Page 55 of Hell & Back

“I’ll bring the duct tape.” Dagger loved his duct tape. He’d used it for any number of repairs. He’d used it to bind people’s hands and feet, sometimes together. He’d used it as a band aid until they could get medical attention. One time, just because he didn’t like the guy, he’d made the man strip down naked. He’d then taped the guy’s dick and balls which was unfortunate because the guy didn’t know the meaning of manscaping. He was one hairy motherfucker. Tuck supposed by the time he’d gotten the tape off, he’d been relieved of a lot of hair in that area.

Race called an end to the meeting and although Tuck protested being benched and made to stay in Redemption to protect the families with the prospects, he understood that he’d only be slowing them down. He went to find Kylie to give her the good news that they were going after Darren and God willing, they’d bring him home tonight.

11

DARREN

Darren must have dozed off at some point after fucking Sadie for the sixth time. He’d given her the small cot and taken a seat with his back against the cold concrete wall, hoping it would ease what felt like a fever inside his body. He didn’t understand why after as many times as they’d come together, the urge hadn’t left him. It appeared to have left her and it always seemed to leave Joe fairly quickly, but that wasn’t the case for him.

Glancing down at his lap, he could see his dick was already hard and throbbing again. That’s what had woken him up from a fitful sleep. Actually, he really wasn’t sleeping, it was more like watching all his nightmares play out in his head. The worst and most frequent nightmare was Kylie telling him she no longer loved him and could never forgive him for what he’d done with Sadie.

Heavy footsteps pounding down the stairs had him rising quickly to his feet. Something about the speed with which theydeclined the stairs felt urgent. Was this it then? Was this when they finally decided to kill him? Would they be quick and just shoot him or would they overdose him on the fucking drug? If they got rid of him, what would happen to Sadie and her nephew? To Joe? Would he ever make it home to his family?

He shook Sadie awake. “Get up. Get behind me. Someone’s coming and they sound like they’re in a hurry.” Without questioning him, she did as he instructed. Turning his attention to Joe, he whisper shouted, “Joe. Get up. Company’s coming.”

Joe instantly went on alert. He jumped up from his cot and put his back to the wall. From the fire in his eyes he appeared to be of the same mind as Darren. Fight or die trying.

“Rise and shine, brother. You ready to go home?” The sound of Trick’s voice damn near brought tears to Darren’s eyes. He wasn’t hallucinating, was he? They were really here to get him, right? Joe raised his clenched fists, prepared to go down swinging. Yeah, they were really here. He didn’t know whether to get down on his knees and thank God or burst into tears of joy. He ended up doing neither.

“Joe, it’s my brothers. They’re getting us out of here. All of us,” he directed the last to Race who’d gathered outside his cell with several other brothers.

“Good to see you again, brother,” Race’s smile was bright and genuine.

Trick dropped a duffel bag at his feet and dug out a mini welder and welding goggles. “Everybody look away.” He quickly went to work cutting through the lock on the cell door.

While he was working on freeing him and Sadie, Jackson went to Joe’s cell and shoved some clothes through the bars. Darren wasn’t sure how they’d known to bring clothes, but he was grateful that they had. Escaping naked and his junk hanging out would have been undesirable, but if it was the only way to get away, he’d have done it.

“Get dressed, kid. We’re breaking you out of here,” Jackson told Joe.

As soon as the door swung open, Trick went to cut through the lock on Joe’s cell. Jackson came in to his and Sadie’s and handed clothes to Darren, then held out more to Sadie as she peeked around his wide shoulders. “Here you go. We grabbed the first clothes we could get our hands on, so they’re going to be big,” he apologized. “And no shoes, but I got socks. You’re gonna need them for the trek through the woods.”

“I don’t care. They’re clothes and they’re warm.” Sadie made quick work of pulling the clothes on.

The clang of the cell door being thrown open signaled Joe was free.

“How long was I gone?” Darren had to suppress a groan as the material of the sweats made contact with his hard, super sensitive dick. He yanked a hoodie over his head and waited for someone to comment on the state of his erection. No one, not even Dagger, said a word.

“Seven days.” Race frowned and his lips thinned.

Fuck. That had to have been seven of the longest days of his life. Nearly all of it in pain. Darren took the thick wool socks from his brother, sat on the edge of the bed next to Sadie and quickly pulled them on. “You meet any resistance on your way in? I didn’t hear any gunshots.”

“Nope. Tulsa and Lance created a diversion that caused every one of the Phantoms to take off like bats out of hell.” Race slapped his hand on Darren’s forearm and pulled him in for a man hug.

“What did they do?” Darren asked

“Set Crockett’s house on fire.” Race’s mouth curved up, displaying a bright smile.

“Damn it’s good to see you, brother,” Trick stepped in and slapped him on the back, too.

“Enough with the reunion. We gotta get out of here. We don’t want to tempt fate.” Dagger raised his gun and led the way upstairs.

“Here.” Trick slapped a gun in Darren’s hand.

“Thanks.” Having the weapon in his hand gave him a sense of security he hadn’t had since they’d thrown him in the cell.

He spared a quick glance toward Sadie. “You all right?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye.

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