Chapter Eight
No one in that room heard a door in the kitchen open slowly.
They were so preoccupied that they didn’t even see a shadow slip into the kitchen or hear the door close quietly.
They never even heard the slow footsteps coming toward them.
They didn’t see the pair of eyes darting around the room they were in either.
The man turned slowly to see Rodney laying on the floor holding his leg. Then his gaze moved to Banger standing in front of the open door. He sneered and in the dim light of afternoon shining in the doorway, the mask of his face was hideous.
Then those eyes stilled on the two women in the corner and they stopped. His cold hollow eyes flared with rage when he saw their beautiful hair and pretty faces. His eyes were now burning with an inner fury.
The man in that doorway slowly slid his hand down to the side of his leg. He slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a switchblade. The click when he opened it was quiet yet the knife snapped and the blade gleamed in the afternoon sun.
Everyone else in the room paid no attention to him and that made him smile but his eyes were still dull and emotionless. They would never know who did this.
He felt nothing as he expertly threw the blade.
It then was impaled into Rodney’s back.
He turned and shuffled away. He went through the door to the basement and shut it softly. When he turned the lock, he heard a scream from the front room and he leaned against the locked door for a moment. He then snapped the second lock and made his way down the steps carefully.
Maybe they would leave now. Damn, he wanted to kill those women so badly too. He hated people being in his secure place.
When he reached the basement, he moved as fast as he could to the monitors sitting on his desk. He watched as he saw Rodney had slumped forward on the trash filled floor. The knife embedded deeply in his body.
For a long moment, the man grumbled beneath his breath at the loss of his favorite blade. He then shrugged and watched all the cameras.
At the front of the house...
Several men burst through the front door.
Banger tried to rush for the back door but he was stopped by a giant of a man with silver hair that reached down his back.
Mountain snarled at Banger and drew his hand back. When he let it fly, he hit him in the face.
Banger was tossed back more than a few feet. He landed on a pile of trash and groaned then went still.
Deke and Sam were the first ones in through the front door and they searched around.
Cassie and Melora were standing together arm in arm in the corner of the main room.
The two men rushed over to them and wrapped their arms around their wives in unison.
“Baby,” Deke whispered. “Are you alright?”
Cassie nodded.
Sam hugged Melora like crazy and then moved her back to look her over. His fingers smoothed over a bruise on her cheekbone. He growled then grabbed her again to hug her close.
Melora cried into his T-shirt. “I knew you would come. I didn’t fight them. I wanted them to leave, so the kids would be safe.”
“I know, Silk. The camera’s showed that you did that very thing. I love you, honey.” Sam gently kissed her lips softly. They stood together embracing and were just glad to be together again.
Mountain looked around the room to see the knife sticking out from Rodney’s back. “Who the fuck threw that blade?”
The room went silent at the question. Every man there looked at each other and nobody spoke.
At the lack of answers, Mountain growled and glanced over at Banger.
He was still out. So Mountain moved toward him as he reached into his back pocket and brought out some zip ties.
He flopped Banger over onto his belly and roughly zip tied his hands behind his back then he zip tied his feet together.
Cassie broke away from Deke and went over to where Rodney lay on the floor. She knelt beside him and stared at the blade sticking out of his back. She gasped and choked on a sob. She looked back at Deke with tears of terror in her eyes.
Deke walked over and knelt beside her. He looked at her then at the knife. “Have you seen this blade before?”
Cassie nodded.
Deke took a deep breath, he didn’t want to ask the next question but the words slipped out before he could stop them, “Where did you see it?”
Cassie shook her head. She didn’t want to say his name.
Mountain stepped closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “We need to know, little one.”
Cassie looked up at the big man then at Rodney again. “Robbie Pierce. He got that blade from Janelle for his tenth birthday.”
The whole room went silent.
Deke glanced at his father.
Bones slowly shook his head at him.
Deke looked back at her. “Cassie... Robbie is dead. Remember? He ended up being nothing more than wolf kibble.”
She just stared at the knife blade she knew so well. “He never went anywhere without that knife in his pocket. He even had it the day he dragged me into the woods. That’s the same blade that cut me—” Her voice broke and she raised her hands to cover her mouth.
Deke wrapped his arms around her and told her softly, “I came for you like I promised. That little bastard was wrong and we made him pay. We tied him to the same tree and left him bleeding. The wolves were there as well. We stayed just out of sight but we heard his screams. We all heard the snarls from the wolves, then we heard the silence. He went to hell that day.”
Cassie looked up at him and asked, “Then how did his blade turn up here?”
Deke shook his head. “I don’t know but we need to find out.”
“Do we search the entire house?” Chance asked as he stood with Mountain’s brothers.
Deke nodded. “Bust the doors open if you have to. But step carefully. Time has weakened these floors and I don’t want anyone getting hurt but find the way down to the basement and make sure there aren’t any more surprises.”
Mountain picked Banger up and dragged him across the floor then tossed him down next to Dak and another Sinner. “You keep an eye on this one. He has a lot to answer for when we get done here.”
Deke helped Cassie to her feet and walked her away from Rodney’s body. Then he left her with Sam and Melora. Now the whole house filled with the noise of being searched. Doors opening and closing. Bootsteps in the hallway and on the stairs.
Mountain kicked one of the locked doors open and he paused when he saw the hole in the middle of the floor. He took a careful peek down into the hole and he saw the reddish stain on the floor. He picked up his head then turned to look at Deke and Sam. He pointed down to the floor.
Deke came over to see what Mountain had found. When he saw the hole in the floor and the blood, he just shook his head.
Mountain and Deke stepped away.
Deke said, “There’s someone down there.”
Mountain nodded. “I think so too.”
“Find a way downstairs but be careful. We don’t know what else he might have for weapons.” Deke growled.
Mountain nodded then entered the kitchen. He saw the doors ripped open then he frowned. He walked over to the door next to the sink area. That door was shut tight.
Chance walked in behind him and the two of them just stared at the door then they looked at each other. A few more brothers walked in and they too, just stared at the closed door.
They all knew that this would be where this killer went. Whether it was Robbie or someone else.
Mountain and Chance approached the door. Both men raised their legs and their big boots hit the door. A loud slam echoed in the room as the door barely held together.
Chance moved close to it. He studied it closely and figured out why. He shook his head and then backed up. Together, the two men slammed into the door again and this time it shattered. The only parts that stayed were the locks.
Chance glanced at Mountain and said softly, “It had triple locks on the inside. Whoever is down there didn’t want anyone to get through this door.”
“Well... “ Mountain cracked his knuckles again. “Let’s find out who the shy one really is. But be careful, he might be armed with more than just a knife.”