Chapter Ten

Morgue

The plan was simple. It was Friday night. The women I was looking for always went to the same club. Wylde confirmed they were still on for the evening by hacking into their phones and monitoring their phone calls and texts. There were three of them. I had Stitches, Deacon, Blaze, and Ace with me to remove the women from the club, and Clutch driving the cage to take us out of the city.

Once again, Deke from Bones was waiting in a secluded area an hour outside of Lawrence, Kansas. He'd fly us back to a point just outside of Evansville, to an abandoned farm that just happened to be owned by someone who didn't exist but which had advanced security protecting it from prying eyes. And the occasional hunter. Sting and the rest of the officers would meet us there. We had a barn with a basement specially made for situations like this. Because these women were going to die. Just not right away, because we needed more information from them.

The club the women frequented was small but loud. It worked in our favor in that no one would care if they screamed. Hell, everyone was screaming. The bass thumped, and partiers jumped around in what I assumed was dancing. The only thing I really cared about was getting the three women out of here without anyone noticing anything was wrong. Wylde was on the cameras and all of us who'd gone inside the club had covered up our tattoos just in case. Nothing was foolproof.

It was kind of fitting. They'd brought Dorothy to a club and let her be drugged and kidnapped. So, when I watched as Deacon slipped a Molly in the drink of the woman he was flirting with, I couldn't help but smirk. What was that movie line? Life's a bitch, and her stripper name is Karma. Yeah. I didn't feel sorry for the bitch. None of them.

The same scene was playing out with Ace and Blaze. All three men plied the women with booze and Ecstasy. One of them started feeling the effects pretty quickly, though it seemed to make her more compliant and happy rather than energetic. She was easily gotten to the cage. The other two took an hour before they were flying so high they were agreeable to anything. Once we were all in the cage, Clutch took off for the rendezvous point with Deke.

"I can make you feel realmente bueno, el cari?o." This was the woman with the residence on the outskirts of Cancún. Since we'd been in the SUV, she'd slipped from English to Spanish and back several times. She was currently all over Deacon.

"Sure you could." Deacon looked disgusted, his nose wrinkling as if smelling something decidedly unpleasant. "How about you take a nice nap." He tried to unwrap her hands from around his neck but, honestly, the woman was like an octopus.

"You taking us to tu casa?"

Ace snorted. "You could say that."

The woman with Ace had her head in his lap. She was nosing his crotch, but Ace had managed to keep his fly zipped. He stroked her hair absently with an amused grin on his face. I was pretty sure she thought she was giving him a blow job. Stitches looked to be in a similar situation while Blaze's charge was out cold.

"All right, that's enough." Stitches shoved the woman with her head in his lap upright. She screeched but said nothing intelligible. Stitches zip-tied her hands behind her back and her legs at the ankles. When she continued to scream, he shoved a rag in her mouth and used a strip of duct tape to cover it. "This is fuckin' ridiculous," he snapped. "Tie and gag the other two." Stitches was the ranking club officer on this trip, but he rarely gave orders. Not like this.

"Thank Christ," Deacon said.

"Oh! Papá likes a little kink." I thought her name was Maria, but I didn't really care. What I did care about was the fact this woman was the ringleader, according to Wylde. And Wylde would never have made that kind of accusation unless he knew for sure.

"Yeah, Papa likes kink," Deacon muttered. "Just not with skanky cunts like you."

"You bastard!" Maria tried to strike out at Deacon, but not only was her aim shit, but Deacon snagged her arm and pulled it behind her back at a painful angle. "Ow! You're hurting me!"

"Oh, you know what you did to deserve this. You're gonna hurt a lot worse before you die." Apparently Ace had reached the end of his rope.

"What? I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right." Ace snorted. "'Course you don't."

He snagged a zip tie from his vest and looped it around her wrists, pulling it tight. Maria screamed again. "I said you're hurting me! What the fuck?"

"Hurting you? What about the woman you hurt? You think she begged?" I asked the question in a deadly growl. "You think they listened? Maybe if you beg long enough and loud enough, I'll listen. Or not." The smile I gave her through the mirror was pure evil. "Either way, we're gettin' ready to find out."

At that, Maria's eyes grew wide. She opened her mouth to scream, but Ace stuffed a rag inside her mouth and taped it shut. Now, the two women who were awake looked terrified. But not terrified enough.

Everything went as planned. Deke got us back to Evansville where Brick waited with the SUV ready to take us to the barn. Wylde covered our tracks so we weren't busted for an unlogged flight path.

We got the women into the barn and into the basement where they were tied with their hands above their heads. They were still gagged. The third one was slowly waking up but was still out of it.

"Give it a couple more hours and she should be awake," Stitches said, nodding to the groggy one. "Then we can begin."

I nodded, walking to Maria and reaching for the tape over her mouth. With one hard yank, I ripped the tape off.

Maria screamed, though the sound was muffled because of the cloth still in her mouth. Once she'd quieted down, I pulled out the cloth.

"Now," I said with a small smile. It wasn't a kind smile. "You've got a little bit to think about what you want to tell me."

"Not tellin' you shit, cabrón!"

"Yes. You will. But we'll get to that in a bit. You can stand there and invent all the lies you can to convince me to believe, or you can just come clean and tell me everything I want to know."

"Right," she sneered. "Because I'm gonna do what you want." She spat in my direction. "Go to hell!"

"I might see you there someday. Won't deny it. But you'll be in hell long before I will."

The other woman looked from me to Maria and back with wide, terrified eyes. Tears tracked from her eyes and sweat beaded her brow. She was getting the idea things were about to get serious.

"?Cuando salgamos de aquí te voy a matar, bastardo!" Maria screamed. Her fury would have been funny if I hadn't been so furious. These women were responsible for everything Dorothy went through before I found her. Now, it only fueled my anger.

In a move as sudden as it was spontaneous, I backhanded Maria hard enough to knock her out. She went limp, her body hanging from her wrists. I never thought hitting a woman would ever give me satisfaction, but there was no denying I liked knowing I caused pain to Maria. I knew she'd sold Dorothy to men who would have hurt her, raped, and beaten all those women if we hadn't rescued them.

It was about two more hours before Stitches was confident the worst of the effects of the Ecstasy had worn off all three women. Maria, the mouthy one, was yelling and threatening while the other two were still gagged. I'd singled out Maria because she was the one who'd pushed them to take Dorothy. The others had gone along with it but wouldn't have on their own. Didn't mean they got to live. Just meant they had a better chance of a quick death. Because I was about to scare the Holy Spirit out of them.

Sting and Brick, as well as all the officers of Iron Tzars, were witness to what was about to happen.

"You think you're gonna fuck me, cabrón? You're all going to die!" She sneered at me. "Go ahead. If you can get your pencil dick to work." She gave me a maniacal smile and bit out, "I like it rough."

"I'm sure you do," I said. "But you're not gettin' fucked. First, we don't do that. Even if you deserve a little tit for tat."

"I didn't do nothing to that perra!"

"Sure you did." I pulled my knife from the sheath strapped to my thigh, examining the blade. It was a wicked, serrated knife with a thick hilt. "I already know this because we have your phone and text records. Even from the burner phones you thought were untraceable." I leaned in to whisper to her. "They weren't." Wow. I hope Wylde was proud of himself. I'd been hanging around him so much I even sounded like him. But, hey. It was better than the one- and two-word sentences I'd been reduced to when I'd first met Dorothy. The mere thought of her put me in the frame of mind I needed to complete this task. "Torturing women isn't really my thing. But I'm making an exception. Just for you. So, here's your choices. You can continue to be a little cunt and last for days or even weeks, or you can tell me what I want to know and go quickly without suffering." I shrugged. "Make your decision."

She barked out a laugh. "You don't scare me."

"Really?" I grinned.

"Yeah. Crazy American. You think we're stupid? You're not gonna do anything to us."

I lunged forward and stabbed Maria in the shoulder with my knife, burying it to the hilt. She screamed over and over with every breath. Then I pulled it out slowly, and she sobbed out her pain.

"Now," I said, picking up a cloth laying on a hay bale and cleaning my blade. "You understand I mean business. Yes?"

"What do you want! Why are you doing this! ?No hice nada!"

"Oh, but you did do something, Maria. You sold out my woman. Your roommate. I want to know who picked Dorothy up at that rave. And I want to know who your contacts are."

"I don't know anything!" When I stabbed her other shoulder, she screamed again. This time, hysterically, thrashing and trying to kick out even though her ankles were still zip-tied.

"Oh, I think you do. His name is Enrique. Right?" Maria's eyes got wide, and she nodded before she could stop herself. "See? That wasn't so hard. Was it?"

"He'll kill me," she sobbed. "I can't tell you anything!"

"Oh, honey," I said with mock sympathy. "Didn't you realize? You're dead already. There's no getting past this." She whimpered as tears flowed freely down her face. Sweat trickled from her forehead to mingle with her tears. The coppery stench of her blood permeated the basement and overrode the musty, damp smell I normally associated with this place.

"Look," she pleaded. "It was a one-time thing. He needed a virgin, and he overheard Dorothy talking about how she wanted to pop her cherry while she was in school. He came to us."

"Ah, see? That's gonna cost you."

"What? No! No!"

I picked up an axe leaning against the wall and rested it on my shoulder. "I'll give you this one chance to change your statement. After this, you get no free passes. Now. Did Enrique really contact you?"

"Yes! I swear!"

I tsked and shook my head. "I'm sorry I have to do this, Maria." I tried to sound like I truly regretted what I was about to do. The reality was, I could never regret hurting this woman. She was evil to the core. All three of them were, but especially this Maria.

I swung the axe down, severing most of her toes. Maria cried and screamed. She did it some more when Stitches heated a flat blade with a propane torch and cauterized the wounds on her feet and her shoulders. This was when she passed out the first time. Nothing a bucket full of water to the face wouldn't fix.

"You still with me, Maria?" I snapped my fingers in front of her face while she screamed. Gone were her threats and lies. All she could do was scream.

After that, the other two were more forthcoming. When we were all satisfied I'd gotten all I could out of those two, Roman shot them in the back of the head. That's when Maria finally gave up her other contacts. Some of them Wylde had already tracked down through her own contacts. Not all, but enough to keep her honest.

I kept at her until Wylde said she'd told us about every single contact he'd linked with her. It wasn't enough to shut this ring down, or even fully evaluate it, but it was enough for a start.

"What a fuckin' mess," I grumbled.

"Gettin' squeamish in your old age?" Wylde clapped me on the back as he grinned at Maria. "Almost done. Just gotta finish that one off." The woman whimpered, but, honestly, she wasn't in much shape to know what was happening.

"Nope. I just prefer the clean, quick kills. Though I like knowing I got a little vengeance for Dorothy."

Stitches approached us. He'd been making sure Maria wasn't in danger of dying before we were ready. Now he scrubbed his hands on a damp cloth. "Morgue's got himself a fine woman, Wylde."

"I've seen her with the other women you guys rescued. She's patient and kind. Not to mention the old ladies love her."

"That reminds me. Where's Walker?" I looked around the big room for the hunter. "I need a favor."

As if he'd been waiting for me to mention his name, the man in question tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and gave him an annoyed look.

"You could have said something."

He shrugged. "Whacha need?"

"A dog."

Walker nodded. "Blossom said Sparkle's been a big help to Dorothy. You wantin' one of her own?"

"Yeah."

Walker got a big grin on his face. "I've got just the dog."

* * *

Dorothy

Morgue was true to his word. He made it back in just under twenty-four hours. He took a shower and insisted I come with him where he fucked me against the shower wall. Then, after we'd dried off and stumbled to bed, he fucked me again. We dozed for a while, then I woke him with a blow job and he'd fucked me again. Then it was time for the serious stuff.

"What happened to them?" I asked. I didn't really care, but I think I was testing him. Seeing if he'd tell me or if he'd lie.

He sighed. "Do you really want to know, Dorothy? Because I absolutely will tell you. Just make sure you're gonna be OK with the answer."

I thought about that for a minute. I'd just admitted to myself that I didn't care, but did I want to know? "No. I mean, I'd be fine with whatever you did. I just don't think any of them are worth another second of my time."

Morgue rolled over to lie on top of me. He looked down at me softly before taking my lips in a gentle kiss. It wasn't a kiss to build sexual pleasure, though I always found myself getting wet when he kissed me. It was a claiming kiss. One that told me how much he treasured me. I thought he might even love me. I got the feeling he didn't love often, and I desperately wanted to be in that circle of family.

"You're a remarkable woman, Dorothy. I'm proud you're mine."

"Me too. I mean, I'm glad I'm yours." I smiled but then it faded. "What happens now? I know you got the information you wanted. What will you do with it?"

He shrugged. "That's up to Sting, but we typically hunt down these trafficking rings and kill everyone we can find."

"But you're always careful?" It wasn't a statement. I wanted that reassurance. Morgue happily gave it to me.

"Always, honey. Sting determines which missions are worth the risk and if they are, if the risk is acceptable. Then we all work to make the risk even less by preparing for every possible outcome we can imagine. There will always be danger in something like that, but we minimize it as much as we can."

"Good. Because even though I don't want to risk you getting hurt, I don't want another woman to have to go through what I did. Or worse." I frowned. "Why do you think they didn't sell me as long as I was there?"

"Wylde is looking deeper into the whole nest of vipers, but he thinks they were holding out for a better price. I know that sounds harsh, but it saved you worse trauma than what you had to endure."

"I know." I kissed him again because I had to. If I lived with this man a hundred years, I doubted I'd ever tire of his kisses. "So, it will be a while before you have to do anything else?"

"Yeah. I won't let anything slip up on you, Dorothy. I'll give you as much notice as I can if I have to leave. And I swear to you, I'll do everything in my power to always be home to you within a day. Especially until you get used to the club."

"I appreciate it. Blossom said I could borrow Sparkle any time I needed her."

Morgue grinned at me. "Speaking of Sparkle, I have something for you."

He stood and slung on some pants. I reached for my T-shirt -- which was really Morgue's shirt -- and slipped it over my head. "Wait here," he said, his face bright with excitement. I'd never seen this side of Morgue before. It was almost an oxymoron, Morgue looking happy.

He left the room and came back a few moments later with the absolutely most adorable dog I'd ever seen.

"Oh, my God! Who is this?" I reached for the dog. He happily wiggled from Morgue's arms to mine. The little hellion licked my face like he'd found a long-lost friend. The thing's little tail was wagging up a storm. It might have weighed eight or ten pounds and had long, wiry hair. His face, feet, and tail were darker than his body. And he looked familiar. "What kind of dog is he?"

"A Cairn Terrier." Morgue grinned. "Name's Toto."

I froze, then blinked at the dog. "Well. No wonder you look familiar." I giggled. Toto barked once, his tail still wagging.

That night, Morgue explained about the club tattoo and all it meant. I could never leave him or the MC. Which was fine by me. I never wanted to be away from Morgue. He said we'd get with Ace, who'd help us design the tattoo. Apparently, the women of Iron Tzars were tattooed the same as the men. Since I was an old lady now, I got a special one. The men had all agreed to get ring tattoos on their left ring finger to symbolize their wedding rings and as a show of solidarity with the women who got their property tattoos as well as their property vests. I'd like to say I was disturbed at the thought of being someone's property, but honestly, I was Morgue's property. Just like he was mine.

As we lay in bed after making love again, we watched the sun set through the bedroom window. It dipped behind the hills in a dazzling display of pinks, purples, and oranges. I couldn't help but wonder what my future held. One thing I knew for sure, Morgue would be at my side. Through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, to the grave do us part. And beyond. And I couldn't be happier about it.

With Morgue, I could survive anything.