Hostage (Predators MC 3)(16)

Jackal took a step forward, his eyes narrowing malevolently at the men surrounded him. “Then we’re going to have a problem.”

“The only one with a problem is the Predators. Get his ass out of here,” Hennessy ordered the soldier he had punched.

The soldier didn’t hesitate. Reaching out, he took Jackal’s shoulder, shoving him in the back. Jackal spun, breaking the restraining hold before the others could interfere. Placing his arm around his neck, Jackal put him in a choke-hold, holding his head to the side.

“I’ll snap his fucking neck if they don’t back off.”

Hennessy didn’t move. “Hell, you’ll be doing me a favor.”

He might not care, but his men did. Jackal saw the discord brewing among the others in the club.

“I told you I was doing you a solid.” Jackal made sure Hennessy knew the repercussions if he didn’t listen to reason. “Brother, you’ve stepped into a pile of dog shit, and I’m trying to help you scrape it off before you get buried in it.”

“Let Apoc go. I’m not talking until you do.”

“I thought you didn’t care.”

“I don’t, but Cruz is getting ready to put a bullet in that big head of yours. If you want me to listen, I suggest you let him go.”

Jackal tossed Apoc toward the Road Kingz, and two men moved toward him, but Hennessy motioned them back.

“You remember King?”

This time, Jackal got the reaction he wanted. Fear entered Hennessy’s eyes.

“What about him?”

“Penni is under King’s protection.” She would be if Ice called him.

“Then why didn’t he call me?” Hennessy was no fool.

“I knew, if I called King to ask you to release Penni, you would be a dead man.”

Hennessy stared at him doubtfully. King didn’t bother himself in other people’s business unless there was a profit to be made. Jackal would have to give him the partial truth while protecting King’s secret.

“King is friends with Penni’s brother.”

“Does this bitch know everybody?” Finally, Hennessy’s frustration was beginning to show. Penni did have that effect on men, which was why Jackal had taken his time to try to charm Penni into his bed.

Jackal had used his contacts to find out any information on her. With the exception of her parents, she only had one brother. Her parents were an open book, working nine-to-five jobs, while her brother was a different story.

Shade was shrouded in mystery with little or no information available. Fortunately for King, who had wanted to know everything about his son-in-law, Jackal knew how to pay for the information he needed. Shade had entered the Navy at eighteen and stayed there until he had finished his tour. That was his official record. His unofficial record was buried and attainable only to those who had the clearance to see the carnage he was capable off.

Shade was an assassin who took out his targets without leaving a trace. He demanded a high fee for his expertise, but Jackal didn’t think many of the recent deaths were contracted. Those had been done for free, enemies of The Last Riders.

The part that had made the hair on the back of his neck stand up was his psychological report, performed when he had applied to the Navy SEALs. Jackal considered himself fucked up, but Shade was seriously fucked. At least he knew he had issues. Shade, on the other hand, didn’t care. Shade was an unemotional bastard with only one weakness—Lily.

The first time he had met Shade, Jackal had looked into his eyes and seen death. The man was a natural born killer. Even knowing what he had found out hadn’t prepared him for the soulless eyes staring back at him, though. They had stared at each other, recognizing each other’s capacity to deal death without remorse. Kind recognized kind. One predator recognized another.

The difference between the two men was that Jackal was willing to bet most of Shade’s kills had been sanctioned, while his own had been a matter of survival.

The corner of Jackal’s mouth curled into the only semblance of a smile his scarred flesh allowed. “She tell you about her brother?”

“Jesus, now I’m supposed to be afraid of her brother?” Hennessy kicked out at a chair, forcing the laughing, gathered men to step back. “Shut up! You pussies are afraid of King, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be afraid of someone before—”

“You ever hear about The Last Riders?”

“No.” Hennessey picked up the chair. Sitting down, he leaned forward, placing his hand on his thigh. “I don’t give a fuck who her brother is. I don’t care who The Last Riders are. Tell King I’ll give my word to give her back, but she has a job to do for me first.”