Accelerate

by Kay Marie

Raze

  It’s been a week since Prez and Grim had their meeting. With our clubs working together, we finally found a lead. We’re about to head out to pick up the two traitors and interrogate them.

  There are about twelve of us riding out together— five Savage Menaces, five Iron Lords, and Buster and Shade. We know where Zombie and Candy are. What we don’t know is if it’s just them or if they have others with them.

  Our clubhouse is still on lockdown and will be until we bring Minx home. We’re loading up and headed to a motel about an hour and a half away. As much as we all hate it, we’re taking cages instead of the bikes. We don’t want Zombie to know we’re coming for him.

  We’re taking three cages with four of us riding in each. I’m driving one with Grim and two of his goons riding. While Buster has Prez, Saint and Thor, and Shade has Ratchet and Grim’s other two guys.

  We make it to the motel in just over an hour with how fast we were all going. We pull around to the back of the motel, already knowing he’s in room 253. There are four cars and one shitty looking Harley in the whole parking lot, not including our three cars.

  The Harley belongs to Zombie and is the only vehicle on this side of the building. Which means everyone else that’s staying here is in the front of the building. I park on one end of the parking lot while Shade parks on the opposite end, and Buster in the middle— putting them the closest to Zombie’s room.

  Grim and I get out and head toward Prez. Grim’s two guys that rode with us move to the front of the building to keep an eye on things there. Shade, Ratchet, and Grim’s guys, Brass and Spike, all meet us at Buster’s car.

  “What’s the game plan?” Shade asks, looking to Prez.

  “Their room is right at the top of the stairs. Saint and Brass, y’all stay at the bottom of the stairs in case anyone happens to sneak by us. The rest of us will go knock on his door.”

  And by knocking on his door, he means kicking it the fuck in. Everyone nods in agreement. Saint and Brass take their positions at the bottom of the stairs. There’s a set for the front of the building and a set for the back. One of them each claims one. The rest of us head up to the room.

  Prez motions for me to listen at the door. I step up to it, put my ear about a half an inch away and listen. I instantly hear moaning from a woman, more than likely Candy. After a beat, I hear some grunting, and then hear Zombie’s voice say, “Oh yeah, baby. You like that?” I stifle a laugh as I step away from the door.

  “They’re definitely in there,” I whisper to Prez. “They’re going at it.”

  Prez nods to Ratchet. Ratchet moves in front of the door, positions himself, then pulls his leg up and slams his foot right next to the handle. The door crashes open and Candy screams. Zombie stumbles off of her.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Zombie shouts. He looks at the group of us and his face pales. “Prez . . . it’s not what you think!”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Ratchet yells. He walks closer to Zombie, his gun pointed in his face.

  “Put some fucking pants on, Zombie. We have a lot to discuss,” Prez says to him, taking a seat at the table right by the door. Candy is dressed by now and moving quietly along the wall, trying to get towards the door.

  “Nuh uh, sweetheart. You ain’t leavin’.” Spike wraps his arms around her, so her back is to his front.

  “Please don’t kill me! It wasn’t my idea! They made me do it!” Candy screams.

  Prez stands right in front of Candy. “What did they make you do?”

  “I’m the reason Jager was in the hospital. I’ve been poisoning him slowly. Ghost threatened my family if I didn’t!”

  The look on Prez’s face is deadly. I’ve never seen him so pissed off before.

  “Spike, get this trash out of my fucking face,” Prez orders. Candy starts pleading and screaming.

  “You either keep quiet, or I’ll find a way to make you,” Spike says right into her ear.

  I can only imagine what the crazy fuck would do to make her stay quiet. She shuts up real quick. Spike carries her out of the room. Zombie’s dressed and sitting in a chair. Prez moves to stand in front of him. Thor walks up to him with a bunch of rope and ties his hands behind his back. Then ties each foot to a leg on the chair.

  This mother fucker is gonna talk or he’ll be begging us to kill him. He’s going to make his way to Hades and the boatman soon enough, but first, we’ll have our fun with him. Ratchet lays out some of his knives on the table and proceeds to lay out a tarp. Easy cleanup. Thor and I grab either side of Zombie’s chair and move him onto the tarp.

  “Now’s where you tell us what we want to know, and maybe we’ll have some mercy on you,” Prez tells him.

  Zombie spits at him. “Fuck you and your little whore of a daughter. She’s getting what she fucking deserves.”

  I walk up to him and punch him square in the jaw. Buster is right there, pulling me back. Zombie lets out a full belly laugh. He looks me right in the eye and says, “You won’t find her. And if you do, it’ll be too late.”

  Ratchet picks up the skinning knife. I’m starting to think that’s his favorite. He walks over to Zombie and stands in front of him. “Tells us where he has her.”

  Zombie grins at him, not saying a word. Ratchet takes his knife and makes a cut across his right pec. He visibly clenches his teeth, trying to act like it doesn’t hurt. It’s deep enough for it to bleed but he won’t bleed out. For the next hour, Ratchet takes his time, making cuts all across Zombie’s chest, back and arms. Zombie is close to passing out. Spike brings Candy back into the room.

  “Prez, she says she has some information you might want.”

  “Start talking,” Prez growls out to Candy.

  “He’s keeping her in some secluded cabin on some land near Daffan.”

  “Do you know how to get there?” I ask her. She nods her head slowly.

  “Thor, call Ranger and set up for a couple of brothers and a prospect to come get Zombie. Have them take him to the farm,” Prez orders. “We’ll need two people to stay here and make sure that gets handled.”

  “Brass can stay,” Grim offers.

  Prez nods. “Saint can stay with him. Raze, go get them and bring them up.”

  “You got it.” I head out of the room and go down the stairs to where Saint is.

  “Brother, everything okay up there?” Saint asks.

  “Yeah, Prez wants you and Brass up there. Y’all have been tasked with babysitting Zombie until someone from the clubhouse gets here for him. Everyone else is going to get that son of a bitch Ghost.”

  We get Saint and Brass set up. Kicks and Rascal are coming with Mouse to pick them up. Now we’re on our way to get my girl. The house they’re at is another hour away. The closer we get, the more amped up I get. I want this fucker to suffer. I pray to the gods that Minx is okay.

  After what feels like forever, we finally pull up to the house. There are two motorcycles and a cage. These assholes must be fucking stupid not having any kind of security around the house. They must really think they’re invincible.

  We pile out of our cars, check our guns, and make a perimeter around the house. Prez, Ratchet, Buster, Spike, and I are at the front of the house while the others are at the back. Ratchet is standing at the front door, waiting on Prez’s go ahead. As soon as Prez gives it, Ratchet kicks the door down.

  “Knock, knock, mother fuckers!” he shouts. This guy is crazy.

  I shake my head, moving into the house. Gunshots ring out and I feel a bullet zip by my head. I shoot back and take cover in a room to my right. Ratchet and Prez fall back and are still outside.

  “Come any closer and the girl—” The sound of a gunshot rings out, cutting off the guy’s words.

  “Clear!” Ratchet lets me know I’m good to keep moving. I go down a hallway that looks like it leads to bedrooms. As soon as I turn the corner, I see someone coming towards me. We shoot at the same time. He goes down. I feel a sting on my arm but I keep moving. I see a chair sitting b
y one of the doors. I get closer and the door is ajar. I kick it open and move out of the way. Three shots ring out.

  “The next one will go into her head!” Ghost, that piece of shit.

  I look behind me and see Ratchet close by. I try to signal to him to go outside so he’s right outside this room’s window. He must understand because he’s moving back the way we came and fast. I wait a minute then put my hands up in a surrendering move, gun hanging off my finger so he knows I’m not trying to shoot him. I’m standing in the doorway, his gun is on me.

  “Don’t fucking move,” he grinds out. He’s holding Minx in front of him like a shield. She’s naked and has cuts on her thighs. Her head is hanging to the side and she looks out of it like she may be drugged. I grit my teeth. “Drop your gun on the floor!”

  I’m about to drop my gun when a shot rings out. Ghost lets out a wail, dropping his gun and Minx. I rush into the room and grab Minx. Buster shows up behind me and gets a hold of Ghost.

  “Kitty, I’m here now. I’m here.” I take my shirt off and put it on her, covering her up.

  “Raze?” she whispers hoarsely. “Am I dreaming again?”

  “No, Kitty, you’re not dreaming.” I kiss her forehead. “Everything is going to be okay. You’re safe now.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Raze

  It’s been a couple of days since we found Minx and brought her home. She hasn’t been herself and hasn’t talked about what happened to her. I haven’t wanted to push her either. So much has happened in such a short amount of time.

  I really don’t blame her for being closed off right now, but it’s starting to worry me. I walk into my room and see her lying on the bed. She’s staring blankly at the TV. I sit on the bed next to her with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

  “Kitty, babe, I brought you something to eat.” It’s really all she’s eaten since we brought her home, but at least it’s something. She slowly sits up, resting her back against the headboard. I do the same. She takes the sandwich and stares at it for a minute.

  “He drugged me a lot.” Her voice is soft. I would have missed what she said if I hadn’t already been paying attention. “He drugged me and barely fed me. He wanted me to be weak. I wouldn’t show him weakness. I took everything he dished out. The verbal abuse, the hitting— I even took the cutting. But . . .” Tears pool up in her eyes. I wrap my arm around her and pull her into my side.

  “You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready,” I tell her. She shakes her head side to side.

  “You need to know what happened. I need to get it out.” A tear falls down her cheek. I brush it away with the pad of my thumb. She starts again. “I had a dream that felt so incredibly real. You and Rivet were both in it. Hawk too. I was so confused to see him. He told me to be strong. Like he knew something was about to happen and he was trying to warn me. When I woke up, Ghost was standing there watching me.”

  She pauses, taking a deep breath. “I knew something was about to happen and I was ready. I knew you would find me. That, and seeing Hawk in my dream, helped me to stay strong, but he broke me, Raze. Ghost did the one thing I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to come back from.”

  I grit my teeth and try to calm down before responding. “Savannah . . .”

  She lets out a sigh, holding a hand up to stop me, and sets her sandwich down before turning her whole body so she’s facing me. “Mason . . . he raped me.”

  When I saw her naked in his arms, I had a feeling that may have happened. Hearing her admit it has me seething. I want to go out to the farm and beat him to a bloody pulp. He doesn’t deserve to be breathing the same air as her. Ever again. Minx sniffling brings me out of my head. Tears are pouring down her face. I cup her face in my hands and look her in her eyes.

  “Savi, babe. I am here for you. Whatever you need, tell me and it’s done. If you don’t want me around, done. I’ll give you whatever space you want. You may not come back from that, but you will get through it and come out even stronger. Babygirl, it will take time for you to heal. You take all the time you need. I love you. I will love you through this. I will love you for the rest of my life if you’ll let me.”

  She’s sobbing harder now. I pull her to my chest and hold her while she cries. It doesn’t take long for her to cry herself to sleep. I keep holding her, wanting her to know she’s safe. An hour goes by and there’s a light knock on the door.

  “Come in,” I say just loud enough for whoever it is to hear, hoping I don’t wake Minx. The door slowly opens and Rivet pops her head in.

  “Oh, I didn’t know she was sleeping. I can come back later.”

  “You can still come in. I have something I need to go do, but I’d rather her have someone with her.” Rivet nods her head and walks into the room. I lightly nudge Minx, trying to wake her up slowly. She lets out a groan and her eyes flutter open.

  “Hey, girl,” Rivet softly says to Minx. “How are you feeling?” Minx looks up at me then to Rivet.

  “A bit better actually.” She gives Rivet a small smile.

  “Mind if I hang out for a while?”

  Minx shrugs. “Sure.”

  “Since Rivet will be here with you, I have a couple of things I need to go do real quick. You okay with that?” I ask her.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” We both climb off the bed and Rivet moves to sit down. Minx walks over to the door with me.

  “Buster is hanging out in the main room with some of the brothers in case you need anything.”

  “Are you going to torture Ghost some more?” Minx whispers. “I know he’s still alive. I’ve heard a couple of the brothers talking about it. Raze, I want to be the one to end him.”

  I let out a deep breath. “I have an errand to run, and then I’ll talk to Prez about it. If anything, maybe you can be there when it happens.”

  She gives me a straight face and nods. I brush a piece of hair behind her ear. I look at her mouth. She grins at me. “It’s okay to kiss me. I won’t break.”

  My girl. I thread my fingers through her hair and give her a soft kiss. When I pull away and look at her, I see a brief look of lust in her eyes. It’s gone just as fast. I brush my thumb against her bottom lip.

  “I’ll be back as quick as I can.” She smiles at me and goes to sit with Rivet. I close the door behind me and head out.

  I go to see our local seamstress, Lynn, to have a property patch done for Minx. When I get back to the clubhouse, I park my bike and see Prez sitting at one of the picnic tables by himself. I climb off and make my way over to him.

  “Just the man I wanted to see,” I say to him as I sit across from him.

  “How’s our girl?”

  “She opened up to me earlier. Told me what happened.” I pause. “She also told me she wants to be the one to kill him.”

  “Absolutely not,” Prez growls out.

  “Prez, he fucking raped her,” I growl out right back at him. His eyes go wide. “As much as I don’t want his blood on her hands, she deserves to get her own justice.”

  He sits there, thinking over what I said. I’m beginning to think he isn’t going to respond since he’s quiet for so long.

  “You’re right. She should be able to do this, but I want you by her side the entire time. If it gets to be too much, you get her out of there.”

  “Of course. Thanks, Prez.” He nods and waves me off. I walk into the clubhouse and see Minx sitting in the main room with Rivet, Buster, and a few others. She looks up at me and gives me a small smile. This woman amazes me a little more every day. She says something to Rivet, and then makes her way over to me.

  “Hey there,” she greets me. I pull her into me and plant a gentle kiss on her lips.

  “I talked to your Pops,” I tell her and get a hopeful look in response. “We agreed to let you get your revenge. You’ll have me and Buster right there with you.”

  She nods and I see a little spark in her eye. I go grab Buster. The three of us get in his car and head over. We
pull up to the barn and Ranger and Ratchet are standing outside.

  “Prez said to accept y’all,” Ratchet says. He looks to Minx. “You sure you wanna do this?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure.” She sounds confident about this. I turn her to face me.

  “Look, I know you think you need this, but promise me something. If any part of being here or seeing him becomes too much for you, promise me you’ll let me know.”

  Minx puts her hand to my cheek. “I promise you, I will let you know.”

  “He hasn’t been fucked with today, so he’ll be conscious. He’s going to try to get inside your head as soon as he sees you. He’s tied up real good and won’t be able to touch you. Remember, you’ll have both Buster and me in there with you.”

  We walk into the barn, leaving Ranger and Ratchet outside. Buster and I hang back just a little, letting her walk in front of us. You can even see her confidence in the way she walks.

  A malicious, Cheshire cat grin spreads across Ghost’s face as his eyes find Minx. She walks up to the table that’s holding all of Ratchet’s knives and grabs one of the butcher knives. She stands about a foot away from Ghost and stares at him.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Savannah

  I’m here.

  At the barn.

  Standing in front of Ghost.

  He’s covered in bruises and blood, but I don’t see any cuts on him. Someone must have broken his nose.

  “Ah, Savannah. I knew you’d come. You just couldn’t stay away, could you?” he laughs out. I keep my emotions in check, keeping my face as emotionless as possible. “Why don’t you be a good little slut and come let me down.” I slowly walk closer to him. He chuckles. “That’s a good girl.”

  It’s me who should be laughing. He really thinks after what he did to me, that I would just let him go? He has lost his fucking mind! I get within a few inches of him and cock my head to the side. I’m looking over his chest and abs, trying to pick a spot to slice open first.