He’d aged by at least ten years in the past two. His beard was shaggy, his messy hair was greasy, and his filthy jeans and T-shirt hung loosely on him. He’d lost at least twenty pounds that he didn’t have to lose. No wonder I hadn’t recognized him.
“What happened? You look like shit.”
He showed me his teeth. I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be a smile, a grimace, or a scowl, but it wasn’t pretty. Stained teeth, eyes sunken and dark, pupils dilated. “Your motherfuckin’ brother happened,” he spat, limping forward.
“Link did this to you?” I asked, not believing his declaration for a second. My brother helped people, he didn’t hurt them. Link also didn’t discuss club business with me, so I had no clue what had gone down between him and Brass.
“He kicked me out.”
That made a little more sense. Link was extremely vocal about his stance against drugs, and Brass was clearly on something. “For using?” I asked. “You know the club’s rules on drugs.”
Brass’s face contorted in anger. “I worked my ass off for him, then I took what I deserved! It was just a loan. I would have paid it back.”
Okay then. He was stoned and out of it. He’d kidnapped me and wasn’t making any sense. I needed to calm him down and figure out my role in this beef he had with Link. “I’m sorry he did that to you, but what does it have to do with me? Why am I here? You said something about an investment…?”
“Because he took everything from me, and now he’s gonna pay.”
Brass’s words held so much menace and loathing that a shiver of dread went up my spine. Link and I weren’t super close anymore, but I knew he’d do anything for me. He’d also be devastated if something happened to me, especially at the hands of a man who he brought into the club. “What do you mean, pay?”
He bared his teeth at me again. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Princess, I’m just asking for money. A hundred thousand dollars seems like a reasonable fee for the return of an entitled little bitch. As long as they get the money to the drop point and I can pay off my debt, everything will be fine.”
He was ransoming me. On the plus side, that meant I was valuable, and he wouldn’t hurt me. Hopefully. I still wasn’t so sure about Joe. But on the minus side, Link would never agree to pay a ransom. Not that he couldn’t come up with the money or didn’t think my life was worth it, but there was a reason the US didn’t negotiate with terrorists. Terrorists were going to commit acts of terror, regardless of how much they were paid. It sounded like Brass had dug himself a drug-lined financial hole and he saw this as a viable shovel to dig himself out. If Link gave him the money, it would make the club look weak and vulnerable to other acts of terror. And Brass would probably just do it again after he blew through the ransom.
Besides, Brass had kidnapped me and shot me full of something. Some things were sacred… ol’ ladies, wives, sisters, moms, grandmas. Nobody fucked with them. Every biker in the club would hunt down Brass to make sure he paid for this offense.
Somewhere deep in his drug-addled mind, Brass had to know that. He had to know that there was only one way this would end. Regardless of what happened to me, I was looking at a dead man. He had to know it, but he was desperate enough to take the chance. That probably had something to do with the bruises on his arm and the way he favored his right leg.
“What’s Joe’s role in all of this?” I asked, nodding at the thug who still had his gun trained on me.
“Mind your own damn business, bitch,” Joe said, backhanding me across the face.
My head snapped back with the blow, bouncing off the wall behind me. Stars danced in my vision and the coppery-sweet scent of blood filled my nostrils. Something slid down my lip. Leaning forward I watched blood drip onto the concrete floor.
“What the fuck, Joe?” Brass asked. “I told you if you hurt her, the whole club will hunt you down.”
“I’m not afraid of a bunch of pussy-ass, do-gooder bikers.”
The pain in my head was making me woozy again, so I braced my ass against the wall and tried to keep myself still.
Brass gave Joe a look that was loaded with both fear and irritation. He didn’t like Joe, but he was scared of him. Can’t say I blamed Brass, but it was good information to have. “I owe Joe’s boss some money. I came up with a plan to use your brother’s bitch to get it, but I can’t seem to get her away from her babysitters. I headed back to the club, thinking I could nab one of the Copper Penny bartenders, but then you came strolling out of the front door by yourself. You saved my hide, and for that, I’m very fuckin’ grateful.” He glanced at his cell phone. “We’re giving your brother until ten p.m. to get the funds together, and then we’ll call him with the drop point. As soon as we have the money, you’ll be free to go, Joe’s boss will be paid off, and we’ll all live happily ever-fuckin’-after.”
Brass must have been hitting acid, because he was permafried if he believed that’s how this would go down.
“Come on, Joe,” Brass said, reaching up to unscrew the light bulb. They were going to leave me alone in darkness again.
Keeping me in sight, Joe backed toward the door as if I might somehow unbind my wrists and dive at him.
Desperate for a little more information about where I was, I blurted out, “Wait!”
“What?” Brass asked, pausing.
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
They both eyed me suspiciously.
“Please. I’ll behave, but I really need to pee. It’s not like I’m some threat, especially not with my hands bound.”
He considered me a bit longer before waving me forward. “All right. Come on, but don’t try anything. Joe won’t kill you, but he just might make you wish he did.”
