Page 32 of Venom's Sting
Suddenly Siege is on the other side of me. “If you want him to talk, don’t break his fucking jaw.”
Rigs just shakes his head and turns back to our mouthy prisoner. “Answer the damn question.”
A stubborn expression settles onto his face. “I don’t know nothing about that woman except that she’s apparently my half-sister. She older than me and sickly. Stupid senile fool has her down to inherit his farm, but the bitch won’t outlive him for long,” he stops like he’s said something he didn’t mean to. Wiping his bloody nose again, he says, “You can beat on me all night and it won’t matter. I can’t give you information I don’t have.”
“He’s lying,” I shout, trying to lunge for him again. Some small part of my mind knows that I’m out of line, but my temper is getting the better of me. I don’t know what this fucker is playing at, but I think I’m getting an idea. If land and money are involved, then maybe Edmund and his band of merry men are working some confidence trick? I wonder if they’re even the old man’s actual sons?
A short silence spins out in the cave, with Edmund daring us to beat the information out of him, his men afraid to say anything, and my club brothers standing around, ready for anything.
Siege breaks the silence with a bit of wisdom that I was too agitated to think of on my own. “So, you reckon you’re the old man’s favorite?”
Edmund wipes his cheek on the shoulder of his shirt again before jerking his chin up arrogantly. “I am. That means you had better let me go before he comes looking for you with hired guns. It won’t take him long to realize I’m missing.”
Siege smiles. It’s smug and self-satisfied. He walks up to Edmund and pokes him in the chest with one finger. “I’m counting on it. We need to get his attention and let him know who has you.”
Pivoting around he looks at our club brothers. “Make this place go boom. The bigger the explosion, the better.”
“What about his minions?” Rigs asks.
“They’re clearly not fighters, so they don’t matter.” Turning to the handful of bound men sitting in a short row, he gestures towards the van. “Unload the van and then get the hell out of here. This is a one-time only gift from our club to your bosses.”
They’re all staring at Siege in disbelief until he adds, “I know Eddie-Boy here isn’t the shot caller, so tell whoever it is, that the Savage Legion MC has shut down this entire operation in Las Salinas. Anyone who tracks back here will be going home in a body bag. Got it?”
Although Edmund is complaining loudly in the background, the men all start nodding.
I’ve got to admit that I’m confused as hell. “I don’t get where you’re going with this, Prez.”
Siege gives me a lopsided smile, extremely pleased with himself for some reason.
But it’s Rigs who answers as he pulls the first minion to his feet, cuts the cable ties off his wrists and ankles and gives him a shove in the direction of the van. “Our club president has decided to trade the old man’s favorite son for Carol Grayson.”
I have to tell Rigs and Siege my theory, so I gesture for them to step out of Edmund’s earshot, and hiss, “I don’t think they’re his sons. I think they’re pulling some kind of scam on the old man. Did you hear him say inheritance? What if the old man is senile and forgetting what he did to his daughter, or maybe he’s now repentant and wants her to inherit? These goons turn up not long after his second wife dies to try and stake a claim.”
Siege nods, “The thought crossed my mind too. If Amy’s mom is set to inherit the farm, then it stands to reason that they’d want to keep her close. At least until they’ve gotten the old man to change his will.”
“Money is the root of all evil,” Rigs adds darkly.
“Though what if it isn’t that?” I start second guessing myself.
My club president shrugs, “I think we can safely say that Rufus Grayson either has Carol, or Edmund and his brothers know where she is. But if what Edmund says is true and he’s daddy’s favorite, then taking him might get the old man to show his cards.”
“What if he doesn’t want to trade?” I ask worriedly.
Rigs’ eyebrows shoot up. “I hope to hell he does. Because if he doesn’t, that means we’re gonna drop him and bury him deep.”
Catching the drift of my club president’s plan, my anxiety clicks all the way down.
We all step back so we’re standing beside Edmund, I give the man a smile, “I call dibs on taking him apart piece by piece.”
Siege chimes in, “Granted. We’ll start with Rufus Grayson’s most favored son and work our way down to the least favored.”
By this time Edmund has stopped talking and is all ears. Understanding the gravity of his situation, he starts negotiating in earnest. “Look, I know I was being a dick before, but we can work this out. “Let me go, and I can fetch the woman, she’s nothing but trouble anyway, especially when her kid started snooping around.”
Siege stops smiling and his expression turns cold. “That woman is your sister and her kid, your niece. Why did the asshole take her in the first place?”
Edmund looks shifty. “Nothing nefarious.”
“So tell me,” Siege shoots back. I’m all ears.”