CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
REBEL
Since I was much too drowsy and disoriented to drive, Storm drove us to meet up with Casper and Stray. This wasn’t the kind of thing we should do without backup.
I knew for a fact that Noah Callahan had a part-time job at a local bar. A little digging and a few phone calls and I’d found out that he was working tonight. He probably wouldn’t be off for a few more hours when the bar shut down for the night. That didn’t matter. I would drag him out of the building if I had to.
We picked up Stray and Casper, who were on their best behavior in front of Storm. I wasn’t sure who they were trying to fool. She knew all about us. Besides, we were on our way to do something incredibly illegal.
“So what’s the plan here?” Stray asked. “Are we supposed to walk in there and drag him out in front of everybody? I think we need to be a little more inconspicuous than that.”
“I can’t say it’s not tempting.” I took a large drink from the huge takeout coffee I tightly gripped in one hand. “One of us will have to go in and lure him out. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to ambush him in the restroom or something. Whatever it takes to get him outside.”
“Maybe I should go in,” Storm said. “He might come outside with me if I tell him I need to talk to him about River. He must know that River had his eye on me.”
My initial reaction was to shut down that idea right away. “No deal. I’m not bringing you into this more than I have to. We’ll find another way.”
Stray piped up from the back seat. “It’s not the worst idea. Noah will have no reason to suspect her of anything.”
“Of course he will. He knows that she’s with me. Why would he trust her?” I didn’t like that I was being outnumbered here. I glanced back at Casper who offered me a shrug.
“I’ll tell him that something happened with you and I need to speak to River right away. I’ll ask him to take me to River and tell him it’s an emergency. He will believe me.” Storm was so damn insistent. She seemed to have made up her mind.
I rubbed a hand across my eyes, blinking them several times in an effort to stay awake. Drugs are bad. Once I got my hands on Noah, I would feel a lot better. Nothing like a good adrenaline rush to wake you up.
“Fine. You can go inside. However, you will not allow him to get you alone anywhere. If he tries to call River, get the hell out of there. We’re not ready for him yet.” As we pulled into the parking lot of the bar, I continued to spew rules and regulations that Storm waved away dismissively.
“I can handle this. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” A playful grin lit up her pretty face. I was happy to see it. I didn’t think she’d smiled since getting the news about her brother, which was totally understandable.
Stray leaned forward in his seat, flicking the back of my ear. “Is someone wearing panties? Damn, you are whipped.”
“Fuck all the way off, douchebag. I’m not literally wearing panties, and if I were, it still wouldn’t come close to the weird shit you’ve done.” When Storm leaned in to kiss me, I barely resisted the urge to hold on longer. I really didn’t want her going in there without me.
“I won’t be long. Be ready to do whatever you need to do when I get him outside.” With that, she exited the car and strolled inside the bar.
I watched her go, trying not to dart after her. Stray kept hassling me about panties, which made me turn around in my seat and slug him in the chest.
“Ouch, motherfucker. What the hell was that for? Take a fucking joke once in a while. I thought you’d be less tightly wound now that you’re head over heels.” Stray rubbed his chest, glaring hard at me.
Casper snickered softly, his shoulders shaking with his quiet laughter. Joining in on the bullshit Stray had started, he signed, “You seem like the type to enjoy a silky G-string.”
Just to be a dick and fuck with him I said, “You know I don’t understand that sign language shit. I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”
Casper’s response to that was a middle finger, which needed no translation. Since actions spoke louder than words, he followed that up by leaning forward and giving my head a shove into the side window.
“Would you guys stop fucking around and pay attention? If Storm comes out with Noah, we need to be ready to grab him. Let’s get out and wait near the entryway.” I shoved open my door and got out of the car, taking one last large drink of coffee before leaving it behind.
Stretching my arms up over my head, I leaned from side to side, giving everything a good stretch. Feeling a little foggy in the head, I gave my cheek a slap. Then I took up position near the front door of the bar and waited. Both Stray and Casper joined me.
Every time somebody left the building, I tensed. Time seemed to crawl by. I wasn’t sure if it was my drug addled brain messing with me or not.
“Does it feel like she’s been in there for a long time?” I asked the other two guys. “Or is that just me?”
Casper checked his phone and signed, “It’s been fifteen minutes or so. Try to relax.”
There was no relaxing. Not until my girl got her ass back out here. I started to pace along the sidewalk. I needed to do something with myself. Standing here and waiting around wasn’t in my nature.
“Chill the fuck out, dude. Watching you do that is bugging me.” Stray stuck out his foot in an effort to trip me.
Before I could give him a shove and tell him to shut it, the door opened again as Storm exited with Noah in tow. He pulled out his phone, saying, “Let me give River a call and we’ll sort this out.”
I had no idea what story she told him that finally worked, and I didn’t care. Casper was closest. He emerged from the shadows to grab Noah while his head was still down, focused on his phone. The device was knocked from his hand, falling to the concrete.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Noah’s green eyes were wide with surprise. He turned on Storm, his expression growing angry. “You screwed me, bitch. I believed that you needed help.”
My fist smashed into Noah’s jaw. He would’ve dropped if Casper hadn’t been holding onto him.
“You don’t talk to her like that. One more nasty word to her and I cut out your tongue.” We didn’t wait around for the security working the door inside to notice us. We dragged Noah to the car and shoved him into the back seat between Stray and Casper.
He did his best to put up a fight. Kicking and shouting. Hell, the crazy bastard even tried to bite Stray. While the two of them pinned him in place, I shoved a couple pills in his mouth, covering it with my hand until he was forced to swallow. I really should have grabbed this shit in an injectable form.
I nodded for Storm to start the car and get us moving. She hurriedly backed out of the parking spot and peeled out of the lot.
“You fucking drugged me?” Noah shouted. “What did you give me? What the hell was that?”
“Settle down,” I admonished. “Just a little something to get you talking. We have a few questions for you. Play along and we’ll let you go as soon as we’re finished. We don’t plan to hurt you. Not this time.”
Noah was still hung up on the pills. Straining against Casper and Stray, he continued to shout. “I can’t believe you fucking drugged me, you total psychopaths. Do you think River is going to let this go? You really fucked up this time.”
I nodded to Casper who slammed a fist into Noah’s jaw, knocking him out cold. “That’s better. Head to the graveyard, pet. We’ll take him to the church.”
Storm nodded, focusing on the road as she drove us away from the bar. Although her hands shook slightly on the wheel, she was otherwise calm and determined. I knew how much it meant to her to find out who was behind Chase’s murder. I meant what I said when I promised to help her find the killer. There was no doubt in my mind that it was River and his group.
We reached the graveyard, parking in behind the church so the car wouldn’t be seen from the road. We dragged Noah inside the small beaten down building and tossed him onto a pew. Once I was sure the pills should’ve kicked in, I began to slap his face, trying to rouse him.
He came awake with a start, bolting upright with a shout. It took him a moment to realize where he was. All three of us stood around him, blocking any chance of escape. Storm watched from a distance, hanging out near the door.
“Ready to answer a few questions for us, Callahan?” I asked, standing over him.
“Go fuck yourself, Kane.” He followed up that remark by spitting in my direction. I would’ve punched him out but I needed him awake for this.
“Who was behind the death of Chase Masters?” I asked my question, trying to keep it simple.
Noah pressed his lips tight together and shook his head. The answer was there ready to burst out. He did his best to put up a solid fight.
When I continued to repeat the question, he finally blurted, “River. It was River’s idea.”
I nodded, having suspected as much. “How did you get him to go with you? I assume he left the party willingly.”
“He said the molly you gave him was total shit. We said we could hook him up with something better. He didn’t think twice about leaving with us. It couldn’t have been easier.” Noah’s answers flowed freely now that he was talking.
Behind me, I heard Storm muffle a small cry. Noah’s confession couldn’t have been easy for her to hear.
“And then what happened?” I continued to press him for more details.
“Then we took him out of town. River handled most of it. He said it was personal. He killed Chase by slashing his throat.” Noah spoke almost robotically, eyes glazed over. He seemed to stare off beyond me at nothing.
Even though I didn’t want to hurt Storm by forcing her to hear this, I needed to ask one final question. “What about the organ removal?”
Noah’s gaze swung back to me. He frowned and squinted, seemingly confused. “Oh, that was River too. He knew it would look like you guys had done it. He wanted you to take the fall.”
I took a step back, having gotten everything I needed. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought. Thanks for telling me everything we needed to hear. I’m sure River isn’t going to be too thrilled to hear about this though.”
Casper nudged my arm to get my attention. His fingers flew too quickly as he signed. Both Stray and I stared at him like the idiots we were right then.
Letting out an annoyed huff of air, Casper pulled out his phone and quickly typed, “Should we videotape his confession? It might be worth having, especially if the cops come looking for us. I’m not doing prison time for these Venom fucks.”
He made a good point. However, River was the one who’d done the dirty work. A confession from Noah would no doubt be helpful, but it wasn’t really what we needed.
“We’ll get what we need from River himself. None of us will be seeing the inside of a prison cell.” Nodding to where Noah slumped awkwardly on the pew, I said, “Rough him up a little. Nothing too serious. Then we’re out of here.”
I moved to join Storm near the door, letting Casper and Stray take over. They took turns throwing punches, doing enough damage to show that we meant business. Sending Noah home with a shiner or two would serve as a constant reminder that we were coming for Venom.
“Are you all right, pet? I’m sorry you had to hear that.” I gently pushed the hair back from her face, studying her crestfallen expression. I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to caring this much about someone.
She nodded, her lower lip quivering as she tried to hold back tears. “I’ll be okay. I already knew what they did. Hearing him say it so casually is what hurts the most. Chase was nothing to them. It’s like they didn’t even see him as a person. How can someone be so…?”
She trailed off, like she didn’t have the words to finish. Wrapping her in my arms, I rested my cheek against her head, breathing in the fresh scent of her shampoo. She held tight to me, making me feel more needed than I had ever felt.
“They’ll all be sorry,” I promised. “I swear to you, Storm, River won’t get away with this.”