Chicago Defiance Box Set Part One

by K E Osborn

  Torque bangs his gavel once with a loud thud. “So talk to us, Crest. Why did you bring Mylee here?”

  The door opens again and a sleepy looking Sensei walks in. We all dip our heads to him as he strides in taking his seat. The door closes behind him as Crest looks from me to Torque then back to me and starts speaking. “When Mylee was ill, she went into the hospital… the psych hospital. They did an excellent job caring for her. They helped her mentally. Got her back to where she needed to be. But while she was in there, she met this guy… Everett Scott. They seemed to hit it off as well as you can for two patients in a psych ward. They looked out for each other. Until Everett got fucking weird. Started spouting stuff about government cover-ups and shit. How he knew Mylee and he were destined to be fucking together.

  “Anyway, he left the hospital before her. His father has power and persuasion in politics. Thing is, when Mylee got out, Everett was still showing signs of instability. His father pulled him out of the hospital because he was trying to save face. He didn’t like the idea of the press getting wind of his son’s indiscretions, and being in the psychiatric ward was a no-go for him, so he pulled Everett out before his time.

  “Problem is, Everett is completely unstable, and he’s latched onto Mylee. We thought about dealing with him, but with him being Senator Scott’s son, it could bring a whole lot of spotlight on the club. Right now we have a heap of deals going on, and we don’t need a fucking spotlight on them. Deals that can’t have senators or political parties of any kind looking into if you know what I’m saying?”

  I catch on straight away. The Notorious Knights are doing some under-the-table shit, probably guns or drugs, maybe both. They can’t have anything bringing attention to them right now. I get it.

  “You want Mylee out of the picture, so this Everett won’t come after her. And he, or his father, won’t come looking for her at the Knights. Is that right?” Torque asks.

  “Correct. We’ve sent word to the Scott camp letting them know Mylee’s out of town. So the heat’s off us for now, but we didn’t tell them where she was going. Hopefully, this gets eyes off us, gives Mylee a break from that damn freak, and we can get our shit running smoothly again while we try to figure out a way to best handle Everett and his relentless goddamn… affections.”

  “Is he likely to trace her here?” Torque asks.

  Crest curls his lip. “No. Our club in Grand Rapids as you know is four hours away. There’s no way he’d believe I would let Mylee be that far from me. Normally, I wouldn’t. It’s only because I trust Trax and the Defiance, I’m letting her be this far from me and the safety of our club.”

  It feels good to know he trusts me with her this much. It’s an honor, to be honest. “Well, don’t worry, Crest, I’m not going to let anything happen to her on my watch. You have my word,” I announce.

  Crest turns his head to look directly at me, his eyes hard. “I know you won’t because you’ll be the first man I’ll kill if something happens to my girl, Trax.”

  I raise my brow but dip my chin in understanding. “Noted.”

  “Will you be riding back to Grand Rapids tonight?” Torque queries.

  Crest rubs his chin. “If it’s cool with you, I’ll stay till morning. But I have a lead I want you guys to look into if you’re all good with this?”

  “Brothers, we need to vote. Having Mylee here could cause issues for our club. We all know the Knights would do this for us, but it should be a unanimous decision. So what say you?”

  One by one, a vote goes around the table as a resounding “aye” is said by everyone until it gets to me. I could end this all right here. A no vote could send Mylee home and my troubles with it. She wouldn’t see my demons—I couldn’t inflict them on her. But for some reason, I can’t find it in me to say the word ‘no.’ Instead, a simple, “Yes,” slips from my mouth making Crest smirk.

  Torque bangs his gavel. “So it’s passed. Mylee stays…” He glances over to me. “To the next issue, what’s the lead you have, Crest?”

  He clears his throat as I crack my neck to the side. I can practically smell the blood in the air before he even says the lead’s name. “Miller Willbrook. He went to college with Everett, they’re still good friends. Miller’s stuck by Everett’s side through his mental illness. He visited him in the hospital and sometimes had meals with him and Mylee there.” My jaw ticks thinking of Mylee in such a place. “For all intents and purposes, the guy is decent.”

  I shake my head cracking my knuckles needing a little tension release. “So why the hell is he on your radar if he’s that squeaky fucking clean?”

  Crest chuckles. “He’s more than likely got intel on Everett. If we were to do a simple ‘retrieve and release’ and I’m sure if we scare him enough… he’ll crack. He’ll tell us something about what Everett’s plans are with Mylee.”

  I scoff. “Retrieve and release? You still do those at the Knights?”

  Torque scowls as Crest chuckles. “You don’t?”

  Sensei exhales sitting forward in his chair. “Lately all the retrievals we’ve had, have not had the opportunity to be released. Their own fault…. mostly.”

  Crest glances to Torque with a wide smirk and grips his shoulder. “Why, Torque, I’m beginning to appreciate your methods even more. And here’s me thinking you were the soft one and it’s me all along. Go figure. I need to harden my ass up. But with this one… with Miller, I think we need to play this smart. A businessman in with the Scott’s going missing the same time Mylee’s heading out of town might draw some unwanted attention to the Knights. We have to play this one different.”

  My lip curls up as I rub the back of my neck. All I want is to get my hands dirty. I need to get some of this motherfucking frustration out. If I have to do that with clean hands, how the hell am I going to let my demons keep a cool head?

  This is bullshit if ever I’ve heard it.

  “Agreed,” Torque replies making me want to punch him right in the throat.

  But I don’t. I keep my shit together.

  Marginally.

  “So where’s Miller? In Grand Rapids?”

  “He’s actually in Chicago on business, it’s why I chose tonight to head down here. I wanted to get the guy with your help while he’s away from anyone who can help him out. We can get him tonight. Question and release him without any incident. Then I can be back on the road by morning.”

  “I’ll have Sensei and Chains go and retrieve him—”

  “Bullshit!” I yell making everyone snap their heads to look at me.

  “The fuck you say?” Torque scrunches his brow.

  I stand from my chair slamming my hands on the table. “Sensei and I do retrievals. Don’t pull me from my job just because you think I’m too close to this, Torque.”

  Torque rolls his neck glancing to Crest, then to Sensei, then back to me. “You are too close to this, Trax.”

  “Exactly why I’m the best motherfucker for this job. Who the hell is gonna make sure this shit is done properly if not for me?”

  Sensei clears his throat like I’ve offended him, but I don’t give a shit right now.

  Fucker can be offended all he wants.

  “Crest, back me up here. You know you want me on this.”

  Crest glances to Torque and shrugs. “I don’t care who fucking gets the shithead as long as he’s back here in one damn piece, so we can talk to the motherfucker. If Miller’s dead, then it’s all for fucking nothing, and Mylee’s instantly put in danger.”

  “I got this, Torque!” I look at him sternly. “I got this,” I reiterate.

  He exhales with a shrug. “Fine! Sensei and Trax will fetch Miller while we set up in the Chamber.”

  Elation rolls through me. Knowing I’ll be able to relieve some of my bloodthirst tonight, it’s the only thing keeping me going right now. With the intensity I’ve felt today, I need this to make it through tonight.

  I’m seriously damn twisted.

  “Everyone in the Chamber shoul
d wear balaclavas. Nothing identifying is to be worn. Since this is a release, there should be nothing visible to tie to you or the two clubs. So all black, no jewelry, tats covered, no cuts. You know the drill… same goes for you, Sensei and Trax, when you retrieve. Cover up. Wear nothing obvious, say nothing obvious,” Torque relays.

  “Thank you captain obvious!” I mock.

  His lip turns up at me as I plonk down on my seat. “You’re a prick when you’re ovulating, you know that, Trax?” Torque grunts.

  “Fuck you!” I murmur under my breath.

  “Enough! Fuck, you’re just like the damn boys at home…” Crest rolls his eyes. “Sensei, Miller will be at his hotel by now. You’ll have to grab him from there.”

  I let out a stifled laugh. “Hotel grabs, this should be interesting.”

  “If anyone can be creative, Trax, you can,” Crest mocks.

  “Oh, you don’t even know the half of it. You should’ve seen this one time when I was with Sensei, and a Yakuza underling, who couldn’t keep his cock in his pants—”

  The room laughs excluding Crest who cuts in. “Somehow I know that would have been a sight to see, but I’m warning you, Trax, keep your shit together with Miller. We need information not bloodshed.”

  Rolling my neck, I groan. “I got it! Can we go now?”

  “You’re like an errant child, kid. Who’s the techie here?” Crest asks.

  Ace stands from his station as if it wasn’t noticeable. “Yep. What do you need?”

  “I’ve got Miller’s cell number. Can you put a trace on it for Captain Impossible, so they know where he’s located in the hotel?”

  Ace smiles flicking his bobblehead of Iron Man. “There’s a reason I’m the tech guy here, Crest, ‘cause I have technology as good as Stark Industries.”

  We all raise our brows as Crest grunts. “Am I supposed to know what that fucking means?”

  Ace slumps back into his seat defeated. “Yeah, I can track the cell. Gimmie his number.”

  Scratch chuckles giving Ace two thumbs up in support as Crest stands up and moves to Ace’s computers. Crest hands over his cell information as they fuck about.

  Torque leans in beside me gaining my attention. “Bring the suit in, in one piece. You hear me?”

  I scoff. “I fucking got it.”

  “None of this hothead bullshit, Trax.”

  I turn my back to him effectively ending the conversation as an alert pings on my cell. I look down to see the tracker app with a red dot appearing in the heart of Chicago. I smile standing up as I glance to Sensei.

  “Let’s go.”

  Sensei glances to Torque, an unspoken conversation passing between them, but I don’t care what it is they aren’t saying out loud. I have a guy I need to get to, who knows information on the dick who’s out to harm Mylee. My bloodlust is pulsing through my veins. The need to cause bodily harm growing by the second.

  Will I be able to reign in my demons?

  Fucked if I know.

  All I do know is Miller better not say anything to piss me off because right now I’ve had a shit of a day and just looking for an excuse to tear off some limbs.

  Please give me an excuse, Miller.

  Just one tiny excuse…

  CHAPTER FIVE

  TRAX

  Sensei and I pull up in the underground parking garage of the hotel in our van. He parks right at a back corner near the elevator. I smirk at his forward thinking. We hop out of the van all dressed in black, our balaclavas in our pockets as I look around to see a light illuminating our van a little too much. So, I glance around to find something as Sensei fucks about in the back of the van getting it ready for the retrieval. I find a small rock, glance around to make sure no one’s watching then I hurtle it at the light.

  A smashing sound rings through the parking garage as our van descends into darkness. Sensei’s head pops around the back to look at me, his eyes go wide.

  “What the fuck, Trax?” he murmurs.

  “There’s too much light,” I reply.

  Sensei shuts the back of the van and quickly checks around the parking garage to see there’s no one around. But I already knew that.

  “Lucky no one heard that, fucker. Now where is he in the hotel?”

  Pulling out my cell, I look to the flashing red dot on the screen. “Follow me,” I instruct as we make our way to the elevator. We enter turning our backs to the door. We know there could be a camera in here, so we keep our backs to the front the entire ride. The door pings, and we back out. We probably look like fucking idiots, but no one’s here watching, so who cares.

  We enter the hall and duck behind a partition while listening to the crappy music playing in the hotel bar. Licking my lips, I glace to Sensei as I check my cell. “I think he’s in the bar.”

  Sensei groans. “This complicates things. If he was in his room, it would be much easier. Now there’s other people around.”

  I grunt out frustrated as I rub the back of my neck. I need to get some of this anger out and soon. It’s only increasing, doubling in its ferocity. My thoughts shift to Mylee asleep in that bed, zoned out because of a panic attack. My nostrils flare as my palm comes up and slams into the wall hard making a loud thump as the wall shudders.

  Sensei glares at me while I breathe harshly out of my nose trying to cool myself down. “You need to calm your inner thoughts, Trax. If you let something as simple as having to wait to catch your prey get to you, you are further gone than I thought.”

  My eyes harden as I drop my hand from the wall crossing my arms over my chest. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  He stands taller, taking me on. “It means you’ve been falling apart for a long time, even before Mylee came back. Now she’s here, I see this as going one of two ways.”

  I cock my chin higher. “Yeah? How’s that?”

  “You can either let her save you or let her be your complete demise. Way I see you heading right now, you are letting your anger and your inner turmoil control you. Take the control back, Trax.”

  I scoff. “What the fuck would you know about control?”

  He raises his brow. “A lot more than you think, and I will teach you. You just have to be willing to let go of that monster crawling around within.”

  My face scrunches, my stomach churning as the demon claws at my soul to be set free. “I don’t have a fucking monster within, Sensei.”

  He lets out a heavy sigh. “The thing is, Trax, if you want what’s best for Mylee, you’ll—”

  I lunge forward grabbing him by his black hoody and press him against the wall glaring in his stoic eyes. He remains calm and unmoving as my face contorts in anger. “Don’t fucking talk about her.” Tension rolls off me as I press him harder against the wall wanting more than anything to rip him to shreds, but the way he isn’t fighting back makes it harder for me to do any-damn-thing. My lip turns up while I pant for breath as my cell lets off a small ping. Sensei drops his cool eyes from mine glancing to my pocket as I finally drop my hold on him and pull my cell out to see the dot moving and coming our way.

  “Fuck! He’s heading this way,” I tell him as I reach into my pocket to pull out my balaclava. Sensei does the same placing his over his head, it barely covers the dreadlocks that fall down the one side of his face. I yank mine over my head quickly. Now we’re really pulling off the criminal vibe as we stand back in the hallway leading to the suites.

  Miller rounds the corner as we conceal ourselves behind a partition out of view. He stumbles ahead of us as Sensei stalks up behind him, and I slide out in front of him. His eyes widen as he takes in the sight of me. He attempts to say something, but I don’t hesitate, the demon inside of me roaring to life as I clench my fist and slam it straight into his nose. My knuckles twinge but don’t hurt as much as normal—they’re covered in black leather gloves—while blood spills down his face, his entire body collapsing back into the arms of Sensei. It all happens without a hassle or a single word.

  Sensei hoi
sts him up over his shoulder, and we run like hell toward the elevator. I press the button as Sensei looks me over. “You good?”

  “I’m good,” I reply.

  The elevator dings and luckily no one’s inside, so we stride in taking it straight to the parking garage. The doors open, I step out scoping for anyone, but it’s vacant. “Clear,” I call out as Sensei steps out carrying Miller while I open the back of the van.

  Sensei throws him inside then I step in and grab the cable ties. We’ve done this countless times, and we’re pros at this snatch and grab shit. I tie up his hands while Sensei tapes his mouth. Then we prop him sitting up, so the blood from his nose doesn’t clog his airways and he suffocates on the ride over.

  Yeah, we learned that the hard way.

  Once Miller’s ready to go, we slide into the van. We don’t take off our balaclavas, not until we’re at least ten minutes into the drive. That’s the rules. Plus, the windows are tinted enough so people can’t see in to notice us wearing them.

  Sensei pulls out of the garage, and we’re off to the clubhouse—a successful retrieval. He looks to me then his eyes slip back to the road. “You lost your head back there.”

  I grunt. “You were talking about her. I tend to lose my shit when it comes to… her.”

  He exhales. “You need to calm that storm, it’s going to end up with you losing yourself.”

  I scoff. “I’m well aware of the path I’m taking.”

  He glances to me again. “Do you? ‘Cause from where I’m sitting, this shit’s not pretty.”

  “I’m fine.”

  He exhales. “When you realize you’re not… I’ll be here.”

  Rolling my shoulders, I turn my head to the window and watch the city streets of Chicago pass me by. I’m fine. Sure, I might have a temper. Sure, I might fly off the handle sometimes, but doesn’t everyone?