Chapter 35
Lacy
After fighting and screaming for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, I must have passed out. Daisy lost hold of me, but Falcon swooped in and had me in a bear hug, letting me yell and fight until everything went black.
My eyes tried to open, but all the tears had them glued together. Wiping the crusties away, my eyes finally opened. As they adjusted, I realized I was in Eddie’s bed. Someone was next to me, so I started patting around. “Eddie, Eddie?”
Instead of Eddie’s reply, a feminine moan came from the person next to me. I reached over and turned the lamp on to find Daisy stretching. “Hey,” she murmured.
My head was splitting, so I squinted as I looked around. “Where’s my phone?”
Daisy leaned over and fumbled on the nightstand on her side. “Here. Falcon had me fish it out once you passed out.”
Grabbing it, I looked at the time. It was already after ten in the morning. I jumped up, my head spinning from pain.
Daisy sprang up, grabbing my arm as I blinked the pain away. “Hey, hey, hey. What’re you doing?”
“I gotta go see him. I gotta find him.”
“Let me go first, Lacy,” she pleaded.
My brows pinched. “Why?” I swallowed hard, unsure I was ready to hear what she said, but still needing to know.
She brushed her brown hair away from her face with her hand, still looking sleepy. “They were working hard on him before I snuck in here. I just don’t–”
I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her. “I love you. But I know it’s bad. I need to see him. I can handle it.”
“Lacy, I…” She looked down as she pulled away. “Can I just check first?”
“You think…you think he’s dead.” It was a statement, not a question. My heart raced as I waited on her response. Heat rushed to my face and I knew I wasn’t breathing, but I couldn’t force my lungs to work.
“I–”
Before she could answer, a bang on the door finally forced the air from my lungs and I rushed to open it. My lip trembled at the sight of Mama Hen. “Oh, honey,” she said as she stepped closer and pulled me into her warm embrace.
“Did he…?” I couldn’t get anymore than that out, but why else would she be up here? She never came to the guys’ quarters for anything.
“He’s hanging in there, but it’s touch and go. He hasn’t woken up yet. Your friend is amazing, by the way.” She pulled away and smiled, a small crinkle around her light eyes.
“Can I see him?” I sniffled, trying to not go into full blown sobs again.
“For a minute, but then the guys need to talk to you.”
I turned and Daisy looked as confused as I felt. Turning back, I said, “Okay. Let me use the restroom really quick.”
“Of course, hon.”
I jogged to the bathroom and looked around. All my stuff was in the car that was left on the side of the road. Releasing a heavy sigh, I grabbed Eddie’s toothbrush and slathered toothpaste over it, aggressively brushing with one hand, looking through the drawers for a hairbrush with the other. All I found was a comb and a beard brush.
After rinsing my mouth, I dragged my elastic from my hair. I combed my thick locks and then used the beard brush to get all the bumps out before putting the elastic back in. If he woke up, I didn’t want to look like complete shit and have dragon breath.
Stepping back, my stomach did flips as I saw blood on my clothes. More than likely, it was Eddie’s. Maybe Jackal’s. My jaw clenched as redness crept up my neck to my face. My eyes glistened in the mirror, but tears didn’t flow. Maybe I had cried them all out already.
My breath hitched and my chin trembled, so I inhaled deeply, then blew it out slowly. I repeated that several times until the redness subsided.
“Hey, girl. You okay?” Daisy asked from the other side of the door.
With one last deep breath in and out, I left the bathroom. I grabbed one of his shirts from a drawer, changed out of mine, then nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
After I slipped my shoes back on, we headed downstairs. I followed Mama Hen through the bar area and down the hall that was off limits to the women. Some of us had snuck in a few times, but never popped into any of the doors. I’d always wanted to know what they all were, but never expected to find out like this.
Daisy held my hand the whole way down. I squeezed hers hard and it was the only thing keeping me from falling apart. Mama Hen was power walking, so we took long strides to keep up.
She got to one of the doors and knocked lightly, but didn’t wait for an answer before opening it and waving us inside. I sucked in a breath, then stepped inside, unsure of what to expect.
Once inside, she shut the door and Daisy released my hand as I took slow steps toward the bed. Shiv was sleeping on a cot against the wall, but stirred as we found our places in the room.
Standing next to the bed that looked just like one from a hospital, but with no beeping machines, I let my hand hover over his.
“You can grab it,” Shiv said as she walked up next to me.
Pressure rushed behind my eyes, so I licked my lips and cleared my throat. “Is he…”
She blew a breath through puffed cheeks. “Without an actual hospital,” she said with a roll to her eyes, “it’s really hard to say. But the bullet passed from his back through his abdomen and didn’t appear to hit any organs or arteries. But, he did lose a good bit of blood getting him all the way back here.” She blinked slowly at me. “You know, instead of a hospital.”
Mama Hen shot a stern look toward Shiv, so I quickly jumped in. “We really appreciate your help. Maybe we can catch up later.” She had no clue what this life was like. I hoped I could somehow explain to help her understand without her calling the cops or endangering her further.
I grabbed Eddie’s hand and threaded my fingers through his, even though they were limp. Looking up at something besides his pale skin, there was a bag of something hanging with an IV hooked to him. “What is that?”
Shiv stepped around me and grabbed the bag, looking at it like she was inspecting the levels. “Saline. And we had a few bags of blood, which I won’t even ask how we got,” she said with a tilt of her head. She turned back to me. “We didn’t have as much blood as I would have recommended, but beggars can’t be choosers, I guess. So this saline will at least help add more fluids back into him. It’s all I had to work with, so I took it.”
Nodding, I finally looked back down at him. I ran my fingers across his cheek and tucked his hair behind his ear before cupping his cheek.
The door opened and Falcon knocked as he and Jackal walked in. “How’s he doing?” Falcon asked as he walked next to the other side of the bed. Jackal stood next to him, but his eyes were fixed on Shiv.
I looked at her and she cleared her throat as she ran her palms over her shirt. She had on the same dress pants and shirt, but it was now untucked and she was a little closer to my height, since she didn’t have her shoes on.
“He’s not out of the woods, if you really want to know. I’m a psychiatrist, not a surgeon, and I had very limited means. But I did my best,” Shiv said as she put her hands on her hips. She had no problem staring Falcon down, but she hardly looked at Jackal, even though his eyes hadn’t moved from her.
Falcon nodded but Jackal spoke up. “We appreciate your help, little bird.”
Shiv’s lips quirked and her chest heaved. I had always been jealous of the fact you could never tell if she was blushing, but I knew her. If I touched her face, it would be red hot.
“I hope your leg is alright,” she said to Jackal, finally glancing up at him.
He shrugged. “Good as new.” He crossed his arms and looked at me. “Hawk wants to see you, little one.”
I leaned down and kissed Eddie’s cheek. “I’ll be back soon.” I stood back up and hugged Shiv. “Thank you for everything. I’ll find you in a few.”
Mama Hen opened the door. “Go on, hon. I’ll wait here with your friend.”
I gave a squeeze to Eddie’s hand once more, then reluctantly let go and followed Falcon and Jackal out. Daisy walked with us, but once we got to another door and stopped, Falcon kissed her temple and asked her to go wait for him. She hugged me then gave a reassuring smile before she headed back for the bar.
“Come on in, sweetie,” Hawk said as he waved me inside.
Stepping inside, I felt small and unsure. Looking around, I took in the room–an oval wooden table, photographs of men in DE cuts, a huge tapestry hanging at one side of the room with the same Grim Reaper symbol as was on their cuts, and then some banners with names on the opposite wall. Was this the Church room?
Hawk pulled a chair out and motioned for me to sit. I’d been surrounded by men staring at me as I stripped for years, but I had never felt as naked as I did at that moment.
All the men sat, and as I looked around, it occurred to me that all the officers were present, except Butch. And Jackal was there, but he wasn’t a member of this chapter, or any chapter from my understanding, even though he wore their colors.
“Lacy, relax,” Hawk said as he sat and folded his hands on the table. “You’re not in the hot seat. We just want to find out what happened so we can help.”
“Did you find Butch?” I asked. I hoped he was dead. I knew something was up with him, now I just wish I had told Eagle.
“Not yet. But we will. Have you ever seen the men who grabbed you and your friend?” Hawk asked as everyone looked on intently.
I shook my head. “No. Who were they?”
Hawk went on. “We’re still working that out. Can you tell us about last night? As many details as you can. Take your time.”
Looking down at my own hands, I recounted the prior day up until we made it back to the clubhouse.
“Did they say anything while you were with them? Mention any names, places, anything?”
“No. It was pretty quiet once we were tossed in the backseat. But it felt very targeted. And I don’t think they expected me to have company. Do you think they work for Butch?” One thing about all these guys, including the shitty one, they all seemed to be in charge. The guys that grabbed us seemed to be minions.
“We think it’s more like they all work for the same person or entity. Is there anything at all you can think of?”
“I’m sorry. That’s everything,” I said as I looked around.
Falcon put his hand over mine. “No need to apologize, Lacy. But if you think of anything, just let me know, okay?”
I nodded but didn’t know what to do or if I was dismissed, so I just sat quietly. Falcon stood and put his hand out, but once he helped me up, he immediately let go. I made it to the door and turned back. “Butch was acting strange for a while.”
Hawk and the others straightened in their seats. Hawk asked, “Strange how?”
“Very flirty with me once I was at the club, but in a weird, aggressive kind of way. And he gave Rayne a hard time about walking me outside. Do you think he was trying to…sell me?”
Falcon chimed in. “He tried to take you with him when he left.” Falcon looked over at Hawk and they seemed to be having a silent conversation. After a few nods, Falcon continued. “We think the plane was going to take you ladies somewhere. I’m not sure why he would’ve taken you in the car, but there’s a lot about him that doesn’t make sense now.”
“He told me to just go with him and he wouldn’t kill me. And he had more than enough chances to do it, but he didn’t. I don’t understand.” Why did he try to spare me at the last minute? “So they’re traffickers?” I paused and waited for someone to say anything, but they didn’t. “I’ll take that as a yes. Tony was. I can’t seem to get away from men trying to sell me off,” I said with a roll to my eyes.
Hawk stood up. “We’re doing all we can to stop them. I’m sorry you got dragged into this, but I have to ask that you keep this in this room.”
“The woman that was there…is she okay?”
Falcon said, “We brought her here. She was a little banged up, but she’s fine.”
“And the men?”
They all looked at each other, not saying a word.
“I just need to know if I’m safe.”
Hawk leaned down to look me in the eye. “You’re safe. Now go check on our boy.”
I knew there was a lot they weren’t telling me, but even being in there was unheard of. If there was one thing I believed, it was that the men in that room would keep their word and they said I was safe, so I believed them. But if Butch wasn’t in charge, even if they found him, would this all stop?
Falcon followed me, leading me back down to the room with Eddie. “I’ll leave you here.”
“Thank you, Falcon. If you find Butch, I want to know.”
“When we find him, you’ll know. Now go check on Eagle. Oh. We got your car towed to the shop.”
“Thanks. Do you know if my stuff was still inside?”
“I’ll have it checked out,” he said as he pulled his phone out and walked down the hall.
Stepping back inside, I walked to the bed and Mama Hen pulled a chair over for me. “Here, hon. I’ll grab you some breakfast. Dr. Raja, why don’t you stretch your legs a bit and come grab a bite? I may have some clothes you change into.”
Shiv stood and stretched, then walked over to Eddie. “I guess I can’t really monitor much, anyway. You good?” she asked as she rubbed her hand over my arm.
I grabbed it and squeezed. “I’m okay. Are you okay? Do you need me to come with you?”
The door opened and Jackal stepped inside. “Little bird, you need a break.”
She leaned down to hug me but whispered in my ear, “Don’t you dare follow me.” She stood up and feigned exhaustion and patted her belly. “I’m actually a little famished.”
Jackal stepped closer and put his arm around Shiv. “C’mon, we’ll get you fixed up.”
Mama Hen grinned as they left then winked at me before she pulled the door closed. I grabbed his hand, then settled back into the chair and let my eyes close for a minute.
I started to doze off, but suddenly his hand was jerked from mine and he shot up in the bed, shouting.