Chapter Nine
The following morning…
C row woke up alone with his mouth tasting like shit.
When he rolled from the bed, he landed on the floor and it took him several minutes to get his bearings. The fog left by the drug sent him to the bathroom to stand beneath a cold shower.
Returning to the bedroom Crow searched and found the only thing missing were a few candy bars.
Who the fuck does that? Of all the things Rebel could have taken, like his wallet, keys, and gun, it had only been a few bars of chocolate.
For a moment, Crow felt regret. He should have picked up some cash to carry, but shoved the idea away. It wasn’t his problem if Rebel didn’t have enough money.
Crow made a sound in his throat and spun toward his pack when a piece of paper caught his attention.
The handwritten note lay on the desk that had been shoved away from the door, Crow stalked over and lifted it.
*I’ll pay you back for the candy.
Don’t follow me.
—Rebel
Crow grimaced, crinkled the paper into a ball with one fist, and threw it across the room.
“Damn it,” he muttered and got dressed before starting a cup of coffee in the maker. He needed caffeine to shake off his foggy brain.
Maybe the dose in the syringe had been too much?
When he’d asked the medic for the syringe, he only said he wanted to knock out a guy for several hours. Obviously, the guy had given him a dose for his size.
Crow couldn’t imagine what Rebel would have gone through if this much sedative had been plunged into his slender frame.
Taking a swallow of coffee, Crow called Real.
The conversation wasn’t pretty.
“You fucking lost him?” Real snarled into the phone.
“He got the drop on me,” Crow admitted with some bitterness, but also admiration. There were very few people who had ever gotten the drop on him.
“You outweigh him by a hundred pounds,” Real said, his tone suggesting the idea was ludicrous.
Crow squeezed the phone. “We had an altercation.”
No way was he going to tell Real he’d been too distracted by the beautiful dark-haired man and as a result of that distraction, he’d gotten kicked in the nuts.
“He got the syringe from me.”
Real gave a heavy sigh. “Say no more. Do I need to send someone else to get the job done? Winter is available.”
“No,” Crow said with a low growl.
No way in hell was anyone going after Rebel, he would bring the young man in come hell or high water.