Chapter Fourteen. #2
“No, it’s a smoke bomb, several of them. Stick together, this is an attack,” Bow stated.
Vortex kept me pinned to his side as we headed down the last flight of stairs. “Fuck, you can’t see shit in here.”
The smoke was thick and, on the ceiling, red lights flashed where the alarms had gone off. In front of us was a glowing green light, and I guessed that was the exit.
Vortex and I began making our way across the rec room when somebody tackled us head-on. I screamed as Vortex was knocked away from me.
Within seconds, the smoke swallowed him up. Someone grabbed at me, and I fought them off. The fact that they didn’t identify themselves meant they weren’t friendly.
“Vortex!” I cried and stumbled. I tipped backwards and realised I’d fallen over a chair. As I did, something passed close to my face.
“Amy!” Vortex and Bow shouted.
“Somebody’s here!”
“Amy, where are you?” Hercules called.
“Here,” I replied as I scrambled away. I bounced into a hard leg and realised it was a table. “I’m near the tables.”
The tables were closed to the bar area, so I did a one-eighty and crawled in that direction. Somebody kicked my legs, and I released a cry.
“Amy, is that you?” A hand landed on my face.
“Hercules, I’ll bite you!” I warned as fingers probed my mouth.
Hercules groped downwards and grasped my shoulder.
“Go any lower, and I’ll let Vortex beat the crap out of you.”
“Keep your hands above her shoulders,” Vortex threatened, and he sounded close.
Someone shoved Hercules, and he released a grunt.
Once again, something slashed near my face, and I shrieked.
My back hit a wall, and a figure appeared smack in front of me.
I ducked, raising my arms, and a stinging pain raced through one.
Another figure materialised, and there was the sound of smashing glass, and suddenly everything grew quiet.
Cold air rushed in, and I realised I was near the window.
Moving to my left, I finally found the door and stumbled out, wheezing.
Arms wrapped around me and moved me away, and I leaned into Tracker as I hacked.
“Vortex, Bow, we’ve got her,” Inglorious called.
Vortex appeared, coughing himself, but he took me from Tracker as I stared at the scene on the wooden walkway in front of the clubhouse.
Hercules was standing over a figure that Drew was holding at gunpoint.
Bow was turning them over and cuffing them while someone shrieked.
Bow clearly wasn’t interested as he continued arresting her.
“Bitch fell on the knife, but she got me,” Hercules said as Doc appeared carrying a medical bag.
He checked Hercules quickly. “The clinic now, and don’t argue. I won’t be able to see properly in there until the smoke clears. Is anyone else injured?”
“Where’s this blood from?” Tracker asked, looking at his hand. Everyone turned to him and then to me.
“Fuck, Amy’s been cut!” Vortex growled out. Seconds later, I was in his arms, being carried towards the clinic. The last sight I had of the clubhouse was the doors open and a smashed window with smoke rolling out.
Vortex
“Do we know who she was?” I demanded. It was four in the morning, and I was wide awake.
“No. Annoyingly, she fell on the knife, and it’s unlikely she’s going to survive. Drew is tracing her prints,” Bow said.
In his hands was a pair of thermal imaging goggles the bitch had been wearing. “Those are high tech, you can’t just buy them from a street corner,” I stated. “She came prepared.”
“Amy?” Bow asked.
“Doc’s stitching her up. She’s received a long gash; it’s going to leave a scar. Damn, she’s brave. Amy was joking about claiming she got it leaping through the window of a burning building.”
“She’s one of a kind; you were lucky seeing her first,” Bow said and then winced.
“Yeah, might wanna rethink that considering how we met.”
“Sorry, bro.”
“How you settling back in, Bow?” I asked.
“Doesn’t seem any time has passed. Not sure I wanted enforcer, but it looks like I got it,” he griped.
“Didn’t want deputy either,” I pointed out.
“I like the law and the job. That wasn’t an issue for me. Just shit happened.” Bow’s gaze grew distant. I guessed he was remembering.
“New start, Bow, make the most of it.”
Bow nodded as Doc opened the door.
“Hercules is resting and staying in. I want to watch him. He was actually stabbed. Amy can go; she’s had stitches and needs to keep the area clean.
We don’t know what was on the knife. Drew reported that the blade was filthy, and a substance was smeared on it.
I’m running antibiotics for both of them for now as a precaution.
If Amy develops a fever or begins to act delirious, bring her straight back.
Here’s a pamphlet telling you the signs to look out for. ” Doc handed it to me.
“I’ll go see what’s happening, if everyone’s okay,” Bow stated, and I nodded as Amy came out. Her robe was covered in blood, and the sight made me itch. I needed to get her out of that and into clean clothes.
“Come on, honey,” I said as Amy shuffled towards me. There was shock in her eyes, and I couldn’t blame her. She’d just been viciously assaulted.
“Do we know who she is?” Amy asked.
I shook my head. “No, Drew was running a trace. She was taken to the hospital, and locals were going to meet her there. Sabre went with her as a guard,” I said.
Tonight had proved something. We needed more than one deputy, or at least several of the brothers deputised to stand in. With Drew caught up preserving the crime scene and Bow being with the victims, law enforcement hadn’t watched the bitch.
Amy stumbled, and I realised how tired she was. I swept her up and carried her back to the clubhouse. There was still lingering smoke, but it had mainly cleared. All windows and doors had been opened.
“Any idea what happened?” I asked Inglorious, who was waiting outside.
“She launched several smoke bombs. Bitch lobbed them through the doors, which had been closed but not locked. Nobody’s fault, just an oversight. How’s Amy?”
“Shocked and tired,” I replied. Amy’s eyes fluttered open from where her head rested on my shoulder and offered a weak smile.
“Go look after her. I’ll deal with this crap,” Inglorious said.
“Was the hotel disturbed?” I asked, nodding towards the closest one.
“No. I shut the alarm off quick enough.”
“Lucky. We don’t need people packing up and leaving already. Talk about fucking us over.”
“True,” Inglorious mused. “Go on, Veep. We’ll talk in the morning.”
I nodded and carried Amy upstairs; she was my priority right now.
Amy
I slept heavy, which surprised me, but woke early because of the pain in my arm.
Last night I’d seen that the inside of my left arm held an eight-inch slash.
Doc had stitched it neatly, but I was horrified to see how long it was.
It was certainly going to leave a scar. Last night I’d kinda taken it in but not absorbed it.
Now, I was—actually, I didn’t know what I was feeling.
There was shock still, some horror, fear, upset that I’d been scarred.
Vortex had taken care of me carefully and handed me a tablet. I bet it had been a sleeping pill. Even so, I’d only slept four hours. It was eight a.m now.
Tiredly, I rose, hit the shower, and used a bag to keep the bandages dry.
There were some tablets I recognised, for pain relief and antibiotics, waiting on the bedside table.
I’d missed them when I got up and quickly swallowed them now.
Unable to move my arm much because it sent shooting pain through me, I dragged on a tee with jeans and a hoodie.
When I arrived downstairs, I saw the broken window had been boarded up.
The doors were open, but everything from last night had been cleaned.
There was a guard outside keeping people away.
Meadow was in the kitchen cooking, and her three children were already sitting down at a table with plates in front of them.
Cassian waved as Poet smiled shyly.
“Morning,” I said as Zion shoved a huge bite of bacon into his mouth. He offered a grunt. “Wow, I’m guessing breakfast is good.”
“Mommy makes yummy food,” Poet whispered.
“That she does,” I responded with a smile at Meadow.
“What happened to the window and your arm?” Cassian muttered, his keen gaze taking everything in.
“I decided to try out as a stunt woman, but I cut myself, so it’s a bad idea,” I replied seriously.
Cassian’s eyes bugged out. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and Vortex cried like a little girl because I got hurt.”
“Hey, I did what?” Vortex asked, amused from behind us.
I turned and smiled. “You heard.”
Vortex eyes promised payback; that was fine; I could handle him.