Chapter Twenty-Three
Sledge
Staring so hard at Dave Crow I almost missed the two Chaos Raiders who decided to risk their lives by lunging in my direction.
The first caught a bullet from Rocky’s gun, falling at my feet before he got close enough to lay a hand on me.
The second led with a knife but I sidestepped the swing and drove my fist up into his throat.
The crack was ugly, wet, and most of all it was final.
He collapsed without another sound, and I stepped over his twitching body like he wasn’t even there.
My focus was fixed on Crow who kept a smile on his face but not even he could hide the fear burning in his eyes. He uncrossed his legs, shifting uncomfortably now that there were no bikers between us. “Should’ve had more bikers here with me,” he grumbled under his breath.
My hands bunched and flexed, the urge to end him quickly so strong I had to swallow it down.
“Should have just forgotten you ever knew my daughter existed.” I took one slow step forward and then another, getting my shit under control because I had two goals.
The first was to get answers and the second was to make this motherfucker suffer.
“It wasn’t personal,” he insisted, eyes flicking to Diesel and Rocky as if they would provide him a lifeline. “It was self-preservation.”
“Because you killed a fucking cop?”
He nodded.
“And the drugs inside Leather & Chrome?” I knew it was him, but I just wanted to hear him say it.
“Yeah, that was me. I got my hands on some damaged product at just the right time. It was a win-win situation,” he tried for a laugh that fell flat. “I couldn’t resist.”
“And the break-in?” He’d scared the fuck out of Eliana, and I wouldn’t let that stand.
“That was just a little message. That I knew more about you and your life than you realized.” He shook his head. “To be honest, I hoped she would quit and let me find a way in.”
Thank fuck she hadn’t. “And the point of all this?” Because it had all come before his marriage to Trish.
He smiled. He looked so fucking pleased with himself that I had to dig my heels into the floor to avoid choking the life out of him. “Needed to get you locked up so you’d look unfit, and I’d be the only option for the brat.”
The brat. My kid reduced to nothing.
My vision sharpened.
“My daughter,” I said before I even realized what I was saying. My voice came out low, shaking with fury.
He shrugged. “Whatever. She saw something she shouldn’t have so she had to go.”
I punched him. Once. Hard.
His head snapped backwards.
He laughed even as blood dripped from his nose down his chin.
“What did she see?” I demanded even though I already knew. I didn’t have the details, but I knew enough to fill in the blanks.
He said nothing, his smile widening.
Fine.
I pulled out my knife and stepped closer, close enough that he could feel me there. I took his hand, not rough, not rushed. Just firm enough to remind him I had it.
Crow’s smile twitched.
“Still playing tough?” I asked quietly as I drew the blunt edge of the blade along the back of his hand. “That confidence always cracks first.”
He clenched his jaw, refusing to look at me.
I tightened my grip just a fraction. Not enough to break anything, but enough to hurt. A low sound escaped him before he could stop it.
I leaned in. “That’s restraint,” I told him calmly. “Not mercy.”
He swallowed.
“That all you got, Sledge?” he sneered, but his voice lacked its earlier edge. “I heard the rumors. Not impressed.”
“Good,” I said. “Means you’re still paying attention.”
I shifted my grip, twisting his hand just enough that his breath hitched sharply, then I twisted some more. “This,” I said evenly, “is for stealing my kid’s voice.” There was a crack The sound sickening as it bounced off the walls.
Crow screamed despite his tough guy act.
I let go. Let the pain settle. Let the waiting do its work.
“And this,” I continued, circling him slowly, “is for taking away her sense of safety.”
Crow’s breathing went shallow. Fast.
He laughed, but it came out wrong. “Little brat should’ve stayed where she fucking belonged. In her goddamn room.”
Something in me snapped.
I moved without thinking, driving the blade down through the back of his hand, the resistance jarring as it bit deep enough to pin him there.
The scream was instant. High and desperate.
I didn’t hear anything after that.
One punch rocked his head back. Blood sprayed, warm and sudden. Another drove the air from his lungs, and when he sagged, I followed him down. My fists finding ribs, muscle—anywhere I could reach. I wasn’t careful. I wasn’t measured anymore.
He tried to speak. Tried to breathe.
I didn’t let him.
Hands finally grabbed my arms, wrenching me back.
“Enough,” Diesel growled, right in my ear. “Enough.”
Crow slid sideways, coughing wetly, red pooling beneath him.
My chest heaved. My hands ached, skin split and throbbing. But my voice was steady when I spoke. “He talks now,” I said. “Or this ends worse.”
Rocky let go of his grip on my arm.
I stood in silence for a few moments until the rage subsided, then I asked, “Was Trish part of this?”
He snorted and a trickle of blood ran down his face. “Fuck no. That junkie’s only good for a blowjob and maybe a good time. At least she was before the brat came along.”
My hand balled into a fist, and I hit him with an uppercut straight to his jaw.
“Sledge.” Diesel’s voice was a warning. I knew my Prez didn’t want me killing the asshole too soon. I stepped back. I needed to get a handle on my rage, but fuck knows I couldn’t stop seeing red whenever he spoke about my daughter.
“I bit my fucking tongue, asshole!” Crow spat out.
I shrugged. “Why’d you choose Chaos Raiders MC?”
He barked out a laugh. “They’re a new crew, hungry to make their mark and they needed cash flow and affordable product. It was as easy as taking candy from a kid who can’t tell anyone who took it from them,” he said with a smirk. Asshole was so proud of himself.
“This was all for custody?” Diesel pressed.
Crow glared back through swollen eyes and spat blood on the floor before speaking. “Yeah, I needed to get custody so that when we went on a little family vacation and she had a terrible accident, everything would be tied up in a neat little bow. No chance of anyone ever linking me to the dead cop.”
There it was, the whole fucking plan. The whole goddamn story. He’d killed that dirty cop at Trish’s place and Zoya saw it.
“Why the fuck did you kill a dirty cop in front of a kid?” Rocky asked the question, his tone completely bewildered.
He shrugged. “Scanlan showed up at Trish’s place to ask for money,” he gasped as his breathing grew more labored. “I didn’t realize she saw a damn thing because she was usually locked in her room. Trish locked it from the outside so the brat wouldn’t interrupt us.”
It was worse than I thought. They kept her locked up and isolated. And then he’d traumatized her and took her voice.
The roar of motorcycles sounded in the distance. “We need to wrap this shit up,” Diesel instructed.
I pulled out my gun and aimed it at his head. “Good thing, the cops will never know you killed their boy.”
“Yeah, why—” he began but he never got to finish because I pressed the barrel of my Glock between his brows and pulled the trigger once. Crow slumped back, lifeless, but I wasn’t done. I put the gun to his chest and fired off two more bullets just to be sure. To end this shit with a period.
I stared at the lifeless body of the man who’d played such a big role in Zoya’s life in all the wrong ways as I wiped his blood and his brain matter from my face with my shirt.
“Let’s get the fuck outta here.” I barely recognized the sound of my own voice, but my brothers heard it because we all moved to the door with purpose as the roar of engines grew closer.
We were already down the block and taking off as the Chaos Raiders rolled up. Behind them we caught sight of more Steel Demons hot on their asses, slowing when they spotted us.
“Let’s go,” Diesel shouted over the engines. “They’ll take care of those assholes.”
I nodded, satisfied as relief pulsed through my limbs and mixed with the vibrating machine beneath me. It was over. Crow, my daughter’s personal boogeyman, was dead.
Zoya was safe.
I pushed my bike as hard as I could, eager to get back to my girls.