Page 48 of Kodiak

“Read out the crimes she committed,” Xavier orders.

“She tried to kill our legacy,” Rev inputs. “Our prince or princess, the future.” Once that offense has been read, Xavier, or should I say, Conan since right now he’s in VP mode, inserts a bamboo shard underneath one of her nailbeds.

“She betrayed the club then tried to get the other girls involved,” Risk says. “No fucking loyalty to the club that put a roof over your head, food in your belly, and money in your pocket.”

Her piercing wail as he pushes the second one under the finger on the opposite hand has me wincing since the decibel level is a bit hard.

The list is ongoing as each member steps forward with their accusations. When we make it to the sixth nailbed, she passes out from the pain Xavier is inflicting.

“Her pain tolerance sucks.” Hemi tsks as he pulls out the water hose and turns the lever that’ll have it releasing the spray. He dances around her as he drenches every part of her. By the time she sputters awake, she’s soaked from head to toe.

“Now, where were we?” I jovially ask. “Have all of her treacheries been exposed?”

“I’m sure we could tack on a few, but most of them aren’t things that we’d use as a reason to rid the world of trash,” Regulator advises.

Turning my attention to Peaches, I ask, “How do you plead?”

Xavier, once again, channeling Conan, stuffs a handkerchief in her mouth and states, “As her legal counsel, I’m submitting a guilty plea. We’d like a swift verdict and want to hear the sentence.”

I bang my hand on the wall like it’s my gavel hitting the top of the table, and state, “Guilty. The sentence is immediate death.”

Mumbled words are shouted behind Peaches’s gag, but nobody is interested in removing the cloth to hear what she has to say.

“All jurors, what say you to an old fashioned hanging?” I pose the question. Peaches’s eyes widen as tears stream down her cheeks.

“Why not?” Regulator spits. “I’ve got my shit kickers on; I’m feeling like I could cowboy up.”

“That line would’ve been epic if you were wearing your Stetson,” Xavier snickers.

“I’ve got the rope, let’s do this,” Rev says, showing us the wound up cord in his hands. “Here, Regulator, since you grew up on a horse farm, I’m assuming you’d be the best one to set up the noose.”

“I’d be happy too,” Regulator agrees as he takes the bound rope and begins to expertly twist it and knot it.

“That was a lot messier than I thought it’d be,” I fess up as I hold in the contents of my belly. “I’ve seen people shit their pants before, but fuck, it’s like all of her orifices exploded at once.”

“You getting a weak belly on me, brother?” Xavier asks as he sharpens his knife. I guess he doesn’t want the blade to dull after using it on the bamboo.

“Give him a break, Conan,” Stixx cackles. “He’s having sympathy and shit for his pregnant old lady.”

“I am not,” I disagree. “She must’ve eaten something toxic before we took her to the shed. Her shit smelled foul.”

“Well, she did have an empty belly,” Xavier revels. “You didn’t think we’d be serving her a last meal did you?”

“Didn’t even think about it,” I tell him. “I was dealing with other shit. Like having my woman being flushed out. Praying to a man I long ago lost faith in to keep her and our baby alive long enough for the anti-toxin or whatever that shit was they flushed through her veins to work. Dealing with her emotions because someone tried to poison her and steal our baby before he or she even had a chance to take their first breath. So feeding the stupid cunt never even crossed my radar.”

“But she’s feeling better now, right?” Risk questions.

“Yeah, still a bit fatigued, but I have a feeling that’s got more to do with being pregnant than anything. It’s why Demi’s with her today. I didn’t want her to be alone and really didn’t want to leave her, but this had to be handled,” I admit in a rare display of vulnerability.

Life is changing and rather quickly. Who the fuck knew that us taking on a security job would end up with me finding the woman that settles something deep in my soul. Hell, I never even realized anything was missing, content with what I had, until Luna stumbled into me on that fateful day.

“Go home, Kodiak,” Rev suggests. “Let your woman settle you. The prospects are disposing of Peaches’s body. Thank fuck for the pig farmer down the street who’s thankful that we help feed his swine.”

“He thinks we’re feeding them our scraps,” Xavier chuckles. “Wouldn’t he be surprised if he realized that we were giving them human remains to devour?”

“That reminds me, what do you want me to do with her ground teeth?” Hemi inquires.

“Why’d you grind her teeth?” Stixx asks. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.”

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