Tease: A Kings of Korruption MC Novel (29 page)

Gunner’s glare fades as he listens.
 
“What are you suggestin’?”

“I say we wait.
 
We watch that fuckin’ clubhouse and wait for Deed to leave.
 
Then we follow him home.
 
After that, we get ahold of him and make that fucker pay.”

I look around and watch as the other guys nod, and it’s as if a giant weight is lifted from my chest.
 
I wasn’t afraid to carry out Gunner’s plan, but the idea of killing so many people, of having their blood on my hands and of getting caught and having to leave Laynie to spend the rest of my life in jail had been a heavy weight on my mind.

Gunner nods.
 
“Let’s put it to a vote.”
 
He looks around at each of us.
 
“All in favor of carrying out Ryk’s plan, say aye.”
 
The ayes are unanimous.

Reaper and Jase move closer to the clubhouse and watch for Deed to leave.
 
They are going to follow him home and call us with the location once he’s settled inside.

We wait another four hours before Ryker gets a text from Jase saying that they’re on the move.
 
It’s another hour after that before we get an address.
 
As one, we ride together to the address Jase had provided.

Deed lives in a beaten-down, old farm house, several miles from his nearest neighbor.
 
Reaper and Jase have already broken in and have him tied up on the floor of his living room.
 
Deed glares at us all as we walk in, silent behind the gag tied around his head.
 
His eyes narrow on Ryker.

“Yeah, it’s me, motherfucker,” Ryker says as he steps forward, his voice dripping with contempt.
 
“You’re a fuckin’ idiot, Deed.”
 
Deed can do nothing but shoot hatred from his eyes.
 
“This shit all started because
your
fuckin’ guy tried to rape my wife.
 
Nearly fuckin’ killed her.
 
Turnin’ him in was the only fuckin’ option we had, ‘cause my girl needed a fuckin’ ambulance to save her goddamned life.
 
You wanted him, and it fuckin’ killed me not to be the one to kill that prick, but I made you a fuckin’ promise.”
 
He stabs a finger in Deed’s face.
 
“We had nothin’ to do with Krueger bein’ killed.
 
You started this whole war over somethin’ we didn’t even fuckin’ do.”
 

Crouching down, he puts his face in Deed’s.
 
“You almost killed my buddy over there, and his girlfriend, over something we didn’t fuckin’ do.”
 
Ryker’s voice raises as he speaks, face reddening with his anger.
 
“You shot up our fuckin’ day at the goddamned beach over some stupid fuckin’ shit that we
didn’t fuckin’ do
.”
 
He grabs the front of Deed’s shirt and yanks him up off the floor, putting his nose only inches from Deed’s.
 
“And you killed our fuckin’ prospect over SOME FUCKIN’ SHIT THAT WE DID NOT DO!” he roars.

Deed’s face pales, but his expression never changes.
 
Ryker snorts in disgust and drops him, Deed’s head cracking off the hardwood floor as he lands.
 
Gunner steps forward and grabs Ryker’s arm.
 
“What do you wanna do?”

Ryker’s fist tighten and his jaw clenches.
 
Turning, he addresses us all.
 
“That cocksucker has fucked us all.”
 
He yanks a large buck knife from a holster on his ankle.
 
Deed’s eyes widen.
 
“We each deserve a crack at him.
 
I say we string the fucker up so we can look him right in the eye.
 
Then, one by one, we tell this useless sack of shit what he took from us, and then we take our stab.
 
When it’s all done, we set this shit farmhouse on fire and go the hell home.”

One by one, we all nod, ignoring the fear in Deed’s eyes.
 
Reaper and Jase grab Deed, and using the long end of the rope they’d used to tie him up, hang him from the wrists to the exposed beams in the ceiling.
 
My heart pounds and the blood rushes behind my ears as Reaper takes the knife from Ryker and approaches Deed once more.

“That fuckin’ kid you killed?
 
He was gonna be a fuckin’ father.
 
You robbed a baby girl of her fuckin’ Daddy, you sick fuck.”
 
Rearing his arm back, he uses all his strength to ram the knife forward into Deed’s belly.

It takes every ounce of self-control I have in me not to flinch.
 
I watch as Jase approaches, taking the bloody knife from Reaper and steps up to Deed, whose screams of pain are muffled behind his gag.
 
“That kid was one of the most optimistic people I knew.
 
He never hurt anyone in his life, and you fuckin’ took that from him.
 
From us.”
 
Clenching his teeth, Jase drives the blade into Deed’s side.

Fighting back the nausea, I watch as one by one, each of the brothers jam that blade into Deed’s flesh and tell him what he’s done.
 
When my turn comes, I step forward and take the blade from Ryker.
 
I don’t know if I can do this.
 
Deed is nearly unconscious as he hangs limply from the ceiling, blood streaming down his body.
 
But then I think back to the motorcycle ride I’d been on with Laynie, when Deed’s goons had run us off the road.
 
I think of the fear she must have felt when I didn’t answer her after that crash.
 
And then I think about the day that Mouse had been shot.
 
Of the way Laynie had screamed and pleaded for help, and how she looked with tears and blood splattered on her face.
 

Stepping up to him, I use my finger to lift his chin.
 
“You almost had me killed.
 
You almost killed my woman.
 
You did kill my brother.
 
You’re a waste of fuckin’ oxygen.”
 
Driving my knife into his belly yet again, I watch as the life slowly drains from his eyes.

Taking a step back, I turn to the others.
 
Everyone is standing there, arms at their sides, shoulders heaving with the heaviness of their breaths.
 
Gunner is the first to walk away.
 
Looking to Reaper, he calls out, “Burn this shit hole to the ground.”

As I step outside, I hear a muffled voice coming from around the side of the house.
 
“If you’re comin’, you better fuckin’ come now, ‘cause Deed ain’t gonna last much longer.
 
These bastards have sliced him all to hell.”

My blood starts to boil as I look around the corner of the house.
 
Tiny stands there with his back to me, one hand on his hip, the other holding a cell phone to his ear.
 
That betraying son-of-a-bitch.

“I don’t fuckin’ know.
 
I’ll stall them for as long as I can, but you better fuckin’ hurry.”
 

He ends the call and turns to walk back to the house, almost running into me.
 
Raising one eyebrow, I watch as his face pales.
 
“Who were you talkin’ to, Tiny?”

He stands up straighter.
 
“None of your fuckin’ business, scar face.”

My fist crashes into his face, flattening his nose on contact.
 
“I’m gonna ask one last fuckin’ time.
 
Who the fuck were you talkin’ to?”

Ryker and Gunner come around the corner as Tiny rolls around on the ground, clutching his hands over his nose.
 
“You crazy fuck!
 
You broke my fuckin’ nose!”

Turning to Gunner, I struggle to calm the fuck down and explain what I heard.
 
“That fat fuck was talkin’ to someone.
 
Sounded like he was tellin’ them where we are and what we were doin’ to Deed.”

Ryker’s eyes bulge and his fists tighten as he takes a step forward, but Gunner raises his hand.
 
“Give me the phone.”

Tiny stops his bitching, fear filling his eyes as he watches me pick up the cell phone he’d used and hand it to Gunner.
 
Gunner taps the screen a few times and puts the phone to his ear, his eyes never leaving Tiny’s prone position on the ground.
 
A muffled greeting comes from it and Gunner’s eyes close.
 
Disconnecting the call, he looks to Ryker.
 
“Seems like Tiny here’s been talkin’ to the Devil’s fuckin’ VP.”

Rage pins me in place as I stare at Tiny.
 
Ryker’s foot flies out, kicking him in the ribs.
 
“Fuck!”

“I didn’t tell them shit!” Tiny gasps between desperate gasps for air.

Gunner hands the phone to Ryker.
 
“Go through it.
 
See how often he talks to these assholes.
 
And for how long.”
 
Reaching down, he grabs Tiny by the collar and pulls him to his feet.
 
I step forward and hold his arms behind his back as Gunner searches him, pulling three different guns from his holsters.

Ryker taps the screen, searching through the call history, his face darkening with every tap.
 
His eyes flick to Tiny.
 
“Explain.”

“Fuck you,” he spits, hatred shining brightly in his eyes.

Ryker holds up the phone, his jaw tight.
 
“Says here you had a seven-minute conversation with Deed himself the night Tease and Laynie got ran off the road.”

Tiny says nothing.

Ryker continues.
 
“It also says here that you spoke to him again, for eleven minutes this time, the morning of our little picnic.
 
The same day those fuckers swooped in and killed Mouse.”

He tries to back up, but I hold his arms tightly.
 
Gunner takes the phone from Ryker and turns to face Tiny.
 
“So, these assholes are on their way here now?”

He glares at us all as he spits on the ground.

Gunner gives a curt nod and reaches behind him, pulling out his gun.
 
Tiny’s eyes widen a fraction, but he doesn’t say anything.
 
Gunner raises the gun, pointing it in Tiny’s face.
 
He looks to me, and flicks his eyes to the side, indicating that I need to step away.
 
I drop Tiny’s arms and move to stand behind Gunner.

Gunner narrows his eyes, hate etched heavily on his features.
 
“Guess we don’t have time to put it to a vote.”
 
Then he pulls the trigger.

Turning to me, he stuffs the gun back in his pocket.
 
“Put him in the house so he can burn with his buddy Deed, and let’s get the fuck home to our women.”

Sighing, I touch the screen, accepting the phone call from my mother.
 
“Hi, Mom.”

Her voice is quiet when she responds.
 
“Hi, Laynie.”
 
Surprised by the uneasiness in her voice, I wait.
 
“I’m glad you answered.”

“You OK, Mom?”
 
Worry creeps into my mind while I listen to her take a deep breath.