Chapter Two
Janet
When we got back from the ladies’ room and found both Thor and Joker missing, my first reaction was annoyance. I did not take well to being ignored, and I somehow assumed they were outside looking at a shiny new bike or something equally asinine.
I didn’t expect to see Thor on the ground covered in blood, and Joker with a worried frown on his face. The other guy wasn’t moving, but I didn’t care about him.
Rushing to Thor, I dropped to my knees beside him and smoothed the hair back from his face. “How bad is it?” I looked to Joker for the answer. I knew Thor wouldn’t admit to being hurt unless he’d been dead for at least twenty-four hours.
“Bad.” Joker had taken off his shirt and was applying pressure to Thor’s side, but I could see a steady stream of blood leaking out from under the makeshift bandage. “He needs stitches, and possibly a transfusion.”
I nodded. I’d interned at the local hospital while I was in college, then when I graduated, I’d accepted a position as a medical receptionist in their emergency room. That had given me lots of experience at dealing with these kinds of situations. I pulled out my phone and hit speed dial to the ER.
“What’s up?” Sarah, my co-worker answered with her usual cheerful voice. “You miss me already?”
“Emergency. Thor’s hurt. Bad. Knife wound. Get me an ambulance to the alley behind the Settlers Pub. FAST!”
“On it.” She dropped into professional mode. “He need a transfusion?”
“Probably. He’s type O positive.” He’d come to the blood donor clinic with me a few weeks back, and we’d laughed that we had the same blood type.
“Hang on while I notify dispatch.” The wait music came on, but not for long. “Okay, I’m back. They have a crew a few blocks from you. Should be there any minute.”
“Thanks.” I dropped the phone back into my pocket and took Thor’s hand. Staring into his ice-blue eyes, I realized just how much he meant to me.
“Help’s on the way. You’re going to be all right.”
A faint smile curved his lips, and his voice sounded strained. “Of course I am, now that you’re here.” His eyes fluttered closed.
I knew that look. He was in shock. Loss of blood could do that. He needed help. Right now.
The sound of an ambulance siren broke the silence, and I ran to the entrance of the alley to flag them down. They pulled in and a paramedic jumped out. I recognized him from multiple visits to the ER. His head swiveled between the two forms laying prone on the ground.
“Him!” I pointed to Thor. “The other guy’s beyond help.”
Not taking my word for it, the medic strode over to the stranger. After a quick inspection, he shook his head. “Dead. “As he talked, he dropped to one knee beside Thor, pulling a pair of scissors out of his kit. “Hey, Joker. We need to stop meeting like this. Did you notify the police?”
“Taken care of.” Joker moved back to give him room to work.
The ambulance driver joined him just as the medic sliced Thor’s shirt off him and lifted the shredded material away from the wound. “We need to wait for them?”
Joker shook his head. “Clear case of self-defense, and he’s in no condition to answer questions. They can talk to him at the hospital once he’s stable.”
The medic looked at me and I nodded my approval. “Do what you need to and get him to the ER.”
“Roger.” The driver maneuvered the ambulance around and pulled out a stretcher. I watched as they worked on Thor. I felt so damned helpless. Despite my unwillingness to commit, I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
“What the hell is going on out here?” The bartender pushed open the back door, his voice trailing off and his face going pale as he took in the scene. He looked young, early twenties at most.
“Cops are on the way,” Joker assured him. “Did you see these guys come out here?”
Visibly shaken, the bartender stared at the still body of the dead man. “Yeah.”
“Good. You can tell them what you saw when they get here.”
The bartender shook his head. “I don’t want to get involved. They could be the mob. They could come after me.”
Joker stalked over to the unfortunate guy. “Did I make it sound like you had a choice? You tell them what you saw. Two guys and a girl. My buddy following. Just tell them the truth and you’ll be fine. What’s your name?”
The bartender stared at Joker, his eyes as wide as saucers. “Johnny. Are those guys dead?”
“One is. One better not be. Go back inside and wait for the police.”
The unfortunate guy gulped and jerked his head in a nod before retreating into the bar.
I watched the door close behind him before meeting Joker’s gaze. “You scared the hell out of that kid.”
He shrugged. “As long as it worked.”
Joker skirted around Thor and the medics and came to put an arm around me. Watching the paramedic hook an IV into Thor’s arm, I took a deep breath. He would be okay. He had to be okay. I glanced up at Joker. “Where’s Cassie?”
“I called an Uber to take her home before I came out. Had a bad feeling and didn’t want to spook her. I’ll talk to her later.”
“Good. She seems nice. Sorry to ruin your day.”
“Not your fault. He was ambushed.”
I frowned. In the shock of seeing him like this, I hadn’t stopped to ask what happened.
“Ambushed?”
“Looked like a girl was in trouble. He followed her and her attackers out the door. When he didn’t come back, I came and found him holding his side in with one hand and fighting off some guy with the other.
” He gestured at the man on the ground. “That guy was already down. The second guy was trying to finish Thor off. I’ll have Shadow check to see if there’s any cameras in the area that we can tap.
We need to know who these guys are, and why the ambush. ”
I frowned. “Where’s the second guy?”
“Ran like a scared pussy when I joined in. I would have followed him, but Thor looked like he needed my help more.”
I felt that sinking sensation in my gut again. I prayed it had nothing to do with my family. I might not like them, but I didn’t want the wrath of Riptide to fall on their heads.
“Thanks. For looking out for Thor, I mean.” I rested my head against him.
He shrugged. “We’re brothers. He’d do the same for me.”
He meant it. I’d watched the Riptide bikers for some time now, ever since my BFF, Sophia, had fallen for Deuce, the treasurer of Riptide MC.
These guys, these scary looking biker dudes, meant everything to each other.
They supported and protected one another more than most blood families I’d known.
They’d accepted Sophia into their midst, and by association, me.
I felt safe with them. Safe and cared for.
Unlike my biological family, I was sure they’d never use me to further their own agendas.
A wayward thought sent a chill down my spine.
Had my family had something to do with this?
Had they found out about me and Thor and decided to handle the situation?
I locked that scary question away in a sealed compartment of my brain to be taken out and examined later.
Once Thor was safe. Once I was calm enough to reason it out.
It felt like forever before the paramedics transferred Thor to the stretcher and loaded him in the ambulance.
In reality, it was mere minutes. These guys were good, they knew exactly what needed to be done and how to do it.
I wanted to pull rank and ride with Thor in the ambulance, but I knew better.
There wasn’t a lot of room in there, and it was best for Thor if I found my own way to the hospital.
I stepped forward and touched the paramedic on the arm to get his attention. “Which hospital are you taking him to?”
“Yours. It’s closest and there’s a trauma doc on site right now.” He paused, sympathy written all over his face. “He’s young and healthy. He’s got a good chance.”
Coming from a seasoned paramedic who had been on the site of countless medical emergencies, that was comforting. “Thanks. We’ll meet you there.”
He nodded curtly and turned back to his job. As the door to the ambulance closed, blocking Thor from my sight. I took an involuntary step forward.
The ambulance took off, lights and sirens shattering the quiet night and I bit back a sob.
Would I ever see Thor alive again ?
As if by magic, a car appeared at the entrance to the alley and one of the Riptide prospects stepped out.
“Come on.” Joker took my hand and pulled me toward the waiting vehicle.
When had he had the time to summon a car?
I slid into the passenger seat and fastened the seatbelt.
Joker drove like the car was an extension of him.
He didn’t slow down, even for corners, maneuvering the vehicle with incredible skill.
Despite the lack of traffic-clearing sirens and lights, he pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital just as the medics rushed Thor inside.
“Go. I’ll park and be there right behind you.” Joker gave me an encouraging grin. “Thor’s as tough as his Viking namesake. He’ll pull through and you can keep on pretending you don’t care.”
I was too worried about Thor to respond to that jibe. I jumped out of the car and raced into the emergency room, skidding to a halt in the lobby. I must have caught Sarah right before shift change. She was nowhere in sight.
My attention zeroed in on the receptionist now on duty, a kid who’d just started last week.
Her eyes were as wide as saucers. She stared at me like I’d grown a second head.
In hindsight, I probably looked like an escapee from the lockdown ward on the third floor, and I was lucky she didn’t immediately summon security.
I looked around wildly. “Where is he?”
“They, uh, you mean, um, the blond guy from the ambulance?” she stuttered.
I glared at her. “Yes, I mean the blond guy from the ambulance. Where is he?”
She flinched and gestured behind her. “Last cubicle on the right.”