Chapter Seventeen
R aven drove his fist into the stomach of the man hanging from his tied wrists, then stepped back to take in his handiwork. The man’s right eye was already swollen shut, and he had several cuts on his face and other places. It was a start but not enough. Nothing would ever be enough in making this man pay for what he’d done to Taylynn.
“How many others do you have, asshole?” Raven demanded.
Ace coughed, spit out a mouthful of blood, and looked at the men around them one by one. “You’ll never get away with this, my men will make you pay.”
“Your men are too busy drinking and whoring to know what’s going on and by the time they sober up enough to figure it out, it will be too late. Now tell me how many other women you forced into paying off a debt to you on their backs.” Raven wanted to just kill the man and be done with it, but he needed to find this out. He needed to know how many and who, so they could hopefully get them out before Smokey set off the explosion in the basement.
“Like I’m going to tell you Demons business.” Ace scoffed. He grunted when Raven’s fist found a target in his abdomen again.
Raven turned away, circling the small room in the old, abandoned house Pike had found near where the tunnel leading to the Demons’ basement let out, then going to the small table where he’d lined up a selection of weapons. He picked up a knife—it wasn’t long, but it didn’t have to be in order to hurt. It was short so it wouldn’t leave marks on bones. They wanted to make sure he left no trace on hard tissue that might give the authorities any clue that Ace had been interrogated or killed before the explosion that would either burn or vaporize his body.
If they were doing this closer to home Raven wouldn’t have been so worried about leaving evidence. But they didn’t have any cops in this county on their payroll, so it would be next to impossible to get them to ignore certain things.
Turning back to Ace, Raven held up the knife, showing the other man the way the light glinted off the blade as he examined it, making sure it was nice and sharp for what he wanted. He knew it was, but letting his captive watch him test it was an intimidation tactic that Raven wasn’t sure would work but he’d try, at least for a moment or two.
“You see, I’ve discovered that you are over here forcing women to be your club mamas. That’s not how this is supposed to work.” Raven used the knife to slice off Ace’s shirt while he talked. “I’ve learned about the cruel things you do to the women who hang around your club. I’m here to make you pay for it.” Once the fabric had fallen free, Raven turned his attention to the skin, trailing the tip of the knife lightly along Ace’s torso leaving fine red lines. They didn’t look like much at first, but the knife was sharper than most and after a moment, blood welled and began to trickle down his chest.
“I can do this for hours,” Raven said. “And when I get tired, I’ll have one of my other men step in.” He tilted his head toward where Panther stood watching, arms folded across his chest. If we do this right, we can make this happen non-stop for days.” He paused, letting those words sink in as he continued to draw abstract lines all over Ace’s chest. Moving around to his back, he used the tip of the knife to outline the Demons’ colors tattoo Ace had covering his entire back.
By the time Raven had finished with outlining the tattoo, Ace was begging to tell them everything he knew. Raven listened, checking with Panther to see if the tied man’s descriptions of the women fit with what they’d seen while scouting for this operation. When Panther nodded that he knew each of the women Ace told them about, he turned back to Ace and wished he could put a bullet in his head, ending the threat to them all, but he couldn’t, not if he didn’t want to tip the investigators off that his death wasn’t more than it appeared to be.
He spun on his heel and spoke to Panther. “Take care of him, get him down from there and ready to transport. I’ll talk to the others.”
He left his Sergeant at arms to take care of the piece of shit he’d finished with and went to where the others were working on the rest of the plan. They had to find a way to get the women in question away from the clubhouse without alerting the rest of the Demons. Then Smokey would detonate the little setup he was working on.
Pike had managed to snake some kind of camera into the basement from the tunnel, letting them discover that the room was being used for storage, mostly furniture but a few other things like toilet paper and liquor. They were working on getting the brick wall down, so they could get in and set things up to get rid of the Demons for good.
“Any ideas on how to get the girls out of there?” Raven stood against one wall, arms folded across his chest as he looked at the men gathered in the room.
Several suggestions were given, ranging from the ridiculous to just marching in, taking them and shooting anyone who tried to stop them. There was a bit of discussion as they tried to settle on what seemed like the best plan to accomplish all their goals. First to get the victimized women out, Pike already had a place in mind to take them so they’d have time and counseling to recover. Second was to eliminate the Demons—that plan was solid, as long as getting the girls out didn’t mean half the club was on their ass trying to get them back. Third was getting away clean. That meant not leaving a bunch of bodies with bullets to let the authorities know that this had been anything more than a meth lab gone wrong.
After twenty minutes they were no closer to getting things done and Raven was hyperaware of the night passing them by. They needed to get this done and sooner rather than later. Coming to a decision, he started issuing orders. Pike, Smokey, and a couple of others would finish getting through the walled in doorway into the basement, leaving Ace down there, and setting things up to Smokey’s specifications. Raven and the rest would go in and get the women. There were three they wanted to get out of there, then once they were clear, they’d let Pike know. When everyone was a safe distance away, they could detonate. And as quick and easy as that, their Demon problem would be eliminated, and Taylynn could stop worrying that she couldn’t leave the club house for fear they’d find her and take her back.
After one last check that everyone knew what they were doing, they split, each group heading in a different direction. They had a lot to get done and it would take sharp minds and quick reflexes to get in and out without getting hurt. Raven just hoped they were all up for the job.
Before he had time to worry about it too much he and the rest of the men with him were walking into the Demons’ clubhouse. They’d taken off their colors and he hoped the Demons were so wasted on alcohol and drugs they either wouldn’t recognize their faces or would be too wasted to put up much of a fight.
Raven was first through the door. He couldn’t help but be surprised that no one stopped or challenged him. Did these idiots not have anyone on guard duty? Oh, well, their stupidity made things easier for the Angels. Inside, he looked around and spotted one of the women he was after right away. He made his way over to where she sat on a sofa, looking bored and like she was trying not to attract attention.
“Come with me,” Raven said, holding out one hand.
He knew from talking to Taylynn that the women here, especially those that were here against their will, learned fast not to argue, say no, or hesitate. She put her hand in his and stood, he used her hand to pull her outside, where he handed her off to Grinder, then turned and went back inside. He still had two women to get out of there.
Going back inside Raven had no doubt that things wouldn’t go as smoothly for all the women as it had for the first one. Eventually someone would realize who he was or what he was doing. He was prepared to have to fight his way out. Jersey would be next through the door, but he was waiting a couple of minutes, so it wasn’t so obvious they were together. No one, especially Panther, had wanted Raven to be first inside, or for him to go in alone, but he’d insisted. He wasn’t about to send someone in for a job he wasn’t willing to do.
Only vaguely familiar with the Demons’ clubhouse layout, and that only from plans on file with the city, so not entirely reliable, Raven wandered through the main floor looking for the two remaining women. He didn’t want to have to go upstairs and start checking the rooms, but he would if he had to. He’d likely have to confront whatever Demon had taken her up there, and he was trying to get them out before anyone realized they weren’t supposed to be there.
He wandered from one room to another, trying to look like he belonged. In a room near the back with several pool tables he found the second woman. She was bent over the edge of one of the pool tables, one of the Demons behind her, obviously having just finished.
The Demon’s cut said his road name was Vulture. Vulture slapped the woman’s ass as he stepped back and tucked his dick back into his jeans.
“Not bad, but you could move a little more. Act like you like what you’re doing,” Vulture said before turning away.
Fire flashed in the woman’s eyes before it faded. She pushed herself up off the pool table and shoved down the skirt she wore so she was mostly covered but Raven noticed she didn’t have any underwear and didn’t go looking for any.
“My turn,” Raven said, walking up and taking her hand as if he did it every day. She didn’t respond, just followed him.
“You might want to rough her up a little. She’d a bit of a dead fish,” Vulture called out as Raven tugged her from the room.
Raven wanted to send her outside on her own and continue looking for the last woman but knew from what Taylynn had told him that he had to walk her out. She’d learned very early on that going outside without someone with her or specific permission would earn her a beating. Besides, his going with her would let his men know she was one of the women they were here to get, not just another club mama.
He didn’t say anything, just tugged her along behind him, as he made his way outside. He passed Jersey and Shotgun on the way, but didn’t acknowledge them, just continued on his path. He got her outside and delivered her to Grinder like the one before.
“Where’s the other one?” he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. The last thing they needed was to get caught now.
“Gone. I didn’t want to risk her freaking out and trying to go back in or us getting spotted and her getting sucked back into that.” Grinder tilted his head toward the building.
Raven nodded, watching as Grinder nodded to Wrench who stepped close and spoke with the woman Raven had just dragged out of there. He kept his voice soft enough that Raven couldn’t hear what was being said but after a moment, with one last wide-eyed look at Raven she went with him.
Raven debated whether or not he should go back inside or let Jersey and Shotgun find the last one. After only a moment he decided to give them a few minutes, otherwise there would be more needing to get out before Smokey could do his thing. The minutes seemed to crawl past. Raven’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and found a message from Pike.
Pike: Everything’s set here. Clearing out now. Waiting for you to be clear.
Raven stared at the message, knowing they had to get a move on. It was only a matter of time until someone went downstairs, probably to fetch more alcohol and found the set up and Ace. Deciding he’d waited long enough, he headed back inside.
Just inside the door he met Jersey, his hand on a woman’s arm as he dragged her toward the door. She wasn’t fighting him but there were tears streaming down her face and it appeared all she had on was an oversized t-shirt. Right behind them was Shotgun, backing up towards them as he watched the room, all eyes on them. Obviously they’d been seen.
“Trouble?” Raven asked.
“Found her upstairs. There were three of these assholes and she was doing her best to fight but they’d tied her down and were taking turns at her. They weren’t happy when Jersey and I decided we were going to take their toy.”
“They still breathing?”
“One, I think.”
Raven shook his head. He could only hope there was so much devastation when this was all done that the police wouldn’t look too closely at each body before ruling the whole thing an improvement to the community and closing the case.
They made it outside, Raven turned to see that Jersey had swung the girl up into his arms and was carrying her away at a run. He looked back at where Shotgun still kept an eye on the door as they headed toward where the rest of their men waited.
As soon as he hit the imaginary line where Smokey said would be safe, he texted Pike and let him know they were clear. Everyone kept moving but Raven. He stood watching the Demons clubhouse. Both so he could see if anyone came out and started following them or was too far away from the blast to be taken out. He wanted to know if any of them survived so they’d know if they had anyone else to go after later.
“What are you doing?” Jersey’s voice drew his attention.
“Watching. I want to make sure none of them escape this.”
Jersey muttered something that sounded suspiciously like control freak idiot. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“But I need to be sure.”
“You’ll get caught in the blow here and might not get out before the cops arrive. We’ve got to get out of here before Smokey blows it.”
Raven shook his head. “He said this was the safe zone.”
“No, he said this was the edge of the dead zone.”
Raven turned his head slowly, then stared at Jersey for a second, wondering how he’d been so wrong. How had he confused the two?
“Shit. Let’s go.” Raven hurried to his bike, or at least the one he was riding tonight, threw a leg over and started it. In seconds they were headed out of there. Half a mile down the road the SUV they’d brought to haul the women pulled out behind them. They were maybe another half mile down the road when the sound of an explosion could be heard over the roar of the motorcycles. Raven didn’t bother to look back. They needed to get the hell out of there. The last thing they needed was to be seen near the explosion.
None of the motorcycles were the ones any of them rode on a regular basis, and a couple were already scheduled to be repainted. They’d covered the plates on the bikes and the cage with mud so they’d be harder to identify, but it would be better if they weren’t spotted.
They reached the highway without problem and turned toward home. Shortly before they reached the next intersection, Pike, Smokey, and the others joined them. At the intersection, Pike and the SUV turned away from Craven’s Creek. He was escorting them to the place he’d lined up to help the women. It was his contact and it was better if only he and the men in the truck went. The rest of them turned for home. As they made their way back to Craven’s Creek and the clubhouse, Raven’s mind turned back to Taylynn. He wouldn’t be telling her what they’d done tonight or even that the Demons were gone. Not yet. But he turned his thoughts to how he would tell her and how they would celebrate once she was healed.