Wrath
Ikept telling myself that I needed to go, but the longer I lay there next to Mia, the harder it became to leave.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so at ease, so at peace, and I couldn’t force myself out of that bed.
It was a far cry from how I’d felt earlier in the day.
I stared up at the ceiling as I thought back to how crazy my day had started.
It was just after sunrise when I got up and headed to the club.
As soon as I arrived, I went straight to the playroom to meet up with Stitch and the others. When I walked up, they were all waiting outside the door, and as soon as I approached, Cotton asked, “You good?”
“I’m here.” I ran my hand over my face and wrenched my back. “Ready to get my hands on our friend.”
“You sure you’re ready for this?”
Before I could answer, Stitch replied, “He’s ready.”
“I certainly hope so.” Cotton took a step towards me, then said, “We need to know who he was working for and why he killed Bruton’s men.”
I nodded, then started inside the room.
With my hand on the doorknob, I took a deep breath and thought back to everything Stitch had taught me.
Don’t make promises I can’t keep.
Start off simple and see where it takes you.
And never, under any circumstances, let them see you sweat.
I opened the door and found our captive sitting on an old metal stool with his hands bound above his head.
There was a pool of blood at his feet, but it wasn’t enough to be concerned about.
I felt certain that he could still give me the answers I needed.
I walked over to the table of tools and grabbed a scalpel, then made my way over to the psycho hit man.
A smirk crept across his face as I knelt in front of him. “We meet again.”
“Not by my choice.” I took the sharp edge of the blade and ran it along the thick denim of his jeans. “If I had my way, you’d already be six feet under.”
“And yet, I’m still here.”
“For now.” The fabric fell open, exposing the wound on his thigh. It was gnarled and seeping like it had already grown infected. “That’s gotta hurt like a bitch.”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“We’ll see about that.”
I took the blade and raked it against his flesh, but he didn’t flinch. In fact, he showed absolutely no sign of fear as he said, “You’re wasting your time. I’m not going to talk.”
“You will.”
“I won’t, and neither would you.”
His response caught me off guard, but I didn’t let it deter me.
I had a job to do, and the sooner I did it, the sooner I could get the information I needed and end this asshole once and for all.
I took the scalpel and dug it into his thigh, removing a shotgun pellet.
I let it fall to the ground, and it hit the concrete floor with a faint clink.
I looked up at him as I told him, “This isn’t about me.”
“You’re right. It isn’t.” His breath caught when I pressed the scalpel against his thigh and started to remove the next pellet. “This has nothing to do with you or your brothers.”
Clink.
“You made it about me when you chased me down and tried to kill me.”
“Even then, it wasn’t about you.”
I moved on to the next pellet as I asked, “Then, what or who was it about?”
Clink.
“You know who.”
“I wouldn’t be sitting here if I did.” The sick bastard had killed everything at the drop, making impossible to know who had truly sent him. I dug the scalpel into his wound, searching for the pellet that was embedded deep into his flesh. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”
“Why were you there in that lot yesterday?”
“I’m the one asking questions.”
I rammed the scalpel deep into his thigh and gave it a twist. He hissed through clenched teeth, then held his breath until I finally withdrew the blade. “You were there for him.”
“Why I was there is irrelevant. I want to know why you were there.”
I continued working on the pellets, focusing more on the deeper ones. I knew they would cause him more pain, and I hoped it would be enough to get him to quit with the run-around.
Clink...
Clink...
Clink...
“You’re making a mistake.” He turned to look at the two-way mirror as he said, “You should’ve never gotten involved. It’s going to cost you. It’s going to cost all of you.”
“Quit with the fucking games and tell me who you’re working for.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
I didn’t do threats, especially when they involved my brothers.
I took the blade and stabbed it into the thick of his thigh.
He gasped, and before he had a chance to recover, I clenched my hand into a fist and slammed it into his face.
I hit him square in the jaw, sending his head flailing back, then I hit him again and again.
He was barely conscious when I grabbed a tuft of his hair and gave it a hard tug, forcing him to look up at me as I asked, “Who hired you?”
“Fuck you.”
“I’m just going to keep at it until you answer.”
“I’m not answering shit.”
“I’m getting fucking tired of this bullshit.”
I grabbed the end of the chain that held his hands over his head and gave it a pull, forcing him to his feet. Unable to stand the pressure, he lifted his foot and cursed, “Fuck.”
“You can end this right now. All you have to do is tell me who hired you.”
“Not gonna happen.”
I was growing frustrated and feared I might lose control when the door opened, and Stitch and Cotton walked in with Bruton. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. No outsiders were ever allowed in the playroom, but there he was in his fucking khaki pants and sweater vest.
Stitch and Cotton remained in the doorway while Bruton walked over to us. He shook his head and sighed. “Javier Navarro.”
“You know this guy?”
“I never had the immense pleasure of meeting him personally, but I know all about him.” Bruton stepped in front of Javier as he continued, “He’s a hitman for the cartel. One of the best I’ve ever seen.”
“The cartel?”
“The last I heard, he was on the Demarco payroll.”
“Demarco?” Cotton turned to Stitch, then back to Bruton. “As in Robert Demarco?”
“Hmmm, I'm pretty sure Robert is no longer with us.” Bruton gave Cotton a knowing look, then continued, “But his brothers, Antonio and Miguel, are alive and well. They moved to the States a few weeks after their brother’s disappearance and proceeded to take over his business dealings.”
“Fuck, how did we miss that?”
“Because these men are good at what they do. It’s why I chose to work with them.”
“They were your supplier?”
“They were.” He turned to look at Cotton as he announced, “I would guess they weren’t pleased that I chose to cut ties with them and sent Javier to take back my last shipment.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly.” Bruton looked up at Javier. “You’ve made quite a name for yourself. It’s rather sad to see you in such a state.”
“This isn’t over. They’re going to come for you.”
“I certainly hope so.” Bruton turned to me and held out his hand. “Do you mind?”
I wasn’t sure what he was asking until his eyes fell on the scalpel.
I nodded, then placed it in his palm. He clutched the end, then drug it along Javier’s throat.
As Javier choked and gasped, Bruton smirked and said, “Let them come. Let them all come, and like you, they’ll see that no one gets the best of me. No one.”
Bruton stood there and watched as Javier took his last breath.
Once he was certain that it was over, he walked back over to Cotton and said, “I apologize for the inconvenience, but I assure you. I will take care of the Demarco brothers.”
“We will take care of them together.”
“Oh, no. That’s not necessary. I’m the one who had the ties with them, and ...”
“We have our own reasons for wanting to put an end to them.”
I wasn’t surprised that Cotton volunteered our help.
It wasn’t that long ago that his adopted daughter, Lauren, had been taken by one of Robert Demarco’s men, and her life was at risk over a journal that belonged to Demarco.
It was through that journal that we discovered his involvement with a sex trafficking ring that he was running through Port Angeles.
We’d dealt with him and the man who’d kidnapped Lauren, and we thought that was the end of it.
Needless to say, none of us were happy that the brothers had come to take over the business, but they would soon learn that was a mistake—a mistake that would cost them not only their business but their lives.
Cotton called in the others and caught them up to speed on everything we’d learned.
As soon as Prez finished telling them about Antonio and Miguel, Big and Bones immediately pulled out their laptops and got to work on tracking them down.
They hadn’t been at it long when Bones announced, “Fuck. They’re gone. ”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Cotton leaned over to look at Bones’ computer screen. “Where did they go?”
“They took their private jet back to Mexico.”
“Fuck.”
Savage turned to look at his father as he told him, “They must’ve realized something was up when they didn’t hear back from Javier.”
“You’re probably right.” Cotton let out a stream of curses as he ran his hand over his goatee. “So, now what?”
“We wait,” I answered. “And we use the time to our advantage. Find out everything we can about these assholes and take them down the second they return.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Savage turned to Cotton as he asked, “What about the journal Lauren had? Any idea where it ended up?”
“I gave it to MJ’s father. I figured he’d get it into the right hands.”
“Damn.”
Bones cleared his throat, then announced, “I made a copy.”
“What? When did you do that?”
“Before you handed it over to MJ’s dad. I’m not sure why I did it. I just thought we should have a copy, so I put it with the Demarco files in the workroom.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. You came through for us again.” Savage sounded hopeful as he asked, “You think there’s anything in there that might help us get these assholes?”
“If there is, I’ll find it.”
“Then, get on it and let us know what you find,” Cotton ordered.
“You got it, Prez.”