Chapter 12 #3
At the last door before the hallway turns left and continues deeper into the building, a man I recognize as the vice-president of this chapter of the Savage Kings, Reggie Ingram, appears and raises a hand in greeting.
“Maximo, welcome. Come on in.” He steps back into the room, and we file in behind him.
I’m surprised to see we’re standing in what must have been a bathroom at some point, judging from the tiling and the drain set into the floor.
Rubber plugs have been placed over the holes where toilets should have been, and the room is otherwise empty except for a thick wooden chair set right in the middle with a lean young man zip-tied to it at the ankles and right arm.
His left arm is bound across his chest in a crude wrap that appears to have been made from his t-shirt and is obviously broken from the odd bulge just behind his wrist.
“This is Jacob Sizemore,” Reggie announces. Then he points to the only other man in the room, the club sergeant I remember as Eddie Goins. “Show him, Eddie,” he orders.
Eddie approaches me, slapping Jacob on the back of his head as he passes the chair. “You still with us, kid?” he asks him as he hands me a wallet. “We checked his ID to make double-sure. It’s definitely him.”
I flip the wallet open and scan the license, even though I’m already sure this is the same person I saw on the surveillance footage Detective Tillman had sent me. I hand it back to Eddie with a nod. “I hope that you didn’t encounter any difficulties in recovering him for us?”
“Not too much,” Eddie confirms. “We came into a bunch of bricks of M112 and wired some of them to the gas line running into their building, along with three of the four exits. We channeled them right out the front door.”
“What’s an M112?” Constance asks him.
“Huh?” Eddie glances over at her as if he’s surprised to hear her speak.
“Oh, it’s a brick of C4, military explosives.
They’ve got a factory that produces tons of the stuff out in Indiana.
Occasionally a crate ‘falls off the truck’ in transit or gets ‘misplaced’ by the Army Corps of Engineers.
We’ve got a lot of former military boys in the club, and they’ve got some interesting contacts.
Anyhow, yeah, we wired the place to catch fire and blocked some of the exits, then just waited for your boy to pop out. ”
“Did his arm get busted when you detonated those explosives?” I ask Reggie and Eddie, pointing to Jacob’s disfigured limb.
“Nah,” Eddie says. “Kid made it to his bike before we could nab him, and we had to chase him down. He broke his wing when we knocked him off his ride.”
Jacob’s head lolls on his shoulders, but he manages to focus his gaze on us and finally speaks. “Why did the Kings decide to go to war with the Gargoyles? Why did you hit our clubhouse? We haven’t done anything to you!”
“What the fuck do you know, prospect?” Reggie snorts. “You think they tell you every fucking thing they get into? They loop you in all the decision making?” Turning his attention to me, Reggie adds, “We didn’t tell him anything. Figured we’d let you explain it.”
I turn to Jacob and jerk my thumb at Constance. “You really going to lie to my face and say you don’t recognize her?” I sneer.
His wobbling head topples over, and he strains to stare at Constance. “I don’t know that bitch.” He leans over as much as he can and spits on the floor.
I walk over to him slowly, savoring the way his eyes widen in terror at my approach.
“Every time you lie to me,” I tell him as I reach down and wrap my hand around the bulging bone in his broken arm.
“I’m going to find a new way to hurt you.
” I dig my thumb into the bulge, grinding the shattered bone under the huge, discolored bruise as he thrashes and screams.
I let go and wait for his panting sobs to subside until I’m sure he can hear me.
“You were caught on surveillance at the scene of her kidnapping,” I tell him.
“The police have a warrant out for your arrest, but I wanted to get to you first. I know you’ll lie to the police, and your club might even spring for a lawyer to defend you.
I couldn’t allow that. You need to understand, Jacob, that there is no help for you now. ”
“I’ve got more friends than just the Gargoyles,” Jacob manages to gasp. “Friends who are going to make you regret everything you do to me.”
“I know about your so-called friends, Jacob. Your mother isn’t going to save you. The Bratva have disowned her. Once you tell me how to find Irina, we’ll settle things with her, and all of us can put this whole ordeal behind us.”
“I’m not going to tell you or your whore a goddamned thing,” he replies with a sneer.
“Of course you will,” I remark. “You will, because your only value to me is as a hostage, to trade for Salvatore Bianchi’s son.
You’ll tell me how to contact your mother and set up an exchange.
Until you do, you’re going to enjoy the hospitality of some very unpleasant associates of mine.
Tony, Chris, take our guest back to the estate and get to work. ”
As Tony and Chris move past me and begin cutting at the zip ties holding Jacob to the chair, I draw my phone from my suit coat. “I’m transferring the balance of what I owe you now. Is the same account we used yesterday acceptable?” I ask Reggie.
“Yeah, that’ll be fine,” he agrees. He holds his hand out to me for a shake as I finish the transaction. “You need anything else, we’ll be glad to help. This sort of job is right up our alley.”
“This sort of payday is right up our alley,” Eddie corrects him as Tony and Chris haul Jacob to his feet. The young man groans and curses as his knees buckle, unable to support his weight.
“Tie his arms and legs and just carry him out,” I order them.
“His arm is fucked up pretty bad,” Tony observes.
“He still needs to be restrained. The sooner he tells us how to get in touch with his mother, the sooner we can make the exchange, and he can get that treated.”
Eddie hands over a handful of zip ties he had in his back pocket to Chris, who unbinds Jacobs broken arm and then cinches his wrists together.
Jacob moans and sobs, but Chris continues impassively, cinching his ankles before giving Tony a thumbs-up.
Tony throws our prisoner over his shoulder, and the two of them head for the elevators.
“Are you really going to give him back to Irina?” Constance asks me once the men are out of earshot.
“I’m kind of curious about that, too,” Reggie says. “If you let him walk, we’d appreciate a heads up. That kind of loose end could bite us in the ass later.”
“It’s a loose end we can take care of, if you don’t for some reason,” Eddie adds.
“I was just saying that to help speed along the process,” I tell them. “Giving him hope is a cruel and very effective torture. Right now, he’s realizing Irina is his only chance at escaping the gentle affections my men will show him. By the time I get home tonight, he’ll be begging me to call her.”
“Dumb little bastard should never have stepped on your toes,” Eddie observes. “Anyhow, I’ll clean up the room,” he tells Reggie. “You want to see everyone out?”
“Yeah, I’ll walk you out,” Reggie says to me and Constance. “I’m assuming you’re riding separate from those boys who took Jacob?”
“Yes. I left two more of my men down at the bar, Trenton and Joey.”
“Trenton is here?” Reggie laughs. “I’m sure Vanessa was glad to see him.”
“You better get down there quick and save him,” Eddie remarks with a chuckle along with his vice-president.
“Come on.” I take Constance by the hand as we follow Reggie back down the hall towards the elevators. “Text Melissa and see if she has any idea when they might release her.”
“If she’s going to be at the hospital a bit longer, can we ride over there and see her?” she asks me.
“That was always the plan. Hopefully, she’ll be on her way home.
If so, we can go there and drop in on her, maybe take her something to eat if she’s up for it.
Either way, visiting with Melissa will be a good way to pass some time while they get our new friend Jacob home and expose him to some of our hospitality. ”