Chapter Five
Tank tightened his hold on the steering wheel and clenched his teeth. The closer he got to Thorne the more anxious he became, the harder his body and muscles became, and the more his memories he’d buried came rushing forward. A look in the rearview mirror showed an SUV following closely behind. A few of the guys from the club were following him to Thorne, and would be stationed there for a few days to gather more information they needed to make sure to bring down Spike and his crew. The truth was Tank wanted to go after the fucker now, to just walk into his shitty little club and slit his throat.
But he’d be patient, especially if it meant things wouldn’t get fucked up because he was blinded by his rage.
“Shit,” he said to himself and ran a hand over his hair. He was driving alone, and thank fuck for that, because he wasn’t in the mood to make the several hours long drive having to bullshit with someone, even if it was a Patch or prospect from the club.
He’d set Lila and Faye up at the club, making sure she knew she had to stay within the MC until this was done. It was the only way that he’d make sure they were safe, and he couldn’t focus if they were at his place, unprotected and vulnerable. He didn’t know the inner workings of Spike and his fucked up reasoning behind what he did. Far as he could tell from the little information he’d gathered, and what Lila had told him, the asshole was certifiably a psycho, a sociopath, and needed to be taken out.
But going to Thorne wasn’t about going after Spike, not yet at least. Tank was going there to get Bunny, even if she didn’t know it. He’d tried calling her with the number Lila gave him, but her number wasn’t working, so he was going on a limb and just heading to Thorne to her old place, even if the chances of her being there were slim to none. The few times Lila had spoken with Bunny hadn’t been at a house, but in public, so not even his sister knew where she lived.
She couldn’t be living in that shithole again.
Hell, what did he know? If that’s all she had, and now that her father was gone, that motherfucker who’d given Bunny the problems she dealt with her whole life, she might feel safe there. She had spent time with her mother in that house before she’d passed.
It’s a place to start.
He drove for another hour before he saw the buildings of Thorne come into view. Bunny’s childhood hellhole of a home was on the outskirts of town, away from the city, and close to where Tank and Lila had grown up. Their childhood hadn’t been like Bunny’s. They hadn’t been hurt, hadn’t been touched by some sick motherfucker. Their parents might have ignored and neglected them, and they’d had to rely on themselves, but that was where it had ended.
He looked down at his forearm, could still see the scar that ran the length of it, that not even his tattoos could cover, and memories of that night he’d gone to “talk” to Bunny’s father, to tell him to leave her alone, came rushing back.
“Boy, you’re about as big as my dick,” Bunny’s father said, his voice slurred from the liquor he’d been drinking all day, the pit stains under his once white shirt looking brown and disgusting.
“You touch Bunny again and I’ll kill you.”
Bunny’s father laughed. “Boy, get the hell out of my house.”
“Come on, Brendan. I don’t think this was a good idea,” Bunny said, tugging at him, trying to get him to leave.
Brendan might be young, and not as big as her father, but he was done with Bunny being scared, of her being hurt. He was going to kick this guy’s ass and make him see he couldn’t hurt her anymore.
“Come here, sweetheart,” Bunny’s father said, grinning and flashing his stained teeth. “Sit on your old man’s lap and tell me how your day went.”
Brendan felt his rage rise, felt every part of him tense, become aware that he had to do this, had to be stronger. Bunny’s father might be bigger, but he was a weak motherfucker for hurting his daughter. He shrugged off Bunny’s hold, and when her father was leaning forward, grabbing a beer from inside the cooler he had by the couch, Brendan acted. He grabbed an empty bottle, and brought it down on Bunny’s father’s head, seeing the pieces of glass shatter and scatter to the ground.
Bunny gasped behind him, and he looked to make sure she was okay. She was so small, so innocent and vulnerable. With her hand on her mouth and her eyes wide, she looked scared, and he hated that he’d been the one to put that expression on her face. Brendan kept his body in front of Bunny’s, and faced her father again. He was standing now, blood making a trail down his temple.