"I already told you. I didn't have anything to do with it."
"Alright then. Have it your way." Gus looked over to me and said, "Take them back to the clubhouse."
"Wait! What?" Milton shrieked. "You said you'd let me go."
I shook my head. "I said you'd walk out of here alive, and you are."
"That's bullshit, man. I didn't have anything to do with this shit!"
"We'll see about that," Gus grumbled. "Get them out of here."
As Murphy and I started to lead them out of the office, Riggs asked Gus, "What do you want us to do about cleaning up this mess?"
"You and Blaze gather up anything we might need out of here … computers, files, whatever-and load it in the truck." He looked over to T-Bone and instructed, "You and Cyrus help the prospects clean the area. Make sure you clear our tracks, then light a match to the place."
"You got it."
Murphy and I zip-tied Milton and Jasper's hands behind their backs, then took them out to the SUV. They both reminded me of an old married couple when Milton glared at Jasper and whined, "I'll never forgive you for this."
With a roll of his eyes, Jasper mumbled, "You weren't complaining when I bought you that fucking BMW last week."
"That's because I didn't know it was blood money that bought it."
"Blood money, huh?" I growled as I grabbed Milton and shoved him in the back of the SUV. Glaring at him with all the sarcasm I could muster, I added, "Gotta wonder how you knew about that." And then I slammed the door.
After that, Milton didn't say another word. Once we had them both secured in the vehicle, we drove straight to the clubhouse and led them both inside. While Murphy put Milton in a room, I took Jasper on a little tour of the building, starting with Boon's holding room. When I eased the door open and the foul odor of the room started billowing out, Jasper winced with repulsion. It was clear from his expression that he wasn't prepared to see his employee bound to a wall with blood and bruises covering his entire body. In his weakened state, Boon was barely able to lift his head, but when he noticed Jasper standing there, utter defeat flashed through his swollen eyes. "Fuck, boss. I was hoping you were gonna find a way to get me outta here."
"I might've been able to help you if you hadn't run your goddamn mouth, dumbass. I should've known I couldn't trust you."
"You don't understand. I took all I could take, boss. I really did," Boon complained.
Remembering how hard he'd fought to keep his boss's secret, I turned to Boon and asked, "You reckon he could do any better?"
"Got no idea."
Jasper's entire body stiffened when I replied, "Well, don't worry. I'm about to find out."
Without giving either of them a chance to respond, I closed the door. Sensing that things were about to take a turn for the worse, Jasper started to resist, but he didn't get very far as I tugged him down to the next room. I opened the door, revealing Hoss bound to his chair exactly the way I'd left him. Jasper's eyes widened with horror as he gasped, "What the fuck did you do to him?"
Ignoring Jasper's comment, Hoss turned his attention to me as he pleaded, "See. I told you how to find him. I done what you asked. Now, will you let me out of this fucking chair? It's killing me, man. I can't take it any longer."
"What the hell is this place?" Jasper asked.
I closed the door and shoved Jasper further down the hall. All of the holding rooms were taken which left only one empty room in the hall. While I'd never used it during an interrogation, I decided it was the perfect place for Jasper. I opened the door and pushed him inside my storage room. As soon as he caught sight of all my tools and devices, he started to cry and thrash about from side to side as he shouted, "Oh, God! What the fuck are you going to do to me?"
The man had lost all self-control, and I had no problem bringing him back to reality. I knocked him out with a swift uppercut to the jaw, causing him to flail backwards onto the floor and fall like a toppled tree. While he was out, I removed his zip ties and replaced them with metal cuffs, then lifted him off the ground. Once I'd secured his cuffs to a hook in the ceiling, I released him, leaving him swinging from his restraints. After several seconds, he finally started to come around. When his eyes started to flutter open, I said, "Welcome back."
His voice was shaking as he muttered, "Man, you gotta listen to me. This is all just a big misunderstanding. You've got the wrong guy."
"Um-hmm."
"No! Seriously. You've gotta listen to me! I didn't do anything. I've been careful. I've followed the rules. I've kept my distance and stayed out of your territory. I've done right by Satan's Fury. I swear it."
As I reached for a pair of gardening sheers, I told him, "I should warn you, Jasper. I don't have much patience for liars."
"But I ain't-"Jasper stopped midsentence as soon as I took a step towards him. His face contorted into a painful grimace when I placed the sheers at the tip of his finger, snipping off the first inch or so. It was a subtle but extremely painful technique that I'd use to subdue my target, and as soon as the pain started to register in his brain, he bellowed, "Oh, fuck me! You cut off my fucking finger!"
Ignoring him, I placed the sheers further down on his finger, applying pressure as I growled, "I need you to listen to me, Jasper."
"Please!"
"Jasper, are you listening to me?" I pushed as I pressed down a little firmer, causing his finger to bleed even more.
"Yes! I'm listening!"
"Good." Without releasing the pressure on the sheers, I continued, "Now that I have your attention … I want you to think back to Boon and Hoss. I want you to think about the hell they've been through. And I gotta tell ya-they both went through a lot before they finally started talking, but the fact is … they answered my questions. Hell, they told me exactly what I needed to know and more. And so will you. This pain you're feeling right now is nothing. It's just a drop in the hat compared to what you've got coming if you don't give me every bit of Intel on this guy."
"You don't understand … He'll kill me if I breathe a word about him."
"Oh, hell. You really are thick in the head," I scoffed. "Don't you get it? You're dead either way, asshole. There's no walking away from this, but you tell me what I want to know and I'll take it easy on ya … A quick shot to the head and it's done." My voice grew cold and unsympathetic as I continued, "But you hold out on me, and I'll butcher you-inch by tiny inch-until you finally start talking. And Jasper … you will talk. Don't think for one second that you won't."
A look of defeat crossed his face as he replied, "I'll tell you everything, but knowing who he is won't change anything. This guy is like nothing I've ever seen before. He's got an entire army at his fingertips and the type of money most people only dream about. You don't have the kind of manpower you're gonna need to go up against him. Before it's all said and done, he'll kill every last one of ya, and you'll never see him coming. You might as well face it, tough guy, you and your fucking club are done, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."
Alex
Just being in the same room with Marcus made me feel like I'd stepped back in time, and all those old feelings of hurt, anger, and resentment came rushing back. I was so overcome by those emotions, I couldn't move. I simply stood there-staring at the ghost from my past as I tried to come to terms with the fact that he was actually standing right in front of me. There was a time when I trusted Marcus, and I truly believed he cared about me. He made me feel loved in a way that my father never could, but those days were long gone. For so many years I was lied to, manipulated, and deceived until I finally uncovered the truth about my life and all the people in it. I was devastated by my discovery, but sadly, there was no one for me to turn to-no one I could trust, especially Marcus.
I could hear the emotion in his voice as he said, "It's hard to believe that my Alejandra is all grown up."
My entire body tensed at the sound of my given name. I hadn't heard it in almost eight years, and I didn't want to hear it then, especially from him. He had a way of saying it that made me feel special, but I'd learned that I wasn't special at all-to him or my father. "You didn't answer my question, Marcus. What are you doing here?"
Acting as if it was no big deal that he was here, he stepped towards me and said, "Memphis, Tennessee. An interesting choice. I always thought you would've chosen a place like New York City or-"
"New York is overrated. It just so happens that I like it here."
"I can see that. It clearly suits you." He took a quick glance around as he said, "You were lucky that you landed here when you left home. You got a job. A place to stay. A make-believe grandmother. Yeah … I'd say Hallie was a great help to you."