Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Maverick
I walked into the run-down warehouse outside of town with a smile on my face. It was rare I got my hands dirty anymore, and I was thoroughly looking forward to it.
"Maverick." A woman dipped her chin in my direction. She was one of four women covered in black leather and standing in a semicircle around the man I recognized as Santino.
"Ghost team?" If this was the case, then no wonder Wes laughed when Jo mentioned they had a thing against women.
"Just think of us as your guardian angels. What you see here never leaves this room. Got it?"
It was clear who was in charge. The other three women didn't even bother to look at me.
"Fine with me. As long as we deal with this piece of shit."
"Who are you calling a piece of shit?" The man stuck his nose in the air despite the fact that he was tied to a chair. "Do you know who I am? What I could do to you?"
The woman in charge shoved her heeled foot into the man's balls and didn't let up even though Santino was whining like a little bitch.
"Did I give you permission to speak?"
Damn! I could tell I was going to like this woman already.
Santino's high-pitched whine made me want to grab my own balls. Not the technique I would've used, but it was highly effective.
"As much as I appreciate you crushing this asshole's balls, I need some answers from him before we end his miserable life."
"You mean before we end it. You're here simply as a courtesy to Wes."
I wanted to argue, but the look on her face told me that would be pointless. Wes wasn't kidding when he said this team ran by their own set of rules. From what I could see, they didn't play well with others.
"Fine. As long as he's dealt with. I don't appreciate him causing harm to my unborn child."
Heat flared in the woman's eyes. I had no idea what drove these women to do what they did, but it was clear the mention of the baby didn't make them happy.
"That's exactly why he won't live to see another day."
I was glad to see we were on the same page.
"Do you mind if I at least take a crack at him?"
I never in my life asked for permission to attack someone. It was never necessary because most of the time, I kept my cool. But that ended when Wes told me about the bomb.
"Be my guest." The four women stepped back and allowed me to get closer to Santino. Before the man could even register what was about to happen, my arm shot out and punched him squarely in the jaw.
Damn, that felt good. "That's for cutting my woman's brake lines."
Another shot. This time in the other direction so his head snapped the other way. "That's for almost making her lose the baby."
This time, I sent an uppercut straight to his jaw and watched in satisfaction as his head snapped back. "And that's for sending a bomb to our house."
"Okay, enough," the leader of the group snapped behind me.
I stepped back and looked at the damage I caused. It wasn't nearly as much as I wanted, but it was a good start.
"Tell me why you're after Jo."
The asshole had the nerve to spit blood at my feet as he slurred. "Go to hell. I'm not telling you shit."
The woman whose name I would never know, grabbed him by the throat and squeezed.
"You have two choices here. Tell him what he wants to know and die quickly.
Or I can torture it out of you. Either way, you die today, and I can sleep like a baby tonight knowing I took another piece of shit off this earth. "
Bloodthirsty. And people said women were the weaker sex. I already knew that wasn't true, but damn, this woman would prove many men wrong.
"Do your worst. I'm not talking to you." Santino tried to sound brave, but I could see in his eyes that he was scared shitless.
"Fine by me. I've been a little bored lately anyway." She held out her hand to the side, and one of the other women handed her a set of steel cutters that I immediately recognized as bone cutters.
Ouch. Talk about getting straight down to it.
Without a single flinch, she cut straight through Santino's pinky. Obviously the man hadn't thought she would follow through because he hadn't moved a muscle, but now he was screaming like a banshee.
"Any guesses on which finger I'll cut off next?" She looked around the room. "Anyone?"
I was too stunned by her lack of emotion to answer. This wasn't my first time observing someone being tortured but watching her was fascinating. The only other person I knew this emotionless was Lex.
"Let's go for the thumb next."
Santino curled his fingers in as he continued to wail. "Please, no."
Blood dripped down the chair and splattered on the floor. His pinky also lay on the dirty floor like the discarded limb it was.
"I gave you the choice to make this easy. You chose the hard way, so now you have to suffer the consequences."
"Please, please," Santino begged. "I'll talk. I'll tell you anything you want to know."
The mysterious woman sighed. "And here I was looking forward to having some fun for once. Fine." She waved her hand. "Get on with it."
Santino looked at me. "What do you want to know?" Snot ran down his face and into his mouth. It was pathetic just how quickly he caved.
"Why are you after Jo?"
"Because she took everything from me," he whined like a baby.
"What did she take from you?" I leaned down and looked him in the eye. The fire that was there earlier started to come back to life.
"Los Cangris," he spat. "Alejandro might've been the face, but I was the brains. He would never have survived that long if it wasn't for me."
Jo was right. Santino was the wizard behind the curtain.
"So why not just take over when he died?"
"Because no one but him and me knew of my involvement. When he died in prison, I tried to convince that sniveling asshole that he needed me, but he refused to listen. He pushed me out and cost me millions. And all because that stupid bitch wrote that damn article."
I had no idea what article that could possibly be. She wrote several about Los Cangris, but none of them should've been the reason Alejandro died. It was more likely he needed someone to blame, and Jo was an easy target.
"I appreciate your cooperation. One last question. Is there anyone else after her?"
Santino spit more blood at me, or at least he tried. It dribbled down his chin instead. "No. Los Cangris doesn't give a shit about your little town anymore. They've moved on to easier places."
Excellent. That was exactly what I wanted to hear. I turned to the woman and smiled. "I'm done with him. I don't need anything else."
In one swift motion, the woman pulled a gun out from the back of her pants and shot Santino directly between the eyes. It was good to know she didn't lie when she said she would make his death quick.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you, ladies. I owe you my life, so if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call."
The woman just dipped her chin. "Don't forget what I said. No one is to know of our existence, and as far as you’re concerned, you never saw us."
"Don't worry. No one would believe me if I told them anyway."
The woman cracked her first smile. Well, a half one at least and I figured that was the best I was going to get.
"Need help cleaning up the mess?" It was the least I could do.
"Nope, we got it. Get back to your woman and baby knowing they're both safe now."
I tipped my invisible hat toward them and walked back out of the warehouse without a single glance back.
Today was a good day.