We left Hell’s Messengers and started back to the club. If Rip didn’t have Skittles and Mark, then who did?

  Two miles from the club, I saw a familiar cleaning van. I waved the others toward the club and followed the van. I wasn’t going to fuck with the guy driving the van. He didn’t deserve it. I took care of people who bothered other people. This guy was an innocent child in a man’s body.

  He took a left and headed toward downtown, driving down East Third Ave., past the Jefferson County Jail, a place I’d seen on several occasions. He pulled to the curb in front of a small building. I wouldn’t bother him, but I believed I would bother whoever was in the building, so I waited for him to leave.

  Whatever business the young man had inside didn’t take very long. When he left, I pulled to the curb and stood in front of the building. Tinted storefront windows prevented me from seeing inside, and I figured whoever was inside was probably heading toward the back. I wasn’t wrong because when I ran around back, I caught a skinny, pimple-faced guy trying to run.

  “Hold up, asshole,” I said, dragging his ass back into the building. The guy didn’t look like he could find his way out of a wet paper bag, much less fight. I didn’t like fighting someone who couldn’t give me a challenge, but I also wasn’t going to run all over God’s green Earth trying to catch them either.

  Once he found his legs and stopped hyperventilating, I let go of his neck and pushed him back into the office.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. If he started crying, I’d shoot him. I didn’t like men acting like pussies. Grow a fucking pair.

  “Sorry for what? How the fuck do you know why I’m here?” I pointed my Glock at him and walked around the room. A rack of computer servers sat in the corner, a hundred different lights blinking green. Two wires went from the servers to the computer at his desk, where four screens were on. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “It’s nothing. Really. I’m just a computer geek.”

  He definitely looked the part. He reached for the keyboard, and I raised the Glock. “Touch it, and you’ll never be able to jack that meat to whatever you’ve been watching.”

  “I don’t want any trouble, man. I can pay you. Pay you a lot.”

  “Damn straight you will.” I moved around the desk. “Get the fuck up and stand in the corner.” He did as he was told, for the most part. “Face the fucking wall.” He paused, and I raised the gun.

  I put the gun on the desk and sent a message to Brainiac to get his ass over here. The screens were blank, but I knew he’d been watching something. I reached for the keyboard.

  “Please don’t touch anything.”

  “You have a name?” I asked.

  “Archie Winchester.”

  “Well, Archie Winchester, you’ve been stealing shit from my club.” I stood and put the gun to his temple. “I don’t appreciate that.”

  “That’s a lot of expensive equipment,” he pleaded. “I can pay you.”

  “You got that shit right. You are gonna pay me.” I went to touch the keyboard again, and he begged me not to.

  “If you touch that keyboard, it’ll erase everything on those servers. I’ll lose millions.”

  I left the keyboard alone, not wanting to lose millions, millions I might need to get Skittles and Mark back.

  “The fuck is this,” Diesel said when he entered the office with Brainiac. “Who’s this little pussy.” He grabbed Archie Winchester by the neck and flung him to the floor.

  “Archie Winchester from USC?” Brainiac asked. “You motherfucker.” Brainiac grabbed the guy from the floor and hit him once. Archie screamed like a little bitch. When he turned back to us, the cut below his right eye oozed blood. “This is the dipshit who sold me out to the feds.”

  “I don’t have time for this shit,” I said. “What the fuck is going on, Archie Winchester?” Brainiac started to touch the keyboard. “Wait. He said it would erase what’s on the servers.”

  Brainiac laughed. He held a finger over the keyboard and looked at the guy.

  “Fuck,” Archie said.

  Brainiac tapped the keyboard, and a login box appeared on one screen. “You wanna tell me the login, or you gonna waste my time trying to decode it?”

  Diesel picked Archie up by the neck, and the guy gave the login.

  “I’m in,” Brainiac said.

  “Figure out what the fuck he’s been doing with our shit, and let me know.” I nodded at Diesel. “I need you with me. You got this asshole, Brainiac?”

  “Yeah, but don’t expect him to be alive when you get back.”

  “Perfect.” Diesel and I walked outside. “Anything on Skittles and Mark?”

  “Not a damn word. Nobody knows what the fuck is going on.” He climbed on his bike. “You believe Rip was telling the truth? Who else would fuck with you this way?”

  “I don’t know who else is crazy enough to do this. Somebody has lost their fucking mind.”

  “Who’d you piss off at Varner?”

  I shook my head. “Everybody. There’s one other possibility I wanna check out.”

  Diesel followed me as we left Brainiac behind. One piece of the shitshow puzzle that began when I walked out of Varner was solved. It was time to solve another part of the puzzle. After I found Skittles and Mark, I needed to find Kickstand’s killer.

  9

  Skittles

  “We’ll be okay,” I said to Mark and pulled on the cuff around my wrist. The other cuff hung tightly to a pipe. Mark was attached to the same pipe. I had to give it to him. He didn’t show an ounce of fear.

  “I know. My Dad will be here soon to save us.” Mark used his sleeve to wipe his nose. “He’s a badass.”

  “He really is, Mark. You’ll see just how badass he is when we get out of this.”

  Mark tugged on his handcuff. “Do you think someone’s outside the door?”

  “I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so, with us cuffed like this.”

  “Can I show you something? Promise you won’t be scared?” He had a smile exactly like Marcus’s

  “Watch.” Using his free hand, Mark grabbed the thumb of the handcuffed hand. “This is kind of gross.” He pushed the thumb as hard as he could, and I heard a pop. He cringed but then smiled. “It hurts like hell, especially when I have to pop it back into place.” He slid his hand from the handcuff and said, “Ta-da.”

  “Holy shit,” I said when Mark popped his thumb back into place. “Wow.”

  “Pretty fucked up, isn’t it?” He walked to the door and turned the knob. The dumbasses had not locked the door. Mark peeked out. Voices echoed from down the hall.

  “You need to find a way out and go get your Dad,” I said. “Bring him back here.”

  “I can’t leave you.” Just like his father. Be good to a woman, and she’ll be good to you. Treat her like shit, and you’ll never see her again.

  “You can and you will. They won’t touch me if they know you escaped. Go.”

  Mark squeezed through the open doorway, closed it, and headed in the opposite direction of the voices.

  If any kid could get away, it was him. Though I’d only been with him for a few days, he was so much like his father that I had no doubts he’d bring Marcus back.

  I pulled on the cuff again and thought if I tried hard enough, I could probably pop my thumb out of place the way Mark did, but even an old lady had her limits. I’d take my chances fighting off the assholes who brought us here.

  The door opened, and I expected Cutter and one of the officers to come in. They didn’t.

  “You fucking leg spreader,” I said. “I should have known.”

  Donna’s eyes grew wide, and I cackled like a witch. Surprise, surprise, bitch. “Where’s Mark?”

  “He went to get us lunch.” I slid the cuff up the wall and stood. “Come on over here and let me whisper in your ear.”

  “Where’d he go, skank?” Donna came closer but not close enough to swing at.

  “To get his father.” I loved saying those words. “Marcus won’t hit a woman, but I will when he frees me.”

  “What the fuck is going on, Donna? Where’s the little shit?” Cutter came closer, and I took a swing. He ducked away, and I missed wildly. “Where’s the kid?”

  “Let me guess,” I said and laughed. Some people couldn’t get out of their own way. “You’re fucking his ex old lady? That’s beautiful.” Yeah, he was, and something didn’t feel right. “Rip doesn’t know, does he? Fucking idiots.”

  “Your kid fucked this up,” Cutter said to Donna. “If Rip finds out, he’ll cut us both.”

  “Too fucking late,” Rip said and entered the room. “Thought we were just protecting her. I didn’t know you were fucking the bitch, too.”

  “Hey,” Donna said.

  Rip grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall. Cutter didn’t move. Rip pointed at me. “Beast showed up at the club today, looking for you.”

  “Then I suggest you let me go.” I nodded at Cutter. “He’ll only kill that asshole.”

  “I can’t let him do that,” Rip said. “He can have this come dumpster, but I’m not giving up one of my men.” He threw Donna toward the open door. “Get the fuck out, and don’t show that skank face around my club again.”

  “We need to move her before the kid gets to Marcus.”

  “Tell me the little shit didn’t see your kutte?” Rip knew the answer because he knew his club was full of morons. “Did he see his mother?”

  Cutter shook his head, fear in his eyes. I thought maybe he was shaking. Beast was coming for him, and there wasn’t one damn thing Hell’s Messengers could do about it.

  “You need to let me go, Rip. You didn’t know what this dipshit was doing. I’ll make sure Marcus knows that. He’ll only kill Cutter, not you.” I pulled on the cuff again out of habit rather than trying to break free. Marcus was the only way to freedom.

  Rip walked to the door. “Uncuff her and take her to Tierney House. She fights you, put a bullet in her head.”

  Rip left, and Cutter seemed to be sizing up the situation, unsure he should approach. He pulled his Glock and pointed it at me. “Do something stupid, and you’re fucking dead.”

  “What made you think this was a good idea for one minute?” I asked when Cutter removed the cuff. “Because the skank sucked your dick?”

  I didn’t see the backhand coming. It put me on the floor with a bloody lip. Cutter was dead—no doubt about it. Marcus would show no mercy.

  Cutter helped me up and pushed me toward the door. I wanted to kill Donna but knew I couldn’t. I didn’t wanna be the reason Mark’s mother died. No matter how big a bitch she was, he still loved her.

  I walked through the doorway, and Cutter pushed me to the right. Outside, we climbed into the same van that had brought us here.

  “You should get the hell out of town,” I said.

  “I’m not afraid of your old man. Asshole is all talk.”

  “But I think you are, and I think you know you’re a dead man.”

  This was part of the old lady's life as well. You never knew when you would be a target. I needed Marcus, but I could take care of myself when push came to shove.

  We headed toward town, which surprised me. I’d not heard of Tierney House but guessed it was a safe house for Hell’s Messengers. The van slowed, and we pulled into a garage.

  Cutter opened the van. The man must have been scared of me because he had a gun.

  “In the house, cunt,” he said, but I stayed in the van. “Oh. You don’t like being called a cunt. I’m sorry. Get in the house, you fucking cunt.”

  “I take it back,” I said. “You don’t have to worry about Marcus anymore.”

  I climbed from the van and entered the house, Cutter’s gun stuck in my back. He pushed me toward a windowless back room. We entered the room, and he closed the door. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a silencer for the gun in his hand. He put it on the gun, watching me the entire time. Was he trying to scare me? It wasn’t working.

  “Take your clothes off.” He removed his vest and waited. “You heard what I said.”

  He was fucked in the head if he in any way thought I’d let him rape me. But, like any man in front of a naked woman, he would lose his ability to think straight.

  I started removing my clothes, and a sudden, small bulge grew in his pants. I’d bite it off before I sucked it. I laid my clothes neatly on the floor. I’d lost my shyness a long time ago. I stood there with my hands behind my back. My tits stuck out. Legs spread enough for him to glimpse my pussy lips. Come try and get some motherfucker.

  “Get on your knees.” He took a step closer when I moved to the floor. “Good girl. Learning how to do what you’re told.”

  “Marcus is going to wear you out,” I said. “He won’t kill you right away. He’ll make you suffer for hours.”

  “Shut the fuck up.” He pushed his jeans down and waddled forward, placing the gun’s barrel against my head. “I’ll put a bullet in his head as soon as he walks through the door. Like Rip did to that old man who raised him.”

  “Rip killed Kickstand?” I said.

  Cutter’s face fell flat. He’d made a big fucking mistake by running his mouth. He had no choice now but to kill me. “You’re gonna suck my cock until you feel that warm jet hitting the back of your throat.” He pressed the barrel harder. “You understand?”

  “Yes.”

  Pussy makes men do stupid things. His cock couldn’t have been five inches long. I grabbed it with one hand, and he moaned, tilting his head back. The gun’s barrel released a little pressure and moved to the side. If he pulled the trigger, the bullet would only graze my shoulder—stupid asshole.

  “Put it in your mouth, cunt.”

  That word again. I glanced at his raised face. His eyes were closed.

  “Yes, sir.”

  I slid my thumb and forefinger to the base of his tiny dick, took a deep breath, sighed, and then put his dick in my mouth, biting down as hard as I could, leaving him with a two-inch dick with no head and lots of blood.

  Cutter fired the gun once and did manage to graze my shoulder. It burned like hell, but at least I was still alive. I stood and spit his dick in his face. He dropped the gun to grab his nub, and I picked it up. If anyone else was in the house, his screaming like a little bitch would bring them into the room.

  He stumbled back against the wall, his crotch and hands bloody. I’d never seen so much blood and decided he would bleed out. That was the kind of suffering he needed. Putting a bullet in his head was too easy.

  “Where is it? Where’s my dick?” Tears welled in his eyes, but I didn’t give a shit. I knew what would have happened to the teenage waitress if his club had taken her that day. I knew what would happen to any pussy he came across. The world was a little bit better now.

  Cutter fell forward on his face. The sound of his nose crunching sounded like a balloon popping.

  I stepped around the blood and eased the door open. There was nobody else in the house. I used the house phone to call Marcus, and fifteen minutes later, half the club showed up outside.

  “What the hell’s all over your mouth?” he asked. He held my chin with his hand. “Tell me that’s not your blood on your shirt.”

  “It’s Cutter’s. He’s inside on the floor.”

  “You four stay outside. Diesel, Big Kentucky, you’re with me.”

  I followed Marcus inside and showed him where Cutter had taken me. Cutter was still breathing when we entered the room. He was lying on his back, hands to his side. It was obvious what had happened.

  “He said Rip killed Kickstand,” I said. I didn’t want Marcus to focus on what I had done.

  “That Cutter’s gun?” He nodded at my hand. “Give it to me.”

  I shook my head. “I wanna do it.”

  “Get a towel from the kitchen, BK.” Marcus took the gun from my hand. “No prints.” He was still wearing his riding gloves. When BK returned, Marcus cleaned the gun and gave it back.

  “Please don’t,” Cutter said weakly. I couldn’t believe the man was begging.

  I pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger without even thinking. I just did it. I handed Marcus the gun and walked out of the room. Cutter was the first man I’d ever killed. He would have done worse to me or some other girl. I would rest easily.

  “You okay?” Marcus asked outside. He climbed on his bike, and I climbed on behind him.

  “Tell me Mark found you,” I said. “He’s a brave boy.”

  “Yeah, we were just at the other place. It’s empty. Mark’s at the clubhouse. Diesel let him know we found you.”

  “Yeah, I’m okay. That piece of shit is gone. That’s all that matters. Just hope he didn’t have a disease.”

  Marcus called Big Kentucky over. “Church in an hour. Every officer.”

  Big Kentucky pointed at the house. “What about this place?”

  “Torch it.”

  We pulled away from Tierney House and headed for the club. I still tasted blood, but it could have been worse. I’d not told Marcus that Donna had helped Hell’s Messengers. I wasn’t sure if I should. I didn’t want to be responsible for what Marcus would do to her. Donna and I were destined for a talk.

  10

  Beast

  I sat in the room alone, Kickstand at the other end of the table. “You know what I gotta do, old man. I don’t give a fuck if he is the club president. I can't let this go, no matter what kind of war breaks out. You know?”

  Kickstand nodded.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you. I should have been. That’s why Rip has to go.”

  “Who you talking to?” Cinder asked.

  Kickstand faded before the tears arrived. “Myself.”

  “You okay?” Cinder knew when something was off. “Before Skittles bit Cutter’s dick off, he bragged about Rip killing Kickstand. She said he immediately regretted opening his mouth, so it has to be true.”

  “That’s some stupid shit on his part. He has to know deadly retaliation is on its way.” Cinder grabbed two beers and sat one in front of me. “But he doesn’t know that we know.”