Doing as they were instructed, two of the guys came over and dragged Thomas to a truck that was parked several feet away. I could hear the men talking amongst themselves, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I was too freaked out. I could feel the sweat drench my skin, the rapid beating of my heart vibrating in my ears, and the tension taking hold of every muscle in my body. My fingers curled into a fist, my nails dug into my palm, and my breath quickened. Air flooded in and out of my lungs at such a rate I feared I might pass out. I tried to settle myself by slowing my breathing and forcing myself to think, but all of my efforts were lost when I heard the man ask Mathews, “You take care of the security cameras?”
“Already told you I did,” Mathews spat. “Assholes didn’t even notice when that shit went black.”
“All right, then.” The guy looked over to me. “What do you want us do about her?”
His eyes skirted over to me. It was at that moment I knew things were about to go from bad to worse. Without so much as a blink, he answered, “Get rid of her.”
“No!” I shouted as I tried to break free from the man’s hold. “Thomas already told you. I had nothing to do with this.”
Before I could say anything more, I felt the man’s fist slam into my ribs, causing the air to rush from my lungs. He hit me again—hard enough to crack a couple of my ribs—and my knees buckled from the pain. I didn’t have a chance to shield myself before several of the men gathered around and started wailing on me like a punching bag. I’d never been in a fight or even hit someone before, so I didn’t know how to react. I could only take the beating that they were dishing out. It was as if I were a rag doll as I dropped to the ground and tried to keep myself from passing out while they continued to kick me in the side and head.
Thankfully, it stopped as quickly as it had started. Every inch of my body ached and throbbed, and my chest felt like it was caving in on me as I lay there trying to take in a breath. Everything was spinning when I felt someone’s hand tangle in my hair, pulling hard as they dragged me across the parking lot. When they’d gotten me over to one of their cars, the guy released my hair and dropped me to the ground. Once they’d opened the trunk, one of them lifted me up and tossed me inside.
I was barely conscious, but was aware enough to hear Mathews say, “Finish her off, then take her over to Stilettos. Toss her into one of their dumpsters.”
“Why there?”
“Hell, look at her. She’ll have people out there looking for her, and when they find her in that fucking dumpster, it’ll take the heat off you and put it on the Sinners.”
“Got it.”
My breathing was shallow, and I was losing consciousness when I felt a jab at my gut, followed by searing pain. I felt a second jab in my chest, and that was it. Everything went black.
Shotgun
When I pulled up to Stilettos, I wasn’t surprised to see it was packed. Since the day we opened, it had been one wild night after the next. I parked at the front door, then went inside to find Menace. The music was blaring, and three of the stages were crowded with a mix of the club’s regulars and some newcomers. From the way they were carrying on, it was evident they liked our new girls, especially Candy. The girl was a knockout with all the right moves, taunting the men with every turn on the pole. I had no doubt the chick was bringing in bank, and it wouldn’t be long before she’d be able to cover the cost of her college tuition and more.
I headed back to the office, and when I walked in, I found Menace sitting at his desk working on the computer. He seemed pretty enthralled in whatever he was doing and never even looked up as I sat down in the chair in front of him, so I was surprised when he said, “Hey, brother. I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”
“Just thought I’d come by to see how things were going.”
“Going good.” He looked up from his screen. “Looks like another big night.”
“Apparently so. Hell, I could barely find a spot to park my fucking bike.”
“That’s the way we want it.” Menace leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Anything going on at the clubhouse?”
Before I could answer, there was a tap at the door, and Diego, one of our bus boys, stepped inside with a panicked expression on his face. “Hey, man...Umm...I think we got a problem.”