give him a chance to answer. Instead, I took the butt of the gun and slammed it against the back of his head, making him drop to the ground like a two-ton lead weight. By the time he started to wake up, Cyrus had already bound and gagged him to a chair. We didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing him scream, but Cyrus got a kick out of shoving a dirty sock down the fucker’s throat, hoping that he’d gag on it as he came to. And sure enough, the minute he opened his eyes, he started coughing and gagging like the pathetic little bitch that he was.
Daniel’s eyes roamed across the room. Panic washed over his face when he noticed all of my brothers standing around him. Gus walked over to him and grabbed a fistful of his hair as he said, “Not gonna sugarcoat this, Daniel. As of tonight, you’re done. We’re going to dump your sorry piece of shit ass into the fucking river, but before we do that, my man Clutch has a few questions for you.”
He released him just as Bic started towards him with one of his long, sharp blades. Daniel’s face twisted with fear as Bic took the knife and pressed it against his chest, applying enough pressure to slice through the cotton fabric of his black t-shirt and gouge into the first few layers of his skin. Blood began to seep down Daniel’s chest as Bic knelt down in front of him. While twisting the knife still embedded in Daniel’s chest, he said, “My brother has a few questions for you. You answer him, and this will go a whole lot easier for you.”
Daniel nodded frantically as Bic pulled the sock from his mouth. I didn’t move from my spot as I asked, “Who else was involved?”
“Involved in what?” he spat.
Bic took his knife and quickly jabbed it deep into Daniel’s thigh, leaving it there as a reminder that there was more to come. His body instantly curled against his restraints as he groaned out in pain. As he lowered his head and pissed himself, his body began to tremble uncontrollably. I could see he’d resigned himself to the reality of his imminent demise. I stepped over to him and asked again, “Who else was involved?”
With a whimper, he answered, “Me. It was just me.”
“Hanson had nothing to do with it?” I asked.
“No,” he groaned. “He’d never have gone along with it. It was just me. I had to do it to get the deal done.”
“And your old man?”
He paused for a minute, then snarled, “What about him?”
I grabbed him by the throat, squeezing tightly against his windpipe as I growled, “Was he involved?”
The veins in his face began to rise to the surface as I kept my hold on his throat, and when I finally released him, he coughed and groaned, “No.” Once he’d caught his breath, he continued, “When he wouldn’t go along with my plan, I blackmailed him. Told him I’d make the police think he’d done it.”
“Is that why he killed himself?” I asked out of curiosity.
His face hardened as he said, “When he continued to refuse me, I killed him and made it look like a suicide.”
The guy was off his fucking rocker. His lust for money would be his demise, and I couldn’t think of a person who deserved it more. Once he’d confirmed that there was no one else involved, it was done. Nothing else mattered. I gave the nod to Gus, and within a couple of hours, I was on my bike headed home to Olivia and the kids.
It was still dark when I stepped outside. I’d been trying for hours, but I just couldn’t sleep, so I thought some fresh air might help. A cool breeze whipped around me as I walked over to one of the picnic tables and sat down. It was so quiet, nothing like it usually was. All the constant talking and scuffling around was gone, and it was just me and a hint of the sun rising over the mountaintops. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my rattled nerves, but it was no use. I’d been up all night waiting for Clutch to call, but I never heard from him. It wasn’t like him not to check in, so I couldn’t help but think something was wrong. When I was just about to have a complete come-apart, Smokey came