Page 85 of Outlaw Xmas
Hawk and the three men walked softly toward the back of the house, his small flashlight providing the only illumination. Placing his gloved hand on the doorknob, he slowly turned it, and to his surprise, the door swung open.
“You gotta love careless people. It makes it easy as fuck for us,” Throttle said in a low voice.
“These stairs are damn loud though,” Rock replied.
“Let’s wait for the heater to kick on. I’m gonna bet it’s not a new, quiet model. When I was growing up, the heater would be so fuckin’ loud when it turned on and off, and the transformer would be so damn noisy the whole time it was running,” Banger said.
They stood waiting on the porch for several minutes and then the click and thump of the furnace pilot light catching filtered to their ears, and a loud humming noise replaced the quiet.
“Time to roll,” Hawk said as he crossed over the threshold, Banger, Throttle, and Rock following behind him.
A blast of heat smothered them as they stood in the middle of the small kitchen. To the right, a mouse scurried across the linoleum floor. Jerking his head toward the hallway, Hawk quietly walked out of the room. As he neared the only room with a light on, he pressed his body against the wall and inched closer toward it. Banger was next to him, his 9mm in his hand. Stopping just short of the doorway, he craned his neck and glanced inside the room. A bare bulb with a pull string was the only light in the room. Damp spots on the dingy walls, a jumbled row of what looked like paint cans, and a stack of cardboard boxes under the windows were the first things he saw from his vantage point. Extending his head a bit farther, he saw a man matching the description Cara had given him of Garret leaning against the wall rubbing and scratching his arms as his legs twitched. On the table next to him, Hawk saw an empty baggie and a rolled up bill. He glanced at Garret again, and a bolt of rage shot through him.The fucker is high. If he hurt Braxton, I’ll make sure he dies a real slow and painful death.
Against one of the walls, he noticed a mattress. His heart pounded: Braxton and Harley lay on their sides. A chill went through him.Are they dead?The thought froze his soul.
“See anyone?” Banger asked.
“Yeah. I see the boys. The fucker’s tweaking out. Probably meth. Let’s go in.”
When they entered the room, he immediately saw the mismatched furniture shoved over to the right-side of the room. A man sat up, surprise and then panic lacing his face. Hawk rushed over to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him to his feet.
“What the fuck did you do to my boy?”
Banger rushed over and without warning, punched him hard in the back near the kidneys. The man howled and Hawk let go of him, satisfaction coursing through him as the man fell down on his knees, sweat pouring down his face.
“I didn’t know they were your kids,” a high-pitched voice said behind Hawk. He whirled around and saw Rock slam Garret against the wall a few times.
Pointing at the man on the floor, Hawk turned to Jigger. “Watch the fucker.” Banger and he rushed over to the mattress, a huge sense of relief washing over him when he saw Braxton’s and Harley’s small chests rise and fall.
“Hey, little buddy,” he said as he knelt down and picked up Braxton. The boy’s head flopped forward and his eyes remained shut.
“They fuckin’ drugged them,” Banger hissed as he held Harley close to him.
Lying Braxton back on the mattress, Hawk rushed over to Garret. “What the fuck did you give them?” He bounced the wiry man against the wall.
Tears streamed down Garret’s face. “Nothing. I swear. I didn’t know they were your kids. I’m not fucking around with you.” Pointing his finger at the man on the ground, he shook his head. “It was all his idea. I didn’t wanna do it. He’s done all this shit. He thought it’d be funny to take your kids. I didn’t know they were Insurgents.” He spoke fast and kept repeating himself.
“I’m gonna get the other guys in here. We need to call Doc,” Banger said as he went to the front door.
Hawk and Throttle went back over to the man crumpled on the soiled carpet. Hawk grabbed him by the collar of his dress shirt and yanked him up. “What the fuck did you give our kids?”
“I…” He stumbled on his words. Hawk shook him hard. “Benadryl,” he mumbled.
“What the fuck?” Throttle said.
Hawk look behind him and saw Throttle jerk his head back. “What?” Hawk asked.
“That’s Mr. Christiansen. He’s one of my clients. What the fuck, dude?” Throttle came next to Evan, who hung his head down.
“Aren’t you one of the fuckin’ head honchos at Brighter Lives?Youtook my son?”
Evan Christiansen shrugged as he slowly raised his head.
“That’s all you have to say, asshole?” His fist collided with Evan’s cheekbone, snapping his neck backward like a pine tree caught in the wind.
“I can’t fuckin’ believe it’s you. Why the hell did you do it?” Throttle rubbed his hand over his chin.
“He’s the one breaking into people’s houses and destroying their Christmas.” Garret wiped his nose on his shirt sleeve.
