by J. L. Drake
“Wow,” Clark muttered. I wanted to take her head off but stayed where I was.
“Don’t make me remind you, Clark, I know your secrets too.” I heard her heels click on the wooden floor before she spoke again. “Ones that could destroy her.”
“We had a deal.”
“Yes, we did, and a deal works both ways, so keep your dick in your pants.”
***
Trigger
After sixteen hours, I slipped into off mode on the outside but gave in to the chaos happening inside. That was what they wanted, after all—for me to sweat. Thing was, there was no way they could pin that murder on me. There wasn’t enough time for one of us to have done it. It was just a waiting game on their turf.
The mirror that faced me rattled slightly, more than likely from a door being shut. I waited for a moment and slowly let my lips part into a smile. The same smile I used whenever Doyle brought up his sister. It rattled again before the door opened, and there stood Doyle and Sam.
Sam tapped his side, which signaled me they had to let me go since there was no evidence.
Doyle’s pissed-off face was the icing on the fucked-up cake. I stood and reached for my phone Sam held out before I towered over Doyle.
“The next time you think about arresting me and my men, you better have some goddamn good evidence. Now, move.”
His face twitched, and he cleared his throat and stepped aside so I could pass.
“Where are the guys?” I grunted at Sam as he raced to catch up.
“Waiting in the car. You were harder to get released.” He raised a hand and scrambled to get in front of me. I stopped and looked up from my phone. “Trigger, I need you to know this looks like a setup.”
“I know.”
He fixed his glasses and shifted his files from one hand to the other. Sam was a plump little man who looked like an inmate’s bitch. His clothes were wrinkled, and his face was always beet red. But he was smart and had my back, even at the times I didn’t think he had. Besides, he wouldn’t fuck me over. He knew what I was capable of, and he had a family to lose. I had made it a point to meet the wife and kids when we first hooked up.
“You want to share anything with me? I need to be kept in the loop.”
I rubbed my head. “My father is still alive.” I let that sink in. “And, apparently, he is determined to get me six feet under, or behind bars, at least.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Not even close.” I stepped around him and scanned my text messages. Nothing else from Jace.
“Trigger, we need to discuss this.”
I tapped Jace’s contact info to start a call and turned to Sam. “We just did.”
Cooper was at the curb in his 1966 Lincoln Continental convertible. Way flashy for my taste, but the guys had picked up our bikes, so it would have to do.
I slipped into the front seat and motioned for him to leave.
Jace finally answered on the sixth ring. “You’re out?”
“You found Tess.”
“I did. She’s in Vegas.”
I glanced away from the side mirror and closed my eyes. At least she was okay.
“Trigger, you need to know something.”
“What?” Fucking spit it out.
“She is working as a prostitute.”
I glanced back at Brick, who apparently heard Jace. He muttered something and looked out the window.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, and that Clark guy is a real dick.”
“You met him?”
“He came in her room. He thought we were done.” I pushed away the murderous thought of the two of them in bed together. “He wasn’t happy. He wanted to see her after.”
“And besides that?”
He took a moment to answer, and I wasn’t sure why.
“Sad, man. She seemed just…sad. But you know Tess. She turned it to mad.”
I rested my elbow on the open window and covered my eyes with my free hand.
“I don’t wanna overstep here, but—”
I hung up and tossed my phone on the dash.
We all remained silent as I mulled over Jace’s words.
What the fuck is she doing? And who the fuck is she doing?
“Hey, Trigger.” Morgan stopped me before I went inside. He was visibly rocked by what went down. “I swear, man, I didn’t—”
“I know.” I moved around him and headed for my room. I needed a hot shower.
Cray and a few of his men stayed for dinner. Seven tables were pushed together, and Rail filled the guys in on what happened to the San Diego crew.
“I’ll pay for the family to stay at the Hilton,” Cray chimed in. He glanced at Moe, who shrugged. Moe barely felt much inside. I understood that and made sure he was directly under Cray in ranks. Unemotional people tended to screw up less.
“Yeah,” Moe said. “I’ll send someone to get them.”
“Did you find anything?” I knew the answer was no. I would have heard if Moe had gotten his hands on the Harmos family.
“Nah, skipped town.”
I nodded and nursed my beer. Morgan finally joined us but remained quiet. The whole situation played on him, and he needed to get over it.
This was all my father—what he did best. Fuck with people’s heads.
“Trigger?” Big Joe stood in the doorway with a box. “This just came for you.”
I flicked my head at Jace, and he jumped to get it. He set it in front of me and cut the tape along the top before he stepped back. Rising from my chair, I slowly opened it and pulled out Gator’s leather cut. I slammed it on the table and lifted out the rest of the cuts piece by piece.
Anger surged. The guys were waiting for me to explode, and I was about to let fly when I saw there was an envelope taped to the bottom of the box.
What the fuck was this?
I glanced at Gus before I ripped the paper and freed the note.
Eight down. Who is next?
You want this to stop?
Step into the ring.
“It’s a trap,” Brick hissed from behind me. “He knows you can’t resist the ring.”
Gus made a strange noise, and I looked over.
“What?”
He shook his head, but he still cleared his throat, which meant he was going to give me his two cents anyway. “It’s just what he wants.”
“Did I say I was going to?”
“No, but addicts slip, and he’s playin’ you.”
Fuck. I needed to be alone to work off some of the tension that was building. My fists were clenched tight, and I couldn’t relax my fingers.
“Get these cuts cleaned up, and we’ll give them to the families,” I barked at Jace, and he quickly gathered them up without a word.
The door swung open, and my newest prospect, Rich, looked around the room, his excitement obvious.
“Excuse me.” He blinked to find the right words for interrupting my fucking meeting. “Trigger, I saw some of them.”
“Who?” My entire body immediately came to high alert.
“Five men from your father’s army.”
With a quick glance at Brick, we all stood and grabbed our weapons and followed Rich out back to where we had parked our bikes.
We didn’t need a plan. We’d make one once we arrived and checked the place out.
“There.” Rich pointed at a group of men who looked like they were part of a kid’s birthday party being held at a park just outside the border of my territory on the Stripe Backs’ land.
“How many kids?” Brick checked his phone.
“Ah,” Rich craned his neck and looked around, “seven, no, ten. Ten kids in total. Including the baby on that chick’s tit.”
“You and Rail go around and draw them out. Brick and I will meet up behind.”
I motioned for Cooper to go and headed around the cars to the other side.
“Ready?” Brick and I stood on either side of the line of Stripe Back bikes and tipped them in toward each ot
her, so it was harder to stand them up in a rush. It would buy us an extra ten seconds or so.
We rushed in the opposite direction to create a distraction that would pull the Stripe Backs away from us.
Just as we rounded the area near the restrooms, we saw Cooper nail one of my father’s men in the head with a rock. They jumped to their feet and started to chase them through the garden area and up to the road.
“What the fuck, Samuel!” One of the Stripe Back members had a kid by the collar. “I told you not to touch the bikes.”
“Poppy, I didn’t!”
I signaled for Brick to follow me. We stayed low and made our way through the path and up the hill where Cooper was getting his ass kicked, and Rail had one in a neck hold.
My knuckles were curled tight as stone, and my heart jump-started into high as I ran in and swung with all my might. One man flew into another, and they both went down, which gave me a few seconds to take out the fucker on Cooper’s back. I felt a blow to my shoulder and whirled to cave in the face of the first guy I could reach.
Pound.
Pound.
Pound.
My muscles screamed me on, and I reveled in each bone I broke. One by one, we took out each man, and every hit I took amped up my desire to kill.
“Where is Allen?” I heard Cooper shout at one of the men. “Where is he?”
The bastard laughed as blood drained from his mouth. “The Father is too protected, his army too big.” His heavy accent made his words hard to follow. “You don’t find him, he finds you.”
“You’re dead, anyway.”
“Sí, but I die knowing where Father is. You,” he poked Cooper’s chest, “do not.”
I stepped over and snapped his neck.
“He won’t talk.”
Cooper grabbed his legs and dragged the body to a nearby car. We had found it unlocked earlier and decided to fill the trunk with our gift.
I jumped back into the fight. Fuck, I needed this.
Rail’s guy was huge, so I took over. I got lost in the fight. He was almost my size, but his swing was shit. He lasted at least a few minutes on his feet before he went down like a fucking tree.
My chest heaved with a cocktail of thirst and fuel. I needed more, but they were dead. I glanced back at the party and saw the Stripe Backs were aware of our visit, so it was time to go.
“Snap a photo, cut their fingers, and send them to the church. No note, just leave a bag of coke with our symbol. Whether he’s still there or not, it’ll get back to him.”
“Wish I could see your old man’s face when he opens it.” Brick huffed and pulled out his phone. “Tess?” His tone was off. “Tess, hon, is that you?”
My legs were moving before my mind kicked in. He turned and caught my expression, and his face twisted with worry.
“You need to tell me what’s going on.”
Chapter Six
Tess
The DVD was on a seven-second loop. I watched my beautiful friend Mags as she came into the viewing room at the house to meet her baby’s father, and what happened next made me go cold with shock and throw up my dinner.
My legs went out from under me as I slid down the wall in the far corner of my room. My cell phone was still on airplane mode as it shook in my hands. I watched the little plane disappear and change to the cell reception icon. My knuckles were white, and I didn’t know what else to do, so I gave in.
I swiped my thumb over his number and pressed call. Heavy, hot tears raced down my face, each one reminding me of my new truth.
“Hello?” His voice made my stomach hurt.
“Brick?” I whispered. I needed him so much right now.
“Tess.” There was a pause. “Tess, hon, is that you?” I pictured his face and how much he must hate me for leaving. “Are you okay? Where are you?” He stopped his chatter and waited a beat before he spoke again. “You need to tell me what’s going on.”
I tried to get my head to work, but the words came out jumbled. “He strangled her.” I sobbed and rolled to my side. Everything hurt.
“Who strangled who, Tess?”
“Clark,” I choked out. “He killed Mags! George was there and helped get rid of her. Mom ordered them around. I can’t breathe. I always thought it was George, not…” My heart fought for room in my chest. Air was trapped half way up, and everything was tangled up inside.
“Shit.” He covered the phone and said something. “Tess, are you there now?”
“Matt,” I sobbed out his real name, and it felt good to say it, “I’m so sorry—”
“No,” he shouted. “I don’t know what black shit is going through your head right now, Tess. But you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m going to fly out to you tonight. I’m going to take you home, okay?”
“I can’t.” I felt so tired. My body needed sleep. It always shut down when things became too much. “I don’t know everything yet.”
“I think you got your answers.”
Before I could explain that wasn’t what I meant, he hung up. I needed to lie down for a while. I didn’t bother changing, I just slipped on a robe and climbed on top of the covers.
I raced up the slippery steps of the old wheat mill. You had to be so careful where you stepped. It had been abandoned about fifteen years ago. Rusty nails, broken windows, or trash could take you down in a flash.
I reached for the metal rail for support as my heart beat out of my chest and vibrated up my throat. The three guys were only two floors below and were gaining on me fast. It had been a stupid move, me trying to get the blanket back. They had grabbed it the night before last, and I’d nearly frozen to death without it. I thought they were out of it drunk when I pulled it free, but I had underestimated their street smarts, and they were on me pretty fast.
I hit the top floor and frantically glanced for a place to hide or for a weapon to use.
Nothing.
I raced for the stairs on the other side of the room. Just as I flew through the open the door, I heard them yell.
I dodged all the weak-looking patches on the steps and leapt down three, nearly falling on my ass.
My mind raced to figure out a game plan once outside. This exit led to an alleyway, and if they beat me down there, I would have no way of getting out.
I knew I could kick and knee hard, so I focused all my energy on that as I burst through the door and fell at a hit to the back of my legs.
Shit.
“Wow.” One guy grinned down at me, and it took a moment for my brain to clear.
“I get first dip.” Another groaned as he held his dick with his dirty fingers. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
Two hands clamped down on my ankles. I kicked and twisted, but another grabbed my wrists.
“No!” I screamed and bucked with all my might, but they were too strong. I wasn’t sure how many there were, but I could tell who the ringleader was. He bent over me and tried to wiggle off my pants while the others held me tight. My head jerked, and I tried to bite at the closest arm.
“Stop! Get off me!” My lungs nearly burst when I sucked in and screamed again, hoping to scare them off.
The man above me started to cut my jeans off with a blade while yelling at the others to hold me still. In hindsight, I should have been more scared of the pocketknife skimming past my flesh, but better to get a wild infection than be poked by this sick son of a bitch with his whore of a dick.
“Damn, no panties!” He licked his lips.
“You touch me, and I promise I’ll bend your dick like a goddamned balloon animal.” I hissed and thrashed again and was able to knee his friend in the face.
“Fuckin’ bitch!” The guy held his bloody nose. “Do it, already, Glen!”
“Mm, I love how soft a girl’s thighs are.”
I wanted to puke, but instead I focused my energy on where I was going to head butt next.
His hands moved higher up, and I prepared for when he bent down. Tears gushed, but I hardly felt them.
My muscles were locked in place when his fingers reached my upper thigh.
“No! Help!” I screamed and bucked, but he was ready for it, and a heavy roar from an exhaust drowned out my cries.
“Relax, darling. You’re going to love this.”
Oh, my God, this was going to happen, right here, in this alley below a bright green neon sign that advertised the show girls next door. It would be the day I died inside. I thought the house was rough, but this…this was something else.
I felt him move into position, and I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for him to make any kind of move.
Someone will make a mistake.
Just when I thought his dick would tear into me, I felt him jerk off me. My eyes flew open, and there was a guy I’d never seen before beating the shit out of him. One by one, he fought them all off, plowing one guy’s head into a wall. His hand rose and fell with a sickening sound. I wasted no time getting out of there and ran back into the mill where my stuff was hidden in one of the corners. Somehow, I managed to put a pair of shorts on and got my stuff swung over my back.
I raced to the window and looked down. My attackers were all on the ground, knocked out cold or dead. I didn’t care which. Then I heard a noise and whirled around as the guy found me. He had short, messy hair, wore a hoodie, and had a backpack of his own.
I was trying to decide on an escape route when he held up his hands. “I’m just making sure you’re okay.”
I held my stuff closer to my body. “I’m fine.” I stepped back and wondered why he helped me. In my experience on the streets, no one ever helped, fearing they’d become a target too.
“Okay, good.” He looked around then back at me again. “Are you here by yourself?”
“You care, because…?”
“Because you’ll only get jumped again if you are.”
I shrugged, and my defenses went up. “Been doing pretty well on my own so far.”
He smirked. “Bet you have to keep moving.”
“Yeah.” He was right about that, and I didn’t need to lie. Truth was, I didn’t have a spot that was my own. “So?”
“You always this friendly after someone helps you out?”