His

Chapter 7

After Brittney got home from the party she had packed a bag with what her manager would call her "street clothes" that allowed her to blend in with everyone on the street. She turned off her phone, packed a pocket knife and pistol her brother had given her, and her MP3 player. Milton used to make fun of her when he saw her using it. It was old and scuffed up, but she loved it. It was what her brother had given to her for her sixteenth birthday. He even loaded it with thousands of songs. After leaving a note with David to give to Ryder she went to the bank to withdraw some money before catching a bus. 

She went deep into Ryder's territory. Many, if they saw her would easily recognize her, not for her fame, but because of her brother. Thinking about him still made her heart clench in sorrow. She shook her head, pushing thoughts of him to the back of her mind as she walked into a motel. It was a good place to stay off the radar. It was ran by an old man who's memory wasn't the best. She just wondered how long till Ryder figured it out.

A few days later she sat at a diner table in Laughing Coffin territory. Many have been arrested, but that's only been the underlings, none of the big guys. She knew their faces and names thanks to Ryder drilling her on who she needed to watch out for when she first joined. The streets now had children playing in them, their parents no longer worried about their children getting hurt. Police cars drove down the street every twenty minutes, looking for the same faces she was. She had done some quick research and had smirked when she saw their faces on the FBI's most wanted list. Of course that means they're deep into hiding, and probably no longer in the country, but it still doesn't hurt to look.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Robert hissed as he slid in the booth across from Brittney. "Same as you, looking for those bastards. Allen got away and that just isn't right in my book." She replied, not moving her eyes from the window. "Does Jorge or Ryder know you're on a suicide mission? Does David?" He questioned her. "What I do is my business." She told him coldly. He scoffed, "I could have you locked up for self endangerment." "Then I will sue for false charges, since technically I'm simply just sitting her enjoying a meal." She said while gesturing to her food. He crossed his arms, leaning back in the seat, "And when you find him, what then?" She rolled her eyes, "I'm not a killer." "I don't think you realize the kind of people the Laughing Coffin are. They're very different from Stone Edge, Brit. If they get their hands on a beautiful woman such as yourself, it's not going to be pretty. And neither will be mine nor Ryder's reaction." He told her. He then pulled out a flash drive, and slid it to her, "I wanted you to know just what kind of man you signed your life over too. He is cold, viscous, and an outright monster. He is a man who's bad side you don't want to get on." "If he is all of those things, then why haven't you arrested him?" She asked him. "Because we have no concrete proof it was him. All of his alibi's, although fabricated, have been solid." He replied with a look of annoyance, "Plus as you pointed out at the hospital, outside of my jurisdiction. Only reason we can do anything here in Laughing Coffin is because we got permission from the State to take action."

She tucked the flash drive into her jacket pocket, "What are you hoping this thing does?" "Open your eyes and gets you to be cautious around him." He told her. "What if it does the opposite? After all, he is a man that doesn't do anything without reason." She questioned, raising an eyebrow at him. "Then you're stupider than I think you are now for sitting in enemy territory." After that, he left her in the diner.

She shook her head and soon left herself, taking the bus back to her motel. When she got to the room she stripped off her jacket then fished the flash drive out of her pocket. She opened her laptop and inserted the flash drive. For hours she read through documents, looked at photos. It was full of gore, and showed a much darker side to Ryder that she didn't know was there. What she also saw, was a man who doesn't let a wrong doing done to one of his own, go unpunished, and an innocent person was never hurt in his need for revenge. It didn't open her eyes in the way Robert wanted it too. Instead, it showed her the path she had started down. This need for revenge, it was a poison. If she continued on this hunt, she could end up like Ryder. When is enough, enough? Ryder has many people in his care, and revenge came with that territory, but her? She was another story entirely.

Her mind drifted to the night of the concert, the lives she had taken. She didn't regret it, but now she questioned whether or not she was trying to save Liam or if she was taking a small piece of revenge for herself. She tried to sort through her thoughts, but it was like a thick swamp with emotions as alligators, waiting to gobble her up. She shook her head, settling it on being a mix of both. She didn't want Liam to die, but at the same time she didn't want to let this chance to even the score go. She ran her hands through her hair, revenge was not for her. But she knew who had no problem doing it.