30. Chapter 30
Leigh
I dropped the ladies off and headed to the shop.
We were falling into a nice routine and Glenda hadn’t had any episodes since before the last therapy session.
It was still up in the air if she was good to ride, but her safety was more important than my wants.
Although she wanted to ride, too. Hopefully soon we could get some wind therapy together.
Me and some of the others had been scouting and were pretty confident we narrowed down where the Scorpions were hiding out. Sam let us know Manny woke up the day before, but was in a lot of pain and in no shape to be answering questions.
Hammer told me to swing by after work and check in. Even if he couldn’t tell us anything yet, we still wanted to check on the kid. Skeeter had been there when he woke up and he said it was rough.
Some of us had been by to check on him, but we had a member staying at the clinic at all times.
Sam was sleeping there for the time being, so we needed to keep them covered.
Sam didn’t stay there unless he had one of our unexpected guests.
Plus, we didn’t know for sure if Manny’s attack was random or personal, so we couldn’t leave them unguarded.
After an easy but busy day at the shop, I washed up and headed over to the clinic. I called Glenda to check in on the drive over.
“Hey. You off work?” she asked.
“Just leaving. But I’m stopping at the clinic real fast to check on Manny before I head to the clubhouse. How’s your day been?”
“Same old, same old. Pretty boring.”
“Boring is good,” I told her.
“True. Oh, there’s the dryer buzzing. Let me pull these out and get them folded. We eating here tonight?”
Looking up, it was hard to tell if the bad weather was going to return. It had rained off and on all day but it was currently clear. “May be best to plan to. I may be heading out later for a while.”
“Alright. I’ll be at the bar probably by the time you get back.”
“Can’t wait to see you. I love you, Glenda.”
There was a beat, then she said, “See you soon. Bye.”
Pushing out a deep breath, I dropped the phone next to me. Was she about to say it?
Irritated that I had shit to do, I sped up. It was just past closing time when I arrived, but a few cars were still in the lot. The place stayed packed, and even though they cut off folks from walking in the door after five, they saw everyone who was in the waiting room before then.
I went to the back, though, and texted Sam I was there. Nancy opened the door for me and walked me to Manny’s room.
She waved me in. “He’s a little better today. You can go on in. I gotta help clear these rooms.”
As she hustled down the hall, I tapped on the door as I opened it. Runt was in there with him, staring up at the grainy TV.
“Hey, man,” he said as he stood up.
“Why don’t you go stretch your legs?” I asked him.
He left the room so I sat. “Hey, Manny. Good to see your eyes open.” I stood at the foot of the bed. His short, dark hair needed a wash. The red around his pupils made his eyes look almost black.
“I heard you found me. Got me out,” he said.
“Yeah, man. Gave me a good scare.”
He gave a humorless laugh. “You? Nah.”
“When it’s one of us, yeah, man. How ya feeling?”
He looked down. His legs were covered with the blanket, but they were sitting on top of pillows, and the casts were clearly outlined. His arms and face had some bruises. “Sore. Sam gave me some Oxy. All that does is make me sleepy.”
“Well, you know better than the rest of us how all those meds work. Plus, a little rest is good.”
“I’ll probably have plenty of time to rest after this. I don’t have my phone, so if my boss tries to reach me, I’m screwed. Plus, it’s not like I can work like this.”
I ran my hand over my face. “We’ll sort all that out later. At least you’re not dead, man.”
“I guess.”
I walked to the chair that Runt had been sitting in and plopped down. “So what happened?”
“Well, I’d been out late with Skeeter the night before.
Slept at the clubhouse for a bit. Woke back up, hung around a bit.
Hammer told me I didn’t have to go out that night, so I went by the house.
It had been a few days, so I wanted to just do some laundry and shit.
Make sure one of the crackhead neighbors didn’t decide to take a look around if I was gone too long, you know? ”
I nodded, waiting for him to continue.
“Well, it wasn’t even that late. I got in and started some laundry and took out the trash. I went to my room to take my boots off and the next thing I know, I’m on the floor.”
Leaning on my elbows, I asked, “How many were there?”
“At least three. Not sure if there was anyone outside, but there were three in my room. I tried to fight back, but it was one on three and they had the upper hand.” He shook his head, looking at the wall. “I shouldn’t have let my guard down.”
“Hey, you can’t blame yourself. But tell me what happened. We need to find these fuckers. What do you remember?”
“They kept asking… well, they kept asking about you.”
“Me? Are you sure?”
“You’re the only Leigh that I know.”
What the fuck? “What were they asking?”
“They wanted to know how to find you. Where you lived. But I didn't tell them shit,” he stressed. “I’d never betray you.”
“Did they say anything else?” I asked.
“They just kept asking about you over and over. They broke my legs. I made it through the first, but the last thing I remember was the crack on the other before everything went dark.” He turned away again.
“They must have kept going once I was out because they didn’t get my face while I was awake.
Just a few kicks to my ribs and gut. But Skeeter got me a mirror because my face was so sore. I needed to see it.”
I stood up and patted his shoulder. “Hey, shit happens. Your mind was saving you from the pain. Can you remember anything else? Was it the Scorpions?”
“Oh yeah. I’d know that ugly fucking green anywhere.” He grabbed my wrist and his puffy eyes looked up at me. “I swear Leigh, I didn’t tell ‘em shit.”
“I appreciate it. You did good. I’m sorry they went after you. We’ll get these fuckers.”
Someone knocked on the door, then Nancy walked in. “About time for your next dose.” She handed him some pills then a bottle of water. “Your food is coming.”
They didn’t have a cafeteria like a hospital, so if we didn’t bring food for our overnight guests, they got some basic shit. But beggars can’t be choosers.
“I’ll let you rest. Runt’s here for the night. I’ll check back in soon.”
“Thanks, Leigh. Will you tell Hammer I don’t have my phone?”
Nodding, I told him, “I’ll let him know and we’ll try to get someone over there to get it for you soon.”
Heading out the back, I ran into Runt. “Keep your eyes peeled and be on alert. I’m gonna see if Hammer can send an extra set of hands over.”
“Got it.”
Climbing into the truck, I called Hammer. “Hey. I think we need another member at the clinic. I talked to Manny.”
“Yeah? I can send someone over. What’s up? Did he tell ya anything we can use?”
“Well, he confirmed it was the Bloody Scorpions. And…”
Hammer sounded annoyed. “And what?”
“They apparently were looking for me.”
“You?”
“That’s what he said. You think those fuckers are singling me out for Reggie? Was he that important to them?”
“I don’t know but they’re crazy. And I’m over this shit. Let’s ride out tonight. We got good recon to go on now.”
“Alright, I’ll be there soon.”
I looked at the time. Bruce had been in his crate too long. I had to go let him out. It was a good idea to grab my bike, too.
It wasn’t my favorite thing to ride in the rain, but it was better to be on the bike for shit like this.
The rain had held off a few hours but it was still cloudy and a bit windy.
The trees in my yard swayed as I pulled up.
I went in through the garage door and let Bruce out, but took him upstairs so he could go out the back door.
I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
I was drinking it in big gulps when Bruce started barking.
I opened the back door and looked over the porch. He was at the part of the privacy fence that faced the front yard. Running back through the house, I pulled my pistol out and left the bottle of water on the counter.
I couldn’t see shit from the front window but there had to be something out there. Opening the front door slowly, I still didn’t see anything. I kept my pistol ready as I went down the steps slowly, not sure what I would encounter.
Scaling the front of the house, I listened for sounds, but Bruce was barking so loud I couldn’t hear shit. Once I got to the corner, though, I peeked around; there was a truck in the yard that I didn’t recognize.
I had no way of knowing how many people were at my house, so I kept my gun out and started heading back to the porch so I could get a little cover and send an SOS to Hammer.
But I hadn’t even made it halfway back when someone came around from the garage side and shouted, “Out here! He’s out front!”
Bruce was growling, barking, and banging at the wood of the fence as I swung my pistol and took a shot. The piece of shit in a Scorpion cut ran back around the corner, but someone else bolted from the front door to the porch and took a shot.
I had nowhere to run with cover, so I took my chances with the idiot on the same level as me and ran toward the garage. More shots came from behind me but I didn’t feel any pinch.
When I rounded the corner, I didn’t see anyone. He had to be on the other side of the trucks. He still had the upper hand because he was already hiding somewhere waiting for me. The walk-through door to the garage was cracked so I dipped inside, but immediately regretted it.