Page 139 of Stone

It was time to saddle up.

“She’s here,” Abe whispered, a thread of panic in his voice as he jerked his chin toward our left.

My head swiveled and I saw Iris’s car, poorly hidden under some shrubbery, down the side of the ramshackle house. Eyes sliding back to my bud, I muttered, “Showtime.”

Silently, we crept toward the property, taking care to cover our tracks as we went. It would take one boot print or tiny cut to place us at the scene of the crime, and believe me, this would be a crime scene like no other by the time we’d finished with the sick bastards.

A cold shiver trickled down my spine as I picked up something over the wind.

I held one fist up, a signal for the men behind me to stop.

Lungs burning with the need to breathe, I waited.

Again, a scream carried on the wind, followed by soft whimpers.

I craned my neck to address Abe. Taking in his ashen face, I quietly ground out, “Whatever’s happened, we’ll deal. Don’t care what they’ve done, she’ll deal ‘cause she’s Iris, and she’s strong. They’re gonna die, and they’re gonna die bloody and screaming worse than she is. We’ll leave such a mess that their brethren won’t even look in our direction again. I just need you to follow orders.”

Abe’s blue eyes turned cold, and he nodded.

I signaled left and bent double. Everyone behind me followed suit, and we ran down the side of the house, immediately spotting a warehouse-type structure in the distance.

My hand reached up, and I gave the okay sign before crouching as low as we could. Within thirty seconds, we’d surrounded the warehouse, the boys waiting for my signal.

Soft clicks filled the air around me as I signaled for my brothers to get their weapons ready. Then, with one final signal, I took a deep breath, bracing myself for what I was about to witness, and we burst through the doors, firing warning shots into the air.

We needn’t have worried. They had no fucking clue what they were doing. Slash, and another asshole I recognized as Scalp, a so-called ex-army medic SAA, were at a table with their pants around their ankles, the sick fucks obviously taking turns with Iris, who was tied up and, by then, passed out, on a table.

There was blood everywhere.

I didn’t recognize the other two; they weren’t high-ups. I nodded to Dad, and in a split second, two deafening gunshots rang out, and they both fell to the floor with bullets lodged between the eyes.

Slash’s face twisted, and he reached for his gun.

Two more shots splintered the air, and both assholes screamed as Dad shot a kneecap apiece.

Abe roared like a man possessed and flew at them. I let him, watching as my brother kicked Scalp’s face and head, over and over, bellowing and cursing them to hell.

Slash could only watch, the shock in his eyes conveying the sudden knowledge that this was his last day on Earth. Eventually, Abe ran out of steam and took a step toward Slash, who cowered away like the weak little scumbag he was.

“Abe,” I shouted.

My brother spun around to face me; his face ravaged with pain.

“See to your ol’ lady,” I ordered, my voice a snarl.

“But—” he began.

“Abe,” I called. “Do you trust me?”

He jerked his chin in assent.

“I’ll make it hurt,” I said coldly. “I’ll make him scream like he did our Iris. I’ll make it so he’ll know her pain before he meets the Reaper. That’s my vow to you, brother.”

Abe sucked a breath in. With his chest full of air and eyes full of tears, he dipped his chin. One of the boys gave him the blanket we brought. Then, as if she was made of precious gold, my brother gathered his beautiful, broken wife gently in his arms and got her the fuck outta there.

Blood poured from between her legs. I had to avert my eyes and breathe deeply to stop from throwing up. What sick fuck could do that to a woman? What kind of evil must’ve been inside them to get off on that shit. My lip curled, my stare sliding toward Slash, who lay whimpering on the floor.

“Get him up,” I ordered, watching as Tex and Dad grabbed an arm each and dragged the perverted sick fuck to his feet.

---