After reaching for the door handle and attempting to open it, he gazed in our direction and shook his head.
Fuck.
Half way back to where we were positioned on the south side of the house, Toad stopped, tilted his head to the side, and raised clenched fist. As he appeared to be listening to something, Axton and I exchanged awkward glances. As Toad rose into a low crouch I turned to face Axton.
“What the fuck is he doing?” I whispered.
Axton shrugged his shoulders.
And Toad disappeared toward the front of the house.
“Fuck,” Axton sighed.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“Hold tight,” Axton whispered.
“Fuck that,” I responded.
Axton narrowed his gaze and clenched his jaw muscles, “He told us to hold tight. Hold tight. He’s got about ten years of experience doing this shit on a daily basis, we’ll follow his lead.”
Axton no more than finished speaking, and the sound of Toad whistling came from the front of the house.
Axton stood. Somewhat reluctantly, I stood.
“All clear,” Axton said as he began to walk around the rear of the home.
I wrinkled my nose slightly and tilted my head his direction, “You two do this shit all the fuckin’ time?”
Axton grinned his shitty little grin.
As we came around the front of the house I immediately noticed the garage door was open. It was closed when we had driven past the home the first time. Although Toad wasn’t immediately visible, as we stepped into the garage, he was.
He had Kyle in a Marine choke hold, and was grinning from ear to ear.
“Fucker was trying to get in his truck and get out of here,” Toad grunted.
“You motherfucker, I’m going to kill you,” I seethed, “Can he hear me?”
“He can hear you just fine. Can’t respond though,” he said.
“Let him go,” I growled as I stepped toward the driveway and started to peel off my ridiculous rubber gloves Toad had made us wear.
“We already talked about this, and leave those god damned gloves on,” Axton snapped back as he turned to face me.
We had discussed all of the possibilities Toad could come up with for capturing Kyle, and lightly covered what we intended to do with him after we caught him. Although I agreed at the time not to beat Kyle – primarily to shut Axton up – honoring the agreement wasn’t easy.
“I took a Beretta nine from him when I grabbed him. Think he knew we were coming,” Toad said over Kyle’s shoulder as he tilted his head toward the front of the truck.
“Devil looks after his own, it’ll save us from searching for one,” Axton said as he walked toward Toad.
“Biscuit, shut the garage door,” Axton said flatly.
“Toad, drag his ass in the house. Take him to his bedroom,” Axton said as he bent over to pick up the pistol.
Toad walked backward toward the door that led into the house. Still fuming with anger about what Kyle did to Kat, I followed close behind, and shut the garage door with the wall mounted button as I stepped into the threshold of the door. .
A quick search of the house by Axton revealed two bedrooms, one with a bed and one full of weight lifting equipment. Toad drug Kyle into the room with a bed while I followed. As Toad rolled onto the bed with Kyle in his arms, Axton bent over and grabbed a pillow.
“We’re going to need to fire two rounds…”Axton began.
“Nope, just tell me when you’re ready,” Toad grunted.
Axton narrowed his eyes and glared at Toad, “He’s got to have residue on his hands.”
Toad nodded his head, “He will. Just tell me when you’re ready.”
“Got anything you want to say to him?” Axton asked as he turned to face me, handing me the pillow.
Faking a suicide wasn’t near as satisfying to me as beating Kyle to death with my bare hands. For me to beat him and not beat him to death would have probably been impossible. According to Toad and Axton, beating him would have left my DNA all over his body, and eventually I would have been caught. Even in my state of mind, what they said made perfect sense. So far, as we were all wearing rubber gloves and stocking caps, leaving our DNA at the scene wasn’t impossible, but it was far from probable.
Kyle’s eyes were wide and bulging as Toad continued to squeeze him in the chokehold. I stared at him blankly as his face contorted with each movement on Toad’s part. As much as I felt I needed to say, I didn’t want to give Kyle any satisfaction knowing how I felt, nor did I want to allow him to understand he played a part in causing me to feel the grief that filled as a result of what he had done to Kat.
I clenched my jaw and alternated glances between Axton and Toad, “Nope. How’s this work?”
“I’m going to knock him unconscious. It’ll last about ten or fifteen seconds. You cover his face with a pillow, wrap his hand around the weapon, and use his finger to pull the trigger. Your gloves aren’t torn are they?” he asked.
I glanced down at my hands and inspected my gloves. I shifted my eyes toward Toad and shook my head. Axton slid the slide on the pistol rearward slightly, checked the breech for a round, nodded his head, and handed it to me.
“It’s ready,” he said.
Toad positioned himself on the side of the bed, holding Kyle in front of him with his legs dangling over the edge of the bed. In this position, it would appear to any investigator that Kyle regretted what he had done, sat in the edge of his bed, covered his face with a pillow, and shot himself.
His fingerprints would be on the weapon, the weapon was his personal Beretta, and his hand would be covered in the residue from firing the gun.
A simple suicide.
I glanced toward Toad, gripped the pistol in my hand, and nodded my head once.
In a blur of a movement, Toad released Kyle from the chokehold and immediately struck him sharply in the neck with the back of his palm. Kyle collapsed onto the bed. Quickly, Toad shifted onto his back and held Kyle upright by his lower back as he lay behind him.
“Hurry the fuck up,” Toad howled.
As I pressed the pillow into Kyle’s face Axton reached around me and held it in place. I grabbed Kyle’s limp arm and attempting to position his finger through the trigger guard of the pistol. After a few seconds of awkward fumbling, I held his hand in mine. I twisted his arm into place, pressing the pistol into the pillow and against his face.
While trying to make sense of it all in my head, Kyle began to regain consciousness. Nervously, I clenched his hand in mine, pressed against his finger, and waited.
The sound of the pistol firing was almost deafening. As much as I had fired guns at various objects and in multiple situations, I had never fired one in the confines of a bedroom. As my ears rang and the taste of cordite filled the air, Toad rolled to the side and Kyle slumped onto the bed.
“Don’t touch anything. Leave him lay there as natural as possible,” Toad said as he jumped from the bed.
Toad began to brush the imperfections from the comforter with a decorative pillow.
I gazed at him slightly confused and a little uneasy about everything. Beating the life out of Kyle seemed a natural choice to me, and shooting him - now that it was over with - seemed instantaneous, permanent, and almost criminal.
I would have never guessed a feeling other than satisfaction would have filled me, but I was wrong. Although I wasn’t remorseful about what we had done, it was apparent part of me regretted the manner we chose to do it.
After smoothing the comforter free of all of the wrinkles except the ones Kyle’s limp body created, Toad clutched the decorative pillow in his arms - leaving the one with the bullet hole on the bed - and turned toward the door.
“You alright, Brother?” Axton asked as he patted me on the shoulder.
I nodded my head.
With each step we took toward the river, I became more at peace with shooting Kyle. Although ridding this earth of Kyle wasn’t necessarily my
responsibility - or anyone’s for that matter - doing so prevented him from repeating what he had done to Kat with anyone else. It also eliminated the possibility of him raising a child in the same atmosphere I was raised in. As we approached the truck, I wondered what my life would have been like if my father would have been absent throughout my childhood.
The thought of growing up without my father in my life satisfied me completely, further convincing me what happened to Kyle was ultimately what needed to happen exactly when it needed to happen. As I gazed down at the riverbank, Axton gripped my shoulder.
“You getting in?” he asked.
I nodded my head toward the river and sighed.
“We’re telling her he wasn’t home, right?” I asked over my shoulder as I slid into the front seat of the truck.
“We came here and he wasn’t home. What happened today stays here, with us. And this is the last we’ll discuss it,” Axton responded.
I sat quietly and gazed through the windshield as Tater drove along the edge of the river and toward the county road. As I considered exactly what we had done, I realized completely it wasn’t Axton’s or Toad’s first effort. The precautionary steps that were taken, the pillow, lack of DNA and fingerprints – even the smoothing of the bed with the pillow…
I glanced over my shoulder.
The pillow Toad had used was positioned between them in the rear seat.
I shifted my eyes to the windshield and gazed with unfocused eyes as the trees lining the edge of the river passed us, wondering just how many people the Selected Sinners had eliminated from the bowels of society.
And what a fractionally better place the world was as a result.
KAT
My time in the shop with Jack passed quickly, and was very entertaining and informative. We discussed his time in prison, being released recently, and his accepting the ATF agent who arrested him as only doing his job. He also confided in me that he and his sister, Toad’s fiancée, had grown up in and out of orphanages, and eventually landed at a foster home, living with an overbearing preacher for several years.
His insight into the difficulties of a child growing up in a broken home – and without parents – caused me to wonder just what the future might hold for my baby. Ultimately, regardless of the environment the child was reared in, growing up without Kyle in his or her life would be much better than growing up in any environment with him.
After Jack did what he could to clean me up and make a repair to a cut high on my left cheek, I reapplied my makeup. I now resembled the girls in school I made fun of – the one’s with too much makeup – but at least I did not look like I had been beaten.
As we sat and talked in what he described as Axton’s office, the sound of approaching angels filled the air.
“Sounds like they’re back,” he said as he stood.
“Thank you, for everything,” I sighed as I stood from my seat.
“Anything for the Ol’ Lady of a brother,” he nodded.
Hearing him describe me as Dalton’s Ol’ Lady seemed odd. In no more than a few days my life had again changed, sending me in another direction altogether. I was certain the change was for the better, but accepting it as reality wasn’t first nature for me by any stretch of the imagination.
As we walked into the hallway, the rumbling sound of the motorcycle’s exhaust stopped. I gazed out of the hallway and into the garage. Toad, Axton and Dalton stood beside their bikes talking.
“Did you hit him once for me?” I chuckled as I walked toward Dalton.
“Motherfucker wasn’t home,” he shrugged, “Hell, we looked all over the fuckin’ country for the prick. Finally gave up and came back. Cocksucker’s gonna get it when we finally find him.”
“A-fucking-men to that,” Toad said as he pounded his hand into his fist.
“Probably a good thing he wasn’t there,” Axton growled as he turned my direction.
“You’re looking much better. Did Jack clean you up?” Axton asked.
“He did,” I said as I turned toward Jack and grinned.
Axton nodded his head toward Jack. I glanced toward Jack. Jack nodded his head in return. As Dalton wrapped his arm around my shoulder, he leaned over and studied my face. After a few seconds, he nodded his head once and grinned.
He shrugged his shoulders and glanced toward Jack, “Hell, I can’t even tell.”
“Damned sure wasn’t the first time I had to doctor somebody up. Damned sure won’t be the last,” Jack responded.
I realized although at that particular moment I felt safe, and free of Kyle’s abusive tendencies, I couldn’t keep away from him forever. Sooner or later, as he always seemed to, he would find me. When he did, there was little remaining doubt that he would be civil and kind. Dalton held me against his shoulder as I stood listening to the men talk, wondering all the while what Kyle’s next visit might bring. I glanced around the group, silently hoping they would find Kyle before he found me – and that whatever their punishment consisted of would be sufficient in convincing him to leave me alone forever.
I didn’t know for certain what the laws were regarding visitation of a child, but I suspected Kyle would have certain rights regardless of what my concerns were. Even the thought of him coming into contact with my baby sickened me to no end. As I stood at Dalton’s side not paying so much as an ounce of attention to what they were talking about, I turned my head toward Dalton and waited for him to finish speaking.
“I bet he retires from fightin’ long before anyone beats him,” Dalton said as he waved his hand toward Axton.
“What’s on your mind, Kat?” he asked as he shifted his eyes to meet mine.
I grinned and shrugged my shoulders, “Nothing really.”
“Probably worn the fuck out, aren’t ya?” he asked.
I nodded my head.
“Well, let’s get my truck and come back to your place and get your stuff. You alright staying with me?” he asked.
Oh hell yes.
“I’d like that,” I responded.
“Well, fellas, as much as I’d like to stay and mingle, I better get this poor girl home,” he said.
“If you need anything,” Axton said.
I melted into Dalton’s shoulder, feeling more secure than I had previously.
“I’m talking to you. You sure you don’t have a concussion?” Axton asked.
“I’m sorry. Were you talking to me?” I asked.
“I said if you need anything…I just want to let you know, whatever it is you need, you just let Biscuit know. We’ll get it handled for you,” Axton said.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were talking to me,” I responded.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and crossed his arms. “Well, I was. Don’t forget what I said, either.”
“I won’t. Thank you,” I responded.
“If you need any help with that makeup, have Biscuit give me a holler,” Jack chuckled.
“I’ll do it,” I responded.
Toad leaned over to hug Dalton, and I stepped aside. As he pulled away he slapped Dalton on the back and grinned.
“If that fucker shows up, give me a call. I want first jab at him,” Toad said.
“You can have him when I’m done,” Dalton grunted.
“Maybe you could hold him while I kick him in his nuts,” I said.
“Oh shit,” Axton chuckled, “We got us a little fighter.”
“You can count on it,” Toad responded with a nod.
“We’re headin’ out before it gets too late. If he shows up, I’ll get at ya,” Dalton said as he opened his saddlebag.
“Throw your purse in here,” he said as he extended his hand.
He placed my purse in the saddlebag and latched it. After he got on the bike, I got on the back and relaxed into the seat. Being on the bike with him I felt safe – almost incapable of being harmed. I wanted to retain the feeling forever, but realized nothing in this world is forever. As he pulled out of the garage and into the street,
I wondered just how long he’d have me stay with him.
When we were at the apartment he did claim I was his Ol’ Lady.
I wonder just what that means, anyway?
As we pulled away from the stop sign and along the street leading to the highway, I squeezed him lightly in my arms. When we got to his house I’d text Avery and have her explain biker protocol to me.
Hopefully being his Ol’ Lady meant he was going to keep Kyle away from me for a long, long time.
But nothing lasts forever.
KAT
Four days had passed since anyone had heard from Kyle, and even his boss contacted me regarding his whereabouts. Dalton had driven to his house twice trying to find him, but each time Kyle was gone. I began to feel more comfortable about his being away, and hoped he had simply decided to leave the area for fear of what may happen to him if he didn’t. I chose not to press the issue with Dalton regarding my staying at his house, and decided just to enjoy it as long as it lasted.
I would have never guessed that anything could have increased my sexual desire, but being pregnant acted as some type of an accelerant to my already overly active sexual cravings. We had spent every spare moment either fucking, recovering from fucking, or seeking nourishment so we could fuck again. Jokingly, Dalton had shared with me the previous night that he was afraid he’d met his sexual match.
If there was an upside, I guess it would be that I didn’t have to worry about getting pregnant.
With his weight against my back and his mouth pressed against my ear, he inhaled a deep breath and exhaled into the side of my face. As his beard tickled the skin on my neck, I raised my shoulder for any relief I might be able to receive. He pressed with a little more force, moving my head and shoulder apart even further.
“Don’t fight me, Kat,” he breathed into my ear.
“I’m not. I’m just…”
“Just what? Done?” he asked.
His warm breath against my ear sent chills down my spine. I blinked my eyes a few times, focused on the headboard, and shook my head.
Hung (Selected Sinners MC #4) Page 18
