Chapter 2 #2
"Go. You need to be with them. Protect them until we can get there. I'll help Lake take care of..." I waved my hand, the motion jerky as I scanned the garage.
It was like I was experiencing it for the first time. The half empty spaces, the dim lighting, the bodies and the pools of blood. All tied together by the rancid smell of death…
Joaquin threw his arms around my shoulders, planting a hard and fast kiss on my mouth. Then he was gone. No words, nothing. Just here one second and in the back of the ambulance the next with the door slamming shut behind him.
The locks barely clicked before the tires squealed, and the ambulance shot forward. I watched the lights recede across the concrete as they left my sight. It wasn't until there was no sign or sound of them left that I turned.
A small collection of blood had gathered where Beasty had laid, but I forced my attention away from it. I was afraid of what I'd do to these assholes if I let my rage get the best of me. At present it simmered under the surface.
Lake shouted into his phone as several of the security men had created a perimeter and barricaded the exit from the building.
Andre and Parker stood off to the side, whispering as they kept a watchful eye on us and our men.
But it was the bodies on the ground that called me. Before I knew it, I was shuffling forward. Two fucking bodies. One belonging to the man I'd pummeled within an inch of his life. His chest rose and fell. He was still breathing.
Unacceptable.
Pulling my leg back, I landed a kick against his ribs, enjoying the grunt of pain.
"Stop! Pendejo, I told you already, you need him alive!" Andre sprinted over, crowding me away from the man.
I shook him off, feeling marginally better. "I'm not going to fucking kill him. Lake," I called. Lake flicked his gaze my way, but he was still cursing a blue streak, probably to Guy. "We need to get this man to the Gray Room."
He nodded, and cut off his rant. "Evacuate the club. I don't care what the news will say. Evacuate everyone now!" He hung up and met us in two long strides.
Parker joined us, and together, we examined the man at our feet.
"Anyone recognize him?" Parker's voice was so cheery, it grated on my nerves.
"No." Lake ground his teeth.
How could we recognize him when I'd pummeled his face to a bloody mess. As if that was a trigger, the knuckles of my right hand throbbed. I shook it out. This one was breathing, so we'd have his name soon enough.
I turned to the other man.
There was an ever-expanding dark puddle of blood underneath him and a crimson line leaking from his mouth. It was undeniable. This man was dead.
I walked closer, looking for signs that we'd seen him at the club. He was old, wrinkled and sagging. But there was something about the texture of his skin...I crouched down, sliding a finger across his cheek.
Waxy.
"He's wearing a mask." Shoes scuffled on the concrete behind me as I gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled, ripping it to get a look at his chest.
The mask was a good one. Made from material only the best money could buy. It completely covered his head, stopping at his collarbone, giving him the perfect turkey neck with sagging skin. Fitting my fingers beneath it, I rolled it up. First his neck appeared, clean-shaven and wrinkle free.
This man was in his thirties, max.
I held my breath as I worked it over his chin, more from exertion than anything else. A dimpled chin appeared. Then pale blue lips smeared with blood. It wasn't until I had the mask halfway up his nose that a few locks of hair slipped out by the ear. Red and black locks.
Ripping it off the rest of the way, I stared down at the man who better be fucking glad he was dead. Squeezing the rubbery material in my hand, I focused on not desecrating a corpse.
Lake and Parker cursed behind me.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Lake bellowed to the ceiling, then kicked the tire of the car that had been abandoned.
As I pushed to my feet, Lake dropped his head and glared at Parker, teeth bared. "This is your fucking fault!" He took a running launch at Parker.
I jumped between them, grunting when he hit my chest so hard, I skidded back two or three feet. "I swear to God, Lake! If you make it so I can't go to Beasty and the others, I will fucking kill you!"
How dare he make me the voice of reason.
I managed to shove Lake back. It was hard, he was a beast of a motherfucker, but I got him back. His nostrils flared and he huffed like an enraged bull, locked on the man behind me.
"Calm down!" I yelled.
Lake yanked his suit jacket down, his shoulders bunching up to his ears. "This is your fucking fault," he repeated. When he didn't make any moves to attack, I moved to the side and angled my body so I could see both brothers and Lake.
Parker blew out a harsh breath as he stared down at Storm. He'd lost that shit-eating smirk he sported and for the first time since he'd shown up tonight, he looked haggard.
"That was a plot twist I didn't see coming."
Andre was silent, not giving anything away, but he didn't seem as surprised as his brother.
Lake chuckled, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and hated it. The door to the building opened and Guy stepped out. He carefully surveyed the scene, locking on the brothers as he walked toward Lake.
"Get this motherfucker to the Gray Room. Lock him up and sit on him until we're ready to question him." Lake raked a trembling hand through his white hair. "What's the status in the club?"
Guy crouched next to the bloody mess of a dead man walking and checked his pulse. His chest was still moving. Any idiot could see that he was still alive.
Whatever, I wasn't security. I'd gladly let Guy do his job and make my way to the hospital.
Everyone here could fuck off until I laid eyes on Beasty and Kim.
"The club is ninety percent evacuated. The team is handling the rest. I have a detail just inside the door waiting for me to make sure I don't come across anyone I shouldn't on the way to the Gray Room.
" He raised the man's arm, grabbed his thigh, and hoisted him onto his shoulders in a fireman's hold.
"I've contacted the PR team. They're using one of the prepared responses. "
"Which one?" Lake snapped.
"Electrical outage. As far as we can tell, nothing has been reported." Guy paused. "Where are the other men?"
I swung around, looking for signs of anyone else. There had been at least three other men in the garage when we came down.
Fuck! Where were they? In the chaos of saving Beasty and Kim, I had tunnel vision and lost them. Sure enough, the only bodies here were Storm and the dead man.
"They. Got. Away." The words were ripped from Lake's throat.
Guy nodded slowly. "I'll pull the footage, run it through our new software. I'll send you the full report in twenty." He headed toward the door. The security detail lining the walls held their weapons in front of them, looking straight ahead.
Could we trust them? When I glanced at Lake, he must have been thinking the same thing as his jaw worked.
I needed to go. I couldn't waste another second here when I could be with the others. "You have this here. I'm heading to the hospital."
"No, I'm coming with you," Lake said as he walked toward me, his gaze still sweeping the garage.
"You need to—"
"I know what I need to do!" He closed his eyes. "There's nothing I can do here that I can't do in the car." Then lower, he said, "And I need to see them too."
For a fraction of a second, his anger cracked and something fragile broke through.
He was right, we wouldn't be any good to anyone until we made sure Kim and Beasty were alive and well. There was plenty of time to hunt down the assholes who thought hurting us was the right move.
"Us too," Parker quipped, circling his finger in the air to encompass his brother and himself. The tension riding the air nearly sparked with violence.
Fuck.