Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Cain stepped up beside the pair and laid a hand on Styx’s shoulder. “That’s enough, Styx.”
Poppy smirked again, but this time, there didn’t seem to be as much bravado, and he couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to keep his eyes on Styx or Cain.
“That’s right. Call off your dog. Who the hell do you people think you are, anyway? You’ll pay for killin’ my kin.”
“No, we won’t,” Cain said with a chuckle. “Didn’t you think to look into the people you were comin’ to threaten? When you go to war, son, you gotta know who you’re fightin’. Now, you ain’t gonna be makin’ the ride home.” Cain couldn’t have been much older than my pap, if he was even that old. But him callin’ Pap “son” was obviously an insult.
Poppy lunged at Cain. The other man didn’t even flinch. Before Poppy got more than a few inches away from Cain, Bohannon struck out with his fist, connecting with my pap’s jaw. Poppy crumpled to the ground, and Cain just snorted.
“Pick him up. Take him to the basement. We have questions that need to be answered.”
“Ain’t tellin’ you nuthin’,” Poppy said, his voice slurred slightly. When he stood, I could see him looking around warily. Like he only now realized he’d stuck his head in a viper’s nest.
“Yes, you will,” Sword said, grinning evilly into Poppy’s face. “You’ll be surprised how little time it takes, too.”
They marched my Pap up the steps to the porch where I stood. As he passed me, Poppy spit in my face. His tobacco stung my eye and I cried out, stumbling backward until someone caught me. I wiped frantically at my eye until I could open it again. When I looked up, Poppy was grinning down at me.
“Fuckin’ bitch. You disgust me.”
I felt something solid against my palm where I tried to get my balance. I had no idea who had me, but I grabbed on to that object and pulled it free. Turned out, it was the hilt of a bigass knife. I flipped it around to lay against my forearm and scrambled to my feet. With a battle yell, I charged the three steps to my pap and slashed out, making one deep cut across his cheek, then one across his chest with the backward motion. I flipped the knife around to stab him, but Styx pulled me back.
“Easy there, baby. You’ll get your chance to carve him up.” Styx wrapped his arms around me tightly. Surprisingly, he didn’t try to take the knife away from me.
“We still have questions for him, Jolene,” Cain said, laying a gentle hand on my arm. “Let us get the answers we need, then you can do whatever you need to.” He gave me a hard look. “Did he hurt you, Jolene? Growin’ up?”
I shrugged. “Made my childhood a livin’ hell. I managed to be problem enough he kept me out of his will, but not bad enough he sold me or just kilt me.” I looked away, slightly ashamed of my outburst. “I hate him.”
Bohannon and Sword shoved Poppy into the clubhouse none too gently. “He’ll pay for everything he’s done and then some before we’re done with him, little sister,” Bohannon said. “You want your piece, get Styx to bring you down. Just know it’s not gonna be pretty.”
“I ain’t squeamish,” I said defiantly. “He shot at me and woulda killt me. He said if’n I ever came back, he’d kill me.”
“Then come with us,” Cain said, reaching out to take my hand. “Stay as long as you want to. When you need to go, Styx can take you back to his room.” Styx took my other hand and the three of us walked behind Bohannon and Sword as they escorted my pap roughly to the basement. I knew we were in for a long, bloody affair when I saw the tarp in the middle of the middle of the floor around a chair that looked like it had been bolted to the ground.
The two enforcers strapped Pappy to the chair, even used a long strap to secure his head to the chair’s back. It reminded me of an old-time electric chair with its leather straps and sturdy, wooden frame.
“Now,” Cain said. “How many more of your people are on the way to look for the Maybach?”
“Ain’t none’a your Goddamned business.”
Cain smiled and nodded to Bohannon. The big man made a show of putting on gloves before beginning to systematically beat the living shit out of Poppy. The sight should have repulsed me. Instead, I found myself smiling. How many times had my pap done this exact same thing to anyone who got in his way? It was why the whole town of Williamson was terrified to go against him. Even the law didn’t mess with the McCoys. Hell, they didn’t mess with the Hatfields, either, but the McCoys had made themselves an integral part of the financial community of Williamson. They might look and sound country, but they owned half the town.