Hyde's Absolution (Sydney Storm MC 4)

“I’ll drop by and check in with him later.”

“Thanks.” His voice was tight. I knew he’d prefer Kick on deck, but King would never ask that of him in this situation. It was one of the things I respected the most about King—he always put family first.

The doctor knocked on the office door, and King motioned for him to enter. Closing the door behind him, he said, “Your guy took a bad beating, but he’s only suffering from broken ribs and a broken nose. He’s in a great deal of pain, though, so I’ve given him something for that. If you want to talk to him, now’s your chance, because he’ll sleep most of the day with those drugs.”

King nodded. “Thanks, Doc.”

Not wasting a second, King and I made our way to where Marx rested. His swollen eyes came to us, and he grimaced in pain.

“You able to fucking talk now?” King demanded.

Marx’s face was a wreck of bruises, cuts, and dried blood. His body didn’t look much better. I took some fucking delight in that.

“Yeah,” he croaked out.

“Took some fucking balls to show up here. Either that or you figured you were good as dead already, so you had nothing to lose. What the fuck’s going on?” King asked.

Marx’s throat must have been dry because he tried to swallow a few times.

King bent over him, a look of menace on his face. “You want some water, motherfucker?”

Marx nodded, barely, but got his message across.

King stayed bent over him, his gaze taking in Marx’s body. I couldn’t be sure, but I’d have bet that he wanted to inflict more pain on Marx.

He proved me right when he snapped back to a standing position, his crazy eyes seeking mine, and barked, “Jesus, get him some fucking water before I fucking kill him!” Looking back at Marx, he added, “And you’d better start fucking singing for your supper or else the pain you’re in will hit a whole new level that I can guarantee you won’t fucking like.”

Fear bled from Marx, and he squirmed in the bed where we had him. He blinked rapidly a few times. There was no escape for him. He’d come to us, and King would make him regret that decision if he didn’t give us what we wanted.

After I had given him some water, he mumbled, “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

My phone sounded with a call, but I ignored it. Whoever it was could wait.

King pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat. “Who the fuck do you work for?”

Marx pulled a face. “That’s the one thing I don’t know.”

King was up and out of that chair faster than Marx could blink. “Don’t fucking lie to me!” he roared.

Marx shrunk from him. “I’m not! I honestly don’t know who he is. We never met.”

King gripped Marx’s chin and squeezed hard, raining a new round of pain down on him. “Tell. Me.”

Marx thrashed on the bed, legs and arms trying to fight King. I quickly stepped in and held his legs down while King threatened him again. “You don’t start talking now, I’m gonna start removing body parts.”

“He sent different people each time,” Marx managed to get out between deep gasps for air. “We met in different places, too. There was no pattern to it.” He gasped again when King tightened his grip. “I swear! He told me I would never know because that wasn’t how he worked. No one knew who he was.”

That made King stop. Letting Marx’s chin go, he demanded, “How did he make first contact with you? How the fuck did he know you? And what did he offer you?”

Marx nodded madly, tears streaming down his face. “I’ll tell you! I swear I’ll tell you everything.” Another gasp for air and then—“I don’t know how he found me, but the first time I heard from him, he called me. Well, I don’t think it was him. I think it was his main guy.”

“What the fuck do you mean by his main guy?” I asked, ignoring another call coming from my phone in my pocket.

“I met a lot of different men, but there was this one guy who seemed to be in charge. He was the one I always spoke with on the phone. And then they sent others to drop off drugs and collect cash.”

King planted his feet wide and settled his arms across his chest. “How do you know the one on the phone wasn’t the man you were working for?”

“By what he said.”