Chapter Thirty-Six
Stone
A thunderous crack sounded through the room as Dad smashed the gavel down onto the thick oak table, scarcely missing the outline of the massive etching of the Speed Demons’ patch that had been burned into it the year before.
“Church in session,” he declared, turning to Abe. “Update?”
The SAA sat forward, studying each man individually. “It’s been confirmed. The Sinners threw their own brand of a Molotov at the old building off Barrington Street. We had product stashed there. If it had gone up, the entire town would’ve been stoned off their heads and looking in their cupboards for munchies. Everybody knows we rent that place. We would’ve copped for it. Already got the sheriff breathin’ so far down our necks that we’re gettin’ damned hickeys, and Slash is goin’ around Mapletree, boasting about how he’s takin’ us down. It’s not good for business, boys.”
“I say we hand the weed off,” I suggested. “It makes us no money, and it’s more trouble than it’s worth. If we’d have done it two years ago, like I said we should, we wouldn’t be here now.”
“The vote went against ya,” Pop muttered.
“That vote was bullshit, and you know it,” I retorted. “It got denied by three slips. All your cronies who wouldn’t welcome change and modernization if it sucked their balls.”
“Nothin’ wrong with tradition, Son,” Dad challenged.
“You’re right,” I snapped. “Tradition’s a wonderful thing, but not in business, when the rest of the world’s evolving, and we’re still stuck where we were twenty years ago, talkin’ about the good old days. There’s more at stake now. The Sinners don’t live by the same moral codes we do. Women and kids aren’t off-limits to them. They don’t give a fuck about how they get what they want.”
Dad’s face twisted into a snarl. “They touch our property, and they die. No debate. No Church. No vote.”
“Agreed,” I muttered. “But in the meantime, I’m calling for the lockdown of the ol’ ladies and kids over at HQ two point oh. I’d like for the originals to head over, too. There’s safety in numbers; shit’s gettin’ hot, and I, for one, don’t want fire to rain down on Adele or the boys. Made a vow to protect her, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”
Dad gave a nod. “Vote on movin’ all operations over to John’s place. All in favor, raise your hands.”
All hands went up, except two.
“Vote passed,” Bandit confirmed. “Pack your bags, boys, were goin’ on a little vacay. That was all I called Church for, but is there any other business?”
Silence.
Pop smashed the gavel onto the table again. “Church dismissed.”
Chairs scraped across wooden planks as we stood and headed to the door. Just as Abe reached for the handle, it swung open to reveal our new prospect standing in the hallway.
“Stone. Abe. Parkin’ lot. Dell’s askin’ for ya both.”
Abe shot me a look, before stomping out of Church and heading down the corridor. Mind whirring, I sped after him at pace until we burst into the bar and through the doors.
My feet faltered at the sight before me.
Adele was screeching nine-to-the-dozen at Tex, while Elise stood, bouncing a crying Xander on her hip.
Something slid through my chest, and my throat burned.
Seeing her like that, with my son, threw me for a loop. The tender way she looked at him before her green eyes clashed with mine settled something inside me, which had been out of whack since the day I left for deployment.
It was beautiful.
“Jesus,” Abe breathed from next to me.
Adele caught sight of us, and I saw her shoulders slump. “I can’t find Iris,” she called out. “She was meant to meet me and Xander at Main Street and bring us back here, but she didn’t show. I called your house, but there was no reply. She’s disappeared.”
Darkness slithered through my gut.
Iris was the most reliable person I knew. If she said she’d be somewhere, she’d show and wouldn’t be a minute late.
“What time was she supposed to meet ya?” I barked.
Dell wrung her hands. “Noon.”
Abe cursed from beside me. “Hour and twenty minutes ago. I’ll check the house.”
“No,” I muttered, summoning the prospect with a chin lift. “Give Tiny your key. He’ll go.”
“What if she’s hurt?” Abe rasped.
I turned and rested a hand on both his shoulders. “Brother. Tiny was a medic. If your ol’ lady’s hurt, he’ll call 911, and we can be there in ten minutes.”
His stare hardened. “You think it’s the Sinners?”
“Sinners?” a voice asked.
I steeled myself, then turned around and faced my destruction. “The Burning Sinners MC.” I stared into green orbs that once looked at me with nothing but love but now were void and empty. “Burning Sinners,” she repeated, her eyes glazing over in thought.
Her internal magnet pulled my gaze down her body, drinking her in.
She was still beautiful, probably more so, in fact. Age had rewarded her with perfect bone structure. Her smooth cheeks were now angled, and the thin layer of teenage puppy fat had disappeared from her jaw, which curved seductively into her graceful throat.
Elise was everything I knew she’d be, except more. Much, much more.
“Do you think these Burning Sinners have taken her?” Elise demanded. I watched, fascinated, as her vacant eyes sparked to life with worry for her friend.
My heart jolted.
There she is.
Tex approached, and I tore my gaze away from her and barked, “Update?”
“The Scouts say Slash hasn’t been there for a few days,” he relayed. “Four of ‘em are missing, includin’ their SAA. They’re not at any of the safe houses we know of. They’ve disappeared.”
“They’re dead,” Abe bit out through clenched teeth. “If they’ve touched her—”
“No, Abe.” Elise walked over and touched his arm. “Don’t go there. She needs you to think clearly and straight. Think about your last conversation with her. Where did she say she was going?”
Abe squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead. “She was headin’ to the big superstore over in Mapletree, the one in that industrial area.”
Elise’s eyes slid to me. I could almost see the wheels turning as her mind raced over Abe’s words. “Can I talk to you privately?”
My jaw clenched. Being alone with her was not wise.
“John,” she whispered, her hand going to my arm. “Please.”
I shook her off, ignoring the burn searing my skin, and gestured toward the new garage.
She took off, craning her neck and calling out, “Hurry!”
I sauntered over, eyes never leaving her as she leaned her back against the building. That was the moment I noticed how thin she was, painfully so.
My gut dropped. It wasn’t my business how much Elise ate. She had a husband for that. The thought made my hands clench into fists. “What is it,” I asked, probably harsher than I meant to. I jerked my thumb toward Abe. “As you can see, Elise, I’m busy.”
Hurt flashed behind her jade greens, but she jutted her chin up regardless. “When you said Burning Sinners, it rang a bell immediately. I was at the superstore last week, and I saw a few of them on their bikes in the parking lot, screwing around. When I left, a couple were riding ahead of me on Long Mile Road. I saw them turn into a dirt track about halfway down. Maybe there’s a house or a building back there. It makes sense. If Iris had been at the superstore, they could’ve seen her and made a move, even ran her off the road.”
The urgency in her tone and the intensity of her gaze made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Elise knew more than she was letting on, but I didn’t have time to question her.
I craned my neck and bellowed, “Abe!” watching as he hoofed it over. “Tell him,” I ordered Elise.
She jerked a nod and began relaying the story again.
Bracing, I spun around to head for the clubhouse, steps faltering as my stare fell on Adele.
My wife stood with my boy on her hip, her eyes darting between me and Elise. You okay? She mouthed.
Yeah,I mouthed back, following it up with, You’re a nut.
She shot me an exaggerated wink before turning on her heel and heading for the main doors, curvy hips swaying as she held Xander tight in her arms.
Biting back my laugh, I followed, my stride determined as I barked orders to the men as I went.
It was time to saddle up.
“She’s here,” Abe whispered, a thread of panic in his voice as he jerked his chin toward our left.
My head swiveled and I saw Iris’s car, poorly hidden under some shrubbery, down the side of the ramshackle house. Eyes sliding back to my bud, I muttered, “Showtime.”
Silently, we crept toward the property, taking care to cover our tracks as we went. It would take one boot print or tiny cut to place us at the scene of the crime, and believe me, this would be a crime scene like no other by the time we’d finished with the sick bastards.
A cold shiver trickled down my spine as I picked up something over the wind.
I held one fist up, a signal for the men behind me to stop.
Lungs burning with the need to breathe, I waited.
Again, a scream carried on the wind, followed by soft whimpers.
I craned my neck to address Abe. Taking in his ashen face, I quietly ground out, “Whatever’s happened, we’ll deal. Don’t care what they’ve done, she’ll deal ‘cause she’s Iris, and she’s strong. They’re gonna die, and they’re gonna die bloody and screaming worse than she is. We’ll leave such a mess that their brethren won’t even look in our direction again. I just need you to follow orders.”
Abe’s blue eyes turned cold, and he nodded.
I signaled left and bent double. Everyone behind me followed suit, and we ran down the side of the house, immediately spotting a warehouse-type structure in the distance.
My hand reached up, and I gave the okay sign before crouching as low as we could. Within thirty seconds, we’d surrounded the warehouse, the boys waiting for my signal.
Soft clicks filled the air around me as I signaled for my brothers to get their weapons ready. Then, with one final signal, I took a deep breath, bracing myself for what I was about to witness, and we burst through the doors, firing warning shots into the air.
We needn’t have worried. They had no fucking clue what they were doing. Slash, and another asshole I recognized as Scalp, a so-called ex-army medic SAA, were at a table with their pants around their ankles, the sick fucks obviously taking turns with Iris, who was tied up and, by then, passed out, on a table.
There was blood everywhere.
I didn’t recognize the other two; they weren’t high-ups. I nodded to Dad, and in a split second, two deafening gunshots rang out, and they both fell to the floor with bullets lodged between the eyes.
Slash’s face twisted, and he reached for his gun.
Two more shots splintered the air, and both assholes screamed as Dad shot a kneecap apiece.
Abe roared like a man possessed and flew at them. I let him, watching as my brother kicked Scalp’s face and head, over and over, bellowing and cursing them to hell.
Slash could only watch, the shock in his eyes conveying the sudden knowledge that this was his last day on Earth. Eventually, Abe ran out of steam and took a step toward Slash, who cowered away like the weak little scumbag he was.
“Abe,” I shouted.
My brother spun around to face me; his face ravaged with pain.
“See to your ol’ lady,” I ordered, my voice a snarl.
“But—” he began.
“Abe,” I called. “Do you trust me?”
He jerked his chin in assent.
“I’ll make it hurt,” I said coldly. “I’ll make him scream like he did our Iris. I’ll make it so he’ll know her pain before he meets the Reaper. That’s my vow to you, brother.”
Abe sucked a breath in. With his chest full of air and eyes full of tears, he dipped his chin. One of the boys gave him the blanket we brought. Then, as if she was made of precious gold, my brother gathered his beautiful, broken wife gently in his arms and got her the fuck outta there.
Blood poured from between her legs. I had to avert my eyes and breathe deeply to stop from throwing up. What sick fuck could do that to a woman? What kind of evil must’ve been inside them to get off on that shit. My lip curled, my stare sliding toward Slash, who lay whimpering on the floor.
“Get him up,” I ordered, watching as Tex and Dad grabbed an arm each and dragged the perverted sick fuck to his feet.
I nodded toward the back wall where the sunlight shone in. “I want him tied there, standing. Ankles two feet apart.”
Dad’s cackle rang out. “Can’t wait for this,” he crowed. “Love my boy when he’s angry.” His face leaned into Slash’s, and then he hocked back saliva before spitting in it and snarling. “You won’t, though, asshole.”
“Dad,” I snapped. “What the hell you leavin’ DNA evidence for? We’ll have to burn this fucker down now. I wanted to send a message.”
He pulled a small camera from his pocket and shouted, “Click, click, click, motherfucker. Knew we’d be havin’ a bonfire. Can’t have Iris tied to this.”
Despite myself, my lips twitched at the crazy old fucker.
The guys tied Slash’s hands, torso, and feet to the wood, until his body hung and his head lolled. Dad had ripped his pants from his legs, so he was naked from the waist down. Blood pissed from Slash’s knee, his groans of pain filling my chest with satisfaction.
KC handed me a rolled-up leather knife holder, and I laid it out on the table where they’d just violated and cut into the heartbeat of the club. I looked at the daggers, glinting in the sunlight, picking one up and testing its sharpness with my index finger.
It was ready to slice.
Turning back to Slash, I pulled my arm back, aimed, and threw.
An animalistic scream filled the air as my dagger sliced into his now limp dick, the blade sticking out at an angle.
Dad cackled, drowning out the sound of Tex sucking air in through his teeth.
Whimpers came from Slash, and I grinned, eyes sliding to Pop. “Where next?”
He shrugged, “Aim a little to the left. See if you can get his nut sack.”
KC chortled, folding his arms across his broad chest. “Twenty says you miss.”
“Wager accepted,” I replied, taking my next dagger from the pouch, pulling my arm back, and throwing it through the air.
A scream went up, followed by hoots and laughter from my brothers.
“Fuck!” KC spat, leaning down to examine where the knife landed. “I’ll pay ya later. Ya know, I’m good for it.”
Dad howled. “Best laugh I’ve had all year,” he roared, holding his sides.
Slash sobbed.
For the next thirty minutes, we played. I threw so many knives into Slash that he was a bleeding, unrecognizable mess. By the end of the session, he was begging me to kill him. Eventually, I obliged. I reckon we’d subjected him to what he did to our Iris, and with one last throw, my dagger landed between his eyes.
I pulled one final dagger out of my pouch, lowered to my haunches next to Scalp, and stabbed him in his brainstem, just to ensure he was toast, too.
More of our boys had arrived by then, so Dad took his photographs, and we left them to raze that house of horrors to the ground.
An hour later, after a quick pitstop, we pulled into Baines Memorial’s parking lot.
It was filled with bikes and trucks belonging to the Speed Demons, and over in the corner sat a silver Porsche.
Fuck!
After what I’d just done, I didn’t wanna see her. My hands were covered in blood—metaphorically, at least, seeing as we’d cleaned up and changed at the clubhouse. It didn’t matter that I’d taken vengeance for Abe and Iris; my soul was still marked.
I didn’t want to involve Elise in my filth, mainly because, if it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have found Iris. Leesy warned me years ago what would happen. That day, Iris got chewed up and spat out. The best one of us all, suffered in ways I couldn’t comprehend.
Something else happened that day.
Dad finally gave me my road name.
Dagger.