He stood up with his arms hanging at his sides. “I’m gonna try to get you out of here, Kimber, but you gotta have a little patience.”
“Patience,” I hissed. “I’m being fed peanut butter sandwiches and living in the complete dark. Tell me how the hell I am supposed to be patient during that.”
“It’s only been a day, Kimber.”
How was I supposed to know that? I had zero sense of anything going on outside of this room. “Have you heard anything from Quinn?”
He shook his head. “And I doubt I will. I’m going to have to be the one to call him and find out what he’s going to do.”
“If he’s alive, he’ll be here before you know.”
“You don’t want that, darlin’. If he comes in here guns blazing in the condition he’s in now, he’ll be dead before he steps in the door.”
“I can’t stay here,” I cried. I was just supposed to sit tight here and wait? Core was crazy to think that I was going to do that and not try to get out on my own. If I could figure out a way to get out before Quinn came then he wouldn’t have put himself in danger again.
“It’s been a day and you’re still alive.”
What in the hell did that matter? I was alive now, but I could be dead in the next second if Major came in here and decided he wanted to kill me. “Core, I can’t stay here forever.”
“And you won’t have to, but it’s gonna be longer than a day or two ‘til you’re gone.” He pointed the flashlight at the light in the ceiling. “It’s about nine o’clock. Everyone is pretty hungover from last night’s party so everyone is laying low. If you’re gonna put the bulb in, I would do it now.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “I also grabbed an old watch out of my drawer.”
He tossed it on the bed, and I grabbed it like it was gold. Not knowing what time it was had been driving me crazy all day. “It’s almost Monday,” I whispered.
“Yeah, darlin’. Hopefully that helps you a bit.” He walked to the door and looked back. “Bathroom?”
I nodded my head. I had been holding it for the last two hours and was close to wetting myself. I shakily stood up and walked over to Core.
“Not gonna hurt ya, but for my sake and yours I need to hold your hands behind your back.” He moved behind me, grabbed my wrists, and opened the door. “Right across the way.”
The light in hallway was blinding and I squinted my eyes to try to see. The door to the bathroom was open and he gently pushed me in. “Two minutes.” He flipped on the light and shut the door.
I was out of the darkness of the bedroom, but I wasn’t in a better place. There was a toilet, sink, and no window. Any hope I had of escaping from here was instantly dashed down. I did my business quickly, then turned on the water to wash my hands and face. I sighed as I splashed the water on my face to wash away the dirt and grime from sitting and crawling on the floor.
“You’re done.” Core knocked on the door and pushed it open.
I turned off the water and wiped my hands on my pants. He grabbed my wrists again and pulled me out into the hallway. I looked to my left and right quickly to see what was going on, but I saw no one and only heard music playing loudly from the area the party had been before.
We walked back into the room, and Core let go of my wrists. “I’ll be back in the morning. I’ll try to get something better than peanut butter.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked again.
He shrugged. “Cause Quinn was always the one to help me. Figured it was time to pay him back for all of the times he helped me off the floor and washed off the blood.” Core left the room, and I was back to sitting in the dark.
Alone.
But he had given me so much more to think about.
It had been a day, and I was still alive. Maybe I needed to focus on that.
I was in a shitty situation, but I was still breathing.
I blindly reached for the plate Core had set down and wrapped my fingers around it.
Quinn was still alive and so was I.
That was all that mattered.
I knew the kind of man Quinn was, and I knew he was going to come back for me. I had to believe that.
I didn’t have any other choice.
*
Chapter Eleven
Quinn
Hot showers and regret...
“You take the bed by the window.”
Dyno tossed his bag on the floor then belly-flopped onto the bed. “It was fucking time I got out of that truck.”
I gingerly walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. “Fucking shit,” I cringed. I did look like I had gone ten rounds with Tyson and then got run over by a dump truck. No wonder Dyno had told me to stay in the truck when we had pulled over for gas. I really would have scared anyone who saw me.
My right eye was completely swollen shut, and it was a raging bright red. There was still dry blood under my nose and matted into my beard. My lip was busted open in three spots, and I licked the drop of blood ready to fall onto the counter from my mouth. When I had woken up and yawned, my mouth had hurt like a son of a bitch. The blood explained why.
“You want food?” Dyno called.
It had been a while since we had stopped to eat, and my stomach growled in agreeance. “I could have something.”
“I’ll order pizza,” he hollered.
Dyno and I had decided on the way back to Whitmore Lake that staying in the town adjacent was a good idea. I didn’t want to roll back into Rolling Devil's territory and have them know I was there right away.
As much as I wanted to bust into the clubhouse and kill them all, I knew I had to bide my time. Though I wasn’t sure Kimber had the time to spare. Not knowing what they were doing to her was killing me.
Dyno and I had gone over the guys I knew who might be willing to help and decided that even putting in a call to the guy who was in prison might be beneficial since I knew he might be able to put me in touch with people who could help us. Dyno had three friends he knew who would be down with backing us so we had at least made some progress on what we were going to do.
Tomorrow, we were going to put everything into motion.
I reached into the shower and turned on the water. I twisted to as hot as it would go and watched the steam billow over the top of the curtain.
“Pizza will be here in thirty,” Dyno called.
“I’m gonna shower and try to get some of this blood off of me.”
“Good fucking idea,” he laughed. “Though it does make you look like a crazy badass though.”
Badass was the last thing I felt.
All I felt was pain.
My body ached.
My head pounded.
My heart was broken.
All of that would heal with time except for my heart. That wasn’t going to be healed until I had Kimber back and every last one of the Rolling Devils were dead.
After five minutes of struggling to get out of my clothes, I stepped into the shower and sighed as the hot water washed over me. I rolled my shoulders slowly, working out the stiffness and soreness almost two hours in a truck had planted there. I washed my face, careful of the many cuts and bruises that were still fresh and painful.
I stood in the shower ‘til the water ran cold and my rage grew thinking of Kimber.
She hadn’t done anything to the Rolling Devils.
She hadn’t even wanted to come to the fucking club, but I had badgered and insisted ‘til she had finally agreed.
I was the reason she was there, and that meant I was the reason she was taken by them.
I had caused this, and I was going to be the one to fix it.
*
Chapter Twelve
Quinn
A demolition crew...
“You sure he's gonna call?”
I stared at the phone next to the bed. “He should.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
“Because he said if I ever needed him, he would be there.”
&nb
sp; The phone call I was waiting on wouldn’t be coming cheap. It had taken me three phone calls and a promise of money. Money, I didn’t have right now, but Burt, my prison guard friend from the same prison Brick was in, knew that I was good for it.
“And he’s going to call you on the hotel phone? Why not have him call your cell?”
I shook my head. “Because he’s calling collect, and you can’t get a collect call on your cell phone.” All things I had learned when I did my two-year stint. “Burt doesn’t get on shift until two. He said he’ll need time to get to Brick, but he said he’ll make it happen.”
Dyno fell back on the bed with his arms over his head. “So much fucking waiting,” he grumbled. “If only we knew a guy with a tank and a small army.”
“If only,” I laughed.
“I left a message for both Zephyr and Sledge.”
“Are those the ones that were part of a club before?”
Dyno held up his thumb. “Yeah. Though the club fell apart after a few months. It was more just riding their bikes and drinking.”
I nodded. “But you think they’ll be down.”
Dyno sat up. “That’s the thing, man. I know we need these guys right now, but what am I going to tell them about after?”
I looked up from the phone I was willing to ring. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you want these guys to come take down the Rolling Devils, which I totally get, but what are they going to get out of it? One and done? Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am? Or is this going to be something more.”
“I’m out for vengeance, Dyno. That’s all I know right now.”
“I’m just saying this could be something bigger than what you are seeing right now. You want vengeance, and these guys are going to help you get it. But then what?”
“Just fucking spit out what you’re trying to say, Dyno.” Fucking hell. He was beating around the bush when all he needed to do was tell me what the hell idea he had in his head.
“We take down the Rolling Devils and then we take their territory. When you first joined the club, you went on and on about loving the brotherhood and all of this shit the club stood for. Obviously, you were wrong about the Rolling Devils, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on the brotherhood.”
“You’re talking about starting an MC, Dyno. That isn’t some small undertaking.” An MC took hierarchy and order.
“I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but I think it’s what needs to happen. We’re gathering these guys who we know are loyal and will do anything for us. Why not keep them with us and create what you thought you had with the Rolling Devils?”
“And you’re gonna be in charge of all of these assholes?”
He shook his head. “Nah, brother. You’re the one who’s gonna be president. You got it in you. I’ve known you for almost fifteen years, and I’ve always been the one to follow you. Look at us right now. Why am I here?”
“Cause you’re an idiot who comes whenever I call.”
He sat up and pointed at me. “Cause you’re a fucking leader. I got why you wanted to be part of an MC, but I didn’t get how you could be a prospect. How you could do the bidding of all of those assholes and not tell ‘em to fuck off.”
I had wanted to tell them to fuck off. Every time Major would call my name, it took all of my willpower not to slug in him the gut and walk out. I just figured in the end, it would all be worth it. “I didn’t like it, brother, but it’s the way it’s done.”
“Yeah, if you’re trying to be part of an MC that is already formed. I say you bypass all that shit because you know you’re better than any of those assholes and we form our own MC.”
“Form our own MC,” I mumbled. The thought had never crossed my mind. The only thing I had on my mind was vengeance. Dyno was right. What was I going to do after I took down the Rolling Devils?
The phone rang, interrupting our conversation.
“Hello?”
“This is a collect call from an inmate at the Stillwater Correctional Facility. Please press 1 to hear the cost. Press 2 to accept the call. Press 3 to—”
I jabbed the number 2 and waited. Dyno watch me expectantly. “You got anything better to do than stare at me?”
He shook his head. “Just taking notes on how the president of the Kings of Vengeance operates.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “You’re dreaming, brother.”
“Nah, I’m not.”
“You wanted me to call you to see how I’ve been sleeping?” Brick drawled.
“Brick,” I called.
“If it isn’t fucking Quinn. Wanted to brag about how it is being free?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I chuckled. “You ain’t got much time ‘til you’re out, brother.”
“Three more fucking months. Can’t wait to have a beer and get my dick wet.”
Those were the top two things on my list when I had gotten out of prison. “I’ll get a beer with ya, but you’re gonna have to figure out the second one on your own.”
“If she’s got tits and a pussy, she’ll be the one. No being fucking picky here.” Brick had been in prison before I got there, and he still had seven months after I got out. While I had landed in prison defending my mom from her asshole boyfriend, Brick had landed there because he had a taste for expensive cars but didn’t have the money to afford them.
“Hell, man, I won’t expect to see you for a couple days ‘til you surface from a pussy coma.”
Brick busted out laughing. “Yeah man,” he trailed off. He cleared his throat. “So, you just checking in on me?”
“Uh, yeah, and I got some things going on and wondered if you had any friends who could help.”
“What kind of things?”
I knew our conversation was being recorded, and I couldn’t tell him I was looking to blow up a building and needed more manpower. “Plan on doing a little remodeling and was looking for some guys who needed some work. Reliable kind of guys.”
“Big remodel job?” he asked.
“Gonna have to do some demolition before I can start the remodel.” Leveling a building was classified as demolition.
“Know of two guys off the top of my head. They’re freelancers who are always looking for some work.”
I motioned to Dyno I needed a pen and paper. “Got names?”
“They go by Rhino and Point. Good guys I would trust my life with. I’ll get in touch with them and give them your phone number.”
“Have ‘em call my cell. Gonna be out looking for supplies and shit.”
“Will do, brother. Save a spot for me on your crew when I get out of here, Quinn. I’m gonna need some work to keep me busy.”
Brick didn’t even know what I was doing, but he was down for whatever when he got out of prison. That was what the brotherhood should be about. “You always got a place with me, Brick.”
He disconnected the call, and I hung up the phone.
“So?” Dyno asked.
“So, it looks like the Kings of Vengeance are coming together.”
“Fuck yeah.” Dyno grinned wide and held his fist out. “We take down the Rolling Devils, and then the Kings of Vengeance are the top dog.”
I bumped my fist against his. “Right now, we just focus on getting Kimber back, Dyno, and then we worry about the future.”
He nodded but couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.
Right now, it was just Dyno and me, but I had a feeling we wouldn’t be alone for very long.
*
Chapter Thirteen
Kimber
Sandwiches and waiting...
Three days and ten hours.
I’m sure that was a shit-load of minutes but I couldn’t figure out how many it was because I was still locked in this fucking room.
The only person I saw was Core. He brought me an egg sandwich around seven in the morning, then around noon he came back to get my empty plate and put a plate with either a ham or peanut butter sandwich on it depending on what he could get his hands on. Betwe
en six and seven, I got two sandwiches and a fresh bottle of water. I was allowed to go to the bathroom in the morning and then when he brought me my dinner.
In the middle of the night, I would put the light bulb in and stay awake. During the day, I slept, fearful someone would come in. I jogged in place, did jumping jacks, and any other exercise I could think of to keep moving.
I knew I was going on only four days being here, but it felt like so much longer. A minute felt like ten, and an hour felt like five.
Core had told me he was going to get in touch with Quinn, but he had to make sure no one in the club knew about it.
Waiting was all I had.
Waiting was what I did.
*
Chapter Fourteen
Quinn
We merry band of men...
Dyno.
Zephyr.
Sledge.
Point.
Rhino.
These were the guys who had my back.
Four men I had never met before, but they were friends with Dyno and Brick and said if they were willing to risk their lives for me, then they would too.
I had also become president of an MC I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be a part of.
The Kings of Vengeance had formed, and I was standing outside of an old building in the industrial rundown area of Whitmore Lake.
We were four miles from the Rolling Devils clubhouse and getting closer to blowing the roof off the place.
“Yo, Quinn.”
I tossed my cigarette on the ground and headed back into the old building. I had been able to get into my checking account, and while there hadn’t been much in there, it had been enough to cover the first month’s rent on the place. The guy we were renting from just seemed happy to be getting something for the building.
While I had been trying to find a place to set up shop, Dyno and Zephyr had been keeping an eye on the Rolling Devils clubhouse.
“All they do is fucking drink,” Zephyr said as I walked into the main room.
The old building used to be a feed mill that had long since been shut down. Now it smelled like rotting ass and was basically falling down around us, but it was better than cramming six guys into the small-ass hotel room Dyno and I had been staying in.
Drop a Gear and Disappear (Kings of Vengeance, #1) Page 6
