I appreciated that more than I could admit. “Thank you,” I nodded. “We’ll get the club shit figured out too. Nico is working on Seratelli to get you guys a sit down.”
“Appreciate that,” Kevin said. “Things got more complicated when we started dating a lawyer, and all the shit Mac signed us up for before he passed. It wasn’t a club vote.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, we’re seeing a lot of that in the clean-up from Buckley’s death. It’s been a pain in the fucking ass.”
Kevin also huffed out a laugh, and I felt the unease lift off my heart for at least a bit. I was still worried and terrified that something was happening to Maya, but being injured, there wasn’t much I could do to add to her search. “It would really help if we had a tech guy who could find Hillcrest. He’s been a ghost.”
Kevin’s mouth slowly opened, then closed again. “I may have someone who can help with that.”
I raised an eyebrow at the man as he puffed on the joint.
“My brother is a tech guy. He helped find Carmichel when we were looking for him last year. I’ll give him a call.”
Relief had my shoulders sagged; there may be hope for Maya yet.
Maya
Pain.Paineruptedthroughmy body. It was my first thought as I slowly came back into consciousness. It radiated outwards from my shoulder and ribs. The rest of my body throbbed as well.
I’d been shot.
The memory had my eyes snapping open. Bright light blinded me, and I immediately closed my eyes, groaning.
A nasally laugh greeted me, forcing me to focus on my surroundings. I tried to open my eyes again, but there werebright lights aimed at me, forcing me to keep my eyes down, unable to take in my surroundings. “Welcome back, whore.”
Fear raced down my spine. I knew that voice. The voice of my nightmares.
I looked around wildly, eyes squinting, trying to find him.
He laughed, as if he were taking joy in my terror. “Finally, I have you right where I want you.”
I tried to sit up, tried to move, and realized I was strapped down to some kind of hospital bed or gurney, because I was angled up, so I was almost standing, and I was naked. Very fucking naked. I couldn’t move, no matter how much I pulled or yanked my limbs. My breathing labored as I began to panic. I was trapped.
Hillcrest laughed again, his voice coming from somewhere in the shadows of the room. I could make out the brief outlines of the tripods of the construction lamps that were aimed at me. For some reason, I was lit up like I was on stage.
“Please,” I murmured.
“Oh no, my little whore,” Hillcrest moved through the room. “Your men have cost me a lot of money, so I’m going to use you to make that money back.”
My head fell listlessly to the side; my mind swam. I had no idea what he was talking about.
Hillcrest was one who enjoyed the sound of his own voice—despite that it was nasally and of a higher pitch than most men—so I didn’t have to wait long for him to explain things. “You see, I’ve had a deal with the Devil’s Psychos president, Larry Buckley, for years. He made me money. In return, the bastard got what he wanted: his dogs kept on a tight leash and you out of the picture.”
I frowned, my eyebrows pulling together as I tried to work through what he had just told me. Dax Hillcrest had been working with Buckley? For years?
“It was like the stars aligned for me that night you witnessed me murdering the mayor. When I told Buckley who you were, he told me how much you’d been a problem for him. How you distracted his top guys. How you shook things up in the clubhouse on party nights. How your little disrespectful mouth kept starting fights between the sluts at the clubhouse. Buckley was fucking over the moon when I told him my plan to drive you away. Granted, he wanted me to kill you, but I knew I could use you one day.”
I felt like my mind was treading through water as I tried to keep up with what he was saying. Hillcrest and Buckley had been friends for the last decade? Buckley had wanted me gone? I always knew he was a snake, but to actually be connected to Las Serpientes for so long? He really had been their snake.
“Why?” My voice was raspy and low.
Hillcrest laughed evilly. “Why what, little whore? You’ll have to be more specific, because I already told you why Buckley wanted you gone. As for me?” He laughed again. “Because it was fun? Because seeing the terror in your beautiful amber eyes every single time you got a new bouquet was like a hit of dopamine to the brain. And I became addicted.”
Fear ran down my spine. He was deranged. He got off on my fear. There would be no saving me from this man. I would not be able to play on his baser instincts to plead for release. He wasn’t wired like everyone else.
“Please, God,” I begged.
Hillcrest’s evil laughter was my only answer.
