Page 33 of Lockout (The Vikings MC: Tucson Chapter #11)

Lockout

G ritting my teeth, I scowled at the man on the chair. Not that he could see my expression. It didn’t matter that he’d lost his eyesight. He wasn’t going to be needing it soon. Which was why he’d now decided to clam up.

Butcher gave me a grim look. “He’s numb to the pain at this point,” he said under his breath.

We’d all stepped across the room so he was less likely to overhear us.

“Yeah, the eyes and broken bones are hurting him more than this one’s torture techniques,” Toxic said, jerking his thumb at Butcher. “And the other three aren’t saying shit.”

We all glanced over at the fifth guy, who was slumped in the chair, not breathing. “And he’s no help,” Toxic said, as if he couldn’t help himself and had to say the words.

Tilting my head, I studied the guy who was originally willing to talk, then walked over to the table where Butcher had all his tools set out.

I grabbed a pair of pliers and clamped them down on the man’s ear.

“You were so eager to talk before. What happened?” I asked him.

I already knew. His buddies convinced him that he was going to die anyway and that it was better not to talk.

We should have interrogated him before heading upstairs. Oh, well.

When the man kept his mouth shut, I shrugged and jerked on the pliers. The scream of pain echoed through the room as I basically ripped his ear off his head.

None of my brothers said anything about my lack of finesse with questioning the guy.

They knew I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be calm and logical.

Not after that fight. “We’re going to find Hangman anyway,” I told him, pinching the shell of his second ear between the pliers.

“Your president sent you here to die. He’s left you in my hands, all alone, with no intention of rescuing you.

Ever. The thing about loyalty is that it’s a two-way deal.

Look around you, you see what I do for my men. Would your boss do this for you?”

He shook his head. Misery was etched into every line in his face.

“That’s right. So why hold out. Why torture yourself? You owe it to yourself to end this nightmare, to end this suffering. Tell me what I need to know and I’ll make it quick. You won’t feel another ounce of pain.”

The guy sighed, then mumbled an address. As promised, the snap of his neck was quick. His friends were glaring, but it was too late for them. They weren’t getting the same deal as this guy.

I glanced over at Rip. “Check it out.” I stepped back and motioned toward the men while speaking to my brothers. “They’re all yours.”

“Shouldn’t we verify that address first?” Smoke asked, scowling at the men. No one wanted to keep them alive, but they were willing to wait for the intel before ending them.

“Naw,” Hush said with a shake of his head. “If it’s not legit, it’s still all we’re goin’ to get out of them.”

“It’s legit.” Butcher said. “I can tell. Body language says he was telling the truth.”

I nodded at Hush because that was exactly what I was thinking. They were done. We weren’t getting anything else. I walked out of the room. I didn’t care enough about these fuckers to need to see their deaths.

Walking upstairs, I knocked on the door to Seek’s apartment. Hush had mentioned that the women wanted to thank me. I didn’t want the gratitude, I was just doing my job, but it was important to the women, so I gave Seek a tight smile when she opened the door. She stepped aside and let me enter.

Keely’s eyes tracked over me, as if ensuring that I had no injuries, even though she’d checked me over a few hours ago.

“Oh thank God,” Isla said. “Someone else for them to fawn over.”

Kit laughed. “It’s just because we appreciate you protecting us.”

“We feel like shit for not helping,” Seek added, looking guilty, even as she held her young son in her arms.

Sloane came over and slipped an arm around me in a sideways hug, content to sit there pressed against my side.

I knew what a huge deal it was for this woman to touch people, so I was fucking honored that she was even standing close by.

Everyone was smiling at me. The gratitude was thick in the air.

They didn’t seem to get that any one of us men would lay our lives down for them. Without question.

“I would have been pissed if you’d tried,” I told the group, focusing back on the conversation. “You have your children to watch over. Besides, sending out Isla and the animals was a big help.”

Billie squeezed the bobcat closer to her chest and grinned. “They’re soaking up the adoration.” Her eyes strayed to Isla. “Well, some of them.”

“I have no idea how she’s not clawing the hell out of you,” Isla admitted, smiling at the disgruntled look on Murder’s face. But the feline didn’t so much as twitch a claw.

“She’s got a way with animals,” Keely said. “Found herself an injured badger when she was in high school. Nursed him back to health and kept him as a pet.”

“No wonder she managed to tame Toxic,” Gwen said with a laugh that the rest of us echoed.

“That beast wouldn’t let anyone except her near him. Made it hell on her grandpa for years until the badger died of old age,” Keely said when the laughter died down.

“He was still wild and even though I fed him regularly, he only lived another five years,” Billie said with a mournful sigh. “I loved him so much.”

“Ask what his name was,” Dani suggested with a wide grin.

Billie scowled at her. “It was a great name.”

“Honey?” Sloane said with a soft laugh.

“Sir Digs A Lot,” Billie said with a haughty sniff.

That made everyone laugh. I shook my head, enjoying just listening to the way these women bantered back and forth.

Kids were passed out all over the place, on different furniture, and some on the floor, but they slept through the talking no problem.

It was such a different scene than what the clubhouse was like a few years ago.

It was better. They made it better.

Before I could say anything, the door opened and Rip poked his head through.

The excited gleam in his eyes was all I needed, to know he’d found something.

“We’ll be back later,” I told the group.

“We’re leaving more men here with you this time and more out at the ranch to watch over Daryl and Robert, too. ”

“Thanks for that,” Billie said. “I know they’re likely not in any trouble, but…”

“We protect our own here,” I told her. “Your family and your ranch are included in that.”

All the women were giving me those soft smiles.

The kind that tended to melt a man’s heart and make him want to slay every fucking dragon in her life so that she was always safe.

It was like a kick to the gut when Keely smiled at me like that.

But when they were all doing it? Shit. That was dangerous.

No wonder my brothers had claimed these women as quickly as they did. They were keepers.

Keely followed me out into the hall. “I want to go.”

I frowned down at her. “What?”

“I want to go, Lock.” She put her hands on her hips and I saw her gearing up for a fit.

“Not fucking happening, Cables,” I told her. “You saw what happened here tonight-”

“Yeah, I did, and now I want to go.”

“Why?”

“So I can have your back.” Her chin poked out in a way that was both adorable, and a little reminiscent of the hellions when they weren’t getting their way. Not that she was a kid. She was a thirty-year-old gorgeous woman.

But her mannerisms often made me chuckle. When I didn’t want to strangle her, that is. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I can pull a trigger just as much as one of your brothers,” she insisted.

“I know you can,” I told her. “But those fuckers aren’t after my brothers.

We bring you along, and we’re giving Hangman exactly what he wants.

” Plus, it’d be over my dead body that I’d bring her into a dangerous situation like that.

I didn’t say that out loud though, because I didn’t want to fight with her.

She sighed. “I don’t know how to shake the guilt that this is all happening because of me.” She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “That guy almost got Caitlyn-”

“But he didn’t,” I told her, pulling her close.

“They’re here because of me. I can just go away and so will they,” she whispered.

“Again, not happening,” I growled, squeezing her so hard to my body that she let out a little squeak. When she struggled in my hold, I relaxed a little and looked down at her. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course.” Her blue eyes widened.

“Then trust me to take care of this. To keep everyone safe. Okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.” She raised up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on my lips. “Be safe tonight. Please. I don’t know what I’d do if-”

I brushed my finger over her lips, stopping her next words. “Don’t. Nothing’s going to happen. Except us taking out this threat.” I squeezed her again. “Gotta go, Keels.” I kissed her again, then went downstairs to meet with my brothers.