26. Dax
DAX
“Your neck is healing really well, Dax, I think I can take the stitches out today along with the ones on your back. We’ll have to keep Steri-strips on them just because they are in high movement areas, but this means you get to shower.
After we cover your shoulder wound that is, but that is easier to do and the shower has one of those detachable heads and all,” Dani chatted as she worked on my back stitches.
“Think you could take out the ones in my leg too? I feel like they are long overdue to come out,” I asked, trying not to shift as she worked. The skin was itchy as all hell and being that it was in an area I couldn’t get to, it was pure torture.
Dani leaned to the side to look at my thigh where Sprocket had sewn me up what seemed like months ago, when it had only been two weeks. “How often do you get shot?”
“This is more than usual, typically it’s only a once-a-year thing but I seem to be trying to outdo myself,” I joked.
Unamused, Dani finished on my back then moved to my left and swiftly took those out, before venturing to my neck. “You might need to put me on full-time staff if you’re going for gold. Who else is going to patch you up and keep you alive without taking you to the hospital?”
“If that is a genuine request, I won’t say no, I’ve been looking for some medical professionals that I can trust. We had a doc at one point, but he got hooked on Oxy and made one too many mistakes taking care of my people, so I had to remove him from his position,” I shared.
If she wanted to join the Empire, I wasn’t going to stop her, but I wanted her to know the reality of it.
“Alright, so I get paid better than I’ve ever been paid, deal with calls at random times of the day or night, and have one or two patients to care for? Yeah, I’m not seeing the downside to this…”
I grinned at her, pleased that she was taking this all in stride. “You’re forgetting that you’ll also have our protection so if anyone tries to mess with you all you need to do is let me know and it’s handled. We also have a great dental plan if you need that.”
Dani laughed at that as she finished with my neck.
“Damn, Dax, where has this job been all my life? Now I just need to find me a nice man or two to keep my bed warm at night. Working the late shift in the hospital doesn’t give you much of a social life, but with this new gig I feel like my prospects are looking up. ”
Our laughter was interrupted when someone knocked, before Eagle walked into the bedroom, his face telling me what he had to say was not going to be good.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded shooting to my feet.
“It’s Wes… the feds got him and took him into custody about thirty minutes ago,” Eagle explained.
The moment his words made any sense to me, I saw red, fury burning through my body. As I made for the door, but Eagle wrapped his arms around my waist and held me back.
“Wait there’s more,” Eagle bit out as I tried to kick him in the balls. “Just give me a minute and listen to me, little hellcat.”
Shooting pain from my left shoulder set my teeth on edge as I fought against Eagle’s hold, making me cry out in pain.
“Motherfuckers, how dare they take him, he’s mine!” I growled as tears from my pain and anger pricked at my eyes.
Eagle hoisted me up so my feet couldn’t touch the ground and sat us both down in one of the armchairs in my room.
He didn’t say anything but just put his head in the crook of my neck and waited out my anger as I beat and kicked at him.
At some point, Picasso entered the room and tried to talk to me as well, but I wasn’t hearing any of it.
This had always been my worst nightmare.
The FBI was one organization that was hard to crack and I didn’t have an inside man anymore.
They’d found my mole years ago, and I hadn’t been able to turn anyone since.
Weston had always kept an eye on things but what happened at the warehouse was way too big to just keep to the local police.
If they were at all suspicious of a turf war between me and one of the other gangs or cartels in the area, feds were bound to be called in.
The sting of someone slapping me across the cheek shocked me into silence.
I blinked up at Picasso standing before me, his chest heaving as he looked down at his bright red hand that matched the heat I felt on my own skin.
“What the fuck was that?” I snapped, glaring at Picasso.
“You needed to calm down, and I didn’t know what else to do. I thought about a bucket of cold water, but I wasn’t sure if you could get your wounds wet…”
Okay, the fact that he thought it through did make this a little better—but only slightly.
“Clearly, you have my attention now, what could possibly be more important than the fact that the FBI took Weston?”
“Does the name Cameron Black mean anything to you?” Picasso asked, crossing his arms. “He seemed to know who you were on a fairly intimate level.”
My jaw dropped upon hearing the name of a person I didn’t think would ever be in my life again. “What did he say?”
“The only chance Weston has is if you turn yourself in to him,” Eagle murmured from behind me. “The FBI is more interested in you than Weston but if they can’t get you, they’ll take what they can get.”
I relaxed back against Eagle as I dissected the bomb they just dropped in my lap.
Cameron was working for the FBI now? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since he was studying criminal justice back in college.
Did he know who and what I was, or is this another case of using me to get to Tricks?
How fast had word spread that I was Two Tricks?
From what the guys told me, we didn’t get all the Mad Dogs who’d come to attack us that night.
They could be spreading it around like wildfire.
“So do I have any real clothes around here?” I asked as I pulled out of Eagle’s hold.
“You can’t seriously plan to go turn yourself in?” Picasso demanded taking my face in his hands. “Look, I know this is bad, but we can find some other way to handle this. Don’t you have a lawyer that can get Wes out of there?”
“Not if Cameron has him.” I sighed. “He knows that I will do anything for Wes, so he took him to get to me.”
“How do you know this guy? Had a run-in with him before?” Eagle questioned, scowling at me.
I could see the possessive male coming out in him at the mere thought of another man making a move on me. “I guess you could say that. He was my boyfriend for a year, back in college.”
This caught them both off guard, giving me the chance to get out of their grasp and root around the room for some clothes that weren’t oversized t-shirts and leggings. I would also need to take a shower but Dani had said I could do that so that was good, now where would I find underwear?
A door banged open, alerting me that someone was home, so I peeked out of the bedroom and saw Void charging his way over to me. His face was a mask of anger and determination and once he met my gaze, I knew I was in trouble.
“Hey, big guy… oomph,” I grunted as he all but tackled me, putting his shoulder in my ribs and hoisting me up so I was hanging over his back. He’d managed to do all this without causing much trauma to my shoulder, which was impressive. “Where are we going?”
“Far away from here. You are not going to turn yourself in to the feds,” Void stated, as he carried me out of the house to the SUV that was idling in the drive.
“Weston and I were on the phone together when it happened, and he made me promise that I would put you first. He’s calling your lawyer and is going to handle things, but we can’t risk you getting trapped there with them.
You know that when they want something, they’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
They could lock you up in some secret location and never let you go.
Not to mention if the CIA gets wind of this and they want a piece of the action.
You do have some friends in high places that they’ve been looking to take down for years. ”
Gently as he could, Void set me down in the back, where Dani was already waiting for us, a concerned look creasing her brow. I reached over and took her hand in mine, giving it a squeeze. “You sure you still want the job? We can let you out right now and you don’t have to be a part of this at all.”
Dani squared her shoulders and shook her head. “No, I can handle this, I always wanted to work in the military or doctors without borders. This is just the urban version of that right?”
“We’ll keep you safe I promise, the one they are after is me,” I assured her.
Void got into the driver’s seat and Eagle hopped in the passenger side as Picasso tossed all our bags into the back. Once we were all in the vehicle, Void shot out of the driveway and roared down the street like a bat out of hell.
“Hey, big guy, do you think we can do this without adding more injuries to my list?” I suggested, as we took a corner on two wheels.
Void just glanced at me in the rearview mirror and winked, making me grin.
He knew exactly what he was doing and now that I got the memo I relaxed, clicking my seatbelt into place and watched the world fly by.
I didn’t bother to ask where we were going, because I knew that we would never make it there.
If Void had been on the phone when Cameron showed up, it wouldn’t take him long to find out who was on the other line.
It was times like this that I wonder if I was always meant for this lifestyle.
I’d never dated all that seriously even before Devin died, but I never went for the good guys or the golden boys who were looking to change the world for the better.
No, I always seemed drawn to the dark and brooding men, who under the surface, were far more dangerous than you would ever know.
We hit the highway and headed north, I wondered how long it was going to take before they headed us off.
They took Wes about an hour ago at this point, so I was giving it another fifteen twenty minutes if they stopped at the house first. Who would have known that they would let someone like Cameron Black into the FBI? It must have been a deal.
“Where are the other two?” I asked, trying to break the tension in the car.
“Sprocket and Cognac are in the middle of a deal right now. I was back at the compound, so I was able to get to you faster,” Void explained. “They would be here too if they could, you know that right?”
In all honesty, it was a good thing that we weren’t all together. I wasn’t sure what they would do finding me with a group of known one-percenter bikers, but I was hoping they would just take me if I went willingly. The trick was going to be getting the guys to agree.
“Business is business, I wouldn’t ask you guys to drop everything to keep your crew running. You have a lot of people to support, it’s no big deal,” I said with a half shrug. “It might be better to have people out of this situation as it is.”
“What does that mean?” Picasso demanded from the back seat. “You make it sound like we’re already fucked.”
“That’s because we are.” I pointed to the cops blocking the on and off ramps so that no other traffic could join us on the freeway.
“We are about to get caught in his net and when he sets a trap, no one gets out of it. When we get detained, I need you to let me go with them, don’t fight this or else you’ll be thrown in prison.
It’s going to be much easier for me to get myself and Wes out of this without you guys causing a scene. ”
“The fuck, Dax?” Eagle growled, twisting so he can look at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Cameron is not your average FBI agent,” I informed them, unwilling to share more than that until I knew it really was him we were dealing with.
Two black SUVs went flying past us with their lights on, followed by a truck with a guy in the back of it tossing out a spike strip.
“Everybody, hold on,” Void roared as he slammed on the breaks and tossed the car into reverse.
Flooring it, he wrapped an arm around Eagle’s seat as he drove us away from the cops, before spinning us back around so we were driving the opposite way in the oncoming traffic.
Thankfully, it was all but nonexistent with the cops blocking people from entering, but there were still people that hadn’t gotten off.
Void was an incredibly skilled driver as he maneuvered our way out of this, but none of us saw the truck coming out of the ditch to hit us in the back panel of the SUV, sending us spinning like a dreidel.
I was slammed into the car door, a scream escaping my lips as the impact landed mostly on my shoulder.
I saw stars as the car came to a standstill with a swarm of cops and FBI agents in their navy jackets with the yellow lettering on the back announcing who they were.
It took a few moments to catch my breath. “Everyone, okay? Dani, Picasso?”
“Ugh, yeah I’m good, just slammed my head into the window,” Picasso groaned.
“I’m fine, you alright Dax?” Dani asked unbuckling to crawl over to check on me. “Nothing looks worse for wear, you hit your shoulder?”
“Yeah, that fucking hurt,” I bit out as she probed around to make sure I didn’t do major damage. “Void... Eagle you good?”
“Other than the red laser on my chest, yeah we’re both fine,” Eagle growled.
“Step out of the vehicle with your hands up behind your head and lay on the ground.” someone shouted over the loudspeaker.
“Remember what I said, guys, just be cool,” I warned, as I unbuckled and kicked open the door.
Sliding out of the SUV, I stood blinking at the bright midday sun before I raised my right hand.
Clearly my left was in a sling so I hoped they would figure out that I couldn’t do as they requested.
I waited until all of us were out of the car before we dropped to our knees.
It was harder for me to get on the ground with my arm throwing me off balance, but the cops had other plans.
They swarmed on us, getting the guys in handcuffs, none too kindly I might add.
Then a cop came up to me and shoved me down on the asphalt so my face slammed onto the hot surface, getting road rash on my chin and cheek.
“You fucking leave her alone,” Void bellowed.
I could hear fighting as he struggled to get to me, a second later the telltale sound of a taser went off, followed by more swearing and grunting.
“Guys, knock it off,” I yelled, trying to keep my own anger in check.
The cop yanked off my sling and jerked my arm around my back as I let out a blood curtailing scream at the pain.
Then the pressure on my back was gone and someone carefully rolled me onto my back and helped me to sit up.
I was staring into golden brown eyes that I never thought would look at me with concern again.
“Hello again, beautiful.”