Chapter 3
Shotgun
When I pulled up to Stilettos, I wasn’t surprised to see it was packed.
Since the day we opened, it had been one wild night after the next.
I parked at the front door, then went inside to find Menace.
The music was blaring, and three of the stages were crowded with a mix of the club’s regulars and some newcomers.
From the way they were carrying on, it was evident they liked our new girls, especially Candy.
The girl was a knockout with all the right moves, taunting the men with every turn on the pole.
I had no doubt the chick was bringing in bank, and it wouldn’t be long before she’d be able to cover the cost of her college tuition and more.
I headed back to the office, and when I walked in, I found Menace sitting at his desk working on the computer.
He seemed pretty enthralled in whatever he was doing and never even looked up as I sat down in the chair in front of him, so I was surprised when he said, “Hey, brother. I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. ”
“Just thought I’d come by to see how things were going.”
“Going good.” He looked up from his screen. “Looks like another big night.”
“Apparently so. Hell, I could barely find a spot to park my fucking bike.”
“That’s the way we want it.” Menace leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Anything going on at the clubhouse?”
Before I could answer, there was a tap at the door, and Diego, one of our bus boys, stepped inside with a panicked expression on his face. “Hey, man...Umm...I think we got a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Don’t know just yet, but I think you two better come check it out.”
Menace and I stood, then followed him out front.
I was expecting there to be some commotion with the crowd, maybe a fight or a sloppy drunk, but everything seemed fine as Diego led us through the club and towards the back exit.
When we stepped outside into the alley, Diego stopped and looked over to us.
“I was helping Casey take out the trash, and I was tossing in one of the bags. And that’s when I saw it. ”
“Saw what?”
“This.”
He took out his phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it inside the dumpster.
Menace and I stepped forward, and to our surprise, there was a woman sprawled out on top of the trash.
She was slim with long brown hair, and she was beat all to fucking hell.
One of her eyes was completely swollen shut, and there was blood all over her clothes, but the fact that I couldn’t tell if she was breathing had me concerned she was dead.
There was no missing the shock in Menace’s voice when he asked, “What the fuck?”
“I don’t know, man. I found her this way. Got no idea how she ended up here.” Diego’s voice trembled with worry as he asked, “Should we call the cops?”
“Fuck, no,” I snapped. “Last thing we need is those assholes snooping around.”
“Well, we gotta do something,” Menace pushed.
“We need to get her the fuck out of there so we can see what we’re dealing with.”
I quickly hoisted myself up the side of the dumpster and gingerly made my way over the top of the ledge.
I was careful not to get too close as I jumped inside and knelt down next to her.
When I leaned in to get a better look, I got an odd feeling I knew her, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen her before.
Being careful not to hurt her even more, I eased my hands under her body, and a soft, pained moan slipped through her busted lips as I lifted her into my arms. I looked over to Menace and told him, “She’s still alive.”
Menace nudged Diego. “Let’s give him a hand.”
Diego nodded, then stepped over to the edge of the dumpster next to him.
They worked together to gently lift the girl from my arms and lowered her down to the ground.
I took a quick look around for her purse or wallet, but unfortunately, I didn’t find a damn thing.
I pulled myself out of the dumpster and stepped over to Menace.
Diego was looking down at her in horror.
“Damn. Somebody did a real number on this chick.”
“You’re not kidding.” I shook my head as I studied her. While it was my first encounter, this wasn’t the first time a body had been found in a dumpster. Hell, in a city as big as Nashville, it happened more than one might think, but there was something about this whole thing that wasn’t adding up.
By looking at her stylish clothes and fresh manicure, I could tell she came from money. She definitely wasn’t the kind of woman I’d expect to find sprawled out on a load of fucking garbage. “Gotta wonder why somebody would do this shit.”
“You think this has something to do with that asshole you took out a few months back?”
As enforcer, I’d taken out more men than I could count. Having no idea which particular guy he was talking about, I said, “Gonna have to give me more than that.”
“You know...the one who roughed up Candy and stole her stash?”
“Don’t see how this chick could have any connection to that asshole.” I glanced down at her as I added, “And even if she did, why would they toss her here like this?”
That thought had Menace looking up to the roof at the security cameras monitoring the alley. “We’ll need to go through the security feed and see what we can find out.”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s good and all, but that doesn’t matter right now.” Becoming more nervous by the minute, Diego announced, “We gotta take her to the hospital or something. Look at her. She’s bleeding all over the place.”
“No hospital. Too many fucking questions. We’re taking her to the clubhouse so Doc can check her out.”
“You sure about that?” Menace asked.
“Absolutely. Only way to make sure the cops don’t come snooping around.
” I could tell that neither of them were happy with my decision, but I didn’t have a choice.
There was too much on the line. Besides, I trusted Doc and knew if anyone could fix her up, it would be him.
I looked over to Diego. “Need you to keep your mouth shut about this. Got it?
“Yes, sir. I won’t say nothing.”
“Good.” Diego was a good kid. His mom was laid up and unable to get a decent job, so he worked at the club to help support his family. No way he’d jeopardize a stable income by running his chops. I turned to Menace. “You on your bike?”
“Nah, I brought the truck tonight.”
“Good. We’re gonna need it to take her to the clubhouse.”
“I’ll go pull it around.”
While he went to get his truck, Diego and I checked the dumpster, clearing out any bags of garbage that might have blood on them.
As soon as Menace brought his truck around, we started to load her into the back seat.
That’s when I saw it—the odd-shaped silver pendant that hung around her neck. I had met her before.
She was the chick who’d come to the strip club with her friend.
Fuck. This girl had made quite an impression on me that night.
Hell, I couldn’t count the number of times she’d crossed my mind over the past few months, and seeing her like this gutted me.
I knew I had to do something to help her.
Once I made sure she was secured in the back seat, I rushed around to the passenger side and got in.
The second I closed the door, Menace whipped out of the alley and started towards the clubhouse.
We hadn’t gotten far when I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure she was still breathing.
The sight of her beat to hell with blood covering her clothes brought a knot to my stomach.
There’d only been one other time I’d seen a woman look so close to death—Lindsey, the girl I once loved more than anything in the world.
That thought had me even more eager to get to the clubhouse.
Menace had called ahead to let Viper and Hawk know what had gone down, and that we were on our way to the clubhouse. When we pulled up, they were waiting for us at the back door. As soon as we got her out of the SUV, they helped us get her down to our makeshift infirmary.
As I laid her down on the stretcher, Viper sighed and shook his head, making it clear he wasn’t pleased.
I couldn’t blame him. We didn’t know a fucking thing about the girl, and that could come back to bite us in the ass.
I could’ve saved us all the hassle by dumping her somewhere and making sure there was nothing that traced her back to us, but in my gut, I knew bringing her here was the right thing to do.
We all stepped back and gave Doc some room to check her out.
She was unconscious and barely breathing when he cut away her blood soaked top and pants. He grimaced with disgust as he checked the knife wounds on her chest and abdomen. After several minutes, he finally said, “Damn, somebody did a real fucking number on her.”
“How bad is it?” Hawk asked.
“Honestly, I can’t believe she’s still alive.” Doc’s face was marked with concern as he continued, “She’s lost a lot of blood. Got two stab wounds, a few bruised ribs, and a possible concussion, along with multiple bruises and contusions. She’s a damn mess.”
I looked down at her broken and battered body and was hit with an unwanted memory of Lindsey.
While this woman’s wounds were different, she looked just as lifeless and out of reach as Lindsey had been the night of her accident.
I hadn’t been able to do anything to save her and feared the same would hold true tonight.
Worried that she might be too far gone, I asked Doc, “Do you think you can fix her up?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. The stab wounds aren’t too bad. Should only need a few stitches, but she’s gonna be in a world of hurt when she wakes up.”
“Just do what you can.”
“You know I will.”
Doc wasted no time getting to work. Seeing he had his hands full, Viper started walking towards the door, motioning his head for us to follow. On our way out, he called back to Doc. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“Will do.”