Wicked Shadows (Steele Security Book 5) Read online

  Elle spoke first when the owner arrived in the middle of the scene. “It was my idea. The only reason they’re out here is because I coerced them. Put all the punishment on me. Just don’t hurt them.”

  The distinguished-looking man regarded her, contemplating her words for a moment. The tension around the ladies was thick and heady, feeding his controlling nature. “Take the other three back inside and leave your gun with me.”

  “No!” Beth screamed as one man lifted her to her feet. She fought against him, struggling in vain against his strength. “No, Elle! Leave her alone!”

  They were forcefully taken back to the house while Elle remained kneeling on the ground alone. Just as they stepped into the basement, a gunshot rang out in the night, followed by the screaming wails of the three who still lived.

  “Move—or I’ll make you move,” the man behind Beth threatened.

  With tears streaming down her face and sobs racking her body, she forced her feet to move, following the others back up the staircase and down the hall to her room. The door was slammed and locked behind her. Resigned to her fate, she fell onto the bed and cried herself into a restless, fitful sleep.

  Elle remained motionless in a heap on the ground outside while the two men stood over her. “Spider, she has to go first thing in the morning. The rest can stay here for now, but we need to arrange to transfer them soon.”

  “You got it.” Spider picked up Elle and slung her over his shoulder. “Guesthouse for tonight?”

  “That’s fine. Just make sure she’s gone by the time I leave for work.”

  “Don’t worry. I got you covered, Uncle B.”

  Spider walked off toward the guesthouse, his brother-in-colors, Axle, falling into step at his side. “She’s hot, isn’t she? We could fuck every hole she has twice tonight, and she wouldn’t know it. I gave her an extra spray of our sleeping juice for good measure.”

  “No way, man,” Axle replied. “You know I wouldn’t normally give a shit what you do to some sheep, but this one brings a special price. Your dick isn’t going to rob me of my retirement fund.”

  “Just as well, I guess. I do prefer them to be conscious when they suck my dick. Can’t get enough of those girls who can suck better than a Hoover.” Spider laughed and opened the door to the guesthouse. He dropped her on the bed and shook his head. “Shit. I don’t want to sleep in the fucking guesthouse to babysit her all night.”

  “Head on back to the main house. I’ll stay. This place is nicer than my shitty apartment.”

  After Spider left, Axle moved into the living room, leaving the bedroom door open so he could see her, and dropped down on the couch. He raked his hands over his face before removing his phone from his pocket. “Hey. Yeah. I got eyes on her now. It’s just a matter of time.”

  Deception seems to be the name of the game with these guys, Elle thought. I can play that game, too

  After she’d been caught and they’d taken the others inside, Spider sprayed the sleeping serum in her face. When she slumped on the ground, her captor fired his gun into the air as a scare tactic to keep the others in line. She’d prepared herself by holding her breath to avoid inhaling the spray when she saw Spider moving toward her. With one eye barely open, she saw the older man lift his arm above his head and knew what would come next. She kept perfectly still, not giving away her advantage or her subterfuge.

  She waited for Axle to fall asleep in front of the television, hoping the noise would mask her movements. When his breaths became even and he didn’t move for an extended time, she silently rolled off the bed and tiptoed to the door. With her hand on the knob, she began to turn it.

  “If you open that door, every alarm in this place will go off. You’ll be sorry this time, trust me. You’ve already tried twice. Third time will be lights-out for you.”

  She gasped and jumped at the same time, turning to look at him. He remained on the couch in the same position he was in when she’d thought he was asleep.

  “Best just to go on back to bed and wait until tomorrow. You’ll be moved from here. They won’t let you escape. Even if you get away this time, they won’t let you live. They can’t take the chance you’ll talk.”

  “So I’m just supposed to take it? To let them do what they want with me?” Fire lit in her eyes, and her lips formed a thin line. Rage built up inside her, pushing her to the limit.

  “You don’t have much choice. You’re in this now, so you’ll just have to ride it out till the end. Whatever that may be.”

  “Why are you here? I remember seeing you in St. Lucia. Were you following me then? Helping them to kidnap me?”

  “Nope.”

  She waited for him to continue, to elaborate on his single-word answer, but he didn’t. “That’s helpful. Thanks for the detailed explanation.”

  He chuckled and sat up, his gaze finally meeting hers. “Go to bed. You’re safe in here with me. I won’t let Spider back in until morning when we move you. Might want to remember that handy trick you used earlier when you see us coming for you, though.”

  “Why are you helping me?”

  “Because I’m selfish.”

  She rolled her eyes, huffed, and spun on her heel, heading back to the bedroom. She stopped in the doorway, the question she wanted to ask searing her mind. It was there, on the tip of her tongue, and she desperately wanted to know. Almost as much as she didn’t want to know at all.

  “Don’t ask, Elle. Just try to get some sleep. You’ll need it for tomorrow.”

  Dread filled her heart, then her feisty anger took control. She wasn’t giving up without a fight. She refused to bow down to them. Though she didn’t trust Axle, he had spared her more than once in a short time. Crawling back on the bed felt a lot like defeat, making it difficult for her to rest and sleep as he prompted.

  She heard the door open and recognized Spider’s voice before he saw she was already awake. She waited for the two men to enter her room, sensing they were close, before opening her eyes. They were closing in on her, leaning down toward her in a surprise attack.

  “Hey!” she yelled in mock surprise.

  Spider sprayed three short bursts of liquid into her face, and her body went limp. “Works every time,” he boasted. “I love this shit. Used it on this one slut the other night, and she didn’t remember anything.”

  “Man, you know if Headbanger gets wind of you flaunting that, he’ll cut your balls off and mount them on his handlebars as a warning to the rest of us.” Axle released a harsh huff toward Spider and snaked his arms under Elle’s back. “Grab her feet. I’ve got her head.”

  They carried her out to the waiting van and put her in the back. Spider climbed on his motorcycle and pitched the keys to the van to Axle. “Drive her to the old clubhouse. I’ll meet you there to help get her inside. Headbanger will have my head on a platter because I’ll be late for our officers’ meeting by the time we’re done.”

  Axle slid behind the wheel and followed Spider off the property. “Just stay down and pretend to be asleep. He’ll be gone soon enough. The club takes the officers’ meetings seriously. He’s already on thin ice with the prez, so he won’t risk being too late.”

  “You can just let me go, you know?” She had to try—he was looking out for her well-being for a reason.

  “Ah, you know I can’t do that. And if you know what’s good for you, don’t act like I’m your friend. None of us are good guys, sweetheart. You wouldn’t want to be our friend.”

  “You’re not as good of an actor as you like to think you are, Axle.”

  She barely heard his laugh over the roar of the road. “I guess I’d better go back to acting classes, then. Evidently, I won’t win one of those little gold statues anytime soon. Or maybe I will. Maybe I’ve completely played you to get you to cooperate.”

  “Maybe,” she conceded. “You wouldn’t be the first. Hopefully, you won’t be the last either.”

  At the former clubhouse, a wide metal door opened for the van to pull completely
inside, fully hidden from the outside. Once the door was shut, the blackness covered everything. “Pretend you’re still asleep. He’s coming now,” Axle whispered.

  The back door of the van swung open, and Spider grabbed her ankles, dragging her roughly toward the edge. “Grab her head. I’ve got to get going. I’m so fucking late.”

  Axle grabbed Elle under the arms and helped carry her inside. The musty, mildewed smell of the interior was a stark difference to the opulent mansion she’d been expelled from the night before. Dust and dirt covered everything, infiltrating her nose and threatening to make her sneeze. She held her breath until Spider dumped her on an old, filthy mattress thrown on the floor in the corner of the room.

  “Want me to send someone by with food and beer?” Spider asked on his way out.

  “Nah. I’ll call one of the probies and put him to work. Get to your meeting before you get kicked out of the officers’ club.”

  When she heard the rumble of Spider’s motorcycle and the loud metal clank of the roll-up door, she bolted up from the mattress and searched her new cell. The lights barely cast dim rays around the windowless room. The interior doors were thick steel, designed for maximum security. The rooms with working lightbulbs were near mirror images of the first room.

  “You must be hungry. Come in here and choose what you want. I’ll order takeout,” Axle called from the other room.

  “Is this what I needed my rest for?” She held out her arms and gestured to the dilapidated furnishings.

  He cut his gaze to her, and his lips lifted on one side in amusement. But something closer to remorse shone in his dark eyes. “No, sweetheart. Not hardly.”

  The midday sun in Southern California was hot. In the remote, arid hangout of the Devil’s Dominion initiation grounds, the heat was nearly unbearable. But the members of the club didn’t mind, because the Doorman’s induction into the group was cause for celebration. And for beating up the new guy.

  “Gather ’round,” Headbanger yelled over the roar of the crowd. A hush immediately fell over the group as they did as he commanded. “Some of you have met our newest member. He had a nickname before he came to us, but we’ve changed it. He’s now known as the Doorman. Tonight is his official induction into the club. Some of you will be pissed to know he’s entering the ranks higher than any of you pussies did because he’s of better use to me than you are. What do you think of that?”

  A loud rumble of discord and outright threats floated over the crowd of angry bikers. “What the hell? What the fuck’s so special about him?”

  “He has contacts we need to complete our next weapons shipment. AR-16s, fully auto, locked and loaded. We’re keeping a few dozen for ourselves and selling the rest. Military-grade aerosol canisters, gas masks, and whatever else we need. He’s our man.” Headbanger smiled broader the more the men grumbled and groaned.

  He loved riling them up before an initiation. The extra surge of testosterone and adrenaline produced much more creative consequences for the new recruit. It also kept the men sharp, ready to dole out pain for pleasure. As long as no one killed or permanently incapacitated the new member, nothing else was off-limits.

  “All right, boys. Make the Doorman feel at home.” Headbanger stepped back, his snide sneer in place.

  A group of twenty handpicked men closed in on Shadow, taunting him with insults as they shuffled around him. He braced himself, knowing the first hit would be a sucker punch meant to disorient before the brood jumped on him at once.

  The biker tried to be nonchalant, but Shadow saw the punch coming and turned his head away from it slightly, softening the blow. The others immediately jumped at the chance, fists flying, flesh smacking against flesh. He ducked and shielded his head with this thick arms as much as he could. Several banded together and pushed him to the ground, where they commenced kicking and punching him repeatedly.

  He heard Headbanger’s laughter roar over the angry mob surrounding him.

  From between his arms, he saw the crowd part to allow another man a wide berth to pass. He could barely make out the outline of what the guy carried in his hand, but the glowing red end left no room for mistaking it. They were getting ready to hold him down and brand him.

  Elle’s face flashed in his mind. Amid the kicks to the back and legs, the punches to his jaws and ribs, he focused on her safety as a reminder of why he allowed the beating to occur in the first place. His revenge would be swift and terrible as soon as she was out of harm’s way. It was the feel of her embrace and smell of her smooth skin that prevented him from screaming out in pain when the skin on his back sizzled from the searing hot branding iron.

  “Enough.” One word from Headbanger halted all action. “Get up, Doorman. Greet your brothers.”

  Shadow stood and faced the man holding the branding iron. His mocking laugh was met by the cold, fierce stare of a man who tortured people for a living to gain intel from them. For that dickhead, Shadow decided he’d do it for free.

  With his lightning reflexes, Shadow snatched the brand from the biker’s hand and had him flat on his back before anyone knew what had happened. With his heavy boot across the guy’s neck holding him in place, Shadow twirled the hot iron in his fingers, watching the fear fill his victim’s eyes. The angry mob stood stock-still, shocked at the sudden turn of events and unsure of how they should react.

  “We’re brothers now, right?” Shadow asked, taunting his mocker. “We need matching tattoos, then.”

  On a downward twirl, Shadow pushed the brand into his chest. The biker screamed in pain, his arms flailing as he tried to hit Shadow’s leg, the brand—anything he could reach that would stop the pain. Shadow lifted the brand and inspected the angry, burnt skin in the middle of the biker’s chest.

  “That’s better.” Shadow released him and spat on the ground, barely missing his shocked face. He threw the branding iron, making several of his new brothers jump out of the way. He turned his sights on the men who had so brutally inducted him, ready to return the favor tenfold. The first one within reach was the unlucky poster boy for the others. Shadow held him with one hand and repeatedly punched him with the other.

  When the rest of the initiators attempted to stop him, he released his victim and let his fists fly. When they thought they had him contained, he outwitted and outmaneuvered them, while hurling insults about their inability to overpower him, even with twenty men to one. Every word and every blow only added to his determination. At the end of the case, he would be surprised if a single Devil was still standing.

  “Stop.” Headbanger moved into the crowd and surveyed Shadow from top to bottom. Then he turned to do the same to the men he’d picked to induct Shadow. “You’re beat to shit—your face, arms, everywhere. But you give as good as you get. These boys look like they’ve been through a meat grinder.”

  “And I was only getting warmed up.”

  Headbanger laughed at his response, but Shadow wasn’t joking.

  “You’re part of the Devil’s Dominion now. But you have to complete a couple of tasks to get your rocker panels and patch. You ready?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He pulled a picture from his vest pocket and handed it to Shadow. Nick moved around the crowd so he was in a direct line of sight behind Headbanger, reading Shadow’s expression. “Find her. Take her. Don’t get caught or be seen by anyone.”

  “Take her where? Who is she?”

  “To the country club. Spider can fill you in. And who she is doesn’t matter. Complete this, and you get the bottom rocker and the club patch.”

  “And the top rocker?”

  “You are ambitious.” Headbanger smiled, knowing Shadow wasn’t the type to do anything half-assed. “Someone has been a thorn in my side. You can take care of that for me, right?”

  “Of course.” Shadow shrugged, as if a request to kill someone was an everyday occurrence. “Who?”

  “The girl first. Then the top rocker. One step at a time.”

  Shadow shifted his
eyes slightly over Headbanger’s shoulder and connected with Nick’s. An imperceptible nod was all it took to confirm his suspicions.

  “Spider, take the Doorman to the old clubhouse with you. Explain our process to him. Take Axle and Renegade with you, too.”

  “Axle is already there, babysitting our company.”

  “Even better. You head on over to the old clubhouse and keep him company, then. Renegade and Doorman can handle this one on their own. Can’t you, boys?”

  “Piece of cake,” Shadow replied.

  “Renegade, come talk to me before you leave,” Headbanger called over his shoulder when he walked away.

  19

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Silas Steele, Noah’s brother, pulled up to the gate and pressed the call button, holding it an extra few seconds longer than necessary.

  “Can I help you?” the female voice asked.

  “Yeah. You can open the gate and let me in. I need to talk to Jason Hartman immediately—it’s urgent.”

  “What is your name? Do you have an appointment for today?” she asked, hesitant to let him in or send him away.

  “My name is Silas Steele, and I’m a federal agent. Tell Jason he can either willingly talk to me now, or I can come back with the SWAT team and a warrant for his arrest. Either way, this gate will open for me.” Silas removed his badge and held it in front of the camera. The automatic gate began to swing open, giving him access to drive in. “Good call.”

  When Silas reached the secluded house in the woods, Jason Hartman, also known as Jax Hart, stepped out of the house with his private security detail surrounding him. Even though he stood between three men who could double as club bouncers, Jax wore a leery expression. His gaze roamed over the cab of Silas’s truck, trying to see through the blacked-out windows.