The Country Club

by Tim Miller

  “When was this?”

  “Oh, maybe 2007 or so. So yeah, they come and pull me out the cage, one of them big muscle guards. Don’t know why they only sent one. I beat his ass good, grabbed his gun and clothes and snuck out. We were about the same size. By the time they figured out what happened, I was already gone.”

  “They told us no one ever escaped there,” Crystal said.

  “Well yeah, they would say that. It’s happened a few times. I stayed here ‘cause I knew they’d send people for me. They got eyes everywhere except right under their own noses. I reckon they gave up looking for me at some point, but I stay off the grid.”

  “You ever go back there?” Sophie asked.

  “No ma’am. I keep to myself here, don’t go near that hell hole. So what they do to you?”

  Sophie went on to explain their entire ordeal. He listened and even smiled as she told him about shooting all the goons and Brett blowing the place up.

  “Hell yeah. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Fuck their shit up good. But they got your guy friend, huh?”

  “Yeah, some cops did down the road before the SEALs showed up.”

  “Well, I reckon we need to go and find him.”

  Chapter 25

  Brett sat in the chair with his hands handcuffed behind his back. They hadn’t taken him to any police department. They took him to a small house a few miles away from The Club’s location. At the moment, he was alone in an empty room with only a set of chairs. The door swung open and a man in a suit came in and sat across from him in the other chair.

  “So,” the man said. “Of all the media outlets, who’d have thought it would be the El Paso Sun to finally bring us down.”

  The man’s suit was black and he had gray hair and a gray beard.

  “Now what do I do with you?” The man asked.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  “I’m the owner of The Country Club, or I was.”

  “I didn’t know The Club had an owner.”

  “There’s probably a lot of things about The Club you don’t know.”

  “So why am I here? Why haven’t you killed me, or had my fingernails ripped out or something?” Brett asked.

  “Oh, I’m sure we’ll get to that. I wanted to meet the man who destroyed us. After over a century of living in obscurity, you managed to break through and not only expose us, but you blew the whole damn place up. I’m curious how you did it.”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “Well, I’m going to rebuild it, of course. Maybe not in that same spot, but we’ll find a place. I had some excellent security in place there. The best in the world. So I’d like to know how this happened.”

  “Not that I care to help you in any way, but your guys were just too cocky. They turned their backs on people, they didn’t search me and always had their guard down. They had been so in control for so long, they didn’t think that others might always be looking for an opening. Once I had it, I took them by surprise and they were fucked.”

  “Well, I guess that makes sense.”

  “Why do you have that place? Of all the things you could own or run, why some horrible thing like that?” Brett asked.

  “Well, I could tell you all kinds of bullshit about our primal nature and the most successful men know how to tap into that nature and use it to their advantage. But for me, it just brings in a lot of money. And I mean a lot of money. I’ve owned casinos that didn’t do as well as this place does. It’s so unique, I can charge whatever I want for our services and people will pay it.”

  “So that’s all those people are to you? All those young women who have been tortured and killed in the most horrific ways imaginable. All over money? What kind of sick asshole are you?”

  “People? Those weren’t people. They were cattle. Every person who we brought in there to be used by our members was a worthless human being. Many were prostitutes, college dropouts, drug heads, or just wasting their lives away waiting tables or something. Hell if anything, I did them a favor. I spared them a life of working shit jobs for nothing wages and dying old, broke and sick.”

  “God you are a fucking psycho. All of you animals are.”

  “Yes, I suppose you would say that. And just think. We are the ones who run the country. You know where I was this morning?” the man asked.

  “I give up.”

  “In Washington having breakfast with the President. I was supposed to fly to Paris tonight, but you caused a slight change in plans. Though I guess I should thank you. This spares me the long plane flight with the wife.”

  “Sounds like a personal problem,” Brett said.

  “Oh it is. But unfortunately for you, it is now your problem. In a few moments, I’ll be headed back to the airport. While some of my men will be coming in to dispose of you. I hope you don’t have any family, because your body won’t be found. They’ll see to that. I did tell them to give you a quick death though. You fought a good fight today. I figured I at least owed you the courtesy of a quick and painless death.”

  The man stood and walked out of the room. Brett took a deep breath and waited for the end.

  Chapter 26

  Justice found some clothes for the girls. It was mostly flannel shirts and some cut off shorts he’d worn. The stuff was huge on them, but did the job for the moment. Sophie took a clean shirt and made a headscarf out of it. She helped Crystal wrap it around her head, covering her large wound. Once they were dressed, Justice grabbed his rifle and several magazines.

  “You girls know how to shoot guns?” he asked.

  “We do now,” Sophie answered.

  “I’m sure you do.” He handed each of them .40 caliber semi-automatic handguns and extra magazines.

  “Got everything? Let’s get going,” he said.

  “Where are we going?” Crystal asked.

  “I have an idea where they might be at. There’s an old house down the road. Not likely they took him into town. This way.”

  They followed him out the back door. There was a 4-wheel ATV sitting behind the cabin.

  “Climb on girls. It’s gonna be tight,” Justice said as he slung his rifle over his back and climbed on. Sophie climbed on behind Justice and Crystal squeezed in against Sophie. Justice fired up the ATV and off they went. Sophie held tight around Justice’s waist as he wove the ATV around the trees with great skill. It was obvious he knew his way around the area. Sophie noticed for a bigger guy, he was more firm to hold on to than she had expected. Not that it was the time to think such things.

  They reached the roadside where Justice drove for several more miles before crossing the road through a field. He began to slow down as a house came into sight. It was a small house almost a hundred yards away, but sat by itself just off the road. Justice stopped the ATV and climbed off.

  “Ok, here we are. It’s gonna be tough to approach it since there isn’t any cover,” he said as he lifted the AR-15 to his shoulder and looked through the scope. He fired a shot through a window. More gunshots rang out as he fired another single shot. Both girls fell to the ground as automatic gunfire erupted from the house.

  Sophie tapped Justice on the arm and pointed out the big sedan pulling out of the house’s drive way. He fired a couple shots at the sedan, taking out the tires and the driver. The car sat motionless as Justice turned his focus back on the house.

  “Ok girls. I’ll provide covering fire. You take a wide circle around and approach the house on the other side.” He made a wide circular motion with his arm as he explained. “Got it?”

  They both nodded as they took off running. Sophie could hear Justice firing single shots as they ran in a wide circle through the field and closed in in the house from the other side. Justice’s plan had worked. When Sophie looked through the window, there were several men facing away from them shooting at Justice. Sophie took aim and fired, hitting one of the men in the back. The window in front of her shattered as she fired, spraying them both with glass.

  Once the man w
ent down, her and Crystal opened up, firing at each of the men. Some tried to turn around but either got hit by one of the girls, or was taken out by Justice’s marksmanship. After what seemed like several minutes, there were no more men left standing. The girls ran around the front of the house as they heard the ATV start up and head toward them. There was an old man climbing out of the sedan as they reached the front.

  “Stop!” Sophie yelled. “Don’t move, or I’ll shoot you in the ass!”

  The man stopped and turned around. He was wearing a suit which had blood spatter on the front. He placed his hands in the air as he faced he girls.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Sophie asked.

  “I’m the boss,” he said.

  “Boss of what?”

  “The Country Club. I own it. Or did own it anyway.”

  “Well, now I own you. Get inside,” she said waving the gun at him as Justice arrived on the ATV.

  “Well done ladies. That was some fine shootin’.”

  “Not bad yourself,” Crystal said as they went into the house. There were dead bodies lying all over. One guy was hunkered in a corner. He looked to be unharmed until Crystal walked over and put one in his forehead. They searched each room until they found the one with Brett. He hadn’t been hurt. He was cuffed to a chair. Crystal dug around in the men’s pockets until she found one with a handcuff key. She undid them and Brett stood, rubbing his wrists.

  “About time you guys showed up,” he said.

  “Well, we had to think about it,” Sophie explained.

  Brett nodded to the large man next to Sophie.

  “So who is this guy?”

  “This is Justice. He rescued us from a SEAL team they had sent after us,” Sophie said.

  “Wow. A SEAL team. Impressive.” Brett looked over at The Boss. “Well look at you. Not so in charge now are you?”

  “You still have no power over me. You wouldn’t even think of harming me,” The Boss said. Brett punched him so hard, he fell flat on his back, both feet flying into the air. The Boss lie on the ground, looking up at them, dazed.

  “Tie him up,” Brett said. “Time to have our own fun.”

  The girls and Justice hauled him over to one of the chairs, cut his clothes off him and used his torn clothing strips to securely tie him to his chair.

  “You’ll fucking burn for this!” The Boss yelled. “I’m friends with the President!”

  “Then where is he?” Brett asked.

  Justice had gone into one of the rooms looking around. He returned with a power sander and plugged it in. He handed it to Brett who tested it.

  “Now this looks like a useful tool,” Brett said as he revved the motor.

  “What’re you gonna do?” The Boss asked.

  “Oh, just going to sand away some unnecessary appendages,” Brett said as he lowered the sander to The Bosses crotch. He fired the motor up and as he got closer to The Boss’ nuts, the louder his screams became, until the only sound was that of sandpaper on flesh and the man’s screams.

  Chapter 27

  Crystal stepped outside as Brett and Sophie tortured the Boss. As much as she hated the guy and wanted him to suffer, she couldn’t take anymore suffering by anyone. Everything had happened so fast, she hadn’t had time to even contemplate her own injuries. The severing of her scalp was the worst, but only of what she could see. She had no doubt it would take years of therapy to overcome the events of the last few days, if ever.

  She sat on the steps outside and tried to tune out the sound of the power sander and the screaming. For the first time since the ordeal began, she cried. Once the tears came they wouldn’t stop. Justice stepped outside and sat down next to her. She hoped he wouldn’t try to put his arm around her or anything creepy, but he didn’t.

  “You ok?” he asked.

  “I don’t think I’m ever gonna be ok again,” she said. “I’m sure you can guess why.”

  “Yeah. I don’t blame you. The shit you been through would have broken most people. You hung in there and did what needed to be done. When I was in Afghanistan, I saw grown ass men break down when push came to shove. Guys lying on the ground crying for their mamas.”

  “Really?”

  “I’m serious. No matter how big and tough a person is. No tellin’ what they’re really made of until their life is in danger. Hell, you were put through shit that would have drove me nuts. Getting scalped like that? That’s some serious Wild West shit. But you not only survived, you came back and kicked their fuckin’ asses,” Justice said.

  “Yeah, you have a point,” she said giving a half smile through her tears. “Thank you for helping us. You didn’t have to. When I first saw you come out of that tree stand, I thought for sure you were gonna capture us and rape us or something.”

  “Yeah, I can see why you’d think that. But nah, I’ve never hurt a woman, not one that wasn’t pointing a gun at me anyway.”

  She laughed, not wanting to know what he meant.

  “Thank you Justice,” she said as she stood. “I’m going to check on Sophie.”

  “Sure, though she seems to be doin’ just fine.”

  Crystal walked back inside with Justice behind her. She came in the room and heard Sophie and Brett laughing. The Boss was in his chair still tied up, blood oozing from his groin and he was gagging.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Crystal asked.

  “I’m choking him with his own fucking dick. Though not sure how he could choke on it, it was tiny as hell. I shoved it as far in there as it would go.”

  “Jesus Sophie!” Crystal said.

  “This fucker had it coming. All the shit he’s caused?”

  Crystal looked over at Brett who shrugged.

  “She has a point,” he said.

  The Boss gagged and thrashed about in his chair for another minute before he stopped moving. His face was blue and eyes wide open.

  “Rot in Hell cocksucker,” Sophie said.

  They all looked around to each other, with the same question on their minds. Now what? As if reading their minds, Brett spoke up.

  “So I guess that’s it. We all just go back to our lives now?” he said.

  “What life?” Crystal said. “Look at me. I can’t go back to Austin like this. Even if I go to a hospital, how would I explain what happened? I’ve been fucking scalped. Then what if The Club has people there? You heard how much reach they have? I doubt they’ll be too happy.”

  “So what are you saying, Crystal?” Sophie asked.

  “I’m not saying anything. I just don’t know what to do.”

  “Well you have to get that treated. Your bare skull is almost showing through. I have an idea though,” Brett said. “I did a story on a doctor up in Dallas years ago. He’d been accused of misconduct with some patients. Turns out he was innocent. I broke the story that cleared him. So I can give him a call. Maybe we can sign you in under an alias or he can help you off the books.”

  “Really?” Crystal asked. “That would be great. If anything can even be done.”

  “I’ll go with you guys,” Sophie said. “You know I’ll stay with you Crystal.”

  “I know, Soph. You’ve always been there for me,” Crystal said as she hugged Sophie.

  “I reckon I’ll stay right where I’m at,” Justice said. “But know my door is always open to y’all. You know where to find me. Just as long as no one else does.” He laughed loudly as they all walked outside and climbed into one of the cars. Justice hopped onto the ATV and drove back toward his home in the woods.

  Chapter 28

  One year later

  Crystal sat in the tree stand until she saw the feral hog about fifty yards away. She held up the rifle, just like Justice had shown her. The hog’s body was lined up in the scope’s crosshairs. Gently, she squeezed the trigger until she was surprised by the kick of the rifle. After the shot, she looked through the scope and saw the hog lying on the ground.

  “I got it!” she said. “I got it!”

  “Su
re did!” Justice said. “Now let’s eat!”

  She helped Justice butcher the hog and they had their own little hog roast. After The Country Club incident, Brett had taken her to Dallas where she saw his doctor friend. He took her to a clinic in the city who did a series of grafts onto her head. It was funny how they repaired the top of her head. They took skin off her ass and grafted it to the top of her head. So at least now she had skin over her head. No hair though. The grafts didn’t come with hair follicles. So she shaved off the rest of her hair and she looked like Frankenstein.

  She could wear wigs, but after her surgeries, Justice told her she could stay with him. There was still a fear that former members of The Country Club were going to come after her. So she stayed with him, off the grid. It wasn’t as bad as she thought. They hunted for food. He occasionally would run into town for anything else they might need. He taught her to hunt and fish. It was fun, she enjoyed not being chained to her phone or laptop, not reading stupid comments from internet trolls and not obsessing over The Club and if it existed.

  Justice had been a gentleman during her stay. He wasn’t unattractive, but not really her type. He never once made a move on her or tried to touch her in anyway, which she appreciated. He’d become like her big brother, which was nice.

  Brett and Sophie went back to Austin together. She hadn’t heard from either of them since they left. Sophie had said she’d come by and visit, but never had. Part of her worried something had happened to them. Maybe the Club members who were left got to them. She didn’t think so though. They were both too smart and strong for that. In the meantime, she sat back and watched the hog roasting over the open fire. Justice began cutting away at the meat as it sizzled and popped. The longer she stayed there, the more she realized she didn’t have to wait for her life to get back to normal. This was her new normal.