Page 57 of Hell Bent

The fight ended before it really began. Vicious stood with his knuckles bleeding, looking down at Larry the asshole, and he spit blood onto the floor. He’d given the guy a fighting chance. Hell, he’d given him a chance to tell him what he knew. In the end, Larry was unconscious and bleeding on the deadlift machine.What a bunch of pussies.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Player knocked on the front door but got no answer. Using the key Vicious had given him, he unlocked the door. “Vicious! Vicious, you here, brother?” With his heart pounding in his chest, Player signalled to Joker to check the downstairs as he made his way upstairs.

“Vicious,” Player called. He was well past the freaked-out stage as he went through the houseboat. His hand was clammy as he held his Glock.

When he got to the bathroom and the shower was running, he took a breath. He pushed the pocket door open to find Vicious slumped in the tub with the water running over him. Steam bellowed from the hot water, and his heart went out to his brother.

Player tapped his gun on the door frame, trying to get the brother’s attention. Between the empty bottle of Lalo and the pair of 9mm laying on the tub’s edge, Player knew this was not a good situation. He watched as Vicious openedhis eyes. They were completely pink, and not one section of white could be seen.

Standing there, he watched as Vicious struggled to get up. “What the fuck, man? I knocked on the door and you didn’t answer. I came in yelling for you and got nothing. I thought you might be dead.”

“What do you want?” His voice was rough, showing signs of stress. He’d been up for twenty-four hours straight searching for Sway. If Player was there to bring him to the clubhouse, the brother could suck his cock.

Player dropped the gun to his side as his hand gently shook. “We’ve been looking for you all night.”

“You knew what I was doing.” The hot water turned cold, prompting Vicious to shove out of the tub. Grabbing a towel from the hook, he wrapped it around his waist and stepped out. “I’m heading back out shortly.”

“You need rest.” Stepping in, Player picked up the Lalo bottle. “Maybe back off the tequila.”

“I didn’t drink the entire bottle. Just four or five shots.”

“Let us . . .” Player looked over his shoulder at Joker, who had come up behind him. “Let us search for Sway for a few hours,” he finished saying. Holding up his hand, he stopped Vicious from arguing by continuing to talk over him. “Sherlock is combing the web for anything that might come up about an abducted woman fitting Sway’s description.”

Vicious grabbed a second towel and dried his hair as he listened to Player. He heard him say Sherlock was helping and stopped what he was doing. “Has he come up with any leads on Dawson?”

“He has a few locations that need to be looked at. Teller and the others have split up and gone to do a search of those properties.”

Vicious was thankful that Teller was leading the charge to find Sway. It made him feel like shit that he hadn’t reached out and asked his brothers for help. That he hadn’t trusted them to help him. “I appreciate the help.”

“Get yourself together and the three of us can head back to the clubhouse. You can get some shut-eye when we get there. You have an entire chapter of bad motherfuckers helping you.” The two men just stared at each other until Player stepped out of the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind him.

Leaving Vicious to get dressed, they headed downstairs to wait. It was time the chapter got their heads out of their asses and came together. Player hated that the abduction of a beautiful, young woman was what it had taken to make that happen.

A few minutes later, Vicious came downstairs pulling on a long-sleeve thermal, his hair still damp from the shower. He didn’t bother with drying it, as he was too worried about what the brothers might find.

“Give me five minutes and we can get going.” Glancing around the room, he searched for his boots and jacket.

“You look like shit, brother.”

“I know. I haven’t slept. I can’t until I find Sway. I can’t leave her out there alone, going through who knows what.” Vicious pulled out a chair and sat down at the table so he could pull on his boots.

He watched Joker, who was staring out the back sliding door. The brother was still holding his gun at his side. Player was pacing around the room, and the atmosphere in the small house felt heavy. Something was up, but neither brother was talking.

Whatever was going on between the two, Vicious hoped it had nothing to do with him. Player and Joker had been off-kilter since the night of the poker game.Fuck it, he thought. They would figure it out or they wouldn’t. He didn’t have time for it.

“My head is full of fucking horrible shit that could be happening to her. I’m losing my mind.” Vicious shoved his chair back when Player and Joker both turned, facing him. “Shit.”

Recognizing a hostile situation in the making, he looked at Joker and realized he was still holding his gun. Sliding his own 9mm into its holster, Player signalled to Joker to do the same. Vicious wasn’t a threat to anyone but himself at this point.

“Brother, I get it,” Player said, taking a seat at the table, trying to calm Vicious down. It must’ve looked like they were there to take him out.

“Tell me where you haven’t looked.” Smoothing a hand over the table, Player locked eyes with Vicious and told him the truth. “You’ve left a trail of blood and destruction through the area. Teller’s been defusing shit that you’ve caused.”

“Are you here to handle me, Player?”

“No. I’m here to help your fucking dumb ass.”

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