“Is there anything you need from your house?”
Her eyes widened, but she shook her head.
“You sure? Because we’re going over there to get your brother and we can grab a few things for you.”
“Uh, my purse and keys should be hanging by the front door. If you happen to see my cell phone laying around, it’d be nice to have it. And, um, a pair of shoes if that’s not asking too much.”
“Not a problem. Brothers, we’re riding out in five. Mackenzie, come with me; my woman, Layla, will get you and Brinkley settled into a room for the night. Don’t leave the clubhouse for any reason whatsoever until one of the men in this room has told you it’s okay,” Copper said and led her from the room.
I glanced around at my brothers. “What in the actual fuck do you think this is about?”
Batta shrugged and tried to hide his grin. “Don’t know, but I bet we’ll find out soon.”
When Copper returned, we headed out to the forecourt. He pointed to one of the Suburbans Phoenix had given to the club and we all groaned. “Quit being bitches and get in. We can’t roll up on seven bikes in the middle of the night and catch him by surprise.”
When we pulled up to the house, there was a car parked in the driveway and a few lights were on. I walked around to the back of the house and noted that all windows were closed, meaning he’d been back to the house and was probably still in there. Using one of the stupidest tricks in the book, we lightly knocked on the front door.
The front door swung open. “Knew you’d be back, bitch.”
“Damn. I was hoping to surprise you,” I said as I wrapped my hand around his throat and stepped into the house.
He gasped and flailed, but we quickly had his arms and legs bound and a gag in his mouth. As soon as we gathered the few items requested by Mackenzie, Batta hoisted Tristan over his shoulder and tossed him in the backseat.
“Are we just that good or are these fuckers getting dumber?” Batta asked. “Because that shit was too easy.”
I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “I think it’s a little of both, brother.”
Batta studied Tristan for a few moments. “Do you know what we did to your brother?”
Tristan’s eyes widened comically and he started shouting something behind his gag. Batta laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Oh, you want to know why they call me Batta. It’s simple, really. I like breaking bones with my bat.” Tristan’s muffled cries became louder as he thrashed on the seat. “Calm down, boy. I’m not the one you need to be worried about. See this fucker right here. We call him Judge. Want to know why?”
Tristan shook his head frantically and yelled into his gag. Batta chuckled darkly. “Because he’s a good judge of character. He can tell anything about a person—if they’re lying, if they’ve reached their limit,” he paused and lowered his voice to almost a whisper, “by the sound of their screams.”
“If he pisses himself, you’re cleaning it up,” Copper shouted from the front.
“Oh, shit! I almost forgot,” Batta exclaimed and pulled something from underneath the seat. He maneuvered his big body so he could lean over Tristan. When he was finished, Tristan was wearing an adult-sized diaper over his jeans. Batta smiled proudly. “Piss away, pussy boy.”
I couldn’t hold in my laughter. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“What? It’s genius. I can scare the shit, or piss, out of him and I don’t have to clean it up.”
“Batta! Is that why Evelyn dropped off an industrial size box of those at the house and told Layla she was happy to help?” Copper demanded.
“Well, she has a membership to that new wholesale club, and she gets a senior citizen discount,” Batta explained and we all burst into laughter.
We went straight to the shed when we arrived back at the clubhouse, and I wasted no time getting started. “Listen, I’m fucking tired and so is everyone else in this room. Are you going to tell us what we want to know, or are you going to make me work for it?”
His face scrunched and I realized what he was about to do. “You fucking spit on me and I’ll burn your tongue off with a hot branding iron.” He paused and swallowed carefully.
“Prez, I say we get some sleep and see if he’s more receptive to conversation in the morning,” I suggested.
Copper nodded. “Sounds good. Tell Grant to come back to the clubhouse when you get home. He can guard Tristan for the rest of the night.”
With that, I went home to my girl.
Chapter Forty
Judge