Yanking the gag from Jabari’s mouth I said, “No need for formalities here, you know what I want to hear.”
“Fuck you!” he spat, and I shrugged.
Cam pulled the cord again, and this time sliced that leg off like he was carving a Thanksgiving turkey.
Jabari’s scream was loud and long. Good thing the walls of the crematory were soundproof, and since we were down in the basement there was even less chance that his howls would be heard. Sweat prickled his forehead as his teeth gnashed and hands fisted at his sides.
“Now, let’s try this again.” I lifted a finger above his face. “But first, I’ll remind you that you have another leg and two arms. So that’s three more chances to get this right.” Bringing my hand down, I slapped his cheek. “Make the smart decision, Jay.”
“This shit goes deeper than just one name,” he gritted out. “I don’t even know the dude he’s talking about.”
“But you know something. And if I don’t know the same things you do in the next ten seconds, Cam here is going for the set.” From the amount of emails KC had retrieved, there was no doubt in my mind that there was more than one person behind this conspiracy. Just as there was no doubt that they would each get what was coming to them.
“You’re a sick fuck! And so are the others in your little organization,” Jabari continued, obviously not giving a damn about his other leg or his life.
Every now and then we came across a dumbass who wanted to play tough. It was refreshing, actually, and kept us all on our toes. But tonight, I was tired from the travel down to Florida to take care of Rafe’s business, then the quick stop at home only to hop on the plane again to head down to South Carolina. Then, to make matters worse, having to leave my beautiful wife to come back here to this bullshit.
I stuck my knife in his shoulder and watched his face contort with pain as another scream ripped from his throat. Instead of pulling the knife out right away, I turned that shit, feeling his muscles tear with the motion. Between Jabari’s yelling, I could hear that punk ass Cal crying and hiccupping behind me.
“Is that your final answer?” I asked, glaring down at Jabari’s sweaty face.
“Fuck you!” he shot back.
I pulled the knife from that shoulder, then slammed it into the other.
Turning the knife again, I let him howl some more. Then tossed another nod to Cam who started that chainsaw up.
“Stop! Stop! You fuckin’ bastards!” Jabari yelled.
I waited until the chainsaw was off again before I yanked the knife out of his shoulder. Cupping the knife hand to my ear, I leaned in a little closer and asked, “You got something beneficial to say?”
“This ain’t no local shit,” he panted. “It’s higher than even my SAC. Word came down the ranks to shut down the Platinum Ryders and that’s what the fuck is gonna happen.” He gritted his teeth trying to compartmentalize the pain so he could still give a brave front, but that ship had already sailed. He could continuegiving up the information or not, either way he and his buddy over there would never see the light of day.
“Is that so?” I asked, wiping my knife off on the gray hoodie he wore. “I would tell you to deliver a message to your senior agent in charge, but I’ll do that shit myself.”
Slipping the knife back into its sheath, I stepped back from the table. It would take more than some manufactured documents about a trafficking ring that didn’t exist, at least not as far as the club went, to bring us down. We’d been doing this shit for far too long, had too many fail-safes in place, judges and law enforcement officials on our payroll, for it to go down like this. But tonight hadn’t been a total bust. KC could use this information to find the ones that were out for us. And I could go right to the source.
“Nobody leaves here breathing,” I said as I made my way to the door.
The chainsaw started up again and Cal’s cries joined for a noisy chorus.
On the main level, I walked back to the office I only utilized when I was here for this type of business. After slipping into the bathroom, I removed the blood-splattered suit I was wearing and stepped into the shower. I kept a change of clothes here in the office, so I found a clean jogger set and a fresh pair of Jordan 4s to wear home. The bloody clothes went into a trash bag, which I carried to a laundry chute that emptied straight into the incinerator.
It was quarter to two by the time I climbed back into my truck. I stared at the clock as I pressed the button to start the engine, and the dashboard controls came into view. I wore a satisfying smirk knowing that by the time I made it home, got some sleep, and woke to get ready for a new day, Cal and Jabari’s ashes would be spread over the lawns of the homes they should’ve been sleeping in tonight.
Fifteen minutes into the ride, I pressed the buttons on the screen to call the first number in my top ten.
“Hello, Mrs. Mathias,” I said as soon as the sleep-heavy voice sounded throughout the interior.
“Hello, Mr. Mathias.”
The smile I could hear in her voice now soothed the frayed edges of my day. I merged onto the highway and let the melodious sound filter through my soul. “What are you doing up this late? Drinking with your cousins again?”
“That’s our nightly ritual.” She chuckled. “We’re all too busy to ever wind down like that on a regular. Early morning meetings, undercover investigations, and cranky infants, mean our minds have to be clear at all times.”
I meant to send KC the names of her cousins when I got back but things had been hectic. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust any of the women around her, they were her family after all. Truth was, there were only a handful of people I trusted implicitly. Everyone else operated on a trial basis. Meaning the first time they did some shady shit I eliminated them from my life, or the world all together … whichever punishment applied.
I wanted to know everything there was to know about whoever was near Dakota for any length of time. Since I was just learning about this bed and breakfast she owned, I would include the staff there in my background checks.
