23. Rooster
ROOSTER
“What’s Grim doing here?”
“Came for Beckett,” Torch answered. “Seems Preacher is ready for him to come home.”
“Not so sure Beckett will agree.”
“Grim thought the same, so he brought a friend with him.”
It had been weeks since we’d had any drama at the club.
Our runs had gone as planned, Cotton was making ground as Bruton’s successor, and we were making good money.
Hell, we’d been doing better than ever, and it felt good—really damn good.
I wasn’t exactly pleased to hear that things might be taking a turn. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“He brought one of the guys who killed his girl,” Torch answered.
“No shit?”
“Yeah, he hoped that having a taste of revenge would help Beckett finally put all this mess behind him.”
“So, where is he now?”
“They’re in Wrath’s playroom. Beckett’s working him over as we speak.”
“Holy shit.” I ran my hand down over my beard. “Well, it will either help the kid or add fuel to the fire.”
“Only time will tell.” Savage motioned his head towards the cooler. “I could use a beer. How about you?”
“Hell, yeah. Maybe two.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Savage grabbed us a couple of beers and sat down at the bar. I glanced back over at Grim, and damn. I’d been around many a fierce man, but none had been quite so menacing. Something about his heavy build and ominous, dark, fierce eyes sent a chill right through you.
His thick beard added to his rugged demeanor, and with his Fury cut, he was a daunting force that commanded respect.
I would’ve thought the hang arounds would be all over him, but they wouldn’t even look at the guy.
I considered going over and talking to him, but just as I was about to head over, he got a phone call.
He glanced down at the screen with a scowl, then answered, “What the fuck do you want?”
There was a brief pause, and then he went on to say, “I don’t want to hear your fucking excuses. You fucked up, and if you ever disrespect me like that again, I’m gonna rip your throat out!”
Doing my best to ignore the conversation going on behind me, I sipped on my beer and tried to tune him out. It wasn’t easy, especially when he started ranting.
“You’re telling me the goods are there and are up to par, and if that’s the case, we’ll take our fucking money and go.
But if it turns out you’re lying and we got some shit like we did last time, then I’ll take every fucking dime of that take, and I’ll use it to fuck you up.
I’ll go after your crew, one by one, and I will mess them up in ways you can’t begin to imagine. ”
Damn. This dude was no joke.
I got it. He was the enforcer, and just like Wrath, he took that role seriously and wasn’t going to let anyone fuck him or his brothers over.
His fierce expression seemed to soften slightly as he listened to the other end of the line.
After a few moments, he nodded and said, “You better fucking hope so.”
He ended the call and grabbed his beer, turning it back for a long drink. Once he’d finished It off, he stood and tossed the empty bottle in the trash. His expression remained blank as he started walking over to us. “How you guys making it today?”
“Can’t complain. What about you?”
“I’ll be better when I can get back home and wrangle in a couple of assholes, but I can’t do that until I sort out this shit with Beckett.”
“Maybe this thing today will help out in that department.”
“I don’t know, Savage. I’ve got a feeling he’s not gonna let it go, but maybe working this guy over will do him some good.”
“How long has he been back there with him?”
“I don’t know.” Grim glanced over at the clock. “An hour. Maybe two.”
“Might be time to go check on him and see how things are going?”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Grim followed Savage and me out to the playroom and up to the two-way mirror.
He and Savage stopped to take a look, but I didn’t bother.
I wanted to see Beckett face to face, so I just walked right in and was immediately hit with the stench of death, making my stomach churn from the smell.
Beckett was sitting on a stool in the corner, smoking a cigarette, and he didn’t seem to notice I had walked in.
“Beckett?” I called out to him. When he didn’t answer, I walked over to him, placing my hand on his shoulder, and said, “Hey, man. How you making it?”
He didn’t speak.
He simply nodded and kept staring straight ahead.
It was impossible to miss the glazed look in his eyes or his blood-soaked shirt. He was looking straight ahead, glaring at what was left of the man they’d brought in last night. When I caught sight of his mangled body, my gut tightened, thinking of what had taken place in that room.
The man’s wrists were bound in thick chains, and he was hanging from a rafter in the ceiling.
He still had on his shirt, but his pants were down around his ankles.
There were multiple lacerations all over his body, which partly explained the blood that was dripping down around his feet.
I could only imagine where the rest had come from.
If I had to guess, I’d say it was hidden beneath the hem of his shirt.
Both of his shoulders were dislocated, and his head hung low with his chin resting on his chest. He didn’t look like he was still conscious or even breathing, but even if he was, I wouldn’t be able to tell from all the swelling on his face.
Both of his eyes were completely swollen shut, and his face was covered in blood and bruises.
There wasn’t much left that he could do to the guy, so I eased over to Beckett and said, “Why don’t you go take a shower and get cleaned up?”
“He wasn’t the only one.”
“I know, but he’s all you got.” I placed my hand on his shoulder as I told him, “You gotta keep walking, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
He got up, and his eyes never left the ground as he walked out of the room. I was about to follow after him when my phone started to ring. I grabbed it out of my pocket, and when I saw that it was Nathan calling, I got an uneasy feeling. “Nathan? Everything okay?”
“No, it’s not.” His voice trembled. “Mom’s hurt.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know what really happened. She and Dad were arguing over something, and she fell.” He sounded like he was on the verge of tears as he told me, “She says she’s okay, but she’s bleeding.”
“I’m on my way.”
I charged out of the room and headed straight for my truck. Concerned, Savage rushed after me and asked, “Yo, Roost. Everything okay?”
“Not sure.” I got in my truck and cranked the engine. I was about to whip through the gate when I had a thought. I rolled down my window and called out, “Hey, Savage?”
“Yeah?”
“Do me a favor. Don’t move our friend in the playroom. I might need him.”
“You got it.”
I pressed my foot to the accelerator and sped out of the gate.
My heart was racing as I drove over to Maggie’s house.
The mere thought of her being hurt in any way had me spiraling.
I wanted to get to her and make sure she was really okay.
I tried calling her, but she didn’t answer—which only added to my panic.
When I got to her house, I didn’t bother knocking.
I just charged into the house and called out, “Maggie!”
“She’s in the bathroom with Samantha,” Nathan answered.
I didn’t bother asking him what had happened. I needed to hear it from Maggie, so I stormed down the hall and into Maggie’s bedroom. “Maggie?”
“I’m in here.” Before I could get to her, she stepped out of the bathroom and appeared to be perfectly fine. “You didn’t have to come. I’m fine.”
“What the hell happened?”
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have taken the fairies.” Samantha stepped out of the bathroom with a pout. “But they were Mom’s, and I wanted her to have them back.”
“It’s not your fault, sweetie. It was just a misunderstanding.” Maggie slipped her arm around her, giving her a gentle hug. “Everything’s fine now. You don’t have to worry.”
“I’m really sorry, Momma.”
“Oh, honey. Please stop. You have nothing to be sorry about.” She gave her a kiss on the forehead, then said, “Why don’t you go find your brother, and you guys play a game or something?”
“Okay.”
Samantha’s head hung low as she skirted out of the room. As soon as Maggie closed her bedroom door, I asked, “What the hell happened?”
“The kids and I had just gotten home and were putting our things away when Chad showed up. I could tell when I answered the door that something was wrong, but I let him in anyway.” She sat down on the edge of the bed as she continued, “He didn’t even speak.
He just walked over to my tree and started yelling when he saw that the fairies were back on my tree. ”
“Fairies?”
“They were some ornaments my mother and I bought years ago. He took them when we split and refused to give them back to me.” Maggie shrugged.
“I know it’s silly, but Sam wanted me to have them back.
So, she took them off her father’s tree and brought them here.
I didn’t even notice that she’d done it until Chad showed up here and started ripping them off the tree. ”
“Damn. This guy is a real fucking douchebag.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“So, that was it?”
“Pretty much.”
I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t telling me something, so I gave her a little nudge. “Nathan said you were hurt.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” Maggie raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “I tried to stop Chad from grabbing all the fairies, and he kind of pushed me. I fell back and hit the corner of the coffee table. It wasn’t a big deal. It was just an accident.”
“An accident that should’ve never happened.” I snapped. “Let me see it.”
“It’s nothing. Really.”
“Maggie.”
“Okay. Fine.”
She stood and lifted the hem of her sweater, revealing the makeshift bandage. I could already see bruising all around it, so I knew it was going to be bad. I eased it back and let out a stream of curses when I saw the gash. “I’ll fucking kill him.”