Chapter Twenty-Three

Twelve hours. That's how long she's been gone. They've been gone. Not only has my old lady vanished into thin air with our little nugget, no doubt unsafe, but my brother and sister are right along with her. Meanwhile, I find myself in the basement of the compound with the two people I hate most in this world.

The fury that boils inside me is all-consuming.

"Ugh!" The whoosh of air that escapes Isaac's mouth with a grunt is barely satisfying anymore. With the amount of times I've punched his gut, I'm pretty sure there's some internal bleeding in there.

One can only hope.

"You know…" I walk away, one finger caressing the bloody blade I used to carve the word "rapist" into their chests, the letters big enough for the visually impaired to heed the warning. "I could never understand in movies why the bad guys don't just give the information they have and avoid getting the shit beat out of them."

Tsking like this question really eats up at me, I turn to face them again.

"Who says we're the bad guys here?" Brick spits out a glob of blood and grins up at me, the red tint smeared across his crooked teeth. "You're the one who came to our fucking home, shot it up, broke our bikes, and fucking kidnapped us. We don't fucking know what you're talking about, asshole."

I stare at him, head cocked, brows furrowed as I try to read his facial cues. I mean, it's not easy, what with the deep-purple circles around both eyes and the swollen nose from one too many beatdowns. No doubt Isaac's broken knee cap means the end of his riding days. Then again, my plans here don't include him ever walking or crawling out of this basement so it's a moot point.

"They talkin' yet?" Bear runs down the basement stairs to join me after taking a break to eat dinner, a plate for me carefully balanced in one hand.

"Brick here says he's a good guy." Bear snickers at my announcement.

"Imagine a world where rapists aren't the scum of the Earth." Taking the aluminum off the plate, he hands it to me, a fork on top. "Sabrina said you needed the protein to deal with these douchebags."

"She… said?" I quirk a brow and Bear just flips his middle finger at me.

"Did Mac ever tell you she begged for it? I ain't no rapist. The bitches I give my dick to want it." You'd think I'd fly into a rage and rip his fucking face off with my bare hands, but I don't. I'm embracing Bear's advice to keep my zen because killing them won't get us answers. Also, this is Mackenzie's kill, not mine. She deserves to sink her pain and anger deep into his flesh and make him suffer for taking what didn't belong to him. "Too bad she's dead; her tight little pussy was unforgettable."

Okay, I lied. I mean, sharing is caring and all that, but there are two of them so killing one won't hurt too badly.

My lips pull back from my teeth like I'm a starving dog and blood is my main course as an agonized sound rips from my chest just as I lunge for this dead man walking.

Bear anticipates my move and I swear to fucking God if he weren't my brother in all the ways but blood, I'd rip his head right off his shoulders.

"Get your head on straight, Psycho. We need answers." I hear his words but my ears are ringing and the intensity in my glare is taking up all of my brain power.

"Your death will come slowly and painfully. I even promise to ignore you when you beg me to off you." My words are lethal, so low and gravelly, I'm not sure he even heard me.

"Look, I get it. You get out of jail and the only thing on your mind is revenge. I mean, it's understandable, right?" Pushing his hands into his pockets, Bear plays the good-cop to my bad-cop, except this criminal version has much more at stake.

"See, that's where you two are fucking pussies. Our first thought was partying and getting our dicks wet. Which you fucking interrupted." I scoff at Isaac's poor idea of an alibi.

"You've been out for a week, you fucking prick. Plenty of time to come up with a plan to snatch up my… our members." As the immediate haze of bloodthirst begins to wane off, something Brick said earlier starts nagging at me.

"Hey, c'mere." One of my hands darts out and grabs Bear's bicep, dragging him away into the corner of the basement. "He's still talking about Mackenzie like she's dead. Did I imagine that?" Looking over my shoulder, I glare down at the Toxic fuckers with heads bowed in exhaustion and their bloodied bodies starting to stink up the place.

"Yeah, was wondering when you were going to play catch up." It's his turn to weather the storm of my glare, but it rolls off him like a marble down a hill.

"Fuck!" If these assholes aren't responsible for Mackenzie's disappearance then who the fuck is? Not that it matters since either way, there's no chance in Hell they're getting out of here alive… ever. Unlike the American justice system, in this basement, we are judge and jury. And lucky for me, I'm the literal enforcer for our club.

"Hey, Psycho, Bear forgot your drink."

The unmistakable sound of heels coming down the concrete stairs gets both our attention. What the fuck is she doing here?

"Aww, you got us some pussy on the ready? That's mighty nice of y'all." I barely acknowledge Brick's words because if he thinks talking shit about Rea is going to get to me, he clearly knows nothing about any of us.

"Here you go." Rea holds out her arm and the tall glass of brew makes my mouth water with how fresh it looks. When I look up at her, I flinch at the nasty bruising around both eyes and the angry swelling of her nose. Damn, my Cherry Pie did a number on her. I can't wait to find her so she can tell me all about it.

Mumbling a "thanks", I try to get her attention, not sure what I want to say exactly, but she's staring at the bruised up bodies with something close to fear in her eyes. This is why Khunts aren't supposed to be downstairs. Most of them think of the biker life as being great fucking and all around good times. They know we come with a whole lot of danger but they usually try to ignore that little fact.

"Well, well, if it ain't one of our regulars." At Isaac's declaration, Rea's gaze locks on mine and there's no ignoring the consequences she'll have to face with this new revelation. This Khunt's days with SOK are numbered, but that's Prez's decision. Or Vanessa's, which might be even worse for Rea because Prez's old lady does not do well with betrayal.

"I don't know what they're talking about." See, this is where Brick's admission earlier felt weird. Rea? She's lying through her teeth. It's in the way her pupils are dilated and her eyes shifty where Brick was confident in his words.

"We'll deal with you later. Don't fucking go anywhere, you get me?" She nods and practically runs from me. Well, as much as her stilettos will allow, at least.

In the guise of keeping an eye on Rea, I take a minute to get my thoughts in order. They used the word "regular" which could mean a whole bunch of different things.

Regular at their trailer park? That would make her a traitor, or worse, a rat—no offense to Ninja.

Regular user? That would make her a junkie buying drugs from our enemies. Fuck, is she using the same shit that killed Python?

Regular at the races? Was she secretly hanging out with them? This would also make her a rat.

There is a fourth option: regular in their beds, which, in any other circumstance, I wouldn't give a shit about, but we all know what happens during pillow talk, and when it comes to Rea, orgasms tend to be followed by word vomit.

None of those options sound great; each of them will get her kicked out on her ass on a one way bus to nowhere interesting. I'll fucking make sure of it.

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Bear and I have the uncanny ability to get each other. Some say we read each other's minds, which is ridiculous because if he could, in fact, get inside my brain, we probably wouldn't be friends.

"Yeah." Turning on my heel just as Rea closes the door leading to the clubhouse, I lower my head and raise my eyes, a dark, foreboding lift to my lips giving every one of my words a menacing touch.

"Smiley faces. That's you, right? It's why you got pinched. Where do you make them?" The idea of having one more reason to torture these bastards is making me shake with anticipation. Add that to the fact that we still aren't any closer to finding Mackenzie and I swear to fuck, I'm gonna need an outlet very fucking soon.

"Yeah, ‘cause we know how to make pills. Don't quit ya day job, asshole, you wouldn't make a good cop." I swing around, grabbing the handle of the bat that was leaning against the table and aiming the full force of my weapon of choice at Isaac's gut.

This time, instead of spewing his words, the Toxic prez empties his stomach of whatever is left, spilling stinking yellow bile all over his lap and shoes.

"Wanna try that again, fucker?" Bear's chuckled words turn into repulsed coughs from the smell of our prisoner's upchuck on the concrete and everything else it unfortunately covered. Prospects are gonna hate cleaning this shit up.

"Jesus Christ, you fucking psycho!" Brick is looking at his prez, concern for him written all over his face as he tries to ask him if he's okay.

"You know, people keep calling me that like it's a bad thing." I turn to Bear, making a big show of my annoyance before turning back and asking them both the same fucking question and expecting a better answer. "Now, is your club distributing these fucking pills all over Rockford?" I mean, I can't get any clearer.

"So what if it's us? Ain't like y'all are fucking choir boys." Isaac looks up at me through his lashes, his chin still lowered against his chest. I bet I ruptured something in there. Good.

"I do love to sing." Grabbing the wooden beam above his head, Bear stretches his huge body out, taking up space and making those fuckers understand that their attitude won't do them any favors.

"Yeah, you do. But not as much as you like to relieve rapists of their limbs. Right?" I turn to Bear like I'm making sure I'm not saying something wrong. It's our favorite skit to play to confuse our captives.

"It's how I got my nickname." With a wink to Isaac, Bear takes a step back and leans against the wall, watching them carefully. "It's fascinating just how easily you can dismember humans when you do it just right."

I have to hold in my laughter because none of this shit is true. Except for the singing, maybe. In the shower.

"So, boys. Tell us about these pills. Where you getting ‘em from?" Crossing my arms over my chest, I wait and watch as Brick raises a brow at his president before they both shrug and look back at us.

They look like shit. Broken bodies and bruised egos always help with confessions, though, so it works out for the best.

"Look, we distribute a little here and there. Jake was talking with some bigshot businessman who wanted to get them on the streets and, in return, we got a lot of fucking money for it. I can't remember his name, but Jake went to his place once. On Oleander." I have to clamp down my teeth before I lose my fucking mind at Isaac's answers.

"Beau-something. Beauford or whatever." Bear and I both freeze at Brick"s little addendum.

Why do I know that fucking name? But first…

"So, I take it you don't fucking give a shit that those pills are killing kids out there?" I'm not expecting an answer but the question needed to be asked.

"Gotta do whatcha gotta do, man. The club ain't running on good pussy and stale beers." At the mention of pussy, all I can see are their hands on Mackenzie and I lose my shit.

In a matter of seconds, the bat is above my head and swinging down on Brick's hand, then Isaac's, in swift succession, and I revel in the sounds of their cries of pain and confusion. It's gonna be hard doing anything with five broken fingers. But again, they won't be needing them in Hell.

"What the fuck, man! We're talking, what the fuck is your problem?" Brick's shock and agony at his shattered digits line every word he throws at me but, guess what? No fucks here.

"It's the least I can do to pay you back for touching what was mine." I make sure to use the past tense because, for now, they don't need to know she's still alive.

"That—that was Jake's doing, man. We didn't have a choice." Pathetic. Okay, I'm done with this. These fuckheads don't have my girl and besides going off and handing out dangerous pills to college kids, they're just a waste of space.

But I'll keep them for when my Cherry Pie comes home so she can get some closure.

And she will come home or else this whole fucking city is going up in flames.