Chapter 5
FIVE
FROST
As I watched the ambulance drive off, I couldn’t help but watch after it. The urge to go after them was strong, but I resisted as I sat there on my bike. Holy fucking hell, Lexi was back in town. Working. And not as a doctor.
“What in the world happened to you?” I whispered.
“Hey, you okay?”
I turned toward the sound of the security guard’s voice. “Yeah, I’m good. You?”
He strutted up to me and put his hands on his hips. “You did a good thing over there. Thanks for the help.”
I shrugged. “Not gonna let some goons gun down innocent people in a hospital.”
He chuckled. “Say, you don’t happen to know that Leena girl, do you?”
I furrowed my brow. “Lexi?”
“Yeah, her. Do you, like, know her or something?”
I shrugged. “Sort of. Why?”
He smirked. “Think you could put in a good word for me? She’s hot as hell. It’s been a while since we’ve had a fresh rotation of girls anywhere near this hospital.”
I gripped the handlebars of my bike as tightly as possible to keep from slugging the man and getting arrested. “You’re not really her type.”
He searched my hardened stare. “Shit, sorry. She your girl or something?”
I rolled my shoulders to try and relax. “She was at one point. But, not anymore.”
“Ah. Well, sorry anyway. Sometimes we aren’t the ones that want the break ups.”
“You’re telling me.”
And just as he turned his back, a thought crossed my mind. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
He whipped back around to face me. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Do incidents like this happen at the hospital often?”
I didn’t like how heavy his sigh was. “We know how to deal with threatening gang bangers. But, it’s not the first time, or last time, we’ll have to deal with them. We’ve got the hospital’s back, though. That’s what security guard rotations are for. We’re trained to step in, to a point.”
“So, security is usually the ones to handle outbursts like that?”
He shrugged. “We’ve got silent alarm buttons everywhere, but yeah. Our security guards are well-trained, so they’re our first line of defense.”
I didn’t like that shit one bit. “Right, right.”
He smiled. “Trust me, Lexi’s just fine inside these walls.”
But, our current incident had proved to me otherwise. “If you say so.”
After parting ways with the old man, I cranked up my bike and headed back to the warehouse that had effectively become our home as well as our clubhouse.
And even though the guard’s words should have given me comfort, they didn’t.
I was worried about Lexi. Hell, from the looks of it, she had pissed someone off in the cartel, and that was never a good situation to be in.
Plus, the security guard was right on multiple fronts.
She looked even sexier than the last time I had laid eyes on her.
“Jesus, you fucking took long enough,” Notch grumbled.
He yanked the cooler out of my hand before Ruby yelled for him.
They were tending to the smaller wounds on everyone while I dug around for a few things myself before going to sit beside West. I wanted to punch his fucking lights out, though.
I wanted to wring his neck for ever getting Lexi twisted up into our little schemes.
I numbed West up a bit before starting a running whip stitch I’d been taught during my Army medic days, doing my best to keep a lid on it as I physically bit down onto my tongue.
And it wasn’t until West chuckled that I came back to reality.“You got something on that mind of yours?”
I flickered my gaze to him before clearing my throat. “It’s nothing.”
He barked with laughter. “Fine. If you don’t wanna talk, I don’t either. But, don’t fuck up my stitches. I want to tattoo over this bad boy someday.”
I rolled my eyes. “Any more of them and there won’t be an ounce of skin left on your body.”
“Church!” Stone roared.
We all finished patching each other up as much as we could before we hobbled and stumbled and gathered in the massive living room.
We all flopped onto couches and into recliners, resting our tired bodies after a fucking bullshit marathon of a day.
I closed my eyes and drew in deep breaths.
I tried to put Lexi out of my mind as much as possible.
Then, Stone brought up the main issue we needed to sort through. “So, we need to figure out how the hell to get Diego out of the situation he’s in.”
Hayley peeked her head around the corner. “I know it’s church time, but I actually might have a solution to that problem?”
Stone furrowed his brow. “Bring it to the floor.”
Her pregnant ass waddled in like a duck. “So, my best friend from college is a lawyer. I could give her a call. She’s a shark in the courtroom, so even if Diego makes it there, he’ll have a hell of an attorney on his side.”
Stone didn’t hesitate. “Call her. See if you can set something up. Tell her that, for once, our guy is actually innocent.”
That sent a ricochet of chuckles throughout the room before Hayley smiled and waddled back out of the room.
I could only imagine the hell they were going through with her being at least seven months pregnant.
For all we knew, we’d be trapped in this hellscape until well after she gave birth, and that was no way for a child to come into the world.
Which made me want to clear up this situation even more.
“So, now that we have that situated,” Texas murmured.
Stone drew in a deep breath. “Anyone got any other people they could call to help us move the cartel out of our city? Anyone?”
And when no one stood to talk about other best friends from school days, he nodded.
“Figured,” Stone murmured. “Well, in any case, we need to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about them. Because once we go after Diego legally, they’re going to assume we’re free-range meat to be stolen.”
I raised my hand. “I actually got some shit I need to spill.”
Asher furrowed his brow. “You’ve been pretty distracted since the hospital. Did something happen?”
West chuckled. “Finally. We get the story now.”
Stone folded his arms over his chest. “Speak.”
I decided to give them the bullet points.
“I got to the hospital and the cartel was there. You know, after the shootout. Apparently, our medical supply connection is a new EMT for the area, and she was yanked into the drama when the cartel guys were. They blame her and the hospital staff for the death of their buddy. By the time I intervened, there were guns drawn and police had to be called and all sorts of shit.”
I saw West’s eyes bulged out of his sockets while everyone else studied me. Stone raked his eyes down my body while Texas tilted his head, as if changing the position of his neck would make me spill who the hell Lexi was in the first place. That wasn’t the important part of the story, though.
I was concerned that she had gotten caught up in their crossfire.
“She’s our new medical supply connection?” Stone asked.
I nodded. “Yesterday she was, yes.”
“What does that mean?” Asher asked.
Bronx stood to his feet. “What did she do to piss them off?”
I shrugged. “Probably nothing serious. They’re just mowing down everyone in their path right now to get answers.”
“How do you know her? This Lexi girl?” Stone asked.
I looked over at West and his eyes practically told me to can it, so I heeded the silent advice. “I don’t know her necessarily. She was just in trouble, and we sort of got to know one another. A bit. While we were talking.”
Asher clicked his tongue. “Smooth.”
Stone blinked. “Right, we can address that lie later. Was she threatened in any way?”
I nodded. “She was, yes. Things were under control when she passed the supplies to me, then those cartel goons came charging back out and she shut herself in the back of the ambulance while me and the security guard fielded their bullshit. We have to do something. She’s just as much of a target right now as anyone else who’s crossing their path during this tirade. ”
“Sure, let’s add some more shit to our plate,” Bronx grumbled.
Stone sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. We can’t protect everyone that the cartel threatens.”
My jaw clenched. “She’s not just some girl, Stone.”
He fully turned to face me. “Then, by all means, tell me the truth about who she is instead of thinking you can lie right to my fucking face.”
I stood to my feet. “She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.
The only woman who has ever seen me for me.
We were together for a while. The longest I’ve ever been with a woman.
And I fucked her over, big time. She might not love me anymore, but the absolute least I owe her is protection after abandoning her during my deployment days. ”
Stone searched my eyes before he nodded. “Let’s get it done, then. West?”
“Yep?
He looked over at the only guy who knew the full story between me and Lexi.
“Do your thing. I want to know every move the cartel makes in that area. I want to know if they’re stalking out that hospital, I want to know where this Lexi lives, and I want to know if she’s got anyone in her familial circle that will become targets simply because they live together. ”
West nodded. “On it.”
Then, Stone walked over to me. “And in the meantime, you have my permission to go track down where her ambulance bay is so we can figure out if she’s all right. I think it’ll do you some good to see her on a fresh day without the cartel hovering about.”
I puffed my cheeks out with a sigh. “Yes, good. I think that’s a great idea.”
And as church finally wrapped up, I had a feeling that things were about to get worse for everyone involved.
Including Lexi, who didn’t deserve any of this shit in the first place.