Page 114 of The First Cut

I keep crawling until I’m right behind him before my arms give out. Using what strength I have left, I do the only thing Ican. I swipe the scalpel across the back of his heels with as much force as I can, first one then the other.

He screams as he falls, collapsing on top of me, which is when I finally give in to the darkness. Only this time, I do it with a smile on my face.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Hannibal

Ishake hands with Hazzard as I stand to leave, knowing this could have all turned out differently if he wasn’t quite so level-headed.

“He’s a dead man. You know that, right?”

“With three club presidents gunning for him, I think a coma is the least of his worries.”

“I can guarantee the fucker will die in a world of pain if we get to him first. Knowing he’s responsible for Freya’s disappearance, Colt will want his pound of flesh. Hell, he ate at their fucking table. Even if that girl turns out to be Freya and we bring her home, she won’t be the same girl we lost.”

Gritting his teeth, he takes a second to get himself together. Colt may be Freya’s father, but he’s not the only one who cares about her.

“It will only take one of you to bring her back here.” I tap the side of my head. “Could be her dad, could be you as the president. Hell, it might be a prospect as they’ll seem the most non-threatening. Who knows? But it only takes one person tohold on to her while she figures everything out. That way she knows she’s not alone.”

He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “I know how to lead, Hannibal. I’m the president that has an answer for everything, but not this. I have no fucking clue how to make this right.”

I huff, remembering having the same thoughts.

“You don’t. You can’t. But you can make her feel safe and protected. After that, when she’s no longer in survival mode, she’ll start to heal. It just takes time.”

“You talking from experience?”

I run my tongue over my teeth. “My old lady used to be Driller’s old lady.”

His eyes widen at that before his expression hardens. “Are you fucking serious?”

“She was Havoc’s old lady before he went down for his brother’s crime. She didn’t even know he wasn’t coming home until Driller turned up and told her. Havoc had no idea she was pregnant with his kid. A kid Driller beat out of her the first time he raped her. He blackmailed her into a relationship and then beat and raped her the whole time they were together.”

“Holy fuck.” He stands up and walks to the bar behind him, grabbing a bottle of whiskey. He twists off the top and takes a deep pull before offering it to me. “You want to know something? I never liked the guy. Thought he was a cocky asshole, but Colt vouched for him.” He shakes his head.

“It’s the angle he played. When we looked into shit, we found nothing on Driller initially, just Khan. I’m starting to think it was all an act, and Khan was the weak link.”

He stares at the wall, lost in thought. “All this time…how did you even find this all out? He was passing shit through our club and we were oblivious.”

“Pure luck. I had Byte looking into the doc Driller used to patch Lola up. The doc Driller paid to treat Lola's the same one Khan paid to remove the organs. He had photos and x-rays of the shit done to Lola, and then when Byte kept digging, he got info about all the rest.”

“The fucker probably planned to blackmail them at some point.”

“That was my guess, too.”

“Where the fuck is this asshole now?”

“Dead. The report says he had his throat slit and someone cut out his heart.”

“Poetic justice?”

“Guy’s been dead for weeks. My money’s on Driller. He was the only one left who could finger him in this.”

“Figures.”

I walk to the door. “Scrap the deal. Get rid of anything that might incriminate your club. We’ve served ties with Driller, and Khan’s dead. I want to remain allies with you, Hazzard, but on our own terms.”

“I’ll take it to the table, but with things being like they are right now, it could go either way.”