I peered over at Rock and watched him draw in a deep breath. The sun had risen high in the sky now, which meant so many things would be exposed about what we were doing. And since I’d essentially hung up on the one man who was in a position to hurt Brynn, I knew we had to act quickly.
“Rock is our technological guru. He triangulated--”
“I don’t give a shit what he did, or what you did for that matter. We’ve got one shot to roll up on these assholes and get my princess before all hell breaks loose. I wanna hear where she is from someone’s fucking mouth.”
“She’s at--”
“No,” Dean said. “From one of their mouths.”
I bit down onto the inside of my cheek. Of course, this asshole would wanna do this the old school way. That’s how the Black Hornets did all their shit. The old school way, with old school tactics, and old school attitude and strength. But we were wasting time. I knew where Brynn was. I was confident in what Rock had found as well as what I’d heard. But I knew if I wanted Brynn’s father’s fucking club on our side, I had to compromise and do this at least a little bit their way.
“Fine,” I said. “But there’s only one place where any Black Saddle will be right now.”
“Then lead the damn way,” Dean said.
I struck up my bike and everyone else fell in line. I was in front, Dean eased up to my side, and everyone else fell in two distinct lines behind us. The two leaders of the two clubs The Black Saddles had fucked with. We cruised down the road as we made our way to the Saddles lodge, making sure no one was lost in the process. And once we hit the back roads that led straight to their place, we kicked it into gear.
“You guys go around back! We need them surrounded!” I exclaimed.
Dean gave me a thumb’s up before signaling for his men to break off. All of my guys lined the front of the beat-up lodge, still riddled with bullet holes from the last time we were there. And the Black Hornets rounded around the back of the building and covered the rest of the exits. Dean even had a couple of guys stationed at the sewer dumps at the road, in case any of them got really desperate.
But I knew they wouldn’t.
The Black Saddles would shoot their way out before cowering into the sewers.
All of us hopping on our bikes meant we weren’t going to agree to turning ourselves in. And Dean’s club coming with us meant they backed up that decision. Which meant the time we spent doing this shit his way was more time we risked Rex hurting Brynn. Word would get back to him the second we rolled up onto his property, so we needed to be quick about this.
So, I drew in a deep breath before I got off my bike.
We crashed through the front door of the lodge as Dean came through the back. And just as I suspected, a few of the prospects waiting on Rex’s orders were sitting at the damn bar, slinging back beers. By the looks of it, they were a few too many in. Their eyes were a little glassy and their cell phones hung out on top of the bar.
Easy for us to get to.
“Unplug the telephones,” I said to Rock. “Every single one you can find.”
“On it,” he said.
“Grave? Smash their cell phones.”
“With pleasure,” he said.
“Lock the doors and turn down the lights, boys. Because this is about to get intimate,” Dean said.
Then we began picking off the prospects, one by one.
Dean became heavy-handed with his fists, but since none of his guys made a move to stop him, neither did I. He beat one of them within an inch of their life before he dragged them off to talk to them, but I was saving my energy for Rex. I dragged one of the prospects to a chair in the corner and sat him down before Brewer duct taped his hands and wrists to the chair I sat him in.
Then, I leaned forward and spoke very carefully.
“You’ve got one shot before I hand you over to the man dragging your buddies down that hallway,” I said. “Do you understand?”
The prospect nodded his head rapidly as screams of pain and terror echoed off the corners of the bar. I had no idea what Dean was doing to that man, but I knew it wasn’t good.
“Are you familiar with a woman by the name of Brynn?” I asked. “And don’t lie to me, because I’ll know when you are.”
His eyes darted around to the guys that surrounded him as I drew in a deep breath. I studied his carotid. I watched it speed up and slow down as he debated on what to say to me. I looked back up to his eyes and watched his pupils dilate and I readied myself for a smackdown. I wasn’t going to tolerate this fucker lying to me, no matter how young he was.
His boss had the woman I loved.
And I wasn’t leaving without the answers her father wanted.
“You’ve got four seconds to answer me,” I said.
More screams of terror before the cracking of bones resounded from the hallway. And I could tell the prospect in front of me was about to shit himself. His eyes locked with mine as his pulse grew, but I watched his pupils settle back into place.
Good. The adrenaline of a lie was no longer coursing through his veins.
“I know of her, yeah,” the guy said.
“Good. You told the truth. I like that,” I said with a grin. “Now, tell me. Does Rex have her?”
“Yes,” the guy said.
Steady pulse. Even eyes. No awkward shifting in his seat.
“See? You’re getting the hang of this,” I said. “Is she being held in a warehouse? By some train tracks?”
“Don’t tell them any--!”
A gunshot popping off before something hit the floor rose tears to the prospect’s eyes. I felt bad for the kid. He looked to be no more than twenty years old. I remembered back to when I was twenty. When I was just a prospect for the Dead Souls and thought I had my entire fucking life ahead of me. The young man looked positively petrified at what was going on, and I had no doubt that Dean had just killed his little drinking buddy.
“You’ll suffer the same fate if you don’t talk, boy,” Dean said as he came up behind me.
“Y-Y-Yes,” he said, “Rex took Brynn to a warehouse just outside of Redding. By the train tracks that bridge Anderson and here. Please, don’t kill me. I swear, all I was doing was waiting for Rex to tell me when to--”
“When to what?” I asked.
The man whimpered as Dean cocked his hand back and slammed it down onto the boy’s cheek.
“Was that really necessary?” I asked as I looked up at him. “If you break his jaw, he can’t give you what you want.”
Dean eyed me hotly before I turned my attention back to the young man in front of me.
“Before you what?” I asked.
“I was only waiting for a call from Rex telling me when to come get him. That’s it. I don’t know why I had to go get him, but I have the address. It’s in my phone your friend smashed.”
“Don’t worry. We already have the address of that warehouse. We only needed your verbal confirmation,” I said.
“You… you already what?”
“Dean?”
“Yeah, Diesel?”
“He’s yours,” I said.
“Wait. Wait, wait, wait. I have more information! Rex is informing the U.S. Attorney on you guys! Mick wasn’t the only rat! Please, no. Don’t. Stop it, please! Rex is a rat, too!”
“Trust me,” I said as I turned around.
I watched Dean level his gun to the young man’s head as my eyes connected with his.
“We already know that, too.”
I eyed Dean carefully, then shook my head. A man as young as him didn’t need to die tonight. Dean grunted before he lowered his gun, then shot a bullet into each of the boy’s knee caps. Even if he got free from his binds, he wouldn’t be able to get himself anywhere. And the last thing I needed was Dean’s lust for death getting the best of him. He had what he wanted. He had the verbal confirmation an old school guy like him needed. We all walked outside, leaving the phones unplugged and the young man bound and bleeding as we made our way fo
r our bikes.
“Convinced my guys can do a damn job now?” I asked.
Dean glared at me before him and the rest of the Black Hornets got onto their bikes and struck them up.
“Let’s go get my daughter,” he said as he revved his engine. “Then we can figure it out from there.”
We took off down the road, racing as quickly as we could. Even with the phones out and the cell phones not working, it would only be a matter of time before Rex called and knew something wasn’t right. And we were still thirty fucking minutes out from that damn warehouse. Doing it Dean’s way meant backtracking fifteen fucking minutes just to get him what he wanted. He was a father on a mission and he wasn’t thinking straight. But I knew that anger of his could be turned on myself and my men in a heartbeat, and I figured my fiancé wouldn’t enjoy me having to slaughter the only people she considered family on principle.
We weaved in and out of traffic and I was no longer concerned with whether or not people could keep up. All I cared about was getting to Brynn. Because if Rex laid a finger on her, I wouldn’t stop until the entire lot of them were dead. Until the Black Saddles’ blood lined the streets of Redding. I’d gladly do myself in and run my ass out of town if it meant destroying their club. So many things ran through my mind as I raced through town, each one sicker than the last.
In a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, no one would hear Brynn scream. And if Rex was operating under the mentality that he knew Brynn and I were engaged, then he could be acting as a jilted lover. Which brought everything from rape to death onto the table. If Rex was acting like a man still hell-bent on taking down my club, then he could be acting as a torturer. Trying to find some sort of leverage to still get us out of town once his phone call went awry.
Either way, we’d left Brynn in his hands far longer than I ever planned.
Which meant if Rex had done something to her, Dean was partially responsible for it.
“Diesel!”
Knox pulled up beside me as I turned to look at him.
“What!?” I called out.
“Slow down! We’re gonna get our asses pulled and tossed in jail before we get there!”
I revved my engine and pulled away from him, leaving him in my fucking dust. I’d outrun the cops if it was necessary. And if we got pulled, Brewer could work some of his magic. But nothing was standing in my way, not even a threat of going to jail. I tore off the main road and began taking back roads. I knocked into trash cans down alleyways and hopped backyards to get to other side roads. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the sign that told me I was leaving Redding, because I knew that meant I was only a few minutes out.
“Come on, Brynn,” I murmured to myself. “Hang in there.”
The only thing I could hope was that Rex needed us to turn ourselves in as much as he led on. That was the only way he would keep Brynn alive for this long.
Chapter 18
Brynn
I stood behind a door as the sound of boot steps came down the hallway of the warehouse. I gripped the piece of wood as tightly as I could, turning it in the palms of my hands. I saw the man’s shadow. I heard his breathing. And I had to make sure I timed my assault right, because if he alerted his club to the fact that something was wrong, I’d be in trouble. Thankfully, the room was dark. So, once he stepped through the door he had to take a second to fish through his pants to try and find a flashlight or something.
Which gave me time to step out, cock my hips, and swing the wood straight for his chest.
The nails sank into his skin and I heard him draw in a deep breath. But when he went to scream, the only sound that came out was coughing. I pulled back and swung again, knocking him in the head. The nails didn’t sink in, but it did knock him out. Which gave me the time to pull him into a very dark corner to tie him up. I bound his ankles and his wrists, then took off a small jacket I had on and cleaned up the small blood trail on the ground. I kicked some dust and dirt over it to cover it up, then I grabbed the stick and slowly made my way into the hallway.
I heard loud voices laughing all the way at the end of the hall. And as I approached the open door, I ducked into a shadowy spot. I looked at the window, trying to catch a glimpse of a reflection to see who all was in that room. I recognized Rex’s voice, and I heard many others. But I didn’t know exactly how many men were in it.
However, once I got close enough to catch the reflection in the window, I counted six men, including Rex.
Shit. I was grossly outnumbered.
I had to find a way out of that place. Even if it took me into the woods and got me lost, it was better than staying here and waiting for someone to find out I’d hurt one of their own. I gripped the stick in my hand and backtracked down the other end of the hallway. I had to figure out how to get out of this place. At the very least, I needed another place to hide. Surely someone would go looking for that man in a few minutes, and I needed to make sure I was well hidden. I used the trick my father taught me when I was a little girl. How to creep silently, no matter how fast I had to move.
My footfalls became nothing but a distant memory as I moved without a sound, tracing my hand along the cold metal walls and traveling down the corridors. One hallway bled into another, and soon I couldn’t even remember how to get back to where I had started. The hallway I was walking down dead-ended into nothing. Just a heavy door that didn’t seem to be locked. I pressed my ear to the cold surface to see if I could hear voices behind it, but there was nothing but the sound of crickets chirping off in the distance. Not even the sounds of Rex and his men laughing could be heard any longer.
How big was this damn place?
I gripped the handle and opened the door, cringing at the loud sound it made. It creaked and groaned. It scraped across the floor. And nothing but darkness poured from its caverns. I looked behind me to see if someone was following me, then took a chance and stepped into the room.
And I stumbled onto a pair of stairs.
With my hand sliding along the wall, I took the rickety steps up. The warehouse had a second floor to it. Were there more men waiting for me up there? I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to take any chances. So, I gripped my nailed piece of wood and drew it over my head. Step by step, I walked up. Until I was met with yet another door. I held my breath and paused, listening for any sounds in front of me or behind me.
Then, I reached out and pushed that door open before stumbling into a hallway.
The place was covered in thick dust. So much so that it caused me to cough. But the fresh movement of the door pattern in the dirt on the floor told me no one had been up here. Relief coursed through my veins. There was nothing in the dust on the floor. No boot prints. No hand prints. Nothing to indicate that anyone had been up there recently at any point in time. I closed the door behind me and locked it, knowing that if someone forced their way through it I’d hear it from wherever I was on the second floor.
Then, I began to explore.
So many rooms shot off from the hallway, and by peering out the windows that lined the other side I saw the back of the warehouse. At least, I thought it was the back. I didn’t see any bikes or anything when I looked out. Only desert for miles and miles. The sky twinkled with stars and the moon hung heavy in the sky. It was almost picturesque, despite the reality I found myself in. I drew in a deep breath before coughing again, then I continued down the hallway. I pushed open every door to check and make sure no one was camped out there for any reason.
Then, I sat down in one of the rooms.
I drew my legs to my chest and buried my face into my knees. I couldn’t hear a single thing. Only the sounds of nature, the sound of wind whipping along the windows, and the sound of my sniffling. I didn’t want to cry. I needed to be strong. But for all I knew, no one was coming for me. I wasn’t sure if Diesel would be able to figure out where I was in enough time.
And with each passing moment, I started convincing myself that I was probably going to die.
All
alone on the second floor of that warehouse, I started to cry. Tears slid down my cheeks as memories assaulted my mind. Diesel’s laughter. His kiss. His voice and the way he commanded my body. The beauty I felt whenever I was in his arms and the care he always took with me whenever I was around. I’d come back for him. I needed to admit that to myself. Sure, I wanted to see my father again. And yeah, I wanted to open my own restaurant. But the second my father mentioned his name over the phone, my entire purview switched.
I fought to come home for him in that moment. And now, I had lost him.
I laid myself down onto the floor of the warehouse and allowed my tears to fall. I didn’t sob. I didn’t wail. I didn’t cry out. They leaked down my skin and wet the dust beneath my cheek as my nose tried not to choke on the dusty world swirling around me. What little bit of sunlight might have been left in the sky had completely dissipated, leaving me and this warehouse in the middle of fucking nowhere cloaked for another night.
Eventually, they would come looking for me.
Eventually, Rex would find me.
And the only thing I knew to do was to fight my way out. Even if it killed me. Even if it killed them.
Chapter 19
Diesel
A motorcycle came to a careening halt in front of me and I slammed on my breaks. Sand and dirt around us kicked up as a legion of bikes came to a grinding halt behind me. I leveled my eyes at Rock as the smoke and dust cleared. I revved my engine, trying to get him the fuck out of my way. But all he did was kick down his stand, turn off his bike, and get off the damn thing.
“The fuck are you doing?” I asked.
“You’re being reckless, Diesel. You need to think about this.”
“Why the hell is everyone so damn hell-bent on stopping me from getting Brynn!?”
“Because you aren’t thinking clearly enough to do this without her getting hurt,” Rock said.
“He’s right,” Knox said. “It’s what we’ve been trying to tell you while you’re trying to play with everyone else’s rules. You aren’t playing by your own because you’re too damn scared of pissing her dad off.”
Diesel (Dead Souls MC Book 5) Page 11
