Colson (The Henchmen MC #20) - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,39

age while I was seriously injured, but to find a way to use their presence to my advantage, find a way to rig the system, get myself free when no one was around to try to stop me.

Yeah, that seemed like a better plan, I decided as I took a deep breath that made a stabbing sensation assault my ribs.

It wasn't long after that when I heard the familiar car, doors, the footsteps.

Two sets.

I was getting good at figuring shit like that out.

Old dogs could, apparently, still learn some new tricks.

"Not looking so good, big man," my torturer's voice taunted as he came around me, a bat rested across his shoulders, his arms resting on it. "See?" he said to someone behind me. "It's not so bad. You get used to it," he added. "Come over here and get a look at him."

This wasn't one of the other guys I had seen before.

He was younger.

Yeah, sure, the others were young too. But all, from the looks of things, legal.

This one?

No.

He had to be just barely a teen.

My boys had looked just like him at that age, all arms and legs. And not a fucking lick of sense.

This kid wasn't as hardened as the others, either. The others didn't flinch when they saw me, didn't show me any sympathy.

But this one flinched.

His eyes looked wide, full of pity, shocked, and maybe even a little queasy.

"He thinks he's a badass," the older guy went on, making my gaze shift to him for a second. "But I have been showing him just how much of a pussy he is. Like this," he went on as I tried not to brace, knowing it would hurt more, might cause more damage, if my muscles were tense.

The bat caught me across my lower stomach. Unpleasant, but luckily not somewhere that would cause too much damage.

The kid winced, sucking in his breath.

If I had a chance of getting someone to help me, he was it.

The problem was that the older guy would never let that slide.

"Fuck," he hissed a couple minutes later, his phone ringing in his pocket. He reached for it, cursing again. "I have to take this, little man. Here, have some fun," he demanded, handing the bat to the kid and strolling out of the building.

"Hey, it's alright," I told him as he stared helplessly down at the bat. "You don't need to beat someone with a bat to prove you're a man," I told him.

He glanced at me, then around me where his friend or mentor or whoever the fuck he was was talking on the phone. I couldn't make out any words, just the stressed sound of his speech.

The kid's hands tightened on the bat. He even managed to raise it, cock it back, before his shoulders slumped, unable to find the stomach to do it.

He lowered the bat down at his side as he walked around the mostly empty space, going over toward the small storage cabinet at my side, running his hand over the items there.

My cell, long dead. My wallet. A wad of cash with a silver money clip Summer had given me for a Father's Day once. It wasn't worth much, but it had sentimental value. It took a lot not to object when the kid glanced over at the door to make sure the man wasn't looking before picking the cash and the clip.

Swallowing my pride, I let out a low, groaning sound, making the kid's glance shoot over to me, his eyes wincing small.

"My shoulders," I told him, hearing the man's voice outside get more rushed, more heated. I wouldn't have long. He was going to come back in here and take his mood out on me, or he was going to peel out of here to handle something. I knew that tone. It was a 'shit hitting the fan' tone. "I've been hanging here for days," I added.

"I don't know—" he started, looking helpless. "I can't—" he tried again, shaking his head.

"You could let me down. Just an inch," I pressed. "No one but me would ever know. I couldn't get away. It would just stop my shoulders from screaming. I don't know if I can take anymore. Please, kid. Just an inch," I kept going, seeing him wavering, his eyes darting from me, to my shoulders, to the chain, to where the chain was attached to the back wall. "He would think it was one of the other guys who comes by," I added.