by Ambere Sabo
Chapter 26
Angel
I’ve been down to the basement of the clubhouse hundreds of times before, but stepping in there today is different. Never once have I asked what happens in the two rooms with re-enforced doors. It isn’t my business, and I haven’t cared to know.
The door looks just like those that blocked off our cells from the outside world in every holding place from here to El Paso. I’ve seen enough of them to last me a lifetime, but today it’s not meant to keep me locked in, but instead, it holds Wrecker to his fate.
Havoc and Venom have been down here for days trying to get as much information out of the pendejo as they can. Wraith and Rodeo have taken turns down here as well. But now, Lynch has come to get us—mi Reina, Lilly and I. Says it’s time for us to get our justice, whatever the hell that means.
I know Havoc wanted his justice at the farm. God, he was so pissed at me for not killing Wrecker when I had the chance. He’s barely spoken to me since we got back to the Sons’ clubhouse. I feel for him, but I’m not sorry that we didn’t kill Wrecker. We need answers that only Wrecker can give us. I have no clue what’s going on with Havoc and me, but I can’t think about us at the moment. Right now, I need to focus on what’s behind this door.
Looking between Lil and me, mi Reina asks, “You ready?”
Nodding, we both look to Lilly. I cannot imagine what this is like for her. The puto may have tried to sell her, but he’s still her father in the end. Her hands shake as she rakes them through her long blonde hair before she blows out a breath and nods as well.
Reaching forward, Cessy opens the door, and I’m taken back to the day we found my parents. The stench of burnt flesh is strong. The three of us link hands as we walk into the space. Lilly and I both gasp out loud at the scene in front of us while mi Reina seems unfazed.
My gaze narrows to contain only the evil bound to a chair in the center of the room in nothing but his boxers. I don’t see or hear anything else. My eyes quickly catalog the horrors I see, trying to make sense of them. To determine if what’s happened behind this door is enough to atone for what Wrecker has done. Or is it too much?
The chair has nails embedded into the arms that stick up to pierce Wrecker’s skin. His arms are tied to the chair with weights hanging on them forcing his flesh more brutally onto the spikes. The man is a bloody mess, and he wreaks of his own filth.
That’s not what disturbs me the most though. There are patches all across his body of charred flesh, angry red, blistery areas with blackened edges. I don’t have to figure out how those injuries happened as Havoc puts the flame from a blow torch to Wrecker’s upper arm causing him to grunt out in pain.
Lil rushes to the trash can and vomits as soon as she sees it, drawing Havoc's attention to us. The color drains from Havoc's face as he looks between Lil and me. I guess he didn’t know we were on our way down. Turning off the torch, he takes two steps to Lilly’s side. He drapes his arm around his sister and murmurs in her ear. I glance away. The distance between us the past few days hurts too much.
My attention is drawn to a large tank on the counter next to where Havoc tries to calm his sister.
“Venom’s choice of torture,” mi Reina says to me.
My eyes snap to hers, “Snakes?”
She nods, pointing to the tank and says, “Those are Texas coral snakes. Their venom is a neurotoxin. It can take hours to kick in, and the bite is quite painful.”
My body breaks out in goosebumps. I want to heave in the trash can myself. “And this doesn’t bother you?” my voice chokes as I gesture around the room.
Noticing the bumps on my arms and the trembling in my limbs, she steps in front of me and runs her hands up and down my arms. “No one is brought to this room that doesn’t deserve it, Angel. Venom is the club Enforcer, and this comes with the job.”
I know Havoc told me he helps met out justice for the Sons, but this isn’t what I pictured. Guns and fists, yes, but not snakes and blow torches. Havoc walks Lil over to us, and we both envelope her in our arms.
Looking away from the three of us, Havoc says, “We’ve gotten the information we need from the son of a bitch.” His voice is hard and cold. Not the voice that whispered in my ear in bed. Not the voice that teased me. Not the voice that called me sweet cheeks. I don’t know this voice. It chills something inside of me, all the way to my bones.
He continues, “For now, anyway. After G and the Dominion verify what he’s told us about where Rose and Emily are and how to get in, we’ll finish this. If you’ve been sent down here, they must believe the information he’s given us is real.”
Cessy tenses next to me at the mention of Emily. I’m confused. Why would Emily's name upset her? From what I understand, she was a dancer at Blue Bells. One of the ones that started the whole mess with investigating Loki in the first place. I thought she’d be happy to know that not all of the girls were killed.
“And when you know for sure that he’s telling the truth?” Lil whispers.
Wrecker starts to laugh at her question, the sound is unnerving, and I have no doubt he’s actually lost his mind.
“They’ll kill me, Lilly. Your brother and his club will end my life. Does that make you happy, little girl? Knowing he’s just like me,” he snarls at her.
Lil rushes the chair and slaps her father hard across the face. “He’s nothing like you,” she screams.
Venom and Gunner come running into the room. Gunner wraps his arms around her waist, pulling Lil back and holding her as she cries. Wrecker looks up at her with a bloody smile that makes my skin crawl. At this angle, the light from the ceiling illuminates the injuries to his face. The flesh has been cut from his skin. Four lines crisscross his face, in the same pattern that mars Havoc’s back. Mi Reina gasps at the sight, her eyes filling with tears as she covers her mouth and looks at Havoc.
“You knew what he did to that poor girl?” she asks him quietly. I guess Cessy did know about the dancer Wrecker cut up when Havoc was a teenager.
Havoc tilts his head to the side and purses his lips together. His brows draw together, and he takes mi Reina in for a moment. He doesn’t say anything in response, he simply nods his head before turning to Venom, “Did they confirm the location of the tunnel?”
Venom doesn’t answer, but Gunner does, “Ink spoke with G. He wasn’t able to confirm the exact location of the entrance on this side of the border, but there’s one that comes up where Wrecker said it did. The information he gave you on the guards is also correct. It seems like the fucker was actually honest for once in his life.”
Havoc looks at Gunner with fury in his eyes. “Get your fucking hands off of my baby sister,” he growls stepping towards him.
Gunner makes no signs of moving away from Lilly, and I worry that they may fight right here and now. Havoc can no doubt take care of himself, but Gunner, while about the same height as Havoc, has at least thirty pounds of muscle on him.
Gunner’s a tall African-American man with a killer smile and amazing dimples. I’m pretty certain he never misses a day in the gym. He’s the thinker of the club and their Road Captain for a reason. For Lil, though he’s her shoulder to cry on and a big teddy bear.
“No,” Lil whispers, “we’re friends, Havoc. He’s been here, while you were out on your mission to catch him,” she tilts her head in Wrecker direction. “Gunner is the one who I could count on while you were gone, and I don’t care if you like it or not.”
Havoc opens his mouth to respond, but Venom puts his hands up to silence him, “Let’s finish this shit. Then y’all can deal with the family drama.”
“Fine,” Havoc grunts.
Turning to face the three of us, Venom says, “Ladies, we’ve gotten the information we needed. Thank you for that, Angel.”
I catch Havoc out of the corner of my eye. His jaw tenses and he refuses to look at me, still. It hurts more than it probably should, considering we aren’t anything.
“Now, the final decision on how to end him has been left
to you. I’ll tell you the consensus reached among the brothers is tying him up between four bikes and letting them each drive in separate directions. But if you want the honor of taking his life, it's yours.”
No matter how many times I’ve dreamt about the way this puto would meet his maker, I never imagined it would be like this. He looks nothing like the man who tried to take me from the motel in El Paso. I take in the pathetic creature before me beneath the harsh overhead lights. Aside from the wounds carved into his face and the blood and burns covering his body, I see that his fingernails have been ripped from their beds. The branding with the blowtorch continues up and down his legs. I cannot believe I’m even thinking it, but I really just want them to put the pendejo out of his misery.
Luckily for me, it’s Lil who speaks up first. “Just end it,” she says quietly.
Nodding, Venom asks, “Alright, Lilly. Do you want to be here when it happens?”
She shakes her no head before replying, “I do have a question for him though.”
Venom nods and she steps away from Gunner and kneels down in front of Wrecker. “Why did you do it? To me, to Jenny, to Claire, to Rose? Why?” she asks getting louder with each word. “What did we ever do to deserve your hate? When we only wanted your love.”
Wrecker spits blood on the floor beside her. Gunner and Havoc both step forward, but Lil whips her head around stopping them in their tracks with just a look. A look containing so much rage and hurt, it’s heartbreaking.
“You were girls. What the fuck are girl’s good for? You couldn’t carry on my name, continue my legacy, nothing. You’re all nothing to me.” Looking away from her, he says nothing more.
“You’re a cold-hearted son of a bitch, who didn’t deserve the love you were given,” Lil says as she stands with tears running down her cheeks.
As she turns to leave he murmurs, “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”
Lil bristles at his comment. She straightens her spine and says two words to Reine and me, “Shoot him,” and walks out.
Gunner follows her out leaving the four of us. Reine walks to Venom and whispers something in his ear. Nodding in agreement, he pulls his 9 mm from the waistband of his jeans. Reine pulls hers from the holster hidden in her cut. Walking to me, she hands me Venom’s piece.
“One in the head, one in the chest,” she says to me, aiming for his heart.
I look at Havoc. No matter how much of a dick he’s been the past few days, I need to know he’s okay with this. When he nods, I take my aim.
Chapter 27
Havoc
Pop, pop, and he’s gone. The bastard that’s been the star of every nightmare I’ve ever had is dead. Staring at his lifeless body doesn’t bring me the relief that I thought it would.
Can he hurt those I care about anymore?
No, he can’t. But what about the damage that’s already been done?
Angel lowers her gun and looks at me. The sadness in her eyes fucking guts me. There’s so much I need to say to this woman, but I don’t even know where to begin. The way I’ve treated her the last few days… Fuck… I’m lucky she didn’t shoot me today. Before I have the chance to go to her, to tell her something, anything, about the way I’ve been towards her the last few days, Venom steps in front of me.
“We’ve got church, Havoc,” he tells me, slapping me on the shoulder and walking out of the room.
Letting out a sigh, I go to follow him, but Cessy stops me, “When it’s over Havoc, we need to talk.”
Without looking at her, I nod and walk out of the room. One of the prospects will be down to take care of the mess. Damn, I wish I had time for a shower before this fucking meeting.
No one says anything to me as I walk out of the basement headed to church. The brothers learned long ago not to fuck with me when I was helping Venom handle club business. Seeing as this time, it was my father we were dealing with, everyone gives me a wide berth.
Walking into church behind Venom, I know everyone’s waiting on us. We take our seats at the table. Rodeo looks at me. “Is it done?” he asks.
I nod. His gaze stays on me for a moment, then he exhales a small sigh and nods back.
Looking around the room, I see Wraith and Gears at the end of the table. Gears stepped up as Wraith’s VP after everything went down in December. A chunk of the Reapers left after the shit with Loki came out. After they found out about Wrecker, well… I could count all their members on my fingers now. But they’re rebuilding, just being a little more particular this time about who they patch in.
Wraith catches me looking at them and nods. I may not really like the fucker, but he’s done well since Hawk died. And Cessy loves him, not that Venom’s too damn happy about that.
My attention is drawn back to the head of the table when I hear Hyde’s voice come over the speaker of Prez’ phone, “I think I liked it better when y’all stayed on your side of the state,” he says with a chuckle, causing a few of the men in the room to follow suit.
“Hyde, can you let everyone know what G said about the information we got from Wrecker?”
“Straight to business got it. G confirmed there’s a tunnel that comes up on the backside of the property. He’s never used it before, and it’s one of their more guarded tunnels. The only other tunnel that’s more guarded is the one Diablo comes through when he visits. G always assumed this was a similar tunnel, but according to Wrecker, it comes up on this side of the border.”
He draws a breath, then continues, “I’ve had a few of my guys check it out. Hoser got some information on the building that the tunnel supposedly leads to. It’s another abandoned warehouse, but if y’all’s experience is the norm for these fuckers, then I’ve no doubt there are tunnels below that as well.” Static fills the room as his voice goes silent.
Fucking great. To get my sister back, we’re going to have to use one of their damn tunnels. Yeah, because that’s a hell of a plan.
“What about surveillance? Are they going to know we’re coming?” Wraith asks.
Hyde sighs before replying, “We’re not sure, honestly. There’s nothing on this side of the border that would give us any reason to believe they will, but G can’t get close enough to know what they have on the Mexican side.”
“If he can’t get close enough to tell if there’s surveillance, then how the fuck are we going to not only use their tunnel, but get out of it and into the compound without being seen?” Venom questions.
It's Rodeo who answers, “We're going to need two teams to go in. The bigger one will cross right over the border. We want them to know were coming. We’re hoping if they think we’re coming up against them, they’ll pull guards to man the gate and whatever officials are in the compound at the time.”
‘Why the hell would they care if an MC is coming for them?” I ask.
“Remember when we told you Enterrador has become more paranoid?” Hyde asks.
“Yeah, what of it?”
“He knows who the Reapers are and of their reputation. They handled a lot of contract killings for the cartel when your father was still VP. I know the Reapers of the present aren’t the same, but he doesn’t know that, and it's working in our favor. He never would’ve agreed to buy Cessy had he known she was their princess. I’d bet my bar that he knows Cessy is Venom’s Ol’ Lady now. A show of Reapers and Sons together will make him panic.”
Thinking about the information he’s just given us, I can understand it. Cartel or not taking an MCs princess is one ballsy move.
“Why the hell did he personally come here to buy anyone in the first place?” Gears asks.
It’s a question I’ve thought about a time or two myself. He could’ve had any of his men bring him handfuls of girls to choose from. Why the hell did he come all the way over here to see them himself?
“Enterrador was married once,” Hyde explains. “From what G has found out, she was a beauty. She was killed years ago by a rival cartel while Enterrador was away on business. It wasn’t until af
terward that he even took the name Enterrador.”
“Undertaker. Why would he be known as the undertaker after the murder of his wife?” Snoopy interrupts.
“He lost his mind for a bit after she was murdered. They were expecting their first child. A son due in just a few weeks when she was killed. That’s why killing anyone in his family is such a trigger for him. It’s rumored that he took out an entire branch of the rival cartel in one night. Each body was positioned as it would be if placed in a coffin.”
“Thanks for the fucking history lesson, but I don’t give a fuck what happened to him or his damn wife. I want to know why he came up here for Cessy and Lil,” Venom yells slamming his hand on the table.
“Well if you fuckers would stop interrupting me, I’d tell you,” Hyde growls out.
Rage flashes in Venom’s eyes. It’s lucky Hyde isn’t here right now, or he’d be eating his fucking teeth.
Putting his hands up, Rodeo speaks, “Alright, alright, everyone calm the hell down. Could you get to the point Hyde?”
“Over the years many women have been brought to him. Diablo sent a few as gifts after he took care of their rivals. None were what he wanted. He came to Wrecker because he was told both Lilly and Cessy looked like his dead wife. Now from what I understand, he didn’t like Cessy’s tattoos, but he was quite taken with Lilly, right?”
Everyone around the table looks to Venom. He was the only one there that night. The tick in his jaw is worse than I’ve ever seen it before.
“He barely paid Cessy any mind at all. Told Wrecker she’d defiled her body. But Lil, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. I got clocked and gagged for telling him to keep his fucking hands off of her when he wouldn’t stop touching her fucking hair.”
“He can’t fucking have her,” Gunner roars.
Shock fills me at the tone of his voice. I’ve never seen Gunner so pissed. Do I want him near my little sister? Hell fucking no, I want her as far from this life as I can get her. But I can’t say anyone else would be better to protect her after Venom or me.