Tiernan Chapter 20- A Few Hours Earlier

We waited until we got the notification that the meeting had started. Cody’s source verified that the main boss was there and was about to address those assembled. We’d watched from a safe distance through our binoculars. Car after car entered, but we didn’t see who was in them because they pulled inside the massive warehouse to drop off their passengers and then exited. They parked outside, and their drivers, who were no doubt their security as well, walked the perimeter with their guns at the ready.

We not only had the Hounds and us, but a few of the Horsemen of Wrath MC were with us. We didn’t have exact numbers on who would be here, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t let any of them escape. Diablo had been more than generous when he offered up his guys. Since, technically, a slice of our territory was his, and they fought the same things as the Hounds, we agreed. We only took three: Thunder, Turbo, and Wolverine. Five enforcer slash bodyguards came with us as well: Finnegan, Kendric, Vander, Reign, and Creed. The rest were Alistair and some of his Hounds. Not all of them were available due to working on other assignments.

It was eleven o’clock when we made our move. We let them get nice and comfortable. We came out of the darkness like wraiths. The men standing guard were no match for us. They relied on guns and bulk. We might have guns, but we also have skills and intelligence. Something they were clearly lacking. No one was safe. If they worked for these bottom feeders, they were just as guilty in our book. They were dispatched quickly and silently. We didn’t want to alert those inside that there was a threat. Which meant either necks were broken or throats slit. We dropped their bodies where they had stood. There were fifteen outside. We guessed they had at least that many inside.

By the time we cleared the outside, I was hungry for more action. My blood was pumping, and I wanted to see every one of these fuckers dead. This was a meeting between the key people in the business and a few top people they sold to. We knew we wouldn’t be able to get all the buyers, but that was something that would be attempted afterward. As we found them, we’d send someone to eliminate them. Our first priority was to stop the selling. Second was to recover as many of the women as possible. Third was to seek out the buyers and make them pay.

They never heard us enter. They were gathered in a big circle in the middle of the warehouse. It was on the outskirts of Daytona Beach in an area that wasn’t very populated. It was close to the water, which would make shipping out the merchandise, as they referred to the people they sold, easy. There were a dozen men in suits plus another fifteen who looked like they were their security in the circle. My eyes homed in on the man standing up in front of them, talking.

Fury beat through my veins, and my blood went red hot. Standing there like he was God was none other than Christopher-fucking-Brynes. The cocksucker was involved. I looked over at Alistair. His stare was glued to him. We knew the score. Alistair had already called dibs if Chris ended up being involved. He would be the one to end his life, and he’d enjoy every second of it. Standing not far from Chris was Scotty. His fate was sealed.

Disappointment and sadness hit me as I watched the man who we’d known all our lives and had even loosely called a friend. The thought of him claiming my sister made me want to puke. What if she’d ended up with him? The devastation she would’ve felt when we had to kill him would’ve been unreal. And if they’d had children, we’d be responsible for killing the father of our nieces and nephews. I was close enough to Alistair to hear the low growl coming from him. His whole body vibrated.

We all took up our positions to surround them before we attacked. Alistair would give the signal. We put on our earwigs again so we could communicate. It seemed like hours before he gave the go-ahead, but it was only a few minutes.

“Go,” he whispered.

We were up and running. There were shouts from all around. Men jumped to their feet. Others tried to hide while their men were shooting. It was too bad for them that we wore body armor and were better shots than they were. It was harder to hit a moving target than most people knew. We practiced. Apparently, they didn’t. There were cries of pain and swearing as bodies dropped. Those only wounded were dispatched to hell with a bullet to the head. When the chaos calmed, which was when almost all the men were dead, I zeroed in on the ones not—Chris and Scotty.

That was another thing we’d agreed upon ahead of time. Whoever was in charge would be saved. A quick death was too good for him. The truth was, it was too good for all of them. We surrounded Chris and Scotty, where they were tied up when we heard a frantic yell through our earpieces. It came from Turbo. We’d asked him to remain our overwatch. “ Incoming. A dozen armed men storming the building ,” he shouted.

We swiftly turned to face the perimeter and the new threat, our backs to each other. As we waited, we heard the rat-a-tat of gunfire. What the hell was happening? I wanted to go out and see, but we needed to stay here. The gunfire went on for several minutes, then it was all silent. What the hell had Turbo done? It was several minutes before Turbo came back over the comms. Waiting was damn near impossible, but we held our position.

“ All clear. Comin’ in. You won’t fucking believe this ,” he said.

A minute later, when a door opened and he strolled in, he wasn’t alone. He was followed by four men and a woman. They were dressed like we were and armed for war. We were all puzzled and wary. Who were they, and why was Turbo with them and appeared at ease?

“Hold up. They’re the good guys,” Turbo called to us.

“Turbo, you’d better explain who the hell these people are right now,” Darragh barked.

“This is the calvary. They helped me take out the ones coming in to kill your asses,” he responded.

“Goddamn it, this isn’t time for you to play around. Who the fuck are they?” Thunder snarled. As secretary of his club, he was the one in charge of the other two.

“I’m not messing around. Let me introduce the DeSantis family. This is Alphonso, the patriarch. This is his oldest son, Luciano, then Gerardo, Rocco, and last but not least, his sweet baby girl, Gianna.” He grinned at her. She gave him the middle finger, which made him roar with laughter.

“Okay, you’ve told us their names. What are they doing here, and how do you know them?” Darragh asked. He was about to erupt. I heard it in his tone. Turbo must’ve heard it, too, because he hurried to continue.

“I grew up near them. I’m older than they are, but my family has known theirs forever. As for why they’re here, I’ll let Alphonso tell you.”

The elder DeSantis stepped closer. His sons and daughter were spread out behind him. They were watching us closely. Their hands weren’t far from their guns, but then neither were ours.

“We weren’t expecting to find anyone here. Wish we’d known. We didn’t mean to spook you. Turbo is right. We’ve known his family all my life. As for why we’re here, we’ve been tracking these bastards for months. We got word that there was a trafficking ring hitting different areas of the country, but the main distribution hub was rumored to be here in Florida. We don’t take kindly to that kind of thing, especially in our backyard. We discovered there was a big meeting with the main players and the boss happening here tonight. We decided to see what we could do to cleanse the world.”

“And why would you be the ones to do that?” Rian asked.

“It’s kind of what we do,” Luciano popped in to say.

“Your job?” Darragh asked.

“Yes, our job. Listen, we mainly go after fugitives who miss their court dates or fail to do what they’re supposed to as agreed upon in their bail bond contract. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t step outside that if the need arises,” Alphonso went on to add.

Astonishment was on all our faces, I had no doubt. I’d never met a bounty hunter, and here was a group of them.

“So you’re bounty hunters. That’s dangerous work. Why did she come along?” Rian asked. He was watching Gianna intently.

“Why shouldn’t they bring me? I might have a vagina, but that doesn’t mean I’m inept, stupid, or without skills. Why’d they bring you, pretty boy? Better watch you don’t mess up your manicure or your hair,” she snapped back waspishly.

If she thought it would piss him off, she was wrong. He grinned at her, winked, then blew her a kiss.

“Our sister is well trained, I assure you. She’s the one who found these swine. I’d watch myself if I were you. She’ll cut off something you want to keep,” Gerardo informed Rian gleefully.

“While we appreciate what you did, we need to talk to you more. As you can guess, our involvement in this has to be kept a secret. And being bounty hunters doesn’t protect you from legal prosecution. Your work is outside the legal constraints, unlike police officers. It would behoove you not to be found to be participating either,” Alistair pointed out.

“We get that, and I’ve got to say, I’m curious why an MC and a rich family rumored to be part of the Irish Mafia are killing these men. Shouldn’t you be working with them?” Rocco asked with a scowl. This earned him mutters and dark looks.

“Don’t judge based on rumor and assumptions. Listen, we can talk more about this at another time. Why don’t we arrange to meet later today or tomorrow? We can work this out then,” Darragh suggested.

“What’s going to happen to these two? Why didn’t you kill them like the rest?” Alphonso asked.

Chris and Scotty were gagged, and their wrists and ankles secured. They were wiggling to get loose, which wasn’t happening. I snorted when Shane smacked both of them on the back of the head with the palm of his hand. It wasn’t a light slap. Their heads flung forward hard.

“They have a special date with us,” Aidan told him.

“Well, we’re not in a hurry. How about we hang around and see how this date goes? Afterward, we can arrange this meet-n-greet you want to have,” Alphonso stated.

Short of hauling them out of here or killing them, we didn’t have time for this. They’d killed a dozen, according to Turbo. I guess we were in a mutual destruction scenario if they talked. I waited to see what Darragh said. It was his decision. He studied them for a couple of silent minutes, then shrugged.

“Welcome to date night. We’ll do it here. I’d hate to separate them from their buddies,” he gestured to the men dead on the floor. “Let’s get this done. I want to go home to my wife and son.”

Turning back to face our captives, Alistair and I marched over to them. I’d take care of Scotty. He was the one to funnel the money to Noel to make trouble for Kynedi and Aisling. Grabbing their arms, we hauled their struggling asses to a couple of chairs that Rory and Declan flipped right-side up. They’d gotten knocked over in the rush to escape. We slammed them hard down on them. More zip-ties were used to secure them to the chairs. When they were where we wanted them, Darragh got started.

“We’re going to remove your muzzles. We want to know how you got started in this. How long has it been going on, and if there are others involved? We know there are more buyers, and they won’t go unscathed. It may take us years to get them all, but we will. The more you tell us the truth, the easier and quicker your death. Don’t waste time trying to negotiate for your freedom. It’s not happening.”

They glared at him. Shrugging, he nodded. Alistair and I removed their gags. “You’ll regret this. My family isn’t without resources. When they discover who did this, and they will, your family is done for,” Chris snarled right away.

“Your family doesn’t have the power and friends to do it. We have so much more, you know—more than what you see in this room. And when we bring in the other families on this, yours won’t stand a chance,” Darragh shot back.

“Why would the other families help you? They make money off this,” Scotty replied.

“That’s not what we’ve found, and even if the Connelly and Kilkenny families are, the Bragans will back us, and they’re the next largest family after yours,” Cian reminded him.

“Why the hell would they do that? They haven’t gone soft and decided being legit is the way to go. Your days as being the biggest and most feared are long over,” Chris said.

“Well, I’ve got news for you. It’s okay to tell you since you won’t be going anywhere to tell it. The Bragan family has seen the light. They’re leaving the life of crime and joining us on this side. They want out. When you add them to our resources, even if your clan gets the other two families behind them, they can’t beat us,” Alistair said with satisfaction.

“Us! Listen to you all proud and talking like you’re an O’Sheeran. You’re nothing but trash, Aisling let in her bed. As soon as she’s tired of you, you’ll be back where you belong. Why they let her marry you in the first place, I don’t know. She should’ve been my wife!” Chris shouted.

“She would’ve never done that. Sure, she toyed with the idea when she thought Alistair didn’t love her, but I know my sister. She wouldn’t have done it. She was in a low spot thinking she’d never have her anamchara ,” Cathal taunted him.

“ Anamchara , anamchara , I’m sick of that word! There’s no such thing as soulmates,” Scotty shouted.

This made us all grumble, but I choked back a chuckle when Gianna spoke up. “Can I smack them? They’re such irritating assholes, aren’t they? How did you resist killing them this long?”

This made us sputter as we tried not to laugh. That changed to anger when Scotty spat in her direction and said, “Shut your mouth, bitch. No one is talking to you.”

Her brothers and dad took a step forward, but they were beaten to him. She rushed forward and punched Scotty in the jaw, jerking it to the side with the force of her punch. I noted that Rian was only a few steps behind her.

“Quiet little boy, the adults are speaking. When you grow a pair, and they drop, then you can talk,” she said with a smirk, then she patted him on the head like he was a little kid being appeased by an adult. The fury on Scotty’s face was priceless.

“Thank you. Where was I? Oh yeah, my sister is with the man she’s loved for half her life. Wait, Alistair, do you want to share the good news with Chris?” Cathal asked.

A smile spread across my brother-in-law’s face. “As a matter of fact, I would. Thanks for the suggestion. Brynes, you’ll be so happy to hear that my peasant blood has mixed with Aisling’s. It seems my seed is very potent, boys. She’s carrying the first of many of my children. Hearty Scottish blood to make their Irish blood even stronger. I made sure to place my final claim on her as quickly as possible.”

This had Scotty swearing and Chris shouting. I had no clue why Scotty cared so much. As for Chris, it was all an ego trip for him, and we all knew it. When they quieted down, Dar gave us the green light for what we wanted to do.

“Enough of this shit. I want answers, and you’re going to give them to us.”

Those words were the beginning of several hours of torture. We took breaks and let them soak in the pain we inflicted. They were holding back information, and I wondered if we’d actually get anything out of them. We’d pulled fingernails with pliers, beat the hell out of them, cut them, and still, they would only scream and curse us.

The whole time we did, the DeSantis family watched it impassively. I was about to ask if we needed to think of something different to do when Gianna broke in. “I hope I’m not overstepping, but what about heating things up? Maybe flames would help loosen their tongues.”

It was a good idea and one we’d used in the past, except we hadn’t brought our entire arsenal with us. “We’d love it, but we left the blow torch at home,” I told her.

Her smile was beautiful. “That’s alright. If you ask nicely, I’ll let you use mine,” she said as she reached into the pack she carried, and I’ll be damned, she brought out a small one.

“I think I’m in love,” I swore I heard Rian say. When I glanced over at him, he was next to me. He was smiling, and he winked at me.

The torch and lighter to ignite it was given to Alistair. As the smell of burned flesh wafted through the air, and their screams increased in volume, then quieted, they began to babble. I saw that one of the Hounds had his phone out, taping it. Good idea. They talked for close to a half hour before they stopped. With what they had told us, we could track down the shipments, where they had gone, and all points in between. It seemed Chris was paranoid and kept everything about his involvement saved to a jump drive he carried with him at all times. He confessed that after a particularly extensive burning. Not wanting to be caught with something we couldn’t access, we demanded the password so we could test it.

This time, Finnegan came to the rescue. He had a laptop with him. He plugged in the drive, tested Chris’s password, and it opened it. With this and the information they verbally gave us, there was no need to keep them alive.

They were an ugly mess, but Alistair was still not satisfied. However, he knew us and knew how the others were dying for a taste, so he moved back and indicated for the rest to take their shots. I did the same. When they were done, Chris and Scotty were barely alive. All that was left to do was to end their miserable lives. That was accomplished with a shot between their eyes. As I looked at the carnage around us, I wondered if it would ever end. I doubted it. Not while there was evil in the world.

From there, our involvement was done. The Hounds had the supplies ready to dispose of the bodies. Once those outside were brought in, it would be rigged to explode, and to help the fire along, an accelerant would be used. We’d ensured nothing would lead back to us. We offered to stay, but they waved us off after we helped to bring the bodies inside. The DeSantis family jumped in to help, so it was accomplished quickly.

Before we got on the road, Darragh arranged for the DeSantis family to come to the compound that evening. I knew he’d have Cody and his team drilling into them to see what they found. I hoped they were on the up and up like they seemed. I had a sneaking suspicion Rian might be interested in Gianna. Now, whether it was merely for sport or more, I didn’t know. He may not know himself, but I knew she had his attention. At the moment, all I cared about was going home to see my woman and get some sleep. I’d worry about them afterward.