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“I won’t tell you shit! No matter what you do! I won’t tell you shit! Fuck you!”
That was when the beating began.
Messer
Messer couldn’t take it anymore. Watching the Elites beat the hell out of a man and stab him in places they knew would hurt like hell, but wouldn’t kill him, turned her stomach. The absolute glee on Elite Perez’s face enraged her as he used his knives on their prisoner’s limbs and Elite McCort pummeled the man with his fists. She didn’t join the academy to torture people or to physically assault them out of rage and spite. Sure, there was a time and a place forcreative interrogation, but there was also a line where you were no longer trying to get information and were just inflicting pain for the hell of it.
Unable to justify being there a moment longer, Messer snuck up the stairs and out the back door of the abandoned house they were using. She rushed through the falling snow to the Pathfinder and yanked the driver’s door open. Looking around, she tried to find the fob, hoping like hell they left it in the vehicle. When she didn’t find it, she sent up a prayer and pushed the start button, but nothing happened. The fob must be in the basement with the others, and the distance was too great for it to work. She thought for sure that they would forget it in a cup holder or something. Apparently, they did have a brain cell or two between the four of them.
She wouldn’t be leaving in the Pathfinder, but there was no way in hell Messer was staying there. She needed to be far away from the fuck-up foursome the academy sent her to Michigan with.
As she headed on foot for the county road the house was on, Messer thought about what had happened to the two prisoners. They knew Rex was a shifter. Besides seeing his eyes glow before, there was a picture in his text string withDocthat showed a gray and light brown wolf cuddling up to her side. That sealed the deal in their mind.
Jogging down the shoulder, carefully taking each step in the quickly accumulating snow, Messer tried to figure out a plan. Where could she go? She needed a ride, money, and a place to lie low and plan.Fuck!
The only places she knew that were close were connected to the Howlers. The Howlers… When they learned what was done to their members, the world would burn. If they figured out she was involved, they would come for her… unless she came to them and gave them the information they needed first.
Thinking back on what she just witnessed, guilt swirled in her gut. She didn’t like the way the situation was handled. There was nothing honorable about what happened in that basement. The woman was gone, but the Howlers might be able to save Rex if she got to them quickly enough.
Shaking off her doubts, Messer made a decision and set about carrying it out. She would flag down a car and hitchhike to the Howlers. Hopefully, she would get to them in time for the Howlers to make a rescue. Fingers crossed, they would let her keep her life in exchange for that information.
The kind elderly man stopped his truck at the mouth of the cul-de-sac that held the biker compound. His bushy white eyebrows pulled together as he eyed the place.
“Are you sure this is the right place, young lady?”
Messer gave him a gentle smile. “Yes, Mr. Clemmings. Thank you for the ride.” She took hold of the interior door handle and pulled the lever to open the door. “I really appreciate it.”
“You call that number I gave you if they give you any trouble.”
Biting back the snort of hilarity at the thought of this man facing off with the dozens of bikers in the compound, Messer gave a nod. “I will. Have a good night.” She climbed out of the truck and shut the door, giving him a wave as he slowly pulled away.
Taking a deep breath, she turned and headed for the clubhouse. The snow wasn’t falling quite as heavily as it had been earlier, so she could clearly see the whole of the compound. As she took each step, more and more people looked her way. Most of them were customers of the various businesses that lined the street, but she recognized a few people in the diner as members of the Tiger’s Claw MC. Glancing the other direction, she saw three members of the Howlers MC standing in a garage bay, staring at her, one of them had a phone to his ear.
She suspected the man was calling Axle, and her suspicions were confirmed when the clubhouse door swung open and Axle stormed out with a blond man, palming a gun.
As she reached the bottom of the steps to the clubhouse, that gun was raised and aimed at her as Axle bit out, “What in the fuck told you that this would be a good idea?”
“I have information you need. It’s life and death.”
His eyes narrowed on her before he glanced around. She figured he realized that they had quite the audience, because he quietly ordered, “Frisk her and bring her into my office.” He turned and yanked open the clubhouse doors. “And then start making calls. I have a feeling we’re going to have another shitshow on our hands.”
Jolene
After picking up Beast from Mama Hen, Jolene headed for home, going a bit slower since the large snowflakes were making it difficult to see. She had tried contacting Rex again, but the phone just rang. There was an uneasiness in her that she couldn’t shake, but she told herself that it was just the new mating stuff that had her off-kilter. The only thing that lifted her mood was that the snow began to lighten up as she pulled into her driveway.
In her kitchen at home, she fed and watered Beast before heading to her room, where she changed out of her scrubs and into a pair of thick black leggings and a red tank top.
It was dinnertime, and her stomach was complaining, so she decided to make dinner. If Rex showed up, she’d make him something, but she wasn’t going to wait on him to get started.
After examining what was in her freezer, Jolene settled on a frozen lasagna. Once it was in the oven, she poured herself a glass of whiskey and crossed the house to turn on the radio. She needed something to fill the silence. The house was too quiet, and it was making her anxiety worse.
As she passed the front door, she heard odd noises coming from outside. From the kitchen doorway, Beast began flip-flopping between whining and growling.
Alarm bells went off in her head and in her gut. She dove for the bench next to her door and retrieved her pistol from the hidden drawer in the bottom. Quickly checking it over, making sure it was loaded, and releasing the safety, she took a deep breath and approached the front door from the side.
Listening closely, she heard slight moans and the slamming of multiple car doors. Another deep breath, then she swung the door open, lifting her gun to aim, but her eyes dropped down to the large man slumped on her stoop. He was bleeding and looked to be heavily beaten.
There was so much blood in his long hair and swelling and bruising on the face that it took her a moment to realize it was Rex. Her heart dropped as she engaged the safety on the gun and set it aside before figuring out the best way to get him inside.
