped into my head, and I didn’t stop to think of how bad it was.
I dismounted my bike.
I stalked through the club bitches’ place, blood splattered on my face, sticky and itching. This was the best idea I could come up with. Probably wasn’t the smartest, though.
“Lush, let me use your shower,” I barked, seeing her standing in the kitchen, a bottle of wine in her hand.
“Sure, baby,” she said, setting the bottle down on the counter with a thunk.
“Nah, ain’t like that. I just need to clean up.” My dead eyes stared at her. I was fuckin’ serious. I didn’t want her touchin’ me.
But it was clear she was too damn stupid or drunk to get the hint. Her hand landed on my shoulder.
“Lush!” Jo barked from her place high up.
Jo had been here a long time, but she was still smokin’ hot.
She kept the girls in line, well, most of the time.
And she was the only one who had her own little apartment built on the second floor.
It took up most of the top front of the warehouse.
The place had two porches, one outside and one in, so she could keep watch over shit, or so I assumed.
Lush rolled her eyes, and despite the warning, she didn’t step back.
“Don’t piss me off, bitch,” Jo yelled down. My whole body was tight. Lush had about two seconds to remove her hand before I fuckin’ snapped. I wouldn’t touch her, but I sure as hell wasn’t gonna be nice. “Come on, Grip. You can use mine.”
I heard Jo’s pissed-off sigh all the way from the second floor. Lush was skatin’ on thin ice.
I took a step back and headed for the stairs.
“Leave your clothes in the trash and I’ll get ’em taken care of,” Jo told me as she let me into her apartment.
Ten minutes later, I was walking outta there with a bright pink towel tied around my waist, water still drippin’ from my skin and hair as I hurried down the stairs, tossin’ a “thanks” over my shoulder.
Jo was the best. I owed her.
Now that I’d showered off the night, I could go to Vike and Ivy.
Nothing else mattered.
My mind spun as I headed for our room.
Were they asleep? Were they waiting up for me? Had Vike gone back to the house like he’d been doin’ lately?
Somehow, I knew they were still together, but I couldn’t explain how. Probably because I had a good idea that Ivy wouldn’t leave him after seein’ him get patched up. She was kinda sweet like that.
A smile spread on my face as I turned the knob to our room.
I pushed open the door, took a long look at the scene in front of me, then walked into what I knew was going to be the best fuckin’ night I’d had in a long damn time.