Sinners & Scarecrows

by David Carter

  Chapter 56

  Commissioner Stuart was in serious panic mode. His desperation to put Blaze in the ground had backfired to the point where he was one strike away from losing his commission. He was going stir crazy, pacing his office back and forth, waiting for contact with Agent Watson.

  At last his desk phone rang with Watson’s caller I.D. on the screen. “It’s about bloody time,” the commissioner said gruffly.

  “Sorry, sir, I haven’t had a chance to report until now. The MC is on seriously on edge after the ambush last night.”

  The commissioner exhaled through his nose, before he said, “Yes, about that, Watson: quite frankly, I think you’re proving to be less and less useful on this assignment with each and every passing day. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with you as of this moment. Last night was a black mark against my name—due to your incompetence!”

  “Sir, I didn’t pull the trigger. I had nothing to do with the incident in the square.”

  “But it was your operation. You let the primary target take a hostage, therefore it’s your responsibility.”

  There was silence between them.

  Watson said, “Sir, if I may, I believe the best course of action is to sit tight and wait for the Blaze to make a mistake. Last night he got extremely lucky.”

  “Oh, really, Watson? Because the way I see it, is that Blaze is always one step ahead of you, and that you are making all the mistakes!”

  Watson paused, then said, “Sir, while there is an element of truth in what you say, I feel I must enquire as to how was Blaze released on bail? Last night’s ambush would have been significantly more successful if he was still in custody like he was supposed to be. The SAS are ten times stronger with Blaze in control. What happened?”

  The commissioner sighed. “Unfortunately, Detective Ryan seems hellbent on ruining his career. He pulled some strings in some pretty damn high places in order for Blaze’s immediate release. Not even I could prevent it from happening. And then somehow Blaze posted the five hundred thousand dollars bail required for his immediate release.”

  “But why would Ryan help Blaze when the case points to his guilt over the Bowmans’ murders?”

  “That’s an interesting question.”

  “He must think Blaze is innocent.”

  “And what do you think Watson? You were with them in Worthington.”

  “He doesn’t deny making contact with the Bowmans, but he swears he had nothing to do with their murders.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  Watson hesitated.

  “Well?” the commissioner asked impatiently.

  “It’s not Blaze’s M.O; he’s more of a brawler: breaks arms and legs first, asks questions later type of a guy. He doesn’t typically go for the horror scenes like what happened to the Bowmans. But having said that…”

  “Yes?”

  “I heard a story of how he literally tore apart three brutes in Winterhill prison during his time there. I was nearly sick when I heard what he did to one of them: he used a knife to slit one of the inmates’ stomach open and strangled him to death using his intestines.”

  “Bloody hell!” the commissioner replied. “But you still haven’t answered my question,” he pointed out.

  Watson took a moment before answering, “No, I don’t think he did it, sir. But it makes no difference.”

  “How so?”

  “The evidence still suggests Blaze murdered the Bowmans. So either way, he’s on borrowed time. At worst we’ll get him when the case goes to trial.”

  The commissioner knew Watson was right. “All right, we’ll bide our time for the moment. You are to continue with your assignment.” He heard a ‘thud’ as Watson’s phone dropped to the floor. “You still there, Watson?”

  Watson didn’t reply.

  “Watson?” he asked again, this time, slightly concerned.

  The next voice the commissioner heard made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “It’s over, Commissioner,” said Blaze. “Call me back on this phone in exactly one hour—or your precious agent is dead.”

  Chapter 57

  Blaze called Archer as he pulled out of Agent Watson’s driveway. “I have the rat,” he informed him.

  “You mean you know the identity of the informant?” he replied, thrilled to hear this news.

  “I can go one better. I’m on my way back to the clubhouse right now with the traitor bound and gagged in the boot of my Mustang; caught the bitch red handed talking with the commissioner on the phone. I gave him an hour to call me back to negotiate before I gut the bitch.”

  “You mean the informant is a woman?”

  “I did tell you it was a possibility.”

  “And what do you intend on doing with her while you wait for the commissioner to call you back?”

  “Let’s just say I’m going to enjoy a little playtime.”

  Archer smirked. “Impressive work, Blaze. Once again I find myself in your debt. You have done us all a great service. Archer cleared his throat, then asked, “May I ask how you discovered her identity?”

  “I already had a pretty good idea of who it was, but I just received confirmation from an acquaintance of Danny’s; he’s a bit of a computer whiz. I didn’t want to reveal my hand until I was absolutely sure, but now I have her real name, address, family tree; the works. And you aren’t going to believe who her father is.” He told Archer what Danny’s friend had discovered.

  Archer was envious after hearing the information Blaze had given him. “Enjoy playing with your piñata.” He chuckled sadistically, wishing it could have been him in Blaze’s shoes.

  Blaze and Spider strung Agent Watson up in chains in Ace’s workshop. She hung by her wrists. Her shoulder joints felt as if they would rip from their sockets. Spider was filled with rage; his heart was broken. He almost hated Blaze for setting him up the way he did, but he understood his reasons for doing it. “You fucking bitch!” Spider shouted at Charlotte. “I fucking loved you!”

  She stared back at him, and said, “For what it’s worth, Spider, a part of me will always love you. You have always been kind and treated me well. But you’re a criminal, working for even bigger criminals. You deserve to rot in prison for the rest of your life.”

  “You’re going to wish you never set foot inside the SAS!” Spider seethed. “And when we’re finished with you, you’ll beg for the mercy of a bullet!”

  “You don’t have to do this,” she begged him. “I’m of more value to you alive.” She prayed for the phone to ring.

  Charlotte looked down from her perch.

  Ellie was staring up at her. “I can’t believe it was you!” she said angrily. “But it all makes sense now—how you kicked the shit out of those guys who attacked us down in Summit Lake!”

  “I’m sorry,” she replied. “Why don’t you do yourself a favour and get as far away from these guys as possible? You’re better than this. And you do know what they are going to do to me if that phone doesn’t ring, right?”

  Ellie’s eyes went from blue and innocent to red and defiant. “You deserve whatever horrible things they do to you!” She stormed off back to the clubhouse to be with Danny, who was resting inside.

  Charlotte flopped her chin on her chest in defeat. I’m as good as dead.

  Blaze played with Charlotte’s mind, and said, “Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the fucking tree, does it? Charlotte Watson?”

  Charlotte’s face froze at his words. How the hell did he find out my real name? “So you know,” she replied.

  “Oh, I know everything about you. I find it amusing that the commissioner would have the balls to send his own daughter in behind enemy lines. I believe that’s why your husband, Brayden, left you?”

  “Just leave him out of it!” she snapped.

  Blaze snickered. “Maybe I should go pay him a visit for all the trouble you’ve caused me. Or maybe I should carry Danny out here, so he can enjoy some target practice, and fire a hole through o
ne of your legs. He can’t even walk thanks to you!”

  “It’s your fault he got hurt! You chose to mule class A drugs and weapons for the biggest crime syndicate in the country. You think you’re so fucking noble and a good leader, but you’re not! You’re the most arrogant son of a bitch I’ve ever known! And let me tell you something else; there’s only two outcomes for a scumbag like you: death, or life in prison. And believe me when I say that the commissioner won’t rest until you’ve achieved one of those two outcomes!”

  “But that’s where you’re wrong,” Blaze replied calmly. “I have your father neatly boxed in. So don’t worry yourself with my affairs. You should be concentrating on your immediate future.”

  “Why don’t you just get over yourself and get on with whatever it is you’re going to do to me.”

  Blaze looked at Spider. “You heard the lady; get on with it.”

  Spider picked up Ace’s giant pair of bolt cutters. He cut one of her arms free, leaving her dangling by only one wrist. She had no energy left to put up a fight. Spider placed the jaws around her thumb, which had a ring on it that Spider had given her when he’d declared his love for her. “You took my heart and stomped on it, bitch. Now I’m taking something back.”

  As he went to close the jaws together, Charlotte’s phone rang. It was the commissioner.

  Blaze ordered Spider to stop. “It’s about fucking time,” he said when he answered the call.

  “I’m sorry for the delay,” he replied. “I have an offer for you —”

  “You can shove whatever offer you think I might be interested in right up your ass,” Blaze cut him off.

  The commissioner was taken aback. “All right, what do you propose?”

  “You knew right from the beginning that I had a plan to take out the Lombardis and Seth Archer, and that I wanted out from the street life and to go legit. And I know for a fact you were privy to that information, but instead you foolishly sent ten men to their deaths when I already had the situation under control in Worthington. In fact, you screwed up the whole fucking plan!”

  The commissioner tried to gain the ascendancy. “I cannot trust the word of a band of outlaw bikers,” he replied. “You massacred Saul Gunnerman’s crew in Summit Lake, and you killed ten of my best operatives in Worthington. So I can assure you that no matter what you do to Agent Watson, you are going to rot in prison for the rest of your worthless life!”

  Blaze snickered. “Is that so? I think you’re bluffing, Commissioner.”

  “Oh, really? And what makes you think you can get away with so much blood on your hands?”

  “I’m so glad you asked. I’m going to gut your daughter like the filthy fucking goat she is while you listen to her screams over the phone—and then you’ll have to live with the knowledge that you could have saved her. I reckon that might get your attention.”

  His heart almost broke in two. “How on Earth did you find out Watson is my daughter?”

  He chuckled. “It hardly matters.”

  The commissioner let out a long, exasperated sigh. “What are your demands? I want her returned unharmed, you hear me?” he said emphatically.

  “I think we both know that option isn’t on the table, especially after your failed attempt to shoot me in Brighton Square. There will be retribution. The best I can offer is that she’ll still be breathing.”

  “You can’t be serious!”

  “Oh, I’m dead fucking serious.”

  “Then you leave me no choice but to send in a team to extract her. And believe me when I say their orders will be to slaughter the whole bloody lot of you!”

  “She’ll be dead before your team gets within ten fucking feet of the door. Is that how you want this to play out?”

  The commissioner conceded. “Fine, tell me, what are you going to do with her?”

  “That all depends on you. I need you to back the fuck off and leave us be. Tell whoever it is that you report to that the SAS have severed all ties with the Lombardi family and that we’re no longer under the microscope.”

  The commissioner hesitated. He still wanted Blaze’s head more than anything. But he took a moment too long to consider Blaze’s request.

  Blaze nodded to Spider. Without a second thought, he lopped Charlotte’s thumb off. She shrieked as the blood spurted from the remaining stump on her hand. Her pain levels were heightened even further when Ciggy slowly cauterized the wound by stubbing out his cigarette on it. Charlotte shrieked at the top of her lungs, knowing her father was listening to her crack under the immense pain.

  “All right! All right! Stop what you are doing!” the commissioner shouted anxiously into the phone. “We have a deal!”

  “Now you’re singing my song,” said Blaze. Then with a grin, he added, “Oh, and I want my leather cut back from the operative you shot last night; bloodstains and all.”

  Chapter 58

  Ryan saw the tail of Blaze’s blue Ford Mustang peeking out from behind the clubhouse before he walked inside. He crossed the main hangout area towards the bar, with Sandra tip-toeing across the grimy, worn carpet after him. “This place is disgusting,” she said. “I’ve seen cleaner pigsties.”

  “Stay here,” he replied, and ducked down the hallway, checking the bedrooms. He heard soft groaning coming from Danny’s room. He peeked through the slit in the doorway, and saw Ellie’s head slowly bobbing up and down over Danny’s private region. He quickly looked away, and checked the other bedrooms.

  “There’s no one else here,” Ryan said to Sandra as he returned to the bar.

  “They must be somewhere, there’s an awful lot of bikes lined up outside.”

  “Perhaps they’re out in the workshop. I saw Blaze’s Mustang around the back as I walked in.”

  They hustled outside to the rear of the building, and heard someone inside the workshop groaning in agony.

  The workshop roller door was down. Ryan tried the handle of the steel door next to it. It was unlocked. He slowly pushed it open and peered through the opening. And what he saw shocked him. “Stay quiet and wait here,” he said to Sandra.

  “Are you insane? You don’t even have a weapon!” she whispered.

  “Actually, I’ve got something better than any weapon on the planet. He patted his suit jacket pocket.

  Ryan boldly went inside the workshop. Zoe was standing in front of a dangling Charlotte, holding a flaming blowtorch, unleashing her anger by shouting at her after Blaze had given her ring back with an explanation of how he’d come to possess it. “You set me up, bitch!” she screamed. “Thanks to you I was kidnapped and locked in a fucking basement! You made my family doubt my loyalty! You made Blaze think I was dead! You’re a worthless piece of shit!” She waved the blowtorch in Charlotte’s face. “And now that you’ve shown your true colours, you must have the family emblem removed from your back!”

  Spider took a knife and cut through Charlotte’s T shirt, and bra, exposing the large tattoo on her back—of a skeleton nailed to a cross, engulfed in flames. Charlotte had been so dedicated to the operation that she’d recently got the tattoo; right now she was regretting that decision. Zoe moved the blowtorch closer to her back. Charlotte felt the intense heat searing her skin. Even from a distance it was incredibly painful. Her heart pounded rapidly. She was scared. She closed her eyes and waited for the removal to begin.

  “Drop it!” Ryan yelled as he made his presence known.

  Everyone turned around, stunned to see Ryan standing behind them. “Get the fuck out,” said Blaze. “You don’t want to see this.”

  Ryan summed up the situation. “I take it you found the informant?”

  “You’re fucking observant today.”

  “As a matter of fact, I am just that. I have proof that clears your name of the Bowmans’ murders. But my offer to clear your name goes off the table right now unless you take her down. I can’t defend you if you kill this poor girl in cold blood.”

  “I’ve already made a deal not to kill her. We’re simply
removing her from the family.”

  “A deal? Who with?”

  Zoe was getting impatient. “Am I torching this bitch or what?” she asked.

  Blaze gave her a look that said, “shut the fuck up and wait till I’m finished speaking.”

  Blaze returned his attention to Ryan. He pointed to Charlotte, and said, “That fucking bitch is the commissioner’s own daughter. “I traded her life in return for the MC to remain off limits to the authorities. We’re gonna go legit as soon as I’ve dealt with Archer and the Lombardis.”

  “And yet you’re still going destroy the girl’s back to the point she’ll be in intensive burns unit for the next three goddamn months?”

  “That was part of the agreement. So turn around and fuck off. We’re done here.”

  Blaze turned his back to Ryan, and went to order Zoe to start the tattoo removal.

  “And just why exactly do you need to do this?” Ryan quickly asked him.

  “I think you’ll find it’s common practice in MC circles. Normally laser removal or tattooing over the top of it would suffice, but this bitch was never family. She is a nobody, a fucking pig. She must pay for selling us out.”

  “Look, I just got you off the hook for a bloody double homicide! You owe me,” he said sternly.

  “Back the fucking truck up,” he said as he marched up to Ryan and took hold of his jaw, observing the swelling to his face. “You’re forgetting that I saved your sorry ass from being skinned alive by Tyrone Sanchez! And you’re fucking welcome, by the way!”

  Ryan acted defeated. He looked at Ciggy, who was leaning back against one of the workbenches, casually smoking a fresh cigarette while enjoying the verbal ping pong, and said, “You could at least offer the poor girl a smoke before you burn her alive, couldn’t you?”

  “Fucking bitch deserves what’s coming,” he replied while blowing smoke out of his nose and mouth.

  “Can I have one, then?” I need to calm my nerves if you’re gonna go through with this.”