by Elle Boon
“Bout damn time. I thought you decided to fuck her first,” another gruff voice said before hauling her out the window.
Her cry startled Jaxson, his mama solidifying her resolve to survive at any cost. With both arms wrapped around him, making sure it was she who took the brunt of the fall as she saw the ground coming up far too fast, she calculated her next move. Whoever the other man on the outside of the window was, he didn’t try to stop or help them. His cruel laugh letting her know she wouldn’t enjoy whatever they planned to do to her, once they got them where they were going.
With that realization, a thought hit her, or rather something she remembered reading somewhere about not leaving the point of attack. Goodness, she realized her entire life came down to what she’d seen or read and now it appeared she was experiencing those things at once. However, she knew the thing about the chances of survival going down if she and Jaxson were taken away from where they started, went down exponentially unless the captors were seeking money. From what the other man said, they had no plans to get money for her. Thank god her grandfather had made her take a class in self-defense in college. She didn’t kid herself into thinking she could take the two men out. But she sure as heck could make it a lot more difficult than going along with them like a lamb to slaughter.
While the second man stood off to the side, thinking she was hurt and laughing as he looked in the open window toward the other man, she looked around the rapidly lightening parking lot. Keys and bike and her SUV were in the front, but if her memory served her right, the men Keys had spoken to had been out back. A black SUV with tinted windows looking like something sinister caught her eye. The two men didn’t look like they owned something so, dark and expensive.
A light inside flashed briefly. Had she not been looking directly at the vehicle she would’ve missed the subtle signal. The second man grabbed the other one, pulling him halfway into the open window. Blows were being exchanged, giving Palmer a chance to scoot away from them. She looked around wildly. Dammit, where was Keys?
KEYS STALKED THE FUCKER through the woods behind the B&B. He’d roamed the town like a wraith years ago. It felt like another lifetime though as he slid behind a tree, moving silently in front of the man. He watched as the asshole looked behind him, his heavy breathing a clear sign he was in no shape to be running through the woods. Keys waited until he was a foot from him, throwing his arm, clotheslining him.
Satisfaction filled him at the yelp and gasp the dirty little bastard called out when he fell to the ground grasping his throat. Maybe he should’ve felt bad, instead, he squatted down, getting his first close look at him. The man was more than just dirty, he was filthy and stank to high heaven of alcohol and unwashed body odor. “What the fuck were you doing outside my room?”
The man slurred something unintelligible. A sense of wrongness began to filter through him. He pulled his cell out of his pocket, hitting the number for Dragon as he kicked the drunk in the side. “Brother, you got eyes on my rooms?” he asked at once.
“Well, let’s see. I see a woman on the ground with a bundle in her arms while two dumb shits fight a couple feet away. Seriously, how the fuck do they plan to kidnap properly if they can’t even keep their squabbles in check until after they fuck up their kidnappee? Losers is who.”
“I agree. Fuck up kidnap victim then fuck each other up I always say,” Katana agreed.
“Shut the fuck up and get to my woman. Kill the fuckers if you have to but make sure she and my boy are safe,” Keys roared.
“Now, is that any way to ask a brother a favor? Especially when it comes to killing. Not that I don’t mind killing, you see.”
Keys could see the deadly brother and his calm façade. Hell, he knew the asshole could and would skin a man while he was alive without a problem and fuck the man’s woman while he watched. Dragon was a law of his own and Katana the man’s best friend. None of that mattered. He’d kill them both if they stood by and watched as Palmer and Jaxson were hurt.
“Listen, save your threats, brother. We got eyes on them both. You gotta see what kinda grit your ole lady has. If she’s gonna be a part of this life, she’s gonna need to show she can stand on her own two feet. You feel me. Now, hurry on back here. I think there’s gonna be a family reunion real soon.”
Dragon didn’t give him a chance to speak. The asshole was really good at hitting the end button. Keys was going to show him how good he was at hitting, only it wasn’t going to be a button on the fucking phone.
He kicked the drunk bastard in the side of the head, knocking him out cold so he could come back afterward. Whoever hired him would be answering to him.
Taking off at a run, uncaring of the amount of noise he made, Keys was hellbent on getting back to Palmer and Jaxson. His boots kicked up leaves and dirt as he dodged tree limbs. The first he realized he wasn’t alone in the woods was a slight crack of a limb several yards to his right. He didn’t slow his pace or do anything to alert whoever was keeping pace with him that he was aware of their presence. He didn’t like being prey. As a boy he’d been one because he was too small and young to be anything else. Now, he was gonna show whoever was out there they fucked with the wrong bastard.
He dropped to the ground, rolling as if he’d tripped over something, cursing a blue streak. “Son-of-a-bitch. Fuck me.” Grabbing his phone, he pretended to look at the screen and cursed again. “Shit.” He got up, pretending to limp toward a tree, keeping it between him and whoever was there. The other man was good, but Keys was better. With his acute hearing he picked up the slight shift of clothing signaling the man was close. Keys bent over, pretending to rub at his ankle while gripping his knife.
“Ah, the prodigal son has returned. Too bad he’s so out of shape he can’t even run without injuring himself. I thought you were a SEAL, too. Guess hooking up with that biker gang hasn’t done you any good. I always knew you’d amount to nothing, just like your father.”
Key’s stood up, keeping the knife tucked up his sleeve. The man he faced wasn’t anyone he knew, but that wasn’t shocking. He’d been gone for a long time. “Since I didn’t know my old man your words don’t mean shit to me, old man. As for me, sticks and stones, fucker. What do you want?”
“You to be dead. I told them they should’ve killed you when you were born. Stupid fools thought they could neutralize the threat by putting you with that old bitch. Nobody thought you’d up and runaway like you did. Hell, they all thought for sure you’d die before you were old enough to drive let alone enlist. If I’d have been around back then, I’m sure I could’ve found a good use for you.” He looked Keys up and down.
The lascivious look had that little niggle in his mind opening. “What’s your name?”
“What, you think you’re gonna get away like in the movies? Do you want me to divulge all my dirty little secrets? I hear you fucked my wife. She wasn’t that good except when she put up a fight.”
Shock held Keys immobile for a second. The second moment gave Thomas Kincaid an opening he obviously thought he’d use to his advantage. The weapon he’d been carrying rose, pointing straight at Keys chest. “I’m sorry to say I won’t be leaving you here to come for me. You see, I’m dead, died in a crash. Only screw up was that stupid cunt got her hands on my money and thought she’d run off with you, and everything I worked for. Oh, you already knew that,” he said with a laugh, the arm holding the gun steadier than a dead man should be.
“Humor me then. Why the ruse? Why’d you fake your own death?” Keys didn’t understand. In his mind things didn’t line up. For him things needed to fit into boxes. If he wanted to be free of Palmer why didn’t he just divorce her or hell, why did he marry her in the first place since he had money already.
Thomas moved closer; his gun pointed toward Keys heart. It would be a kill shot, there was no doubt about it. “Sometimes, you need to die in order to reinvent yourself. In my case, I needed to, or rather Thomas Kincaid needed to, so that the heat could be lifted off of, shall we s
ay, our brotherhood. You should understand that concept, Silas.”
Keys grit his teeth, keeping his mouth shut as Thomas kept talking.
“I don’t consider myself gay you see. I don’t like men like you. Not that I wouldn’t love to dominate you and make you submit. I’d enjoy that. But no, I’m not attracted to men. My brothers aren’t either. Most have wives, like I did. We provide the next generation for our family, like I did with Jaxson. If Palmer would’ve been a good fucking wife like she was supposed to be, she’d have been safe. Daddy Coker assured me she’d be a good little wife. I didn’t have to touch her after I knocked her up. Then she had to go snooping and find some things she shouldn’t have. So” –he spread his arms to the side, the gun pointing away from Keys— “here we are, me cleaning up her mess, like usual.”
“Let me get this straight. You rape little boys or young men. You and a group of twisted fucks you call brothers. But then Palmer found out about your dirty little secret, so you faked your own death?” Rage boiled in his veins. Would he have molested his own son or sold him to one of his so-called brothers?
The gun came back around, aiming for Keys head this time. “We train them to be proper Littles for their Daddies. They come to us willingly and are more than happy to be with us,” he argued.
“What about the girls? What do you do with them?”
“As Littles we need to learn how to be Daddy’s too. That’s what the girls are for of course. Everyone understands their purpose in our society, Silas. It’s you outsiders who make it perverse.” He shrugged.
“If that were true then you wouldn’t have faked your own death, you sick fucking prick. Let me ask you something since you’re being so honest and shit. Palmer’s granddaddy, is he a Daddy to a Little, too?” It would break her heart if he was.
Thomas tossed his head back, laughing. “He was my Daddy, asshole. That’s what happens. We Little’s grow up and our Daddy’s make sure we’re taken care of for the rest of our lives, if we’re good.”
Bile and rage were fueling him as he saw the moment Thomas Kincaid decided he was done talking. But what about the young girls Palmer had seen. What did they do to them? Keys calculated the other man’s movements in his mind, reacting accordingly. Before the finger could squeeze the trigger, Keys arm had already moved, flinging the knife toward Thomas, the blade hitting dead center in the forehead. The boom of the gun had birds squawking, leaves falling as they flew into the air.
Keys fell to the ground, the burn on his left arm barely registered. He’d been shot, several times in the past. He marginalized the pain, filed it into a box in the back of his mind. Palmer and Hoss were still in danger. Her grandfather and god knew who else in this corrupt fucking town could have them. He rolled to his feet, kicking the gun away from the body.
He had his phone out as he sprinted away.
King answered on the first ring. “Talk to me?”
In as few words as he had to, Keys explained what went down in the woods as he ran for the B&B.
“Holy fuck, brother. Her grandfather fucking gave her to the man he’d been raping and training as his for however long? That’s fucked up. Do you think her grandmother knows?” King didn’t use the affectionate term, which was speaking volumes. They’d take both out without blinking if found guilty.
They were judge, jury, and executioners for those who couldn’t do it for themselves, like the young, the weak, and those who were no longer here to defend themselves. They were considered outlaws by most law-abiding citizens standards, which was fine. However, what they did, what others didn’t know was they did what the law wouldn’t or couldn’t do in a timely manner. Yeah, they might fuck a lot of shit up when they did it, mainly the pieces of shit like Thomas Kincaid, but they got the job done and saved a lot of lives. Their way might not be by the book. Hell, they made their own rules. They took the ill-gotten gains and filled their coffers with it after making sure the fuckers didn’t live to tell a soul. Red tape didn’t mean a damn thing to them or those who had a loved one who’d been kidnapped. Keys would make sure Palmer and Jaxson would never have to look over their shoulder, and worry someone was gonna come after them, ever.
“I don’t know. I mean to find out. No mercy, King. They planned to murder her and Jaxson,” he snarled. His life didn’t mean shit.
“Understood. Oh, Dragon’s got your girl. Better hurry or you might be killing a Bastard and I’m pretty sure Koyn would be pissed and the crazy shit Katana would cry like a bitch. We ain’t got time for that.”
Keys looked at the silent phone ready to chuck the damn thing. “I’m gonna teach all you fuckers about saying bye,” he muttered.
He broke through the tree line, skidding to a stop at the sight that met his eyes. Surely, he wasn’t seeing Dragon holding his boy while his sweet little Palmer repeatedly kicked a man on the ground. Mind you, she had sneakers on, but still, the man was howling in pain. God, he knew he loved her, but seeing her be so damn ruthless had his dick hardening.
Slowing to a walk, he started whistling. Dragon looked up and waved. Crazy fucker was holding his kid. He looked around for Katana, his feet stumbling as he spotted him with his foot on the back of a man’s head while the guy was open mouth kissing the curb. That wasn’t gonna be purdy at all. “What’s up?”
The guy Palmer was kicking had been zip tied but hearing Keys voice struggled to turn toward him. As soon as he did, Keys good humor fled. “Dragon, give Jaxson to Palmer and bring him inside. There’s a basement that’s got a cement floor with a drain down there. I think I’m gonna need it. Where’s the owners?” The sun was up, the good people of Lionsville would be out roaming any minute. The last thing he or any of them needed was a nosey resident coming upon them as they killed one of the Langley brothers in broad daylight.
“What’s going on?” Blaire asked.
“You gonna curb stomp his ass, or you want to bring him down with this one?” Keys asked Katana. Blood was already covering the concrete, but Blaine was still moving a little.
“Which would you prefer?” Katana asked, giving a little nudge to the head.
Chapter Twelve
They were discussing whether to do a whole American History X scenario on Blaine like they were talking about the weather. What kind of sick shit was this and why was she okay with it?
“You ain’t gonna kill me or Blaine. You know why? Cause you’re a chicken shit like you always been. We coulda made you our little bitch when you were a boy, but mama wouldn’t let us. Now look at you, comin in here like your some hot shit, taking what’s ours. You’re a dead man walkin’ and don’t even know it.”
Palmer looked down at the man she’d been kicking the shit out of, blood trickled out of his mouth. It had felt great taking her rage out on him like Dragon had told her to do.
“Use your grit, girl.” He’d told her.
Looking down at the asshole, hearing him talk about using Keys the way Thomas had used boys, she handed Jaxson back to a startled Dragon. The man named Blaire smirked up at her. He’d rolled over onto his back thinking he was safer. She didn’t stop to think or let him see her intent. When she was close enough, she hopped up, landing her entire weight on his groin, both feet hitting their mark. Oh yeah, she fell on her ass. It wasn’t a graceful fall and she’d feel the bruise to her bum later, but while she was down there, she lifted her foot again, the heel to her right foot came down, slamming into his already injured balls since his hands were behind his back.
“Motherfuck, that’s gotta hurt. I think I love your ole lady, Keys,” Dragon roared with laughter startling Jaxson into a cry.
“That, asshole, is for the comment about making him your bitch. The only one gonna be a bitch around here is you and your brother, if he doesn’t skull fuck that curb here shortly.” Palmer whacked his nuts again.
Dragon leaned down so he was close to her ear, whispering loudly. “It’s called curb checking not skull fucking a curb, but potatoes pototoes I always say.”
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��You done flirting with my ole lady, Dragon?” Keys asked bending to help Palmer to her feet.
“You’re bleeding,” she accused.
“I’m fine, sassy girl. Come on, let’s get these worthless pricks inside before we draw a crowd. Katana, you decide if you’re gonna kill him out here or not? That sun is getting brighter every second.”
“You’re a fun ruiner, Keys.” Katana gave a little more pressure then knocked the Langley he had onto his side.
Just before they entered, another SUV roared in, coming to a rocking halt. Palmer clutched Jaxson to her tighter, wondering when the nightmare would end. Keys had stepped in front of her while the two other men made sure they had the Langley’s easily subdued in case whoever was in the new car tried anything.
The two passenger doors opened at the same time, allowing two men Palmer was sure had to be friends of Keys, or killers, out. And they were clearly brothers by blood.
“Traeger said he thought that was you, Keys. I said no way in hell would you be walking around in broad daylight carrying a gun like howdy fucking do, but lookie there, you sure as shit are. Get in the car, assholes, we got places to be, fuckers to...oh hey there, isn’t he a cutie.”
Palmer pulled Jaxson in closer to her as the big man tried to touch her son.
“It’s alight, his bark is as bad as his bite,” Keys said, putting his arm around Palmer in a protective gesture.
“You mean his bark is worse than his bite?” she asked.
“Nope, they’re both bad.”
King huffed, moving closer. “Ignore him. I’m King and that’s my brother from the same mother Duke. The asshole driving like a racecar driver on crack is Traeger. Now introductions are over. If the three of you will load up in our cage, while Dragon and Katana take the victims in theirs, we’ll move this party elsewhere.”
She could tell he was used to ordering people around and being obeyed. “I need his car seat.”