Page 42 of Brick

Torch and Hook follow closely, their eyes scanning the surroundings, ready for anything. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins, but I keep my emotions in check. Ican’t let anger cloud my judgment, not now. I need to be precise, calculated.

I move through the hallway, the floor creaking beneath us, as if the building itself is warning us to turn back. But there’s no turning back for me. I won’t rest until Daly is nothing more than a memory, a ghost that haunts this place.

Every step takes me closer to my target, and my heart pounds in my chest. I can almost see it, the moment I finally confront him. I want to hear him beg, to watch the fear seep into his eyes as he realizes what he’s done.

“Brick,” Hook’s voice breaks through my thoughts. “You ready?”

I nod, my jaw set tight. “Let’s find him.”

We push deeper into the darkness, the stench getting stronger, the sounds growing more chaotic. I can feel the weight of the world pressing down on me, the anger surging like a tidal wave, ready to crash and destroy everything in its path. I won’t stop until I have my hands around Daly’s throat, until I can make him feel the pain he’s caused.

This is it. The moment I’ve been waiting for. And I’m ready to unleash hell.

Slowly, I push the door open to one of the apartments, and it's almost like a fucking party in there. People are getting high and drinking. Dutch is seated carelessly on a large dark sofa with a bottle of beer in his hand.

"Brick, my main man, I didn't think you'd show up."

I don't address him right away; instead, I continue to scan the room for any threats. On the ground is a pile of bodies, at leastfour deep. All of them in the typical Seven-Oh-Seven colors. All of them dead.

I guess these are the few street soldiers Daly was so sure would help him overthrow Dutch. It seems like he was wrong.

Dutch notices me looking at his handiwork and stands up from where he's seated to come over to where I am. "Oh come on, you didn't really think I was going to let those bastards get away with trying to take me out, do you? I even put in an order that anyone trying to fuck with you or yours would meet the same fate. I think we're all straight now." Dutch raises an eyebrow at me.

Does he think I'm supposed to be impressed by his little showing? I don't care about him or his little gang. All I care about is if Daly is in that pile of bodies. To my immense relief, I don't see him there.

"Where is he?"

"Who, Daly?" Dutch questions.

"No, dumbass, Waldo," Hook bites out in aggravation. The three of us are on edge and don't share in Dutch's calmness. He may have been able to clean up his ranks, but the Brutal Chains still have business to attend to.

"I figured you might want to have a word with him. He's chained up in the back." Dutch points down the hallway. It's dark and could possibly be a trap, but right now I don't care.

"Unchain him," I say to Dutch.

"For fucking what? I'm not about to let that asshole go."

"He's not walking out of here. I just want to make him think he has a shot. It's no fun beating up a man that can't swing back." I look forward to the door, waiting for Dutch to do as I ask.

He sighs and snaps his fingers to have one of his guys rush in the back and do as I ask.

"Mask up," I whisper to both Hook and Torch. They’ve got a lot of issues with people taking videos of shit, and the last thing we need right now is for someone to capture what I'm about to do to that man on tape. It's a simple precaution, but possibly one that could keep us out of jail.

The three of us are dressed head to toe in black and have left our vests back at the clubhouse. We don't want anyone outside of this room being able to identify us if something should happen.

As we make our way to the door, I look behind and notice that Dutch is following.

"I'm just here to observe. I can't let that bastard get free." All the humor is gone from Dutch's face; I know that he means business.

It's for the best anyway; I'm going to need him to take the final blow. I want to watch the fear in Daly's eyes when the lights go out.

The four of us walk into the room. Daly is up out of his seat, looking far too uninjured for my liking. He's pacing back and forth in the small area.

"Brick, I know that's you under there," he speaks, but I can hear the uneasiness in his voice. He's trapped in here. The windows are barred, and there's no other door besides the one we just came in from.

"I'm glad you know it's me so you know what this is for."

"Look, man, it was just business. That bitch had no right stealing from me. What would you have me do? I had to think of my reputation. If I let one hoe swipe some shit from me, it won't be long until everyone thinks they can do it."

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