Ronin has come back and is chatting quietly with Atom. His posture is stiff and his gaze meets mine briefly.
Was he talking to Rebel? Is it done, and he was letting him know?
I hope so, and I really hope they made it hurt.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rebel
Stryker drags the body of the first guy out of the barn where Razer is waiting, looking less than happy about being on disposal duty.
For hardened criminals, a lot of them are squeamish when it comes to tossing the bodies to the pigs.
We’re all still trying to get our heads around what just happened. The two men have been difficult to get anything out of until Nero mentioned Jackal knows he’s been betrayed by his own men. One of them clenched his jaw and his eyes darted everywhere as if he expected his Prez to walk in.
The other guy completely lost it. He got freakishly superhuman strength, and he broke free of the ropes and tried to run. He wasn’t going to get far, Nashville was running at him. Turns out he wasn’t trying to get out of the barn.
That motherfucker ran straight into a rusty old pitchfork that was hooked to the wall at an angle. He impaled himself on all four prongs. Which was no mean feat, given how rusted the damn thing was.
Everyone stopped and stared as he gurgled and tried to keep his feet. The metal had gone almost all the way through him, he’d run at itso hard. Nashville almost puked and had to step away. At first, we didn’t know if it was an accident or intentional. But he ran straight at it, not the door.
Fury stood facing the man as his head drooped, his breathing labored.
Nero’s face was dark as shit. The guy deserved to suffer because he was the fucker who shot Colt.
It pissed me the fuck off I didn’t get to hand out more pain, but Nero nodded when I took out my gun, calling Fury off. I put the gun to the side of his head and pull the trigger. He wasn’t going to die fast from those injuries, but watching and listening as he did, in that gruesome a way, was horrific.
The smoke from the cigarette between my lips blows into my eyes as I watch Stryker haul the bastard over the fence and toss him into the mud. He didn’t call for the pigs, they’d scent the body and find their way over eventually.
Ironically, we’d been educated on the term ‘long-pig’, which is not in relation to actual pigs, it is the disgusting term cannibals use for human meat.
The pigs are getting too many of these meals lately, and Stryker worries they’re getting overweight, so he is rotating them.
And that is a fucking thought I never want to have again.
“What kind of guy makes his men want to do that to themselves rather than face up to him?”
Nashville is standing downwind of the cigarette smoke. He used to have the occasional one, but since Charley came along, he’s quit altogether. It was unimaginable for me to give something up so easily for a woman. I get it now.
I won’t tell Kinsley what happened to the asshole in the mud beyond the fence. I’m just glad she wasn’t here to witness that.
“The Demon Sinners have a reputation for that shit,” I answer Nashville's question.
“To their own members?” Nashville shakes his head. “He didn’t sound that sadistic on the phone.”
I don’t comment, you can’t gauge a person’s traits from a phone call. I’ll never admit I’m rattled. Jackal said in not so many words he’d let it slide that we handle these guys. Anyone who can instill that kind of fear in his own men is not someone to underestimate.
Back in the barn, Nero is standing in front of the other guy. Fury is behind him, securing his ropes, looking pissed as hell. He was the one who tied them both up when they were dragged out of the van.
It’s not that they weren’t tight enough, the guy completely lost it hearing Jackal knowing what he’d done.
“You’re not going to get off that lightly,” Nero says to the other piece of shit in the chair.
Beast catches my eye, his look saying what I’m thinking. What just occurred was not ‘getting off lightly.’ A thwack and groan draw my attention back. The man’s head flops forward, he’s out cold. Nero shakes his fist.
“Shit, his face is harder than it looks.”
“What was that about?”
