Page 11

Asher

Benny rolls the creeper underneath a Corvette and goes to work, completely unaware that he’s being watched. His radio is blaring Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,”

making him both deaf and blind to his surroundings. Idiot. He’d never last a day in prison.

Our feet never make a sound as we enter the shop. I stop a few feet away from the passenger side of the Corvette, while Axel follows Zane toward the lift’s control switch with his aluminum bat in his hand. I tilt my chin over the roof of the car and give Zane the signal. He pushes the release lever and the lift drops. Benny only manages to get his top half out from underneath the car before he’s pinned down. He pushes against the car, but it’s pointless. He ain’t going nowhere. His groans of pain echo against the metal walls and my body lights up like the Fourth of July. Time for this piece of shit to pay his dues.

“You didn’t secure your lift. That’s not very smart, Benny.”

I cock my head to the side and glance down at him.

He’s disoriented and struggling to make sense of things, but then his black beady eyes take me in, and I see the exact moment recognition flares behind them. “Detective Savage?”

My body tenses. I haven’t heard that name in years and it’s like pouring acid on an open wound. Something inside of me itches to break free, but I ignore the war that’s battling underneath my skin and focus on him. “It’s just Savage now.”

And he’s about to realize just how relevant that is.

“I thought you were locked up?”

His dark eyebrows pinch together.

“He got out.”

Zane comes to stand next to me and crosses his arms over his chest.

Benny’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he takes in the sight of my brothers and me. We’re scary as fuck on a good day, so I can only imagine what must be going through that small brain of his. He tries to put up a brave front, but I can see right through his bullshit. He’s scared shitless and he should be.

“What do you want?”

His voice cracks at the end of his question.

My eyes never leave his as I light up a cigarette. Benny flinches at the sound of my lighter clicking shut. That slight movement gives me the upper hand and only makes what I’m about to do that much sweeter.

I take a long, slow drag, letting my silence work him over. It’s in those quiet moments when you can really mess with a person’s head. Fear is the ultimate mind fuck. Leave them wondering, anticipating every possible outcome. Then, when they’ve tortured themselves to the brink of insanity, the fun really begins.

I exhale a cloud of smoke toward his face and let the silence linger a beat longer before I walk over and drop a photo on Benny’s chest. “Names. I want all of them.”

Axel watches from off to the side, keeping the bat cocked over his right shoulder. His fingers twitch against the handle as he paces back and forth. He’s wound up tight and ready to go, but he waits for my lead.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Everything’s legit here, man. I’m just a mechanic.”

He grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Piece of shit’s holding out on me.

“You’re a lousy liar, Benny. Maybe you need some motivation to jog your memory?”

I give a silent nod to Axel.

“Batter up.”

He grins as he takes the bat in his hands and swings out in front of him like he’s Babe Ruth. The first hit shatters the radio, blanketing us in silence, before he moves over toward the Corvette. Glass shatters and rains down on Benny in small shards. He does his best to protect his face, but he still manages to get some small scrapes along his arms.

Axel has a shit-eating grin on his face as he slings the bat over his shoulder once again. “I don’t know about y’all, but I think that was a home run.”

“Next swing my brother takes is aimed at your head.”

There’s no mistaking the threat in my words.

“You’re crazy.”

A muscle jumps on Benny’s cheek.

“As a motherfucker.”

My eyes narrow as they lock on his.

“What the hell?”

Benny squirms, but he’s not going anywhere. “You can’t do this.”

“We can.”

Axel nudges him in the side with the tip of the bat.

“We are.”

Zane stares Benny down.

“I’m the judge, jury, and executioner. Now, tell me what I want to know. Or I’ll let my brother use that bat on that shit hole you call a face.”

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

He’s holding out longer than I thought he would. I’ll give him that, but time’s up. No more screwing around.

“You’re full of shit. I know you’re working for Diego.”

I flick the ash of my cigarette onto his chest and squat down until I’m inches from his face.

Benny flinches at the mention of Diego. It’s slight, but there’s no mistaking what I saw.

Zane moves so fast I almost miss it. One second he’s next to me, and the next he has the sole of his boot pressed down on Benny’s throat. Benny gasps as his oxygen supply is cut off. His hands slap against the tip of Zane’s foot, struggling to breathe, causing the photo to fall off his chest and onto the shop floor.

I cock my head to the side and watch as the life starts to fade from his eyes. For a split second, I contemplate letting my brother finish him off, but that would leave us back at square one.

“Is he supposed to turn that shade of purple?”

Axel asks, without a hint of concern. He might as well be asking about the weather.

Just when it looks like Benny’s about to pass out, I tap my brother on the shoulder. “Ease up a bit, Z. He can’t tell us anything if he’s dead.”

Zane relieves some of his pressure but doesn’t take his foot away from Benny’s neck. He’s thirsting to feel bones break underneath his boot and as much as I agree with him on that, we need Benny alive a bit longer.

Benny coughs and sucks in gulps of air like a starving animal, but I don’t give him a chance to recover. Time is everything and I don’t have any to waste.

I grab the photo off the dirty floor and dust it off before I shove it back in his face. “I need names, Benny. Now!”

“I can’t. They’ll kill me, man.”

He whines like the pussy he is, but he’ll get no sympathy from me. I lost that emotion the night I lost Lauren.

“What the fuck you think we’re gonna do to you?”

My patience is wearing thin. I’m tired of playing around with him. It’s time for more drastic measures. I motion toward Axel.

“On it,”

he calls from behind my back. He grabs one of the cans of gasoline and hands Zane the other one. Axel starts dousing the entire shop in it, while Zane pours his on Benny.

Benny shakes his head from side to side and spits out the liquid that made its way into his mouth. “Wait! I’ll talk. I’ll talk, man.”

“Names. I won’t repeat myself again.”

“Mateo and the one with the scar is his cousin Louis.”

The second the names are out of his mouth, my heart races. Finally, after all this time, I have the names of the bastards responsible.

“And where can we find Mateo and Luis?”

“I don’t know. They’re not the ones I usually deal with. They mostly do grunt work and shit.”

“You must have heard something in passing conversation. Think, Benny!”

His body shivers as he wracks his small brain for any piece of information that I can use. “They hang out at the strip club over on Main and Tenth.”

“Which one?”

Zane presses his foot down once more.

“Viper’s Den! It’s called Viper’s Den.”

“Was that so hard?”

I pat the side of his face and get to my feet. Without a word, my brothers follow me out of the shop. We got what we came for. No need to waste another breath on this asshole. At the edge of the bay door, I stop and turn back around. I take one last drag before tossing the lit butt of my cigarette onto the puddle of gasoline near Benny’s head and lifting the corner of my mouth in a half-ass grin.

“What the hell, man?”

He struggles to break free from the car, but it’s no use. He’s a sitting duck who’s about to be fucked. Flames ignite right next to him and in a matter of seconds, he’s on fire as well. “No!”

“Bye, Benny.”

I turn and follow my brothers the rest of the way to the truck. Once we reach it, Zane tosses the gas cans in the bed and leans against the tailgate.

“Am I missing something?”

Axel scratches the side of his head with the tip of the bat. “I thought the whole point of this was to send Diego a message?”

Zane is wearing the same uncertain expression on his face. I stare back at both of my brothers, keeping my own face blank. They should know me better by now. I give nothing away.

Axel opens his mouth to say something else, but his words are cut off by a loud boom. The shop explodes, engulfed in a ball of flames.

“Message sent.”

I arch an eyebrow at my brothers, letting my point sink in.

Axel shakes his head and laughs. “Crazy motherfucker.”

This crazy motherfucker’s just getting started.