Chapter 63
OCTOBER 31 – FRIDAY 10:10 PM
N ash
“Morrison, I need to go.”
“What about your statement?”
“Tell the cops I’ll come by the precinct tomorrow.” I ran for the door and then skidded to a halt, remembering I’d given Myles my truck. “Shit,” I yelled and looked around. “Nora, I need your car.”
“Okay.” She ran into the office and came back, throwing her keys at me. She pointed out back. “I’m parked on the street.”
“What’s wrong,” Ivy asked.
Sabastian stood beside her, playing the doting boyfriend role well, and I didn’t dare say anything in front of him.
“I don’t have time right now,” I said and ran out the back.
Nora’s glowing orange car was easy to find on the street. It was the same fucking color as a hunter’s vest with black trim and tinted windows.
“What the fuck,” I growled, getting into the Charger. There was even a little stuffed tiger hanging from the rearview mirror.
I pulled up Liam’s phone and set my GPS, then called Merlin. I hadn’t spoken to him other than to set up payment and shipping route protection, but I needed him now. The first fucking thing I was doing when the club started making money—if it ever did after this—was to hire bodyguards. I was sick of borrowing and begging people.
“I’m surprised to hear from you. Thought you’d have your hands full with that mess at your club,” Merlin said, not bothering with pleasantries, which was fine with me.
“I need your help.”
“I’m not getting involved in whatever that was about. We deal with enough heat from the cops as it is,” he said.
“I want to speak to your president.”
“You speak to me. That’s how this works.”
“Fuck! Merlin, I don’t have time for this. The fucking piece of shit that just shot up my place ran the woman I love off the fucking road. I don’t know if she’s going to live. I need your help. I’ll pay you whatever you want. I don’t care.”
“Jesus. I’m sorry. Why didn’t you just say that? Where do you want us?”
I slumped in the seat, my heart hammering out of my chest.
“I’ll call you back as soon as I know what hospital. We’re also after the guy who did this.”
“Say no more. Point us in the direction, and we’ll go after him. No one goes after a man’s old lady and gets to breathe another day.”
Merlin hung up the phone, and I’d never been so happy about an alliance. The word around town was that the new President, Snake, was a real hard ass and an asshole, but he was fair, honest and a loyal SOB. Our few dealings so far had backed up those claims. Right now, I needed all of that and the MC’s manpower.
Flashing lights blinded me when I crested the next hill.
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered as I saw the limo folded around a tree.
It was burning in a blaze as tall as the treetops. Firefighters stood in the field trying to put it out, and I couldn’t breathe. The air refused to move. Braking hard, I willed myself to get closer, but for the first time in years, I was terrified. It was like waiting outside of Mya’s house all over again and knowing that no matter what I did, nothing could stop the pain. The sadness would engulf me.
My phone rang and I hit talk without looking to see who it was.
“Yeah,” I wheezed out.
“Nash, it’s Liam, you okay? You don’t sound right.” There was a siren blaring in the background.
“Just tell me if you got her out before it exploded.” My body shook, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Yes, we did. That’s why I’m calling. We’re on our way to St. Margaret’s Hospital.” I glanced down at my phone, and sure enough, the dot was moving. “I’m following the ambulances. Mr. Genovese and Ren are both unconscious and in bad shape, but they’re breathing. The driver is dead.”
My forehead hit the steering wheel as I sucked in a shaky breath. Taking my own advice for Myles, I swallowed down the fear and made a three-point turn to go around the accident.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital. Have you heard from Myles?”
“No. So you know it was Owen?”
“Yes,” I growled. “I spoke to Myles. But I haven’t heard from him since. Owen will die slowly.”
“We all want that,” Liam said, his voice uncharacteristically filled with emotion.
“I’ll be there as fast as I can,” I said, ending the call.
I’d always pictured killing my father first, but not anymore.
“Hang on, Princess, please hang on.”
OCTOBER 31 – FRIDAY 10:36 PM
Myles
Theo was the only reason we still had a chance to get to Owen. Horns blared as I weaved around traffic, following his taillight. Luckily, Owen’s truck wasn’t as fast as the rocket Theo was riding.
He’d taken the cutoff for the freeway, but the ramp was closed and now we were speeding down the service road. Theo looked over his shoulder when I closed the gap between us. We were heading for a more rural area. I leaned over and opened the glove compartment, but there was no gun.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I flashed my lights and rolled down the window.
Theo slowed a little and dropped back beside me.
“I’m going to run him off the road,” I yelled, and Theo nodded.
The truck roared as I pulled past Theo. The driver’s side broken taillight flickered like an SOS, but there would be no help coming for Owen now. That death certificate had been filled out years ago, but tonight, he’d signed and dated it.
His face glowed from my headlights when he glanced in the rear mirror. It was just a flash, but there was fear in his eyes, and it fueled my soul.
I aimed for that corner, and his truck jolted as we collided. He tried to brake, but I kept my foot down, and smoke rose into the air. Easing off a little gave me a few feet to floor it again.
This time, Owen’s pickup swerved, but he managed to keep two wheels on the pavement. I didn’t give him time to recover and came for him again. The massive front grill of Nash’s truck crushed in the bed as I pushed the back end off the shoulder.
“Fucker,” I swore as he turned toward the open field.
Nash’s truck soared over the low edge as I chased him down. Theo was in my rearview, following on the sideroad. The field was rough, the truck was bouncing hard and almost hitting my head off the roof.
“Yer not gettin away,” I growled.
He was aiming to get back on the road. Just as he started up the embankment in front of Theo, I slammed into the tailgate, and it was enough to launch him across the road with me following right on his ass.
An ancient maple stood proud in the ditch on the other side. I veered left, but Owen had too much momentum to miss it completely. The passenger side of the pickup crumpled in as he collided with the tree. The force stood the truck up on its nose, crushing the roof and popping open the driver-side door, ejecting Owen. A body flew out of the bed and landed in the grass like a ragdoll.
I was out and stalking toward Owen as Theo ran down into the ditch. Owen’s leg from the knee down was twisted the wrong way, so he was using his arms to pull himself on the ground toward a gun. As he reached out, I stepped on his hand and squatted in front of him.
He laughed and spit blood as he looked up at me, his eyes wild.
“I hope dat cunt of yours is dead,” he said.
My fist connected three times with Owen’s face. His bones cracked under my knuckles before Theo pulled me off.
“He’s mine,” I snarled like a rabid dog.
“You’re right. He is, and he will be. But we need to take him somewhere secure and get to the hospital. Liam texted. Ren is alive but in critical condition and is being rushed into surgery. Something about swelling in her brain. Is he worth not being by her side?”
I stopped fighting and stared down at Owen.
“Naw, he’s not.”
Theo let me go and ran to Nash’s truck. He opened the back door and dug around before pulling out zip ties and duct tape.
He bound Owen’s hands, while I made loops for his legs and smiled when I cranked them together, pulling his twisted leg sharply.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Owen’s eyes snapped open from the pain, and before he could spew any more crap at me, Theo slapped the tape over his mouth. I stood but stumbled back and fell on my ass.
“What’s wrong,” Theo asked as he kneeled beside me.
“I’m just lightheaded.”
“The adrenaline is wearing off. Just breathe for a minute,” Theo said, and I looked up at him.
“What if she doesn’t make it? I can’t live wit out her. I can’t.”
Theo smacked me across the face so hard that my head snapped to the side, and I fell over into the grass. I glared at him and sat back up.
“Get your head out of your fucking ass. I know you love her. We all love her. You don’t think I’m fucking out of my mind with worry right now?”
He pushed me, and I fell over again but caught myself before I hit the ground.
“I know better than all of you what this surgery means. But spiraling won’t help anyone. Do you really think Ren would sit here crying if the roles were reversed? No, she’d be doing everything she could to help until she passed out from exhaustion.”
Theo pointed at Owen on the ground, staring at us.
“I need your help to get him in the truck. Ren needs us to be strong for her, so listen the fuck up. You’re going to get your ass up off the ground, then stop letting your mind fuck with you—because that’s what that fucking prick wants—and help me.”
Theo leaned in closer and snarled at me as he lowered his voice.
“If you don’t pull your shit together, then so help me, I’ll tie you up beside that piece of shit, and you can ride in the back with him. It’ll be a real father-son bonding moment for you. Then, I’ll let Nash deal with you. But I promise you, that I won’t ever let you step foot in that hospital because you won’t deserve to be by Ren’s side. Do you feel me, brother?”
I’d never seen Theo so enraged. His green eyes were filled with a level of insanity that I didn’t even think he was capable of, and yet it was exactly what I needed to hear.
“Aye, I feel ya,” I said.
“Fucking fabulous, now get up,” Theo ordered.
Who the fuck was this guy? He was a totally different person.
Theo stood and held out his hand to pull me up.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. Do your job and help me, so we can get the fuck out of here and be with our girl.”
Giving Owen one last look, I swept away the trauma he’d caused me time and again. He wouldn’t beat me…not ever again.
“Aye, let’s git the fuck outta here.”
NOVEMBER 1 – SATURDAY 1:00 AM
Myles
My entire existence, before Snowflake came along, had felt like a lifetime trapped in Groundhog Day hell. An endless repetition of horror and pain. I died over and over again on the way to the hospital. Every time I got close to slipping off the cliff of despair, I remembered what Theo said and pulled myself back again.
Snowflake was my everything. Imagining a world without her was not just bleak. It was nothing.
We went straight to the ICU waiting room, garnering stares as we ran by people. I spotted Nash first as he paced the plain beige hallway like the Grim Reaper. He looked up when he heard our approach.
“Tell me,” I said.
He licked his lips and looked between us.
“She’s still in surgery. They’re doing a craniotomy to relieve the pressure in her brain. She hit her head in the crash.”
My legs shook, and I stumbled to the side, but Nash grabbed me and pulled me into a hug.
“We don’t know anything yet. They said it could be three to seven hours. It’s barely the three-hour mark.” I nodded as I clung to him.
“She can’t die.”
“She won’t. Princess is tough as nails.”
“This is all my fault. I let Owen get away. I had him in my grasp at the bar, and I let him escape. If I’d just takin’ the shot.”
Nash held me tighter.
“If it’s your fault, then it’s my fault, too. I was so focused on the wrong things. I should’ve known that he’d try something like this.”
Nash pulled back and gripped my shoulders.
“She’s going to be okay.” He looked at Theo. “You good?”
“As fine as one can be,” Theo answered.
Nash led us to the waiting area, where six bikers had taken up spots around the room. He’d messaged saying some were showing up at the warehouse to help us out, but I hadn’t expected to see them here, too.
“Don’t worry, they’re just extra protection. We don’t know if Owen was working with anyone else or it was just him and the guy in the back of the truck,” Nash said.
I knew we had a deal with the Lost Souls, but hadn’t realized it extended to guard duty. Then again, I never asked.
“Here, I took a pic of that guy for ya,” I said, handing Nash my phone.
He looked at the photo and growled.
“That’s that fucking dick Hammer who was working with Devin.”
“The one who shot at you and Liam in the warehouse?”
“Yeah, I’ll let the Lost Souls guys know they don’t need to keep looking for the prick.”
Nash took my phone and walked over to the bikers as I sat down between Theo and Blake.
Why was everything in here so depressing? Every hospital I’d ever been in—and I’d seen my fair share—was all the same. White or beige floors, walls, and doors. The only break in the monotony was the dark blue chairs and the framed scenic images on the walls.
Blake’s leg bounced fiercely while his eyes were open but unfocused on a part of the floor. I knew that look. Not giving a fuck who saw us or what they thought, I grabbed his hand and laced our fingers together. He jumped in surprise and looked at me.
“Yer my brotha, and I won’t let ya sink,” I said to him as he locked eyes with me.
“You’re my brother, and I won’t let you sink either.”
Sitting back, I focused on the wall clock, watching the second hand slowly circle until an hour passed and then another. When the door to the surgery area opened, everyone jumped up. I hadn’t even noticed that Ethan and Ella arrived.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Boyd. Who is here for Ren Davies,” he asked.
“We all are,” Nash answered.
“Alright then. Ren made it through the surgery and is stable. The next seventy-two hours will tell us a lot more. We will be monitoring her very closely. Before you’re allowed into the room, you should know that she’s intubated and we are keeping her in a medically induced coma to let her brain recover. So don’t be surprised by all the equipment. Its purpose is to monitor and keep her comfortable.”
“A coma, Jesus.” I ran my hand through my hair.
“It’s common after a head injury. It will allow her brain to heal in a resting state,” Doctor Boyd said.
“Will she be okay? Will there be lasting effects or deficiencies,” Ethan asked, and I wanted to punch him for even thinking that, let alone saying it out loud.
“We won’t know anything definitive until she wakes up. I can say that she took quite a hit to the left frontal lobe.” Boyd touched his head to demonstrate the location. “We are most concerned with Broca’s aphasia, but like I said, it is too early to tell.”
“What is that? Broocias apphassia,” I asked, stuttering over the words I’d never heard before.
“Broca’s aphasia can affect many things but most commonly speech. She could struggle with articulating words, expressing needs and wants, and having difficulty naming items or with anything repetitive. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know those things or who you are. She will require therapy to get back to where she was before the accident if that is the case. There is also a good chance that she will have temporary amnesia, which is very common after an accident. Again, we won’t know the extent of any of these until she wakes, but I must implore all of you not to push her. She needs to remember on her own.”
I sat down and put my head in my hands as Snowflake’s smile danced behind my eyes.
“Ren suffered several bodily injuries as well. Three cracked ribs, lots of bruising, a dislocated shoulder, her ankle, and a wrist that we reset. A slice on her arm needed five stitches, but none of these were serious or life-threatening. It’s a miracle, really. Are any of you here for Edmundo Genovese?”
“You can tell me and him,” Nash said, pointing to Marcus.
“Are either of you family?”
“Can you come with me for a second,” Nash asked quietly, and the three of them moved far enough away that I couldn’t hear them.
Nash’s face was serious as he stood there with his arms crossed. Marcus looked like he would kill the doctor if he didn’t start talking.
“What do you think that’s about,” Blake asked, and I shook my head.
“No idea.”
They spoke quietly for a few minutes before returning. I was really hoping that Nash hadn’t threatened the doctor who just operated on Ren’s head.
“A nurse will be by to let you know when Ren is in her room and ready for visitors.”
Doctor Boyd gave us a tight smile and walked away.
“This isn’t fair. It’s just not,” I said as tears stung my eyes.
Ella sat down beside me and pulled me into a hug before she turned to Blake and did the same with him.
“She has the kindest heart. She doesn’t deserve this.”
Ella grabbed my chin, her eyes firm before she started to sign.
Ren will be fine. But she may need our help, and I don’t know a group more capable of helping her recover than all of you.
“What if she has what the doctor mentioned,” I asked.
Then, we will help her learn to speak again, but there are many ways to communicate that don’t involve speech. I’m talking to you right now and not using my voice. Do you pity me?
“Naw, of course not.”
Ella nodded. She’s a fighter and will work hard. Help and encourage, but don’t ever pity her. She’ll hate that. Understand?
“Aye.”
Ella hugged me again, offering comfort, but it didn’t stop Owen’s smug face from entering my mind. My hands balled into fists. By the time I was through with him the Devil himself would congratulate me on a job well done.
Give me the fire. I would burn in hell to see him suffer for eternity.