by Ryan Michele
“Oh, boy, you never did learn, did you?”
“I put your fucking ass in the ground.” I paced the area. This couldn’t be happening. This was like TV shit or something, not real life. I fucking shot him. He was dead.
“You put a man in the ground, but it wasn’t me.”
“Tell me what the fuck is going on,” I demanded, and then it hit me.
He had Trixie. That motherfucker had her! Fucking hell!
I mouthed those same words to Boner and Stiff, who were punching things in on their phones.
“Well, son, you tried to kill your own blood. I’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity, and low and behold, the little bitch you fucked in high school shows up at your door.”
My blood boiled at his description of Trixie.
“See, you thought you were smart, but boy, I’m fucking smarter.”
“Where is she?”
“I’m not telling you.”
Screams echoed in the background. Holy fuck, they were Trixie’s. Oh, fucking shit.
“Stop fucking hurting her!” I screamed, unable to contain myself.
“Nah, she’s a fun toy. You know exactly where I am. And, boy, I have cameras everywhere. You bring anyone with you, I’ll gut her.” The phone went dead.
It took everything in me not to throw the fucking phone across the lot.
I searched my mind from when he was alive, and he was right. I knew exactly where he had her. The same goddamned place where he took all the girls to train them.
“The warehouse,” I told Boner.
His face went hard. “You’re fucking shitting me.”
“Call the boys. It needs to be quiet. Dawg needs to hack into the feed—there are cameras everywhere—and we need more fire power.”
“On it.” Stiff got busy just as two black SUVs pulled up, and the Colonel jumped out.
“Who has my daughter?” His tone was strong and resolute.
“My fucking father.”
He flinched. It was the most expression I’d ever seen from him.
“You’re fucking driving. Bikes are too loud, and cameras are on site.”
“Get in.”
We did so with Stiff still on the phone.
The Colonel gave directions to the man at the wheel as we darted through traffic. He knew exactly where we were going, but in giving over the business to the Colonel, he didn’t want the space. I sure as shit wouldn’t use it. So, it remained unused, or so I thought.
We stopped, but Dawg hadn’t been able to cut the feed yet. If we didn’t get it, then I was going in by my damn self.
“Firepower?” I asked.
“Back,” the Colonel answered.
I reached behind me, grabbing several guns. I had my knife in my boot along with a small gun in the other. I strapped on the other weapons. My father was not fucking hurting or selling my woman. No way in hell.
Her screams echoed through my head.
“I’m fucking going in. Once you get the feed cut, come.” If they could cut it. “If not, wait ten minutes and come in firing.”
“You think you should go in without a man at your back?” Boner asked.
While I knew once a-fucking-gain he was right, I couldn’t take the risk.
“He wants me, Boner, not Trixie.”
“He’s not selling my fucking kid,” the Colonel said with absolute certainty.
“No, he’s fucking not.”
My head cleared with determination. My father would check for weapons. I put the guns down but left the knife. If I showed up packing, it wouldn’t end well for either of us. Worse, I didn’t know who in the hell was with him.
“I’ll deal with it. Hold it steady,” the Colonel ordered.
While I didn’t do well with orders, I would take this one.
“Take the SUV behind us. My guys will get in this one.”
I hopped out and switched SUVs. It was time to get my girl.
I pulled up to the warehouse, and old memories bombarded me. I fucking hated this place. I should have burnt it to the damn ground. I had been a kid but knew the shit that went on here was wrong. Way wrong, and it needed to end.
As soon as I parked, two bulky men came at me. I got out of the car and held my hands up.
“Turn the fuck around,” asshole one said.
I did, and they searched me, not finding the knife. My father failed on his training.
“Move,” asshole two said, pushing me. It took everything in my power not to fucking punch him in the teeth.
Asshole one opened the door. The smell of alcohol and fear penetrated the air. It was like fifteen years hadn’t passed, and I was right back in the hell where all of this had started.
I walked down the hallway, guns at my back. I had no doubt I wasn’t coming out of here alive, but I’d make damn sure Trixie did. I knew exactly where I was going, and I fucking hated it.
I turned toward the door just as one of the assholes pushed my back. I ignored it because my eyes landed on my fucking father.
There he was, flesh and fucking bone. His dark hair had spots of gray, and his face had lines of age. His eyes … I fucking hated that we shared the same eyes. They gleamed as he saw me.
“My son! You came.” He clapped his hands together in excitement.
My eyes caught movement off to the left. Holy fucking shit. Stacy the house mouse who hurt Trixie and another woman I didn’t recognize were in full-out, small metal cages. There were no other words to use to describe them, because they were literally wire frames that had held dogs at one time.
Tears streamed down the other girl’s face, whereas Stacy had a sense of void in her eyes.
I trained my attention back on my father.
“Where is she?”
He pointed into the room.
Fuck, I hated that place. I never wanted to go back inside there in my life.
“She’s where she should be.”
That burned my veins.
A scream came from the door, and I made a move to go, but one of the assholes behind me pushed a gun to my head.
“You see? You do this my way.” My father nodded to the guy. “Escort him in so he can see our handy work.”
I moved inside the doorway, and my eyes landed on Trixie. Inside, I wept for her as I boiled over in fury.
The words whore and slut were carved into her stomach and chest, and her blood dripped onto the floor. She was tied to the table by her hands and feet, no doubt in pain from the cuts. I just hoped that was all they had done to her.
Her eyes were frantic when she saw me.
“Nice of ya to finally show up,” Worm said from the corner.
That motherfucker!
“You were working for my father?” How in the fuck had I missed that one? “I’ll fucking gut you.”
“Not before I gut her.” He held the knife, turning it around in his hand like he had all the time in the world.
Trixie breathed out deep, and my gaze went to hers. Our eyes connected, and I mouthed “trust me.” She nodded, tears staining her cheeks. I didn’t have a fucking clue how I was going to swing this, but I was going to figure it out and fast.
I looked at my father. “You sick son of a bitch, you’re still doing this shit?”
He chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy one.
He moved over to Trixie, running his hand down her face, and she flinched away, amusing him.
“Of course, and this one will be fun to break.” Absolutely fucking not. “Thought you got rid of me, did ya?”
Yes, I fucking did. How I screwed this shit up, I’d never know.
“How?” I asked, trying to stall for time.
Fuck, I didn’t think I had the ten minutes to spare. I needed a plan B, and that was going to be hard. Take the guns from the assholes behind me then take out my father and Worm. Easy, right? Four against one was not good odds, but if shit didn’t get sorted soon, I was fighting our way out of here.
In walked a guy who had taken off from the club after I’d
shot my father. The asshole had said he couldn’t stand by and let me run the show after killing off our president, and here he fucking was. Not only that, but that seriously fucked up my odds.
“Moose?”
“In the flesh. Nice to see ya, Spooky,” he teased with a chuckle.
I still didn’t understand how all of this came together, but I needed some answers.
“How in the fuck are you alive?” I asked my father.
Trixie fisted her hands. I was happy to see she was ready to fight, because that was what this would be. I needed her on fire and ready to go.
“Medicine. A guy I sold whores to owed me a favor.” Fucking hell.
“So, for fifteen years, you’ve been healing?”
The asshole behind me dug the gun into my back, but I didn’t move.
“No, I’ve been setting up my business, getting it back on track. After you gave it to that dickhead, I had a lot to rebuild.”
“Does the Colonel know you’re stealing his business?”
Keeping him talking right now was the best way to make time to figure out a way out of this mess.
But when he said, “He’s fucking next,” it shocked me, because the Colonel was the baddest of the bad, and if my father thought he’d take him out, he was even more delusional than I thought. And fuck, I thought he was seriously delusional before. It did help, though, that Trixie’s father wasn’t in bed with my old man, even if the shit he did was despicable.
“I’ll be sure you pay for giving my business away. Maybe I’ll let every guy in this room fuck this little bitch while you watch.” He reached for her.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Rage filled me, and I let the adrenaline fuel me.
Quick as a flash, I reached behind me, throat punching one of the assholes then kicking the other. I was able to get my arm around asshole one and snap his neck before I picked up the gun and shot asshole two in the head.
I turned the gun to Worm and shot him between the eyes. I wished I could have sliced him up while he was living, but time was of the essence.
Three down; two to go.
When my father took a gun out and placed it at Trixie’s temple, I stopped.
“Put the fucking gun down,” my father growled.
Reluctantly, I did.
“Kick it to me.” I did as he pushed the gun harder into Trixie’s head.
She didn’t whimper, even though I knew she had to be in some serious pain. The steel of her spine was coming through, my feisty strong woman. Fuck, I loved her.
Moose came up, and while I blocked the punch to the face, I missed the one to the gut. It hurt, but I held myself strong. The hit to my back had me down on one knee.
“Now that’s better, son,” my father said as Moose stepped away. “I think we need to give my boy here a little show for killing my men. Get a bottle,” he ordered.
Moose left the room then came back, bringing a beer bottle in. My father held it by the neck then smashed it, breaking just the end off, leaving shards of glass poking out at every angle. Fuck.
“I think I need to tear this bitch up from the inside out. What do you think, Moose?”
Moose chuckled. “Fuck, yeah.”
That shit was not happening.
I charged my father, hitting him in the gut. We both went down, the bottle falling to the floor and rolling away.
Moose attacked me from the back as I pummeled my fists into my father’s face. I ignored Moose and let all the rage I had out on my father.
A shot to the kidneys had me wincing, giving them both the edge they needed.
Moose grabbed me under my arms and held me fast while my father rose and began punching, each one becoming more brutal than the last. I was losing. Horribly. But I kept fighting with everything I had. I fought for all I was worth.
My energy waned, the pain intense, but I was doing this for Trixie. I had to get her out.
My foot connected with my father’s knee, and he buckled. I took that opportunity to throw my head back as hard as I could and heard bones crack. Moose staggered back.
I grabbed a gun from the floor and shot him square in the eye. Then I held the gun on my father as he rose by the door.
I had no doubt he had a plan B. He always did, but this time, he wasn’t leaving here alive.
Movement by the door got my attention.
“Fucking shit,” Boner said.
“Untie her,” I told him as the Colonel entered the room.
He sighed; but otherwise, he didn’t have any reaction to his daughter being naked and bleeding. Asshole.
Boner pulled a trembling Trixie into his arms. I wanted to be the one holding her, so I ended the game.
“This time, I’ll make sure you’re in the grave.” I shot my father in the head four times in rapid succession. When his body fell, I went up to him and kept shooting into his brain.
“He’s dead,” the Colonel proclaimed in a bored manner, his arms crossed.
I squeezed off two more rounds. “Just making sure.”
I moved to Boner, the pain in my body intense. I was pretty sure I had a cracked rib or three, and something was wrong with my kidneys.
Trixie’s eyes met mine and tears fell, rolling down her cheeks. “I trust you,” she said, which was better than I love you to me.
I went to pick her up, but pain speared up my arm to my shoulder. Don’t know what the fuck I did there. Shit.
“I can’t carry you, babe. Boner needs to, but I’ll hold you when we get to the car.” I turned to Stiff. “Get the girls in the cages out.”
He nodded.
Trixie’s eyes drifted outside the door. “Nanette,” she whispered.
Oh, fucking hell. How long had she been gone now? Days? Weeks? Fuck, I hated to think of all the shit my father could have done with her in five minutes, let alone that long.
“Guess we found her,” Boner said.
Nanette cried from her cage, “Trixie, I’m so sorry.” She was an utter mess, blood and other fluids coating her naked body. It was despicable.
Trixie raised her head from Boner’s grip. “It’s alright. The guys will get you out of here. Trust them to take care of you.”
Nanette continued to sob, while Stacy had the blankest look on her face. She was somewhere else, not in her mind, and fuck if that didn’t piss me off.
“The money,” Nanette said, which I thought was bizarre considering she was in a fucking cage, but my Trixie didn’t skip a beat.
“Clear,” Trixie said, and Nanette continued to weep.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here. Now,” I ordered, needing to be on a different fucking planet from this place.
We loaded into the car, and I held my girl. Her body shook, but she had two blankets on her, and I was hoping it would help.
I turned around for just a moment to see that fucking warehouse finally go up in flames.
BONER CARRIED TRIXIE into my room at the clubhouse where Needles, our club doctor, waited. He was an older man the club used over the years. He always came when called, didn’t ask questions, and did whatever was needed to be done. Exactly what we needed.
His eyes darted from Trixie to me, and I nodded my head toward her. It was always her. No matter fucking what, she came before me … always.
Boner laid her on the bed where she continued to shiver. I had Boner crank the heat up in the SUV, but along with my body heat and the blankets, it hadn’t helped.
She groaned as I sat on the bed next to her and gripped her hand. She hung on with every bit of strength she had inside her. She was so damn strong, so seeing her hurt was like taking a blade directly to my heart.
Needles had an area set up with gauze and other doctor shit, but as he moved to the side of the bed, Trixie began trembling more fiercely.
“Trixie, this is Needles, our doctor. He’s gonna take a look at you.”
Fear flamed in her eyes like a wildfire. “No,” she choked out, moving next to me and groaning as she did. Fuck, I hated t
his.
“Baby.” I touched the side of her face, and her beautiful green eyes focused only on me. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
She breathed out harshly, but it wasn’t from disbelief. It was from relief.
“He’s gonna have to stitch you up.”
I could see the moment her determination came back into her body, her shoulders relaxing a touch as she batted away the tears.
“That’s my girl.” I looked at Needles. “What do you need?”
“I’ve got it all. Let me check her out.”
I nodded then turned back to Trixie. “I’ve gotta remove the blankets. I know you’re cold, but I’ll warm you up as soon as I can.”
“I’m good, Cade,” she said softly. I was fucking ecstatic her tone didn’t have fear lacing it.
“Yeah, baby, you are.” I gave her a reassuring smile then turned back to Needles. “Do what you’ve gotta do.”
He stepped up to Trixie. “Hey, Trixie. I’m just gonna take a look and see what we’ve got here.”
“Okay,” she told him.
He turned to me. “You wrap her in this while she was still bleeding?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck,” he grumbled, turning back to Trixie. “The blanket probably dried the blood, so when I pull it off, it’s gonna hurt.”
Trixie’s eyes closed then slowly opened. “Just do it,” she told him, licking her lips.
“It’s like a band-aid. I’m gonna do it gently but quick.”
She just nodded as he took the blanket off. He was right. Parts of it were stuck to the wounds on my girl’s beautiful skin, but she didn’t cry out. The only thing she did was close her eyes and bite her bottom lip. My tough girl.
“Fucking hell,” Needles said, and Trixie’s face turned toward me.
“It’s bad?” she whispered.
Yeah, it was fucking bad. The words etched into her skin made me want to kill my father all over again. And fucking Worm. I wanted to carve into his skin, dig out his eyeballs, and cut off his dick. Both those motherfuckers were gone, though. I’d made damn sure this time.
“Nothing that time won’t heal.”
I looked at Needles whose lip had turned up in disgust. When he focused on me, I could see it in his eyes. She’d have scars from this, with ones on the inside that wouldn’t heal. Fucking hell.