by Erin Osborne
“Gage, you look like shit,” Bailey says, pulling me in for a hug and whispering to me so no one around us can hear. “We’ll find her and bring her home to you. You deserve happy in your life and it’s her, I know it is.”
I give her a squeeze and let her go when I hear Grim growling behind her. He’s still very possessive and hates that we have a past sometimes. It is what is and there’s nothing I can do about it. He steps in his wife’s place and pulls me in for a man hug before the rest of the guys follow suit. Tank is the last one to come up to me and I know that he can see the pain and rage written all over my face. I’m not trying to hide it from anyone.
“Been redecorating in here?” Cage asks, trying to lighten my mood even though he knows that it’s not going to work. Yeah, I may have had a drink too many last night and tore through the common room of the clubhouse. It’s not pretty and there’s more than one broken chair and table. We might have to buy some new glasses for the bar too.
“Gym, now!” Tank says, leaving me no choice but to follow him. “Get the rage simmering to a low boil and then we’ll talk.”
A bunch of guys follow us into the gym at the back of the clubhouse and take a seat in the folding chairs surrounding the ring. We haven’t had the gym here very long, but I think it’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made as a club. Tank and I climb in the ring and Crash and Trojan tape up our hands. As soon as they’re done, they jump out and sit amongst the rest of the club members and a few old ladies.
Tank lands the first hit and the red haze that’s been slowly taking over more and more of my vision since learning of Riley and Shelby completely fills my vision and I snap. I go at Tank with everything I have and land blow after blow to any part of his body I can connect with. While he’s landing a few hits here and there, he lets me have at it and get some shit out. The entire time, I’m thinking of Ryan, Riley, and Shelby. There’s so much going on in my head that I don’t know how to stop it. Shelby and Riley being ripped from me not once, but twice, have made losing Ryan come back front and center.
Once he’s done letting me land hits, Tank lets me know by landing a solid punch to my jaw. It feels like he broke it with one well-placed hit, but I don’t stop. I keep going at him the same way he’s now coming at me. After I punch him in the eye, he returns the favor and breaks the skin. I can feel the blood running down my face, but I still don’t give up. Trojan is trying to call the ‘sparring match’ but I ignore him too. There’s no way I’m going to stop until I can’t feel the pain flooding my body.
Finally, when Tank and I can’t take anymore, Trojan, Cage, and a few other guys come in the ring and pull us apart. Normally, I would never let loose like this on a brother, but I can’t seem to help myself today. This is what Tank does for us too. He gets in the ring with us and we go back and forth until we can think with an open mind and not let what’s going on cloud our judgement. I never thought I’d be one to step in the here with him, but I’m glad he was here. It worked to clear some of the thoughts and pain from my head, and now I’ll be able to think of the situation rationally instead of fueled by rage and misery.
“Now, let’s get you both cleaned up so that we can figure this shit out when Slim and his guys get here,” Grim says, handing both of us towels to wipe the sweat and blood from our bodies. “Take showers and have someone look at your cuts to see what needs to be done.”
I make my way to my room and hop in the shower. Knowing that it’s not going to be long before everyone else gets here, I don’t take my time. The last thing I want to do is waste any more time than I have to right now. Riley and Shelby could be getting hurt and I’m sure they’re so scared. This is not going to be how the story ends, we will have our happy ending. If you ask me, there’s not even enough time for someone to look at whatever wounds I have from being in the ring.
By the time I make my way back out to the common room, I see that Slim and his crew are here. There’s no way that we can all fit in church, so we’re going to have to send the girls and kids into the game room or something so that we can all stay out here. Bailey and Skylar are behind the bar handing out beers to all the guys and I go over to take one. I’m not going to have more than one because I want to have a clear head, and I drank enough last night to ensure that my body is still feeling the effects of it.
“Girls, I need you to take all the kids and everyone that’s not a full patch to the game room. Can you take care of that for me?” I ask, looking between the two girls that are like sisters to me.
“We got you Gage,” Bailey tells me, starting to walk from behind the bar to start gathering everyone that isn’t going to be in here.
I make my way over to Slim, so I can find out if there’s any news on the individual that went that way. He’s not sure of who we’re supposed to be looking for, but hasn’t really seen anything out of the ordinary. My only concern is that they were followed here, and this person will be able to warn Nicolette that we’re getting close or all meeting. I don’t want her to have any clue that we know where to find them. When we find out that is. He’s sitting with Wood and Crash, so I pull up a seat and take a sip of my beer.
“Slim, Wood. Have you found out anythin’ yet about whoever went to your area?” I ask, looking between the two men. I get my answer when Wood and Slim look at one another and then turn their sadistic smiles toward Crash and me.
“He’s here. The pussy tried to follow us and got caught at our first gas stop. He wasn’t very slick at all,” Wood tells me, downing what’s left of his beer.
“Where’s he at?” I ask, my blood starting to pump through my veins.
“Waitin’ for you to tell us where you want him,” Slim answers, finishing his beer and standing up. “I tried to get some information from him when we caught him, but he’s swearin’ he doesn’t know where they are. Somethin’ about him tells me that he really has no clue that Nicolette got her this time,” Slim tells me, looking me in the eyes so I see that he’s not trying to hide anything from me.
“Bring him in through the back door. We’ll take him downstairs,” I respond, getting up and letting the guys know with a head nod and a look to follow me.
Soon everyone is downstairs waiting on Slim and Wood to bring the fucker down that might know something about where my girl is. I’m bouncing on my feet with a hammer in my hands as they lead the dead man in. Either way he’s not going to make it out of this room because he was going to have a part in taking my girls from me. I can see the pure fear in his eyes and it causes a shiver to run through my body at the thought of what I’m about to do to him.
“So, you’ve been workin’ with the skank Nicolette?” I ask him as soon as the others have him chained to a chair. “What do you think is gonna happen to you now?”
“I-I d-don’t k-know,” he responds, just as he pisses himself.
I can hear the snickers and silent laughter behind me and I want nothing more than to join in with them. But, when my entire world is on the line here, I don’t have it in me to laugh at anything. The most I do is back up a little bit to make sure that nothing touches my boots. That would just be another reason for me to beat the shit out of him.
“What was supposed to happen when one of you found my girl?” I ask, trying to see if he knows anything at all.
“If I found her, I was supposed to take her and the brat somewhere no one would find us until she could get to us. She was going to take it from there and I don’t know what my role was going to be after that. Hell, the more I think of it, I think Nicolette was just using me to be the muscle and scare the girl,” he tells me, trying to let me know everything that he knows.
“What’s your name?” I ask, kind of feeling sorry for the man sitting before me since he just found out that he’s been nothing more than a piece of shit that the skanky bitch has been using.
“It’s Tyler,” he says, looking at the room of men standing before him.
“Well, Tyler, let me tell you what’s goin’ to happen to you
now. I believe you that you have no clue where my girls are. But, the problem I have is that you were goin’ to have a part in this bitch’s plan to begin with. You were there the first time my girls were taken from me. So, now, I’m goin’ to have some fun and take some more of this rage at seein’ your ugly face out on you. Don’t bother screamin’ or anythin’ because not one man in this room is goin’ to help you. You can thank that slut for this happenin’ to you,” I tell him, letting the venom fill my voice and the adrenaline start to flow freely as I take the hammer to first one knee cap and then the other one.
Tyler tries his hardest not to yell out in pain. It’s honestly taking everything in him to hold it all in, you can see it written on his face. If the circumstances were any different, I might have a little bit of respect for the man sitting before me. But, you don’t get to this room for no reason, so I can’t honestly say I’d have any respect for the man I’m about to take the rest of my rage out on.
Setting the hammer down, I make my way over to the table with the rest of our tools laid out on and decide what I want to do next. I’m not going to take this as far as some of our tortures have gone in the past, but I’m not going to take it easy on him by any means. Picking up a pair of pliers, I stroll back over to him looking at my brothers and friends leaning against the walls surrounding us. Not a single one of them is going to step in and stop me from doing anything to him at all.
“Blade, when I’m done with these, I might want the dull, rusty one you carry with you,” I say, looking at him leaning against the wall, beer in hand as if he’s settling in to watch a movie.
“Sure thing. Got it right here,” he responds, pointing to the bag laying at his feet.
Nodding my head, I turn my full attention to the man sitting before me. There’s a lone tear streaking down his face. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because he’s about to lose his life and there’s no one to stop it from happening. He wants to say something to me, but he’s not sure how it’s going to be received. So, I pause for a second and decide whether or not I want to listen to him. Deciding that he might have something else to say about my girl, I decide that I should hear him out.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask, letting him know I can read him.
“Please don’t let this touch my daughter. She’s still young and I don’t want her to know what a fuck up I am,” he tells me, finally letting a few more tears fall from his eyes as he begs me not to let his daughter know what’s happened.
“Where is your little girl?” I ask, needing to know that she’s going to be taken care of if I kill this man sitting before me.
“She’s with my mom. Her mom split when our baby was a few months old. I knew I wasn’t going to be good enough to take care of her, so my mom has been raising her for me,” he says, pleading with his eyes that I do this for him.
“I promise that nothin’ will touch your daughter. Tell my man where she’s at and we’ll keep an eye on her for you. If I don’t like the situation she’s in when we check on her, I’m goin’ to do what I need to do to take her from your mom. Are you good with that?” I ask, letting him know regardless of what he thinks that I will do what I can for his daughter.
Tyler rattles off the address and I see Tech putting the information into his phone. I make him give my brother his mom’s name before I begin to pull the nails off of every single one of his fingers. Once that’s done, I nod to Crash and Trojan to hold his head back, so I can rip his teeth out of his head. Next, I take the blade I asked for and make tiny cuts across his arms and chest after ripping the shirt from his nasty body. Taking a handful of salt, I rub it into as many of the cuts as I can, knowing that it’s going to burn like a bitch. I’m not going to do much more than that as far as ripping him apart. What comes next is beating the shit out of him. If Tank thought I was hitting him hard, that’s nothing compared to the blows that I’m landing on Tyler. My final blow to his temple knocks him out and that’s when I nod to Crash to take care of him and put a bullet in his head. He gave us what he knows so I’ll give him the peace of not knowing that one of us is putting a bullet in him.
Exiting the room, I hear the sound of Crash’s gun and know that he’s no longer with us. Tyler will be discarded by the prospects and I’ll clean up before going back into the common room. As I enter the hallway to go to my room, I practically mow Keegan over on my way there. I can see that’s she’s been crying as she looks at me from head to toe. I want to hug her and tell her that I’ll get her friend back, but I don’t have it in me. Plus, I’m covered in Tyler’s blood so I don’t want that to touch her.
“Gage, I might have some information for you,” she tells me, not phased in the least by my appearance.
“What are you talkin’ about?” I ask, my confusion getting the better of me.
“There’s a place that this person might have taken Riley to. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard people talking about it.”
“Let me wash up real quick and I’ll have Rage bring you into the common room when we’re ready to begin,” I say, letting her know that I’m going to need a minute. Not only to clean up, but to wrap my head around the fact that I never thought she might be the key to finding the information that we need.
Making my way to my room, I find Red sitting on my bed picking at her nails. This bitch really has no clue about what’s about to happen to her. She snaps her eyes up to me as I slam the door shut and start to stalk over to her. There’s no fear or remorse in her eyes as I move closer and closer to her. She’s about to learn that I’m not going to be messed with. Not ever and especially not now when my girls are in danger and I have no clue where they are. Red is preventing me from getting the information that I need.
“Baby, I’ve missed you so much,” she purrs thinking she’s sexy or something like that when it’s annoying as hell.
“You haven’t missed shit, bitch. Now, I’ve been tellin’ you and Karla to stay the fuck away from me because I got a girl. What makes you think I want your loose, used up pussy now?” I ask, yanking her up by the arm hard enough I know I’ll leave a bruise. I’m not one to hit a female at all, and I know I’ll regret hurting her later, but I’ve been pushed too far.
“I know you want me, I can see it in your eyes. Stop pretending that you don’t Brock,” she tells me, and I see nothing but red clouding my vision as she uses my true name. If it weren’t for her being so close to me, I never would have felt her running her hand down my chest and making her way to my jeans. But, she’s making her movements obvious and that’s what pisses me off even more.
“First of all, don’t EVER use my name again. You don’t have that privilege or right. There’s only one person that does and it’s not you. Secondly, you seem to have forgotten your fuckin’ place in this club. Let me remind you what that is. Or should I say was. You were only here to suck and fuck when the guys needed a release. Now, you want to keep pushin’ up on guys that don’t want you and I’ve let you get away with it long enough. You’re out of here!” I yell, getting in her face as I lead her to the door.
Flinging it open, I see Crash and Trojan talking to Darcy. Nodding my head to them, I tell the two men to make sure that she leaves the clubhouse. She can get her clothes and things before leaving but I don’t want to see her ugly face when I get done changing and making sure I don’t have anything else on me. They take her from my hands as their woman watches on, a smile on Darcy’s face. There’s not any love lost between the two girls as Red has still tried to fuck both Crash and Trojan.
I slam my door shut again and make my way to the bathroom. Stripping off my clothes on the way, I keep them in my hands and put them in a garbage bag I grab from under the bathroom sink. Turning on the water, I let it get hot as hell before I climb in and scrub the filth from my body. I’m in and out within a few minutes so that I can get the information that Keegan has and we can come up with a game plan. My girls will be home very soon, and I need to start kicking shit up a notch. Riley will know that I w
ant her by my side and I’ll do whatever it takes. What I’ve seen so far from her proves to me that I’m falling in love with her every single day.
Running out of my room as soon as I’m dressed, I pass Addison by on her way to the game room. Irish must have gotten a hold of her so she could see the kids and Whitney. I let a smile small grace my face as a way of acknowledging her. Keegan is already sitting in the common room with the guys while the rest of everyone here is in the game room. I’m thankful that I don’t have to wait for him to get her because more than enough time has already been wasted. I sit down at a table with Crash, Trojan, Cage, Joker, and Grim. The rest of the men surround me as Rage leads Keegan closer so that she can talk to us.
With a nod of his head, Rage silently tells Keegan to begin saying what she knows. “I don’t know much and I’m not even sure if this person that has my friend knows of the farmhouse that Sam owns. When I was young and first heard about the man and what he wanted from me, I knew I was going to run away before he got his hands on me. There was talk from the other young girls about a house he would take them to when they first got taken to him by their parents or guardians. It’s way out in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors and not many people know he owns it. We were told at a party that he hosted for all the girls that he was getting ready to take into his possession by a few of the older ones that had already been there. Anyway, I think that it’s past where you went to get Shelby. I can’t be sure off the top of my head, but if you look into Sam further you might be able to find out where it is and who’s name its in. Hell, it could be in my dad’s name for all I know that’s how Sam operated. He would get those that owed him to do things like put buildings and things in their name.”
By the time she’s done, Keegan is shaking with her memories of a time when she was scared to death. There’s no way to thank her for what she’s done by telling us this information, I’m sorry that she had to relive the things her nightmares are made of but we needed to hear this. Tech and Fox immediately get to work on their computers. Tank is by them with a list of names that they got when Sam was still alive. It will definitely be useful. The rest of us gather together as Rage takes his wife back to the rest of the girls and kids.
