Chapter Sixteen.
Hayden
I didn’t know how to act when Sapphire came for her daily visit. Hatton’s words from last night kept echoing in my head. I’d seen the footage another two dozen times, trying to find an explanation for what I’d watched. There wasn’t a logical one.
“How’s Stitch?” I asked, and Sapphire straightened with a cautious expression. She’d been arranging my bedside cupboard.
“Stitch? That’s out of the blue,” she replied carefully.
“Hatton mentioned seeing her in the ER. I thought something might have happened to her.”
“No!” Sapphire let out a relieved laugh, and Cassidy and I exchanged glances.
Sapphire was hiding something.
“Good to hear,” I said, wondering how to push. I never got the chance; when her phone rang, she picked it up and answered. Sapphire’s posture changed, and her voice grew harsh.
“Anyone injured?”
Cassidy and I both sat up.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Sapphire hung up. I held her gaze as anger and worry warred for dominance on her face.
“The Royal Ink was attacked alongside Harlot’s Garage and the Royal Gardens. I need to leave,” she stated.
To my sheer surprise, Sapphire bent over and kissed my cheek. My skin tingled from where her lips had touched it. Before I could say a word, Sapphire had left, completely distracted.
“There’s a war coming,” Cassidy said.
“Yeah. This gang isn’t letting up,” I replied.
“Attacking the Harlots is suicide. I know we’ve no proof, but I feel it in my gut; they’re behind these attacks on gang members.”
“I ain’t disagreeing, Cassidy, why do you think I was watching them? Problem is, I don’t really have an issue if they’re taking scum off the street.”
“Can’t say I do either, even if they’re technically breaking the law.”
“Different shades of grey, Cassidy,” I muttered.
He nodded in agreement.
Sapphire
The wheels of my bike squealed as I slammed on the brakes.
I hadn’t headed for the Royal Gardens as Vengeance had assured me everything was fine.
A prospect was on the way there to haul the two gang members whom Vengeance had captured.
Birdie was already hauling ass back to the place we did our wet work.
She’d caught three gang members and had brought them down.
Birdie had no qualms borrowing a client’s van to transport her captives in.
Which left the Royal Ink, and there were police barriers up preventing me from getting any closer.
I swung off my bike and jogged over to the barrier. “I need to get through.”
The uniform stared at me and shook his head. “Nobody’s getting past. This is a crime scene.”
“Look, dude, I’ve got no problem with you, but I will have. My shop is down there, as is my sister. You either let me through or else.”
The officer puffed up. “Are you threatening me?”
“Let her through, Addison,” Hatton called, and I sent Addison a smug look and ducked under the barrier.
“Hatton. My sister?” I called.
“Lantern is fine but dazed. The streets are a mess,” he said. I stopped and looked around. Shit. Hatton wasn’t lying.
“A fuckin’ bomb?” I gasped.
“You can’t go any closer, Sapphire; you’ll contaminate the evidence.
But yeah, a car exploded outside the shops.
We’ve got one dead inside the car, and we think the explosive triggered early as he was exiting it.
Luckily, the fallout wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Maybe they didn’t use enough explosives.
“As it stands, Lantern was cut by glass. The lady in the flower shop was badly hurt and is on her way to the hospital, and the jeweller was also knocked flying. Seven pedestrians were cut by flying glass and are also en route. We have another suspect in custody; he was near the car and was knocked down, and is wearing gang colours.”
“Shit!” I hissed. “Was the bomb aimed at us?”
“We’re unsure at the moment. But the jeweller was hysterical.
Kept saying she should have provided the protection money, which prompted the florist to say the same.
Without any evidence or statements, I can only guess, Sapphire.
I think this was a warning to those who haven’t paid the protection money, and the Royal Ink was a bonus,” Hatton said.
I ground my teeth. These fuckin’ assholes were like weeds. They kept growing.
“Can I see Lantern now?”
“Yeah. She’s in a mood; two of her artists were also cut, and the receptionist banged her head. I’ll take you to her because I can’t have you stampeding through a crime scene.”
I nodded as I tried to control my temper. The Royal Harlots needed to buy shares in the hospital because of the amount of time we were spending there lately. We’d make a killing just on our own visits.
Lantern was sitting on a curb when I arrived, and I gasped in horror. Her face and bare arms were cut to shit, and there was a deep gash across her chest. She had a massive bruise covering one side of her face as well.
“Why the hell aren’t you on your way to the hospital?” I demanded.
“Because there was someone worse off than me. I’m slated for the next ambo, okay?”
I sat down beside her, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. That was a sign of how bad she felt because Lantern would never show weakness in public.
“Stitch is down still,” I murmured.
“It’s fine. I’ll heal,” Lantern said.
“Stitch can remove any scarring.” Guilt flooded me. Stitch was supposed to look after our sisters first and foremost. Instead, Stitch was still recovering after keeping Cassidy and Wylde from dying.
“Stop,” Lantern muttered.
“Huh?”
“You’re beating yourself up that Stitch is recovering. Don’t. Cassidy and Wylde needed to be saved. You did the right thing, and yeah, this shit hurts, but we both know Stitch is capable of removing scarring,” Lantern murmured.
“True.”
“Then I can wait. Although I’d love some pain relief right about now,” Lantern said with a half laugh.
An ambulance pulled up, and paramedics came over, pushing me aside. They checked her over and tried to get her onto a gurney. Lantern refused and hobbled over to the ambo, ignoring everyone else who ordered her to stop.
“I’ll follow on my bike,” I called, and she waved her hand.
She shook her head. “Send Sparrow; you’ve got more important things to do.”
“You’re my priority, Lantern,” I exclaimed, outraged.
Lantern’s lips creased into a small smile. “Sapphire, send Sparrow. You need to be elsewhere.”
I knew what she was saying without having to say the words. She wanted me to go and question the assholes our sisters had captured. It was then I realised I didn’t know the timeline of events. Which business had been attacked first—or had they been simultaneously hit to divide our strength?
Before I could reply, the doors shut, and the ambulance pulled off. I stared at the surrounding carnage. This shit had to end.
◆◆◆
In the end, I headed to the hospital. The prisoners we had could wait, but Lantern couldn’t.
She rolled her eyes when I entered her bay, but didn’t argue.
The docs came and checked her over before sending her for an X-ray.
I was rather surprised that they did, as I didn’t know an X-ray would show up glass.
Finally, I sat with her as a doctor pulled slivers of glass from her.
He’d given Lantern a local, but even so, she winced as the shards were pulled from her skin. She ended up with twenty stitches, which I thought was lucky.
“How are the other victims, doc?” I asked, and he looked down his nose at me.
“I can’t answer that.”
“Look, I don’t want their medical history. I want to know they’re okay,” I retorted.
“And I’m bound by HIPAA.”
“Okay. I’ll find someone who can give me answers,” I stated.
He nodded and turned to leave, but stopped and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Your friend was lucky. Someone else wasn’t.”
I closed my eyes. Someone had died, and I still didn’t know if the Royal Harlots had been the target. Offering a nod in thanks, I let him go.
“I’ll be outside.”
“Okay. I’ll just get dressed,” Lantern responded.
I headed out towards the waiting room. As expected, most of the club was waiting for news.
“She’s fine. We’re heading back to the clubhouse in about ten minutes. If some of you want to head back now?” I said to them.
“How badly is she cut?” Heart asked, looking pale. With her empathic abilities, being here had to be cutting deep.
“She’ll heal, and any scars Stitch can remove. Get your barriers up, Heart, and get out of here,” I ordered.
Heart didn’t argue but got up with Maid, and they left. “She needs to stop coming here,” I muttered to no one in particular.
Someone wailed, and I turned around and saw a middle-aged woman collapsing into a chair. A man sank beside her as they both sobbed. Two doctors stood with them, a look of sympathy on their faces.
“Lantern’s doctor mentioned they lost someone,” I whispered.
“I recognise them. Their daughter is a schoolteacher. They’ve only got the one child,” Twilight murmured.
“Do you think…?” Sailor began to ask and broke off.
“She’s my baby,” the mother cried as her husband wrapped her up.
“Shit. We need to stop this crap from happening,” I said, choked. Grief was an emotion I didn’t know how to handle, and this was raw.
“I ain’t disagreeing,” Cyber replied.
I straightened my shoulders and added, “We need to double down on our efforts. Beat the information out of people if we have to. I don’t want another parent losing a child.” Lantern appeared, and I nodded at her. “Everyone, return to the clubhouse. I’ll sign Lantern’s insurance papers.”