Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
JD
I opened the steel-reinforced cellar door and was immediately assaulted by the smell of blood, sweat, and piss. That this familiar smell didn't alarm me anymore said everything about who we were.
When you were hired to hunt the worst of the worst, it meant you had to become this too. Judge, jury and executioner. We lived and worked as far under the radar as possible, and as such, this was our brand of justice and we never wavered from it.
As I descended the stairs, the quiet thuds from below grew louder, mixing with the wet sounds of bodily fluids and the sharp cracks of breaking bones. By the end of this Cash would beg for us to put him out of his misery and I would comply—eventually.
My heavy boots slapped against the dark concrete floor as I made my way to the interrogation room. I passed rows of neatly hung cuts and stacked leather boots. Not to mention the hastily strewn t-shirts leaving a trail to the room.
We all knew that anything that went into that room would have to be burned after. We left no evidence of what happened here in case of raids. We had stainless steel everywhere, and the drain in the center of the room made cleanup surprisingly easy—when we needed it.
I stopped at the bay door's wide opening. The brothers had gathered as expected, with Cash strung up by thick metal chains, his wrists cuffed to a hook that hung from the ceiling.
Blood splattered the space in a macabre painting, from each member taking the pound of flesh they’d earned. I'd given them time for that.
“He’s almost ready for you,” Axel said first, as he circled Cash. The brass knuckles on his hands, his trademark weapon of choice, were already covered in blood. It appeared as if I had indeed arrived just in time.
I returned to the outer room, adding my cut, boots, and shirt to the last peg—the one reserved for the President. I savored this ritual, the methodical preparation that went into doing this job right. It gave me a needed sense of righteous purpose and time to gather my thoughts before finishing what needed to be done.
We didn’t often get this far. Usually, when we went after child kidnappers, pedophiles, or mafia-protected serial killers, the job ended in the field. Usually by a shoot-out, sometimes a knife fight.
This however, called for a much harsher punishment than a simple bullet to the brain. No motorcycle club worth a shit would allow a traitor who’d taken lives and hurt their own family to simply walk away. Not only because he didn’t deserve to, but also because he had the knowledge and power to bring my club to its knees.
I returned to the room in time to see Axel deliver a crushing blow to the right side of Cash’s torso that came with the distinct sound of bones breaking. To a less skilled fighter, a hit like that could end all of this too soon. But Axel knew exactly what he was doing and this was not his first rodeo. He had the knowledge of how to strike to deliver the maximum amount of pain and damage, but without actually killing a man.
“That’s enough,” I barked, entering the room. I wanted this fucker conscious until the end.
Axel turned in my direction, the look in his eyes wild and unrestrained. “We can’t go easy on him for this shit,” he heaved, trying to catch his breath.
“I’m not planning to go easy,” I snarled, irritated that Axel seemed to doubt my resolve. Though questioning my choices came with his position, he had the bad habit of crossing the line far too often. “But I do want to look him in the eyes and watch him see what’s coming at the end.”
“JD,” Cash gurgled, spurts of blood bubbling out of his mouth.
I turned to look at him and fought to contain the rage that made me want to pummel him until he stopped breathing. The image of Sasha’s flailing body, his hands squeezing her neck, was still seared in my mind.
Moving slowly, I approached the workbench of tools someone had laid out and chose the heavy-duty shears that were perfect for severing fingers. When I stepped back into Cash’s line of sight, a fresh wave of fear flickered across his face.
Gone was the easy going, always out for a laugh jokester I thought I’d known. This husk of a broken man was scared, and rightfully so.
“You knew how this would end. You betrayed the club and caused irreparable harm—there's no coming back from that. All that matters now is how bad this goes for you now until the end and that is solely based on what you have to say.”
“I had no choice. “He shook his head.
“That’s what they all say,” I hissed. “And it’s the biggest fucking lie. There is always a choice. You just made the wrong fucking one.” Anger poured into my bloodstream and flooded me with endorphins. My heart rate jacked up as I balled my fist and took the first satisfying punch directly into his unsuspecting gut.
Everyone always expected the face first. And that’s usually what happened. I, however, wanted to beat his bloody face until there was nothing left, and that wasn’t going to work in getting him to talk.
“Who were you working with? And don’t bother denying or lying. I can have these boys strip the skin from your body, while keeping you alive, as you scream for God to save you. But I guarantee he’s not listening. But the devil is, and he’s anxiously awaiting your arrival.”
“This isn’t fair.” The words came out slurred from pain, but I made them out clear enough.
“Fair?” I grabbed his chin. “Like trying to set up your brothers with all that false data you fed Tel? Did you really think he wouldn’t figure it out?”
Cash’s eyes widened slightly before he caught himself. “No choice,” he wheezed. “I needed time.”
“Fuck you. Would you rather I hand you back to the rest of the club? They don’t care what you have to say. They only want to make you pay. Whereas if I get what I want I might give you a break. End this quick.” I waved the cutters in his direction.
Although I wasn’t making any promises. This man was responsible for all the pain and suffering that Sasha had gone through and I had no desire to give him an ounce of absolution for that.
“You already know who. It was Mazzeo. I had no choice. That fucker is crazy. He doesn’t just kill people. He plays with them. Then he goes after every single person you know and hurts them too. I couldn’t put Chel and Skyler through that.”
“Your baby momma is pure fucking evil trash. What the fuck do you care what she goes through? You should have offered her on a platter to Mazzeo instead of your fucking club. Or better yet you should have trusted us enough to have your back.”
“I couldn’t take the risk. My son.”
“Bull fucking shit. We take care of our own! What did he offer that was worth betraying us? Was it worth the lives lost? Was it FUCKING worth it?”
“Collateral damage. I didn’t plan for any of that.”
“Which is why the fuck you were supposed to come to me!” I roared, pulling my arm back and then burying my fist in his face this time. My anger broke the strained leash I had on myself and I continued to punch over and over again.
“JD.”
I heard Axel's voice calling out to me, but it couldn't pierce the haze of pain choking me, suffocating every rational thought. The memory of Sasha's burned body grabbed me by the fucking throat and wouldn’t let go, squeezing tighter with each passing second. The weeks of pain she endured in that hospital bed, hanging on for her life. The mental anguish and fear she suffered at his hands while I was too blind to see what was happening right under my own nose. The look in her eyes—god, those beautiful eyes—always reminding me that I didn’t save her, that I failed the one person who meant everything to me…
Each memory was like another knife twisting in my gut.
“JD, stop.” Someone grabbed my arm and I roared with fury as I turned to see Axel and Zook attempting to stop me. “I thought you wanted answers from him before we took this too far?”
My heart beat heavy and fast in my chest as I grappled to take a breath. I bent forward and rested my hands on my knees. After a minute or so I felt some semblance of control slipping back into place. I turned to Axel. “What did you say?”
“Interrogating this piece of shit was your idea and we agreed. We need to make sure there is no other fall out from this situation.”
He was right of course. We’d planned this out, but in the moment I’d lost control. All I could see was Sasha on the ground in front of our burning casino fighting for her life as the paramedics had worked on her. It had been one of the most devastating moments of my life and I was only now realizing just how much I’d been affected.
“Yeah." I straightened, eyeing the bloody mess hanging in the middle of the room. By some miracle, the bastard was still conscious. Although that probably wouldn’t last much longer. “Let’s do this and get it over with. I need to get back to Sasha.”
Axel gave me a nod and I stepped closer to Cash. “I don’t have much patience left for you. But if you don’t want to spend the next however long it fucking takes in extreme, unbearable agony, you need to stop making excuses and fucking do the right thing. You took an oath to this club and you shattered that shit into a million little pieces. You killed one of your brothers. Harmed another. Now all you have left is the decision on what kind of man you are going to be when you leave this world. One who goes out trying to honor those he made promises to, or like the piece of shit who hired you?”
“What do you want?” he rasped, his breath as ragged as my own only moments ago. “I’ll do whatever you need.” The rattle in his lungs indicated that I’d likely punctured one or both of them and like it or not, he wasn’t going to last much longer.
“Who else knew about this?”
“Only Chel. She knew the fucker from high school. He got to her and Skyler first, roughed her up. Said if I didn't cooperate, Skyler was next.”
A twinge of regret pinged in my chest. Cash was a lot of things, but when it came to his kid, he was as devoted as they came.
“You should have come to me.” Those words were a waste of my breath at this point, but I couldn’t stop repeating them. The whole situation made me want to puke or kill someone. The death of Frank Mazzeo and his sick, twisted son didn’t feel like enough. But no amount of bloodshed could ever wipe away the harm done to Sasha and Bear as well as the others.
Cash coughed, and more blood dribbled out. We were about out of time.
“What about Chel? I heard she’s dating a serpent. What the fuck is that about?” I had to figure out how far this went and stop the spread before it got worse.
“Yeah. Dude deals drugs out of Redmond on the side to the Microsoft assholes there. Real piece of shit.”
I nodded, making a mental note to have Tel look into that fucker’s operation. We could shut that down easy enough.
“And Chel? Where is she now?”
Cash coughed, more blood dribbling out. “Fuck if I know.” His head lolled forward. “Bitch took off weeks ago. Right after Mazzeo disappeared. Probably ran off with the drug dealing asshole. Don’t care what happens to her. Only Skyler.”
I narrowed my eyes, sensing there was more to the story. But with Cash’s life quickly fading, there was little time to pry out the details.
“What else?”
“Nothing, man. Mazzeo had a fucking hard on for Axel’s woman. Who at the time wasn’t his woman so I figured it didn’t matter all that much if I gave him some fucking information on her. But one thing led to another and it was too late…”
“You are right about that. The minute you chose him over your club, you signed your death warrant and you damned well knew it. Now you go out like the piece of trash rat you fucking are. I only wish your death was going to make me feel better.”
“Can’t we make some kind of deal?”
I looked at him like I couldn’t believe he even dared to say that shit to me. I turned to Axel and lifted my chin in a well-known signal that I was fucking done.
He pulled the gun he would have prepared for this from the small of his back and placed it in my hand. I wrapped my hand around the handle so tight the texture of it bit into my skin.
I flipped the lock with my thumb and snaked my finger around the trigger. I then lifted it to Cash’s forehead and pressed it tight against his skull.
“No fucking deal. Mother fucker.” I pulled the trigger and the sound echoed loudly in the mostly empty cavernous room. This place wasn’t quiet, but it served our purposes well. Blood splattered from the back of his head and for a second he stared at me as if it actually hadn’t happened before his entire body went limp.
I handed the gun back to Axel and took the towel offered by Zook. Silently, we went about the process of cleaning up the mess. This wasn’t our first operation like this, and there would be no crew called in for this one.
Cain and Zook unbuckled the cuffs from Cash’s wrists and carried the body to the plastic sheets already laid out. There would already be a truck parked out back to haul off the body and any and all evidence and then the guys would drive the body out into the mountains where we already knew no one would find it.
There a hole would be dug and what was left of this piece of shit dropped inside it along with a match. The body and evidence would burn, leaving only bones no one could ever find.
Cash would disappear from this world with no one the wiser. No one would ever look for him or wonder where he’d went. Chel might guess, but she would soon be dealt with too. Even his child was too young to remember him.
This was the end of his miserable fucking road…