Jigsaw (Hell's Handlers MC 3)

Leaving their bottles on the bar, they made their way outside and into the woods where the entrance to the box was. It was a trap door deal they kept covered with leaves and twigs most of the time. Needless to say, they didn’t want anyone stumbling upon it.

Zach held the door open as Jig and Rocket descended the long staircase, then he followed behind.

Though they’d taken the five men from the barn, only one remained. And he looked like he’d seen better days. Information extraction and a little punishment hadn’t treated him well.

“Where are the others?” Rocket asked.

Copper folded his arms across his massive chest. “Let the boy go after we scared the piss outta him. Literally. Pretty sure he’ll be steering clear of the gang from now on. Especially since we told him we’d be keeping an eye on his mom and sister.”

All bullshit. Copper would never hurt an innocent woman, but the dumb kid wouldn’t know that.

“Others are gone,” Copper said with a smirk.

Gone. Probably dead. Copper didn’t have much tolerance for mistreatment of women. Kidnapping teenage girls and selling them off as sex slaves pretty much topped the list as far as mistreatment went. It would come as no surprise to anyone in the club that Copper had them eliminated.

But why one still remained…

“So what’s with Cyclops here?” Jig asked. Their prisoner was a big guy, not quite as big as Copper, but larger than Jig. And one of his eyes was so swollen it looked like a bubble blown from some chewing gum.

“He’s yours,” Copper said, holding out a gun.

Jig swung his gaze in his president’s direction. He wasn’t usually called in for this type of shit. Zach was enforcer, and Copper liked to have a hand in everything that went down.

“Why me?” Jig took the pistol, hefting its weight in his hand. It felt good, too good.

“Cyclops here is one of the guys who busted out your woman’s windows,” Copper said, smacking the guy on the back of his head. He’d been through the ringer if the bruising on his torso was any indication, and his head flopped forward with the force of Copper’s whack.

Jig rolled his shoulders as tension crawled through his body. Sure, that earned the guy a beat-down, but death was a bit extreme. There was more to the story. Jig looked to Copper.

“He was also in charge of the girls at the barn. Worked directly with Lefty on snatching the girls and choosing who they’d be handed over to.”

That’d do it. Jig would gladly feed this guy lead for his last meal.

“And he was one of the guys who held Izzy down and helped beat her.” When Copper dropped the last bomb, Jig’s entire body locked up. The rage started low in his gut and spread like wildfire through his veins.

He’d been ready and willing to kill this asshole for the traumatized girls, but now it was personal. He’d had his hands on Jig’s woman. Hurt her, took away her control. And while Izzy clearly didn’t need him to fight her battles for her, he was all over this one.

For a moment, he stared down at the gun in his hand. Others wouldn’t understand it. The ability to kill another human being, to end a life. Maybe it only came to a person after they knew the horror of having their life ripped away in the most ferocious of ways. Maybe then, someone could understand the deep-seated need to protect others and keep scum like this from ever hurting someone again.

Because he would. If Copper were to let him go, he wouldn’t stop. He’d seek his own revenge and continue destroying the lives of innocent girls.

Jig lifted the gun and aimed it at his target.

The guy’s one functional eye widened. “Wh-what are you doing? I t-told you everything.”

Jig laughed. “So the fuck what?” Men like this didn’t care who they hurt. Didn’t think twice about ruining women and children. Just like the men who’d murdered his family, this bastard would continue to destroy lives as long as he lived.

Jig killed, but it wasn’t the same. This was an execution. Justice.

The law might not agree. Hell, most of society might not agree, but as Jig tucked his finger securely against the trigger, he didn’t feel an ounce of guilt, shame, or hesitation. He used violence when necessary and had a woman who didn’t judge him for it. It was time to embrace who he was and escape the shadow of the past still looming over him.

“N-no, d-don’t!” Their captive struggled against the bindings. “I won’t go back to Lefty! Please, you can’t do this to me.”

The pleas for his life didn’t so much as blip on Jig’s guilt-meter. He relaxed his arm, took a breath, and fired on the exhale. The bullet flew through the air and embedded itself in Cyclops’s gut one second later. The man screamed and doubled over as best he could while being tied up. He freaked out, begging and pleading for someone to save him.