He’s breaking.
Fuck.
She is good.
“Death wouldn’t be such a bad vacation,” she says, and then her voice grows chipper again, “now, are you going to play nice, or are you simply worthless to us?”
Benedict falls silent for so long. I figure he’s shut his mouth and isn’t willing to say another word. Then, after a few moments, he offers her a deal. “I’ll do you a deal. I’ll give you exactly what you and your little club want in return for my freedom.”
“How do you know what my little club and I want?”
“You want Blanche, Peter, and Dax? Am I correct, Aviana? You want to take down that operation, thinking you’re going to be saving the fucking world if you do. You do know that there are thousands more like them out there?”
“I do, but those particular ones have something we want. Not to mention, they have ruined many people’s lives. We have a biker who needs Dax, so he doesn’t go to prison, we have bodies lined up that they’ve taken from us, we have a young girl who doesn’t fucking belong with them.”
“I’ll give them to you to do with as you please. I can have that entire operation annihilated in a matter of hours. You let me go; I’ll give you that.”
Aviana snorts. “You think I believe that if we let you go, that you’ll just hand over an operation and people that are making you millions, and let us deal with them and go on with our lives without ever hearing from you again?”
Benedict’s tone is serious when he replies with a firm yes.
“Why would I ever believe that?” Aviana questions.
“They’ve been causing me problems for a while now, and if you think the money they’re bringing in is worth anything to me, you’d be wrong. It isn’t worth even a small percentage of what I earn. They are nothing but thorns in my side. You want them gone? I’ll make that happen. You want the girl back? I’ll have her returned. As for me, you let me go. You and your little club will never hear from me again. Do we have a deal?”
“You know I can’t make decisions for the club, Benedict. They’re never going to believe you’re going to just hand them everything they want.”
“I will not speak. You kill me; you kill the information that comes with me. You’ll never take down the operation I’ve got running there. You’ll all be killed. I have the manpower to do it, without even a glitch. You simply do not. Do you want to see those people die?”
Aviana falls silent.
“Go and speak to them. I’ll wait for your answer.”
Aviana leaves without another word. We step away from the door, and she walks out, glancing at us. Alarick puts a finger to his lips, silencing her, and then we all make our way to his room where the others are waiting before speaking.
“No fuckin’ way,” Kendric says first. “Second he’s gone, he’ll have us all killed.”
“I have to disagree,” Zariah says. “I think his life is far more important to him than those people. I think he’ll help us.”
“I do, too,” Aviana nods.
“It’s fuckin’ risky,” Alarick murmurs. “If we trust him, and he turns on us... he’ll take our entire fuckin’ club down.”
“Then we have to be smart about it,” Aviana suggests. “We have to make sure that it’s done in a way that he can’t take us down without it hurting him, too.”
“How are we goin’ to do that?” I murmur, crossing my arms.
“By taking something he loves the most and holding it until we have what we want.”
“That man doesn’t love a single fuckin’ thing,” Alarick mutters.
“You’re wrong. He does,” Aviana grins. “He loves his daughter very much.”
“Wait,” Zariah says, her smile widening. “He has a daughter?”
“Indeed, he does. Not many people know about her, it’s to keep her safe, but I happened to find out about her. I know her name, too.”
“You’re fuckin’ genius,” I grin at her.
She shrugs. “What can I say? I’ve learned a few tricks...”
“Any idea where we might find this daughter of his, quickly?” Alarick asks.
Aviana nods. “I have an idea or two.”
“Well then,” he extends an arm. “Lead the way.”
“THAT’S HER, RIGHT THERE!” Aviana says, her voice a frantic hiss. She points to a girl who is walking down the street after leaving a café that she works at. We have been waiting for hours for her shift to end, and finally, it has.
“So what are we gonna do, follow her home?” I ask Alarick, sitting in the idling truck.
“We’re goin’ to have to. Can’t abduct her from the street.”
“Where are we going to take her?” Aviana asks.
“Somewhere he can’t find her, but safe. Zariah knows a place and is getting it set up so we can hold her there until Benedict delivers.”
“I kind of feel sorry for her,” Aviana murmurs. “Poor girl hasn’t done anything wrong.”
I turn and glance at her. “We have no intention of hurting her. She’ll be okay.”
Aviana nods and stares at the young woman walking down the sidewalk. When she gets into a car and pulls out, we follow her. She lives not too far away, at a small apartment complex. We park right behind her, and Alarick gets out. Here’s hoping she doesn’t fucking scream. I get out, too.
We approach her as she goes to the passenger side to get something out. When she turns around, we’re right there. Alarick is pointing his gun at her. “Don’t scream, or I’ll shoot. We’re not goin’ to hurt you. We need your help.”
“Who are you?” she gasps, face white as a ghost.
“Friends of your fathers.”
“I can’t help you,” she shakes her head, “I don’t even speak to him, I swear. I can’t stand that man. Please, don’t...”
“Get in the truck,” Alarick orders. “Again, we’re not goin’ to hurt you.”
He waves the gun at her, and she obliges, climbing into the back of the truck.
