The bastard shouted, slamming my door as he left. Fucker should have thought twice before coming in here. I made it perfectly clear that I would shoot any fucker who dared come in here and invade my private space. This was my room. Mine alone. The room I shared with her. No one was allowed to enter.
Drifting back into oblivion, I pictured her lovely face smiling at me, telling me she loved me. I did love her too, and I tried to tell her just that, but she faded away.
Moaning, I was woken by a sharp sting to my neck. Sitting up quickly, I went to fire my gun again when I heard the fucker speak. “Yeah, you bastard. We took your fucking gun. Now get the fuck up. You’re needed in church.”
“Fuck Healer,” I yelled, rubbing my neck. “That hurt!”
“Good. That means you can still feel.”
“Your bedside manner sucks!” I shouted as he left the room.
“So, you’ve said!”
Getting up, I went to the bathroom to do my business, then got dressed. I still felt like shit, but whatever Healer shot me up with gave me a little pep. Grumbling the whole way downstairs, I said nothing as brothers moved out of my way. No one said shit to me. Not that I cared as I walked into Church to find a fucking woman sitting at my table. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Reaper, this is Phantom,” Ghost said for her.
“I didn’t ask you, asshole. The bitch does have a tongue, doesn’t she?”
“You’re grumpy when you wake up, aren’t you?” the woman asked, ignoring me as she continued to type away on the laptop before her.
“Look, you bitch. Get the fuck out of here. This is my church,” I said, opening my arms wide. “And no little piece of ass is allowed in here without my permission.”
“Good thing I don’t take orders from you then,” the woman said, slamming her laptop closed. Getting to her feet, she turned to Ghost and spoke. “I don’t have to take this shit. Let him find her himself. I’m outta here.”
“Phantom please,” Ghost pleaded. “Let me talk to him for a minute.”
“You better get the asshole some coffee too. He needs it from the looks of him.”
Before I could respond, Ghost grabbed my arm, hauled me into the hallway, and slammed me up against the wall. “Listen to me, you stupid fucker. I’ve had a shitty two weeks while you decided to take a fucking vacation into the bottom of a bottle of jack. I’ve had to deal with club business that is yours, your fucking sister, your mother, and I won’t even mention the brothers you damn near maimed in your state. I know you are hurting. We get it. But I need you to snap the fuck out of it and listen. Don’t say shit. Just listen. Can you fucking do that?”
“I’m going to reap your fucking soul.”
“Fine,” Ghost seethed. “But do it later. Right now, I need you to clear out the cobwebs in your fucking brain, go in that room and listen.”
“Fine,” I growled, pushing Ghost away from me. I re-entered the room to find the woman sitting once again, waiting. I went to my chair, sat down, and kept quiet as Ghost locked the door behind him.
“Reaper,” the woman spoke calmly. “My name is Phantom. I’m the woman who has been helping Player. Do you remember me?”
I nodded.
“I have something I need to show you.”
The woman named Phantom then slid a picture across the table to me. Picking it up, I turned it over, and all the rage fled my body. It was Remi. I’d know that face anywhere. She looked scared, hurt, and starving. I couldn’t decipher where she was at, but according to the picture, she was alive. I studied every aspect of the image, from her pale skin color to her hair’s dullness. I could see the voidness of desperation in her eyes as she looked to nowhere, to her tear-stained cheeks.
“That picture was taken this morning.”
“Where,” I said, my voice cracking. My heart was breaking. She was alive and in pain. And what was I doing, getting drunk, wallowing in my own despair, which was nothing compared to what she was going through. I was a schumck. A fucking pussy. I didn’t deserve her. I let my light get taken, and instead of moving heaven and hell to find her, I curled up like a little bitch and cried.
“Louisiana,” Phantom answered, then asked. “I need you to confirm that is Remi.”
“It’s her.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the picture. She was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and when I got my hands on the motherfucker who took her, I was going to rip his body apart. I needed to avenge her. To give something back to her and if it was the dead heart of the fucker who hurt her, then so be it. I would gladly oblige.
“Listen, Reaper. This isn’t going to be as easy as we thought,” Ghost said, getting my attention. “The Louisiana chapter has her. They are moving people in and out of there faster than a fry cook at McDonald’s. We can’t let them know where coming because they could easily clean that place out as if nothing was wrong.”
“That chapter holds over twenty men. Are you telling me that every one of them is explicit in this?”
“No,” Phantom jumped in. “My source hasn’t been able to locate four of the men. So, I can’t be positive about their intentions. As for the rest, yes. They all work hand in hand with the traffickers.”