Chapter 68 #2
The guys wheel the table behind Darren who starts sputtering and pleading for us to let him go, but unfortunately, he isn’t giving us any useful information.
Punisher gives Loki a chin lift who lowers the chains for Darren’s arms. Before Darren can think of escaping or swinging at the guys, Beast grabs his arms while Punisher deftly unhooks Darren’s ankle chains from the floor and grabs a hold of his ankles.
They hoist him up on the table and quickly secure his chains to the metal loops welded onto the sides of the table.
Beast secures a metal clamp around his torso before moving on to secure one around each arm.
While he does that, Punisher secures clamps around each thigh, calf, and ankle.
Finally, they tilt the table up just enough so that he can still see the rest of the club behind me.
Stepping over to the table, I set down the torch before picking up my bone saw and filet knife. Darren sputters again as I approach him. Beast wheels over a small table for me which I set the bone saw on for now.
Hovering my filet knife over his shin, I ask him again. “Who did you get their contact information from?”
Darren’s nostrils flare as he rests his head against the table, staring up at the ceiling.
No way will I allow this sleazy fucker to look away.
I slowly slice through his skin and then as I slice into his muscles, Darren cries out so loud my ears start ringing.
But still, he doesn’t give us any useful information.
When I get to his bone, I set the filet knife down and pick up the bone saw.
He whimpers as I get the saw in place, and for a moment, my heart clenches at the sound but then it hardens.
This is the asshole who thought he could dictate my life.
The asshole who planned to break me until I was whatever he wanted me to be.
I drag the saw over his bone, and he cries out again.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
I don’t remove the saw from his leg, instead choosing to wait for him to talk.
“K-Kelly. I got the information from Kelly C-Cox.”
The air in the room shifts at his words, the tension in it so thick I could cut it with a knife. No pun intended.
Black dots dance across my vision as rage flows through my veins.
He went to my ex-best friend.
The same ex-best friend he encouraged to sleep with my ex-fiancé.
My ex-best friend gave him information to hire men to kidnap me.
Her continued betrayal hits me square in the chest and rage has me twisting the saw. Darren cries out again as the jagged edges cut further into his skin, muscle, and bone.
“How did she know the men? What else did she tell you?”
Darren pants, catching his breath, sweat running down the sides of his face.
“Sh-She said that R-Richard uses them to help further his deals. Sh-She said that he wouldn’t have a-a problem loaning them to me to t-teach you a lesson and k-knock you down a few pegs.
A f-few hours after w-we talked, she c-called me.
Said o-one of the men would be in c-contact with me within twenty-four hours after they f-finished their current job.
I never knew their names. T-They never mentioned them.
She e-even got Richard to knock some of the p-price of using their men because of what I had p-planned for you. ”
The heavy thump of boots on concrete signals someone’s approach, and when I see Darren blanch even further, I know it’s Anthony. His hand touches the small of my back and it helps calm my anger. To a degree anyway, and it’s enough where I can think a little clearer.
“What else did you have planned for Lark?” Anthony asks him. “Beyond what you’ve already told her.”
Darren swallows thickly and licks his lips nervously as his gaze bounces between us. “T-That when I had her under my t-thumb, I’d make her sign over the r-restaurants, her land, everything, to me. Then I’d sell it to R-Richard, at a cheap price per our agreement, so he could build his r-resort.”
Anger runs through my veins so hot, I start to feel numb. I came so close to losing everything because of this asshole and the fucking Cox family. Wait. He only mentioned Kelly and Richard. Did Aiden have anything to do with this?
“Who else in the Cox family did you deal with?” I ask him and out of the corner of my eye, I catch Anthony glancing at me before he looks back at Darren.
Darren shakes his head. “Just K-Kelly, Richard, and their four men. T-That’s it. I know R-Richard has more than four men working for him, but I-I only met those four that took you.”
I stand rooted in place as I stare down at Darren.
To be honest, I’m still leery about Aiden being involved or not.
Though, now that I think about it, it’s always been Kelly and Richard trying to stir shit up with me and my family.
They’ve never gone to the extreme where I said I’d release the video of Kelly and Aiden, but they’ve gotten damn close a couple of times.
After that day in the supper club, Aiden usually kept his distance, and if we had to interact, he was cordial for the most part.
A few times, he even intervened with Kelly.
“Were you working with anyone else?” It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if he knows my second stalker but I don’t know if that would be a good idea or not.
Darren shakes his head again, though he eyes me questioningly. “No one else. Just those six.”
“If it was just Kelly, Richard, and those four men involved, then why did you stay silent for so long? What are they holding over you?” Anthony asks him. “What incentive did they give you?”
Darren’s body sags against the table, and his eyes turn misty for a second before he blinks, clearing all trace of his tears. Whether they are from the pain or something else, I don’t know.
“My daughter” he whispers and I stare at him in shock. From what Python dug up, Darren doesn’t have any children.
“You don’t have a—,” my voice trails off as my suspicion rises. “Is Kelly’s daughter your daughter?”
Kelly had given birth recently to a little girl, who if rumors are to be believed, looks nothing like Kelly or Aiden. Or any of the other Cox’s. Everyone assumes the pool boy is the father, but that’s all it’s been so far. Rumors.
“She is. R-Richard and Kelly approached me with the entire p-plan. They didn’t know I was already p-planning to get to you, somehow.
” He pauses as he frowns. “Or at least I don’t think they knew.
” He shakes his head, a defeated look coming over him.
“If I was able to get R-Richard all of your land and property, they would f-fabricate a story where Genivieve died. In r-reality, I would be long gone with her, you, and the m-money. With Genivieve ‘dead’, Richard w-wouldn’t have to constantly explain w-why she doesn’t have any of the Cox’s p-prominent features.
He was going to have p-paperwork forged to show Genivieve was our d-daughter so that there’d be no trace back to the Cox f-family. ”
What the fuck?
Anthony reaches over and places his hand over mine.
It’s only then that I notice that my fingers are trembling slightly.
He takes the bone saw from me and gives a chin lift to one of the guys.
Punisher comes over with the acetylene torch and Darren screams as he cauterizes his leg and a few of his other wounds.
“Stitch him up when you’re done, but keep him alive for now in case we need more information from him later on.” Anthony gives the guys a look that I read all too clearly.
They can get their pound of flesh in so long as Darren doesn’t die.
“You got it, Pres,” Doc replies as he steps forward with a couple of syringes in his hand.
I let Anthony lead me out of the interrogation room. The guys waste no time getting their pound of flesh from Darren though. I can hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh before the door cuts off the sound. My mind swirling with the new information, however, something still seems like it’s missing.
Then it hits me.
Zac.
Where does he fit in all of this?
Or is he part of this at all?
I shake my head. No, he’s got to be tied to this somehow. Even if it’s only that he’s related to Luscious. But even as I think that, my gut says he’s involved in more than that.
But is he my other stalker? Or is it someone else?
I’ve still been getting random texts and voice messages, though the frequency has slowed down since Christmas.
I wonder if part of that was because Darren had started to put his plan into motion or if it was because of something else.
I know the texts and voice messages weren’t all from the same person.
The verbiage wasn’t consistent, and you could tell that, while similar, the voices weren’t the same either.
As the door shuts behind us, I blink, clearing my hazy thoughts and slip out of my flats before putting them in a bag Anthony hands me.
We head into the locker room and Anthony locks the door behind him.
My mind spirals at the confirmation that Kelly and Richard are still gunning for my family’s land.
I mean, I knew they wanted it, but to go to such extremes?
Another thought has a shiver running down my spine.
Would they have gone so far as to have me killed?
Turning on the water, I strip and place my clothes in the same bag as my shoes before stepping under the spray.
Part of me wishes that Anthony would shower with me, but the other part of me still needs time to process everything.
That and the shower stalls down here aren’t that big.
He’d barely fit in here with me, and then I’d have a hard time making sure I got all of Darren’s blood off me.
With that thought, I lather my hair and wash it twice.
Then I snag my bodywash and scrub my skin until it’s red.
Next, I grab the coarse bristle brush off the shelf and scrub under my nails.
Rinsing one more time, I shut the water off and take the towel Anthony hands me over the top of the shower rod.
After drying off, I step out and am surprised to find a cubby kitted out with everything I use after a shower.
Anthony’s cheeks pinken slightly when I look at him in question.
“I had a feeling you and Half-pint were made of the same cloth, so I made sure to stock everything you use down here.”
I pause at that and realize I hadn’t paid attention before, but the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that are stocked in the shower are the same ones I always use.
“Thank you,” I tell him as I go up on my toes to kiss him before stepping back and squirt some lotion on my hand. Quickly, I put on the lotion before dressing and am surprised to find my cut in here. One of the guys must have brought it to Anthony while I was showering.
Walking over to the mirror, I comb my hair and put it up in a messy bun. In the mirror, I find Anthony watching me, his blue-gray eyes boring into me with concern. I give him a small smile, however all that does is make his concern grow.
“I’m okay, Hercules.” I pause and shake my head as I turn around and lean against the sink.
“Okay, I’m actually fucking pissed at Kelly’s betrayal once again, but I kind of understand Darren doing whatever it takes to get his son.
” I grit my teeth as my anger rises again.
“I hate that his plan included kidnapping me with plans of breaking me and stealing everything my family has worked for for generations.” Taking a deep breath, I exhale slowly as I try to calm my anger.
“I think it might be time that the three of us meet with our lawyer again. I refuse to let everything we’ve worked for be stolen from us. ”
A thought comes to me at that, and I nod as I glance down at my engagement ring. But before I discuss that with Anthony, I need to talk to my family.
I shake my head as I switch my train of thought.
“I still feel like I’m missing something, though.
I’m surprised that Aiden wasn’t a part of this, but I don’t know if he’s truly innocent or if his part was more behind the scenes.
I also don’t know if Zac is involved either as the second stalker or tied to Darren in some way, other than the relation factor that Python discovered. ”
Anthony steps forward and pulls me into his arms. I rest my head on his chest as I exhale heavily again.
“Well, now that we’ve got Darren in the cellar, we’ll have to see what the second stalker does. See if he makes any moves. If he knows about Darren, he could ramp things up when he finds out he’s missing.”
I nod, knowing he’s right, but unease still pricks at me, and it’s not just about the second stalker. If Kelly and Richard were prepared to go so far as to support Darren kidnapping me, what will they do next when they find out Darren is ‘missing’?
Anthony pats my hip. “Come on, Darlin’. Let’s head home.”