Page 44 of Hatter

“Nighty-night, asshole,” I said, standing over him, victorious. His unconscious form lay sprawled out on the floor, defeated and broken. The sight filled me with a dark, primal satisfaction.

“Got the bastard,” I muttered, glancing around at the chaos we’d wrought. My heart still pounding, I knew we’d done what needed to be done. And I’d do it all again, in a heartbeat.

Blood dripped from my knuckles, and I took a moment to catch my breath, my eyes sweeping over the battlefield. My brothers stood victorious, bloodied but unbowed. The fight had been over almost as soon as it started. We had all expected a bigger battle, one more on par with what had happened before, but this time it had been a fucking cakewalk.

“Looks like we showed them who’s boss,” March grunted, wiping blood off his face with the back of his hand. His grin was wide, vicious, and proud.

“Damn right,” I replied, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins. “Can you tie up Eddie? Fucker is still alive.”

March went to find some rope or a cord, and I scanned the room once more. Something was nagging at the back of my mind, worrying me. Amidst the chaos, I searched for Rabbit, hoping he had made it through the fight unscathed.

My gaze found him, standing at a safe distance from the bulk of the carnage, staring at the dead bodies at his feet. The anxious man’s hands trembled, and I wondered if Rabbit’s twitches and tics would be even worse in the days to come. But for now, I was grateful for my brother. The previous fight may have calmed him, but this one had the opposite effect. We never knew what would trigger one of his episodes.

“Rabbit!” I shouted, making my way toward him. He looked up, those nervous eyes meeting mine.

“Y-yeah, Hatter?” he stammered, trying to hide the fear that was still clinging to him. Ever since he’d been captured during our last mission before being discharged, he almost seemed to have a dual personality when it came to combat. He either jumped into the fray, utterly calm and collected, or he unraveled like he was now. If I hadn’t worried we’d be shorthanded, I’d have left him at the clubhouse.

“Good job, brother,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Thanks, Hatter,” he replied, his voice quivering. “I-I’m just glad everyone’s okay.”

“Me too, Rabbit. Me too.” My thoughts drifted to Jo, hoping she was safe and sound back at the clubhouse. I couldn’t wait to put all this shit behind us and get back to our lives.

I caught sight of Shake and his men. They were already doing a body count, and most likely making sure they were all actually dead. I was just thankful it didn’t look like we’d lost anyone on our side, even if some of us were wounded.

March snapped me back to attention when he approached. “What are we doing with Eddie?”

“Not sure, but I think if we let him live, he’ll only come for us and Jo again. Just one problem… the fucker is so connected, I’m not sure how to do this without backlash from multiple sources. Any ideas?” I asked.

March shrugged. “Not my forte, but I bet Absolem will have some ideas. Why don’t you find him while I get some water to splash on the sleeping princess? If you’re going to hurt him more, I want him awake to feel it.”

Yeah, I felt the same way. Absolem was on the other side of the room wrapping a makeshift bandage around Carpenter’s thigh. Looked like he’d been shot, but since neither of them seemed overly concerned, I figured it wasn’t fatal. I made my way over to them.

“You both okay?” I asked.

“It’s a through and through,” Absolem said. “He’ll be fine. Sore as hell, but it’s not like he’s going to lose his leg.”

“Good. Listen, Eddie is still alive. As badly as I want to torture the fucker and put him in a shallow grave, I don’t think we can take on the mob, the politicians in Warren, and however many thugs he’s associated with knocking at our door. How should we handle this to come out the other side with the least number of enemies?” I asked.

“I actually put something into place a few days ago. A failsafe, so to speak.” Absolem used the back of his forearm to wipe the blood off his face, and only ended up smearing it. “If anyone manages to dig through Eddie’s computer, phone, or bank records, it’s going to look like he was trying to hide something.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Embezzlement. Funds from both his father’s boss, as well as the mafia. It should keep both of them off our backs. I know we’ll have to deal with the corruption in Warren soon enough, but it gives us some time. And it will have them all chasing shadows trying to figure out what the hell happened.”

“And they won’t notice money isn’t actually missing?” My brow furrowed. Because that’s the first thing I’d do if I ran across something like that. I’d make sure my funds were all still exactly where they should be.

“Oh, don’t worry, boss. The money is missing. But after I bounced it around a few offshore accounts, I put it safely into four different accounts I have access to under various aliases. None of it is traceable to us, but we’re now a few million richer. Lost some here and there, paying off enough people to look the other way if someone went digging.” Absolem flashed me a smile. “So, you do whatever you need to. No one is going to cry over Eddie being dead.”

“Um. Didn’t you tell Jo we had to budget our money?” I asked, recalling a conversation I overheard between them about paint.

Absolem shrugged. “Well, I didn’t have the money in hand right then. Now I do.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” I clapped him on the back and went back over to March. He’d tied Eddie to a chair in the corner of the room. The fucker was now awake and glaring at me.

“You won’t get away with this,” Eddie said. “Do you know who I am? Who my friends are?”

I grinned. “Well, a little birdie just told me those friends of yours are about to think you’ve been a very bad boy. I don’t think they’ll be running to your rescue. In fact, they may wish you were dead.”

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