by K. L. Ramsey
“Yeah, yeah,” Cillian said. “You had to make sure you could trust me. What if I’m not so sure I can trust you, Hart?”
“How about me? You trust me?” Havoc asked. He stood in the back of the bar as if he was eavesdropping on their whole conversation.
“Fecking hell,” Cillian shouted. “You can’t just knock like a regular fecking person?” Havoc chuckled and pulled up a chair to the table they sat around. “Sure, help yourself,” Cillian grumbled. “Everyone this is Havoc.”
“Good to meet you all. I’ve heard good things from Cillian,” Havoc said.
“Wish we could say the same,” Savage said. “What are you doing in my bar, Havoc?” Savage mean mugged the guy and Cillian knew that having a former Dragon in Savage Hell wasn’t his friend’s idea of a good time. Still, Cillian trusted Havoc with his life and knew that if he had to go into Dragon’s territory with anyone, he’d want it to be him.
“I’m here to help,” Havoc admitted.
“Help how?” Bowie asked. “Weren’t you just kicked out of the Dragons?”
“Yep,” Havoc said. “For not kidnapping your kid.”
Savage stood and growled, slapping his palms down onto the small wooden table. Cillian worried that there meeting was going to end badly. Bowie put his hand on Savage’s arm, “Just hear him out, Babe,” Bowie said.
“Fine,” Savage barked. “But, make it fast so I can toss your ass out of here and we can get on with saving my daughter.”
Havoc had the nerved to smile and Savage looked about ready to punch his smirk right off his face. “I know I didn’t stop it from happening but I couldn’t go through with Dante’s plan to take your kid. You have to understand that telling him no put a price on my head. I couldn’t just run to you and tell you about his plan—he was having me watched. If I would have shown up at Savage Hell, he would have killed Chloe to make an example out of us both. I decided it was best to lay low. That was until Cillian showed up at my gym this morning. I can’t let what they have planned for your daughter, happen. So, I’m here to help.”
“While I can appreciate the danger you’re in just by showing your face here, I’m still confused as to how you think you can help,” Hart said.
“Dante has issued me an ultimatum. I either go back to the Dragons and accept my punishment on probation or I’ll be dealt with.” Havoc shrugged as if that threat meant nothing to him.
“When?” Cillian asked. “When did you know about this?”
“A day,” Havoc admitted.
“And you didn’t think to share that bit of information with me?” Cillian questioned.
“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I saw you this morning. I’ve given it some thought and decided that you walking into that place by yourself is going to end up getting you killed. I can’t let that happen, man. I let you walk into a set up ten years ago and look how that ended for you. You spent ten years in prison and I could have prevented it if I had just stepped up and stopped being a shitty friend. I knew that they were setting you up and I know that you going into the Dragons now will get you killed. Let me do the right thing here, Cillian.”
Cillian had suspected Havoc knew about the setup but hearing him confirm it gave him an unexpected sense of relief. “I told you before that stealing that car was on me. I made that choice and you beating yourself up about it, all these years later, isn’t worth it. I did my time and now, I’m ready to make different choices—better choices.” Cillian shot Hart a look and nodded. “I say he’s in.”
“How would this work?” Hart asked.
“I’ll go in with a peace offering—two prospects. Dante will eat that shit up. He’ll love the fact that I potentially poached Cillian from Savage Heat and you’ll just be considered a bonus. We need to come up with a back story for you—maybe make you new to the area or something. If Dante even gets a whiff of you being a cop, he’ll slit all three of our throats, no questions asked.”
“Let’s get to work then, we have a lot to do before tonight’s meeting,” Cillian said. “I have my woman covered but I’d appreciate your promise that if anything happened to me, you’ll take care of her, Savage.”
Bowie stood and held out his hand to Kill. “You have my word,” he swore.
“And, mine,” Savage said. He stood and pulled Cillian from his seat, bear-hugging him until Kill was sure he’d have to tap out.
“I can’t breathe, Savage,” he protested. Savage chuckled and released him.
“You’re family, Cillian. That extends to Viv and the baby. We’ll always take care of them both,” Savage promised. Kill felt a little choked up at the mention of being considered a part of Savage’s family. He had to admit, it felt pretty damn good to be a part of anything again. Family was hard to come by and Cillian would do just about anything for his—even go on a suicide mission.
_______
Kill, Hart and Havoc parked their bikes in the back of the bar’s lot and cut their engines. Cillian eyed the bar suspiciously as if it would remember him the way he remembered his days as a Dragon’s prospect. He hated the kid who wanted to be a part of something so badly that he threw his entire fecking life away. Cillian knew that sooner or later he’d have to forgive himself for being that stupid kid. But, for now, his hatred was what was fueling him to go through with this whole crazy plan.
“You good man?” Havoc questioned.
“Yeah, just stick to the plan and don’t feck this up,” Cillian warned, looking directly at Hart.
“Don’t look at me, man. I’ve got this down pat. It’s just another Thursday night for me. You two need to calm the fuck down and stop looking at me like you don’t trust me. If we’re going to be believable, we have to at least pretend to like each other,” Hart said. He wasn’t wrong. Cillian didn’t trust him and if Dante or any of the Dragons caught on to that, they’d all be dead.
“Fine,” Cillian said, slapping Hart on the shoulder for good measure. “Let’s do this, Old Friend.”
Havoc chuckled and shook his head. “You two pussies are going to get me shanked, I just know it. Let’s get this shit storm over with. I’ve got some groveling to do and if I’m lucky, Dante will just have his guys knock me around a little. While that’s happening, you two have a look around, to see if you can find Chloe. Ready?” Cillian hated knowing that Havoc was going to have to endure a little pain for their plan to work but there was no way around it. He knew how things worked—you went up against the club, you ended up dead or wishing you were.
“Ready,” Cillian lied. He let Havoc take lead and he and Hart flanked his sides. They made their way through the side door and into the main room of the bar. There was a full house tonight, probably of guys who were there to watch some retribution. Word usually got around fast and if it was made known that Havoc was coming in to grovel, guys would show up to watch.
“Well, look who decided to take me up on my generosity. You brought friends, too.” Dante shouted over the music and hum of conversations. Everyone in the bar stopped talking and turned to see who their Prez was talking about. The sea of bikers parted, letting the three of them pass and Havoc seemed to take that as their invitation to approach Dante.
He sat up by the bar in a booth that Cillian would guess was made especially for him. It seemed to sit higher than the others and allowed him to look over everyone in the crowd, much like a king would sit on his throne over his subjects. They stood in front of Dante’s makeshift stage and Kill felt like he was holding his fucking breath for what was about to come next.
“You here to join us or to accept your fate?” Dante asked. The crowd hummed with excitement at the prospect of there being a punishment doled out tonight for their viewing pleasure.
“Join,” Havoc shouted. Some of the guys booed and hissed and Havoc laughed like he was enjoying their shouts of disapproval.
“You know you can’t just quit the Dragons and not pay some price, right Havoc?” Dante yelled.
Havoc nodded and pointed to Kill an
d Hart. “That’s why I brought you a peace offering, Prez,” he lied. “Two prospects.” Kill and Hart stepped up, flanking Havoc’s sides again. Cillian wasn’t sure if Dante looked pleased or pissed at the idea of him waltzing back into his club with two guys at his side. He could take them being with Havoc as peace offerings or as a threat. However he took it would be up to him and Kill knew that Dante’s word would be law. He also knew that the leader of the Dragon’s was ruthless, after hearing how he went after Savage’s family months back.
“I heard you were out Kill,” Dante said, looking him over. He wasn’t surprised that the Dragon’s Prez knew who he was. It was Dante’s business to keep tabs on everyone linked past and present to the club. “I just had you pegged on joining Savage’s gang of pussies,” Dante taunted.
Cillian smiled, trying for cool, even though he felt anything but. “Nope,” he said. He knew not to speak until spoken to, as a prospect. He had been through this process before with the Dragons. The only problem was the last time, it didn’t end so well for him. “I’ve found that Savage Hell isn’t who I am anymore, since doing my time. Let’s just say that I’ve gotten a little harder after being in prison. I think the Dragons are more my speed now.”
Dante looked him over as if sizing him up and nodded. He turned to give Hart the same attention and Cillian’s damn heart felt as if it was going to beat right out of his chest. “And who do we have here?” Dante questioned.
“This is Fuzz,” Havoc said.
Dante laughed, “What the hell kind of name is that?” he asked.
“The kind that you get when you used to be a cop,” Hart said.
“Shit,” Cillian swore under his breath. Dante nodded to his enforcer who stood just off to the side and he stepped forward and punched Hart in the gut.
“You’ll find that you learn the rules quickly around here,” Dante growled. “Rule one—you don’t speak unless I ask you to, prospect. Got it?” Hart was still doubled over, holding his gut and when he didn’t immediately respond to Dante, he had his enforcer land another punishing blow—this time to poor Hart’s jaw. He groaned and straightened, trying to look Dante in the eyes.
“Answer me, prospect,” Dante ordered. “What’s rule one?”
“No talking unless you ask it,” Hart offered. He wiped at the blood that dribbled down his chin and Cillian felt bad for the guy.
“So, you were a cop?” Dante asked. “What makes you want to join the dragons, Fuzz?”
Hart’s smile was mean, “To kill some fucking cops,” he said. Dante looked him over, trying to decide if he believed the guy or not and then threw back his head, laughing.
“I think I might like you, Fuzz. That is if you can learn the fucking rules.” Hart nodded at Dante, keeping his mouth shut. Yeah, it didn’t take much to learn the rules when they were beaten into you enough. Kill had learned that lesson in prison.
Dante nodded to his enforcers again and two moved to stand behind Havoc. Kill could feel the tension rolling off his friend’s big body and he knew what was going to happen next.
“I’ll accept your peace offering, Havoc. But, you’re still a little short. How about you agree to be our pre-show before the main attraction starts tonight?” Havoc stared Dante down, his smile was mean.
“What’d you have in mind?” he asked.
“You fight my two enforcers, in the cage. You win, you get to stay. You lose and I kill the three of you.” Havoc looked at Kill and nodded back up at Dante.
“Deal,” he agreed.
Dante clapped his hands together and a cheer went up through the bar. “Perfect,” Dante shouted. “That gives us just enough time to prep for our little auction.” Cillian looked around the bar, trying to figure out what Dante meant about having an auction. He didn’t see anything laying around for sale and he had a sick feeling that whatever, or in this case, whoever Dante was going to sell off wasn’t in the room yet.
“Take them downstairs and throw them into the cage. Get the girls ready. I’ve promised our guys a preview before we sell them off. Remember guys,” Dante shouted back to his club. “Highest bidder gets to play with their prize but you can’t take their pussy. The girls have to be virgins when we ship them over the border. Mouths and asses are fair game. Have some fun with them—give them a little experience for our customers.” Cillian felt sick thinking that one of the girls might just be little Chloe. She was just a babe and the thought of any of those assholes laying one finger on her made him want to tear them apart.
Dante’s enforcers shoved them down a flight of stairs into what smelled like a damp, musty basement. Some cages lined the walls and Cillian realized that the musty smell was probably urine. Cillian knew that smell all too well. If he had to bet, those cages were where they held the women and girls they were transporting over the border. They were patted down; their cell phones were taken and the three of them were thrown into a larger cage in the middle of the room. Kill panicked when he heard the clink of the metal doors and the sound of the lock turning.
“Sit tight, guys,” the bigger one taunted. The second guy laughed and Cillian watched as they walked back up the stairs back to the bar.
“Shit,” Cillian growled. “They took our fecking phones. What do we do now?” he asked,
“My phone is bugged,” Hart said. “It’s sending our location to my precinct as we speak. They have people in place and once they hear what just went down, they’ll send them in. We just have to hold on until then,” he whispered.
“How long do you think that will be? You saw how big those guys are. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle them both. Dante said if I fail—we all die,” Havoc said.
“Yeah, that was hard to miss, man,” Cillian whispered. “And, if your guys move in before we can find Chloe then this was all for nothing, Hart.”
“Shit,” Havoc swore. “So no pressure, but I have to take down two behemoths and do it fast so we can find Chloe?”
“Yeah,” Cillian agreed. “You up for that?”
Havoc shook his head and smiled. “You were always an optimist, Cillian,” Havoc said. “Whatever happens, we need to find Chloe because letting any one of those assholes touch her isn’t going to happen,” Cillian said.
“Agreed.” Hart nodded to the group of bikers who were filing down the steps and into the basement. They were rowdy and shouting out bets. Money was being collected and Cillian knew his fate was going to be decided in the next few minutes and all he could think about was Viv. He just hoped like hell he’d get the chance to tell her how much he loved her.
Dante walked down the stairs and held up his hands as if demanding everyone’s silence. His club quickly quieted and he turned to face Cillian, Havoc, and Hart. “It looks like we have a change in plans,” Dante shouted. “Our merchandise has arrived and is ready to be purchased. Since we have so many esteemed guests here with us tonight, I don’t want to keep everyone waiting. So, we will have our little match after our auction.”
Cillian panicked. If they were caged up for the auction, how would he get to Chloe and get her out of there? “Shit,” Cillian breathed. He watched as three young girls were brought down the stairs wearing blindfolds. He knew Chloe as soon as he saw her and the two girls with her didn’t look much older than Savage’s daughter.
“Bring them up here,” Dante ordered. “Gentlemen, we have three young virgins tonight. Remember—I need for them to be verified virgins after they spend the evening in your care. Bidding starts at five thousand dollars and You can use them as you see fit, as long as you bring them back virgins.” Chloe sobbed and Dante nodded at the enforcer who was holding her by the arm. The asshole pulled a ball gag from his pocket and put it in Chloe’s mouth. Her cries rang through the basement and Cillian wanted to fucking kill the asshole who was hurting her.
“Bid,” Hart whispered.
“What?” Cillian asked.
“Bid. If you can purchase the girl, Dante might let you out of the cage. That will at least give you a figh
ting chance to get her out of here,” Hart whispered. “It’s worth a shot.”
“I don’t have money to bid,” Cillian said.
“Yeah, you do. Just before we came here today, I had a hundred thousand transferred to your account. I thought we might need to buy our way into the club, so I took the initiative and put the money in your account.”
“What about you guys?” Cillian questioned. “And, the other two girls?”
“You get Chloe out and call in back up,” Havoc said. The crowd grew louder by the minute and Cillian knew the bidding was about to begin. He had nothing to lose by bidding and hell, maybe the guys were right and that might be their only way to get Chloe out and call in help.
“Here, we have Savage’s little girl. Making her yours will be retribution for everything that bastard has put us through.” The guys' cheers were defending and Dante held up his hands again to quiet his men.
“The bidding starts at five thousand,” Dante said. Cillian watched as hands started raising around the cage and before he knew it, the bid was up to fifty thousand.
“Shit,” Cillian growled. “That’s half of what you said you deposited.”
“Just wait a little longer. Come in at the end and bid it all,” Havoc whispered.
Cillian waited and watched as bidding slowed and when they got up to eighty thousand, Dante was about to announce Chloe sold to an older guy who stood in the back of the room.
“If there aren’t any more bids,” Dante shouted.
“One hundred thousand,” Cillian shouted from inside the cage. Dante slowly turned to face the three of them and his amused smirk was deceiving. Cillian could see the threat behind his eyes. He worried that pissing Dante off was the wrong call but in most club’s it would go against their code of honor if Dante didn’t honor Cillian’s bid. His money was as good as anyone else’s in the room. The only question would be if Dante would accept it given the fact that he wasn’t a guest but more a prisoner at the moment.
