Page 70 of The Devil's Ice

The voices came from behind them; all of the men turned to see Dux and Drake standing there with Cain. The twins looked exhausted and stretched thin, but somehow that made them look even more dangerous, darker. None of the other men were fathers – well, Scars was, of course, but he hadn’t been in Keira’s life since before her birth – and so they could only imagine what the twins were going through. If their faces were any indication, though, it was hell on earth.

Dux and Drake walked over, and there was a quick round of greetings: hand shakes and some back slapping, then Fox and The Highwaymen left, their part in the whole mess over and done with. The remaining men all stood there and looked at each other, taking a minute to take stock.

“So,” Drake said, his voice rough from lack of sleep. “Have you talked to him yet?”

“Nope,” Scars replied. “We were waiting for you.”

“You OK with us getting started?” Dux asked, already moving to where he could hear the distinct and unmistakable sound of a man with tape over his mouth, then he paused. “Or did any of you want a word first? King?”

“Yeah, do you mind if I get some time before you get going?” King said. “Not too long, maybe five minutes. I just have a few questions about Travis Denton’s demise… though I can probably guess most of what happened.”

“We figured,” Drake said. “Go ahead, man. Find out about your friend.”

“I won’t need long,” King assured them, walking over to the closed door, the heavy silver rings on his hands glinting in the weak sunlight. “I never do.”

**

Six minutes later, King walked out of the back room, wiping the blood off his knuckles with a rag. He shut the door, and the sound of pathetic moaning and incoherent begging faded.

“And?” Scars said. “Anything surprising?”

“A bit.” King stuffed the rag in his back pocket. “As I thought, Denton wasn’t in on it at any point, and he hadnoclue what Bale has been up to with The Highway Hellions over the past eight years… but Bale says that with all of us involved, and all the extra eyes on him, he started cracking up a bit under the pressure of lying about an imaginary CI. He got super paranoid about everything and everyone, and figured that it was just a matter of time before we were all working with Denton against him.”

“Did Bale actually confront Denton?” Ice asked. “Feel him out to see what he might know?”

“No,” King replied. “Bale decided to just take matters into his own hands. Told Viper that things were coming unstuck, and Viper told him to take care of it. Even loaned him an old motorcycle that has since been turned to scrap metal.”

“Shit,” Scars said. “I’m sorry, man. Your friend really didn’t see it coming.”

“Bale had everyone fooled for almost a decade,” King said heavily. “And let me tell you, if Denton was working with him closely and suspected nothing, then Bale is a fuckingmastermanipulator, but I guess that even a guy who’s the best at being the worst reaches a breaking point.”

“And your friend paid for that for no reason,” Drake said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well.” King shook his head. “All I really wanted to confirm was that Denton didn’t haveanypart inanyof this… and I wanted to hear how he died.”

“He was dragged to death,” Ice said slowly. “Wasn’t he?”

“No. Bale stabbed him first, right in the throat, and he died quick, thank Christ.ThenBale dragged the body behind the motorcycle and obliterated the evidence.”

“That is –better, I guess,” Scars said hesitantly. “I mean –”

“I know what you mean,” King said. “And I agree with you.” He looked at Dux and Drake, his gray eyes steel in his hard face. “Thank you for letting me find out what I needed to know… now he’s all yours.”

Without a word, moving as one, the twins moved to the door. In the blink of an eye, they returned to Enforcer mode immediately, seamlessly, and every man in the room saw the second that it happened.

“Guys?” Scars said. “One last thing.”

They turned, their faces identical masks of cool rage.

“We’re just sitting around here waiting on Bones, so you’ve got time,” Scars said. “Make him pay for it…allof it. Do your fucking worst.”

“We promised Briley that we would,” Dux said quietly.

“And wealwayskeep our promises to that woman,” Drake added.

They went into the room and shut the door; the screaming began soon after.

**

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