Page 39 of Reaper's Rage

“He ran to me and stumbled. I stepped out of the car, pulling out my gun. Just as Wylan got to the car, I shot at the homeowner to distract him. Wylan dove into the front seat and I took off. That’s when I realized Wylan was struggling to breathe. When we got under a street lamp, I saw blood on his shirt. I knew I had to take him to the hospital, so I drove straight there and helped him into the ER. I gave them a story about finding him when I was driving over to my girlfriend’s house.”

“They believed you?”

“Hell no, but they saw he was in terrible shape, so they took him into surgery. Told me to wait. I slipped out when they weren’t looking. Once I was back in the car, I drove straight here. Threw everything into this bag before Puma scraped the car. I never even looked inside the bag, just shoved it into the closet and forgot about it. I can’t believe I forgot about it. If someone searched the clubhouse, they would have found it.”

“Let’s go through it together. You can get rid of anything incriminating.” I tell him, reaching toward the bag.

Reaper stops me. “Don’t touch anything. Let me do it. You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

“I want to help.” I tell him. “But I’ll let you go at your own speed.”

He reaches in and pulls out the gun first. After removing the bullets, he breaks it down. He lays the pieces on the towel next to the bullets. “Registration marks are gone. I wonder where Wylan got an unregistered gun?” He’s talking more to himself, so I don’t respond, but let him continue his search. He pulls out a jacket. “This was Wylan’s. He left his jacket along with his wallet in the car. I remember the wallet falling out when I dumped everything in here.”

I glance into the bag and see something. “Is that a laptop?” I ask. “Do you think that’s what he stole?”

Reaper frowns as he pulls out a Dell laptop. “I guess. I know he didn’t have it when he went in. What a weird thing to steal. Deion wouldn’t have accepted it. It’s not worth much.”

He opens it and tries to power it up, but of course it’s dead. “I’ll see if Spark has a power source. Maybe he can gain access. Discover why Wylan grabbed it.” He reaches back into the bag and returns with an older iPhone. “This was Waylon’s phone. He would have had recorded his theft on it.” Reaper shifts to grab his phone. He unplugs it from the charger and plugs the other phone in. “There’s no passcode. That’s helpful. And here’s the video from that night.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: REAPER

“Deion, if you’re watching this, then the first thing you need to know is that I don’t want to be part of your gang. I’m here in this house to gather the evidence I need to end you, your gang, and the asshole who lives here. You don’t think I know the truth, but I do. You and your fucking gang kidnapped my sister and sold her to this asshole. He raped her, stole her virginity and destroyed her. Her name is Vivienne Claymore. She’s in a mental institution, unable to speak because of what you fuckers did to her. Now I’m getting the proof I need to take you all down.”

Ashlyn leans closer to me. I feel her arm on my shoulder and her hand on my thigh, but her touch is more like a memory than reality. Because this video is a fucking nightmare. Wylan continues down the hall until he reaches an office. He scans around the room until he spots the laptop. He picks it up before moving again. At first, all I can hear is his labored breath, but then I hear voices. I can’t make out what they’re saying until Waylon pushes open a door.

“When is she waking up?”

“Soon. Renee gave her the same dosage as usual. They’re typically out for about 45 minutes. I picked this one up about twenty minutes ago. I’d give it another fifteen minutes and she’ll be ready to play.” Trask responds.

Two men stand next to a couch where a beautiful young girl lays unconscious. her black, curly hair partially covers her face, which is pale under her dark skin. She’s naked except for her bra and panties. I only recognize one man. Trask. The other is an average looking white dude in his forties.

A muted curse from Wylan draws the attention of the two men. Trask swivels as he reaches for his gun. Wylan turns to run. The video blurs as gunfire and shouting pour into the room. I hear myself yelling and another gunshot as Wylan dashes to my car and dives into the front seat, where he drops the phone. I see blurry images of the inside of my car as I hear myself cussing while Wylan drifts in and out of consciousness. The video cuts off several minutes after I drag Wylan out of the car at the hospital.

“Fuck.” I blow out as I lean back against the headboard, bringing Ashlyn with me.

“Well, now we know how Trask waylaid me that night.” Ashlyn says.

I look down at my girl and shake my head as I stare at her beautiful face. I watch it shift from questioning to confused.

“You don’t think Trask was working with the same Renee who drugged me?” She asks me. “Isn’t that too big of a coincidence?”

I stare at her as her words sink in and though I have a mild urge to laugh, I’m too sad to manage it. “No, babe. I think you’re exactly right. Trask and Renee were working together.”

“Then why did you shake your head at me when I suggested it?” Ashlyn asks, smacking my stomach with her hand.

This time, I manage a small grin. “I wasn’t shaking my head at your theory, you crazy woman. I was shaking my head because I don’t deserve to have a woman as smart as you.”

Now she shakes her head. “You’re an idiot.”

“That’s what I was saying.” I tell her, capturing her hand before she can smack me again. I lift it to kiss her knuckles and then hold her palm against my face. “All this time, I had this and didn’t know. Fuck, how many women have suffered because of me?” The guilt crushes me as I think about the girl in the video. I wonder whatever happened to her.

Ashlyn shifts until she straddles me. She places both her hands against my face to force me to look at her. “You listen to me, Reaper. You didn’t know. If Wylan had confided in you, I know you would have gone in there, guns blazing, to get her out. You would have helped him get the proof he needed.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t do either of those things. I ran and hid.” I admit, feeling hopeless.

“Hey!” Ashlyn barks at me. “You were on your own, up against the entire gang for all you knew. What if you had seen this video back then? What would you have done? Taken on the Deion and all his men by yourself?”

I pull her down until I can feel her heart beating against me. Breathing in her scent calms me and helps me think. “I was on my own, but I still could have done something. If I’d just known. If I’d just taken a few minutes to review this recording.”

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