by Erin Osborne
We didn’t travel very far when they finally loaded me up in the van they had. It was maybe two hours at most, and I don’t know what direction we traveled in. As soon as they had me loaded up, they put a blindfold over my eyes and a gag in my mouth. My hands were tied with zip ties if the sound was any indication. The only part of my body that hasn’t been tied up is my feet. If I thought there was a chance of breaking free, I’d start kicking out and try to get out of the van, but these guys are driving recklessly based on the way I’m bouncing around the back.
Finally, we pull into somewhere and the van comes to an abrupt stop. I fly forward and hit my head on the hard, metal floor making an instant headache start pounding away at me. Fuck! I’m roughly dragged from the van; my knees hitting the rough pavement before they’re dragged across the jagged rocks and whatever else is on the ground below me. I refuse to wince or cry out in pain as the skin on my leg is torn open. They’ll not have the satisfaction of hearing my pain.
The only thing that goes through my mind as I’m dragged into the unknown is Axle and Psycho. Those two are my life, and I don’t know what the future holds for me right now. I do know that Psycho will take care of our son and make sure he grows into a decent and kind man. One that will cherish his woman and treat his kids the way they deserve to be treated; with love, patience, and understanding.
These thoughts won’t help me right now. I’ll save them for when I’m alone and willing to show my emotions. Not when I’m in the hands of dumb motherfuckers that are going to have their asses handed to them by Psycho and the rest of the club.
Chapter Sixteen
Psycho
I MAKE MY way to Callie’s so I can meet Hadliegh before she goes to work. There were a few things I had to talk to Renegade and Grave about before I could leave again. Knowing that she had to be there soon, I let her go thinking Chris is going to be following her. But, as soon as I’m done with my brothers, I see Chris sitting at one of the new tables with a beer in his hand.
“The fuck you doin’ here? You are supposed to be with Hadliegh,” I say through gritted teeth as I watch him stand up and slowly make his way out the door.
“What’s goin’ on?” Renegade asks me, watching Chris walk slowly through the door like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“He was supposed to be with Hadliegh. I don’t know what the hell is goin’ on right now, but I’m not likin’ what I’m seein’. Think we found our mole,” I answer, running out to my bike to see Chris still in the parking lot. He’s not even near his fucking bike. “I’m tellin’ you now, motherfucker, if somethin’ is wrong with my girl, I’ll kill you! Get the fuck inside, you dumb twatwaffle!”
I jump on my bike and peel out of the parking lot. My mind is racing and I have a million different scenarios running rampant right now. No matter how many times I tell myself that Hadliegh’s fine and that she’s just getting ready for work, my gut is telling me something completely different.
As I pull into the driveway, the front door is standing ajar and I know she’s gone. The SUV is in the parking lot, but that doesn’t mean shit right now. Running inside after barely making sure that my kickstand is down, I holler out for my girl. There’s no answer as I race upstairs and see the bedroom has been messed with.
I can definitely see there’s been a struggle with the boxes toppled over and the way the bathroom door is kicked in. I even find Hadliegh’s phone lying on the floor near the bedroom door.
Pulling out my phone, I call my brother. “She’s not here!” I yell into the phone. “Someone came in and took her from Callie and Bear’s house. I want that motherfucker locked the fuck up right now!”
“He’s already in one of the cells. Get the fuck back here so we can find out what’s goin’ on. I’ll call Ink and give him a heads up,” Renegade tells me as I run back through the house so I can get back to the clubhouse.
As soon as I walk in, I make my way down to the basement. Chris is sitting in one of the cells with Renegade, Grave, Hawk, and Chains standing outside the door. I push my way past them all and turn the key and open the door. Chris doesn’t move a single muscle as I come at him and slam my fists repeatedly in his ribs. The only reason I’m not hitting his face is because I need him to fucking talk.
“Where the fuck is she? Who has my woman?” I ask, letting my rage boil over.
“Snake’s Revenge has her. You really have no clue what’s goin’ on right now,” he says, a smug look coming over his face. “You have no clue who she really is; not that she does either. But she should be findin’ out right about now.”
“What the fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?” Grave asks, stepping in behind me.
“Hadliegh is the Pres’s daughter. Just like I’m his son. See, my dad, Wrecker, met her mom when she was out lookin’ for a fix. He took her and fucked her until he was tired of supplyin’ her for free. Once he booted her out, he kept an eye on her and discovered she was pregnant. When Hadliegh was born, he knew he didn’t want her because she was a girl and couldn’t take over the club when it was time. That’s when he got my mom knocked up, and I was born nine months later.
“Because of all the drugs and shit, I was a bit delayed and I never grew the way I should have. That’s why it was easy to make you guys think I was younger than twenty-five. I’ve been givin’ my dad any information I could on you bitches for months. That’s my ticket into my patch with the Snakes. You motherfuckers were just too dumb to realize that you had a mole sooner,” he says, a smirk on his face that tells us he still thinks he’s walking out of here alive.
“You stupid pussy!” I yell out, lunging at him as he sits on the cot still. A look of fear and panic passes through his eyes and is gone in a blink.
I begin to rain hell down on Chris. The men with me don’t stop me and don’t pull me off even after I see he’s gone limp and is unconscious. Fuck that! I pull my knife out of my pocket and slit his neck. I’m covered in his blood, but I don’t give a fuck. Snake’s Revenge has my girl and I’m going to get her back.
Renegade leads me upstairs as I begin to barely get myself back under control. He shoves me in his room and tells me to jump in the shower while he gets Hawk to find out everything he can about getting a hold of Wrecker. It’s going to take a sit down in order to get my girl back, and I’m going to be there one way or another. I will be the one to take Hadliegh, my bright eyes, out of there and bring her home to Axle.
As soon as I’m washed up, I quickly get dressed in the clothes that Renegade brought me. He’s got Chris’s phone in his hand and tells me that Hawk cracked the password on it. That’s our best option to get ahold of the man that has Hadliegh and has been fucking with us for so long now. It seems like as soon as we exterminate one club, another five takes their place and thinks they stand a chance against us.
We walk into the meeting room and everyone takes their seats. As soon as Renegade bangs the gavel on the table, he pulls out Chris’s phone and calls Wrecker. The dumb fuck put his number under his name in the contact list. How fucking stupid can someone be?
“What are you contactin’ me for?” Wrecker asks as a way of answering his phone. “Told you never to fuckin’ call me, I’ll call you.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing this isn’t Chris then. If that’s even his real fuckin’ name. You got somethin’ that belongs to Psycho, and we want her back,” Renegade says, keeping the phone on speaker so we can all hear.
“Renegade, it’s about time you figured shit out. Not that you have the first clue what we want. Meet me at the old warehouse out on route nineteen,” he says. “Where’s my useless son?”
“Dead,” I answer, knowing I’m probably digging a hole for Hadliegh by admitting that, but I want him to know he’s dead at my hands.
“Better you than me. His mom would kill me if I had to do the job I’ve wanted to do since he was born. That stupid fucker never did have a chance at my club and I’m not sad at all,” Wrecker says, letting the room know he truly doesn�
�t care about anyone other than himself. “Be there in twenty minutes before I lose patience with my daughter.”
Wrecker hangs up and we spend the next minute in stunned silence. It sounds as if Hadliegh hasn’t been touched up to this point. We won’t know until we see her though. So, I jump up to go grab my guns and anything else that I’ll need to get my girl back. I won’t rest until I see her and have her back in my arms; where she belongs. This motherfucker isn’t going to put her through the same shit the Scavengers put her through. She’s strong as fuck, but she doesn’t deserve to be in this position.
We’re all loaded up and heading out in five minutes. Knowing we’re on a deadline, everyone jumps on their bike and we all pull out of the lot. There’s no formation to our riding, it’s my brother and me leading the pack as we make our way out to the old warehouse that Wrecker told us to meet him at.
With the amount of time, or lack thereof, that’s passed, I know in my gut this is where they took Hadliegh. There’s not enough time for them to get her, move her or leave a few guys with her, and get anywhere else. He really is dumb and thinks he’s fucking untouchable. He’s got another thing coming.
Once our bikes are parked, facing the exit, we all walk to the warehouse door in a group. There’s no Prospect or any other guy outside. It’s not uncommon if you’re not in the middle of a war, but these men are. We have Hawk up on a ridge and he’s already radioed in that there isn’t even a guard on top of the warehouse. These men really have no clue what is coming for them. Especially with my woman in there.
I pull open the door and see the main room of the warehouse is trashed and litter adorns every available surface. The smell radiating from the place is enough to make me pull down my bandana and cover my nose and mouth. There are about five men in the room, lounging around and talking to one another like it’s any other day. Not like they have another club coming into their clubhouse, if that’s what you call it, and knowing that they have my woman. It’s disgusting to witness honestly.
“Where’s Wrecker?” Renegade asks, coming up to stand next to me while the rest of the guys surround us and have our back.
“Right here,” an old man stands up, sets his joint down on the table and makes his way over to us.
“Where’s Hadliegh?” I ask, gritting my teeth and forming fists at my side so I don’t take this motherfucker out right now.
“Bring her out,” he says, taking his eyes off us and turning his back toward our group of men. He truly feels that he’s untouchable.
As soon as I lay eyes on my girl, I release the breath I’m holding. Other than some bruising on her face, nothing else seems to be wrong with her. Her clothes are still intact and her hair is up in the ponytail I’m sure she put it in before all hell broke loose. There’s duct tape on her mouth and I can see that her hands are behind her back.
Tentatively, she makes her way around the sick fucks in the warehouse and heads straight for my arms. On her way over to me, I catalog every single one of her injuries. There’s blood on her legs, I can see where it’s dripped down her legs and has dried in place. If I’m not mistaken, there’s gravel and other debris sticking out of the scrapes and cuts that were bad enough to slice through her jeans. Once she’s wrapped around me the best she can with her hands tied, I lean back from her and pull the tape off her mouth carefully.
“Are you okay?” I ask as Renegade steps behind her to cut her hands free.
“I’m okay now. They didn’t hurt me more than slapping me around a little bit when they first took me,” she answers, looking up into my eyes so I can tell that she is telling the truth.
“Which one slapped you around?” I ask as she turns around to face the men in the room.
“That one,” she says, pointing to another middle-aged man, sitting down and enjoying a drink.
I nod my head and pass her off to Bear. He takes her outside to wait for us while the rest of the men move in closer to us. They’re ready to hold me back if it comes down to it. Right now, my gaze is laser-focused on the man that dared to put his hands on my woman while Renegade turns his attention back to Wrecker.
“I’m guessin’ that takin’ Hadliegh, your daughter, was a power play to get us here. We’re here, now what the fuck do you want?” he asks, the rage and tension clearly coming out through his voice.
“Well, see, we’ve been able to hit your club and the Phantom Bastards, and you had no clue about our attacks. That tells me that we can get to you whenever we want to, and neither one of your pussy ass clubs can do a thing about it. So, this is what’s gonna happen, we’re gonna take over your town and Benton Falls. Anythin’ we want to run through there is gonna go, and you’re not gonna stand in our way,” Wrecker says, a smug look on his face as he thinks he has the upper hand on us.
“See, here’s the thing about that. You don’t have an inside man anymore. Your son is dead and rottin’ on the side of the road by now. He’s got a real shallow grave where you’ll never find him and soon, the animals will be diggin’ him up damagin’ further evidence. It’s not like there’s a bullet that they can test or anythin’, so you don’t have anythin’ to give cops if that’s what you choose to do.
“I know Vulture is workin’ with you, and we’ll find him soon enough. So, that takes out that connection to the clubs you want so bad to destroy. After your little stunt with Hadliegh, she’ll never want a fuckin’ thing to do with you. That takes out that lead too. So, now we have the upper hand because we have more clubs backin’ us than you can ever fuckin’ hope to have,” Renegade says as he moves closer to Wrecker.
“It seems like the only thing you care about is gettin’ high because I don’t even see any bitches around here. You’re gonna tuck your fuckin’ tails between your used-up legs and disappear. Or, we’re gonna kill every single fuckin’ one of you.”
Wrecker laughs like Renegade just spewed a bunch of shit instead of the truth. I walk past them all and yoke up the man that slapped Hadliegh around. “Because you wanted to take my woman, and you think you have the upper hand on us, I’m gonna take this one with me. It’s the cost of doin’ business and makin’ us come all the fuckin’ way out here when you had no reason to take Hadliegh in the first place.”
Dragging the guy behind me, I make sure his legs get as much damage if not more than Hadliegh has. He grunts and whimpers as gravel, glass, and whatever else is on the ground digs into his shins. Bentley throws open the side door of the van as I shove him inside and watch as he lands on his face.
“They blindfolded me, put the tape over my mouth, and tied my hands behind my back,” Hadliegh says, letting us know what they did to her.
“Looks like we better find somethin’ to tie him up and blindfold him then,” I answer, keeping her as close to me as I can right now.
Bentley pulls out one of his bandanas and ties it around his eyes. Next, he pulls a bag of zip ties out of the drawer under the front seat and makes sure it’s tight enough to dig into his skin. Finally, I rip off a strip of duct tape and slap it over his mouth before slamming the doors closed on him.
“Want you at my back,” I tell Hadliegh.
“I wanna go home,” she tells me, letting me know how sore she is.
“I’ll take you there. Bentley and Bishop will sit with you while I take care of this fucker. Doc is gonna have to come look at you too,” I tell her, helping her on my bike before I climb on in front of her.
We make the trip home where Renegade, Bear, and Grave stop at my new house with us. They wait with me while I get her inside, and call Doc to come check Hadliegh out. She’s gone upstairs to put on a pair of my sweats and take her now ruined jeans off. I watch her come back down and settle in on the couch.
“Where’s Axle?” she asks, wanting to see our boy.
“At the clubhouse with Foxy and Trin. You want him home?” I ask, knowing we need to get going so I can take out the trash.
“Yeah. Have Trin bring him and stay with me. I know the guys will be here, but I wa
nt him here too,” Hadliegh says, knowing Callie is at work and won’t be out for a few hours still.
“Got it, babe,” I tell her, kissing her head as Bear calls Trin and lets her know what’s going on now.
Doc came and checked my girl out while we were still at the house. He gave her something to help relax her so he could pull all the shit from her legs and that’s when I left. My hope is that I can take care of the scumbag, and then get home before she wakes up. Trin is just sitting at the house with Axle so that he’s home when she wakes up too.
The guys and I walk down to the cells in the basement where we find the stupid fucker sitting on the edge of the cot. His face lights up with a smile when he sees us. Yeah, this fucker thinks we’re gonna let him go; the same way that Chris did.
I nod to my brother and he turns on the radio because Callie and the kids are upstairs. Purpose for Pain by Scott Stapp begins to play from the speakers I set up in here. I always like to have music playing when I’m playing with the latest victim.
We already know that they want to take over our territory along with the Phantom Bastards. There’s no point in questioning this asshole. Renegade called Slim, and he agreed that we know enough to not bother questioning him. Yeah, we could find out more details about their plan, but I guarantee he won’t give up anything on his club.
I know I never would, so I land a few solid punches before letting him have a break. I don’t want him to know what’s coming next as I pick up the pliers and make my way back over to him. Knives are my thing, but I want to make sure I have a little fun before I start picking them up.
Starting at his toes, I make sure to pull all the nails from his body. Then I use the pliers to break his toes and leave him so he can’t stand after I drive them through the bottom of each foot. Standing up, I push on his shins and make sure the gravel and glass slice in even deeper into his flesh.