Page 21 of Sinful Lies
Chapter 11
Tank
Chainz is right. Thisis exactly what I need to work out my frustrations. I’m hit with the foul stench of piss and shit as I descend the stairs to the bunker. A devious smirk spreads across my face. Time to have some fun.
Lucas is asleep on an old, tattered mattress we flung in the corner. Picking up a rusted pipe from the workbench, I bang it against the concrete wall. Lucas jumps to his feet, stumbling backwards as we approach. He can only move so far. There’s a chain wrapped around his waist and hooked to another that connects him to the pulley system overhead. His eyes are bloodshot and week-old stubble is framing his sunken face. He’s weak from exhaustion and near starvation, being fed just enough to keep him alive.
“Did you miss me, Lucas?” I taunt, dragging the hollow pipe across the concrete. The fear in his eyes causes me to laugh. I stomp forward and pull back, laughing as he jumps each time.
Chainz spins an old metal chair around and straddles it, crossing his arms over the back. “We missed hanging out with you. My brother, Tank here, has some frustrations to work out. So, we can do this in one of two ways. You can cooperate or I can let him have another go at your face.”
The last time we were down here, for shits and giggles, his face absorbed most of my blows. After what he’s done to countless women, he deserves everything he gets down here. We serve justice in many forms. Sometimes, it takes on the form of torture. It’s not like we’re animals. We gave him a mattress to sleep on and bucket to piss and shit in. Someone brings him food once a day. Usually, a stale sandwich and a bottle of water. It’s not until he’s most desperate were we going to get any actual information out of him. Hopefully, he’s ready to talk now.
“So, what’s it going to be?” Chainz leans forward on the back legs of the chair.
I circle Lucas, rapping the pipe on the palm of my hand. “If you don’t talk, Lucas, you’re leaving here in a body bag.”
“I’m going to die down here, anyway.” I slam the pipe into Lucas’s knee cap. His legs buckle underneath him, dropping his frail body to the mattress.
“That’s not true.” I pretend to be sympathetic, but we all know I don’t give a fuck if he lives or dies. Except we promised him to Kayne, who should be here in a matter of hours. “You can leave here after you tell us where you hold the girls.”
“We already know once a spot gets burned, you don’t return to it. So, you must have more in the pipeline. These things take planning. You know where they are, Lucas.”
“I... I’m get... getting out of here?” He stammers, choking back his tears. He wants so desperately to believe he’s going to survive. To help placate him, I drop the pipe back on the workbench, out of his reach.
“I’m a man of my word, Lucas. I told you last time and I’ll say it again. Give us the locations and you will get out of here.” Chainz reassures him.
Chainz is the President of this club. If he makes a promise, you can be damn sure we’ll all honor it, but it won’t always come in the fashion they think it will. Lucas isn’t convinced yet. I step to him, reach down and grip his shirt. I yank him off the mattress toward me, drawing my arm back, and swing my fist into his mouth before dropping him. He leans his head forward, spitting blood and a tooth at my boot. I slam my knee into his chin, cocking his head back with the blow.
“Fuck. Stop. I’ll tell you.”
I was hoping for more of a fight. I cross the floor to the table in the far corner by the stairs and pick up the map Hound made. We believe we’ve narrowed down the general area Steam uses because of its proximity to the docks and Ben’s shipping company. We just need them confirmed.
I unfold the map on the floor in front of Lucas and squat down in front of him. “If you try anything, I will fucking kill you with this pencil.” I lay it down on the map and stand up. Lucas looks at the pencil and up at me. Slowly he reaches for it, wrapping his boney fingers around the shaft. His hand is trembling like he should be. We are not fucking around.
“It’s ok Lucas, show us.” Chainz continues the good guy, bad guy routine.
After a brief hesitation, Lucas presses the dull lead tip to the map and begins circling locations. Three in total.
“That’s good Lucas. Now drop the fucking pencil.” He complies with my order, and I retrieve the pencil and the map.
“Can I go now?” Lucas pulls himself to his feet.
“In twenty-four hours, we will synchronize a hit on both locations. If you’ve told us the truth, then you will get out of here. If you didn’t...” Chainz nods at me, giving me permission to unleash more of my pent-up frustrations. I clench my fist, cock my arm back and in a flash lay Lucas out again. I stand over him, my hand still curled in a fist.
He draws his hand to his face. “You’re not really letting me go, are you?”
I cackle at his sudden realization, “Not exactly.”
Chainz slides the chair back across the floor and we head for the steps.
“I told you, I’m a man of my word. You will get out of here, but you’ll never be free.” Chainz tosses over his shoulder. We push through the hatch door and drop it behind us, plunging Lucas back into darkness to await his fate.
