Chapter 26
“W ill ya quit lookin’ at that phone and focus?” Garrett interrupts me.
“How can I fuckin’ focus? It’s been almost a week and she ain’t talkin’ to me.” I slam my cell on the dash of the truck, outta frustration.
“I shouldn’t have acted that way in front of her, yeah, she’s seen me mad before, but never like that. I scared her. Has she said anythin’ to Maisie?” I check.
“Not since ya asked this mornin’.” Garrett shakes his head as he stares through the windshield at the cabin in front of us. We’re in a remote enough spot not to have to worry about witnesses, but we still have to be discreet.
“I need to talk to her, but she ain’t picking up my calls. If I could just explain—”
“Explain what?” Garrett loses his temper, shifting his body to look at me.
“That you ain’t gonna let someone take the piss outta ya and make a bet they couldn’t deliver on.
Or that you ain’t gonna let some asshole shove your girl to the floor and get away with it.
Way I see it, Wade, you don’t gotta explain shit.
Leia can’t ignore ya forever, she’s gonna be at our place tonight for that stupid party, you can talk to her then, but for now…
” His eyes flick up through the windshield when a truck pulls up outside the cabin, and the guy, who gets out the driver's seat, immediately looks over at us suspiciously.
“…it’s time to get some answers.” Garrett gets out the truck and slams his door.
“Snakebite?” he asks, at least attempting to look friendly as I follow him.
“Who’s askin’?” The guy puffs out his chest and tries to make himself look taller as we near him, and when we’re standing directly in front of him my brother smiles.
“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” His hand moves fast, jabbing two of his fingers directly into Snakebite’s eye sockets, punching him in the stomach with his other hand so he folds over.
“You know, with a name like Snakebite, I was expectin’ a little more.” He grabs him by the front of his hair and drags him towards his cabin door and I do a double-check, making sure the coast is clear before I follow him in and close the door behind us.
* * *
I’ll give Snakebite his dues, he’s got staying power. I took out all my frustration on him, trying to get him to talk, and he still remained silent. He better hope his dick don’t mind his left hand because he’s lost three fingers from his right.
Garrett finishes typing out a message on his phone, then putting it away he rolls up his sleeves and moves toward the kitchen sink. I don’t even have to ask what’s coming next.
“What's he doin’?” Snakebite asks, looking concerned.
“You ain’t talkin’ so he’s gonna have to drown ya.” I snatch his broken body up from the chair, he’s sitting in, and drag him to the sink.
“I just need a name.” Garrett shrugs calmly as the water, he’s running, fills the basin.
When he gets that same blank expression we’ve been getting for the past hour, as a response, he makes an impatient sigh and grabs the back of Snakebite’s head, plunging him face-first into the water.
The guy finds some fight as he tries to get away, but Garrett holds him firm, rolling his eyes at me over the top of his head while we wait for his breath to start running out.
When Garrett decides it’s been long enough, he pulls his head up and looks at him expectantly.
Snakebite sputters and chokes, gasping for breath but making no attempt to form words.
So, Garrett sinks him straight back under.
The guy’s arms are tied behind his back and, ironically, he moves his body just like a fuckin’ snake.
Garrett’s phone starts to vibrate, and when he gives me the nod.
I take it outta his pocket for him and check it out.
“It’s Cole.” I look at the screen.
“Answer it,” Garrett instructs. Straight away I hit speaker and wait to hear what he’s got to say.
“Maisie okay?” Garrett asks, keeping a firm grip of Snakebite’s head and holding him submerged as he thrashes with all his strength.
“She’s fine,” Cole replies, sounding real pissed off.
“So why ya callin’? You got my text, right?” Garrett checks, lifting Snakebite’s head back out the water so he doesn’t drown before we get what we need outta him. He sucks in as much oxygen as he can instead of talkin’, so once again Garrett forces him under.
“Yeah, I got the fuckin’ text, and there is no way I’m gonna do it,” Cole tells him firmly.
“You bet your fuckin’ ass you’re gonna do it,” Garrett warns him.
“Garrett, I know I agreed to help ya with this baby shit, but there’s a fuckin’ limit, and this crosses it. This is the kinda shit you should be dealin’ with, not me.”
“Well, in case ya haven’t noticed, I ain’t there right now. You are. And you are dealin’ with it. Whatever it fucking takes,” Garrett reminds him, nodding for me to hang up. I cut my other brother's rant short and do as he says.
Garrett drags Snakebite up from the water, and I can tell by the look on the sorry fucker’s face that he’s had all he can take.
“Dennis Knowles.” The name splutters off his lips as he tries to fill his lungs with more oxygen.
“Ain’t it a shame ya had to lose three fingers and a whole lotta pride before ya told us that?” Garrett looks down at Snakebite’s soiled pants and sniggers.
This time it’s my phone that rings and when an unknown number flashes up, I step aside to answer it.
“Hello.”
“Wade, is that you?” The voice on the other end sounds edgy, maybe even a little fearful.
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“It’s Joe, Joe Mason. I think there's somethin’ you and your family need to know about.”