Page 56 of Hell Bent

“Wrong answer.”

“The Dog Pound Tavern. Franks and Michel hang out there. They do business in the back booth.”

“I’ve already left a message there.” Tossing the paper, the fuel ignited around the guy. Vicious turned and walked out, leaving the building to burn with the asshole trying to find a way out. He didn’t wait to see if he made it out. Vicious assumed he would, and that he’d tell Franks what had happened. If that didn’t get his attention, the next stop might.

Sway’s head hung forward. Her hands were bound above her head by leather straps, her feet barely touching the floor. Everything in the room was fuzzy, and her head was spinning. Struggling to lift her head, her eyes tried to focus on what was in front of her. Everything hurt. Places that shouldn’t hurt, did. Sway’s mind started to clear as the sound of music blasted in her ears.

Where was she?“Look who’s decided to join us,” a familiar voice said. A rough hand grabbed her hair and twisted her head around.

“Dawson.” Her voice was rough, and her throat felt raw.

“It’s me.”

“What’s happening?”

“Oh, you’ve been entertaining us.” Dawson let go of Sway’s head so she could see the other men in the room. “See over there? Clay’s not happy I let our friends have their turn with you.”

Sway couldn’t help the tears as she realized what had been done to her. “Oh, don’t cry. I’m about to make sure the party can keep going,” Dawson said, grabbing her by the hair, making her look at him.

Vicious rolled into the parking lot of Dawson Franks’s gym. Backing the bike into a parking spot, he looked around and only saw a handful of cars. Cracking his neck, he got off the bike. Hanging his helmet over the speedo, he pulled out a length of chain from his saddle bag and a pair of weighted gloves. Someone was gonna tell him where his ol’ lady was.

He pushed the door open, and everything went to hell as soon as he stepped inside. Vicious looked at the three men sitting by the counter watching Sports Network on a TV across the room. He saw when they realized he was standing there, and he knew one hundred percent that they knew who he was by the way they stared at him. It wasn’t because of his colours, as he hadn’t worn them for this little outing.

“What do you want, fucker?”

Vicious worked out his plan of attack quickly. “You the one in charge?” he asked, wrapping the chain around one gloved hand. He didn’t get an answer before movement across the room had his head snapping around, watching as two men he hadn’t seen charged him.

Before he could think, Vicious was on the defensive.

The two men came at him fast. Grabbing the first attacker, he slammed his head into his knee. He dodged the second guy who was swinging at him wildly. Moving to the side, he managed to hit the second attacker with the chain, sending him slamming into a wall. The guy bounced back, coming at him wildly, trying to connect a fist with his head. It only got him slammed into the counter. “I asked who’s in charge of this shitshow.”

“Larry. Him right there.” The guy pointed to a man standing far from the counter, flanked by two other guys.

Dropping the guy, Vicious kicked him in the knee, breaking it. The guy wailed as he rolled on the floor. Then, Vicious faced off with Larry. If he didn’t give him the answers he wanted, Larry would get the bad end of a beating. “Come here.”

“No. I’m good where I’m at,” Larry told Vicious, wide-eyed.

Vicious lunged across the flimsy counter, taking Larry and one of his friends to the ground.

Hitting Larry in the head, Vicious blocked an attack from the other two men. Throwing them off him, Vicious swung the chain, hitting one guy across the face. When Larry tried to crawl away, Vicious kicked him back against the wall.

Vicious hit the third guy square in the temple, knocking him out. He watched the guy’s knees buckle underneath him. Vicious grabbed Larry by the leg and dragged him toward the weight equipment. “Larry, I want answers, and you’re gonna give them to me. And if you don’t, I’m gonna beat you to death.”

“I don’t know shit, asshole.”

“How do you know, bitch? I haven’t asked you my question yet. Where’s Dawson Franks?”

“I don’t know.”

Vicious punched him in the gut causing him to double over. “That’s not the answer I want, Larry. Try again.”

The guy sucked air in and out. “I don’t know where he’s at.”

“And if you did?”

“I wouldn’t fucking tell you.”

“That’s what I thought.” Vicious worked the guy over, putting him down hard.

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