xviii. pulling the trigger
CLICK.
THAT'S WHAT Rinn heard, which made her breathe out a sigh of relief. Right as she did so, she slammed her head into Ethan's arm and he threw her gun to the ground. Jumping up on the balls of her feet, she crushed the chair and her body into the ground, successfully breaking until her light weight.
When she crushed the chair, Jackson grabbed the man's arm that was holding a gun to his head. He twisted it behind the man's back and threw his fist into his elbow. The man's arm broken with an audible splitting sound, sending a chill down Rinn's spine.
David kicked out the man's ankle that was standing behind him and threw his body into the floor. When the man hit the ground, David jumped on him and grabbed his head in his hands. He quickly snapped his neck to both sides and killed him by shattering the axis bone in his spine.
Before anyone had the chance to do anything else, Rinn pounced on her gun and pointed it directly at Ethan's head. He held his hands up quickly, speaking through a panicking, yet somehow calm tone.
"You don't want to do that," Ethan slowly spoke, his voice cracking slightly.
"Believe me," she said, pulling back the hammer to chamber the round. While she racked the slide back, the spring in the mag pushed the round up, and the slide chambered it in as she spoke, "I want to."
"Why don't you give her a reason not to?" Jackson asked, standing from the man laying on the floor with a broken arm. Ethan smirked slightly, shaking his head and shrugging a little.
"I don't know what you want," he stated, lying through his teeth. Jackson smirked, walking past Rinn and to the right side of Ethan. David watched as Rinn laid on the ground with her gun aimed at Ethan's head, ready to pull the trigger when she was given the signal.
"Where is your supplier located?" Jackson asked, walking around Ethan and watching as he chuckled. However, no matter how funny it seemed to him, Jackson wasn't finding anything in this situation entertaining . . . except maybe Ethan's fear of being shot.
"Why do you want my supplier?" Ethan asked, looking Jackson straight in the eyes.
"He had one of my men killed last time we were inside. You and I both know that. Why the fuck else would I want your supplier?" Jackson asked, practically growling out his words the way a rabid animal would growl to protect it's meal.
"It's not my fault Ivan got himself into trouble with my supplier," Ethan said, causing Jackson to look over at Rinn. She clenched her jaw together and pulled the trigger, missing on purpose and blowing a bullet into the wall behind Ethan's head.
"Okay, okay!" He yelled, ducking his head lower than it already was, "Jesus Christ, you're going to get me killed, Jackson!"
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do," he smirked, walking to the other side of Ethan. Rinn chambered another round in the gun, again, while Ethan smirked down at her through a sick desire she recognized.
"You know . . . I could put your new vice president to work," he stated, causing Rinn's nostrils to flare.
Before she had the chance to even think about pulling the trigger, Jackson slammed his fist into Ethan's stomach. He doubled over and threw up almost immediately from the force. While he was doubled over, he coughed out and finally gave Jackson what he wanted to hear.
"Alright, alright already!" He yelled out, barely lifting his head enough to look Rinn directly in the eyes, "He's hiding out in a warehouse in Newfoundland, Province. He's with his cousin and the Mexicans are protecting him. It was a trade off; they wanted a warehouse to use as long as I could use some of their men to lure you here."
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Jackson asked, looking over at both Rinn and David. She didn't say anything; she just stared at him through her own kind of hate, waiting for the chance to pull the trigger.
"Aye," David said, nodding his head.
"Alright . . . Let's go, Rinn," Jackson said, watching as Ethan continued to lay on the ground with Rinn's gun pointed at his head. She glared at him through desire to kill; she wanted to shoot him right this moment and not give him a second chance like Jackson was allowing him to have.
"Come on, Rinn," Jackson said, snapping her out of it and causing her to lower her gun. She stood slowly from where she'd been next to Ethan and shoved the gun into the back of her jeans, hiding it with her cut.
As they walked out, Rinn and Jackson shot each other a knowing glance. She wanted so badly to shoot him; she had never wanted anything more in her life than what she was craving right now. Jackson could see it in her eyes . . . and he would let her do it, if he knew she wasn't going to turn into a colder person than she already was.
"I guess I will have the chance to put you to good use, huh, Rinn?" He called after her with a slight chuckle, causing her to draw out her gun and snap around. With her arm raised in the air, she waited for him to say something else.
He seized the opportunity, taunting her, "Come now, Rinn . . . Would you really shoot a business associate of the clubs?"
"Don't think I don't know what you're threatening, Ethan . . . and don't think, even for a second, that I wouldn't pull this trigger," she drew out her words from deep within her, feeling the anger from what Nathaniel did to her rising inside and boiling dangerously close to the edge.
"I'm sure you would make a fine little addition to the sex trade," he chuckled, letting his eyes rake up and down her body.
Without a second thought, she pulled the trigger and a bullet lodged itself through his skull. Jackson and David both jumped from the sound, turning and looking back at Ethan's dead body. For a moment, Rinn stood in her stance and didn't move. Not a muscle in her body twitched; she didn't even breathe.
Then, she stood up straight and shoved the gun pack into it's place. She turned and looked straight into Jackson's eyes, allowing him to see how cold and bitter she truly was. Part of him was hoping she would regret this, but the other part of him knew she wouldn't.
"Rinn," Jackson said, slowly walking closer to her. She took a step back from him before blowing past him and rushing out to her bike. She jumped on, clipped her helmet into place and sped off into the cool breeze of the day.
Jackson turned around and looked into the mobile home. There were three dead bodies laying on the ground and he knew there would be problems from the police because of them. Groaning, he headed out to his bike and hoped on. David copied him and he tailed Jackson the entire way to the clubhouse.
When they got there, Jackson parked his bike and quickly got off, throwing his helmet onto the seat before rushing inside. When he got there, he asked everyone if they had seen Rinn, to which they all replied back in a disagreeing manner.
"Shit," he breathed out, shaking his head.
"She'll be alright, Jacky boy," David said, patting his back and turning him around. "Just give her a couple hours before you panic; she knows her way back. That's why we spent so much time teaching her how to drive that beast of a bike. She's strong; she can handle herself."
"Yeah, okay," Jackson muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Over the course of the night, Jackson fretted about how Rinn was doing. He was panicking, worrying to no end what she could be doing or if someone had hurt her. He wondered to himself what kind of trouble she could managed to get into or if she would lose the gun, which now had a body attached to it.
Just after midnight, the club's phone rang. With a worried look on his face, Jackson slowly walked over to it and picked it up. He pressed the send button and raised it to his ear, slowly stating a greeting into it.
"Would you like to take a collect call from Rinn Daniels?" A feminine voice on the other line asked, causing Jackson to agree, "One moment, please."
Jackson waited as David watched him from the end of the bar. Denver was standing next to him and from where he was, he could faintly hear the click before someone breathed into it, "Jackson?"
"Where are you?" He demanded to know, worry and slight irritation evident in his voice.
"I'm at the police station. They picked me up for going eighty in a sixty-five zone," she muttered, causing him to groan before sighing in relief. "Can you come get me or something?"
"Yeah, how much is bail?" He asked, causing her to tell him the price, "Alright . . . I'll be there soon. Don't piss anyone off, okay?"
"Yeah," she said before he hung up.
"They picked her up," Jackson said, giving David a worried look. He sat up straight almost immediately, causing Denver to give him a questioning look. He sighed, running a hand through his hair while explaining, "She dropped a body earlier and took off. I don't know what she was doing . . . and I'm not sure if they have her gun or not."
"She wouldn't rat, would she?" Alex's voice suddenly asked, causing Jackson's head to snap in his direction. He was lounging on the couch, watching as Siren and Shayne made out in the corner by the stripper pole.
"Are you fucking stupid?" Jackson spat out before groaning and shaking his head, leaving almost immediately through the front door.
He made it out to his bike before quickly driving over to Denver's house. He picked up his cash from a safe in the floor boards of the living room before he headed back into town; his destination? The police department.
When he got there, he posted bail and they paid her fine instead of dealing with a court date. Rinn kept her head down the entire walk to the bike. They had told her that she could pick up hers in the morning, after it was finish being processed and she shrugged it off, not really caring.
They did give her helmet back, however.
When Jackson and Rinn made it out to his bike, they silently got on and he drove them back to the clubhouse. As soon as they pulled in and Jackson cut the engine, Rinn hoped off.
"I'm sorry, Jackson," she whispered as he unclasped his helmet. "I don't know what got into me . . . I really don't. I just snapped. What Ethan said - it got to me real fast and I ju-"
"Shut up, Rinn," Jackson breathed out, holding his hand up to stop her from talking. "No one is mad about that, okay? I don't blame you for killing him; he shouldn't have said that to you. He was a sick person. I've wanted to drop him for the last couple years."
"I ditched the gun. It's somewhere on Denver's property. I was coming back on the main drag when they picked me up for speeding. I was fucking dropping. As soon as I hit the sign, I started losing speed but that fucking pig pulled me over," she spat out.
"It doesn't matter; a speeding ticket is nothing compared to what he would've gotten you for if you hadn't ditched the gun. We'll reassemble one tomorrow for you after we get rid of your old one," he nodded, walking with her into the clubhouse.
"I'll be in your bedroom," Rinn said as soon as she spotted Denver at the bar. He watched her go, wanting to stop her and talk about what he heard a couple days ago . . . but he didn't. He let her go because of how exhausted she looked.
"Did you find out where he is?" Denver asked as soon as Jackson reached him, causing his head to slowly nod. He spoke, again, "Where is he? Do we know for sure that it's real intel and they aren't just setting up another hide out for us?"
"It has to be real. Ethan sacrificed his life for it," Jackson muttered, grabbing out two bottles of beer before starting to walk back to his room. Denver grabbed his arm when he tried to pass and gave him a look that only Jackson would understand.
"I want to know how she sleeps tonight," Denver stated, causing shock to take over Jackson's features. "I'm serious. I don't want any of this "She was fine" bullshit, either . . . I want the truth. I want to know if she says something or cries or moves in even the slightest bit. Do you understand?"
"I wouldn't lie to you about that, Denver," Jackson said, allowing him to release his arm. They stared one another down for a moment before nodding.
Jackson made his way back to his room, where he found Rinn pulling off her shirt and dropping it onto the floor. He waited a moment, turning his head down as she pulled off her bra and slipped into one of his shirts. She walked over to his bed and laid down, causing him to walk into the room.
"Thanks," she murmured as he handed her one of the beer bottles. He nodded, not knowing what to say. He watched as she took a sip of it, enjoying the taste that washed over her tongue. She rolled it around in her mouth, feeling it's bubbling texture.
"How many times did your brother . . . you know," Jackson asked, not finishing the question.
"Once," she bitterly spat out, causing him to nod.
He stayed silent for a minute, watching her as she closed her eyes and attempted to relax her body. He frowned, not knowing what to do or what to say before his words spilled out of his mouth, "You didn't report it, did you?"
"Would you want someone to mess around between your legs after someone already made you undesirable?" She asked, causing him to look down and frown while she stated, "I didn't think so."
"Rinn, you aren't undesirable," he murmured, causing her to chuckle humorlessly. It was a bitter sound; almost as bad as when she didn't smile . . . It was sarcastic and menacing, making his stomach twist in knots a she watched the pain cross over her face.
"I don't expect you to understand, Jackson," she muttered, taking another swig of her beer. "I don't expect anyone to understand, really . . . I just want people to stop pushing for information. I'll talk about it when I'm ready, like when I told you on the roof."
"Alright," Jackson nodded, causing her to sigh.
"Denver wasn't supposed to hear that, you know," she whispered, causing him to nod as he leaned back in the chair he sat down in. His feet rested on his desk and he looked down at a binder he kept, filled with information about the club and how it's managed to lose it's way.
"I'm going to bed," Rinn said before she set her beer down on the floor. Jackson just nodded as she closed her eyes. The entire room was silent; everything around them was still . . . and before he knew it, Jackson found himself listening to her toss and turn, begging for Nathaniel to stop.
The only thing is, he couldn't bring himself to wake her up. So he left her laying in the bed, crying and begging with everything she had, for him to stop hurting her . . . and he just listening, torturing himself with the sound of her being raped in her head all over again.