Chapter 27
WHO HIRED YOU?
J.D. Stevens
“You calmed down yet?” Demon asked with his arms folded across his chest, as we watched Hannibal work over Detective Abrams.
When we arrived at the clubhouse, my anger was boiling inside me. It took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to take his life as soon as we brought him here. I was furious, not only because of this person’s connection to Dani and Luca’s death, but also because he had tried to kill Rebel and her sister. I was furious and filled with frustration after receiving a phone call from Caesar, informing me that Rebel had been picked up by the FBI. Shit was out of my control and it made me mad as hell. I couldn’t stand not being in fucking control.
So, Demon suggested I let Hannibal do his thing before I had a chance to even get close to him after he woke up. Demon said if I would have touched him, we wouldn’t get any information out of him because I would kill him before he could talk. Reluctantly I agreed.
I didn’t want him to have a quick death. I wanted him to experience the same overwhelming terror that Dani surely felt while dealing with all this shit. I wanted him to feel the panic, the fear of whether he’d live or die. I wanted him to suffer a long and painful death for what he did to Dani, Luca, and Rebel. And even threatening to kill Rumi. None of them were involved with anything dealing with the club. None of them should have to pay for my sins. Yet Dani and Luca paid the ultimate price. And I almost lost Rebel too.
I didn’t only want to know who was behind all this. It was something I needed to know. Years of waiting to find out who killed my family was the only thing that kept me from tearing this entire city apart.
“D, I don’t think I’ll ever calm down until I know what happened. And still I’m going to be pissed at the universe for taking them away from me.”
“Understandable. We’re all feeling that anger, J.D., but no matter how much you want to kill this guy, you need to stay calm, or the trail that leads to the person behind all this shit dies with him. All the answers die with him.”
I take in a deep breath and release it letting his words sink in.
“Listen, man,” Demon continued, “if it’s going to be hard to keep your control, let one of us do it. I want to know what happened to my sister just as much as you do. But we can’t have you losing control and killing him before we get answers.”
“I’m fine, D. I got it. If he doesn’t talk, I’ve got a plan that’ll force him to. One way or the other he’ll give me the answers and then I’m going to gut him.”
I didn’t wait for Demon to respond. I knew what was at stake and I owed it to my family to make every one of them involved in their deaths pay. So, I’d get the answers even if I died trying.
Detective Abrams’ grunts echoed off the concrete walls of the basement. When I had the clubhouse renovated, this was one of the places, I had sound proofed. In this world we never knew who was listening. And even though we were in a secluded part of town, we never let our guard down. We always assumed someone was listening or watching.
Hannibal landed a punch to the detective’s stomach, and he screamed out in pain. By the time I was finished he’d be pleading for me to kill him to end his misery.
“I’ll take it from here,” I said to Hannibal.
He got in one final punch to Abrams’ stomach before he walked towards the sink on the far wall to wash the blood from his hands. The piece of shit could barely hold his head up. Blood poured from his mouth, his nose, and the laceration in the back of his head where I had hit him with the butt of the gun. And the parts of his skin that weren’t covered in blood, were covered in bruises. It wouldn’t be too long, and the motherfucker would be unrecognizable.
I lifted his head by his chin so he could look at me. One of his eyes was black and blue and almost swollen shut, but he knew who I was. The smirk on his face, I wanted to wipe clean off, but he wouldn’t be smiling for long.
“Let me tell you what I already know.”
“You don’t know shit,” he sneered.
“This is not the time to be overconfident, detective. According to your partner’s final confession courtesy of my father-in-law,” I pointed at Rev who smiled at Abrams, “you were looking to get back at Demons United.”
His eyes widened at the information we had before he quickly wiped it away. “Someone approached you and wanted to do a hit on a pregnant woman. That pregnant woman being my wife. Does that sound right so far?”
He remained silent.
“According to your partner after my father-in-law made him eat some of his own flesh, Earl ran my wife off the road because you paid him, then you paid the coroner to cover it up. I know what you did. Now I’m going to ask you again. Who was behind my wife and son’s death?”
My voice carried a deadly calmness, devoid of any emotion, as I refused to let him provoke me. His smirk gradually transformed into a broad, ear-to-ear grin, showing his blood-stained teeth.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. “But you can still save yourself, Stevens. All of you. Let me go and I’ll forget about all this shit. Keep me here and I’ll end your entire existence.”
I laughed which caused his shit-eating grin to fall. “You really think you’re walking out of here alive you stupid fuck? I know you had something to do with my wife and kid dying Abrams. The only question is how long are you willing to suffer before you tell me the truth? Who hired you?”
I pulled my knife from its sheath inside my back pocket and held it in front of him. It wasn’t just any knife—it gleamed with a razor-sharp edge. I had it custom made specifically to kill all these motherfuckers.
The high carbon steel fixed blade, measuring just over four inches long, had Dani and Luca’s names etched into it. The lightweight and easily maneuverable blade was a perfect reminder of why I was doing this despite the consequences. With every cut, with every stab, with all the bloodshed, they’d get their revenge along with me.
“I had this knife made for all you motherfuckers.” I smiled. “And I’m going to love cutting you up with it.”
His eyes widened, but he quickly masked his fear. It wouldn’t be easy to get information out of him, but I had a card up my sleeve if this didn’t work. And I know for sure he’d be singing.
Without hesitating, I plunged the knife into his thigh, feeling the resistance of flesh. As I dragged the knife down the entire length of his thigh, his screams echoed through the room. Nobody could hear him, no matter how loudly he screamed.
He thrashed in the chair he was tied to and pulled at his restraints from the pain. The stab wound wasn’t too deep. Although he wouldn’t bleed to death, the pain would be a bitch.
“Tell me what you know, Abrams.”
The pain and anguish of his cries and on his face only pushed me so I could see and hear more of his suffering. He didn’t care about the pain and anguish of my wife. And nobody in this room cared about his.
I didn’t give him time to answer. I stabbed him in the other thigh, twisted the knife, then drug it down the entire length of his other thigh, stopping right above his knee.
“He’s squealing like a pig now, ain’t he boys?”
“Fuck you,” Detective Abrams sneered through his clenched bloody teeth. His grin widened then his spit landed on my face. “Fuck you!” he said, laughing harder. “And fuck your dead wife.”
I was willing to do this, no matter how long it took, just to get some answers from him. After wiping his spit from my face, I gripped his index finger and positioned it on the arm of the chair he was bound to. With a swift motion, I severed it, and it dropped to the floor. I clutched his middle finger and extended it until it was straight. I positioned the knife against his ring finger, slicing through flesh and bone until it tumbled to the ground.
“I can do this shit all day long, Abrams. Tell me what I want to know.”
His head wobbled and fell forward. I pushed his head back, but he was out like a light.
“Hannibal bring her in. So, when he wakes up, he’ll have a little surprise.”
“Who is it?” Demon asked.
“His wife.”
He nodded and propped himself back against the wall. I knew he wouldn’t question me because when it came to family, Demon didn’t care how we protected them as long as they were protected. When Kira was kidnapped, he killed a woman in front of her son because he had information. He poured gasoline over her body and set her on fire all while her son watched a video feed of it. So, I knew he wouldn’t step in.
“Let me go!” she screamed, trying to get out of Hannibal’s grip.
Schizo snatched her while she was leaving a small boutique about an hour ago. The annoyance etched on Hannibal’s face was so comical that it was hard to suppress a chuckle. Her hands were tightly bound in front of her, rendering her unable to move freely and she was blindfolded.
“My husband’s a detective and he’ll find you! Let me go!”
She continued to try to get away from Hannibal.
“Tie her to a chair, Hannibal.”
With a firm hand, he directed her towards the chair I had positioned in front of her husband.
“No! Let me go!”
“That will not happen,” I said as Hannibal forced her into the seat and tied her arms and legs to the chair then I pulled her blindfold off. “There are some things your husband needs to atone for.”
“Oh my god!” she screamed when her eyes landed on her husband. “Sean! Sean!”
A burst of laughter escaped my lips. “I’m sorry, he can’t hear you right now, but in a few minutes all he’s gonna hear is your screams.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “What do you want? Money? I can get you whatever you want?”
I crouched beside her, and she looked me in the eye. “What he took from me can’t be replaced with money. But he can give me information.”
“What... what did he take from you?” she asked.
The contrast was striking as her pale skin became streaked with dark smudges. Her lipstick was smeared across her cheek, leaving a vibrant, red stain. I was pretty sure she was the type of woman who wouldn’t be caught dead stepping out of her house looking disheveled like she did.
I stood. “Something I can never get back.”
“Hannibal wake the detective up. We have more things to discuss.”
Demon walked up to me and stopped by my side. “Are you sure?”
I looked into my brother-in-law’s eyes. “Yes.”
There was no turning back. Women and children were not brought into our world, but today Mrs. Abrams will pay the price for her husband’s part in my wife and son’s death. I felt no remorse for my decision.
Demon took his place back against the wall. I found it surprising that both him and Rev had remained silent and hadn’t gotten involved. I was grateful because I needed to be the one to get the answers.
Detective Abrams groaned. He could barely hold his head up.
“Sean?”
When his wife called his name slowly his attention landed her. “Leave her out of this, Stevens!”
He yanked at his restraints as I stood behind his wife and placed my hands on her shoulders. She tried to move away, but I tightened my grip and she winced from the pain.
“Did you leave my wife out of this?”
“What’s he talking about Sean?” she asked.
“Yeah, Sean. Tell her how you hired someone to run my pregnant wife off the road, killing her and my child.”
“Don’t listen to anything he says, Emma. He’s fucking crazy,” Detective Abrams said. “Let her go, Stevens. She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Neither did my wife! Neither did my son!”
I took in a deep breath and released it, trying to calm my anger.
“Sean what is he talking about! Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but my husband wouldn’t hurt anyone. He’s a cop goddamn it!”
“He’s a crooked cop,” Hannibal said.
She glared at him. “My husband wouldn’t do something so abhorrent.”
We all laughed.
“Your husband isn’t the angel you make him out to be, isn’t that right detective?” I asked.
“Fuck you, Stevens!”
I punched him in the face, and she screamed. “No fuck you! Now tell me who hired you to kill my wife?”
A glob of bloody spit landed on the concrete floor of the basement. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I turned my attention to his wife. “Are you sure?” I asked him.
I grabbed her index finger, and pulled it back so far, the bone cracking echoed throughout the room then her scream pierced the air.
“Are you sure you have no idea what I’m talking about?”
I grabbed her middle finger and yanked it back, snapping it. The detective’s face was etched with anguish, but he remained resolute and refused to give in.
“Please... please Sean.”
He looked her in the eyes and the defiance was strong. He didn’t want to say anything. So, I grabbed her ring finger and bent it backwards until it snapped, followed by her pinkie finger and then her thumb.
She screamed so loud, and tears streaked her face. But he remained quiet, so I moved to the other hand. “Please... no more.”
She was barely hanging on to consciousness. But I wouldn’t stop until he told me what I wanted to know.
“Her suffering is in your hands detective.” With a firm grip, I pulled her index finger back on her right hand, hearing a faint crack. She let out another piercing scream that echoed through the room before she lost consciousness.
“Who hired you?”
“Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you what I know. Just leave my wife alone.”
“Talk,” I said.
I wasn’t making any promises to this motherfucker. He wasn’t in the position to tell me what to do. It didn’t have to come to this. But here we were and now he’d live and die with the consequences of his actions. And so would his wife.
“I was contacted by someone connected to a motorcycle club out in Las Vegas.”
My anger surged, causing my hackles to rise. I looked at Demon, and his eyes grew wide with surprise. We both had the same idea in mind. The only mc either of us knew that was out there was Sin City MC and there was no fucking way they would have anything to do with my wife’s death. My fucking cousin, Grimm was the president. My blood.
“What club?” I asked.
“I don’t know! They didn’t give me a fucking name.”
I punched him in stomach causing him to wheeze. “I swear, I don’t know, Stevens. Now let my wife go.”
“What did they ask you to do, and how did they get in contact with you?”
“I did a little work with the Bianchi’s and that’s how they got my name. They offered me fifty thousand dollars to off her. I gave, Earl and Keegan five grand each and kept the rest for myself.”
“I want a name, Abrams.”
Despite his wife being unconscious, I pulled another one of her fingers back, causing the bone to snap. A piercing scream escaped her lips.
“Please... please. I’m begging. Stop.”
But her tears didn’t faze me. Fuck her pleas. And fuck his.
“Name, Abrams! Now!”
“I was dealing with someone name Weasel!”
“From a motorcycle club in Vegas?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes! Now let my wife go, asshole. She had nothing to do with this!”
I chuckled as I moved to stand behind his wife. I jerked her head back by her hair, exposing her long, slender neck. I leaned towards his wife’s ear while never taking my eyes off the detective.
“I’m sorry that you have to pay for what your husband has done to my family.”
Her eyes widened. “Please! Don’t do this! I didn’t do anything!”
Ignoring her cries, I dragged the knife across her neck, slashing her throat.
“No! No!” Detective Abrams screamed, struggling against his restraints as he tried to reach his wife. “I’m going to kill you, motherfucker.”
I let go of his wife’s hair, feeling it slip through my fingers. Her body convulsed violently, accompanied by choking sounds that echoed throughout the space, as her airways filled with blood. I watched as Detective Abrams’s eyes widened in horror, unable to tear his gaze away from the tragic scene of his wife’s death. Tears streamed down his battered face, mingling with the blood and bruises. When her body finally went still, he shut his eyes, unable to bear the sight any longer.
I walked in between the space that separated him and his wife. When he looked at me, a smile spread across my face. “This is what happens when you take from me. When you take my family from me, I take yours.”
“You’ll never get away with this!” he screamed.
“Maybe I won’t. But at least I know you and everyone involved with my wife and son dying will no longer be walking this earth. See you in hell motherfucker.”
I pushed his head back, causing his neck to strain, and swiftly drove the blade beneath his chin. With each convulsion and jerk of his body, the light in his eyes grew dimmer, until it was extinguished completely. I pulled the knife free, feeling the weight of it in my hand, then wiping the warm, sticky blood off on my jeans before turning my attention to my brother-in-law.
“You know what you have to do,” he said.
“I do. And I know without any doubt, Grimm had nothing to do with this.”
“I hope not,” Demon said. “Because I don’t give a fuck who he is. Nobody fucks with my blood.”
“Trust me, D, whoever is involved will die by my hands, blood or not.”
What the fuck is going on?