One Wild Ride

by Shyla Colt

  Moose scrambled toward where he thought the spray was coming from. Crawling along the filthy wooden floor, he hissed when a bullet caught his vest. The ping of bullets hitting the hard surface and ricocheting fell into the background. The thwack of a bullet hitting flesh was followed by a cry of pain. Was that one of ours? A flurry of motion exploded as people scrambled around. Tiny grabbed a shotgun from behind the bar and blew out the window. They returned fire. Tires squealed and the shooting came to an abrupt halt.

  “Catch those motherfuckers! Don’t let them get away. Someone go over there and put a tourniquet on him before he bleeds out,” Tiny barked.

  Moose squinted and stood. Clarity returned, and his heart sank. Maverick had been hit. A pool of blood had begun to form beneath him. The front door burst open and bikers flooded out the door.

  One of the Eights knelt beside Maverick with a bandana, intent on stopping the blood flowing from somewhere in his leg. Moose still felt dazed. He saw a few others shuffling to the window like zombies. Moose’s eyes landed on Tiny.

  Tiny’s eyes flashed with anger and his face was mottled red. A vein throbbed in the middle of his forehead and other smaller ones stood out on his neck. The holes in his shirt and jacket were a very real reminder of the almost-massacre.

  “We got one of the bastards,” Wanderer said. Two of his men dragged in a bloodied, bruised man with a lanky frame. His head hung down, obscuring his face from view.

  Moose turned.

  Wanderer shoved the man onto the floor. A tight circle formed around the prisoner.

  “He helped spill your man’s blood. I’m going to let you do what you need to make this right,” Wanderer said. “But I suggest you do it fast because we don’t know if more are coming. We’ll stay here and beef up your numbers.”

  Tiny nodded. “You came after my family, so we both know you have to die. If you tell me what I want to know, I’ll make it fast.” Tiny gripped the man’s hair and pulled his head back. “Me, personally? I hope you don’t talk.” Tiny bared his teeth. “Then I can teach you firsthand why you don’t fuck with Mayhem.”

  The blood drained from the man’s face and his eyes darted back and forth.

  “You have a short time frame, ’cause I’m not a patient man. I’ll give you a minute to decide starting…” Tiny looked down at his watch. “Now.”

  The silence in the room became deafening.

  Moose met Shooter’s gaze from across the room. A silent exchange occurred between them. They were both okay.

  “Time’s up.” Tiny grinned. “Boys, go bring in the kit.”

  “No,” the man whispered.

  “You expecting backup?” Tiny asked.

  The man remained silent. Tiny delivered a well-aimed kick to the back of his knee. The prisoner screamed.

  “Let me repeat the question. Are you expecting backup?” Tiny asked.

  “N-no.”

  “Who do you work for?” Tiny asked.

  “It was nothing personal, just a job,” the man said.

  “A job?” Tiny asked.

  “We were hired to take out the people here.”

  “I don’t think I believe you. Wanderer, how about you take a turn?” Tiny said.

  “With pleasure.” Wanderer popped his knuckles, and delivered a punishing blow to the man’s jaw. The beating continued relentlessly. The man slumped forward.

  “Get him up, Snubs,” Wanderer said.

  Snubs held him up by his hair.

  “You ready to talk now?” Tiny asked.

  “L-Levi, Levi.” The man moaned.

  “The fuck did he just say?” Shooter said.

  “You know him?” Wanderer asked.

  “Isn’t that the name of the guy Evonne is dating? I find it hard to believe that’s a coincidence.”

  “Fuck, Joey had dinner with him tonight. Well, him and Evonne,” Moose said.

  “Call her,” Wanderer said.

  “Everyone get on the phone with your family and your significant others, make sure they’re okay. Tell them to initiate lockdown protocol,” Tiny said.

  The thought of Joey being hurt made Moose sick to his stomach. Moose gave a curt nod and stepped away, pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. He didn’t even have a home for her to bunk down in. The conversation with her father haunted him. I’ll take care of, I’ll protect. Well, I’m doing a shit job right now. The phone rang and went to voicemail. Dread bottomed out his stomach. He hung up and dialed again. The sound of the recorded message made him want to gag. “I think we have a problem.” Moose swallowed heavily.

  “What’s up?” Tiny turned to look at him.

  “Joey isn’t answering,” Moose said.

  “Try her friends first, then give her one more call before we panic,” Wanderer said.

  Moose nodded and began to dial the girls up one by one. When Hil and Juliette ended up accounted for, his stomach dropped to his knees.

  “Evonne and Joey aren’t answering,” Moose said.

  “Son of a bitch,” Wanderer barked.

  “Fuck.” Moose ran a hand through his hair.

  “Is there anywhere else she could be?” Tiny asked.

  “This late at night?” Moose shook his head no.

  “I want everything we can find on this Levi character. Specs, start running a trace on their cellphones, so we can figure out where they are.”

  Images of the horrors Joey could be suffering played in Moose’s head like a twisted snuff film. If their goal was to hurt, there’d be no bargaining, pleading or mercy. Suddenly, he felt like that helpless son years before. Unable to do anything more than wait and hope for the best. The position distorted his mental state of mind.

  Chapter Thirteen

  An hour later Moose sat in the small office while Specs and Gadget attempted to locate the slippery fucker known as Levi Hampton. The girls had given them all the information they had. No one had his phone number, and other than his last name, there was next to nothing to go on.

  “They can’t have disappeared without a trace, right?” Hilary asked. Her mouth trembled, and her eyes grew glassy.

  “The man has a lot of money. That makes the impossible, possible,” Juliette said.

  “Don’t say that,” Hil snapped, damn near taking her head off.

  “Look, we’re all tense, but this won’t get us anywhere,” Shooter said.

  Moose ground his teeth. Nothing he had to say would be nice. It was better to keep his trap shut.

  “I think I got something on Levi. Whoever doctored his information was good, but no one disappears completely. I know why we couldn’t find shit on Levi. He used to be Lawrence Russell. His eyes are listed as blue, and his hair is blond, and most of his important paperwork is signed with that name,” Gadget said.

  “Lawrence,” Juliette whispered. “God, how far will they go?”

  “Wait—you know him?” Shooter asked.

  “Yes.” Juliette nodded. “He was one of Peter’s friends. I never met him personally, but Peter spoke of him often.”

  “Jesus Christ, this motherfucker will not go away!” Shooter slammed his fist down.

  Glasses rattled, and the girls jumped.

  “I have him,” Gadget interjected. “You’re not going to like it. He’s approaching a private airport in Mansfield.”

  “How far away?”

  “Fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll make it ten. Let’s go,” Moose said jumping up.

  “We don’t even know if he’s alone,” Specs said.

  “You think I give a shit about that right now? I’ll take on a fucking army for Joey,” Moose said. He rose and jogged out the door. “Tiny, we got him!” Moose yelled.

  Tiny stalked over. “Where’s the fucker at?”

  “Private airport,” Shooter answered. “We’re on our way to catch him before he gets away.”

  “Take as many people as you need. I don’t want to lose him,” Tiny said.

  “I’ll put my people in the parking lot. He’
s not slipping past us a second time,” Wanderer announced.

  “Moose, you taking lead on this?” Tiny asked.

  “Damn straight,” Moose said.

  “I figured as much. Keep your vests on. I don’t want any more men down,” Tiny said.

  You all need to stay here,” Moose ordered the women.

  “No one leave until we’re back with Joey, okay? We need to know you’re secure,” Shooter told the women.

  Juliette nodded. “Just bring her back fast, please.”

  A ride had never felt so long even though they made the drive in ten minutes. As they approached the landing strip, they spotted a small jet. The door was open, and the stairs were lowered. Levi held a bundle Moose recognized as Evonne in his arms. Is Joey already on the plane? He accelerated, driving balls to the walls. Levi glanced over his shoulder and hurried his pace, but carrying a person up steps didn’t allow much speed. Moose’s brothers moved into formation. They skidded to a stop at the stairs, and he jumped from his bike. The ladder began to lift. He leaped onto the stairs, hanging on as they continued rising. He struggled to climb farther up. Another body joined him, and another. The mechanism balked at the weight and the stairs came down, slamming into the ground.

  “Put the girl down and come out with your fucking hands up. You know you can’t win this shit, Lawrence,” Moose said, letting the man know they had his number.

  “You hurt me and you’ll never find your woman,” Levi called from inside the plane.

  She’s not here. Moose clambered up the stairs and into the cockpit. Evonne lay on a seat, and Levi stood beside her, a smile on his face. He has me by the balls, and he knows it. I have to shake his arrogance. Moose pulled a knife from his pocket. “You fucked with the wrong M.C., pretty boy,” Moose hissed. “If you think I came without backup or I won’t find a way to extract the information I want from you, you’re more fucked in the head than I originally thought.” He lunged forward and pressed the blade into his neck. Levi’s eyes widened. His pulse point jumped wildly. “Nod your head if you understand that I alone hold your life in my hands and right now, I’m not real keen on seeing you breathe.”

  Levi nodded swiftly.

  “Good. You may think you and your fucked-up friends run everything, but you’re in my world now, motherfucker.”

  Heavy footsteps clomped up the steps. Wanderer appeared looking like a war-weary avenging angel.

  “You’re ours now, boy.”

  Levi swallowed, hard.

  Moose grinned and tightened his hold around the back of Levi’s neck. “Yeah, you’re fucked.”

  “Start walking, motherfucker.” Moose slid the blade down his neck and dug the blade in, piercing Levi’s jacket and shirt. Levi whimpered, and Moose knew he’d drawn blood. “That’s the first of many tonight if you don’t tell me what I need to know. Maybe even if you do. Now walk.” Levi began to move forward. “You thought you’d screw us over and skip town. Fly out of the country and hide out. Doesn’t work that way. We have long memories and ample reach. We would’ve found and followed your stupid ass.” They climbed down the stairs, and Moose saw the black van. He led Levi to the blacked-out fortress.

  Wanderer and Shooter grabbed an arm the minute Levi stepped into the van and quickly lashed his wrists to the arms of a chair.

  Moose slid the door shut behind him and held out his knife, running his finger down the sharp blade. “Let’s take a ride.” The van began to roll along, pulling out of the airport and Moose knelt beside Levi.

  “Are we going to make this easy or hard, Levi? Or should I say, Lawrence?” Wanderer said.

  “We know who you are, and it’s only a matter of time until we figure out who your friends are too,” Moose said.

  “I didn’t figure you animals would have enough IQ to scrape together to figure it out,” Levi spat. His lips twisted, and his nose wrinkled as if he’d been caught upwind of shit.

  “Oh, you still sore about your boy? Didn’t that teach you what we do to mad dogs?” Moose tsked. “It’s not looking good for you as of now.”

  “You think you can take us out one by one and no one will notice?” Levi snickered.

  “Oh no, I didn’t say that.” Moose shook his head, brought the blade over and scraped it down Levi’s hand drawing a thin line of blood. “That’s too easy. I want you to live, suffer as your world goes up in flames around you.”

  Levi huffed. “Killing me is all you’d be capable of doing.”

  “He talks real fancy, don’t he?” Wanderer asked.

  Moose nodded.

  “He’s under the mistaken impression money does shit for him here,” Shooter suggested with a sneer.

  “You shouldn’t have fucked with my daughter,” Wanderer said. He stepped forward and struck Levi across the side of his face.

  Levi’s head whipped toward the right.

  “I don’t hear him saying much now. You might have fixed that disrespect issue,” Moose observed drily. “I also don’t hear anything pleasing to my ears.” He brought the tip of the blade up to Levi’s face. “Maybe I should bring the point home.” He pressed the tip into Levi’s hairline, releasing a slow trickle of blood. Levi began to breathe heavily. “No?” Moose slowly dragged the blade to the right.

  Levi cried out. “You can’t kill me. You’ll never find her.” He panted.

  “Here I thought you were prepared to die and take the secret to your grave,” Moose taunted.

  Levi turned his head away.

  Moose glanced at the others while smirking.

  “Start talking,” Wanderer ordered.

  “Not until we have an agreement,” Levi said firmly.

  “Boy, does this look like the fucking Price is Right to you? Stick him, Moose,” Wanderer demanded.

  “With pleasure.” Moose brought the knife to Levi’s neck.

  He flinched. The blood drained from his face, and his body shook. He clamped his mouth shut. Moose exchanged a look with Wanderer. Levi was tougher than he looked.

  “If I tell you where she is, there’s nothing left to keep me alive. I’m not a stupid man,” Levi said.

  “And if we let you go and you tell us some bullshit, we’re fucked,” Moose said.

  “Let him go. We’ll find him again. You realize that, right, pretty boy? We’re going to hunt you down and kill you slowly for this. What you get today is a brief respite,” Wanderer whispered.

  “Why should I trust you?” Levi asked.

  “Because you have no choice,” Moose deadpanned. “Or do you need a little more persuasion?”

  “No! No. She’s in the asylum.” Levi clutched the seat.

  “You hear that, driver? We got us a new destination,” Wanderer yelled. “If you harmed even one hair on her head…”

  The fear on Levi’s face made Moose growl as he dug the knife into the man’s thigh, burrowing into the flesh beneath his expensive trousers.

  Levi screamed. A dark stain appeared against the material of his pants.

  Moose stopped. “So you remember to keep your hands to yourself. You tell your friends their days are numbered too.” Afraid he’d continue to hack at the man who might be lying about Joey’s whereabouts, he put his knife away and sank onto his haunches, never taking his eyes off Levi.

  A half-hour went by, and the terrain grew rockier. Moose knew they finally were closing in on their location.

  Levi stared out the window, refusing to make eye contact with any of them.

  The van stopped. “We’re here at spooky shit, man,” Hawk announced.

  Moose leaned over and opened the door, stepping outside. The sky had turned a peachy pink as dawn broke. “Bring him out,” Moose said. The dilapidated building loomed ahead, a vision from every child’s worst nightmare. “You’d better hope you remember where you put her, and she’s unharmed. How did you get the girls to come with you?” He narrowed his eyes as Levi was untied and forced to his feet.

  “Drugged them. GHB.” He beamed. The pleasure he took from stealin
g her screamed psychotic serial killer. Wanderer punched him in the gut.

  He doubled over, gasping for air.

  “You’ll be getting a souvenir before this is all said and done. I promise you that.” The rumble in Wanderer’s voice pledged pain and repaid debt.

  “Let’s go,” Moose urged. They could do whatever they wanted with the douchebag once he had Joey back. That’s all he gave a shit about now.

  They entered a side door they had to pry open. Moose gripped Levi’s arm tightly, and Wanderer held the other. The smell of decay and filth stung his nostrils. As they made their way deeper into the building, the madness of the place seemed to increase. Crazed ramblings, writings and pictures covered the faded white walls. Remnants from the functional days peeked out from inside open doorways. All they needed was a wheelchair to roll down the hallway on its own to complete the scene.

  They turned to the left, and Levi stumbled to a halt.

  “What?” Wanderer asked.

  “I— This is where I left her. That door shouldn’t be open!” Levi exclaimed.

  Moose grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and slammed him against the wall. “You fucking with me? You think this is some sort of game? Is she even here?” He pulled Levi away and slammed him repeatedly like a ragdoll.

  “Cool down, man, I can see she broke out. He’s telling the truth.” Wanderer rested a hand on his shoulder. “He’s no good to us concussed and drooling out the side of his mouth. He obviously knows the layout.”

  Moose released him and stepped away.

  Levi slid down the side of the wall.

  “Get up, you piece of shit.” Wanderer kicked his leg. “We’re going to comb every inch of this place until we find her.” He gripped Levi’s shoulder and half dragged him to his feet.

  “Joey,” Moose called.

  “Moose?” a faint voice said.

  They followed the sound down a pathway for a good twenty minutes and spotted her perched on a chair in what looked like it might once have been a recreation room.

  “Please tell me you’re really here, and I’m not hallucinating because my stomach is eating itself, and I’m dehydrated,” she muttered with a dry-sounding voice.