Scandal:The Complete Series(93)
“There will be three guards outside Bronson’s room,” Wolf says in a whisper. “We assume at least another three inside. No gunshots unless absolutely necessary. This has to stay nice and quiet.”
I nod, blood rushing to my head. Wolf signals to Brad who opens the trapdoor and then Wolf jumps down immediately.
“Motherfucker just took out a guard by landing on him,” Brad says, eyes wide from shock.
Tomas pushes him out of the way to jump in. It’s a good twenty feet down. My back seriously protests when I land on my feet, the impact affecting every bone and muscled fiber in my body.
There’s no time to complain. I duck out of the way of a rifle, hurling my weight at the waist of the guard who’s holding it. Nate hits the guard hard on the back of his head with a gun he’s just wrestled from a third guard who was just knocked out cold by a single right hook by that Tomas dude.
Three up. Three down.
At that very instant, the door to the room Bronson is supposed to be in is shaken violently from the inside. Wolf grins wickedly, holding up the key he used to lock them in. Wolf’s a calculated bastard who leaves nothing to chance and enjoys the mayhem he causes. He’s done his homework. I never want to be on his bad side.
By the time it has dawned on Bronson’s men that the door is locked, the four of us have positioned ourselves on both sides of the door, waiting for them to unlock it with Bronson’s key.
It’s like stealing candy from children. Wolf head-butts the first one to charge out. Wolf grabs the guy’s gun as he collapses out cold. Nate, Tomas and Brad attack the other two guards, leaving the coast clear for me.
I walk straight into the room where David Bronson is waiting surrounded by a horde of naked women. Some of them are in chains, some tied down with their legs spread, but all of them have one thing in common: they’re frightened.
He has a weak face and an infirm hand, the kind of man that has been feared because of his father his whole life but never grew balls of his own.
He raises the trembling hand holding the gun. I chuckle as I let him think for a second that he has the upper hand and then I draw my gun from its holster so fast he’s in complete denial about what has happened. “Don’t even think about it,” I hiss at him. “I’d like nothing more than to blow your head off.”
Nobody fucking threatens my girl and gets away with it.
*
Wolf pushes David Bronson inside the cabin in the woods he has leased just for the occasion. Trust me, you don’t want to be in a cabin in the woods with a man named Wolf.
He sits opposite Bronson’s son, who’s gagged and hogtied with hands and feet together now. Wolf strokes the tip of a big, hunting knife. Bronson is so terrified, I almost feel sorry for him. Not really. The bastard has hurt way too many people already—has taken too many innocent lives. Including my good friend, the beautiful, fiercely independent Madison Starr. He might not have been the one to kill her but he was the one behind her murder.
“Do you think your message has reached old man Bronson yet?” Brad asks Wolf, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot.
“It won’t be much longer. He’s probably making his little prick son here shit a few bricks ,” Wolf says, his eyes on his prisoner. “Do you think Daddy cares enough to save your ass, douche bag?” he asks, grinning.
“He has no problem killing to keep baby boy happy,” Nate says. “Letting someone live to save him shouldn’t be an issue to Bronson.”
“On the bright side, if he doesn’t agree to terms,” Tomas says, “we get to kill this one slowly and with the appropriate brutality.”
Tomas gets it. A little scary but on point. The gleam in his eye is a clear indication he is familiar with the dark side of humanity. Things can always take an unexpected turn when you deal with maniacs.
The phone call comes a few hours and a couple games of poker later.
Bronson, after making his always disappointing son stew a while, has agreed to negotiate for his safe release. I would imagine David is nearly as afraid to face his father’s scorn as he was being taken hostage.
By the look on Wolf’s face, I can tell he’s a little disappointed.
“It would have been fun cutting the little bastard up piece-by-piece,” he says. “Hear him squeal like the coward he is.”
I can’t believe I’m about to do this but I pat Wolf on the back. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, brother. Now I see what Madison saw in you. If you ever need anything, I’ll be there.”
Wolf grins. “Don’t get soft on me, Cole. I’d like to think there are other men out there, instead of pussy-ass weaklings who hurt women without their consent.”