Chapter Eighteen
Rune
“Hello?” I answered Carmen’s phone when it rang for the second time in the morning but didn’t manage to stir the exhausted woman.
“Rune?” Sofia asked, her voice sounding cautiously optimistic.
“Yep,” I said, massaging Carmen’s scalp when she stirred a little.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re picking up the phone. I’ve been so worried about Carmen.”
With good reason.
But I couldn’t let her know that. The last thing she needed was to know someone was actively trying to hurt the sister she’d just left.
“I’ve got her,” I told her instead. It was true. Without worrying her.
“Good. I love you for her. Is she there?”
“Yeah, she’s right here, but she’s sleeping. Everything okay?”
“Yes, totally. I just know she’s worried about me on this road trip, so I want to call on top of texting and sending videos.”
“Where are you?”
“Altoona.”
“Pennsylvania still?”
“I know, right? This state goes on forever. But I should be at my hotel in Columbus tonight.”
“How’s it going? Having fun? Hammy behaving?”
“She loves the car so much. I practically have to drag her out to stretch her legs when we stop.”
“I’m glad you got her with you for this long a road trip. We know she’s a big softie, but she looks intimidating.”
“Carmen said almost the exact same thing.”
“Great minds.”
“In case she didn’t tell you, I made sure all my hotels are in safe areas. And I don’t stop at any rest stops that seem shady or too empty.”
“Good. Glad to hear that. I heard you liked California when you went for your table reading.”
“Oh, my God. I love it so much. Have you ever been somewhere and it just felt, I don’t know, right? Like that was exactly where you were meant to be.”
My free arm tightened around Carmen.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m familiar.”
“I think I was always meant to be a West Coast kind of girl.”
“I can see that.”
“I feel a lot less guilty leaving Carmen knowing she has you. I thought you two had a falling out.”
“Nah. Nothing like that.”
“Look, I know my sister can be a little… guarded sometimes. But I just really hope you’re willing to bring your sledgehammer. Because what is behind those walls is worth all the work.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” I agreed as Carmen mumbled something and snuggled closer.
“Well, I’ll let you go,” Sofia said. “Tell my sister I will send texts and pictures each time we stop. And I’ll call from the hotel later.”
“I will. You drive safe, okay?”
“Always,” she said, then hung up.
When I glanced down, Carmen was slow-blinking up at me.
“Were you talking to me?”
“No,” I said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. “I was talking to Sof.”
“My sister? Is she okay?”
“Easy,” I said, pushing her down again when she tried to pop up. “She’s fine. She just wanted to check in before she hit the road. She promised to send texts and videos all day. She said she’ll call when she’s in Columbus tonight. Sorry if I overstepped. But she called twice, and I was worried.”
“No, don’t be sorry. I always want the phone picked up if my sister calls. She sounded okay?”
“Yeah, sounded happy.”
“Good. You didn’t…”
“No. I just told her you were with me, no details about why. That’s up to you if, or when, you want to tell her.”
“I don’t want to until it’s all over. She’ll just feel bad. I don’t want that.”
“Yeah, no reason to worry her when there’s nothing she can do about it.”
“Exactly. And—”
There was a loud knock at the door, startling Carmen enough to forget about her bum hand, and she tried to use it to push up, only to collapse onto her back, clutching the hand to her chest and letting out a string of curses.
The door opened, then Dezi’s head slipped into the doorway.
“Interrupting anything?”
“No.”
He threw the door open and stepped in, gaze immediately going to Carmen as she whimpered.
“The fuck?”
“Long story,” I said. “Toss those pills?” I asked, nodding toward where they sat on the dresser. “Don’t fight me on this. You need one,” I told Carmen as I handed her one and the bottle of water from the night before.
Carmen scooted up, throwing back the pill then the water, before leaning back against the headboard with her eyes shut, just trying to breathe through the pain.
“Want me to go grab you some ice until the meds kick in?” I offered.
I got a quick nod to that.
“I’ll be right back,” I assured her, reaching over to give her knee a squeeze, then following Dezi out of the room.
“Who put their hands on her like that?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. What I hope we can get some information on.”
“What happened?”
“Someone broke into her place last night, bound her, and tried to kidnap her. If it weren’t for her elderly neighbor, I don’t think she’d have made it out of there.”
“Christ. No leads?”
“Not yet. But she showed up late, and my first priority was getting her cleaned up and comforted.”
“They do anything else to her?”
“She’s got a lot of bruises. But the hand is by far the worst.”
To that, he nodded as we went into the kitchen.
“She drink coffee?”
“With cream,” I told him as I dug around in the freezer for an icepack.
“I brought a bunch of shit from the bakery, if you wanna bring her a plate. Probably doesn’t wanna be gawked at out here, since no one knows about her.”
“Well, the prospects do. But I want a chance to tell Fallon myself before he hears it from someone else.”
“You gonna tell him about me?”
“Way I see it, him knowing that accomplishes nothing.”
“Alright. Just keeping the stories straight. Here’s the coffee. And a plate. I’ll keep my mouth shut for now, but I’d get a call out to Fallon before he shows up here and hears it from someone who’s not you first.”
“I will.” After some coffee and breakfast with Carmen.
“She okay?”
“She will be.”
“Good. Well, lemme know if you want some backup when you go to bash the head in of the guy who did that to her.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
With that, he flipped the lid on the top bakery box, grabbed a powdered jelly donut, bit into it, dusting himself with sugar in the process, then made his way out.
I loaded the plate with some pastries, sweet breads, muffins, and donuts, made myself a coffee, then brought a tray with the breakfast and the icepack back to my room, nodding at Vas in the hallway as I moved past him.
If he was curious about the second mug, he said nothing. He, Ronan, and Carver had come back from Charlie’s sometime while I’d been in the room with Carmen and crashed in the prospect room. I had no idea if any of them knew what was going on yet.
“You okay?” I asked when I found Carmen sitting on the bed, still cradling her bum hand.
“That was so stupid.”
“You were startled. Hopefully this was enough of a warning for your subconscious for the next time. “Dunno how much this is gonna do without taking off the brace, but it’s worth a shot until the meds kick in.”
She took it and placed it over the top of her hand. “Did you bring me breakfast?”
“Can’t take much of the credit. Dezi brought the baked goods. Which would sound sweet if you didn’t know that Dezi spends just about every morning at some bakery or another.”
“Is he a cousin too?”
“Not the same way some of the other club guys. Dezi didn’t grow up around the club. Neither did Spike or Cain. But the younger guys you saw in the prospect room are all cousins. Well, and my little brother.”
Balancing the icepack on her bum hand, she reached for the coffee with the other.
“Another twenty minutes and you should be getting some relief from the meds. How’s the rest of you feeling?”
“Like I fell down the stairs.” She looked at me over the rim of her mug. “Be honest… how bad is it?”
“Worse than last night, but a little bit of the swelling went away.”
“Small blessings, I guess.”
“What is it?” I asked, sensing her not letting me in on something.
“My ankle hurts today,” she admitted. “Not as much as my hand, but more than anything else.”
“Did you fall on it too, or is it from kicking the wall?”
“I think it was the kicking.”
“Can I?” I asked, setting down the food next to her and my coffee on the nightstand, so I could gesture to her ankle.
She gave me a nod, and I started prodding around and gently moving her foot.
“It’s a little swollen, but I don’t think it’s broken or anything.
Just everything settling in the new day.
You don’t want to be running any marathons, but I think walking around the clubhouse should be okay.
Though, I’m fine with you keeping your ass right here in this bed all day. ”
“I still can’t believe this is real,” she admitted, shoving her mug between her legs to stabilize it so she was free to reach for a blueberry muffin.
“We’re gonna figure it out and handle it.”
“We?”
“Me and the club. Your only job is to recover.”
“I’m not good at the whole letting-someone-else-handle-my-problems thing.”
“If it makes you feel better, we still don’t know whose problem it is. Could be my problem with you caught in the crosshairs.”
“Do you really think you can figure this out? Without any faces or names to go on?”
“Wouldn’t be lucky enough for you to catch the car model?”
“No.”
“That’s all right. I have a cousin who is good at this kinda shit.”
“The same buddy who gave you my address?”
“That’s him. He can scour any local traffic cameras, see if he can spot these guys.”
“I don’t think you’re going to be lucky enough to catch someone with their real license plates again,” she said, shooting me a playful smirk.
“Probably not. But Junior is very good at what he does, so we’ll get to the bottom of this eventually. Get you out of danger.”
Suddenly, I didn’t feel like there was a big rush.
Yes, I wanted her safe. But she was safe at the clubhouse with me.
And finding these fucks meant she wouldn’t need to stay with me any longer.
I mean, I wasn’t going to drag my feet to keep her captive.
But I also wasn’t planning on dropping everything to get to Junior’s place again.
“I’m going to need to text my girls and try to figure out a work schedule today. See if I can give myself a little window. Eventually, I’m sure I could do most of my work one-handed, but I can’t show up at clients’ houses with my face looking like this.”
“Yeah, that’s probably smart. There is makeup that could probably cover the bruises, but there’s nothing that can be done about the swelling. And giving your ribs a few days will make a big difference too. Sweeping or vacuuming when you’re bruised like that.”
“Ugh. I can’t imagine.”
“You could give your crew part of the truth. People are more likely to be willing to change their schedules and help out if they know you’re not just flexing your boss muscle but that you’re actually hurt.
Tell them you fell down the steps in the middle of the night, bruised your ribs, and broke your hand.
People want to help when bad shit happens. ”
“That’s not a bad idea. We all figured out a way to cover for one of the other girls when she was in an accident. She wasn’t even hurt; we just knew she was traumatized by it.”
“See? It’ll all shake out. And then you can just focus on healing.”
At the clubhouse.
With me.