Page 12 of Cruel (Brutal Academy)

Asher stepped forward and pressed his head against the wires of the fence. Any other time, I would have found it hilarious if the fence was still electrified. Seeing the smart ass drummer flying back through the air would be funny as fuck.

Right now though, thinking about what might be happening to Lila, nothing was funny.

"Wild guess here, but people that come here don't usually do it with their consent," Asher said.

"We think Caleb uses this place to run his human trafficking operation," Hunter said, with barely contained rage.

"That tracks," Asher said. "That sounds like exactly the kind of shit Caleb would be involved in." He had no more reason to like our brother than I did right now. "Can you call him and ask him where the truck is headed?"

"I don't exactly have a phone on me." Hunter patted the sides of his jeans.

"I'll lend you mine," Zeke said. "I'd do it myself, but Caleb would want a favour in return for information like that."

"Caleb really is a special kind of asshole, isn't he?" Asher observed.

Zeke shrugged and pulled a phone out of his back pocket. "No more than any of my other brothers." He gave us both a dark look.

"Burned by a guy who makes a living singing," I said sarcastically.

"I could always not lend you my phone." Zeke started to put it back.

"No, we need it," I said quickly. "Also, Hunter and I are both armed so you can hand it over or we'll shoot you and take it."

"Whatever happened to asking nicely?" Asher asked. He glanced at the gate, his gaze up and down. "You might have to climb out and get it."

I gave an experimental tug on the gate, but it didn't budge. There was probably a remote-control in the car, but after smashing the box to turn off the electricity, I doubted it would work. Finding out would only waste valuable time. If Lila was on a truck, on her way to fuck knows where, we needed to hurry to catch up.

I grabbed hold of the fence and scrambled up and over the top, narrowly avoiding snagging my jeans on the barbed wire.

Hunter was right behind me. He all but snatched the phone out of Zeke's hand and stomped a few steps away. He smashed his finger down on the screen a few times before putting the phone to his ear.

While he waited for an answer, I peered into the back of the car.

"You didn't bring Abbie with you," I said, disappointed. "I would have loved the chance to say hello. That woman has some of the best tits—"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." Asher's tone was pleasant, but menacing at the same time. He'd probably love an excuse to put a bullet in our brains. Honestly, the feeling was more or less mutual. He was a DiMarco and they were on my shit list right now. With Dane right at the very top.

"You guys promised Reuben you wouldn’t kill us," I pointed out.

Asher smiled. "We don't need to kill you to make your life hell."

"What are you going to do, sing?" I grinned. "I've heard you sing. Hell is reasonably accurate." Like usual, I was using humour to cover my anxiety. Although, Asher's singing was pretty bad. There was a reason he was the drummer.

Asher flipped me off. "I'm starting to think Lila came here voluntarily after all. To get away from you."

Zeke grabbed the back of my shirt when I lunged at Asher.

"Don't fucking touch him," he growled. He shoved me hard against the side of the car and held me there. He leaned forward until his cheek was almost pressed against mine.

"In case you hadn't noticed, dickhead, we're on the same side here. I don't give a fuck about Lila Bell, but I care about women being trafficked and abused. And Slade is a friend of mine. If you keep being a fuckwit, we'll leave you here." He shoved me a little harder before he stepped away.

I straightened up and moved away from the car, like I wasn't bothered at all.

"So violent." I brushed dirt off the front of my clothes. "I don't suppose you have a sandwich with you." I shot a glance at Hunter. He looked frustrated, angry.

"What do you mean you don't know? It's your fucking job to know shit like this. You're in charge of these operations. Reuben would be pissed if he—" He shook his head. "Our girlfriend is on that truck. If anything happens to her…"

I heard— heardCaleb's laughter through the phone. If he was right in front of me, he'd be missing his balls in three, two, one… I'd hand them to him before I dragged him over to the dam and held him and his Armani suit under until he stopped struggling.

---