I feel that rage rising slightly but I push it down, using it to fuel me as I walk right alongside the guy, giving Woodchuck a firm nod.
Woodchuck's eyes light up, the excitement to be involved in a grab flowing through him. "Hey! What a coincidence, Pres, we were just talking about you!"
The guy immediately spins around, spotting me, his eyes widening almost comically.
The grin I give him can only be described as evil, devious as I give him a once over. "Hear you've been asking questions about my club," I say, my voice low, eerily calm. "How about you come with us and we'll answer them for you?"
Clasping my hand firmly on his shoulder, I watch as his dark, shifty eyes flick from me to just behind me. I don't have to look to know that Bear is looming over me, casting a terrifying shadow over the both of us.
"I-- Hey, man, I've got a lot of answers from your friend, here! Just was looking-- looking into maybe hanging around! That's all." He has no accent, not even a hint of one, which both surprises me and doesn't. Most members of Los Chingados come from Mexico and move north, and my father had wiped out any existing members ten years ago. Though, judging by his age, despite his rough looking exterior, this guy in front of me wouldn't have been old enough to be a member at the time Paco and his men were taken down.
"It's no problem for us to give you a grand tour, man. Why don't you come with us? We've got a car out back, plenty of room for you."
Watching this weasel of a man squirm underneath the pressure of my hand just fuels the fire within me to get him alone. Looking over him to Joker and Kang, I give them a nod, which causes him to jerk slightly, whipping his head around to look. My grin widens. "Oh yeah, did I mention I've got a few more friends with me?"
Tightening my hold on his shoulder, I yanked him up off of his bar stool. "It's probably a good idea for you to come willingly," I say, lowering my head just slightly closer to him, my voice low enough for him to hear me. "Because we're not above dragging you out of here screaming like a bitch."
The guy stammers in an attempt to respond, but my patience is growing thin. Grabbing the back of his shirt, I tug him around me to push his body towards the back door. Bear turns and strides ahead of us. "Later, Chuck!" I call over my shoulder and give a nod to Mort, the owner, as he stands behind the bar, unfazed by what's going on.
Once we got outside, the guy started to struggle and I jerked his body by the back of his collar, hard, causing him to stumble. "Struggle and we'll knock you out," I grunt, before shoving him towards Joker.
My best friend is happy to accept the present I give him, grinning wickedly as he grabs the guy. "Come on, fuck face. We're just going for a drive!" With a cackle, like the evil villain he can be, he dragged the guy to the back where Kang opens the door and Joker tosses him in, before climbing in behind him.
The rest of us hop into the cage and Bear starts her up before taking off the same way we came in.
"I swear, I was just curious about the club!" our guest sputters, but he isn't really struggling. More like twitching nervously. I keep my head forward, leaving him to Joker and Kang to take care of as I grab my phone to send a text to Jekyll and Hyde.
WARD: Got him. On our way.
Something is nagging at me, though. This was almost too easy, finding him here again, getting him into the van without any real trouble. It's not lost on me, the suspiciousness of it. I hold onto it, not pushing it away with some kind of excuse. I have to believe that these guys are crafty, smarter than we'd normally give them credit for. If I don't, we're already two steps behind and fucked.
I can't let go of the feeling that something else is in the works here, but for now, I go forward with our plan - get as much information out of this guy and work with what we've got. It's our best chance at taking down these pieces of shit before any more real damage is done.
CHAPTER 45
LEAH
CHATTER IN THE DINING room nearly exploded the moment Ward and the others left the clubhouse. Everyone had questions.
Tank stood at the front of the room, placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, the sound echoing off the walls. The silence was almost immediate. "There's no reason for alarm. Just a few things needed to be taken care of. If you have any urgent concerns, please let me know, but otherwise, enjoy the dinner that the girls worked hard to cook you."
A few people spoke up at once, clearly not placated by Tank's explanation. I stood, holding up my hands. "Hey, everyone!" The room quieted again as everyone turned to look at me. "Tank and the club have a lot on their plate, so if you have any questions or concerns, come to myself or Rita. If it's extremely important, we will take it to Tank.”
I look to Tank, who smiles and winks at me. "Thanks, babydoll." He walks towards the tables then, stopping where Kim is, dropping his head to whisper something to her, more than likely taking the time to personally assure her that everything is okay.
Regardless of being Ward’s Old Lady, I'm left with unanswered questions and an uneasy feeling in my gut.
Then, I remembered he said that Eddie would tell me what he could. Sitting back down, I spotted my brother across the room and waved for him to come over to us.
"But seriously, what is going on?" Lana asks, leaning towards me. I notice that Crow had gotten up and left, and now Camilla and Mary are staring at me expectantly.
"I don't know yet, but Ward said Eddie would explain."
As if it were timed, Eddie drops his massive frame into an empty chair. "I can't tell you much," he starts, not giving us a chance to start in with the questions. He leaned forward and we all instinctively followed. "They're on their way to grab a guy that we think is either linked or can give us info on the attack at Velvet, and the threat against us."
The threats. Being so busy during this lockdown had kept me distracted enough to seemingly forget about them. But if they were going after a guy that may have been involved in some way, that would be one step closer to keeping us safer than we were before.
"Holy shit, seriously?" Lana was raking her hands through her dark hair. "Where did they get the tip? Are they sure it isn't a trap?" There was mild panic in her eyes, and I recognized it completely because it was what I was feeling as well. If it were a trap, Ward was walking right into it, and Joker was with him.
Eddie shook his head. "Woodchuck sent the tip." He leaned back then, indicating that he was done giving us information. "Once I know more, I'll let you know." Standing, he gave myself and my sister a look, and he didn't even need to say anything for us to know what he meant. We were getting closer to getting rid of the remnants of the cancer that had ruined our family.
Would they be ready for a war? Would we? I didn't have proof, but there was a sinking feeling inside me that something more was going on, something bigger. That this was just a door waiting to be opened to let the Devil inside.
Little did I know, the Devil may have been preferable to what was coming for us.
CHAPTER 46
WARD
THE BOX IS THE nickname for a tight, concrete room in the basement directly underneath the clubhouse. It's just like any other room down there, but it was the only one with a drain in the center of a slightly angled floor, perfect for quick clean up.
The perfect place to get a little creative when drawing information out of the necessary people.
Lighting is dim, and along the walls are hooks and shelves with various weapons. All of this is locked behind two different doors - one heavy duty, dark grey commercial door that was fireproof and could withstand a blast, behind a door that was identical to every other door in the basement. Both had deadlocks and had been recently updated with a keypad that only the executive board had the code to.
It was locked up better than Fort Knox, to keep people in, but also keep them out.
Seated in a metal chair in a darkened corner of the room, I watched as Jekyll and Hyde played their favorite game of good cop/bad cop, which really translated to controlled crazy/insanely crazy. The two o
f them were wicked, and with the right victim, it was amusing to watch. They worked well together and really had a talent for getting people to talk.
And yet, they weren't even our big guns.
The weasel from the bar, Miguel Hernandez, is hanging by his wrists by a thick, rough rope that hung from the ceiling, hanging limply, his head rolled forward. Hyde reared his arm back and swung it forward, bitch slapping him straight across the face.
"Pick your head up, you son of a bitch," the wilder of the twins shouted in Hernandez's face, before grabbing a fist full of black hair and wrenching his head back. "Don't you know it's rude to not look someone in the eye when they're talking to you?"
We had been there for about two hours, and the pair of enforcers were doing their job to soften up our guest to prime him for the next one of us that would have a go at him. So far it had been mostly surface work, just punching and slapping the guy around. We want information, we don't want to kill him.
Yet.
Hernandez had some balls, though. Had to give him that. With a snarl, he looked Hyde right in the eye and spit in his face.
"You mother fucker." That earned him a gut punch, which had him hunching over, groaning as his arms wrenched back with the weight of his body being pulled towards the ground.
"Not a smart move, pal," Jekyll said from behind him, as he slowly circled the body hanging there. "We just want a few answers." Standing in front of him, Jekyll pushed his head up to look at him. "It'll make your life a lot easier."
The snarl was still on Hernandez's face, his breathing heavy as he tried his best to recover from the gut punch. "You'll kill me anyway."
Jekyll's expression shifted into mock horror, his hand on his chest. "What? You think that low of us? Well, that's just uncalled for."
Hernandez laughed harshly, not a single bit of humor in it. "I know what you fuckers do. You kill people for no reason."
You kill people for no reason. Is this fuck serious? My hands clench on my thighs where they rest, and I can feel the anger rising. My patience has been thinning since we started. I know I'm not going to last long watching silently from the shadows.
Hyde laughs loudly, before kicking out his feet from underneath him, causing him to fall forwards and his arms to wrench back at an abnormal angle and cry out in pain. Hyde just cackles again, and Jekyll shakes his head.
"You really don't know anything about us, dickhead. You should save your breath for giving us the answers we want."
"Fuck. You."
"Enough." My voice booms throughout the room, echoing off the walls as I stand up. Striding over to the center of the room, I nod to Jekyll, then Hyde, letting them know silently that I was taking over. I normally only step into a session towards the end, to either deliver the killing blow or wrap things up with one of our "guests", but this time I'm itching to get my hands on this guy.
Because it's personal. It's always been personal.
I forcibly grab the guy and straighten him out, balancing him on his flat feet before wrenching his head back with a fist full of his hair. "My brother's right. You don't know shit about us, Hernandez. But you certainly wanted to. Clearly, we don't buy your little excuse, so you can save it and start singing." I grip his hair tighter, bringing my other hand up to grip his chin tightly. "We want to know why you were trying to figure out where we hang out, where our clubhouse was located, and who you're fucking working with."
Still defiant, Hernandez grunts, trying to wrench his head away from my grip. I bring my leg up and knee him in the groin, causing him to double over again.
"I know you're doing this for Los Chingados. I know this is connected. Trying to get info to report back to your newly released buddies, huh? Thinking you're gonna get the jump on us and take us out when more than half of your little gang hasn't been out of the streets for more than a fucking day? Do they even know how to function? Ten years of their lives, lost. I bet that takes a lot of adjustment."
"Ten years they lost because of your fucking club!" He grunts, saliva spitting from his lips as if he were a rabid dog. His eyes are nearly black and filled with pure hatred.
The look must mirror mine.
Hernandez's red, bruised lips curl up into a wicked smile. "Did your whore get the message?"
A rush of absolute rage comes over me, though I try my best to hide it. He's trying to get to me, and though he has, I can't let him know that, because then he's won. "That was you, huh? Sneaky little fuck got into the club and left those threats?"
He doesn't say anything, just laughs. Pure malice and venom. The sound of it only riles me up more.
Before I know it, I've swung my arm and my fist has connected with his face. Not once, but twice, three times. I get him in the jaw, then the nose, then the cheekbone. Grabbing his face, I get dangerously close. That thing that I had been fighting has taken over me, and I can't hold it back. Not when he basically admitted to threatening Leah and my family. Just looking at this piece of scum reminds me of everything, and I want to kill him, right here, right now.
But I can't, and I don't. Unfortunately, we still need him.
"You'll do well to remember that you're my fucking bitch right now. We will make this slow and painful and drag this on for weeks if we have to. So, keep it up, Hernandez." I laugh in his face. "You messed with the wrong family, mother fucker." My fist connects with his ribs then and he cries out, doubling over out of instinct.
Letting go of him and backing up, I let out another humorless laugh. "What, you don't like being roughed up for information? That's funny." Turning away, I look to Jekyll and Hyde. "Get him ready, and then send in Joker."
Grinning, I turn back to Hernandez. "My buddy Joker, he's real fun to be around, but I'm pretty sure you're not gonna agree. Still..." I start to walk to the door. "Enjoy yourself. Really. I mean that."
Tapping out the code and unlocking the door, I don't bother to wash my hands, which are bruised and cut up from connecting with Hernandez's hard face. I'm done with him, for now. I'll leave him to Joker for the rest of the night, who I have all the confidence in when it comes to extracting information and dishing out torture.
Right now I just need a shower to calm myself, get my head back down to earth, and then take my woman. All night, preferably.
CHAPTER 47
LEAH
FROM THE MOMENT THAT the guys came back from their run, my mind had been preoccupied.
No one was able to give me any information, all I knew was that Ward, Joker, Jekyll, and Hyde were nowhere to be found. When the guys came back, no one seemed angry, so I had to believe that they had taken care of business. That was confirmed once the guys disappeared.
Down there were Jekyll and Hyde, Joker, and Ward. I knew enough to know that it was the enforcer’s job to get their hands dirty, and Joker wasn’t one to miss out. That had once been his job, after all. The President wasn’t always present, but this was close to Ward. He wouldn’t stay away even if his life depended on it.
I understood that certain tactics were necessary for keeping the club safe. I knew those men, knew their hearts and souls, and that alone made me certain that they never took anyone down there that didn't deserve it.
Most people would be disgusted by the violence and the club's need to take matters of justice in their own hands, but I've never been like most people.
These people were my family. And no matter what he was doing down there, Ward was my other half, and I would love him no matter what he needed to do to keep us safe.
After spending some time around the clubhouse, I found my way to the small apartment on the third floor that Ward and I had been sharing for this past week. I washed up for bed, changed into one of Ward's t-shirts, and got into bed with Zee.
Laying back, my head propped up against the pillows, I absentmindedly petted Zee with one hand while the other held up my phone. I don't even know why I was bothering, because it wasn’t like I was focusing on anything. I'm far too distracted.
Apparently, I w
as distracted enough to stop petting Zee, who didn’t seem to like that. Feeling a slight stab in my boob, I jerked my gaze to my cat - who was staring at me with the sort of look that made me think she had to be a human in cat form - her one paw outstretched and poking me in the boob with her claws.
"Really?" I chuckled, shaking my head as my fingers resumed their scratching on the top of her head, which pleased her enough to remove her paw, close her eyes, and start to purr again. "Pet the kitty, or get a stabbed titty." I muttered to myself the phrase my sister had coined.
The door opened, and without looking I felt Ward before he even came inside the room.
Sitting up, disturbing Zee enough for her to chirp at me before leaping off my chest, I took one look at him and knew he was different. I've seen this side of him before. I can tell almost immediately that he was fighting to come back to himself, come back to the Ward that I knew, but he was still struggling.
Whatever happened down there, he had to let his demons out and become someone else.
He looked at me for a few long, silent moments before rubbing his hand down his face. "I gotta get cleaned up." His voice was low and distant, and I could see the pain in his eyes. "Just...give me a few, okay?"
I nodded but said nothing. Knowing that he was struggling killed me inside, but I wanted to give him what he needed. If that was space, I'd give him it, for now.
He turned to walk to the bathroom, his shoulders slumped as if he was carrying the weight of the world on them, and it was taking its toll.
The water turned on after a few long moments of silence, and I just sat there, listening. The longer I sat there, the harder it became to just leave him to his own devices. I wanted to hold him up, to show him that he didn't need to take this on by himself. Maybe he would take the brunt of it, but he wasn't alone. He had me, and I was going to show him just that.
Heart of a Rebel: Rebel Aces MC Part 1 Page 24