by Evelyn Glass
“She didn’t. Val took her yesterday.”
“Son-of-a-bitch! So that’s where he’s been. He disappeared about a week ago and nobody knew where he went. Where did he find you?”
“North Carolina.”
“How?”
“Beats the hell out of me. I have to get her out of there.”
Rick looked around then zipped. “Let me see if I can find out for sure that she’s here first. It would suck to storm the place and find out it’s just Val getting some on the side.”
“You would do that?”
“Yeah. My name is shit around here. They know I tipped you, but have no proof. That fucking Jason is pissing me off. He let me get sold down the river without so much as a peep of protest, the little fucker. So, yeah, I’ll help. I’ll enjoy spitting in Jason and Val’s eye. The whole fucking club is coming apart over what happened to you.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“Fuck that. You owe me two,” Rick said. “And when we’re done with this shit, I’m going to collect, and big time.”
Scott pursed his lips. “Anything you want man, anything you want.”
Rick smiled into the darkness. “Was she worth it?”
Scott smiled. “More than you know.”
Rick nodded. “Get the fuck out of here. I’ll call you as soon as I know something. And, Scott, don’t be stupid, okay?”
Scott wanted to hug Rick, feeling like a brother again, but if someone saw them, they would be in deep shit. “Thanks, Rick,”
Rick heard the slight hitch in Scott’s whisper and nodded before pulling the smile off his face as Scott melted away into the darkness. Goddamn, it feels good to be appreciated again!
Chapter Thirty-Four
“I’m here to see Jess,” Angela said.
“She’s not here,” the big bearded man said, not even bothering to rise from his chair.
“Oh, come off of it, Chuck. I know she’s down there, and you know she’s down there. Just let me talk to her for a couple of minutes. You can even listen in if you want.” Angela smiled and leaned in close, her big sloshy breasts threatening to tumble out of her top. “I’ll even let you frisk me if you need to.”
“And what would Road Kill say to that?”
“You know I hate it when you call Ed that. I didn’t say I wanted you to frisk me. I said I would let you. For security and all. In case I was smuggling something to her.”
Chuck licked his lips. Angela was a big girl, just like he liked them, and she had a confidence in her sexuality that made her radiate an animal like magnetism. She was a colossal flirt and wore clothes that made the best of her attributes, so she had her share of male admirers in the club, including himself. She was Ed’s old lady, though, and normally that placed her out of bounds, but he was tempted to take her up on her offer. He would love to feel the breasts that Ed got to play with every night, imagining what it must be like sliding his cock between them. But orders were orders. “Val gave strict orders that nobody was supposed to visit her.”
“So she is down there!”
Chuck turned red in embarrassment. “I didn’t say that.”
“Charles Reddly, you look me in the eyes and tell me Jessica Mitchell isn’t in that basement.”
“Jess isn’t in the basement,” Chuck said, staring into Angela’s eyes.
“You lying sack of shit,” she said with a giggle. “Come on, Chuck, please? Just a quick visit. I haven’t seen her since she ran off with Scott.”
Chuck grinned, knowing she was onto him, but kept up the lie. “I’m telling you, she isn’t down there.”
“Uh-huh. A girl hears things. Come on, how about it?”
“Angela, I can’t, okay? Val would kill me. Besides, if you were so anxious to see her, why were you helping her leave?”
Angela struck her best pose. She could see that Chuck was weakening. “Did you ever see Scott?”
“No, why?”
“Because, if you were a woman, and you saw him, you would know why she ran off with him. If it had been anybody else but Jess, I would have snatched him away and shown him what a real woman could do.” Angela grinned at Chuck. “Tell me, would it be murder or manslaughter if I fucked him to death?”
Chuck chuckled. “Don’t know. I guess it would depend on if you did it on purpose or not.”
Jess could hear a man and a woman talking at the top of the stairs. She crept up the steps, and as she approached the door, she recognized Angela’s voice. She could tell that she was working on the man, trying to get him to allow her to talk to her. She kept quiet, giving Angela a chance. She could be quite persuasive when she wanted to be.
“Oh, it would definitely be on accident. Why would I want to break my favorite toy?” Angela giggled.
“I think you’re full of it. If you were that hot to trot, why are you with Ed?” Chuck teased. Despite himself, she was turning him on.
“Because, he knows how to please a woman. We can go for hours before he comes.”
“Bullshit!”
“Oh? You don’t think so? You should ask him yourself sometime. That’s why I like older men. They have staying power. What about you, Chuck? How long can you last?”
“Long enough.”
“Really?” Angela purred. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
“You do that.”
Angela stared at him, trying to lure him to her, but Chuck wasn’t budging. “You’re not going to let me see her?”
“No.”
Angela licked her lips, stumped over what to do. She was pretty certain she could get Chuck to let her see Jess, but she didn’t want to pay that high of a price. She really did love Ed, and while she might flirt, but she would never actually carry through and do anything to hurt him.
“Angela! It’s Jess! Call Scott! Tell him I’m here!”
Angela stared at the door. “Jess? Are you all right?”
“Just call Scott! Help me!”
Angela looked at Chuck and started to move away, but Chuck rose from the chair and grabbed her arm. “Wait a minute. I don’t know if I should let you leave now.”
“Angela?” Jess’s voice came through the door.
“Hang on a minute, Jess,” Angela called. She saw the door start to open, but Chuck slammed it shut with a meaty paw.
“Open that door again and I’ll kick your ass!” he snarled.
Angela tried to jerk her arm free. “Let go of me, Chuck,” she said, her voice hard.
Chuck was caught in a quandary. If he let Angela go, she would start blabbing about Jess being held in the basement of Val’s house. But if he were to leave to ask Marc to find out what to do with Angela, Jess would be able to escape since there was no lock on the door. He thought about stuffing Angela in the basement with her until someone came to relieve him, but Val had said nobody was to see Jess.
“Shit. I wish you hadn’t heard that.”
“Why? What are you going to do?”
“Nothing, but I can’t let you leave until I clear it with Marc.”
“Marc? Not Val?”
“Val had to leave. He left Marc in charge.”
“What about his golden boy Jason?”
“Look, I don’t know, okay? Jason may be tapped to be the next President, but Marc is the Vice-President right now. All I know is Val said Marc was in charge. You get him to say it’s okay for you to see Jess, or to leave, then I got no beef with it. But I have to hear it from him. ”
Angela fumed, trying to figure a way out. She might try to talk her way out of this with Jason, but she knew that Marc was as stubborn as Chuck. “And how are you going to stop me from leaving?”
“Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Angela,” Chuck growled, his friendly demeanor gone in a moment.
Jess listened as Angela and Chuck growled at each other, her blood running cold with fear. “Angela? You okay?”
“Hang on, Jess. Chuck is being an asshole,” Angela said.
“Chuck! Don’t hur
t her! Please don’t hurt her!”
“Shut up, both of you!” he bellowed.
There was a moment of quiet, then the door thudded heavily an instant before Angela screamed. Jess tried to open the door to help her friend, but it opened barely an inch before slamming shut again.
***
Angela shoved hard against Chuck, tearing her arm from his grasp as he was momentarily distracted by Jess. He bounced off the door, temporarily overbalanced by her shove as she turned to run, but before she could make it even a step, he grabbed her, yanking her back and grappled with her, his arms her around her waist. As his arm clamped down on her side, she shrieked in pain, her bullet wound healing nicely but still tender to the touch. The shock of pain caused her to twist from him, her system flooding with chemicals as her fight or flight instincts kicked in.
Angela nearly tore his arm off at the shoulder as she wrenched herself free from his grasp, thudding heavily against the door as she twisted. She tried to run, but he grabbed her, hauling her down to the floor as he fell. He felt the door hit him in the side, and as he tried to hold the squirming, kicking, Angela, he kicked the door closed.
Angela rolled to her ass and kicked at Chuck once, twice, three times, each kick connecting, but not effectively. She drew back, aimed and lashed out again, this time landing a solid hit to his head.
He saw stars when Angel’s foot connected. “You bitch!” he roared, as he hauled her back to him.
She tried to kick him again, but he grabbed her foot, deflecting it. She rolled over to her stomach to try to get to her feet, but when she did, he wrapped his arms around her legs and pinned her to the floor.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Ed roared as he burst out of the kitchen, drawn by Angela’s scream of pain.
“Help me!” Angela screamed, struggling to clear her legs so she could get away from Chuck.
Ed reached down and hauled Chuck off of Angela. “Ed! Wait!” Chuck cried just as Ed delivered a crushing punch to his face. Ed may look like five miles of bad road, but he was heavily muscled and had earned very scar. The first punch took all the fight out of Chuck, the second finished him and he went to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Angela leapt to her feet, but before she could open the door, Jason, Rick and Marc arrived.
“What the fuck?” Jason asked, looking between the panting Ed and the bleeding Chuck lying on the floor.
“He tried to rape me!”
“What?” Ed roared, his eyes going wide as his fists clenched.
“I was flirting with him. I didn’t mean anything by it, but he got the wrong idea! And then it got out of hand.” Ed reached down to pull Chuck up as he drew his arm back for another punch. “Ed! No!” Angela cried, grabbing his arm. “Just get me out of here!”
The moment Angela released his arm, he hit Chuck again, then dropped him to the floor. “I’ll deal with that motherfucker later,” he said as he turned toward Angela. “You’re bleeding!” he cried, touching her side gently.
“It’s okay. Just get me out of here,” Angela begged, frantic to get away before the other men discovered the truth.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jess listened to the commotion at the stop of the stairs and tried to open the door again, but something heavy was against it. “Angela?” she called, wanting to make sure her friend was okay. “Angela?” she called again when there was no answer.
She heard some thumps and bangs, then the door opened and Jason was standing there. “Save your breath. She’s gone. What the fuck was going on, and why the fuck are you always in the middle of trouble? Val should kick your ass!”
“Why don’t you come down here and try it, you little shit!”
Jason started down the steps toward her and she went cold in fear, backing down an equal number of steps. Compared to most of the Grim Angels, Jason was a small man, but he was still bigger than she was, and probably stronger, too. Before she could decide how to react, he stopped, just two steps into the basement.
“No. Val said you weren’t to be touched. But if that ever changes, maybe I will find out what made Scott turn his back on the club. It must be some good pussy.” He smiled nastily, then climbed the two steps back up and shut the door.
Jess retreated back to the basement and stood, shaking with rage. She started by tipping over the video games then throwing pool balls at the television, pinball machine and beer cooler until she had smashed all the glass out of them. She ripped down all the paintings and used a large shard of glass from the pinball machine to cut open the couch, chair and the felt on the pool table. She then pulled all the beer out of the cooler and threw the bottles against the wall until they were all broken before taking a pool cue to the light above the pool table, smashing its brightly colored shade.
By the time she was finished she was panting, sweating, and had broken everything she could find to break. Val might keep her locked in this fucking basement, but he was going to pay dearly for it. She heard the thump of boots on steps and she looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. I have to get out of here!
She picked up the shard of glass she had used on the pool table and furniture and held it at her side, out of sight.
“What the fuck!” Marc bellowed. “You stupid bitch! Val is going to kill you!”
“Good! Anything beats staying locked in this basement!”
Marc glared at her. “You’re going to have to clean this mess up.”
“Fuck you, fuck Val, and fuck all the Grim Angels,” she screamed, picking up a pool ball and throwing it at him. She had to throw it left-handed because she held the glass in her right, and she was surprised when it hit him.
“Goddamnit, Jess!” he bellowed while stomping toward her as she picked up another ball. The second ball missed when he ducked, and he grabbed her hand as she drew back to throw a third.
She swung the glass in a swishing downward arc, burying it deep in his left shoulder, feeling the glass glance off something hard as it penetrated. Marc roared as he stumbled back and she chased after him to bury the glass in his shoulder again. He screamed in pain, putting up his right hand as she pulled the glass out and tried to drive it in a third time. His hand deflected her strike, the glass cutting his right hand and left arm. She threw the glass down and charged for the steps, but she made it up less than halfway when Greg and Jason appeared and pounded down the steps into the basement.
“What have you done?” Jason bellowed, chasing Jess down the steps. When they reached the bottom, he could see Marc standing there, stooped as he bled profusely from this left shoulder, the blood seeping out between his fingers as his left arm hung limp.
“I can’t move my arm,” Marc said meekly.
“You fucking bitch!” Greg snarled as he shoved past her to look at Marc. “Hang in there, Veep. We’re going to get you some help.”
“I can’t feel my arm,” Marc repeated softly.
“It’s going to be okay. Just hang in there,” Greg repeated. “Call an ambulance,” he barked to Jake when he appeared at the bottom of the steps. “Jess stabbed Marc.”
“You’re going to pay for this,” Jason muttered under his breath. “I promise you that. The only reason you’re not dead right now is Val doesn’t want you hurt. But that may change when he and Jodi get back from Kalamazoo tomorrow.”
Still jacked up on adrenaline, Jess sneered at him. “When you think you’re man enough.”
Jason drew his hand back as if to strike, but held the blow when she cringed away. “That’s what I thought. Not as tough as you act.”
***
“Don’t talk, listen!” Rick’s hushed voice came over Scott’s phone. “She’s here, in the basement. I’ll try to slip away and call you later.” And just like that, Rick was gone.
“She’s at Val’s house,” Scott said, still staring at his phone.
“We should go to the police,” Ron said.
Scott thought about it, admitting to himself that Ron had a point. The cops c
ould bring a lot more manpower to bear, and had the weight of law on their side. But on the other hand, when Val snatched her from their home, he made it personal. “Yeah, maybe,” Scott said slowly, still thinking it over.
“What do you mean maybe?”
“I’m just trying to think it through, Ron. Give me a minute. I know how these guys think and I’m trying to think of all the ways this could go wrong.”
“How could it go wrong? The cops show up, find Jessica, and rescue her. Val and his gang go to jail for kidnapping. Simple.”