Page 25 of Chill’s Chance

I step up on the ladder next to Alberto’s prison. “What the fuck are you doing?” He asks me. I hear the fear in his voice, which is good news for him, but makes me scowl. He’s scared already, which means he’ll be easy to break and I won’t have my fun. I don’t answer him before dumping the bucket of ice over his head. Most of it falls to the ground near his bare feet. I smirk when he pushes the ice away in quick jerks, because that shit’s cold. He doesn’t really know what cold is, not yet, anyway.

Handing the empty bucket to Dice, I take a full bucket in return. Dumping that on him, too. Turning, I find Hunter handing me another full bucket. After several buckets, a thin layer of ice covers his feet. Now it’s time to share the plan with Alberto. I nod at Wildcard, who is standing by the sink. He turns the tap to let the water flow through the attached hose into the cage.

“Puma told you that my road name is Chill. There are several reasons this name fits me. One of them is that I like to play with ice.” I explain. “Did you know that exposed skin can suffer frostbite in less than ten minutes if the conditions are right? Ice water is cold enough, but you can drop the temperature even further by adding in salt. I make the ice with salt.” I say as I step down on the ladder until I’m eye to eye with Alberto. I see the understanding in his eyes and I grin wider. “Now you’re getting it.”

Puma chuckles as he steps around the cage to stand next to me. “When Chill first asked me for this ice maker, I thought she wanted it for the clubhouse bar. But when she showed me how to use ice to slowly, silently, and cleanly kill someone, I have to say, it impressed me. It’s very efficient. No mess to clean up when we’re done, just dump the body out in a desert ravine or into a body of water and the cops think they drowned. Brilliant, really.”

“You’re forgetting the best part.” I continue. “Once your feet have frostbite, we can add more ice and water, work on the rest of your leg. From the reactions of those I’ve had inside there, the pain is excruciating. I’ve only had one guy hold out until the ice water covered his dick. He cried and screamed, gave me a headache as his dick froze off.” I say, shuddering.

I grin at the look of horror on Alberto’s face. I see him shifting his feet, trying to rise them up out of the water, but he can’t. The box is snug enough to keep that from happening.

“Please, what do you want to know? I’ll tell you everything.” Alberto begs. I gesture for Puma to take over as I move out of the way. Hunter comes to stand next to me.

“He was right.” Hunter says.

I frown and look up into his twinkling green eyes. “You won’t have to worry about me hurting you ever again. You’re fucking terrifying.”

I snort before turning my attention back to Puma.

“Why the fuck did you try to ambush my SOA?” Puma asks.

“We just wanted answers.” Alberto whines. “My boss sent me to talk to a member of your club about their part in getting our people killed.”

“What people?” Puma snaps.

“Three of our top men died in the explosion in Chicago.” Alberto says.

“You think we had something to do with that?” Puma asks, glancing at me. I know his concern. The Demon Dawgs had plenty to do with the explosion. A member of our Chicago chapter made it happen. We thought we’d covered our trail. Maybe not.

“We know Standish and Dr. Chambers escaped, along with their sons. Since Dr. Chambers’ daughter is marrying the president of the Demon Dawgs, we thought his club had something to do with the explosion, as well as helping them escape.”

Alberto closes his eyes in pain, allowing Puma and me to share a look of surprise. Technically, Alberto is right. We transported the four assholes out of Chicago. But we didn’t rescue them though; we captured them and Dante’s club disposed of them after first wringing out all the information on their human trafficking business.

“Who died?” Puma asks.

“Anthony Pollo, his brother Marcus and his son Constantine.” Alberto says, and Puma sucks in a breath.

“Fuck. Anthony and Marcus are the son of the current Don. Constantine is his only grandson.” Puma mutters. “Why does the Don think we helped those assholes?” Puma asks Alberto.

“They didn’t, not at first. You weren’t even on their radar, but we have people watching Dr. Vance Chambers. He flew to San Diego, and we’ve seen him with his daughter and the Demons. Don thinks he’s there to meet with his wife.”

“Drain the tank.” Puma tells me and I step forward to drop the bottom so the water and ice flow into the drain.

“Want us to release him or hold him?” I ask Puma.

“Hold him.” Puma says. “We’ve given you a reprieve. For now. I need to check with my President. You may live, if you’re lucky.”

Alberto nods, his teeth still chattering.

“Get him some sweats, socks, and a blanket.” I order Max, who nods before running back to the club to get them. “We can hold him in the storage room. It’s warmer than the cells. Want me to get Splint to look at him?” Splint is a former EMT who attended one too many emergencies and burnt out. He came to us looking for a place where he could find peace while still using his training. I never understood how he came to equate an MC with peace, but he’s a solid member of our club.

“Wouldn’t hurt. We may still kill him, but I’ll leave that to Dante.” Puma says as he leaves The Pit.

“Would we just release him?” Hunter asks me, and I hear the surprise and concern in his voice.

I shrug. “Maybe. He isn’t going to the cops, if that’s what you’re worried about. He doesn’t know where we are and he won’t have any proof that we took him anywhere, not without explaining to the cops why he was in our casino.” I tell him. “Puma doesn’t like to kill unless we have no other choice. He did nothing but come looking for answers. He frightened Shea. But she knows danger is part of the job. He didn’t hurt either of us.”

“What was he talking about? What happened in Chicago?”

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