Page 78 of Bones

“But what kind of message does that send.” The vein in Cotton’s neck pulsed as he growled, “I don’t want this motherfucker thinking he can play us.”

“I get that, but damn, Prez.” Maverick sounded torn as he told him, “Our hands are tied on this one.”

“Goddamn it. This motherfucker is gonna pay for this shit.” Cotton shook his head and sighed. He lowered his head, thought for a moment, then inhaled a breath and said, “Let him go, but I want a tracking device on him—one that Bruton won’t be able to find. That way, we can get the kid back if we need him.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. Big and I can take care of it,” I assured him. “Just need a few minutes to get it set up.”

“Get it done.”

I nodded, then followed Big inside. When we got to the office, Big took one of the smaller trackers from our safe and said, “This should do it.”

It wasn’t much bigger than a pen head and could easily be hidden anywhere. “Yeah, I should think so.” He handed it to me, and I started prepping it. Once it was ready, I handed it back to him and said, “It’s all set.”

“Good. Let’s get it to Cotton.”

By the time we got to the playroom, Stitch and Wrath had Ben cleaned up, but he still looked like hell. He was black and blue, and his eyes were swollen like he’d been in a boxing match and lost. They were in the process of giving him some clean clothes when Big walked into the room and grabbed his shoes, secretly slipping the tracker into the bottom sole. Once it was secure, he tossed them on the floor next to Ben’s feet.

We all watched as he bent down to get them and groaned. The guy was in bad shape, which led Big to ask, “You think he’s up to driving?”

“He’s gonna have to be.” Cotton gave him a once over and grimaced as he reached over and placed his palm on Ben’s forehead, forcing his head back so he could get a better look. “Maverick can drive him into town. From there, he’s on his own.”

“I’ll be fine. I can make it.”

“We’ll see soon enough.”

“You should consider yourself lucky. Most folks don’t leave here breathing. Best do what you can to steer clear because if there’s a next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

“Don’t have to worry about that. I have no intention of crossing paths with you guys again.”

“For your sake, I hope you don’t.”

Ben put on his shoes, then followed Stitch and Cotton out to the parking lot. Ben was about to get into his car when Cotton stepped over to him and grabbed him by the shirt collar. He pulled him close as he growled, “Tell your grandfather I’m coming for him.”

“I still don’t understand what’s going on with all this. Why do…”

“Just tell him.”

Ben nodded, then got in the car. As soon as Maverick started the car, Cotton leaned down to the window and ordered, “Get him to the town square. He can get home on his own from there.”

Maverick nodded, then drove through the gate and Two Bit followed close behind. As soon as they were out of sight, we headed back into the clubhouse. We gathered in the conference room and had just sat down when Cotton turned to me and ordered, “Message him back. Tell him we’ve released the kid.”

“On it.”

As I reached into my pocket, I was hit with a thought that had been weighing on me from the very beginning. I still didn’t get why Bruton continued to message me instead of Prez or Stitch. Hell, he could’ve messaged any one of the brothers, and it would’ve made more sense than contacting me. Just thinking about it had me turning to Savage. “You said Ben didn’t know anything, right?”

“Yeah, he was oblivious.” Savage leaned back in his chair and toyed with his ballpoint pen. “Like I told ya before, he had no idea what Bruton was really up to and had no idea what he wanted from us. Just said that he wanted him to see what he could get from Elsie.”

“So, it was a bust. He didn’t getanythingfrom her.”

“Just the contact information on her phone, but Bruton already had our contact information.”

“But he didn’t have my burner number.” I held up my phone. “He definitely has that now.”

“That he does.” He glanced down at the screen. “Did you message him?”

“Yeah, I sent it.”

It wasn’t until I glanced down at the screen that I noticed Bruton had responded.

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