Beretta’s sinister smile slithered across his face as two of his men brought out a white jug of bleach.
Joey started screaming again as they tightened the straps holding her down, right before tipping her head back so they could stuff a piece of cloth in her mouth. One of the men opened the jug and began to pour the liquid directly over her opened eyes.
Her body jerked violently as her muffled screams were drowned out by the burning liquid.
“I can’t watch this,” Zodiac growled, moving away from the phone, covering his mouth like he was about to vomit
It was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. Every agonizing second that they poured the liquid over her face I watched, my fists clenching as angry tears spilled down my cheeks. The wet invaders felt so foreign on my skin, and I was raging with so much emotion that I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t care who saw me breaking down… this was my sister, and they were fucking torturing her.
“I’m going to kill them,” I growled. “I’m going to kill every damn one of them.”
Beretta laughed sinisterly as he came back on the screen. “The only good rat is a blind rat,” he said demonically. “And Sheriff Rooker, I know you’re watching this, bitch. If you think you can use this shit against me, you’re sadly mistaken. I got friends in all the right places.”
As if on cue, Juliette screamed, all of us turning to see one of her own men holding a gun to her head.
“I’m sorry, Juliette,” the old man whispered. “They have Maggie.”
“You don’t want to do this, Reggie,” Zodiac stated, pulling out his gun.
“Let her go,” Scorpio ordered. Now he had his gun out, too.
“I can’t help it, Zodiac. If I kill her, then they’ll let Maggie go.”
The old man’s hand shook with reluctance as he started cradling the trigger. I knew exactly what happened when Beretta made deals. He never followed through.
“Look, man. I know you’re scared, but I can assure you that whatever Beretta said he’ll do if you do this, isn’t true. He said he’d let my sister go, but you just saw what he’s capable of. He poured some kind of liquid into her eyes, probably blinding her. The man is evil, and if you kill Juliette, you’re not going to leave here alive.”
Reggie looked at me like a man with no fucks left to give. “It’s my only hope of saving Maggie.”
My eyes widened as his finger started to curl, and when the shot went off, my heart exploded inside my chest. I didn’t even realize my eyes were closed until I heard the body hit the floor, and I was too afraid that I would end up seeing Juliette lying there with dead eyes like the girl in the photo. Instead, I was surprised to find Reggie’s lifeless body sprawled out on the ground.
“Oh, Reggie,” Juliette cried, dropping to his side. “How did they get to you, too?”
Scorpio came up behind her, holding his woman close to him as she cried in his arms.
“I’m so sorry, Juliette,” he said, nuzzling her cheek. “I know you trusted him.”
Everyone turned to the other deputy in the room, who held up his hands in surrender. “I can’t be bought,” he assured us.
All the Celestial Sons stood in the room in complete stunned silence. It was like they were all still trying to figure out what just happened. Beretta was even eviler than I expected. What kind of man would hold a woman down and blind her by pouring a gallon of bleach into her eyes? Beretta had to die, and so did every other man who rode alongside him. But something about this mission wasn’t sitting right with me. Why would Beretta give up Scorpio’s bike so easily? It was like there was a missing piece to this puzzle, one I couldn’t ignore.
“Something’s not right,” I piped up, breaking the awkward silence in the room.
“What do you mean?” Archer asked, coming to a stop beside me.
“Why would Beretta just hand over Scorpio’s bike? He doesn’t strike me as the type of man that would let a trophy go so easily. He’s got something up his sleeve, something we aren’t seeing.”
Zodiac, Scorpio, Bull, and Juliette all shared a look I didn’t understand.
“Is he that crazy?” Juliette asked.
“He was crazy enough to leave the body of a woman on his own doorstep and send you video evidence of him torturing another,” Scorpio answered.
Very carefully, Bull made his way over to Scorpio’s bike, dropping down so he could look beneath it.
“Fuck!” he hissed, quickly coming back up. “We gotta leave it, Scorpio.”
“Leave it? Why the fuck would I leave it? I just got it back.”
