Predator Chapter 21
Hearing his plan made me wonder if Jess was telling us everything.
What he laid out seemed rather logical and simple.
Surely, it couldn’t have been that uncomplicated.
I watched the emotions racing across our woman’s face.
She wanted to believe her brother. She wanted to forgive him, but she had doubts.
The only logical next step was to see what was on the microchip, which he said was in his wallet. I looked over at Stalker.
“Do you still have the stuff you took off of him? His wallet?”
“It’s in my jacket. I can get it, but I don’t have anything to view it on. I’ll see if Outlaw can do it. Be right back.”
Stalker was up and out the door in seconds. Stryder was pacing the small distance the room provided. Daya and I remained seated on the bed, and Jess was in his chair. I bent my head to hers to whisper in her ear.
“Daya, hang on. We’ll see what’s on the chip.
I know this hurts you. I wish I could take it away.
Just remember, if this turns out wrong, you always have me, Stalker, Stryder, and the club.
You have family.” I placed a sweet, soft kiss on her mouth.
There was no heat behind this one. It was meant to convey comfort. When we parted, she sighed.
“Thank you, honey. I needed that. I need to figure out whether he’s lying. Even if he’s not lying, it’ll take time to allow him fully back into my life. I’m not sure if I can permit it. But we’ll deal with that later.”
I would’ve said more, but the door opened, and Stalker walked in with Outlaw trailing behind him. No surprise, he had a laptop in his hands. He went to the small table in the room, and Jess got up so he could have the chair.
“I need a few moments to get this chip in and to access it,” Outlaw muttered.
A handful of moments later, Outlaw looked up.
“What’s the passcode to open it?”
“Oh, crap, I forgot I put that on there. It’s one, zero, seven, two, one, one, nine,” Jess immediately rattled off.
Two seconds later, Outlaw nodded, and then he was tapping away on the keys. It was no more than a minute before he said, “It’s ready.”
We huddled around the small screen. He pressed a button, and voices started speaking.
As we listened, the conversations followed the pattern Jess told us about.
They were dated and time-stamped. Hearing Webb talking about Daya and Breezy was far creepier than Jess could express.
I growled, and so did Stalker more than a couple of times.
Stryder seemed to be vibrating from holding himself back.
The last conversation was the one that they had at midnight, detailing Webb’s plan to get into the compound.
Jess asked him how he was going to get out with them.
Webb’s answer was vague. It was clear he had no plan beyond getting his hands on them.
He made some comment about stealing a car and taking them out of there.
I noticed Jess hadn’t forced him to think of the danger in it.
Had he not wanted to spook him into not revealing himself?
There was silence for a couple of beats after the recordings ended.
“I didn’t press him on how he expected to get away from all of you with them.
I was afraid that if I did, he might back out.
I wanted him eliminated as soon as possible.
I tried several times to get him to tell me where he was staying.
He refused. I suggested we meet somewhere, and that was a no as well,” Jess explained.
The recording upheld that, too. He asked every time he spoke with Webb.
“We need you to stay here. We need to speak to our brothers,” Outlaw stated, rising to his feet. Stalker and I stood, taking Daya with us. The five of us left the room, closing the door behind us. There was no way out but the door past all of us. He wasn’t going anywhere.
The brothers were milling around, talking in murmurs. When they saw us, they came straight to us.
“You gotta hear this,” Outlaw said. When they were all surrounding us, he hit play again. The second listening wasn’t any more bearable than the first. When it ended, Daya’s face was stoic.
“What do you think, Pres? Tank?” Stalker asked.
“Fuck, I want it to be glaringly clear that he’s innocent or not. Based on these calls, I want to say he is. However, what if we’re wrong?” Bull muttered low. We didn’t want Webb to hear us.
“I’ve got an idea. What if we make Webb see that Jess betrayed him?
It was all a setup from the first, and he’s going to be part of the party torturing Webb.
Maybe he’ll let something slip that will damn Jess, or he may not.
I’ve got to say, I’m inclined to believe him based on this.
Outlaw, can you see if it’s been tampered with?
You know, has it been spliced together?” Payne asked.
“Give me time and I can. At this point, I’m prone to believe Jess. It doesn’t make what he made you, Stryder, and Breezy feel any better. But I understand doing whatever you had to do to protect your loved ones,” Outlaw stated.
There were more murmurs and random comments about how Jess pretended to be with Marshall, but in the end, it was decided to go with Payne’s idea.
He volunteered to go in to truss Jess back up and cover his mouth.
For it to work, Jess had to be convincing that he was as much of a captive as Webb.
If he turned out to be innocent, we’d apologize afterward.
He should understand when he recalls he did the same thing to his sisters and cousin, except theirs lasted weeks.
As Payne disappeared into the guard’s room, I began imagining the possible outcomes and how each would be handled.
Five minutes later, the door opened and out came Payne.
He was shoving Jess ahead of him. Our enforcer scowled.
Jess wore an incredulous look. Daya’s brother struggled and made urgent grunting sounds behind his gag.
It was a cloth one made from a bandanna.
He attempted to get to Daya, but Stryder rushed forward and snagged one of his arms. Payne took the other, and they took him to sit near Webb.
In anticipation, another chair had been brought over.
They secured him to the chair within a minute, then stepped back.
“They’re all yours,” Payne said to me, Daya, and Stalker.
“Hailstorm, this is your show. What do you want us to do?”
“Strip that rapist to his underwear, then place him on the table. Arms and legs secured, face up,” rolled out of her mouth effortlessly.
Bull and Tank brought Webb to us. They roughly ripped and cut his clothing away until he was in nothing but his underwear.
He tried to fight, but it was no good. I don’t know where he thought he’d go if he escaped anyway.
When he got too squirmy, they’d clip him in the jaw with a fist or punch him somewhere else, like the stomach or ribs, to make him settle.
As he lay there, at our mercy and only in his underwear, I tried to be objective.
It pained me to admit it, but he was a physically fit guy, with a handsome face, though he had more lines than I thought he should at his age.
I figured prison put those there. I could see how he charmed younger women, even teenagers, especially when he was in his twenties.
And honestly, the age gap wasn’t a thing I cared about, as long as both parties were of a legal age to make it legal consent.
His lusting after a fifteen-year-old and forcing his attention on her when he was an adult was sickening.
There were fifteen or more years between Bull and Jocelyn, and between Bear and Ilara.
Or even Diablo and Jauhnna in the Horsemen of Wrath MC.
But they were all adults when they met and fell in love.
Payne smacked a box of nitrile gloves down on the table next to Webb’s head.
“You want to put these on, Daya. You don’t want his blood on you. And here, put on these,” he added. He handed her plastic booties for her shoes and a plastic covering for her clothes, like what surgeons wear that tie in the back.
“You've been raiding Zara’s medical supplies again, Payne? Didn’t she threaten you last time?” Iceman asked, grinning.
“She did, but then Z and I came to an understanding. She helps me get what I need, and I pay for it. It works for me and is less of a red flag. No one questions a doctor ordering shit,” he admitted.
I chuckled along with a few others.
“Thanks, Payne. Did you bring that other stuff I asked for?” she inquired.
His smile grew. “I sure did. Just tell me when. And I gotta say, I can’t wait to see how you use it.”
Daya winked at him, then turned to face Webb fully. I saw all emotion recede until nothing remained but an emotionless statue. She leaned over Webb to stare into his eyes. It was showtime.