by Cheri, Ann
“Doesn’t matter. We’re leaving.”
I followed him into the cold, climbing back into the car.
What are you getting yourself into?
My body shivered, the roar of the Jag’s mighty engine vibrating through my skin. We burst out into the rain. It was coming down heavier now, the drops slamming against the windshield like a bucket being poured over the car as we pulled back out onto the street. A flash of light behind me made it clear that we weren’t alone.
They’re following us…
My head turned round, catching a glimpse of the dark sedan still holding position a few cars behind us.
Black blipped the gas pedal, taking us down into the more industrial part of town, closing in on the old warehouse. One last turn took us into the familiar alley, and Black reached down, pressing a button on a small grey box strapped to the underside of the dashboard. Ahead of us, the huge roll-up doors started to rise, light spilling out into the darkness. Soon enough, we were stripping off our dripping leathers as the door came down behind us. Beyond it, rain poured violently down on the asphalt.
“It’s safe to talk,” Black said, noticing my silence. “Had Zippo and Grift sweep this place earlier today. Pulled the ears out. That’s why the boys in black were so eager to follow us. They’ll probably sit on us all night to make sure we’re not going anywhere, but don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere…”
Black smiled at me, his hand sweeping down my side and running over the edge of my breast before dipping to my waist and pulling me in for a kiss. My body reacted, a warmth pouring over my skin as I moved willingly. Before his lips could touch mine, a question escaped them.
“So, where’s Zippo and Grift now?” I whispered, looking around the empty space.
“They should be…..”
Black stopped dead, looking around with his head on a swivel, stopping as his eyes landed on the boardroom door that stood slightly ajar. His hand suddenly reached into his jacket, pulling out a cannon of a handgun. My muscles tensed and I held my breath as he looked back at me.
“Stay behind me.”
I’d never heard a better and yet worse idea in my life. Falling in behind Black we crept up to the door with my body trembling. He gave me a quick glance, his face fierce and angry as he kicked the door. It opened part way then stopped with a thud, something was in the way…
A second kick to the door shoved it open enough to enter, and Black slammed through, his gun waving as he moved further into the space. I followed him through the door, pressing against it to squeeze inside, looking down only briefly as I entered.
A hand…
My breath caught in my throat. It wasn’t just a hand, it was a body. The further I went, the more I saw. Not one body. Two. They were gagged, but the bullets in their chest made it even clearer that somebody didn’t want them talking. The body pressed against the door as I let go, swinging it closed and giving me a full view of the carnage.
Zippo and Grift… I thought to myself, trying to fight the urge to vomit. My heart beat out of my chest, my breath catching and choking me like a vice. I had to get out of here. I spun round, reaching out wildly for the door handle, frozen in terrified motion as I heard the unmistakeable words echoing behind me.
“Close the door, or I blow his fucking brains all over this table.”
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Murder eyes…
I knew them well, I’d seen them, lived with them, but rarely had he used them on me. Even in the worst times and the worst abuses there had always been some twinkle of warmth inside his gaze. Ice filled my blood as I stared across the table. Black was looking at me, standing a few steps from the door to his room. My outburst and panic must have made him spin round to look my way.
Jude stood behind him, the barrel of his old 357 magnum pressed up against the side of Black’s head..
“Drop the gun.”
Black seemed like he wanted to fight back, but every single inch of Jude was curled like a snake ready to strike. He let the gun slip down, the metal clattering hard against the concrete floor. Jude kicked it away and I watched it spin to the corner, slamming into a wall.
“On your knees,” Jude spat as I trembled, watching Black lower himself down slowly. Jude kicked the back of his leg at the knee, sending Black crashing to the floor. Jude stepped away, the gun still leveled at him as he walked casually toward the corner and picked up the other weapon.
“You can walk away Jude. Walk away and I won’t chase you. I’ll forget this ever happened,” Black said quietly, a tremor of viciousness in his voice.
“I said fucking move,” Jude shouted. He held up the second gun. I screamed as the gunshot exploded within the room, a bullet tearing through Black’s thigh. The cry was blood curdling.
“MOVE!”
Black crawled, pulling himself across the floor. My ears were still ringing as Jude stomped round the table and grabbed my by the arm. I cried out as he pulled me round the far side, away from the bodies… Away from Black.
“No fucking respect. All the goddamned things I’ve done for you and what, you go fuck the first goddamned thing that comes along?”
I cried out as the side of the gun hit my face, Jude pressing it against my cheek.
“Take off your pants.”
My hands froze in place, my stomach pressed up against the wooden table.
“I said take them off!”
The barrel of the gun pressed harder, my body screaming against it. Something inside me shut down, my hands reaching lower and undoing the clasp.
“Don’t do this. Don’t you fucking do this.”
My eyes latched on Black, he was pleading.
“One more word, and I kill her. You fucking sit there, and you watch. You brought this on yourself you self serving asshole.”
Jude hit me over the head with the butt of the second gun, my body falling forward, my face smacking the wooden table. I tilted my head, eyes staring at Black. I’d ever seen anything more terrifying. He was bleeding, every muscle trembling across his frame, a murderous rage within him that made Jude’s murder eyes look playful.
“Stop, please…” I whispered. Jude swung a gun upward and fired again, the explosion crashing through my ears.
“Next fucking word and you’re both dead, you fucking hear me?”
“I’ll give you what you want… I’ll give you whatever you want…” I whimpered, turning my head. “Jude… Please… I know you need me.”
“I don’t fucking need you. You’re lower than nothing you bitch.”
He reached down, tearing my jeans down. My skin flashed cool as the metal gun lay against the bare flesh.
“Spread your legs.”
“Jude,” Black said, making a small move toward us.
“I said don’t fucking move!” Jude shouted, swinging the gun round and pressing it to the side of my head. Black froze in place again.
I listened to the belt buckle swinging open behind me, listened to Black’s heaving breathing from across the room. Jude just laughed, the gun still pressed against my cheek. I turned, my eyes catching Black’s. Tears were streaming down my face. I wanted to run away from here, to forget this ever happened. I didn’t have to think about the foot kicking my legs wider. Black’s face was changing color, every muscle in his body straining. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and time seemed to slow down…
A sound like an explosion rang out, but it wasn’t Jude’s gun. It sounded as if someone had crashed through the roll-up door in the main warehouse. My body threw itself to the right without a thought behind it. I swung myself upward against Jude’s huge forearm, hands tearing at him as I brought my teeth down, biting viciously. Jude let out a scream as he dropped the huge revolver, his other fist slamming into my face as he pulled away.
“FBI!”
I listened to the muffled sound outside the board room as men shouted through the main floor of the warehouse. Jude twisted, pulling himself away as he made for the inner door to
Black’s room.
They must have heard the gunshots…
I fell forward, my hands clamoring for the gun, but by the time I could bring it around, nothing was left but darkness. At the far edge, I could see the window just beyond Black’s bed, rain crashing down and the curtains waving in the wind. The gun fell from my head, my body shaking as I screamed and cried out for help, my body laying itself down on the floor.
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Murder eyes…
My eyes flashed open, body trembling. The nightmares were coming every time I slept. Jude was everywhere. Behind every shadow. Under every bed.
Three fucking days…
I looked over from the chair I’d fallen asleep on, staring up at Black on the hospital bed. For three days I’d been grilled and interrogated by agents before I was allowed to come here. I’d told them again and again it was Jude. I told them I’d left him… I told them about the abuse…
They didn’t want to know about Jude. They wanted to know about the Rampant. Where were they? What were they doing? I played stupid. I’m just the stupid girl Black saved from the fucked up boyfriend. I’m the fucking victim!
I wasn’t the only one who had to answer questions. My eyes stared at Black’s wrist, the bruise from a handcuff still visible. They had chained him to the hospital bed while they questioned him.
Three fucking days!
I’d marked every one, a fresh line across one of my thighs for every day I couldn’t see Black. I didn’t want him to see them. I didn’t want him to know I’d done it. The pain was too much, and there was no pleasure…
It was all over now though… I’d cut into Jude with my teeth and he bled all the way out the window. His DNA was all over the place, and he’d tossed his gun in the alley with his fingerprints all over it. We were free to go as soon as Black was well enough to leave.
“It’s gonna be ok sweetheart,” Black whispered from the bed. “Stop crying… You’re breaking my heart here…”
I couldn’t stop crying if I ran out of tears. My body trembled. Everything that had happened. Every single thing was my fault. My eyes gazed around the cold hotel room for any relief from Black’s gaze. All I could see in it was his stare from the floor of that board room, the way he never took his eyes off me…
“I love you sweetheart… I’ll never let this happen again.”
His words rang in my ears as I stood up from my bed. His leg was wrapped thick. Doctors said he was lucky the bullet missed any major artery. It was still a mess. He’d have one hell of a scar and probably limp for the rest of his life.
“Come here.”
I crawled into the bed next to him, his thick arm wrapping around me and pulling me against his chest. My heart cried out against him, tears dropping against bare skin. Black held me, his heart beating in my ear. We stay like that, our bodies together, and I slept soundly for the first time in a long time.
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The warehouse was buzzing as the cab dropped us off in front of the roll-up. Black moved to the door as the driver brought around a crutch. He was supposed to be in a wheelchair, but Black wasn’t going to roll around.
“Be careful…” I whispered. He turned to me smiling, lifting himself out of the car. Cheers erupted from the building, the Rampant all out for our arrival. I stepped out behind Black, standing next to him as we walked inside together. Penny let out a little shriek as she ran out and practically tackled me, and Acre met Black at the threshold, reaching out and letting him throw an arm over his shoulder, helping him inside. Behind us, the heavy metal door closed, sealing us in.
“Board room meeting. Now,” Black said through gritted teeth.
He shouldn’t be up and moving around… I thought to myself, trying to pull free of Penny’s embrace.
“Are you ok babe?” Penny asked, poking me in the ribs. “Did he hurt you? What in the hell happened? Oh my God your face…”
Her hand swung up to the bruise on my cheek where the gun had pressed into me. It brought back flashes and memories. I winced, jerking myself away.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry… It’s just with Marlo gone… And now this…” Penny whispered, drawing back from me.
“It’s ok Penny… Look, I need to be in there,” I replied, pointing after Black as the men walked with him into the board room. Penny nodded, pulling at my arm. “Go, get in there. You’re probably starving from that crap they serve at the hospital. I’ll bring something in. Go with Black. Go right now!”
Penny’s voice was running a mile a minute as she shoved me away, and I fell in with the men, shivering slightly as I stepped through the door, a faint stain still upon the concrete where Grift and Zippo fell… All around the table, two new pieces of leather skull sat silently waiting to be sewn onto Rampant jackets. Ash was already there, a chisel carving out flecks of the table as he took away some wood and added two new pieces to the shattered skull. Around the table I went, ending up at Black’s side.
You don’t want to end up part of the skull… I thought, looking at Acre. His face looked weary and nothing even close to happy. The room went quiet as Black took his place at the head of the table. Even Ash stopped his work to stare forward.
“We’re not getting down to new business until we remember the fallen. Anyone wants to say a few words, now’s the time.”
The silence fell back over the table, and Dig was the one to Black it. “I brought Zippo into the Rampant. He was my friend. I owe him my fucking life.”
Fists pounded the table as Dig poured a shot of whiskey over the carved table. “One for the Rampant!”
“FOR THE RAMPANT!”
The chant was loud and shook the room, until finally it fell silent again. People were staring at DJ, the mechanic. I barely knew him, but I’d seen his future on the floor of this very room. A flash of recognition rolled through my mind as I remembered the cold dead face of the old man on the floor.
“My father’s been a Rampant longer than almost any of you assholes, and he’d shit a brick if he knew we were sitting here pissing about that son of a bitch. We all know where he’s reigning these days, and I hope to send the fucker who shot him down to say hello! ”
Another round of fists slammed on the wood, the solid table pounding like a war drum.
Black lifted something up in his hand and tossed it down on the table in front of the young mechanic I’d seen working on the cars a few days prior. The room went silent again as he lifted it up. It was a jacket.
“Your father’s jacket. DJ, you’ve helped pull off the drop and everybody fucking knows you’re Rampant blood. Put it on and go get yourself some fresh pussy.”
The table slammed again, the pounding getting louder as DJ pulled up the jacket. Ash handed him a short blade, and DJ carefully lay it against the edge of the name tag across the front, cutting it loose and tearing it away to cheers.
“RAMPANT!” Black shouted. The room erupted. I reached out and slammed a fist down on the table with the men, leaning into Black just a bit harder.
“Ok you fucks. New business. First up, somebody tell me where Jude is.”
“Contract is out on the street. Ten thousand for his bones. No signs, no word. The man is a ghost,” Ash said, his raspy voice echoing in the small space.
“Don’t care what it takes. I want his balls on a plate,” Black shouted.
The table erupted again, fists slamming.
The room quieted down. Acre slammed the table and spoke up. “We got the shipment off the docks and socked it away at the boathouse.”
“Why the hell is it at the boathouse? The Italians were supposed to do the pick up,” Black said, looking puzzled.
“You got picked up by feds the night of the drop. Carcetti didn’t show, he thought you might roll on him. Plans changed. We’ve got a new drop point just outside of Austin Texas and three days to get the shipment out there.”
“Tell those assholes we’re not going to cross state lines with a giant pile of their
product,” Black said angrily, his teeth bared.
“We don’t have much of a choice Black,” Acre replied, his voice unnervingly calm. “Cartel is up in arms down in Tijuana because Carcetti pays on delivery. We haven’t delivered.”
“I’m not afraid of the goddamn Mexicans,” Black spat.
“You should be. They’ve got numbers and they’ve got the money. Los Locos don’t come after you Black, they go after your family,” Ash said, speaking up from his side of the table. “The Incas fucked Los Locos ten years back. They sure as fuck aren’t around anymore. We already have shit with the Kings, we don’t need to go starting a war on both sides.”
