Chapter 39
Tico
I follow Ember outside and find that Weber’s men have The Collector on his knees in the dirt and his hands cuffed behind his back. His ankles are also cuffed and there’s a chain connecting his ankle cuff to his hand cuffs.
My gaze roams over him. There’s blood trickling down his face from a cut near his temple; his once pristine suit is now torn, wrinkled and bloody; and his dark brown hair, which had been slicked back, hangs messily in his face.
I reach into my cut, pull out a slim box, and hand it to Ember. She frowns as she takes it.
“What’s this for?”
“Open it.”
She gives me a weird look but takes off the lid and then throws her head back, laughing.
“You did not,” she says in between laughter.
I grin. “Did you really think I wouldn’t get you your own after seeing the damage you did before and your bruised knuckles afterwards?”
Ember laughs again when she sees the engraving on the inside—For my vicious little hellcat. She slips on the brass knuckles I’d had made for her after getting measurements of her hand while she slept, testing them out, then she grins darkly at me. Leaning down, I kiss her.
“Go get him, Vicious.” Then I lean in so only she can hear. “And by the way, his real name is Earl Andrews.”
She gives me a proper vicious look, befitting her name, as she turns and walks towards The Collector.
She stares at him coldly before pulling back and landing a brutal punch to his jaw that sends him flying into the dirt on his side.
Ember crouches down beside him, holding his chin to make him look at her.
“You’re lucky as fuck you’re in the Feds’ hands, Earl, instead of mine and the Royal Bastards.”
His eyes widen slightly at the use of his real name, and she gives him a dark smile that sends chills down my spine.
“If you were in my hands, I’d make you suffer everything you put your victims through.
If I had my way, you’d be sent to a psych institute where your punishments would continue daily.
You’d be kept alive as long as possible, drawing out your pain day in and day out until you finally draw your last breath,” she seethes before roughly releasing his chin and punching him again.
The satisfying crunch of bone and his cry of pain has her smile darkening further.
“Such a shame that your jaw will be wired shut now but at least you won’t be able to spill your poison for a very long time.
With any luck, someone will shank you before long, ending your pitiful life. ”
She stands up and steps back. I wrap an arm around her waist and we both watch as Weber’s men haul him away. Weber stops by us, eyeing Ember warily and I narrow my eyes at him.
“Should I be watching you more closely, Ms. Foxx?”
She huffs and shakes her head. “Not so long as the sick fucks stay away from me and mine.”
He doesn’t quite look convinced, but he nods before turning back to me.
“My men cleared the site; you guys are free to leave anytime you want.” His gaze drops to Ember’s bandaged arm and then to the group of women.
“However, if you’re able to swing it, Jezebel and the others asked if Ember could go with them to the Steel Archangels compound.
I think having a familiar face for a day or two while they settle in might help them. ”
Ember looks up at me with hope in her eyes, and I find myself nodding.
“Yeah, Vicious, we can swing that.”
Her eyes brighten as she hugs me and then slips out of my arms, walking over to the women to tell them the news.
“You sure got a firecracker on your hands, Tico,” Weber tells me and I grin.
“Don’t I know it,” I reply quietly as I cross my arms over my chest, watching Ember with the women and kids.
Weber gives me a weird look before smirking. “Just be careful of how close she gets to the Steel Archangels women. She’ll probably take on a habit or two while she’s there.”
I bark out a laugh despite the situation, knowing he’s right. I’m sure Levi, Thor and Dragon’s Ol’ Lady—the President and the Enforcer of the Steel Archangel’s—will be teaching her how to throw knives in no time.
I pause as I watch Clutch and Taco drag Kane into a van. “Where was Kane hiding?”
A dark look crosses Weber’s face and my stomach twists.
“He was in one of the locked rooms we had passed on the way to where we found Ember and the other group of women. He had a young woman in there with him.” He pauses and my heart sinks as he lowers his eyes.
“She didn’t make it. Apparently, Kane enjoys knife play.
We don’t know if he purposefully nicked an artery or if it was an accident, but she bled out before our paramedics could save her. ”
Fury rolls through me. I knew Kane liked the darker activities with his sexual partners, but I never thought he’d go this far.
Then again, I never thought he’d betray the club either.
But the woman had to have been screaming while he did that. “How did we not hear them?”
Weber’s lip curls with disgust. “When we opened the rooms, we saw that they were all padded and completely sound proofed. There’s no way we would have known they were in there without physically opening the door.”
“Chingada vida (Fuck my life),” I mutter and Weber nods.
“You can say that again.”
Someone calls his name and he tilts his head at me before walking away, Ember walks back over wearing a sheepish look that instantly has me on edge. But then her face changes, worry etching over her features.
“What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “Just found out some information about Kane is all.” I don’t want to have to tell her if I don’t have to, and thankfully she drops it. “You ready to head out?” I ask her and she nods sheepishly.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it, Vicious.”
“Is…Is there any way we can stop by our trailer on the way out of town? I’d like to grab the rest of our things if it’s possible. Well, provided Jerry hasn’t destroyed everything that is.”
I relax and nod. “Yeah, Vicious, that’s completely doable. Ricky can drive everything back in the SUV. I want you on the back of my bike.”
She smiles up at me and we turn, walking towards where we hid the bikes.
As we walk, I catch Ember watching Lucian with a questioning look on her face, but she doesn’t interrupt him since he’s talking with Weber.
I tilt my head at him. He knows where to find us when he’s ready to talk to both Ember and Pyper, though I think that talk will happen sooner rather than later.
Especially with all the regret and guilt he harbors.
Twenty minutes later, I pull up to a worn-down trailer and my jaw clenches at seeing what Ember and Pyper were forced to live in.
I’m not saying that living in trailers is bad, but this one barely looks like it’s standing—like a gust of wind could knock it down.
Daemon, Taco, and Ricky pull in behind us.
The rest of the club headed back home along with our captives.
They’ll sit on ice until Ember and I get back.
Shutting off my bike, I hold my hand out to help Ember off and once again, that sheepish look is on her face, almost like she’s embarrassed. Chingar (Fuck), I hope she doesn’t think I’m going to judge her about this because there’s no fucking way I would.
Swinging my leg off the bike, I pull her close to me. “Let’s go get your things, Vicious.”
Ember exhales and turns back to the trailer as we walk up the steps.
“It’s kinda hard to believe, but it looks like it’s in worse condition than when we left.”
My jaw clenches again, but I say nothing.
Stepping in front of Ember, I open the door, gun drawn just in case anyone from the Chrome Vipers or Oasis is squatting here.
While Weber rounded up as many as they could today, we know they didn’t get everyone—some people from both groups fled during the shootout.
I walk through each room and then come to a halt when I reach the back room that Ember said had been hers.
Chingar (Fuck). I scrub a hand over my face. How am I going to tell her?
“He did it, didn’t he?” Ember calls out weakly from where she’s standing at the front door and when I walk back into the living room, her face falls at the look on my face.
“I’m not sure how much you’ll be able to salvage, Vicious.”
She swallows thickly and walks towards her bedroom. At the door, a strangled sound escapes her when she sees the state of their room.
Every single book has been ripped apart.
Pictures are broken and the photos themselves are torn into pieces.
The bed and bedding have been stabbed multiple times and shredded.
The drawers have all been emptied and every article of clothing looks like a knife has been taken to them. Same for their shoes.
“He destroyed everything,” she whispers and my chest tightens at the pain in her voice.
“We can take pictures of the books to see if we can find new ones. As for the pictures, maybe take them just in case Wire’s able to come up with something to restore them,” Daemon tells her gently, and she nods, wiping the tears off her cheeks that none of us comment about.
“Y-Yeah, okay,” she replies quietly and we get to work sorting through everything.
It takes almost a half an hour, but everything Ember managed to salvage, including the torn pictures, fits into a small box.
Rochelle’s box is a little bigger, but not by much.
Like with Ember and Pyper, a lot of her stuff was destroyed as well.
Though Ember was able to find the journals Rochelle had talked about.
Ember wipes tears off her cheek as she looks one more time at Pyper’s books. “She’s going to be so devastated,” she whispers and I pull her close to me as the others step out giving us some privacy.
“We’ll get her replacement books as soon as we’re able to. Hell, we can turn her entire room in my house into a library if she wants.”
Ember gives me a watery smile and then she pauses as my words sink in. “Wait, you have a house?”
Mierda (shit), did I not tell her that before?