BK 2 - Chapter 44 - Ricky's Surprise
Aiden, Kitty, Trey, and Cat were all at the hotel waiting for Ricky. When he arrived in Sacramento, Vasco had texted him the hotel address and room number. Sandie and Max had taken the kids back to Colorado. Kitty didn't want them anywhere near Ricky when he got there. She promised she and Aiden would go visit soon.
Trey was worried about having Cat involved with their trap because she was pregnant. Saira ensured she would be fine and said she wasn't going to be left out of the takedown, so he reluctantly agreed.
They weren't sure how many men Ricky would have with them, so they were prepared for multiple scenarios. However, when they saw a black sedan pull up with tinted windows, they weren't expecting Ricky to be the only one to step out of it. When he opened the door, Trey was able to see in the car and saw that he was alone.
"It looks like he came alone. Is everyone ready?" The humans didn't have to say anything because all the lions growled in anticipation. Zola was the only one bummed about not being able to shift and get in on the action.
Ricky knocked on the door, and everyone looked at Vasco, who was tied up on the bed. Aiden took out his gag long enough for him to answer.
"It's open." As soon as Vasco spoke, Aiden stuck the gag back in his mouth. Cat and Kitty were standing on either side of the door. All the lights were off, and the curtains closed.
"It's show time," Ricky said as he opened the door. He walked in quickly and shut the door behind him. It took a second for his eyes to adjust, and by the time they did, it was too late. Kitty had taken his gun as he walked into the room, and Trey and Aiden jumped him from either side. They had him tied up, gagged, and thrown on the bed opposite Vasco before he knew what was happening.
"Hi, Ricky. It's nice to finally meet you face-to-face after so long." Kitty walked over to him and smiled after turning the light on. Ricky glared and tried to lunge at her, but Trey and Aiden held him down.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You don't want to anger the lions." Ricky looked around in confusion at Aiden's words. Lions? What lions?
"Don't worry, you'll meet them soon. I'm tired, Ricky. I'm tired of you sending men after me, I'm tired of worrying about my family, and I'm tired of you. Yes, I picked your pocket over a year ago, but I had no idea what was on that money clip. When I heard you telling your men that you needed to get it back, I knew it was important. If you hadn't killed all those people, you wouldn't be in this predicament now. So the way I see it, you brought this on yourself. Now I'll take off your gag, but if you scream, it will be the last sound you make. Look at Vasco. I'm sure you noticed he's the only one here. Raul and Eddie were lion food. Oh, and Otto and Tito are somewhere on the East Coast. They put on such a good performance of being attacked by a lion that we decided to let them go."
He looked at Vasco, who nodded, letting him know that everything Kitty said was true. Ricky turned back to Kitty and nodded that he would be quiet. He wasn't planning on dying today, and it was apparent no lions were here, so he was sure he could find a way out of this. She slowly removed his gag.
"What do you want?" He asked with a glare.
"I want you to beg for your life. Think of those you killed or had killed and how they begged for their lives. I want that from you. Did you listen to them? Did you give them a second chance? Let's see if it works for you." Kitty raised her eyebrows at him and waited.
Ricky was so focused on her that he didn't notice the other three quietly taking their clothes off behind him. Cat left her undergarments on because Trey didn't want anyone to see his mate completely naked.
"If you're going to kill me, what's the point in begging? I know it's not going to work anyway. I don't believe you have a lion. I don't see one anywhere." Ricky smirked at her and was surprised when she began laughing.
"You're not very observant, are you?" Kitty looked behind him, and Ricky turned around. He was frozen in place as he stared at the two enormous male lions and one female lion. He noticed the clothes lying on the floor, but he still didn't understand what had happened. Where were the others that were in the room, and how did the lions get there?
"How?" Ricky asked in a shaky voice.
"You see, what you and your men failed to understand was that everything is not as it seems. We're not human. We are werelions. What that means is we can change from human to lion whenever we want. If you had left me alone, then you and all your men would have been fine. However, you decided to continually come after me. I gave you chance after chance. Ronaldo called to warn you, and the twins warned you, but you didn't listen. All you cared about was your revenge." Kitty looked at Harley and nodded. He walked over to Ricky, growling lightly. Atlas and Saira walked over to Vasco, waiting for Kitty's signal.
"I promise if you let me go, I won't come after you anymore. You can even kill Vasco, and I won't say anything to anyone. Please let me go." Ricky never thought he would be in the position begging for his life, but he was. He would tell her whatever was necessary to live.
"Sorry, Ricky. You didn't give your victims another chance, so you don't get one either." She put the gag back in his mouth and looked toward the lions. "Dinner time."
After Kitty's words, Harley jumped on Ricky and began tearing off his limbs. Saira and Atlas did the same to Vasco. The whole ordeal didn't last more than a couple of minutes.
After shifting back into humans, they all got to work cleaning. They were prepared this time and put plastic on the beds and floor. They only had to wipe down the walls and some of the furniture that had some specs of blood.
They loaded the plastic with what was left of Ricky and Vasco into the back of the truck. Trey drove out of town and dumped the plastic and body parts in several dumpsters. They were all quiet on the way back to the pool house. None of them liked doing what they'd done, but they knew it was necessary for their survival. The couples took turns showering and then went to their separate bedrooms.
"Are you alright?" Aiden was worried about how quiet she'd been. He knew she didn't like the gory stuff and worried that the werelion world may be too much for her. Although they typically didn't kill humans, these were extreme circumstances.
"I can't get those images out of my head. I don't like violence. I know these men wanted to kill all of us and had also killed hundreds of others. However, how am I any different if I killed them, taking the law into my own hands?" She sat on the bed expressionless. All she could picture was the three lions tearing the men to pieces. Kitty helped clean up after Raul and Eddie were killed, but this was different. This time she had witnessed the killing herself.
"We don't go around killing people for no reason. They kidnapped your mother, brother, and sister with the intent to kill them and us. They were not good people, and no matter what we did, they would have kept coming. Now we can live in peace, and others have been saved by eliminating them." Aiden sat next to her and put his arm around her. Kitty put her head on his shoulder as her tears began to fall.
Eventually, they lay down, but Kitty had trouble going to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Ricky's and Vasco's faces as they were torn apart. As the sun began to rise, she finally fell into a restless sleep. It was the first night of nightmares that would send her into a spiral that she was afraid she wouldn't come out of.
