Chapter 35
CLUTCH - JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER
The shed was unnaturally hot for mid October, but it wasn’t really the heat that was the issue, it was the smell. The stench of death that clung to the walls, signalling the reaper was waiting.
The room was a large square space, with poured concrete and a few strategically placed drains.
No windows, nothing to let in light or let sounds out.
Harsh fluorescent lighting strips bathed everything in a sharp bright light.
Everyone knew that if you entered the shed as a guest, you didn’t leave it whole and usually not alive.
There were more people in this room than there had ever been before.
Usually only a few of us handled what went on in this room.
But it seemed that almost everyone wanted to see Razor take his last breath.
Maybe for some it was like a final cleansing of the old, of our wrong doings and betrayals.
For some it was to make sure the boogey man was actually dead before taking that breath you'd been holding.
Marisol still hadn’t left her room, Dani offered to stay with her after she and Four talked about her stepping foot in the shed. The older Dr Hart stayed with Axel, along with a couple of prospects.
Angel had brought Razor to the centre of the shed, while Lacey and Carmen were still chained to the chairs at the back of the room.
I don’t know how Razor was still standing, he swayed slightly and then steadied himself, his head low, eyes on the floor. Angel nudged him, asking, “Any last words?”
Razor didn’t move, didn’t react. His eyes stayed glued to the floor. I thought he would stay like that till the end, but then a calm voice came from behind me and his entire posture changed.
She didn’t raise her voice, she didn’t rush. Soft footsteps came up beside me and Mara came into view.
“Does it bother you?” she asked, stepping closer to Razor like she was asking him about the weather. “Knowing the only part of you that will exist in this world is already beyond your reach?”
Razor’s head snapped toward her, his glacial blue eye’s red rimmed.
Angel shifted immediately so he was between them, so did I.
Mara didn’t stop though, she placed a hand on her still flat stomach but didn’t take her eyes off of Razor.
“She’ll grow up in a world where you never existed,” she continued. “No name. No story. No memory.”
Razor’s jaw flexed hard enough I heard his teeth grind.
Her voice was almost sickly sweet, “And we’ll make sure of it.”
Silence stretched across the shed, the tension electric between Mara and her abuser.
She smiled at him and then looked down at her hand, “I bet you she’ll make an incredible President some day.”
Razor's eyes went wide at the implication, he took a step forward and Angel didn’t hesitate. He kicked him in the knee, dropping Razor to the ground.
Then without saying another word, Mara turned her back on him, her hand still resting gently on her stomach and walked out of the shed.
I watched her leave, and noticed Cypher standing at the side of the door.
I had never seen him come in here before, I just didn’t know if he was here for Meg or Lacey.
Razor was on his knees breathing heavily, his eyes locked on the space Mara had occupied. Like he was picturing her there, like he was envisioning a life he will never get to witness.
Meg walked up beside me, saying, “Bring her here.”
At the back of the room Carmen flinched but Lacey didn’t react.
Torch walked past Angel and Razor grabbing the back of Lacey’s chair and dragged it so she was in the middle of the room. Her skin was pale and her breathing was laboured. Torch stayed behind Lacey and Razor as Meg approached her.
She stopped right in front of Lacey like she’d been waiting for this moment. She knelt down beside her, looking up in her face.
“Tell me how to find them.” She demanded, her voice steady and calm. The Meg we had all gotten to know was long gone and she was replaced by someone I didn’t recognize.
I looked back at Cypher, his eyes were locked on Meg. So many emotions were warring over his features. Lacey didn’t answer, but her eyes shifted and locked onto Meg’s.
“You know how to reach them.” She continued.
Lacey shrugged, slightly, barely noticeable. But Meg nodded in response.
“It’s not too late for you Lacey.” She coaxed.
“Yes it is,” She whispered.
Meg adjusted, leaning in closer, softening her voice, “If you tell us what you know, we can still help you.” Meg lowered her voice like she was sharing a secret with Lacey, but we all heard her when she said, “He is here. Did you know that?”
Lacey lifted her head at that, her eyes scanning the room until they landed on Cypher. A glazed look taking over her eyes, and a watery smile cracking her lips.
She looked fucking crazy.
Cypher sucked in a breath, but didn’t move.
“I helped them.” She whispered, not taking her eyes off of Cypher.
“I know.” Meg urged.
No one else said a word.
“I knew what they were,” she said, her voice growing stronger. “From the beginning.”
“You are doing so good Lacey, Cypher is so proud of you.” Meg spoke with soft encouraging words but her whole body was locked up.
“I came to the club just for Cypher,” Lacey continued. “Razor brought me in for him. Said I was his type.”
Razor made to move but Angel grabbed him, holding him in place. I looked at Cypher and he looked like he’d had the air knocked out of his lungs.
Then Lacey dragged her eyes to meet Meg’s, “But he had already chosen you.” Her mouth twisted from the smile to something cruel, “You ruined everything.”
Meg didn’t react or respond, she stayed crouched down beside Lacey, eyes locked on hers. She stayed calm, watching and waiting.
Finally Lacey let out a strangled sound, “He was supposed to be mine.” Then like she was deciding something, she tilted her head back and forth, then looked at Cypher again saying, “Better to be selling then to be sold.”
Torch sucked in a breath behind them, his hands trembling at his side.
Meg’s voice was cold when she said, “So you knew. You didn’t just help, you were a part of it?”
Lacey nodded, eyes still locked onto Cypher, “I knew.”
“What is the code to the computer I took from you?” Meg asked, still squatted beside Lacey.
“The day I joined the club, the day I met Cypher.” Lacey’s voice had an almost dreamy quality to it and a shiver ran through me.
Angel motioned to Ledger who had a tablet in his hand and he was already scrolling.
Meg stood then, her eyes still locked on Lacey, “Not a lot of people know that I was raised by my three older Brothers and my Father. Even less know it is because a man who my dad was working to put away killed my mother. She pulled over to help a woman in need, a woman who my father later learned was working with the group… a woman who was responsible for luring several young women away from safety and to the group my dad was working to shut down.”
Meg lifted her gaze, her eyes moving past me and locking onto Cypher, she lingered for a moment before scanning the rest of the room.
“So while other people in this room may have a hard time dealing with you. I have no issue being your Judge, Jury and Executioner.”
Lacey tipped her head up to Meg and smiled, closing her eyes.
Meg held out a hand to no one in particular as she said softly, “She loved to bake, I thought if I could be like her…” She shook her head. “Maybe dad was right…”
Torch moved forward to hand her his gun, but at the same time I heard Cypher shout “No.” from behind me.
I wasn’t sure if it was a no to shooting Lacey or a no to Meg giving up the parts of herself you lose when you take a life.
But then Cypher moved past me and before I realized what was happening a single shot was fired and Lacey slumped forward in her chair.
Cypher turned to Meg repeating, “No, you don’t give that up.” and then he turned and walked out of the shed.
To my knowledge that was the first life Cypher had willingly taken and by the look on Meg’s face, she knew that too.
The room was quiet until Razor started laughing. He looked up at Angel, saying, “You can kill me, but I will always be a part of this club. Be a part of each and every one of you.”
Four stepped forward, “Enough of this shit, you are done.”
Razor grinned at him, “I am surprised you are here without Dani, I thought maybe she had your balls in her purse.”
Four’s grin was feral, “About that…” He motioned and Torch joined Angel pulling Razor to his feet. Four moved towards them pulling out a blade I recognized it as one of Razors. He held it out in front of him, testing the sharp blade.
“The thing about Razor’s is that they should always be sterilized.”
Then he moved quicker than a man his size should be able to and Razors’s scream filled the room. Four pulled the blade back, wiping it on Razor’s shirt as blood slowly started to pool beneath him.
Meg stood just to the side of them, her hands trembling at her side. I moved up beside her, touching her arm gently and then motioning to the door with my head.
She seemed frozen in place for a moment, but then she took a step towards me, faltering just for a moment when Razor let out another scream and Four chuckled. “You don’t need yours anymore.”
I reached for her good side with mine and guided her out of the shed, out into the open where she finally sucked in a deep breath.
She looked up to the sky, taking in clean air.
The stench in the shed felt far away and yet it still clung to us.
A sound drew our attention and I noticed Cypher sitting on one of the picnic tables by the barbeques, the gun still in his hand, dangling between his knees, his eyes locked on it.
I made to take a step towards him, but Meg shook her head. “I’ve got him” she whispered, then she looked at the door to the shed and I nodded understanding what she was asking.
So I turned and walked back into the shed, into the screams, to make sure the boogey man was really dead.