32
ROWAN
I wake up in the hospital emergency room and wince at the bright lights when I try to open my eyes.
I turn my head and find a sleeping Everly with her head rested on my bed.
I sigh in relief at the sight of her. I don’t know what the hell she was thinking running off to see her mother like that.
She could have talked to me, but she snuck out instead.
I won’t lie, I’m upset, but I’m so damn thankful that she’s okay, and that overrides any anger I feel.
I move to sit up and wince at the pain I feel all over, and I do mean all over.
I feel pain from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
I went down hard with my bike, and it drug me for a little bit.
I pull at the side of the blanket that Everly isn’t lying on and take inventory of my body.
My left leg and side are covered in bandages, and my left arm has a few scrapes.
Luckily, most of the damage avoided my tattoos that I’ve spent years getting.
I reach my hand up and feel the cut on my forehead and the goose egg that’s there.
I must have bumped my head pretty hard if it knocked me out.
I didn’t even think when I realized that Everly had snuck out, though. I called my dad and mom to come watch Hazel and then called all the guys. I didn’t wait for them, though. I probably should have. It would have ended better for me, but not for Everly.
The SUV that ran me off the road was there for her. I was just a happy coincidence for them. I think her mom planned her kidnapping; I just need to talk to the guys to prove it.
I shift my legs over to the side of the bed and attempt to push myself up, grunting with the effort.
“Rowan?” Everly rasps from behind me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I groan. “We just need to get back to Hazel,” I say as I attempt to get up again.
Everly runs around to my side of the bed and moves under my arm, helping me to stand. “Take it easy, the doctor said nothing is seriously injured but you have lots of cuts and bruises and a concussion.”
“I’ve had worse,” I mutter as I move to get dressed in the clean clothes that are sitting on the counter. That’s one perk of the club; the guys will always take care of you.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Rowan,” Everly chokes out, making me whirl around.
Tears fill her eyes as she watches me wearily. “Why did you do it?” I ask. “You could have just told me.”
A few tears escape and she wipes them away.
“I don’t know, I just wanted answers, and I didn’t think I had to worry about her.
I regretted it before I even got there but I was too determined to turn around.
When I saw you coming towards us and the SUV chasing you down,” she chokes out. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
I move towards her, wrapping my arms around her and ignoring the bite of pain I feel from the contact. “I’m okay, darlin’. I’m just so glad you’re okay.”
“You’re not okay!” She cries into my chest. “You’re hurt because of me. I did this to you.”
“You didn’t do this to me. This life did it. I’ll be just fine, though, and we’ll figure out your punishment later.”
She pulls back and frowns at me with tears in her eyes. “Punishment?”
I smirk at her. “Don’t worry. We’ll both like it.”
I feel cool air across my bare ass and then hear a throat clear behind us. “You good?” Grayson asks.
I turn around. “We’re good. Did you get the guy in the SUV?”
“We did. The guys already questioned him. It’s a good thing you were there,” he says as he moves forward and closes the door behind him. “He was there to snatch Everly.”
Everly gasps in my arms. “I figured as much,” I mutter. “Was it Laura?”
Grayson nods his head and looks at Everly. “I’m sorry, Everly. I’ll let you guys get dressed and then we’ll take you to your house to pack a bag for the club. I think it’s safer for everyone to be there right now.”
“A full lockdown?” I ask.
“Not full yet,” he sighs. “Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”
He turns and leaves the room, and I tilt Everly’s face up to mine, kissing her softly. “We’re going to be okay, baby.”
“Okay,” she murmurs softly. “Let me help you get dressed.”
Everly helps me get dressed, which turns out to be quite the challenge with all my bandages. After I’m dressed, we walk out of the room with my discharge papers and meet up with Grayson and Axel. They lead us to Everly’s Telluride. I ride in the back with Everly as they head towards our house.
When we turn onto our street, Grayson curses and I sit up, wincing at the pain in my head from the quick movement. I sigh when I see three cop cars at our house.
“What fucking now?” I groan.
“Let me handle it,” Grayson says.
Axel pulls in front of the house, and we all climb from the vehicle. Seargent Rojas walks over to us with a grim expression.
“What’s going on?” Grayson asks.
“We had a report of a dead body,” Seargent Rojas says. “It’s Jennifer Carter.”
“Shit,” I mutter. “We weren’t even here, Rojas,” I start to explain.
He holds up a hand to stop me. “We already knew that you were taken to the emergency room, and it looks like she was killed somewhere else and brought here.”
“It was staged?” Everly asks. “Who would do that?”
“The Devil’s Knights,” Axel and I say at the same time.
“This shit is getting out of control, guys,” Seargent Rojas mutters. “I can only keep chief out of this for so long.”
“We know,” Grayson murmurs. “But if he doesn’t stay out of club business, things are going to get ugly.”
“What the hell happened between you two?” Rojas asks.
“You tell me,” Grayson laughs bitterly. “Chief used to want what’s best for this town, now he seems to want to control it. I have reason to believe he worked with the Devil’s Knights to break up our agreed upon fight the other day.”
“That’s a bold claim, Gray.”
“It’s one that I’m prepared to back up.”
Rojas sighs. “Okay,” before turning to me. “You guys won’t be able to stay here until the property is cleared with the crime scene investigators. It might be a day or two, they just have to prove that her murder didn’t happen here.”
“You’ll have to talk to Lenny,” I tell him. “He’ll want to make sure no illegal searches happen.”
Rojas chuckles. “Of course, he will.”
“We need to grab some things from inside.”
“Just make it quick.”
He turns and walks back toward the taped off space.
“Fuck,” Axel mutters. “I can’t believe someone killed Jennifer.”
“I know,” Everly says. “I didn’t like her, but she didn’t deserve that.”
“Let’s just get our shit and get to the clubhouse,” I say as I start leading her toward the house. “It sounds like we need to call Lenny.”