Warlords MC: Book 1 – Ace (Truman) : Chapter 11

Charli walked over to the bundle she’d brought with her and began picking the knives up then putting them down and picking up the next one. She wanted Token to notice all of the blades she had on her and make him wonder why she had them.

She turned to the bound man. She was holding one of the blades in her hand. She almost smiled when he finally asked, “What the hell are you doing with those knives? They look wicked.”

“Oh, they are wicked. Very wicked. Do you know where these blades come from?”

Token just stared at the knife she held in her small hand.

Suddenly, Charli turned to face Ace and the boys in the doorway. “In or out, if you want answers then come the hell in and shut the door. We don’t want his screams heard in the next county.”

Ace and his brothers saw the determination in her eyes and in her body language… they did not want to miss this. They were unaware of just how far she would go. They had no idea if she was all bluff or if she actually knew what she was talking about.

Token remained mute as he shook his head in fear.

“These blades are part of my family’s history,” Charli went on as she ignored the other men in the room now. “You may not know this but my mom was Ben’s daughter. My father on the other hand was from a tribe of Gypsies that roamed all over Europe before they came here to America two generations ago. The band of Gypsies they came from had always forged weapons such as these all over the other continents. From England to Russia to France and Italy. When my grandparents came to this country, they took on a shorter name of the family name and chose Bennett instead of the name they had been born under, Bennettini. They still had the wanderlust they had been born with, so they traveled from place to place and they still forged the blades their family was known for all over the world. Did you know forging blades such as these are becoming a lost art? I mean who really uses these blades anymore? A hundred years ago, these were common for protection but now days? Not so much. Well, Ben never knew I kept these blades as a memento from my father’s family. My dad gave me a set of thee blades when I was three years old. Granted, they were smaller in order to fit my hands but even those were wicked sharp. But these blades are a part of me and I’ve worked with them growing up. That’s why they are hidden here. I never wanted Ben to know about them. I didn’t want to remind him of his daughters’ death. You see my parents were caught up in a vendetta with another gypsy family. Ben always told people they died in a car accident but that wasn’t the truth. The Bennett family, my parents and my grandpa and an uncle, were killed because a feud that started over a hundred years ago, in another country. I would have been killed as well but I was here visiting my grandparents.” She raised her head and glared at Token. She saw the dazed look in his eyes as she explained her family heritage and she smiled. All these years no one ever knew her family secret but they would know it now. Andy and his friends would learn her secrets the hard way and she would love showing them they messed with the wrong person when they messed with her. She would show them vengeance the gypsy way.

Token simply stared at her with wide eyes.

“I was taught as a very young child how to work the blades. My parents died when I was five so I don’t have all the moves my father would have taught me growing up but I know enough. A few months a year, I went to spend time with my dad’s family. There aren’t a lot of them left anymore but there are enough.” She shrugged. “Ben taught me how to hunt and fish and track the animals in these woods but my father‘s family taught me to use the blades. I had the best of both worlds. I have one particular cousin Mario. He taught me how to use the blades the best. He also taught me the complexity of the human body. Where to do the most damage and cause the most pain. Where to make my victim bleed the most. He was quite accommodating. He would always tell me to keep my eyes sharp and to always watch my back.”

The men all silently listened with curious interest as they finally got the answers to where she got these knives.

She sighed and looked over at Token, “But I digress. Time is wasting and I have things to do and people to see. I have to bury my grandfather, then I have to teach Andy a lesson he’ll never forget. Ben didn’t deserve what happened to him but Andy does deserve the hell that’s coming for him.”

“Andy might deserve it but I don’t deserve it!” Token argued. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Charli shook her head in disgust. “You don’t even have the balls to stand up for yourself. By standing with Andy, everything he does, you do as well. You are just as guilty as he is. You could have walked away but you didn’t. It’s called Guilty by association. So you did WRONG!’ she yelled the last part.

“But all this is on Andy not me,” he protested desperately. “He got us into this mess. And if I had walked, he would have shot me in the back.”

“But you are supposed to be a man Token.” Charli raised a brow at him her eyes full of malice and rage. “You’re supposed to be able to think and act for your own interests, not just his. You have the right to walk away from anything you want to. We all have choices and some of them are harder than others but you didn’t take that option did you? You stayed. That was the option you chose, so now, you have to live with it. So yes, you did wrong.”

“If you really think that then you don’t know Andy very well,” Token argued. “I never really had a choice.”

“Oh, I know Andy all too well and you know what? He’s about to know me just as well. He’s going to wish he’d never met me by the time I’m done with him. But first, you have some things to tell us, don’t you?” She lifted the blade in her hand and twirled it then when through a series of movements that stunned her audience. Her movements were flawless and told everyone watching that she knew exactly what she was doing.

The blade gleamed wickedly in the sunlight coming through the cracks in the walls of the shed. The edge of the blade looked extremely sharp and her moves with the blade were extremely complex, but she didn’t cut herself once. She moved forward and came to stand between Token’s legs. When she stopped, the knife was caught between her fingers with the ultra-sharp looking tip pointed at his chest.

“Did you know there are so many places you can stab a person and not hit anything vital?’ she whispered as she nodded. ‘It will hurt like hell and bleed a lot but you won’t kill them.’ Taking the handle of the blade, she pointed it at his upper chest and spoke in a louder tone now,. “For instance, did you know a blade can miss your major artery if you stick it just under the collarbone? On the other hand… if you move the blade just a fraction of an inch, you can hit the artery and the victim will bleed to death before he can even think about screaming.” She let out a small giggle. ‘Just think about it. Wow.’

Ace cleared his throat.

Charli glanced over to nod at him. “Yes, you’re right sweetheart…’ she paused to give Ace a cold smirk, belying the hated endearment. ‘This is taking entirely too long. Let’s just get on with it already shall we?” She flicked her wrist.

Token blinked in confusion as he felt nothing for the first few seconds, then he screamed as blood began to pour out of two superficial wounds. She had moved the blade quickly first of the right side of his neck then the left. He hadn’t even felt the steel break his skin until a bead of sweat got into the blood and he felt the sting. The cuts were superficial and not life threatening but they proved her point all too well.

“Oh, shut up will you?” Charli quipped coldly as she leaned in close to his face. “I haven’t even begun yet.”

Token looked over at Ace and his brothers. “You guys just gonna stand there and let her slice me into ribbons?”

Ace shrugged. “This is her show. She wants payback for Ben’s death and since Andy isn’t here, you get to take his place. The longer you take to give us something we can use to stop him, the more you’re gonna bleed brother.” He nodded over at Charli. “Besides, I’m not getting between her and those blades. You think I’m stupid or something? They look extremely sharp and she’s got mad skills with them. If I were you, I’d tell her what she wants to know.”

Token nodded. “They are extremely sharp. I didn’t even feel her cut me.”

Charli stepped in closer and placed the tip of the blade just under his chin. She could scent his fear and her eyes were glazed over as she stared into his fearful gaze. “What is Andy doing?” she whispered. “Is he running a drug dealership right here in this town?”

Token swallowed hard and winced when the blade pricked him just under his chin.

“Where is he making his little blue pills?” she asked him.

Token stayed quiet and prayed. He prayed she wouldn’t really hurt him. When he felt the blood trickle down his throat, he raised his eyes to the ceiling. He was a dead man either way, by either her blades or the bullet Andy had already vowed to put into his head. “You have to promise me something,” he begged of her.

“Why should I do anything you say?” She glared at him.

“If something happens to me, promise me you’ll look out for my mom and my granny. Andy would kill them just because he can. He knows he’s got protection against everything in this fucking town, even murder.”

“Tell us what we want to know and I’ll protect your mom and grandmother. Andy won’t touch them,” Charli promised.

Token looked over at Ace and he nodded. Then Token began to tell them a tale of corruption, greed and little blue pills. A tale that went back four years. “We were in college in Denver and we met a man named Tyson.” Token wet his lips nervously. “I didn’t think he was a good person but there was something about him that drew Andy in. He saw the easy money this guy was making and he wanted his slice of that particular pie. Tyson told him his boss could use other distributors to open new routes for his product. And that Andy could buy in an outlet for the pills. Tyson made it sound so good and Andy being Andy, got us into the drug trade. He thought with his dad’s backing and protection, it would be a breeze to set up a franchise and become a major boss. Then Andy was making new contacts and selling his pills. Hell, he was making good money doing it too. Both him and his dad.”

“Wait a minute… Oliver knows Andy’s selling drugs here?” Charli asked. “And he’s good with that?”

Token nodded. “Sure, as long as he gets his cut, he don’t care. He banked about four million the first year that no one knows about. Every year that amount changes, usually going up.”

“Is Andy making his own pills or is he shipping them in?” King asked.

Token shrugged. “Oh, he’s making his own. He’s got a sweet little set up and can produce up to two thousand pills a day.”

“Where is this set up?” Charli asked.

Token swallowed hard as he stared at her eyes. Her eyes were full of fury now. The more he told them about what was going on around their little town the madder Charli seemed to get. He didn’t have to wonder what she might do if he told her what was really going on right under her nose.

He looked over at Ace and asked, “Before I answer that, can you make her put down the blade? I really don’t want to get stabbed here.”

Ace and King snorted but it was Ace that informed him, “You should be afraid.”

Token let out a heavy breath as he trembled in the chair he was tied to. “I know I’m a dead man either way but remember, you promised to watch over my mom and granny.” He shook his head. “I knew what I was doing when I followed Andy into this mess but they don’t know anything about this.”

Truman looked over at Charli but she wasn’t looking at him, she was glaring at Token and the look in her eyes wasn’t good. But then vengeance never looked good on anyone. “Charli…” he called out her name. When she didn’t respond, he called out again, “Charli…”

She ignored him a second time and he growled. “Sweetheart!” he barked out, knowing she hated this endearment.

Charli broke her glare on Token and slowly turned her head to stare at Ace and his brothers. “What?” she whispered with a deadly tone in her voice.

“Put the blade down,” he ordered.

“Why? Give me a fucking reason.” She growled back.

“Because we don’t need him dead… at least not yet.” He shrugged.

“I do.” She seethed. “My grandfather died because of what he did, because of what Andy and people like this butt licking yes man brought to this town. Why should I care what happens to him?”

“Because the one you want dead is Andy not this chump.” Truman reasoned. “We’ll get Andy but this guy can give us what we need to do that.”

Charli snarled but she finally put down the blade.

Truman turned to Token and demanded, “Now tell us where Andy’s base of operations is. We know he’s using the building on the land next door for pickups and deliveries but where is he making the product he sells?”

Token swallowed hard again and told them what they wanted to know. Charli growled in fury when he told them where Andy was making his pills but otherwise, she didn’t say anything at all.

It was only when he was finished stomping her feet that Truman turned to her and asked her to leave.

“Excuse me?” She stared at him in confusion. “You want me to leave? Now?”

“Yeah, I do.” Truman nodded at her. “We have a few more questions for Token that you don’t need to know about.”

“I live in this town.” She hit her chest with a clenched fist. “I have the right to know what’s going on here and if I can, try to stop it. You can’t ask me to leave.”

Truman stood from where he had been leaning against the wall. “I can and I am. This has nothing to do with what’s happening here. This has to do with our mission and you don’t need to know about that.”

Charli glared at him. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your “Mission.” She air quoted the word. “If Andy had anything to do with that you can raise him from the dead and kill him all over again if that’s what you need to do when I’m done with him. But I’m not leaving here until I know everything Token has to say.”

“Woman, this is club business and you don’t need to know club business,” King grumbled.

Charli turned her furious gaze to him. “I don’t give a shit about club business.” She showed no fear of King, a man who was even larger than Ace was.

“You need to leave now,” Truman repeated his earlier request with a little more insistence. “We are running out of time here. Fairly soon, Andy is going to figure out Token is here and he will come back. We need to find out what we can before that happens.”

“I’ll never forgive you for this, you know that right?” she told him quietly. Looking around the faces of the men around her, she said, “Any of you. I won’t forgive or forget this.”

Joker lowered his head at this announcement.

Truman stared right at her.

With steady hands, she packed up her blades and without another word—Charli turned her back on them and walked out of the shed.

Truman closed his eyes and winced when she shut the door quietly behind her instead of slamming it like he knew she wanted to. He would have to pay for this later on, but for now, he needed this information badly. He turned to Token who was shaking badly.

Token looked up at him and whispered, “Holy shit man! I thought Andy was scary but she just beat him hands down. I’d watch your backs with that one.”

Truman crossed his huge arms over his wide chest and ignored the other man’s statement. Instead, he said, “Now tell us about what happened in Denver again and this time, don’t leave anything out.”

“And think real hard,” King insisted. “And try not to lie to us… or we might just cut your tongue out of your mouth.”

Token’s eyes widened and sweat rolled down the side of his head. “Oh man…” He seemed to realize things just went from worse…to hell-in-a-fucking-handbasket. “Ok,” he whispered.