Page 42 of Beast
“This would happen eventually. Might as well get it over with.”
“I’ll make sure your death is slow and painful, motherfucker.” I tightened my gloves and hit Rip when he came at me. I didn’t give it all I had because I wanted to toy with him for a bit. He went to the ground and then struggled to his feet. Blood ran from the cut over his right eye.
“You hit like a pussy,” Rip said. He swung wildly, and for a moment, I felt bad. I didn’t usually fight people who were this weak. But it was well-known that Rip and his club preyed on the weak and innocent. “Stand still, motherfucker.”
“I need to know something, Rip, before I end your life. Are you the one who killed the men in Sturgis? The ones I supposedly killed. I know you assholes were up there.” I hit him in the left eye, and another cut opened. Blood oozed from both sides of his face.
Rip laughed. “Those three men were paid to kill you, Beast. They didn’t do a very good job, did they?”
“Who the fuck would pay to have me killed beside you?” I started to throw a punch that would end our little conversation, but Rip had me intrigued. “Who?”
“Who’s the one person that has been on the fringes of your life and then came back around when you left Varner?” He coughed up blood. “That old skank of an ex-old lady, dumbass.”
I let the dumbass comment go and tried to process what Rip was saying. “Why would she do that?” He’d been talking to the old leg spreader, so maybe he had an answer.
“She fucked you over real good, Beast. Real good.” Rip got up and brushed off his kutte, leaving behind blood streaks. “You go ahead and kill me because I know that bitch will get you in the end. She knows shit, Beast. She’ll rat you out again.”
I grabbed Rip by the kutte collar and drew back my right hand. “Donna was the rat? She’s the one who gave the feds the information.”
I dropped Rip to the ground, and he yelped like a dog. Why the fuck would she turn me over to the feds? Why not the whole club?
“How’s it feel, asshole?” Rip said. “Fucker’s going back to Varner. When the guys on the inside find out what you did to Hell’s Messengers, they’ll split your asshole wide open, bitch.”
“Time to die, Rip.” I reared back and hit the man square on the nose, feeling bones crush beneath my knuckles.
Rip dropped to his knees, turning his head upward. “She ain’t the only rat, Beast.” He smiled a blood-filled smile. “Who do you trust, asshole?” He dropped to all fours. “You wanna know why she did it? Ask the son of a bitch who was nailing her before y’all got divorced.” He laughed and then dropped to the ground. For good measure, I brought down my size thirteen boot on his head, sending blood and brain across the ground.
I walked away from Rip but not away from the information he’d provided. But who was Donna screwing that was so important? Why turn me over to the feds?
Before climbing on my bike, I called Cinder and had him call an emergency church meeting. I wanted to find Donna and figure out why she’d turned rat. The divorce had been rough but straightforward. She turned me in for another reason. I needed that answer.
On the way to the club, I finally understood why she’d brought Mark into my life. She was using him to get close to me so she could finish whatever the hell she had started. Leaving for Cali was a ploy to throw me off her tracks and keep me from figuring her out. What kind of mother treated her child the way she treated Mark?
When I arrived, the Prospects opened the gate, and I pulled to the main building. Everyone was inside waiting. Although I’d not punished Rip the way I wanted, I’m glad I was alone. I need to keep the information I had close to the vest.
“Families in the bunker?”
“Safe and secure,” Cinder said. “Rip finished?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s wrong, Beast?” Big Kentucky asked. “Look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Kickstand appeared at the end of the table, smiling, sitting in his chair. He watched the officers around the table. That’s when it hit me. Donna would not have had the money to pay three men to kill me. She also wouldn’t have been able to go back and kill two of the men. It wasn’t in her. At least not back then. The man she had been screwing sat around the table before me. We weren’t a solid, cohesive group. The rat was in the room with me.
“Beast,” Slash said. “You good, man?”
“Let’s get to business,” I said. “Hell’s Messengers are essentially wiped out.” I stood and walked around the room. Kickstand never took his eyes off me. “We have one remaining problem that needs the attention of every man in this room. Donna. I want that skank found. She’s not left the fucking city.”
“Why her?” TexMex asked.
“Trust me on this one.” I sat down. “I want every Prospect out tonight looking for her. Tell those fuckers not to return to the club until she’s found. Tomorrow, all the families can go home. Then I want all of you out looking for her. Nobody kills her. Understood?”
“Damn, Beast, what the fuck did she do?” Cinder asked.
“She’s the fucking rat that sent me to Varner.” I hit the table with the gavel, and everyone left except Big Kentucky.
“You didn’t tell your VP what the fuck was going on, so I don’t suspect you’ll be telling me.” Big Kentucky sat in the seat beside me. “Don’t let this eat you up and do something you’ll regret later. That kind of shit can kill a man.”
