Mackenzie circled her arms around my waist. “Be careful.”
“Nothing for you to worry about, baby,” I assured her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
When I returned to the basement, I was damn near giddy with excitement. I’d forgotten how much fun I used to have in my prime days as the Enforcer for the Blackwings. And I was suddenly eager to make up for lost time.
I clapped my hands once and rubbed my palms together as if I was trying to warm them. Then, I looked back and forth between Mitzie and Sean. “’Tis the season to die, bitches. Who wants to go first?”
The sound of someone knocking on the door at the top of the stairs had me pausing. And then rolling my eyes when they continued incessantly knocking.
“Who the fuck is that?” Copper muttered.
“I think we know who it is. The better question is, what the fuck does she want?”
I knew as well as they did Tatum wouldn’t interrupt unless it was urgent. Quite frankly, I was shocked she was even still in the building. She didn’t know exactly what we were doing, but she knew enough to know it wasn’t something she should be around for.
Trey quickly ascended the stairs and opened the door. I listened intently but couldn’t hear anything they were saying. A few moments later, Trey jogged down the stairs with an unreadable look on his face. He went straight to Copper and whispered something close to his ear. Copper’s eyes widened briefly before he inhaled deeply. “Church!”
Once we were upstairs behind closed doors, Copper slid a cell phone that’d seen better days across the table to Spazz but addressed the room. “That’s Mitzie’s cell phone. The last few messages she received were from an unknown number. They start out asking for an update on the package and become more aggressive, demanding to know where she is and when she’ll arrive.”
Spazz already had the phone in his hand while his fingers tapped away at the screen.
“Sorry, she’s going to be late. She’s a little tied up at the moment,” Trey laughed, as did the rest of the guys.
“Shit, that one never gets old,” Judge chuckled.
“Hold on. What package?” I asked and glanced between Copper and Spazz. “What fucking package?” I demanded and stood from my seat.
“I’m guessing Brinkley,” Spazz announced with his eyes still glued to the phone. “I don’t know the who, what, or why yet, but she was definitely supposed to take an important package to another person.”
“Do you have any idea who this person is?”
“No, not a clue,” Spazz said distractedly. “But I’m working on it.”
Copper nodded and focused on me. “You and Batta go downstairs and see if you can get anything out of Sean or Mitzie while Spazz is doing his thing. Whoever she was supposed to meet will likely be looking for her or their package. We need to know what kind of loose end we might be dealing with.”
Fuck! The possibilities were endless. And I couldn’t let myself go down that sick and twisted rabbit hole. Not until I was given the okay to spill blood. Then, I’d do my worst.
I inhaled deeply and squared my shoulders. “Come on, boy. Let’s do this.”
I entered Sean’s cell without preamble and grabbed him by his throat, continuing forward until the back of the chair he was tied to hit the concrete wall, as did his head.
“Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me,” he begged.
“I ain’t promising shit,” I spat and tightened my grip around his neck.
“I’ll do whatever you want. Just please don’t kill me,” he cried.
An image of Brinkley’s tear-streaked face as she screamed and reached for her mother over Sean’s shoulder flashed in my mind, and my vision blurred with rage.
“Bear,” my son said from behind me. He’d never called me by my road name before, and it was enough to bring me back to my senses.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
He chuckled and nodded to the floor. “It’s easier for him to talk if he’s conscious.”
I looked down at the pathetic piece of shit on the floor, sniveling through the blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
“Yeah, but this makes me feel better,” I grumbled and reluctantly put the chair back on its feet.