The Country Club (10 page)

Chapter 24

     Sophie kept her foot on the gas as the police cars and Brett grew smaller in the rearview mirror. Crystal climbed into the passenger seat next to her.

     “Doesn’t your head hurt?” Sophie asked.

     “It’s mostly numb and throbbing by now. Does it look bad?”

     “Umm, maybe you should look for yourself.”

     “Yeah, I don’t think so. We need to find a hospital
,” Crystal said.

     “What about Brett?”

     “What about him? He told us to go.”

     “I know. He came after you and he didn’t have to
,” Sophie said. “You know those cops aren’t going to just take him to jail.”

     “I don’t know, and I don’t really care. You didn’t go through the shit I went through. You said it yourself, fucking look at me. You know who killed Joel?”

     Sophie just looked at her with a blank expression.

     “I fucking killed him! That rich guy was using us as his little pawns. He told Joel to rape me. Told him that I been leading him on his whole life and he deserved my pussy. So Joel agrees with him and climbs on top of me and fucks me. Even came inside me, that nasty fucker.”

     “Oh Crystal,” Sophie interrupted.

     “Oh it didn’t end there. Then the guy tells him to start cutting on me. Told him to cut me up into his own work of art or some shit. So Joel cuts all over my body, then fucking scalps me
,” she said pointing at her head. “So as soon as Brett came in, he shot the rich guy and some other dude and cut me loose. As soon as he did, I jumped on Joel, took his knife away and stabbed the fuck out of him.”

     “Jesus Crystal. My God!”

     “What?”

     “Well nothing. That is horrible you went through all that. Maybe Joel was just playing along since that guy was forcing him.”

     “I thought that too at first, but it was obvious he started believing that guy’s bullshit and was enjoying himself.”

     “What the fuck?” Sophie said.

     “What?”

    “Look a
t that,” Sophie pointed ahead.

     There was a Blackhawk helicopter hovering over the field several yards ahead. It
landed and several men with guns and full tactical gear ran off the helicopter, running toward them.

     “Jesus, those are Navy SEALs!” Crystal said. “What the fuck?”

     Gun shots began to pepper the side of the SUV as the Blackhawk flew off. Sophie stopped the car and they both climbed out of the SUV on the passenger side. There was a thick woods on the right side of the road. They ran into the woods, as rocks and sticks cut into Sophie’s bare feet.

     “Shit!” Sophie said. “We are fucked. We are so fucked.”

     “Quiet! Let’s keep moving.”

     “Those are SEALs. We can’t out run them! They probably have us surrounded already.”

     “Let’s just move. We’re not dead yet,” Crystal said.

     They moved through the trees to their right, backtracking from where they had come from.
Sophie’s feet screamed in pain with each step. Somehow Crystal didn’t seem bothered, though her head was probably still in more pain than her feet. They reached a clearing and Sophie stopped to catch her breath. She looked up to Crystal to speak, but Crystal put a finger over her mouth as she looked around. A gunshot exploded on the tree just inches from Crystal’s head. She ducked to the right and both girls took off running again as several more shots were fired.

     They turned to the left going deeper into the woods. The sun was beginning
to set as they weaved through the trees and brush. A gunshot went off above them, this one was louder than the silenced shots the SEALs were firing. Five or six more shots sounded and then there was silence. The girls looked around but didn’t see anyone, and then they looked up. There was a man in a tree stand holding a rifle looking down at them.

     “I got them all I think
,” he said as he climbed down.

     Sophie took a few steps back. The man was heavy set with short, cropped hair and about a week’s growth of beard.

     “It’s ok. I’m not gonna hurt ya none. I’m a veteran myself. But no surprise to me to see them sending SEALs after you all,” he said.

     “Who are you?” Crystal asked.

     “Name’s Justice. Justice Montgomery.”

     “Hi Justice, I’m Sophie, this is Crystal.”

     “Good to meet ya ladies. Now let’s get out of here. Come with me.”

     They walked through the woods for another twenty minutes until they reached a cabin. Justice took them inside where they finally sat down.

     “You ladies thirsty?” he asked.

     They both nodded vigorously as he
walked over to a pump and filled a couple of tin cups with water. The girls chugged the water down, spilling some on themselves in the process.

     “So who are you exactly?” Sophie asked.

     “I told you. I’m Justice.”

     “I know. I mean, why are you out here?”

     “Well, I reckon you girls’ came from that fucked up club down the road.”

     “You know about that place?”

     “Hell yeah. I heard the explosion earlier. Was that The Club blowing up or something?”

     “Yeah, we’re like reporters or bloggers or whatever.
We were trying to expose that place and let the world know who they are and what they do. They caught us and, well you can see what they did to us,” Sophie said as Justice looked over at Crystal. The top of her head was started to look dry and scabbed over.

     “Yeah, I didn’t figure she got that from brushing her hair. But yeah. I been here for several years. The
Club people don’t know I’m here and I like to keep it that way. I was in the Marines and fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. I heard the Blackhawk earlier so I figured something was going on. I got this AR-15 rifle. A Marine with a rifle shooting from an elevated position will always win over any group of Navy SEALs. They thought they were just chasing a couple a girls I reckon.”

    
“So how you know about the Club?”

     “That’s how I ended up here. They grabbed me and my girlfriend not long after I got back from Iraq. We were in San Diego. It was a Saturday night, we’d both been drinkin
’. Some guys came up in a van and tasered us both and threw us into the van. When I woke up, she was already gone. I was in some cage, stripped nekkid.”

     “When was this?”
     “Oh, maybe 2007 or so. So yeah, they come and pull me out the cage, one of them big muscle guards. Don’t know why they only sent one. I beat his ass good, grabbed his gun and clothes and snuck out. We were about the same size. By the time they figured out what happened, I was already gone.”

     “They told us no one ever escaped there
,” Crystal said.

     “Well yeah, they would say that. It’s happened a few times. I stayed here
‘cause I knew they’d send people for me. They got eyes everywhere except right under their own noses. I reckon they gave up looking for me at some point, but I stay off the grid.”

     “You ever go back there?” Sophie asked.

     “No ma’am. I keep to myself here, don’t go near that hell hole. So what they do to you?”

     Sophie went on to explain their entire ordeal. He listened and even smiled as she told him about shooting all the goons and Brett blowing the place up.

     “Hell yeah. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Fuck their shit up good. But they got your guy friend, huh?”

     “Yeah, some cops did down the road before the SEALs showed up.”

     “Well, I reckon we need to go and find him.”

Chapter 25

     Brett sat in the chair with his hands handcuffed behind his back. They hadn’t taken him to any police department. They took him to a small house a few miles away from The Club’s location. At the moment, he was alone in an empty room with only a set of chairs. The door swung open and a man in a suit came in and sat across from him in the other chair.

     “So,” the man said. “Of all the media out
lets, who’d have thought it would be the El Paso Sun to finally bring us down.”

     The man’s suit was black and he had gray hair and a gray beard.

    “Now what do I do with you?” The man asked.

     “Who the fuck are you?”

     “I’m the owner of The Country Club, or I was.”

     “I didn’t know
The Club had an owner.”

     “There’s probably a lot of things about
The Club you don’t know.”

     “So why am I here? Why haven’t you killed me, or had my fingernails ripped out or something?” Brett asked.

     “Oh, I’m sure we’ll get to that. I wanted to meet the man who destroyed us. After over a century of living in obscurity, you managed to break through and not only expose us, but you blew the whole damn place up. I’m curious how you did it.”

     “Why does that matter?”

     “Well, I’m going to rebuild it, of course. Maybe not in that same spot, but we’ll find a place. I had some excellent security in place there. The best in the world. So I’d like to know how this happened.”

     “Not that I care to help you in any way, but your guys were just too cocky. They turned their backs on people, they didn’t search me and always had their guard down. They
had been so in control for so long, they didn’t think that others might always be looking for an opening. Once I had it, I took them by surprise and they were fucked.”

     “Well, I guess that makes sense.”

     “Why do you have that place? Of all the things you could own or run, why some horrible thing like that?” Brett asked.

     “Well, I could tell you all kinds of bullshit about our primal nature and the most successful men know how to tap into that nature and use it to their advantage. But for me, it just brings in a lot of money. And I mean a lot of money. I’ve owned casinos that didn’t do as well as this place does. It’s so unique, I can charge whatever I want for our services and people will pay it.”

     “So that’s all those people are to you? All those young women who have been tortured and killed in the most horrific ways imaginable. All over money? What kind of sick asshole are you?”

     “People? Those weren’t people. They were cattle. Every person who we brought in there to be used by our members was a worthless human being. Many were prostitutes, college dropouts, drug heads, or just wasting their lives away waiting tables or something. Hell if anything, I did them a favor. I spared them a life of working shit jobs for nothing wages and dying old, broke and sick.”

     “God you are a fucking psycho. All of you animals are.”

     “Yes, I suppose you would say that. And just think. We are the ones who run the country. You know where I was this morning?
” the man asked.

     “I give up.”

     “In Washington having breakfast with the President. I was supposed to fly to Paris tonight, but you caused a slight change in plans. Though I guess I should thank you. This spares me the long plane flight with the wife.”

     “Sounds like a personal problem
,” Brett said.

     “Oh it is. But unfortunately for you
, it is now your problem. In a few moments, I’ll be headed back to the airport. While some of my men will be coming in to dispose of you. I hope you don’t have any family, because your body won’t be found. They’ll see to that. I did tell them to give you a quick death though. You fought a good fight today. I figured I at least owed you the courtesy of a quick and painless death.”

     The man stood and walked out of the room. Brett took a deep breath and waited for the end.

Chapter 26

     Justice found some clothes for the girls. It was mostly flannel shirts and some cut off shorts he’d worn. The stuff was huge on them, but did the job for the moment. Sophie took a clean shirt and made a headscarf out of it. She helped Crystal wrap it around her head, covering her large wound. Once they were dressed, Justice grabbed his rifle and several magazines.

     “You girls know how to shoot guns?” he asked.

     “We do now,” Sophie answered.

     “I’m sure you do.” He handed each of them .40 caliber semi-automatic handguns and extra magazines.

     “Got everything? Let’s get going,” he said.

     “Where are we going?” Crystal asked.

     “I have an idea where they might be at. There’s an old house down the road. Not likely they took him into town. This way.”

     They followed him out the back door. There was a 4-wheel ATV sitting behind the cabin.

     “Climb on girls. It’s gonna be tight
,” Justice said as he slung his rifle over his back and climbed on. Sophie climbed on behind Justice and Crystal squeezed in against Sophie. Justice fired up the ATV and off they went. Sophie held tight around Justice’s waist as he wove the ATV around the trees with great skill. It was obvious he knew his way around the area. Sophie noticed for a bigger guy, he was more firm to hold on to than she had expected. Not that it was the time to think such things.

     They reached the roadside where Justice drove for several more miles before crossing the road through a field. He began to slow down as a house came into sight. It was a small house
almost a hundred yards away, but sat by itself just off the road. Justice stopped the ATV and climbed off.

     “Ok, here we are. It’s gonna be tough to approach it since there isn’t any cover
,” he said as he lifted the AR-15 to his shoulder and looked through the scope. He fired a shot through a window. More gunshots rang out as he fired another single shot. Both girls fell to the ground as automatic gunfire erupted from the house.

     Sophie tapped Justice on the arm and pointed out the big sedan pulling out of the house’s drive way. He fired a couple shots at the sedan, taking out the tires and the driver. The car sat motionless as
Justice turned his focus back on the house.

     “Ok girls. I’ll provide covering fire. You take a wide circle around and approach the house on the other side.” He made a wide circular motion with his arm as he explained. “Got it?”

     They both nodded as they took off running. Sophie could hear Justice firing single shots as they ran in a wide circle through the field and closed in in the house from the other side. Justice’s plan had worked. When Sophie looked through the window, there were several men facing away from them shooting at Justice. Sophie took aim and fired, hitting one of the men in the back. The window in front of her shattered as she fired, spraying them both with glass.

     Once the man went down, her and Crystal opened up, firing at each of the men. Some tried to turn around but either got hit by one of the girls, or was taken out by Justice’s marksmanship. After what seemed like several minutes, there were no more men left standing. The girls ran around the front of the house as they heard the ATV start up and head toward them. There was an old man climbing out of the sedan as they reached the front.

     “Stop!” Sophie yelled. “Don’t move, or I’ll shoot you in the ass!”

     The man stopped and turned around. He was wearing a suit which had blood sp
atter on the front. He placed his hands in the air as he faced he girls.

     “Who the fuck are you?” Sophie asked.

     “I’m the boss,” he said.

     “Boss of what?”

     “The Country Club. I own it. Or did own it anyway.”

     “Well, now I own you. Get inside
,” she said waving the gun at him as Justice arrived on the ATV.

     “Well done ladies. That was some fine shootin’.”

     “Not bad yourself,” Crystal said as they went into the house. There were dead bodies lying all over. One guy was hunkered in a corner. He looked to be unharmed until Crystal walked over and put one in his forehead. They searched each room until they found the one with Brett. He hadn’t been hurt. He was cuffed to a chair. Crystal dug around in the men’s pockets until she found one with a handcuff key. She undid them and Brett stood, rubbing his wrists.

     “About time you guys showed up,” he said.

     “Well, we had to think about it,” Sophie explained.

     Brett nodded to the large man next to Sophie.

     “So who is this guy?”

     “This is Justice. He rescued us from
a SEAL team they had sent after us,” Sophie said.

     “Wow. A SEAL team. Impressive.” Brett looked over at The Boss. “Well look at you. Not so in charge now are you?”

     “You still have no power over me. You wouldn’t even think of harming me,” The Boss said. Brett punched him so hard, he fell flat on his back, both feet flying into the air. The Boss lie on the ground, looking up at them, dazed.

     “Tie him up,” Brett said. “Time to have our own fun.”

     The girls and Justice hauled him over to one of the chairs, cut his clothes off him and used his torn clothing strips to securely tie him to his chair.

     “You’ll fucking burn for this!” The Boss yelled. “I’m friends with the Presid
ent!”

     “Then where is he?” Brett asked.

     Justice had gone into one of the rooms looking around. He returned with a power sander and plugged it in. He handed it to Brett who tested it.

     “Now this looks like a useful tool,” Brett said as he revved the motor.

     “What’re you gonna do?” The Boss asked.

     “Oh, just going to sand away some unnecessary appendages
,” Brett said as he lowered the sander to The Bosses crotch. He fired the motor up and as he got closer to The Boss’ nuts, the louder his screams became, until the only sound was that of sandpaper on flesh and the man’s screams.

Chapter 27

     Crystal stepped outside as Brett and Sophie tortured the Boss. As much as she hated the guy and wanted him to suffer, she couldn’t take anymore suffering by anyone. Everything had happened so fast, she hadn’t had time to even contemplate her own injuries. The severing of her scalp was the worst, but only of what she could see. She had no doubt it would take years of therapy to overcome the events of the last few days, if ever.

     She sat on the steps outside and tried to tune out the sound of the power sander and the screaming. For the first time since the ordeal began, she cried. Once the tears came they wouldn’t stop. Justice stepped outside and sat down next to her. She hoped he wouldn’t try to put his arm around her or anything creepy, but he didn’t.

     “You ok?” he asked.

     “I don’t think I’m ever gonna be ok again
,” she said. “I’m sure you can guess why.”

     “Yeah. I don’t blame you. The shit you been through would have broke
n most people. You hung in there and did what needed to be done. When I was in Afghanistan, I saw grown ass men break down when push came to shove. Guys lying on the ground crying for their mamas.”

     “Really?”

     “I’m serious. No matter how big and tough a person is. No tellin’ what they’re really made of until their life is in danger. Hell, you were put through shit that would have drove me nuts. Getting scalped like that? That’s some serious Wild West shit. But you not only survived, you came back and kicked their fuckin’ asses,” Justice said.

     “Yeah, you have a point,” she said giving a half smile through her tears. “Thank you for helping us. You didn’t have to. When I first saw you come out of that tree stand, I thought for sure you were gonna capture us and rape us or something.”

     “Yeah, I can see why you’d think that. But nah, I’ve never hurt a woman, not one that wasn’t pointing a gun at me anyway.”

     She laughed, not wanting to know what he meant.

     “Thank you Justice,” she said as she stood. “I’m going to check on Sophie.”

     “Sure, though she seems to be doin’ just fine.”

     Crystal walked back inside with Justice behind her. She came in the room and heard Sophie and Brett laughing. The Boss was in his chair still tied up, blood oozing from his groin and he was gagging.

     “What’s wrong with him?” Crystal asked.

     “I’m choking him with his own fucking dick. Though not sure how he could choke on it, it was tiny as hell. I shoved it as far in there as it would go.”

     “Jesus Sophie!” Crystal said.

     “This fucker had it coming. All the shit he’s caused?”

     Crystal looked over at Brett who shrugged.

     “She has a point,” he said.

     The Boss gagged and thrashed about in his chair for another minute before he stopped moving. His face was blue and eyes wide open.

     “Rot in Hell cocksucker,” Sophie said.

     They all looked around to each other, with the same question on their minds. Now what? As if reading their minds, Brett spoke up.

     “So I guess that’s it. We all just go back to our lives now?” he said.

     “What life?” Crystal said. “Look at me. I can’t go back to Austin like this. Even if I go to a hospital, how would I explain what happened? I’ve been fucking scalped. Then what if
The Club has people there? You heard how much reach they have? I doubt they’ll be too happy.”

     “So what are you saying, Crystal?” Sophie asked.

     “I’m not saying anything. I just don’t know what to do.”

     “Well you have to get that treated. Your bare skull is almost showing through. I have an idea though
,” Brett said. “I did a story on a doctor up in Dallas years ago. He’d been accused of misconduct with some patients. Turns out he was innocent. I broke the story that cleared him. So I can give him a call. Maybe we can sign you in under an alias or he can help you off the books.”

     “Really?” Crystal asked. “That would be great. If anything can even be done.”

     “I’ll go with you guys,” Sophie said. “You know I’ll stay with you Crystal.”

     “I know, Soph. You’ve always been there for me
,” Crystal said as she hugged Sophie.

     “I reckon I’ll stay right where I’m at,” Justice said. “But know my door is always open to y’all. You know where to find me. Just as long as no one else does.” He laughed loudly as they all walked outside and climbed into one of the cars. Justice hopped onto the ATV and drove back toward his home in the woods.

Chapter 28

One year later

     Crystal sat in the tree stand until she saw the feral hog about fifty yards away. She held up the rifle, just like Justice had shown her. The hog’s body was lined up in the scope’s crosshairs. Gently, she squeezed the trigger until she was surprised by the kick of the rifle. After the shot, she looked through the scope and saw the hog lying on the ground.

     “I got it!”
she said. “I got it!”

     “Sure did!” Justice said. “Now let’s eat!”

     She helped Justice butcher the hog and they had their own little hog roast. After The Country Club incident, Brett had taken her to Dallas where she saw his doctor friend. He took her to a clinic in the city who did a series of grafts onto her head. It was funny how they repaired the top of her head. They took skin off her ass and grafted it to the top of her head. So at least now she had skin over her head. No hair though. The grafts didn’t come with hair follicles. So she shaved off the rest of her hair and she looked like Frankenstein.

     She could wear wigs, but after her surgeries, Justice told her she could stay with him. There was still a fear
that former members of The Country Club were going to come after her. So she stayed with him, off the grid. It wasn’t as bad as she thought. They hunted for food. He occasionally would run into town for anything else they might need. He taught her to hunt and fish. It was fun, she enjoyed not being chained to her phone or laptop, not reading stupid comments from internet trolls and not obsessing over The Club and if it existed.