Reading Online Novel

Outlaw's Promise(42)



He glanced down.

I followed his gaze and saw I was holding Caorthannach up and ready to fire, the barrels pointed right at Hay. Shocked, I slowly lowered the shotgun and nodded. Mac slapped me on the shoulder and I stepped back to let him interrogate Hay. Jesus, I was about to— What’s wrong with me? I never normally lost control like that.

“Why did you come to Haywood Falls?” demanded Mac. “Why did you come after the girl?”

Hay was sweating and pale, his eyes flicking between Mac and me. “It’s not us,” he said.

Mac just glared at him.

“It’s not! We don’t give a shit, she’s just one girl, nothing special—”

The rage bloomed inside me again, a silent explosion. I gripped Caorthannach’s stock, fighting to control myself.

“Look,” said Hay desperately, “We can work something out. Give her back and I’ll cut you in.”#p#分页标题#e#

I could feel the chains of my self control snapping tight and heating, glowing cherry-red.

“You want a girl for your clubhouse, I’ll get you one,” said Hay. “I’ll get you two. Just give me the redhead.”

And suddenly, I lost it. I marched forward, shouldered Mac out of the way and swung my shotgun up until the barrels were pressed against Hay’s forehead. “I should have done this in the bar, you sick son of a bitch,” I told him. My fingers tightened on both of the gun’s triggers at once—

The cold barrel of a pistol pressed against my forehead. I glanced left to see Mac standing there. “Back down,” he told me. His eyes were flickering between fury and sadness.

“This bastard deserves to die!” I snapped.

Mac’s gun didn’t move. “Yes he does. But we need to talk to him.”

I looked back at the sweating, terrified Hay. “Fuck that.”

“I am your president,” said Mac. His voice was low but it filled every square inch of the sawmill. “And I am telling you to put your gun down.”

A breath. I stared into Hay’s eyes and thought of how terrified Annabelle had been. Another breath. I thought of how she’d looked at me, when I told her what I did. How she’d look at me when I came home, if I told her I’d killed Hay. A third breath—

I lowered the shotgun. Mac’s gun eased away from my head. I stepped to the side, eyes on the floor. If I looked at Hay again, I knew I wouldn’t be able to control myself.

Mac got right in Hay’s face. “Talk fast,” he said. “You said it wasn’t you who came after Annabelle. What the fuck did you mean?”

Hay’s voice shook as he spoke. “We would have let it go! But he wants her bad. Keeps going on about her red hair.”

“Who?” snapped Mac.

“Volos! That psycho who bought her!”

Mac and I exchanged stunned looks.

“So tell him to go fuck himself,” said Mac.

Hay shook his head. “You don’t know this guy. He’s a first grade fucking nut job. You get in his way and they never find your body. Everyone’s scared shitless of him. And he’s got money, serious money. He picks out the best girls and sells them to some guy in Europe. He’s connected. Said he’d bring the law down on the club if we didn’t get the girl back—maybe even the feds.”

And suddenly, it all made sense. The Blood Spiders were just hired thugs. It was Volos who’d been pushing them. And if I’d gone ahead and killed Hay, we would never have known. The shock made some of the anger drain away and what I’d done started to sink in: not just nearly killing Hay but defying my president. I looked at Mac just as he started to lay it out for Hay. I might do intimidating better than anyone, but I’m a blunt object. When it comes to fear through razor-sharp words, there’s no one better than Mac.

“The auctions stop now,” said Mac. “We already burned your bar. You run another auction, we’ll burn everything you have. We know about this place and the coke dealing. You want your shipments to start going missing?” He leaned closer. “We got more men than you. We got more guns than you. We will dedicate our lives to fucking you up. And when every last shred of your club is gone? I will lock you in a room with Irish and let him take you apart.”

Hay blanched. Swallowed. He looked around for support, but his VP was being held at gunpoint and all his guards were out for the count. He finally wilted under Mac’s glare. “Okay!” he said at last. “The coke’s worth more to us than the auctions. But what about Volos?”#p#分页标题#e#

“You tell him it’s over. Annabelle stays with us. And if he has a problem with it, he can come see me,” Mac told him.