Page 71 of Maverick

“You did good, Brother. Let’s get him to the basement and see if we can convince him to tell us where she is.”

Striker, Erik, Goose and I all walked down to our basement with Zach. Down here wasn’t a place you wanted to be. This was where evil happened. Where our truly sinister side came out. Only officers were allowed to be down here.

Four old meat hooks hung from the ceiling. The cement floor had two big drains in it and the floor slightly sloped toward them.

Erik tied Zach up to one of the meat hooks closest to a drain. I grabbed the rolling tray table and brought it over. Striker was already taking off his cut off and rolling his sleeves up.

I slowly unwrapped the leather knife roll on the tray. We had a variety of knives and other tools for torture; Hammers, knives, pliers, and needles.

Striker stepped forward and then turned toward Erik. “This is your deal. You start him off. Show us what you got.”

Erik took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. He straightened his back and pushed his shoulders back then turned around and walked up the stairs.

Goose, Striker, and I all looked at each other confused. A few seconds later, Erik came back down with a sledgehammer.

Goose laughed, “A fucking sledgehammer! This kid is great! Shit, Striker. Looks like we got Thor in our club.”

Erik’s face remained stone cold. He walked up to Zach and stared him in the face. “Got anything you want to say?”

Zach spit in his face and laughed. “Fuck you, Erik.”

Erik shrugged his shoulders and turned to face us. He picked up the large sledgehammer and whipped around. The hammer landed right to Zach’s stomach.

Zach moaned and flew back, but the meat hooks swung him right back to Erik.

“Change your mind?”

“Fuck. You.”

Erik slammed the hammer right into Zach’s knees. He went flying back and twisted on the hooks. When he came swinging back, Erik lifted the hammer and swung.

It landed squarely in Zach’s back and he howled. Erik swung the hammer like it weighed nothing. He swung again as Zach twirled back around, landing one straight in his chest. You could hear his ribs crack and the hammer met his chest.

Striker clapped and walked up to Erik as Zach swung around, trying to catch his breath. “Well done, Prospect. You’ve earned your place in the club. We’ll talk after this situation is handled and call Church. Welcome to The Devil’s Highwaymen, Thor.”

Erik’s face lit up and he patted Striker on the back. “Thank you, Pres. I’m glad to be one of you. But let’s finish this shitbag off.”

Striker walked over to the tray and ran his fingers across each weapon. “Ya know, Goose. I just don’t think any of these will do.”

Goose smiled and walked over to the back wall. “You’re right, Pres. Maybe we should introduce him to Faye.”

Zach tried to turn to see what Goose was doing. “You ain’t getting shit out of me! I don’t care what you do! I ain’t no rat!”

Striker just laughed. “You’ll change your tune once Faye comes out to play. Thor, tie his legs together. Maverick, strip him down to his boxers.”

Erik, or Thor now, got to work. I took out my pocket knife and sliced open his jeans. We ripped them off and Thor grabbed some rope to tie him up. He twisted it around his ankles and tied it tight. We ripped off his shirt and then grabbed his shoes off. Once we were done, we walked behind Striker.

Goose was in the corner whistling. Striker rolled the tray next to Zach. “Let’s start with some capsaicin shall we?”

Striker picked up a syringe filled with a red liquid; Capsaicin. It’s an active component of chili peppers. We make it into the liquid right here at our Clubhouse.

He nodded toward us and all three of us headed over to hold Zach in place. Goose wrapped his arms around him and Thor grabbed his legs. I stood on a stool behind him and held his head still.

Striker got close to Zach and placed his hand on his bicep. He carefully stuck the needle right into his deltoid muscle.

Zach swore and then started to convulse. He shuddered and then turned to Striker. “What the fuck was that? My body feels like it’s on fire!”

Goose started to laugh from behind him. “Oh, you just wait. Faye is ready to rock and roll.”

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