Property Of Drex #2 (Death Chasers MC #2) (12 page)

Chapter 19

EVE

The music shuts off, at least I think it does. Either that or someone has finally blessed me with the gift of deafness.

My ears are ringing, and my head is too heavy to lift. My mouth is so dry that it would just absorb anything I tried to drink before it even made it to my throat. I stopped sweating at some point, and now salt has gathered on my body as though there’s nothing left to secrete.

My eyes flutter shut, feeling the desperate need for sleep, but the music cuts back on, blasting through the basement and jarring me awake. When the music doesn’t work, they have sirens that wail and something that sounds like cymbals crashing again and again. It’s miserable, and I should be used to it by now. I should stop giving him the satisfaction of watching my eyes close, only to be brutally jerked open again by the surprise that shouldn’t be a surprise.

But that’s not how the body works. The mind has pride. The body just has needs.

The rainbows that I see in the basement probably aren’t real. In fact, I’m almost positive that this hot basement does not have rainbows or swirling cyclones of color either. When did the lights come on? I don’t remember that. I thought they were off.

It’s hard to keep up with the lights going on and off.

I’d kill for a gallon of water and a pizza.
Mmmm
. Pizza. Do they have pizza near here? I think I smell pizza.

When the music shuts off again, I try to slow my random thoughts, but it’s getting harder and harder to maintain control of my mind. This shit is a little more intense than I thought it would be. I’m not even sure how many hours I’ve been awake, but I had to have slept at least a little. At some point, they put an IV needle in my hand. Why? The hell if I know.

I still can’t lift my head. All I can see is what my eyes and knees allow me to. Yeah. I can see my knees really well.

“I’ll give you an hour of sleep, Eve. Just for an answer. Just one answer. Tell me how Drex is getting the vehicles out of the warehouse. Or is he keeping them somewhere else? All I need is one or two to inspect. I can figure it out from there. It’d save me the trouble of having to split the profits with someone who will have to get me the information
after
the feds close in on them. They will, Eve. It’s just a matter of time. Tell me where he keeps them.”

Either he’s repeating himself over and over, or I’m just hearing things on a loop. I try to lift my head, but I can’t. My mouth hurts, but the gag is gone. When did he take my gag off again? I know he put it back on after the last time he tried to ask me questions.

Ugh. He touched me? I didn’t feel him touch me, but he had to touch me to take my gag off.

“I can’t understand what you’re saying,” he tells me as my hair moves.

I’m speaking? I don’t know what I’m saying. There’s a strange tickling in my throat. Maybe I am speaking.

“Eve, you’re not making sense. What are you mumbling?”

Summoning up all the strength I have, I finally make a coherent word. Or two. “Fuck. You.”

I cough while laughing hysterically, and the laughter lashes out and burns my throat, ripping across the dryness like jagged nails. But it’s worth the pain and endless string of coughing that comes with it.

“She’s going crazy. This is backfiring. You deprive someone from sleep for four days and they can’t even make sense.”

I try to look up to see who that voice belongs to. It’s not Baldy. Not unless Baldy got a new voice. That makes me laugh again. I wish I didn’t have to cough when I laughed.

“Damn it,” Ben hisses, jerking back. “She’s bleeding. Why the fuck is she bleeding?”

“You’re so stupid,” I giggle, coughing harder as something coppery fills up in my mouth. It feels good, so good to have something wet in my mouth.

“Shit. Get her some water. It’s too hot down here. It’s drying her out quicker and she’s fucking delirious, you dumbass. This entire thing is pointless. Just split it with him the way we planned. Stick to the fucking plan. This is too risky!”

“If I don’t have to split it with him, then I don’t want to. He’ll hold it over our heads for who knows how long. He still hasn’t put Herrin and Drex away, which was his end of the bargain.”

“He’s not the only one working with them,” the guy points out. “He has to do this with finesse, jackass. He’s the reason the feds are even sniffing around like bloodhounds on the trail. He’s the reason we even thought to lean on Cecil. Stop trying to cut him out. Call the guys who are loyal to you and prepare them for the hell you’re going to have raining down on them. Gator went missing the other day. That means Drex is already going after your crew. I told you starting a war between them was fucking stupid! The plan! We had a fucking brilliant plan!”

“Only part of them are my fucking crew. The others are still loyal to Dad. And if he’s going after them, then it’s already working, you stupid fuck. This is better than
his
plan. It was never my plan to do this all peacefully and quietly.”

“This is stupid to even be going on about. You need to get out of here before your Dad starts wondering where you are. You need to be planting the seed they took Gator. You need to fucking do something other than play house with her. Now go do the other shit. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“You better not—”

“Fuck you. Go.”

I try to follow the cryptic conversation, but I’m more focused on counting the dots that bloom across my vision as my eyes flutter shut once again. The arguing is less intrusive than the music… That immediately starts blaring again.

My eyes jerk awake, but my head stays down. I wish it wasn’t so heavy. Heavy. Everything is so, so heavy.

Chapter 20

DREX

“Give me something, Sarah. Please fucking give me something. Anything,” I beg, gripping my head while sitting in front of another house we’ve torn apart while searching for my girl.

We’ve been on the road since yesterday, driving all over the lower half of Texas to search the addresses of Larry’s friends and family. Axle has just met back up with me, and Rush isn’t far away. Snake is still a few hours away. Dash too. It’s been nothing but dead ends and bullshit.

“Okay,” she says on the phone. “It’s a long shot. Larry worked for another guy about seven years ago. He lives about twenty minutes down the road from where you are now. Can’t hurt to look into it. I can’t find any affiliation to the Hell Breathers though.”

I hang up, and she sends the text almost immediately.

“What’s up?” Axle asks me. We’ve both lost the rest of our teams. Well, Axle sent them on to rest. I don’t give a fuck if they’re tired.

“Sarah sent me the address of a guy Larry used to work for. It’s basically a last ditch effort.”

I try not to crush my phone. Four days. There’s no telling what has happened to her, and I can’t do a motherfucking thing about it.

“Drake still not awake?” I ask as I get back on my bike.

“He woke up today, but he’s not alert enough to answer any questions. They’re keeping him sedated for the pain. He did have major surgery to keep him from bleeding to death, in case you’ve forgotten. And he has numerous broken bones. His side absorbed the brunt of the impact.”

I start to crank my bike, but Drake’s conversation comes back to me.

“After my place got shot up, Drake said the Hell Breathers were asking questions about us. You and Rush worked Gator over, yet he swears they don’t give a fuck about our business. Even said Benny would fucking kill us when he found out we had him and making up bullshit.”

“Yeah. And?”

“Drake wouldn’t have lied,” I say more to myself than him. “What if the Hell Breathers are splitting into factions? What if a mutiny is being plotted? It’d explain why Larry has a place in this. If they’re trying to start a war to take Benny out—”

“Then they’d be able to step in and take over once their own club lost its president and his loyalists. But who would be leading a mutiny?”

A sick feeling assaults me quickly, and I want to slam my head against a wall for being so fucking stupid. Juggling my phone out, I dial Sarah immediately.

“Anything?” she asks.

Rush drives up, but I cover my free ear so I can hear her over the loud ride.

“Look into Ben Highland. Tell me if he owns a house off books. Can you do that?”

“If you give me a few minutes, I can probably come up with something. I’m not a hacker, Drex. I’m just good with computers.”

“Send me anything you find. We’ll go track down this last lead.”

As soon as I hang up, Axle pounces. “Ben? The fucking weasel you punched out that didn’t even take a swing at you?”

“He told Eve we killed her father. He got rough with her in that diner. And I passed it all off as petty jealousy. I didn’t even think of the fact it might have been him stirring shit up.”

The bike comes to life between my legs, but before I can pull out, I feel my phone vibrating against my side. I shut my bike off when I see it’s Sarah.

“We’re about—”

“I called in a favor from a friend who is actually a hacker,” she interrupts. “He already hacked Ben’s bank accounts, but nothing was found. So he hacked the Hell Breathers’ main account, and a reasonable sum of money was taken out and transferred to purchase a house not too far from where Drake lives. It was only bought a few weeks ago. It’s under the name Harold Whitman, who happens to be a retired pilot living in Florida. Doubtful it’s actually good ol’ Harold there.”

“Sounds like your friend is faster and much better than our own guy.”

“He is. No, I’m not telling you who he is. I’m sending you the address now.”

I look over at Axle as I put my phone away. “Go check out that other house,” I tell him. “Rush, come with me. Ben may be using one of his Dad’s houses. The Hell Breathers made a new purchase not long ago.”

“Which means it probably doesn’t have all of Benny’s equipment set up yet,” Rush points out.

Thinking of the equipment Benny uses to torture guys who owe his employers money… That never even crossed my mind. But Rush is right. Benny isn’t prompt. If it’s a fairly new purchase, it’s doubtful he has the shit set up.

“Then you need both of us,” Axle says.

“Drive like hell and then catch up with us,” I tell him. “I’m about to cut a two hour drive into less than an hour.”

The roar of another bike has me looking over my shoulder to see Axle didn’t follow orders. I’m not stopping to deal with him. I just hope this is the right lead, or I’m going to fucking lose it.

Chapter 21

EVE

Twinkle twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the… the…
Hmm. I can’t remember the rest of the words.

Maybe it’s because the loud music is interrupting my focus. At least the siren isn’t wailing.

B I N G O and Bingo was his name, oh. There was a—

Something crashing outside can barely be heard. Was it real? Glass breaking. That sounds like glass breaking.

Gunshots. Definitely gunshots. The door has to be open if I can hear gunshots and glass breaking. I can’t hear the outside or the upstairs unless the door is open. It’s always closed. Is it open? The music is really loud. Maybe it’s the music with gunshots and glass breaking. How else could I hear it?

I whimper but can’t cry, because I don’t have anything left to form tears with. I feel like I’m going insane.

More gunshots and a loud scream, but is it real?

The light comes on. When was it off? Who turned it off?

Something drops and rolls around on the ground, but I can’t lift my head enough to see what it is other than a blur of motion from my peripheral. Is that a ball?
Fetch, Fido!
Fido…
B I N G O and Bingo was his—

“Shut that fucking music off!” someone yells. “Drex! She’s here! She’s fucking here!”

Now I’m delusional. At least in my delusions Drex will rip their damn spines out and feed them their toes. The thought makes me giggle.

Toe cuisine. Yum.
Oh! It could be phalange cuisine! That sounds classier. But is that fingers or toes or both? Both, I think. Back to toe cuisine. Wouldn’t want confusion about if you were eating fingers or toes.

The music shuts off, and a groan resonates. It must be a loud groan, because they left me too close to the speakers this time, and my ears aren’t working properly.

“The fuck did you do to her?!” Drex roars. Wow. It really does sound like him. My mind has gotten a lot better at these little enactments. Just the flutter of hope in my stomach lets me know this is the best hallucination ever.

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t want this! I fucking—”

The sound of crunching is beautiful. It means Drex is beating the hell out of someone. It means he’s my hero. Even if it is just one more hallucination.

Chapter 22

DREX
 

Mikey hits the ground hard, and I kick him in the stomach.

“Drex, knife!” Axle calls. “I need a knife now!”

I step into the stairwell that leads to the basement, but my stomach lurches when I see her… Tied to a chair… Her legs are pushed apart, but she’s still in jeans.

Her ankles are tied to each chair leg, and the blood pooling around the restraints makes me sicker. She’s struggled to get away.

Her head is hanging low, and I’m too scared she’s not breathing to get closer.

“Axle.” It’s a choked, almost silent plea.

“She’s alive, man. I need your knife though.”

Fumbling around, I grab my knife and toss it to him, then I turn around to face Mikey just as Rush walks in with blood all over his shirt. “Met Larry at the backdoor,” he tells me, smirking darkly. Then his eyes fall to Mikey. “At least we have one to question. Looks like Ben is gone.”

I’ll find him, and I’ll fucking rip his head off when I do.

But right now…

I run down the stairs just as Axle gets Eve’s hands cut free, and she falls forward. Catching her, I swallow down the bile, seeing dried blood on her mouth, and feeling her cold body despite the hot basement.

“Get her undone,” I whisper hoarsely as her head rests on my chest.

“Trying,” he growls, cutting through the bindings on her legs. “This shit has metal in the middle of the twine. It’s cut into her, and I’m trying to be careful not to hurt her.”

She doesn’t act like she’s in any pain, and that worries the fuck out of me. There’s something sticking out of her hand. It takes me a second to realize it’s a needle, but I’m too distracted to give it much thought.

“Baby, say something,” I whisper.

“Pretty,” she hoarsely says, then laughs raggedly and coughs like a long-time smoker.

“Damn it, Axle!”

“Got it,” he says immediately.

I move my arms carefully around her legs, and she folds against me lifelessly. Axle adjusts her head against my shoulder as I carry her bridal style up the stairs, quickly moving toward—
Fuck!

“We need a car,” I growl.

“We need a fucking ambulance,” he argues, pulling out his phone.

“We can’t call an ambulance here,” Rush tells them. “At least not until I clean up the mess I made with Larry. Keys are in that Bronco out front. Take it. I’ll call a crew to clean this up.” His eyes cut to Mikey who is bleeding on the floor, but not moving. “And I’ll take him back with us.”

Mikey’s eyes go wide. “I didn’t have anything to do with—” His words end on a cry when Rush slams his fist into his face.

I hurry out the door, cradling Eve to me. She’s out cold, but she’s breathing, even if it is weak, shallow breaths. Axle opens the back door to the Bronco for me, and I climb in, keeping Eve against me and in my lap.

He’s in the front seat and rocketing out in reverse in the next breath. Then he drives like hell to the hospital while making some calls.

“Sledge, it’s me. We’ve got her, but we need a hospital… Yeah, definitely need to be discreet. Call everyone on our payroll and have them prepared to get her without making a scene.”

He continues talking, but I focus on Eve, shifting her so I can see her face. Her mouth is bruised pretty badly, as though they had something tied around it at one point. Her eyes are sunken in, her lips are pale and cracked, and the dried blood on her chin has me fighting off all my instincts to go put a few bullets in Mikey and Ben.

Later. There will be time for revenge later. Right now I need to focus on her.

I tune out most of the ride, spending my time checking her breathing and pulse. When we pull up to the hospital, two men rush out with a gurney, and they fight me to get her on it.

“Damn it, Drex! Let her go,” Axle barks.

It takes all my strength to place her on that thing, but I’m following right behind them as they wheel her in past several pairs of curious eyes. They have her covered with a sheet up to her nose, covering most of her face from view, and everything goes by in a blur as they take her through a set of double doors.

Security gets in front of me, blocking my path, and Axle jerks me back before I can cause a scene.

“Last thing we need to do is draw attention to ourselves. Let’s go get on some street clothes, clean the blood off us and come back.”

Eyes are all over us, but I shrug him off and glare at him. “You go do what-the-fuck-ever. I’m not going anywhere.”

I turn and glare at the security guards. “You’re going to let me by, or we’re going to have one hell of a problem.”

They don’t stop me as I push through the doors and run through the halls, searching for where they took Eve. The second I find her, my heart sinks to my toes. She looks even worse under the harsh lights, and her eyes are still closed even as they probe and inspect her.

Ben Highland is a fucking dead man.