Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mercury
We make out like a couple of teenagers for a little longer before Finley’s eyes begin to droop, forcing us to call it a night.
After all, I want all of her cognitive thinking fully functioning when I lay my claim on her.
I’ve already possessed her lips, now my goal is to own her heart and eventually, seize her body and make sure she never craves a man that’s not me.
I walk her to her door, her fingers laced with mine as we climb the stairs on the way, with a smile steadily on her face.
As we reach her room, I lean down and give her a quick kiss, making sure to keep it from becoming overly passionate.
Otherwise, I won’t walk away and since we’re not ready for that next step because she’s still physically recovering, I keep it calm.
“Night,” she says as her hand lays on the doorknob, twisting it in short movements.
“Night, wildcat,” I reply, reaching over and twisting the handle to keep from prolonging our encounter. There’s only so much restraint a man has before his common sense takes a back seat. “Sweet dreams.”
“Same to you, Mercury. See you in the morning,” she says.
I like the hazy look she has in her eyes and have to focus to keep my cock from hardening at the thought of how she’s going to look after she’s fallen apart for me. I foresee a hand workout in my future and groan, knowing I’m caught in her snare.
But what a place to be, my mind whispers.
Turning, I head down the hall to my room, only to bump into Orion who has apparently been standing there creeping. Smacking his shoulder, I hiss, “Fucker, what are you doing stalking around here?”
“Was coming out to go grab a beer when I saw y’all stop at her door.
I didn’t wanna interrupt, cuz,” he teases.
“But on a more serious note, I got an email saying that several things we ordered for the shop are being delivered, so I need to take her there tomorrow. Do you think it’s gonna be a problem? ”
“I know that it’s gonna get out that she survived, but y’all were right.
We can’t keep her caged, and she doesn’t deserve to be punished like that because some fuckers think it’s a good idea to hunt people,” I growl out.
“Let me know what time and I’ll ride over there with you.
That way, y’all can focus on checking the orders in and not worry about protection. ”
“Appreciate it, Merc,” he remarks. “Wanna join me for a beer?”
“Why not,” I mutter as I follow him back downstairs.
Seems that Gemini, Aries, and Pisces must have had the same idea because they’re sitting around the kitchen table talking when the two of us walk in. I grab two beers and sit down before I ask, “What’s up?”
“Aries has been checking into who throws ink,” Gemini replies. “Were y’all aware that Draco is an experienced artist?”
“Why isn’t he doing it, then?” I ask.
“Seems the man who mentored him and owned the shop he worked at passed away. The family wasn’t willing to let him buy it, so he started working construction with Hercules. He still does it on the side, but he’d be a good one to approach about the shop,” Gemini says.
“Then let’s do it. I know we don’t have everyone here for church, but Fin mentioned something earlier that has me thinking we might have another business we can open,” I state.
“Ooo, don’t leave us in suspense, cuz, you gotta tell us and not leave us hanging,” Orion singsongs.
“She thinks maybe I should open a business dedicated to search and rescue, that sort of thing. Then I can take the contracts I want to take, unlike now where I pretty much go where I’m called.
We could set a range of prices, but I’m laying it out here now, anything to do with children will be on our dime.
I refuse to allow parents who are worried sick pay for my help to find their child. ”
“I mean, we did talk about doing something like that, and it would help coordinate efforts. Maybe a few contracts with the people who have trained dogs we can bring in if necessary?” Gemini muses.
“There are a lot of variables, for sure, but dogs would come in handy in a lot of scenarios,” I admit. “Hell, they could probably aid me in finding these hunting fuckers.”
“Do you have contacts in the area?” Pisces questions.
“I’ve got contacts all over the country, brother,” I reply.
“Then reach out to someone local and feel them out to see if they’d be willing to help you with this,” Pisces suggests. “If nothing else, you wouldn’t be out there alone. That’s something I’m not keen on knowing what they put both Finley and Skippy through.”
“Any change with her?” I ask Orion, turning to face him.
His face falls. “No, not really. The doctors have spouted a shit ton of medical terms at me, but from what Sutton has been able to determine, it’s a waiting game.
Her brain has to heal and until it does, she’s gonna stay in the coma.
At least they’ve got a physical therapist coming in every day to work her legs and arms. But that took Sutton throwing the hissy fit to end all hissy fits. ”
“Worse than Aunt Kathy’s?” I query, smirking.
“Brother, by the time she was done lambasting them, and yes, that’s a new word for me so shut it, fuckers, the doctors and nurses all looked ashamed.
They’d been doing the bare minimum for Skippy and she lost her shit when she went in and saw they were using those wipes to bathe her, not giving her an actual sponge bath.
Sutton demanded that they give her one of those basins, some washcloths and soap and she did it, then she made an aide help her wash Skippy’s hair since the area that wasn’t shaved still had blood and whatnot in it.
Then she put her in a soft pair of pajamas and insisted they change the sheets.
Which, by the way, they hadn’t done since she was put in that bed. ”
“Holy fuck,” I whisper. “They had her set up for an infection because she has healing wounds.”
“Bet the grandfather put the word out and it’s more than likely that there are dirty nurses at that hospital too,” Aries supplies. “We need to get her moved to somewhere safe because that hospital ain’t the place.”
“Yeah, but where?” Gemini asks. “We’re not set up to care for her.”
“What about a rehab facility that offers skilled nursing care?” I ask.
“We can also get Orbit to do a little digging on the staff at the hospital. “Because if they’re being so lackadaisical on patient care, what else are they doing? He can always find the dirt then pass it along anonymously, of course, to someone who has the power and means to change things.”
“This shitstorm just keeps getting bigger, doesn’t it?” Gemini questions. “We’re trying to rebuild the club itself, repair the reputation that Rocco decimated, and now this has dropped in our laps.”
“But the hospital is at the root of it,” I remind him. “Jeffries, his father, and grandfather are sick motherfuckers. It’s their poison that has spread through the community, and once we can track them down, I suspect we’ll cut the head off the snake as far as hunting people for prey goes.”
“Unless this is bigger than we think it is and goes further than Montana,” Pisces points out. “If that’s the case, we’ll need to call in reinforcements.”
“That’s a scary fucking thought,” Orion mutters. “If it’s countrywide, there are places and people we can’t touch.”
“We need to give these thoughts to Orbit and have him scour the internet, hit the dark web, they have to be gaining financial backing and locating others who are likeminded somewhere,” Aries concludes.
“Don’t forget, we’re nationwide too, with chapters in every state, and if we find out it’s bigger than just Montana, we can at least let Big Daddy know so he can decide whether to inform the other clubs to be on the lookout for something similar.
I know they’ve all got their own shit going on, but something like this goes against everything the Kings stand for,” Gemini adds.
“Plus, if you think about the demographics here in the states, the mountainous ones could definitely have something going on.”
“Let’s focus on Montana first and see if there are more shacks out there. We can proceed accordingly once I’m done exploring and Orbit does his thing,” I say. Looking at Gemini, I state, “We need him here, on site, brother. Because I think we’re literally at the very tip of a huge ass iceberg.”
“Then I’ll get him here,” Gemini decrees. “Alright, brothers, I’m hitting the hay now. See y’all in the morning.”