30. Chapter 30
A knock sounds at the door. Squeezing Mary’s hand before kissing her knuckles, I stand and cross the room to see who it is. Opening it, I’m surprised to see Alli on the other side.
Quirking an eyebrow at her in question, she rolls her eyes and huffs.
“Like I was going to let my bestie escape without saying goodbye to her.” She pauses as she gives me a mischievous grin. “Besides, I figured I’d help her get changed. We don’t need you going crazy on her when she starts showing skin as she changes. Our girl needs to heal! Which, in Mae’s words, means no hanky panky!”
I feel my cheeks heat because I most likely would be kissing every exposed inch of Mary’s olive skin as she changed if I could, but even in a lust-filled fog, I know I would have held myself back. Barely. I’d rather shoot myself than cause Mary any pain or harm.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see both Bear’s and Dragon’s lips twitch slightly at Alli’s teasing. While I’m slightly annoyed they’re witnessing this, I’m relieved Thor has two of our biggest brothers on protection duty today. I know when we leave, more of them will join us for the ride home as an extra precaution, something I’m extremely grateful for because I know Stephan or Diego will try to pull something. It’s been too quiet from both of their ends.
Stepping back, I cross the room and lean down, kissing Mary’s temple. “I’ll be right outside while you get ready. Holler if you need me for anything.”
She nods, and I can practically feel the excitement pouring out of her. While she’s not once complained, I know she’s tired of being stuck in the hospital.
Anger wars in me. I’m sure part of that is because that asshole beat her into submission if she so much as thought about complaining. I sure as hell hope to be able to get my hands on that fucker for a little bit before we have to hand him over to the police. He needs to feel some semblance of what she’s been put through at his hands.
Taking a calming breath, I kiss her temple again and step out of the room.
As soon as the door latches, Dragon pins me with his gaze. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Timber making his way over to us. After talking with a few other guys, Thor joins him.
“So, what’s our plan?” Dragon asks, pitching his voice low in an effort to keep anyone from overhearing.
“We’ll get her discharge paperwork soon. On our way home, we’ll swing by the pharmacy drive through to get her meds. Doc said she’d call ahead so that they’ll have it ready for us. Hopefully, we won’t have to be waiting long. I’ll feel a lot better having her behind the compound walls. Out here, she’s a sitting duck. Timber, I’d like the kids to go back in the same vehicle they came in. I don’t want to waste time being out in the open and switching booster seats around.”
He gives me a chin lift. “We had already planned that they’d be going back with us. Ash did ask to ride with Mary, but I pulled him aside and explained why we needed to get back as quickly as possible. Kid is smart as a whip. Said that makes sense, because Stephan or the men he worked with will try to get them, especially Cassie and Isaiah, at some point. Then he’d use Ash to get Mary. Kid even asked if Stephan’s friends got him out of jail yet. Told him I didn’t know on that last one. I figured I’d leave that up to you and Mary to figure out how to tell the kids. Didn’t want to step on your toes or anything.”
“Fuck,” I curse, not liking the idea that Stephan would focus on getting Cassie and Isaiah first. A pit forms in my stomach as my mind goes to dark scenarios for exactly why they’d be the first targets.
“Any word from either of the fuckers?” Bear asks and I frown.
“No, and that worries me. I have a feeling one, or even both, of them will try something. If not today, then soon.”
Their frowns deepen and then Dragon winces slightly.
“What?”
“Fucker posted bail.”
Once again, anger runs through me. “How the fuck did the asshole get out so quickly?” I seethe as I pull my phone out and dial Uncle Sam. He picks up right away.
“It happened when I was off shift,” he says before I can get a word out.
His growl coming over the line is the only thing keeping the words at bay that I really want to let fly so badly, but I know it’s not his fault. “What happened?” I ask instead.
“Chief told him he’s on unpaid suspension while this whole thing is investigated and his job depends on the results of the investigation as well as his court charges. His case somehow went to Judge Bradley, who is on Mary’s list of those being pressured. I’m going to bet the assholes threatened his family. His wife gave birth to their first baby a couple of months ago.”
I bite my tongue to keep from spewing another string of curses that threaten to erupt. I won’t be any good to Mary if I get kicked out of here because I end up blowing my top. Not even me working here will save me.
“And let me guess. Your guys haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since?”
His heavy sigh is answer enough and I can’t help but grind my teeth as my mind reels. The fucker has probably already split town or is hiding in a safe house somewhere. Wait…
“Do you have eyes on the house of your other guest?”
“Claudia lives in an apartment complex, so that one is harder. Fucker could be wearing a disguise.”
“Fuck,” I curse and make a mental note to ask Smoke about his facial recognition software. We might be needing it. If it’ll work for this kind of a scenario. “Keep me posted and I’ll do the same.”
Hanging up, I shove my phone into my pocket and really wish I was already back at the compound. I could really use a session with the punching bag right about now.
“We need to get out here. Like ten minutes ago,” Bear says under his breath and I give a chin lift in agreement. I’m guessing they heard all of that since I didn’t step away from them.
“Agreed. Let me see how things are going with Mary. Hopefully, the nurse will be by soon with her paperwork. If it were anything other than pain killers, I’d send a Prospect to pick up her script, but we gotta do it in person.” I pause, angrily running a hand through my hair. “I hate that she’ll be a target while we’re there.”
“While you were on the phone, I texted Phoenix. He’s sending some of our guys to the pharmacy to blend in and be backup if need be. They’re on their way.”
A little of the tension lessens from my shoulders, but I won’t be able to relax until we’re back at the clubhouse.
Clasping him on the shoulder, I give a curt nod. “Thanks. I’ll go see how close they are to being ready.”
Knocking on the door, I hear a faint ‘come in’. Taking a deep breath, I push those emotions away for now. I need to keep a clear head for the next hour or so. Then I can process everything.
Entering, I’m relieved to see Mary already dressed and Alli’s helping to pack up the rest of her things.
Seeing Mary, my Siren, sitting on the edge of the bed, warms my chest. The last few days, I’ve pinched myself numerous times to make sure she’s really here. That I’m able to put my arms around her and hold her again. Not to mention beyond grateful that she’s taking the steps to regain her freedom and independence.
Her face lights up when she realizes it’s me, but then it falls as she purses her lips. “Tell me.”
Fuck. I must not have been able to mask my emotions well enough.
She smirks as she points a finger at me as her smirk widens, but I can see the fear in her eyes that she’s trying to hide. “You forget that I’ve grown up with you. Well, ever since I was ten, that is. I know all your tells. Your eye is twitching, and to make matters worse, so are the muscles in your jaw. Something’s wrong. So, spill, Luke. I know from Levi and Mae that some things I won’t be able to know with the whole ‘club business’ stuff, but they also told me I’d be allowed to know the cliff notes version if that was the case.”
Giving her a small smile, I shake my head as I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her, bringing her close but also being mindful of her shoulder. “It’s not ‘club business’ yet, though, I’m betting we’ll be having Church soon.” Sighing, I run my hand up and down her back, loving when she leans into me more at the action. I hate that I have to burst her bubble of happiness.
She sighs, and then turns, burying her face in my shirt for a moment before she tilts her head up to look at me expectantly.
“We just found out that Stephan posted bail and no one’s seen him since leaving the station.”
Her muscles tense and her hands fist my shirt and cut. She bites her lip as she stares at my chest, almost like she’s lost in thought. After a few moments, she nods slightly, but I notice her body is still tight with tension.
“If he sticks to his past MO, he’s going to dye his hair and possibly even wear colored contacts. He doesn’t always wear the contacts each time he changes his appearance, but I’m going to guess he will this time since he knows so many people will be looking for him. Once, he even wore a fake mustache for a while. Then a few weeks later, he’d ‘shave it off’. He’d also switch up the style of clothing he’d wear when he wasn’t in his uniform. Since moving here, he had been dressing kind of laid back, so he’d have a better chance of blending in. He’ll probably switch to more of a preppy look. Like polos and jeans or khakis. Sometimes even button-down shirts. At least, that’s what he used to do when we would move.”
Frowning, I bite back a groan. I really need to talk to Smoke about his software. I know Stephan has a cleft chin, so that’s kind of hard to hide unless he goes full-on Hollywood and uses make-up or molding shit or whatever the fuck that stuff is called to alter his face. Fuck, I hope he doesn’t go that far.
Shaking my head, I lean down and kiss the crown of her head. “Thanks, Siren. I’ll pass along the information to the guys on lookout and to Uncle Sam. In the meantime, I’ll help finish packing so that we can leave as soon as the nurse comes with your paperwork. We’ll swing by the pharmacy on the way home, but that’ll be the only stop. We’ll be using the drive through so you don’t have to get out of my truck.”
For the next ten minutes, Alli and I finish packing Mary’s things and we’ve managed to condense everything down into three duffle bags and a backpack. Thank God, Levi offered to take home Mary’s flowers with them. That’ll make things easier.
Right as I’m about to go and get a wheelchair, there’s a knock at the door and I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that it’s the nurse who has Mary’s paperwork in hand as she wheels in the wheelchair.
Walking back over to Mary, I pick her up and set her down in the wheelchair as the nurse goes over the aftercare for her stitches, shoulder, and leg.
A few minutes later, the nurse hands her the paperwork. “That’s everything. I hope your recovery goes smoothly. Take care and have a good rest of your day.”
“Thank you.”
After she leaves, I grab the backpack off the bed. It doesn’t escape my notice that both Mary and Alli are silent as they wait to hear how we’re going to handle our exit. I’m slightly surprised by Alli’s silence, but then again, she’s been hanging out a lot with Levi and Mae, as well as at the clubhouse. I’m going to bet she’s heard a little about how we handle situations like these.
“Mary, I want you to hold this since it has some of your personal stuff in here and your wallet. You’ll need that when we get to the pharmacy. Alli, for now and until my brothers can take them from you, can you grab two of the other bags? I’m going to put the last one on the back of her chair, but I need to keep my arms free in case I need to move quickly. Also, I would really prefer if you didn’t leave the hospital with us, Alli. I don’t know if the assholes have lumped you in with us and I’d rather not put a target on your back.”
She purses her lips, and right as I think she’s going to fight me on this, she nods and then walks over to Mary, hugging her tightly while also being mindful of her shoulder. “Text me when you get to the clubhouse, otherwise I’m going to be worrying about you for the rest of my shift. We’ll get together soon. I want to spend some time getting to know the kids.”
“Can’t wait.”
The smile that lights up Mary’s face warms my chest and I make a mental note to have Alli over as much as possible. As long as it’s safe for her to do so, that is. I meant what I said—we’re pretty sure they know about Alli’s tie to the club and I don’t want to paint a larger target on her back.