“The cunt knew I was involved and came to me and told me she’d spill everythin’. I took Misty and hid her as soon as we heard you were on the case.” Gid slurred.
“Fuck me.” Texas cursed. His hand squeezed Ace’s shoulder.
“How were you involved?”
“Knew what Thunder and Misty were gonna do, was supposed to join them.”
“Did you agree with what happened to Kayleigh?”
“Yes. Ace was too wrapped up in pussy, and we needed his head in the game. Distractin’ Ace from what Bulldog wanted. Bitch made Ace lean towards Drake’s side.” There was a harshly drawn breath.
“Was Ace involved?” Artemis asked, her voice turning dangerous.
“Thunder said Ace gave his blessin’.” Ace became dangerously still.
“And you kept this from Drake?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me the names of those who weren’t involved. Bet that’s an easier list, Gid.”
“Drake, Apache, Fish, Texas and Axel. Anyone who joined after we fucked you up.”
“Everyone else was involved?”
“Yeah, Thunder said we had to keep it to ourselves. Couldn’t risk Drake findin’ out.”
“And you think Kayleigh deserved it?”
“Yeah. Wish I’d been in on it knowin’ what I now know. But Ace fucked my plans for that, I’d have fucked you harder with that bottle.” Gid’s words became even more slurred.
“You wanna die?” Artemis’ voice dropped to deadly.
“No. Gonna fuck you up, and this time I’ll slice your throat.”
“Turn this off Drake, and I’ll know, and I’ll count you as guilty as him. You watch.” Artemis turned to the camera and disappeared.
“Mac track this now.” Drake ordered. Mac got his ass in the chair and began hammering at the laptop. Artemis re-appeared, and she’d a knife in one hand which she placed on a small table he’d missed. A bat joined it, and knuckle dusters appeared on her hands.
“Can’t track her, the signal’s bouncing around the globe.” Mac hissed at Drake.
“Okay.” Drake said calmly, too calmly.
Methodically, Artemis began working Gid over. A few brothers turned eyes away, unable to watch as Artemis took Gid apart. Beginning with fists and then the bat, ending with the knife. Gid roared, but Artemis didn’t stop. Each time she stopped to change weapon, Artemis asked him one question.
“Did you show Kayleigh mercy?” Then Artemis continued. Ace watched fixated as Gid, the man he’d called brother for over fifteen years was beaten to a pulp and sliced to death. Two hours passed before Artemis stopped and looked at Gid. Taking off a glove, Artemis pushed her hair from her face. Gid breathed, but not for much longer. The man was a mess.
“You’ll find Gid where Kayleigh died. Tick, tock, who’s next?” Artemis said gazing at the camera and then cut the feed. Drake moved before Ace could and wrapped his arms around the man as Ace lost it.
“Who else was involved?” Ace roared, spittle flying from his lips. Ace strained against Drake who locked him down.
“I’ll let Ace loose if you’re involved, tell us now.” Drake ordered.
“Artemis said Ace was involved.” Ezra pointed out.
“Ace look like he was involved?” Drake spat back.
“Fucks sake what’s happening to us?” Apache asked.
“Artemis gonna tear us apart, one by one. Bitch wants vengeance.” Mac said.
“You involved?” Ace roared and gained a step on Mac, even though Drake held him tight.
“Fuck no. Loved that kid too bro.” Mac slammed his hands on the table.
“Gid didn’t say my name, Artemis thinks I was involved in that.” Slick said, and Ace’s head shot in his direction. “Fuck, Kayleigh thought I agreed.” Slick collapsed in a chair, and his head dropped in his hands. “Jesus, fuck, Christ, girl believes I gave my okay.” Slick bent over and threw up. Lowrider and Jacked both darted back away from him as he emptied his stomach.
“Need to know who is at risk.” Fish said.
“Ace, Mac, Slick, Manny, Gunner, Lex, Jacked are in her sights. Rock, Ezra and Lowrider joined after Kayleigh’s murder. Someone needs to alert Axel and do it fast. The prospects are safe.” Apache said instantly.
“Who’s breathing and no longer Rage?”
“Sticks, Prof are livin’ from Bulldogs group. Smokey, Hammer, Archer, Breaker and Iron are livin’ but had nothin’ to do with Rage since the fightin’ started. They blacked their ink. Prince, Mad Dog, Skill and Mayhem along with the rest of them, are in the ground. Can vouch for that. No idea where Thunder is but you can bet Artemis knows.” Texas said eyeing Ace cautiously.
“You got a lock on it, brother?” Drake asked him. Ace nodded. Drake relaxed his arms and Ace was in motion aiming for Jacked and Gunner. Drake slammed him face-first on the table and locked Ace back down.
“Talk now, you involved in this shit?” Drake ordered. Both guys shook their heads. Ace watched them from hate-filled eyes.
“Thunder bullshitted his way around this. Artemis trusts she’s got the truth, she’s gonna come gunnin’ for blood.” Lowrider said.
“My girl turned into that.” Fish said, and sorrow filled his face.
“We know what Artemis is.” Mac agreed.
“Ice in her veins, no fear of a kill or a messy kill as we just saw. Artemis is a cold-blooded killer. Ace, the girl you loved, she’s dead, Artemis is not Kayleigh.” Apache said. His son turned his head on the table and looked at him.
“Kayleigh’s in there somewhere.” Ace hissed, hate writhed across his face. Deep inside Apache winced and worried for his son. This was destroying Ace worse than the first time around. Apache tried to be gentle, but he didn’t think Ace was hearing shit at the moment.
“No son, Kayleigh is dead, grieve her ‘cause this Artemis? She’s not gonna stop until she puts everyone she believes responsible in a grave. We ain’t gonna let Artemis whack innocent brothers.” Ace growled from deep within at his father’s words.
“Anyone lays a finger on Artemis, and I’ll put them in the grave next to Gid. Rage did enough damage.”
“Can’t let Artemis whack innocent brothers.” Apache insisted, holding his son's gaze. Apache saw the animal in Ace, and he feared for the club and Artemis. If anyone put a finger on Artemis, Ace would bury them. They were caught between a rock and a hard place. Artemis or Ace, take your fuckin’ pick, both were cold stone killers.
“Every one of us got blood on our hands, Dad.” Ace hissed. “May not be Kayleigh’s but we got blood on them.” Ace struggled against Drake, who gripped him still bent over the table.
“Then we need to keep those in her sights here and keep them alive till we find her.” Texas argued.
“Think that’ll stop Artemis? Woman’s got in once.” Mac asked.
“Weren’t ready for that. We are now.” Texas replied.
“Do it, you lot are in lockdown, you leave here you better pray Artemis don’t find you because she’s just starting. Artemis got hate, vengeance and bloodlust on her side.” Drake ordered still holding Ace on the table. “Includes you brother.” Drake told Ace and waited for his VP to agree. Ace gave a reluctant nod, and Drake finally let him go. Ace slammed out of the inner sanctum before anyone could say a word.
“Apache, Texas on him.” Fish ordered. They left instantly. Drake turned to Fish, Lex, Rock, Lowrider.
“Fish, you and Lowrider go to where Kayleigh’s body was found. Gid’s gonna be there. Bury the cunt. Rock, Ezra find Misty before Artemis does.” Boots slammed against the scuffed floor as they left the sanctum.
“You lot don’t leave here, you don’t move.” Drake
ordered pointing at the brothers who were implicated. “Not even to the garage.” He glared at them to enforce his words and left the room. Silence followed behind him.
I dragged Gid’s heavy body out of the van and rolled it into the grave that Akemi stood by. It was deep enough. I stood over him as I watched th
e man struggle for breath and counted his blood bubbles perversely. Akemi stood by my shoulder.
“You ready for this?” Akemi asked. I nodded. Akemi slipped an arm around my waist, and I leaned back against him and let him take my weight.
“You have that, bitch?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s get on with it.” Akemi nodded once, and without a backwards look, we left Gid to die, struggling to breathe in his own blood.
◆◆◆
“How the fuck she get in?” Drake roared at his brothers. Drake stared in disbelief at the second message Artemis had left. ‘Three, four, better lock your doors.’ Artemis was fuckin’ with them. They’d used two planes of wood to secure the double doors last night that slotted into heavy iron latches. The bitch had got in and written the next line of Freddie Krueger’s poem above them.
Stabbed in each door this morning had been a knife. Nothing else but a knife dripping red. Drake realised it was blood this time. Gid’s blood. Hunter and Rock had both been drugged during their watch. The wood hadn’t been disturbed on the doors and Drake was furious. His fist slammed into a wall.
“Artemis is a ghost.” Lex said. Rock raised his head, blinking to focus.
“Came from behind Hunter and me.” Rock rumbled, struggling to form words. Hunter still snored on a couch. Drake shook his head.
“Find out how Artemis fuckin’ got in.” Ace ordered as brothers scattered. The room filled with dark vibes. Rage was being fucked with, and by a perp they couldn’t lockdown. The woman was beyond dark. Half an hour later, they were still scratching their heads over her entry. Nothing found explained how Artemis entered the clubhouse. Hunter finally woke up but with no further information than Rock.
Drake’s phone pinged, he looked and strode into the inner sanctum. Everyone was accounted for, which meant that Artemis had someone else. They took one look at his face, and his brothers entered the sanctum.
Mac typed in the link and set his shit going to track Artemis and then they saw it wasn’t needed. Sat in front of a hole in the ground and tied like Gid, was Misty who sobbed at the camera. The grave was where Hannah had laid buried. Misty’s face was swollen, and blood dripped from her nose. The trees gave shade, and a light shone on her in the night's darkness. Drake frowned, if it was night, this was pre-recorded.
Artemis didn’t say a word to them this time. She stood over Misty, hate written across her face. Artemis tapped a bat against her leg as she watched Misty blubber and beg.
“Remember this bat, Misty? You raped me with it. Perhaps, I should fuck your dirty cunt with it, shove it up you, as you did me.” Artemis sneered in Misty’s face.
“No, please just let me go.” Misty begged. Artemis leant into her face.
“Was fucking Ace worth it? Did he fuck you good? Ace make you scream? You’ll scream soon, bitch, but it won’t be from Ace’s dick. We’ll see if your bucket cunt can take a bat. That life you stole from Kayleigh Mitchell. You had eleven years of fuckin’ her man. Hope he was worth it, then again, Ace was always a good fuck. You know that now, don’t you?” Someone audibly gulped but Ace couldn’t tear his eyes from the screen. He’d wanted Misty to pay, but he’d the feeling she was gonna do more than pay. Artemis had a fury burning in her eyes that was tangible.
“Let me go.” Misty sobbed. Artemis backhanded her hard and Misty’s head snapped to the side.
“Like you let me go? Didn’t I beg over and over? Shame you ain’t pregnant, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to cut your fuckin’ spawn out of you like you cut my kids. Remember them? They survived the same as I did. Beg as much as you want, I remember begging, didn’t get me anywhere.” Artemis spat hatred colouring her voice.
She began beating the living daylights out of Misty and then using the bat systematically began smashing her bones one at a time. Artemis laughed every time Misty begged for mercy and hit her harder the next time. Ace watched as Artemis forced the bat into places it had once been shoved into Kayleigh. He tasted his brother's despair.
The sweet girl they had liked, loved and cared for had gone. In Kayleigh’s place lived cold-blooded monster, who didn’t blink at paying back shit in kind. Ace stood at Drake’s side, and the man swallowed hard several times. Ace was just realising exactly what Artemis was capable of doing. Fuck, Ace didn’t even think they’d seen half of what the woman had in her repertoire.
Artemis finally used her knife, slashing Misty where Misty had slashed Kayleigh. And then, gutting Misty like a fish, she cut Misty loose and kicked her into the grave. The camera cut out, and they sat there in silence, knowing this had just begun. Ace’s head hit the table. Misty took an hour to die, alone and gutted and left in the dark like the piece of shit she was.
◆◆◆
“Five, Six, grab your crucifix.” Mac read. This line dripped down another wall above the bar. Mac sniffed and smelt the copper of blood, Artemis was turning up the heat. A drawing of a cross was next to the line. Artemis had got in again. For three nights there’d been silence from Artemis. Now there was this. Ace rounded up the brothers, they were accounted for.
“Artemis has got Preacher.” Ace grunted, recognising the cross design.
“Yeah. That’s the cross Preacher wore.” Texas agreed. “He’d left the country, how the fuck did Artemis get him?”
“Preacher should’a been safe.” Fish said.
“Artemis not working alone, remember.” Drake said and looked as his phone pinged. Drake winced and made his way to the inner sanctum. It was time for the horror movie Artemis insisted they watch. Gid and Misty died hard. Preacher died harder as he admitted he’d been the one who’d given Bulldog the idea. Nausea so deep, Ace didn’t think it’d ever leave him. How many more of those Ace had called brothers had betrayed him and his old lady?
◆◆◆
A week later, they stared at the line written on the last wall. ‘Seven, eight, don’t stay at the bar late.’ Artemis was taking this Freddie Krueger thing to the extreme. With Preacher, she’d used a glove similar to Freddie’s, which made Preacher scream each time she stabbed his body. Artemis should work for the movie’s Ace decided, she didn’t lack imagination.
“Who now?” Gunner asked.
“Prof or Sticks. They’re the only two unaccounted. If it was Thunder, she’d want him last. Artemis will make sure Thunder is her swansong.” Apache replied.
“Warned ‘em. One of ‘em didn’t pay attention.” Turned out Prof didn’t pay attention. The idiot had been out drinking late at night, Hawthorne found the information for them. Didn’t matter, the asshole died screaming after admitting he’d been the one to involve Misty. Prof had known how much Misty had hated Kayleigh and played on it. Prof took twelve hours to die. Artemis edited the video for them, cutting his unconscious periods out. Prof screamed for six hours.
“Nine, ten, never rest again.” Slick read the message that had been pinned to his door. He’d known it was coming. Slick had prepared but hoped Kayleigh wouldn’t taste the bitterness of guilt when the truth came out. Everything Kayleigh had suffered, she didn’t need the guilt on top of it. Drake set guards on Slick. It wouldn’t matter Slick realised, Kayleigh was coming for him, no matter who stood in her way.
◆◆◆
“Honey, I can’t leave the clubhouse.” Slick said into the phone.
“Slick, there’s someone outside the house.” His sister whispered to him.
“Call the cops honey, do it, do it now.” Slick insisted.
“Okay.” There was a faint noise and then a short scream. Slick bolted out of bed and dragged his clothes on before Artemis whispered down the phone to him.
“Tick tock, Slick, come alone to the address being texted to you, or she takes your punishment. I see one brother she dies, and she’ll die screaming. Akemi has an interesting playroom, and it needs a new guest.” The phone died, and Slick got dressed and snuck out of the clubhouse.
◆◆◆
Drake’s phone pinged again, and
he looked up pale. Ace was whiter than white and Apache had tears in his eyes. Slick was missing. Artemis had him, they knew it. Slick’s sister had been found wandering in a road, and the police had been called. She’d been dosed with Rohypnol and remembered nothing. Artemis had now had Slick for eight hours.
Texas clicked the link, and it opened into the same room Gid was tortured in. Slick same as four before him was strapped to a chair, the same table with implements on that Artemis planned to use. Slick looked straight at the camera. He was unhurt for now. Slick’s head snapped back as a punch came at his face.
“Wanna play Ace? You for Slick.” Artemis dragged Slicks head back, and he looked at the camera. Slick shook his head as best as he could.
“Jacked, wanna give your life for your brother? Mac? Gunner?” Artemis hissed, and at each name, Slick shook his head. Ace realised this was live, and he heard Mac frantically tapping on the keyboard trying to track Artemis.
“They didn’t do it, Kayleigh.” Slick whispered.
“Liar!” Artemis spat, and Slick’s head snapped back from two more blows.
“Not.” Slick spat out blood. “Helped with your homework, you trusted me, you came to me with your problems, I was your brother.” Slick told her. Artemis grabbed a bat and slammed it into his mid-drift.
“And you let them rape me with a bat, let them fuck with me a broken bottle. Let them cut my babies out of me.” Ace sat up alert. Babies? The file had only said one. Ace thought back to what Artemis said to Misty, and he hadn’t picked up on it. A sick feeling hit him. Ace remembered the newspaper image, and a hollowness settled in his stomach. Falcon and Nova Conway.
Their mother Stacy Conway aka Artemis, aka Kayleigh Mitchell. Their father, a man no one had a picture of, their ages, eleven. Ace’s eyes drifted to his father and Ace saw the same knowledge in Apache’s eyes. Falcon and Nova were his. The damn names gave it away, Kayleigh was still there, she’d honoured his lineage. Somewhere in Artemis, Kayleigh Mitchell lived, Ace had to reach her.
“I didn’t, Ace didn’t. No one left in Rage was part of it.” Slicks voice grabbed his attention again.
The Hunters Rage Page 11
