Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“Your father would have raised from the dead and killed you himself if he thought you would try and take up his chair,” Cowboy hisses.
“You’re wrong! He’d kill you for helping the enemy!”
“Why do you think the club accepted Grifter so easily? Your father gave us the name. I stood up against him, just to test him, and Leroy, Grifter is exactly the kind of man your father would want in his seat.”
“You’re a fucking liar. The club should have been mine. Once I was in charge, I was going to make things right—make it bigger, stronger. The War Kings said if I proved myself, they’d align with me.”
“The only thing they would have done is kill you and take over the club. You have no idea what you’re doing, asshole. In a club, you earn your patch with the blood you’re willing to sacrifice for your brothers. You don’t stab them in the back and light their homes on fire.”
He tries to bargain at once.
“Let me live. I can give you names of all of the War Kings who are trying to overtake you. I can tell you their plans,” he whines. I shake my head. It doesn’t take a genius to know he’s lying, trying anything to bargain for his life. The kid is desperate. No club is going to tell him shit. They know he’d stab them in the back the first chance he got. Hell, even if I’m wrong and he knows anything, I don’t give a damn. He dies tonight.
My men laugh at his pleading. Cowboy steps closer, looking down at Leroy in disgust. “Listen to you, already selling out your allies. You can’t lead men into battle when you’d slit their throats to save your own. You’re a disgrace to your father’s bloodline.”
Leroy’s face goes white like paper. Fear is rolling off of him in waves. “You’re wrong,” he tells Cowboy, but the rebuttal is weak at best.
“Maybe you can save yourself,” I murmur. “If you can tell me where your War Kings friends are—if there truly are any—you might save your life.”
“They’re at their compound. My connection is a man called Rabble,” he says at once, making me laugh.
We all know that Rabble is barely patched in with the War Kings. They may have promised him shit, but it would only be to see what they could get out of the asshole. “Tell me, Leroy, did the War Kings send you on this mission?”
“They told me that if I wanted their help, I had to prove my worth,” he says, his body trembling now as fear is taking over.
“And how were you going to do that?” I ask, continuing to play this game to see if I learn anything useful.
“They said if I managed to get control of my dad’s club, they’d make sure I had enough money and resources to make the club bigger and better.”
“Well damn, Leroy, how did that work out for you?” I ask, making my men laugh.
“They’re out to get you. I told you what I knew. You said if I told you about the War Kings, you’d let me go.”
“Hell no, I didn’t. You just interpreted what I said to mean that asshole. You were wrong. Maybe is not a commitment. You might have learned that if you had let your father make you into the kind of man men respected. Still, to show you I’m not a bad guy, I’m going to do you one last favor.”
“You are?” he asks, and the poor sap looks almost hopeful.
“Yeah. I’m going to turn your body into ash, so you don’t have to worry about those pesky funeral bills weighing down on anyone that cares about you.”
“Like there is anyone,” Cowboy mutters.
Leroy starts screaming and trying to jerk free. I ignore him and give C a signal. C jerks his head and disappears. I take out a dirty, oil-stained cloth from my pants pocket and pull Leroy’s mouth open and stuff the bag into it. I look back at Savage. “Before you join C, make sure he’s tied securely. I was going to knock him out but want him to see death coming to claim him. I want him as helpless as he tried to leave Nana.” Savage nods and the rest of us head out.
Once we get across the private driveway—where we’d parked our bikes so they would be a safe distance from the house—I breathe in the fresh air. “Did we contact the police and fire department?”
“Yeah. There won’t be anyone coming out for at least thirty minutes after the initial report. That will be more than enough time to let us get rid of everything that we need to, including cremating bodies.”
I already know that C and Savage are inside pouring accelerant on Leroy and the dead bodyguards so that once the fire hits, their bodies will be nothing but ash and dust. Hades has been quiet. I look at him to gauge what his state of mind is. He tilts his head as if to say he’s fine. I return the favor. Eventually, the other men come out. When he reaches me, I can tell that C has three bags of microwave popcorn.