Rycks, page 8
There were several Bane members as well as Reign brothers with eyes on the situation both at the Port Authority and at the Kiss of Death clubhouse. If we got into trouble the four of us couldn’t handle, we’d have backup. We wouldn’t need it. The prospects were lazy, not keeping guard but rather drinking or fucking the couple of club girls hanging around. Getting past them was easy enough, and Lyric’s directions and recall of the layout of the clubhouse was spot-on.
It didn’t take long to find the tiny room she shared with Bella. But by the sound of things, Rat Man was only partially distracted with his club’s unexpected activity. Given the reputation he was brandishing, I expected him to be absorbed in the activity he’d set in motion with his men. Even if they expected no resistance at all, they were still stealing a big drug cache from a rival club. And they were doing it at a heavily guarded port. Which told me he wasn’t as good as everyone thought he was. The problem was his focus was on Bella and the fact that Lyric hadn’t come back to the club yet. He was preparing to come for my daughter, and I wasn’t having that.
Justice took up a point in a hallway nook while I went inside Lyric’s room. Not surprisingly, Bella was nowhere to be found. Lyric had said she’d told the child to go to her hiding place and not to come out for any reason. She explained she’d planned for this and Bella had a stash of snacks, water, and even pull-ups so she could go to the bathroom without having to leave her hiding place. The one thing I hadn’t really thought about was how to find the girl without scaring her to death.
“Bella,” I called softly. “Your mom sent me to bring you to her.” No answer. “Bella, honey, we don’t have much time. My name’s Rycks. I’m a friend of your mom’s.”
No sooner had my name left my lips than I heard a scurrying inside the walls. A soft thump sounded followed by a soft “ouch!” A small girl poked her dark head from behind a dresser. As I looked closer from my position by the door, I could see there was a loose panel just barely big enough for the small child to squeeze through. When she came out, she clutched a stuffed dog that looked like it had seen better days. She stared at me with wide eyes.
“You’re Rycks?”
“Yeah, honey. Ain’t got time to explain, but I know your mother --”
Before I could finish, the child had flung herself into my arms and wrapped her skinny arms around my neck. “Daddy!” Her cry was soft, barely above a whisper. “Mommy said you’d come.” She had?
“She was right. I’ll always come for you. You got that?” She nodded, but said nothing, still clinging to me, her face buried in my neck. “Can you look at me a second, Bella?” When she pulled back slightly and looked up at me, my heart melted and my arms tightened around her slightly. I couldn’t help it! God-fucking-dammit, if she didn’t look the spitting image of my little sister. My chest squeezed painfully, and my eyes prickled like someone had thrown sand in them. I cleared my throat to dislodge the lump forming. “I’m going to need you to be brave for me. Can you do that?” She nodded. I undid the Velcro of my Kevlar vest on both sides. I’d worn one a couple sizes too large for me just for this purpose. I didn’t have a kiddie-sized vest for her, so this was going to have to work. “I’m going to have to put this vest over us both,” I told her. “Don’t think your head will go through the neck with mine, so you may be a little mashed for a bit. Can you stand it?”
“I think so,” she replied. Again, she didn’t raise her voice much above a whisper.
“Are you scared?”
She shook her head. “Mommy said that when you came for me not to be scared. That you’d take care of me.”
Kid was fucking shredding my heart. “She’s right. You just do what I tell you, and I’ll get us out of here.” She nodded as I put the vest over her. “Put one arm through the hole and wrap it around my neck.” She did as instructed. “Now, hang on as tight as you can to me and to your dog there. If you drop him, we can’t go back for him. Understand?” Again, she nodded. Bella was tucked against my body, the vest over her so that she was covered all but her one arm and her legs, which she’d wrapped tightly around me without my telling her. Kid had good instincts.
I fastened the Velcro at the sides. There was a bit of a gap, but not much. I’d prepared as well as I could, and I hadn’t missed the mark much on her size. I checked my gun, then knocked one time on the door -- Justice’s signal that I was coming out.
“We don’t have much time,” Justice said, his throat mic picking up for me and Fury and Shotgun. Communications were, of course, monitored by Ripper. He would know every step we made and exactly what was happening. He could also warn us of incoming danger if necessary. “Rat Man has decided he’s through waiting. He’s on his way here now.”
Bella whimpered, but otherwise stayed silent as we moved through the compound out a door on the north side, as far as possible from Rat Man’s most likely path to Lyric’s room. We passed one Kiss of Death prospect lying half in, half out of an open door on the way. There was no blood or another sign he’d been stabbed or shot, but his neck lay at an odd angle. Likely Fury’s work. He was a hands-on kind of guy.
Surprisingly, we made it safely outside without any incident. Shotgun helped me get the vest off and took Bella, talking soothingly to her as he put her in the booster seat we’d fitted into the back seat of the truck. Probably not strictly necessary, but I didn’t want to take any risks I didn’t have to.
“Get her back to Lyric,” I said. “Justice and I will finish up here. How many of the prospects did you get?”
Fury came up behind us. “All of them. Only people left in there are two club girls and Rat Man himself. Club girls were gettin’ the fuck outta Dodge. You guys can’t handle Rat Man on your own, you’re pussies.” He didn’t break his stride as he moved around the front of the truck. Shotgun was already at the wheel and Fury opened the passenger-side door, climbing in and shutting the door. “Rip it up, guys. Time’s wasting, and you have several hours ahead of you.”
“Just make sure Bella’s not hurt and tell Lyric I’ll be back in a day or two.”
Shotgun nodded. “We got you, brother. Rip it up.”
“Guard them both for me. Stay in touch.”
“Want us to take them to Lake Worth?”
“At the earliest possible convenience.” Just knowing they were in our own compound under El Diablo’s protection would make me rest easier. Also, I didn’t trust Thorn. Not with this. He said he’d wait until he got all the information back from Data, but I honestly didn’t care what that video footage showed. As far as I was concerned, anything Lyric had done she’d done to protect our daughter. All was forgiven. Thorn wouldn’t see it that way, and I wanted my girls out of there ASAP.
“Consider it done.” Shotgun gave me a two-finger salute then drove off with my daughter in the backseat of his truck. Just the mere fact I had to deal with fucking Rat Man before I got to be properly introduced to my daughter made a cold fury burn inside my gut. This man was going to suffer like no one I’d ever punished before. I just wished I could do it here so I could get back to Lyric and Bella tonight. Unfortunately, El Diablo intended to send a message to the Brotherhood with this one. Rat Man’s bad luck he’d taken up with the fuckers. It was the last mistake the man would make.
“Don’t look ahead, Rycks,” Justice said, laying a hand on my shoulder. “That will make you sloppy. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right. Otherwise, call someone else in.”
“Blood on the way?” I didn’t want to think too closely about that because I very much indeed wanted to let someone else take care of it. Only my loyalty and total belief in El Diablo pulled at me to continue with this. Even with that, if I hadn’t trusted my brothers from Black Reign as much as I trusted El Diablo, I couldn’t force myself to continue. Bella and Lyric were just too important to me to risk if there was even the slightest bit of doubt. There was none. My girls would be fine until I could take charge of them.
“Already here.” The man in question stepped from the trees. “You need me to take care of your Rat Problem, too?”
I groaned. “More than I can tell you, but I can’t. El Diablo wants him to be far away when he dies. If the body is found at all, it won’t be in Florida.”
Blood raised an eyebrow. “Seems a bit overly cautious. I’m very good at my job. No one will find him.”
“It’s not the authorities he’s worried about. He wants to throw the Brotherhood off the trail and to send a message. If he can make them think Rat Man went rogue and left on his own, they might leave us all alone.”
“Hate to break it to you, buddy, but that jet waiting for you isn’t exactly inconspicuous.”
“Don’t worry about that. If anyone looks too closely at it, it most definitely won’t lead to El Diablo or anyone he’s associated with past or present.”
Blood shrugged. “He’s nothing if not thorough. If he thinks this is necessary, I guess it is.” He stuck out his hand. “Good luck, brother. Get in. Get out.”
As I took his hand, I couldn’t help but think maybe I’d made a friend or two in Salvation’s Bane. I mean, they were still uncivilized and inferior in every way, but they came in handy and were good at having a man’s back when he needed it. Yeah. This was a good alliance. But Thorn was still a prick.
We went back in search of the Rat in question, which wasn’t hard. The first time I lay eyes on Rat Man, I thought he probably was a rat. The fat, furry kind. With a long tail. And fucking little beady eyes. I wanted to squish him like Percy did Mr. Jingles. Only this rat wouldn’t have a John Coffey to save his sorry ass. If Justice hadn’t been with me, I’d have lost my shit, but I held on with grim control.
“You in a heap a trouble, boy.” I tried to draw out a deep Southern accent, keeping in line with my Green Mile movie theme. It was the only way to rein in my temper. This man had tormented my woman, kept my child hostage, and had come to this very room, probably to kill her. I was not in a merciful mood.
He spun around, knife in hand. “Who the fuck ‘er you?” Justice snagged Rat Man’s weapon hand and twisted until I heard bones snap. Rat Man howled, dropping to his knees. Once Justice had the knife from the man’s now useless hand, Rat Man cradled it in his other hand. “What’d you do that for? I didn’t do nothin’!”
Justice looked at me. “Are you shittin’ me?”
I shrugged. “It looks like the guy, but he’s not a criminal mastermind.”
“Fuckin’ pussy if you ask me.” Justice’s disgust was clear. I could relate.
“Why did you come to this room?” I asked the question calmly enough when I really wanted to take that knife and plunge it into the man’s groin and twist. Slowly.
“To kill that brat kid. Where is she anyway?”
“A pussy and a fuckin’ dumbass,” Justice muttered.
“Obviously, she’s gone. Why were you coming to kill her?”
The guy got to his feet slowly and shrugged, still cradling his broken wrist, a pained expression on his face. “‘Cause the bosses told me to.”
“And who, exactly, are your bosses?”
“Don’t know exactly. I do what they tell me, and they pay me.”
“Either this Brotherhood business isn’t as connected as El Diablo thinks or this guy is a patsy, doing work they know will get him killed.”
As the words left Justice’s mouth, Rat Man lunged for me, I felt pressure at my side where he tried to stab me with something, but, after dropping off Bella, the vest was large enough on me the sides of the Kevlar met instead of leaving a gap at the sides. He didn’t hit it right, and the blade didn’t penetrate the seam. But he wasn’t finished. Even with his injured hand, Rat Man moved with a speed I had underestimated. And he was a scrapper.
Somehow, he slid under my legs and tried to make a run for it. Just as he broke into a sprint Justice pulled out a gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger. Instead of the report of a gunshot, there was only a metallic click. I glanced at Justice with a raised eyebrow.
“You came into this place, outnumbered as we were, with a tranq gun?”
He opened the other side of his vest where his Gloc was holstered. “Just makin’ sure we didn’t kill this guy here. You said El Diablo made that absolutely clear. We were not to kill him here.”
“He did.”
Justice raised an eyebrow of his own. “I’d have thought you wanted to kill the bastard yourself. Now your bitchin’ ‘cause I didn’t?”
“No. I’m bitching because that tranq gun could have been a real gun. With real bullets. And I’m not bitching!”
There was a thump in the distance around the corner where Rat Man had disappeared. Justice and I continued our conversation as we followed Rat Man.
“You always bitch,” Justice said.
I scowled at him. “I never bitch. I inform you Neanderthals of Salvation’s Bane when you’re being idiotic.”
“Idiotic? I shot the fuckin’ bastard, didn’t I? And without killing him.”
We rounded the corner and there was the bastard in question. Out cold on the floor. “Yeah. I suppose you did.”
I bent and lifted Rat Man by his shoulders. Justice got his feet.
“Heavy motherfucker,” Justice grunted.
“Are all you Bane men such pussies?”
Justice glared at me. “One more smart-ass comment and you can get this bastard to the plane your own damned self.”
“Guess that answered that question.” I smirked. Justice dropped Rat Man’s feet and flipped me off. “Fine. If it will soothe your delicate sensibilities, I’ll apologize.”
“You’re an asshole, Rycks.” He bent and picked up Rat Man’s legs again. “One more comment and I’m fuckin’ leaving.” We made a few steps before my snicker broke free. “What?” Justice said, a look on his face that said he dared me to say something else.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Remind me when this is over I owe you an ass beatin’.”
“Yeah. I’ll just call Mae and tell her to remind you since I won’t be there much.”
Justice grumbled. “Fucker.”
Chapter Eight
Lyric
I’d worried myself into a sick mess. Literally. I’d just spent the last half hour kneeling in front of the toilet barfing up everything I’d eaten until only yellow, slimy foulness was left to puke up. If I was wrong, or if Rycks was, and there were bugs in his room, then Rycks would be bringing Bella’s body home to me. I wasn’t sure I could take that. Just thinking about it brought on a fresh wave of nausea. And tears.
Needing some fresh air, I stumbled to the sink and rinsed my mouth out. Then I made my way to the door of the room I shared with Rycks. When I opened it, Venus was standing on the opposite side of the hall, arms crossed and one foot braced on the wall behind her. She had been looking to one side, but brought her attention to the door once I opened it. She said nothing. Just gave me an assessing look.
“I-I needed some air. Am I allowed to go outside?”
“Da. With escort,” she said, pushing off the wall and gesturing for me to join her. “I’ll take you.”
I hesitated but went. “You’re not going to hurt me, are you?”
She shrugged, answering in her thick, Russian accent. “Not unless Thorn says to. I happen to like you.”
That was surprising. “You do?”
“You didn’t flinch when faced with an unwinnable situation. I could see it in your eyes. If Thorn had told me to continue, you’d have taken your beating better than most men I know. I knew you would never give up that last scrap of information, though I knew you held something back.” She glanced at me as we walked. “Now, I know why. Willingly giving up your life for your child makes you OK in my book.”
I guess that was something. We continued on down the hall. Venus took me out to the backyard area. It was surrounded by a privacy fence around the rest of the property. No one could see in, but she showed me to a lounge chair well underneath the covered porch they’d built onto the back of the building.
“Stay in this general area,” she said. “It’s one spot on property no sniper can get bead on.”
“You think I have to worry about that?” That was all I needed, but fuck it. What’s one more thing?
“Not likely, but possible,” Venus said. “Better safe than sorry.”
I got that.
I’m not sure how long I sat there, but I could hear the ocean softly in the background. The cries of the gulls off in the distance. Gradually, I began to relax. Or, at least, I felt better in control. I was still wound tight with fear for Bella. Venus sat at the table between me and the clubhouse door. I had to wonder at that. If the encounter I’d had with the club girl before was any indication, Venus was there to make sure something like that didn’t happen again.
Deep in thought, I missed the building commotion until Venus stood and turned to face the clubhouse. “Stay there unless I tell you to --”
The door burst open and a high-pitched voice cried, “Mommy!”
I jumped to my feet. Or, rather, tried. I stumbled and rolled to the concrete, all the while craning my neck to see if the girl crying out was, indeed, my Bella. Before I could get to my feet, she threw herself at me, landing hard with her thin arms around my neck. We both burst into tears. Vaguely, I was aware of several male voices murmuring. Looking up, I saw several men in the doorway and on the patio talking to Thorn in low tones. Club girls looked on out the windows, a few squeezing their way through the men to watch the reunion.
Bella clung to me tightly, sobbing uncontrollably. I’m not sure I was in much better shape, clutching her just as close, tears and snot pouring. I was aware of the building crowd, but didn’t really give a damn. Bella was here. Safe. With me.
“Wh-where’s Rycks?” I managed to get out the question.
