Property of Drex (Book 1) (Death Chasers MC Series) (2 page)

Chapter 5

EVE

Benny kills the engine just as we reach an old warehouse, one that seems to have been abandoned long ago. But there’s no sign of any other bikers.

“Your mom should have received the money by now. You can call her if you want, but make it brief.”

I decide to send a text instead, considering my voice seems to have run away with the logical half of my mind.

Me:
I’m going away for a while. Sorry about leaving you like this, but I got a job in LA. I’ll call when I can.

I’m still in Texas—closer to the Mexican border than I was—but I’m far enough away from home that Mom won’t accidentally run into me. That is… if I even get to leave. I shudder just thinking about being turned into a sex slave.

Almost immediately, my phone buzzes with a text.

Mom:
Don’t play games. You’re not going to believe what just happened, but we don’t have to worry about money right now. Hurry home so I can explain better.

A small tear escapes my eye, reminding me this is all worth it. My family is taken care of. That’s all that really matters. I’m just collateral damage in the grand scheme of things.

“Don’t go back on your word,” Benny warns, his lips twitching in sadistic amusement as he stands and looks at me.

Clumsily, I clamber off the bike, pulling the helmet off without grace. I feel my hair wildly tousled around my head, but I don’t fix it. I’d rather be as unappealing as possible right now.

“I have no intentions of going back on my word,” I say through emotional strain.

His dark grin emerges, giving me a peek at the true devil beneath the flesh.

“Good. I’d hate to carve up that pretty little face.”

Chapter 6

DREX

“They’re at the warehouse, and they have a girl, just like they promised,” Sledge says, looking at me before he resumes his place on his bike.

I glance toward the road, still leery of this supposed
peace
offering.

“Not sure why we need them to give us a girl. They’d pour in off the streets if we opened our doors,” I tell him, pissed off by this whole
exchange
.

This is all too shady and bizarre. A fucking girl being presented as currency? We’ve sure as hell never done anything like this before, and I don’t trust a damn thing Benny Highland does.

“We don’t deal in human trafficking,” I remind Sledge when he doesn’t say anything. “And that’s exactly what this sounds like.”

Sledge grunts something in agreement, but Axle speaks as he walks up to us.

“Supposedly this is all consensual. No trafficking involved. Why are we doing this? Beats the fuck outta me. It all sounds a little suspicious.”

I abso-fucking-lutely agree with him on that last part. It’s suspicious as hell, and I don’t see the point in doing this shit.

“Herrin just wants to see what they’re up to. More than likely she’s a spy that Benny and his guys want to insert into our crew. Benny has never had enough finesse to do something on the discreet side. Herrin wants to have some
fun
getting the truth out of her,” Sledge says, smirking.

I nod, even though I’m still not sold on this idea. But Pop is the P. Not me. His word is final.

“And if she’s not a spy?” I ask Sledge.

“Then your dad gets a new toy that hasn’t been jaded by our world. Benny’s claiming the girl is as sweet and golden as anything he’s ever seen.”

“Virgin?” I ask, laughing hysterically.

Dad will destroy a girl that innocent.

“No, but not far from a virgin.” Sledge grins as he finishes the statement, seeming as amused as I am.

I shake my head, pitying the fool girl going through with this. She’ll be nothing more than a corpse if she’s working with Benny.

“I think you should stay here and let us check this out.” Sledge surprises me with his abrupt shift in conversation.

I just arch a brow at him. If he thinks I’m scared of a worm like Benny, he’s lost his mind.

“If I don’t show up, it’ll look like I’m afraid of him. Just have our guys ready to take them out from the rooftops if it looks like they’re luring us into a trap.”

“It won’t look weak,” he murmurs while putting his glasses back on. “Your father isn’t coming because he’s smart.”

“Pop has a bigger target on his back than I do. He killed Benny’s brother five years ago. If Benny wants a shot at me, he’s dumber than he looks. Pop would gut him and make sure he got to watch his own intestines being pulled from his body.”

Sledge smiles fondly of that imagery, then he starts up his engine, making it purr. “You’re the boss. We’ll do it your way.”

I nod and start my bike back up, ready to get this over with. Everyone follows my lead. Sledge stays close to my right, keeping his front wheel next to my back one. Hershel—Pop’s second longest loyalist—takes my left, getting even with Sledge.

We pace ourselves, crawling into the warehouse parking lot like we have all the time in the world. Between the abandoned containers and rusted, forgotten objects littering the otherwise vacant lot, our engines echo and resound, making it sound as though we’re hundreds instead of twenty.

Just as we round the corner of the old warehouse, we see the relaxed crew of the Hell Breathers. They’re all propped against their bikes or leisurely sitting on them, waiting for us as though it’s been hours instead of ten minutes.

Sledge and Hershel both ride up beside me, putting their bikes even with mine as they warily keep an eye on Benny and his men. Benny’s son isn’t here. Probably for the best. Boy doesn’t have the black heart for this business. Or the iron stomach.

But usually Benny brings him along, trying to groom him for his place in the business. It’s suspicious that he didn’t tag along this time, and I scan the scene warily.

After coasting to a stop, I kill my bike, letting quietness descend when my guys follow suit. Benny smirks, which immediately has me discreetly tensing, but my tension eases quickly because he’s too relaxed to have anything up his sleeve.

I prop up on my handlebars, looking around but not seeing this
girl
they’ve brought.

“Where’s this big peace offering?” I ask, feigning a yawn.

He looks toward one of his guys and gives him a nod, which then prompts the guy to head toward the warehouse doors.

“This means no more of your men showing up on my streets and causing a scene. You know that, right?”

It’s my turn to smirk.

“Pop tell you that?” I drawl, amused.

Benny narrows his eyes at me, doing his best to be intimidating. We’ve been ruining their “fear” factor lately, showing people what pussies they really are.

“He said he’d let you determine if she was worth the peace. Personally, I’d think you’d enjoy not looking over your shoulder every time you go to get something to eat.”

My smirk turns into an entertained grin. They usually stay at least three towns over, but in the past year and a half, they’ve encroached on our space in Halo.

“Haven’t been looking over my shoulder, Benny,” I lie, because we all look over our shoulders, but not just because of him.

His jaw grinds for a second as he cracks his neck to the side. “It’s rare a gem like this falls into our laps. Most of our girls are hardened like us. Nothing wrong with that, but this is a new flavor, and she’s his for the taking. Usually getting a girl like this requires force.”

I tense at that. That’s one thing I don’t allow in my crew. Pop doesn’t mind it, but it’s pretty fucking disgusting to me. If they’re giving it away, I’ll take it. I don’t have to force myself. Shitheads like Benny probably don’t have a choice.

“I’m not sure one girl is enough to ice the bad blood between us,” I say, shrugging while acting bored with all of this.

“It’s just a symbol, Drex. This is me taking the first step to put our bad blood to rest. If we’re constantly at war, then someone else will eventually take advantage of us once we’ve weakened each other. Herrin agrees. Which is why you’re supposed to turn over some information to me as a show of your peace offering.”

That’s the real reason he’s giving us this girl. He wants to know which one of his men is a rat. Benny’s so dumb that he didn’t know he had a fed in his crew. But I don’t know if a girl is worth it. Benny could go down for a long, long time.

Then again, the fed seems more loyal to a Vegas crime family than the actual FBI. I half wonder if he’s running them info on Benny and his goons as well.

“She’s the daughter of Aaron Marks,” he adds, grabbing my attention, even though I don’t let him see it. “Does that sweeten the pot?”

Aaron fucking Marks. That slimy son of a bitch. He has a daughter? How the fucking hell did we miss that?

More importantly, how the hell does Benny know we have… well,
had
beef with Aaron? It was kept in-house.

He smirks, seeming to enjoy my jaw ticking and my back stiffening. He hands me a file, and I skim it quickly, not saying anything to Benny.

Birth certificate, STI tests… There are pictures, but I bypass them when I study the part about Marks, the rat bastard son of a bitch accountant. This is actually his daughter. How the fuck did I not know he had a family?

“She doesn’t know,” Benny says casually. “Now she’s all yours to toy with. Do we have a deal?”

It’s not like I’m going to ask Benny how he knows about our grudge against the dead man. But I will be asking Pop about this shit. That’s why he agreed to this. Why didn’t he tell me?

Getting even with Aaron from beyond the grave will be nice, since the dick killed himself before I could kill him personally. It’s also too tempting to pass up.

Without letting my eyes fall on Benny’s rat and giving it away, I pull a manila envelope out of the back of my jeans and hand it to Benny. Then I sit back and watch as he reads the indisputable proof, along with pictures for a visual.

“Here she is, boss,” his minion says while stepping into sight, but the girl is hidden behind Benny. All I catch a glimpse of is a delicate arm attached to soft-looking fingers.

I hope Pop breaks her. Her father sure as hell tried to fuck us nice and hard.

He turns to let me see her, and my blood pumps faster the second my eyes find the innocent looking thing in front of me. Christ, she looks too damn sweet.

Jeans that are just a little too big hide her curves. Her shirt hugs her, showing me her flat stomach and fucking perfect chest. And those eyes—a shade of green that I’ve never seen.

She bites her lower lip as she studies me, taking me in like she’s curious. Granted, I don’t look like the riffraff she had bring her over here. She looks young—too young to be doing this. I might should have studied that birth certificate a little better.

“How old are you?” I ask, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my bike.

She looks around as though she’s scared to speak, and that puts me on alert. I shift my gaze to Benny as my eyes narrow in suspicion.

“You sure this is of her own free will? If you’re trying to pin us with a kidnapping—”

“It’s of her own free will,” Benny interrupts dismissively, still reading the paper in front of him as though he’s soaking in all the information.

I look back to the girl who hasn’t said a word, and I stare expectantly, waiting for my answer.

“Tw—twenty,” she stutters, looking too nervous for this to be legit.

I glare at Benny, wondering now if this is his game.

“You realize Death Dealers are for life, right, sweetheart?” I ask, turning back to meet her scared green eyes.

We’re not really lifers usually—unless you’re as high up as the inner circle. As long as you keep your mouth shut, you can leave whenever if you’re not in that circle. This isn’t a damn street gang. But she doesn’t know that.

She nods, swallowing hard, and I take a harsh breath. You can’t fake that kind of fear. Living the life I have, I’ve seen plenty of fear in other’s eyes. This is real. And I’d almost feel sorry for her if she wasn’t Aaron Marks’s daughter. But she is.

“Your father has the details, and she’s fully aware of what she’s signed on to do. She has her own reasons for this.”

Benny looks up from the paperwork, and shoves it all into the back of his jeans. But when his hand comes out, there’s a gun attached. His cheeks puff angrily, and a guttural growl emerges from his throat.

Fuck
.

My gun is drawn before I even realize I went for it, and the sound of clicking metal rides through my ears as a wave of us do the same. Just like hundreds of times in the past, we’re facing the Hell Breathers, both sides refusing to lower their weapons as we wait on a reason to shoot.

But Benny doesn’t hold his gun on me like I expected. It’s pointed toward the head of his FBI informant, and I hear Sledge exhale in relief.

The guy’s eyes go wide as he stares at Benny in shock, feigning innocence. Everyone around him steps wide, distancing themselves from the crazy shit.

“What are you doing?” the rat gasps, gingerly holstering his gun as a show of submission.

Stupid move. He might as well take out some of the bastards and go down in a blaze of glory. No one has pride anymore. Or balls for that matter.

My eyes rake over the newest member of our crew, and I fight the urge to shake my head in disbelief. My dad will ruin her if she’s really just some girl down on her luck who had to make a deal with the devil. I half wonder if she really doesn’t know about what her father did.

The question is... What’s the deal she made with Benny?

“What do you mean,
Jeff
?” Benny hisses, reminding me there’s about to be blood spilled. “Is this scaring you,
Jeff
? Or maybe you’d prefer to be called Adam Mason.”

I don’t have to look at the scene to know the fed’s eyes have widened in terror. His heart is probably ready to explode. More than likely, he’s on the verge of pissing his pants.

“B-Benny, don’t—” Two shots silence him, but Benny doesn’t stop until he’s emptied the magazine.

My eyes have stayed on the girl, gauging her every reaction as she watches the fed go down. There’s no way to fake that reaction, which I actually find amusing. She’s terrified and… sick.

“Ah, hell,” Sledge groans as the girl vomits, bending over as she loses it.

Her whole body is pale and shaking as she responds to what she probably considers a traumatic experience. It still doesn’t prove that she’s not being put here to spy on us, but maybe we can use her to learn more about Benny. She’s weak, and the weak are easy to break.

Maybe instead of ruining her, we can use her. Obviously she’s close to Benny if she came to him, which would definitely fall under the category of
spy.
We can turn her, and Benny’s little plan will backfire.