Chapter 15 #4
Ghost’s injuries were many, but superficial compared to what they could have been.
His palms were burned, ranging from first to second degree, and likely from pushing the beam off himself.
His chest also had a burn, and Tessa had informed him that he had three cracked ribs.
Tessa had also ordered a CT scan to confirm there was no internal bleeding.
Ghost was also refusing all pain medication, wanting to be awake for when Becks arrived.
“Fire’s out,” Bear announced before returning to his dual conversations.
Many of the club were at the bar while others were spread around the hospital.
Specs, the prospect that had been upstairs at the time of the blast, had blown through the upstairs and had landed on the hood of a cage.
He had a few scrapes and bruises, but was somehow otherwise fine, and had insisted on staying to help search for survivors.
Ghost did not understand why one of the two people Bear was currently in communication with was not Becks or Ranger.
The fucking bar had blown up. Every single club member and ol’ lady would have gotten that alert.
The ol’ ladies would have secured the children, locking down on club property.
Keys would have assigned his three men, Thorne, Goose, and Grimm, to guard them, freeing up the club members and prospects to deal with club business.
Ghost was pretty sure he’d seen every single club member either here or at the bar—except for Ranger.
Ghost didn’t care how pissed Ranger was at him.
He knew his best friend and enforcer, and nothing would keep Ranger from coming to help.
Recalling something, he got Bear’s attention as Tessa continued to work on him.
None of them were caring that Ghost was currently wearing only his birthday suit and a thin sheet over his lap.
Bear gently pulled the oxygen mask off Ghost’s face. Tessa had also diagnosed him with severe smoke inhalation, and was monitoring his lungs very carefully. “What is it, Prez?”
Ghost struggled to get the words out, but fear forced him to push past the pain. “Ranger and Cameron had a date scheduled tonight, but Ranger stood her up and she left before the blast went off. What if he came in the back? He might be in the bar, and I never saw him.”
Bear’s eyebrows drew down and he put the mask back on Ghost’s face. “His hog wasn’t at the bar. Keys checked his tracker, and he’s at Cameron’s apartment. Lucky sent Bulldog and Artemis over.”
Ghost felt his anger rise again. If the reason Ranger wasn’t answering or hadn’t shown up was because he was fucking an apology into his girlfriend, Ghost was going to kill him.
“Jumper has Apollo and Aerial at the scene. Aerial’s not trained as a search dog like Apollo is, but she’s still helpful.”
Apollo was Artemis’ military dog. Both had served in the Coast Guard, retiring only a few months ago.
She was the club’s third female prospect, though Angel was currently the club’s only female member.
She was also Cage’s niece, even though she was only a few years younger than him.
Like Aerial and Jumper, it was rare to see Apollo and Artemis apart.
But Ghost was glad for any help they could get.
“Becks?” Ghost asked behind the mask. Tessa seemed to be allowing him to talk so long as he was keeping still as she worked.
Bear hesitated. “She’s not answering her phone, and Keys says her tracker is also at Cameron’s.”
Ghost frowned, because he hadn’t known Becks had been planning on going to see her brother tonight. But the timing was still off, discrediting Becks as the reason Ranger would have been a no-show for his date with Cameron.
“Find her,” he croaked out.
“We’re working on it,” Bear swore as the door to his room burst open.
Carlos strode inside. He was dirty, likely from trying to dig through debris along with the others. Two of his deputies had been inside that bar, so this was as personal for him as it was for Ghost and the club.
Ghost felt whatever blood was in his face drain away as he saw Carlos’ face. Bear and Tessa froze too. Unfortunately, Ghost had seen that expression on Carlos’ face before—and it hadn’t been good news.
“Who?” he demanded into the plastic mask.
Had Ranger been inside the bar after all?
What if Becks had been? What if she’d gone to Cameron’s apartment and Ranger brought her with him to the bar, and they’d both been inside when the blast went off?
He couldn’t lose Becks. He just couldn’t.
She was supposed to be pissing on a stick tonight, not buried alive in an explosion?
He was a failure as a husband if he hadn’t even known she’d been in the bar with him that whole time.
“They just pulled Frankie’s body from the rubble,” Carlos said, his voice dripping with despair. “She didn’t make it, Ghost. I’m so sorry.”
Liam was in the back of Cameron’s sedan with Becks in the driver’s seat.
Becks had faked tripping as she was getting Liam into the car and dropped her wedding ring on the pavement.
Liam went far too docilely into the car, so even though Cameron had been on the other side, there’d been no way that Becks could have run to get help.
She couldn’t abandon her brother like that, not when he was in this state because of her.
They pulled away from the apartment, Cameron instructing her to go in the opposite direction of the bar.
At one point, Becks moved to the side of the road so an ambulance could pass them.
Was Ghost in there? Becks couldn’t stand not knowing.
The bar was down the block from the apartment complex, yet the explosion had been big enough that it had shaken them.
What did that mean for the people who had been inside it?
Who was alive? Who was dead?
“Where are you taking us?” Becks asked Cameron, her eyes continuously flicking into the rearview mirror.
She was sitting in the back seat with Liam while Becks drove.
She hated being separated from her brother, whose big body was draped backwards like the ceiling of the car had the answers to the universe written on it.
She kept checking on him in the rearview to ensure he was still breathing.
How long was whatever had been in that syringe going to last?
“Head to the farmers market off Carlton. Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it.”
Becks wasn’t that familiar with Mount Grove and the surrounding area yet.
She supposed she should have been paying more attention, but it was so easy to just settle back and relax as Ghost drove them around.
She figured she had more time… But she did recall the farmers market because the club had stopped there on the way back from a run two weeks ago.
A lot of local farmers, including Amish families, sold products there.
Becks just had to retrace their route backwards.
This time of night, though, Becks doubted it would be open. So why was Cameron having her drive there? She’d mentioned brothers who had a beef with the bar. Did they live out here? Maybe Cameron was having her take them to their home.
Becks made one wrong turn, which pissed Cameron off enough that she shoved her gun into Liam’s side and threatened to pull the trigger. Fearful, Becks quickly corrected her course. It really hadn’t been intentional, no matter what Cameron thought, but the guilt and terror had been very real.
The sun hadn’t set, the days growing longer as summer approached. A single car idled outside the closed metal hinge gate. Becks’ eyes narrowed, thinking the blue Camaro looked familiar.
“Pull over,” Cameron instructed.
Becks complied, confusion and warning bells ringing in her head. The Camaro’s car door opened, and her jaw dropped. No, no, no…
Ritchie opened the passenger door and slid in the back of her car, squishing Liam between him and Cameron. “Hello, wife. Long time, no marriage.”