Page 13 of Snarl (Primal Howlers MC #9)

Snarl

G ODDAMMIT, ORION, WHERE the fuck are you?

The clock was ticking, and I had to think of something fast. If Boneyard suspected for one instant that I was conning him, he’d bolt, and I’d likely be beaten to death.

“So, what’s the deal?” Boneyard pressed.

I acted as though I was going to answer, but instead faked a series of wheezes and coughs. “Hold on a sec, brother. It’s my asthma,” I said, reaching inside my coat pocket for my “inhaler.”

“That shit sounds rough, man,” Boneyard said, his face twisted in disgust.

I held up the small canister to his face. “It’s not so bad, as long as I’ve got this,” I said, before delivering a direct shot of chloroform to his face.

“Hey! What the fuck was th—” was all Boneyard managed to get out before he dropped like a stone. His head hitting the pavement with a sickening thud.

I grabbed Boneyard by his cut and began dragging him towards the dumpsters where I planned to stash him for a minute while I figured out my next move.

“Where the fuck are you?” I hissed, scanning the parking lot for Orion and the van.

One thing was for sure. If the Supreme Riders had Orion, we’d both be dead meat.

I’d just started planning my own funeral when Orion came hauling ass towards me in the van, screeching to a halt mere feet from where I stood.

“Sorry, man,” he said, flying out of the van. “Some guys were giving me the eye. I had to get the fuck outta here before they made me .

“Help me get him in,” I growled.

Orion opened the cargo door and together we hoisted him into the van before peeling out into the darkness of night.

“We’ll take him to the service road junction out behind the quarry,” I instructed while binding his ankles and wrists with heavy-duty cable ties.

“That’ll take about twenty, twenty-five minutes. How long does that chloroform shit last?”

“Anywhere from fifteen minutes to half an hour, but don’t worry. If he starts to wake up, I’ll hit him with another dose.”

Fortunately, our captive remained silent for the rest of the trip, as did Orion and I. Small talk is a little tough to generate when you know you’re about to bludgeon a man until he’s unrecognizable to his own mother.

Once we reached our destination, we dragged Boneyard out of the van, stripped him to his bare ass, and tied his limp body, upright, to a nearby tree, and waited for him to regain consciousness.

“We should put our masks on now,” I said.

“I get keeping me anonymous, but why are you masking up? He’s already seen what you look like.”

“To keep his blood out of my face,” I replied. “Grab the toolbox from the van, will ya.”

A few minutes later, Boneyard began to stir.

“Looks like our friend is waking up,” Orion said from behind his mask .

“My head,” Boneyard moaned. “My head hurts.”

“You hit it pretty hard on the asphalt,” I said. “You’ve got a nasty gash on the left side of your scalp. It’s bleeding pretty good. You’ll need stitches, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that right now.”

“What the fuck is this?” Boneyard asked, struggling in his restraints.

“This is court,” I explained. “And I’m your judge, jury, and fucking executioner if I feel like it.”

“That mask don’t mean shit, Goldilocks. I know that’s you underneath.”

I lifted the mask and put a finger to my lips. “Shhhhhhhhhhh.”

“You’re a dead man,” Boneyard said. “You too, whoever the fuck you are,” he shouted at Orion. “You’re both fucking dead.”

“Shut up and listen to me very carefully,” I said.

“It’s time for you to come to terms with your current situation.

You’re naked and tied to a tree out in the middle of nowhere at one o’clock in the morning.

The guys who tied you up are wearing masks and have big-ass knives.

” I unsheathed my Kukri and held it to his neck.

“Wha-wha-whatever you want, man. I’ll give it to you. I fu-fucking promise,” Boneyard sputtered out.

“I know you will,” I replied. “Because, what I’m after tonight is justice.”

“Ju-ju-justice?” Wh-what the fuck are you talking about, man? I don’t even know you.”

“That’s true. You don’t know us, but we know you and we know what you did.”

“Wh-what are you talk—”

I held my hand over his mouth and shook my head. “No, no, no. We’re not doing that. We’re not gonna stand here all night while you try to talk your way out of this, Delbert. That’s your name, right? Delbert Fisk?”

He nodded.

“Good,” I said, removing my hand from his mouth. “Now, let’s try this again. You’re a rapist, isn’t that right, Delbert?”

“Come on man, please just let me go and I promise I’ll—”

I reached down, grabbed the index finger of Boneyard’s left hand, and cut it off with my kukri. Boneyard screamed as blood spurted from his hand.

“One more chance, Delbert. You are a rapist, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he cried out. “Yes. Please don’t cut off my fingers. I won’t ever do it again. I swear to God.”

“You’d better swear to me. I’m the one who you have to convince.”

“I swear, I swear. I won’t ever do that again.”

“Do what, Delbert? Tell me what you’ve done?” I grabbed another finger.

“I raped women. I don’t know how many. Six or seven. Maybe more. I’m usually h-h-high. But, I never killed any of them. It was j-just sex.”

“It wasn’t sex, it was only violence,” I said, taking off the next finger .

My fucking heart sank. I knew about Waverly, and I assumed he’d done the same to other women, but it made me sick to hear him confirm it.

I pulled a butane pencil torch from the toolbox, clicked it on and held it directly on Boneyard’s finger stumps.

Cauterizing the wound in seconds, while also causing him excruciating pain.

“Please don’t hurt me anymore. Please, just let me go. I want to go home,” he sobbed.

“Those women wanted to go home too, didn’t they? They begged for mercy too, right? But you didn’t care then, so I don’t care now. Tonight, you’re going to pay for what you did. And I want you to know it’s because one of those women was brave enough to tell her story that I’m here with you tonight.”

“I’ll pay her. Whoever she is, I’ll fucking pay her whatever she wants. Whatever she’s paying you, I’ll pay double to let me go.”

“She doesn’t even know we’re here tonight,” I replied.

“If she’s not fucking paying you than why are you doing this?”

“I’m here to balance the scales of justice. You violently abuse women, and tonight you’re going to answer for it. You didn’t kill them, or you’d already be dead, but you did take something from them, so tonight I’ll take from you.”

“Please don’t take all my fingers. Don’t make me a freak.”

“Don’t worry. We’re done with that. ”

“Thank you, thank you,” Boneyard sobbed.

“I’m pretty sure I can guess the answer to this question, but have you read much Shakespeare?” I asked.

Boneyard shook his head.

“Nah, I didn’t figure as much. Well, I have read ’em all, and my favorite of all his works is the Merchant of Venice. You know that one?”

“Nah, man.”

“It’s a courtroom drama set in sixteenth century Italy, about a merchant named Antonio who defaults on a loan he takes out on behalf of a friend.

It was never as popular as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliette or Richard the third, but it’s a great play, and is where we get the term ‘Pound of Flesh.’” I turned to Orion. “Did you know that? ”

“Nope,” he replied.

“Well, anyway, in the play, Shylock, the money lender, asks the court for a pound of Antonio’s flesh as payment and penalty for defaulting on the loan, and drama ensues.

Now, I won’t give away the ending just in case you live to see another day and want to read it for yourself, but I will tell you that we have our own pound of flesh situation going on, here tonight. ”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Boneyard asked.

“I’m talking about taking a pound of your flesh to balance out the scales of justice. The very flesh you chose to assault them with, in fact.”

“Please don’t cut me,” was the last thing Boneyard said before I grabbed a dirty shop rag from the toolbox and shoved it into his mouth. The last thing he said before I took his cock and balls with my kukri knife.

* * *

Orion and I were almost as quiet on the ride back into town as we were on the trip out, that is until we were almost home.

“You think it was smart, letting him live?” Orion asked.

“No, but it was fair. Boneyard didn’t kill Lennon’s friend.”

“With you being back in town for a while, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out who you are, and who you’re affiliated with.”

“His club is small fucking potatoes. Those peckerwoods wouldn’t fucking dare step up to the Howlers.”

“Maybe so, but he might decide to step up to you. You fucking castrated the guy.”

I shook my head. “Castration is removing the testicles. I took his dick too, which means I emasculated him.”

“I’m glad this is fucking amusing to you.”

“I’m not amused, but I’m not fucking sorry, either. The guy was a serial rapist, and now he can’t do that anymore.”

“He could still retaliate against his prior victims for what you did to him.”

“That’s why I never told him who I was representing,” I replied.

Orion frowned. “I hope you know what you’re doing. I still say it would have been cleaner to just ice the guy and bury him in the fucking desert.”

I shrugged. “And maybe you’ll get your way.

He could still die as a result of his injuries.

A kukri knife and portable torch aren’t exactly approved surgical tools.

Not to mention the agony that awaits him in the burn unit.

He could die of shock, infection, or simply lose the fucking will to live.

A shot to the head and a shallow grave would have been too good for this animal.

He needs to suffer like those women suffered. Like Lennon’s friend suffered.”

“You did this for her didn’t you? For Lennon.”

“She has no idea about any of this,” I replied.

“That doesn’t matter. You still did this for her. ”