Page 75 of Cougar

“Thank you, thank you.” Stephens cries over and over again. His eyes close. He thinks we’re sparing him. What he doesn’t see is Cowboy step back and give the go-ahead to Butcher, who is still holding the bloody machete he used on the prospect. Everyone in swinging distance steps back as Butcher lets loose an inhuman, feral scream. He winds up and starts hacking away at the crying, disgraced officer. Blood spatters and chunks of flesh fly away from him with every backstroke of the blade. Stephens was too stunned to scream. By the time it looked like it registered what was happening, all he could do was let out a bloody gurgle as his head separated from his body.

“Grooooss,” I breathe out.

Connard starts making retching noises at the sight. None of us make a move to remove his gag. If he dies, he dies. Butcher hacks away at the now-dead Stephens a few more times before turning toward Connard. However, I see Cowboy signal, and Sever pulls Butcher back. I can hear mumbles, so I only assume he’s attempting to calm him down.

Dizz steps forward and removes Connard’s ball gag, but no one makes a sound. Connard and Cowboy are eyeballing each other while everyone else’s gaze volleys between them—seeing who will break first. What we don’t expect is the unexpected. Connard starts crying.

“Well, this got awkward,” Copper mumbles from somewhere near me.

“I can tell you who the ring leader is! I can give you all the information you need. I just need your help!” Connard cries, looking up at our Prez with red-rimmed, beady rat-like eyes. The fat on his face makes them seem smaller than normal. His eyes have honestly always weirded me out.

“Why on gods green earth would we help you?” Cowboy guffaws at him.

“I am innocent in this. I got my orders and pushed them down the line. I know who the leader is! They will get you all the information you need. Anything else outside of this town that may be happening, they can tell you. Please. I had to do it! They used my one weakness against me!” he cries out, and it’s almost believable. “They…they took my daughter.” He says and starts crying even harder. He then continues to say more, but he’s speaking in garbled English. None of us can understand what he’s saying.

“That’s false,” Knuckles says, inserting himself into the situation for the first time since his showdown with Dizz. “I checked everyone’s background at the station. Not a single kid for this asshole came up.”

“But you couldn’t run a check to see if your boyfriend was a fed?” Gears mumbles and is met with a swift punch across his face from Willie, of all people.

“Enough,” Dizz calls out to us, and everyone snaps to attention. He may not be our Prez, but he is one, and he commands the same amount of respect in our organization.

“Try again,” Cowboy says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I can give you the leader!” Connard yells out. He looks at all of us like we’re stupid not to take the deal.

Cowboy nods to Rambo and Willie. They each take an elbow of the rotund officer and drag him down into the cellar we are standing outside of. Connard makes no effort to walk, and they basically drag his fat ass down the steps. We all follow, and the smell that hits us is strong. I swear you can almost taste the copper in the air. They open the door at the bottom of the steps and toss him into the bloody room. His hands are still tied behind his back, so he lands face-first in the blood.

I peer around a few of my brothers as Cowboy slowly makes his way to Connard, who is struggling to sit up. He’s unsuccessful and is rolling about in the filth, squealing like the pig he is. Cowboy reaches down and grips what little hair Connard has and forces his neck to stretch back. This allows him to see a very bloody and very dead Bonnie still tied up.

“No,” he whispers.

“Surprise,” Cowboy says before stepping back, and Butcher lunges forward.

“Hey. We were right. Go us!” I hear Turd shout out as I run up the steps. I can’t stomach seeing what Butcher is going to do to this man. The last man standing in our way of officially ending The Company.

With this handled, I get on my bike and head home to my Birdie.

Thirty Two

Aletta

“You’re my only reason. You’re my only truth.” I continue to belt out the words to I Need You by LeAnn Rimes as John watches me from the front row. The song says everything I feel about him. I watch as he reacts to the words, but I smile when he looks down at our son. His hat covers our son’s face, but when John looks back up at me, I see them both.

My handsome men are watching me—both with a smile on their faces. When the song’s over, I leave the karaoke stage and walk up to them. John stands, and I hold them both.

“You were great, Birdie. Little Man thought so, too.” John tells me.

“Oh, yeah? Do you think Mommy did a good job—”

The music cuts me off, and he doesn’t hear me, but his smile tells me he loves it. I grab my son and sit down. The singer on stage continues, but my concentration is taken when I start to shake. I look at my son and to John, and they both seem fine. The shaking continues, “John? John!”

I open my eyes to my mom lightly shaking me, “Hey there, Ducky. We can head home,” she tells me. I smile back at her and nod. It was only a dream.

I don’t know how long I was asleep, but there are no areas of concern. The baby and I look good, and we can continue on as normal. Unfortunately, being told I can go home is the only good news I’m getting. The sad look my mom carries tells me Storm didn’t make it, and at some point, everyone will be saying goodbye. I wasn’t as close with him as the others, but he had helped my father come to terms with his demons and gave him something to focus on. For that, I can never express enough gratitude.

I go through the motions of being discharged. John said that he’d be back by the time I left. When I asked where he was, Mom shook her head. She’d told me that something was happening, but she didn’t know anything.

“Normally, I can get a small something out of your dad, but no luck this time. It was Sever who called me to let me know everyone was stuck where they’re at. Don’t worry, Ducky. Cougar would be here if he could.”

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