ACE
I paceoutside of the cooler, trying to get my head together.
More than anything, I want to go to Camile and make sure she’s all right, but I know I’ll scare her when I’m like this, all amped up and full of rage. She’s already been through enough. I’m trying to tell myself that the most important thing is that she’s back with us, safe. I can’t help the niggling feeling that I should be watching her, like if I don’t have my eyes on her at all times, something else terrible will happen.
The man responsible for her pain is behind that heavy metal door.
The three Numbnuts are still alive, too, but after twelve hours sitting in the cold, they’re not up to much. Ledger is a mess after the beating I gave him at the outbuilding, and I hope he’s suffering because of it, and terrified about what’s to come.
I crack my neck and knuckles. I’ve only just gottenstarted.
If it wasn’t for the fact that we need to get information out of him, he’d already be dead. It’s better this way, though. Such a quick death would be too good for him. I prefer to drag things out. To make sure he suffers for so much as learning Camile’s name.
I can’t help my thoughts going to Rook as well. I don’t know the details of what happened in the outbuilding, but I’ve got my suspicions, and none of them are good. Rook should never have been in that position in the first place. If he’d done as he was fucking told, he’d have been with us in the rescue party, and not in that room with Camile.
But what would have happened to her if he hadn’t been? I can’t even bring myself to think about it.
I’m angry at myself, too. I fucked up. Why didn’t I consider that second location, when I knew that the Numbnuts had access to it not so long ago? I’d been so fucking fixated on the Revenants that it hadn’t even occurred to me to consider somewhere on our territory, even after we knew the Numbnuts were involved. I’m the one who is supposed to know the roads around here. I should have thought of it. If we hadn’t wasted so much timing going to the Revenants’ compound, we could have stopped what they did to Camile. Could have stopped whatever they made Rookdo toCamile, and whatever they did to Rook.
It was such a short snippet of time in the scheme of things, yet it made all the difference. What if we’d been even later and Rook and Camile had ended up dead? I don’t know how I could have lived with myself.
With a growl, I drag my hand down my face and continue to pace.
We need to know who else might be posing a threatto Camile. This isn’t over. It’s obvious Ledger is here because of what happened to her father back home, but is he working alone? Does the rest of his family know what Ledger has done? If so, they’ll be waiting to hear from him, and what will happen when they get nothing but radio silence? Those kinds of people don’t just let shit go. They’ll be wanting to know what happened to Ledger, and they’ll also still want Camile.
Will she ever be safe?
Dealing with rival motorcycle clubs is one thing, but taking on the cartel? That’s way above our pay grade. The only thing I console myself with is the distance between us. They might be powerful in Mexico, but that doesn’t mean they’ll have the same kind of power here.
Should we run? Take Camile with us to another country where the cartel won’t find us? It’s tempting, though I have no idea where we’d go. I’ve never even been outside the United States before. I’m sure she has another brother who lives abroad somewhere, but I don’t believe they’re close or even in touch.
But I know she won’t go. Even after everything she’s been through, she’ll be fearing for her mother and other brother’s lives. The only way to keep them safe is to bring them to America, and I have zero idea how the fuck we’re going to manage to do that when we couldn’t even keep a girl who was right under our noses safe.
I need a fucking drink.
It’s late—or perhaps I should say early—so no one will be in the clubhouse. I’m tempted to go and grab a bottle of whiskey, but perhaps I need to keep my head together.
Finally, Jack shows up with a few of the other guys—Big Mike and Smokie Saul, together with Becker and Cash. I’m happy to see they’re all armed. No one is making any mistakes this time. We’re getting the info we need and then putting several bullets in these sons of bitches.
I don’t have a gun, though. No, my preferred weapon of choice is the flick knife I like to carry around with me. My hand goes to it now. Cutting off pieces is how I plan to get people to talk.
“Ready?” Jack asks me.
“And waiting,” I confirm.
I want blood so badly I can taste it. Every time I think of Ledger hurting Camile, I see red.
“You can’t kill him,” Jack says, as though sensing my frame of mind. “Even if we get info out of him, we need to keep him alive until the information is confirmed. He could easily lie to us, and Camile’s life, and that of her family, will still be in danger. Got it?”
“Got it,” I repeat, though my stomach dips in disappointment.
“You don’t need to keep the Numbnuts alive, though. Do whatever the fuck you want to them, once we’ve got them talking.”
I let out a whoop and hold up my hand, palm facing Jack, to get a high five. He just arches one thick eyebrow at me, and, chastened, I lower my hand again.
“Whatever you say, Prez.”
We open the cooler door to reveal the men behind it.
