Chapter 19 #2
I dropped my head back to stare at the ceiling, cursing under my breath. “Any idea how bad his injuries are?”
Bull shook his head. “The paramedics’ report said he had a head injury and was still unconscious when they got him to the emergency department.
Vitals were low. I got into the hospital records just before you walked in.
It looks like they’re still doing scans and shit, so there wasn’t much info yet.
He’s listed as serious, but stable, whatever the fuck that means. ”
He gestured to the monitor with the police report on it. “The responding officer noted the presence of security cameras in the garage, so hopefully that shows something. King’s gonna ask Randy to let us take a peek when they get it. That’ll be a helluva lot easier than me trying to hack it.”
The mention of cameras reminded me of the shitshow last night. “Did Brick make any headway on figuring out how Beau sabotaged the camera feed at Lauren’s place?”
Bull nodded. “Yeah, they were able to isolate a vulnerability in their firewall late last night and got it patched just after midnight. Brick was salty as hell about it.”
While we waited for King to arrive, we discussed Lauren’s reaction to the footprints under the window, and how she – and the cat, of course – were settling in.
King stomped into the room a few minutes later, with a huge travel mug of coffee in one hand and a half-eaten muffin in the other. He dropped down into the chair next to me and set his mug on the desk.
“I called Randy on the way here. I kept it vague and didn’t mention Beau or the emails specifically, but I did tell him that Viking’s niece had a stalker who threatened a guy named Dustin, and we were concerned for his welfare.
I gave him Dustin’s address, and I’m sure it won’t take long for them to piece it together and ID him as their victim. ”
He pinned me with a look. “Dustin is innocent in all this, and we obviously can’t endanger him more by keeping this to ourselves, but having the cops involved is gonna make this much fuckin’ harder to handle in-house.
We’re gonna have to watch every step to make sure we don’t get jacked up over this.
Randy’s a good man, and he’ll give us leeway to handle things ourselves to a point.
If it crosses the line into murder, though, I don’t know that he would look the other way. ”
He popped the rest of the muffin in his mouth and gave us a second for his warning to sink in.
“I’m not saying we’ll back off and let the cops handle Beau, but we’ve gotta be smart about this.
The guy has family, friends, and the people at the fire station who will raise the alarm if he goes missing.
They’ll also be screaming for justice if he turns up dead.
” He stopped talking and stared at me, hard.
“I know you love to use your bat, man, but that won’t work this time. I’ve given it some thought, and we need to make it look like a suicide. Maybe make him write a note that he couldn’t bear to live without Lauren, or some shit like that, before we off him.”
I nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, that will work.”
“Are you sure you’re good with that?” King asked, narrowing his eyes at me as if assessing just how far I was willing to go.
“Hell yes, if it will keep Lauren safe.”
He tilted his head, then the corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk. “When are you gonna find your balls and tell Viking you’ve got a thing for his niece?”
Bull choked on his coffee, and King scoffed at him.
“Don’t tell me you’re surprised, brother. You had to have noticed the way he’s been acting around her.”
Bull laughed and told him, “No, I’m not fuckin’ surprised, I just wasn’t expecting you to call him out on it.
Jagger, Rome, Lucky, Irish, and I have a bet going on how long it’s gonna take for them to hook up.
Jag put a cool hundred down on him striking out completely.
Lucky and Rome had a little more faith in Trick.
Rome gave him a month. Lucky said six weeks.
Irish added a side bet on how long it will take Viking to kill him once he finds out. ”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head before asking, “And what about you, asshole?”
Bull laughed again. “I’ve got the inside track, brother. I saw her sitting with you and Everly at the cookout on Saturday. She looked a lot more receptive to your bullshit than she normally is. My bet was by this weekend, at the latest.”
I cocked a brow, determined to keep my expression neutral so neither of them would guess the truth. Lauren wanted to keep this between us, so until I could convince her otherwise that’s exactly what I would do.
King tilted his head to study me, but I held steady. After a long moment, he nodded slightly, then smiled. “Just remember she’s club family now, man, so you’d better treat her right if she ever gives you the chance,” he cautioned.
“Duly noted,” I said, nodding slightly.
Randy called King’s phone then, and King put the call on speaker phone to answer, motioning for Bull and me to be quiet.
“We checked our victim against Dustin’s driver’s license photo. It’s definitely him. We’d already tried running his prints, but he’s not in the system, so thanks for the heads up.”
“Glad to help. How’s he doing?”
“He has a slight brain bleed from a blow to the side of his head, which caused him to have a small seizure right after the paramedics brought him in. The docs sedated him to prevent more seizures and give the bleeding time to heal. They also had to put in a breathing tube as a precaution to protect his airway while he’s under sedation.
If he’s seizure-free for twenty-four hours, they’ll remove the tube and let him wake up on his own.
They won’t know for sure until he’s fully awake, but they think he’ll make a complete recovery. ” Randy paused and cleared his throat.
“I’ve got a few questions for you about the threat you received and this stalker situation.”
“I figured you would,” King replied, then told Randy to stop by the clubhouse and they could chat in person.
Randy was silent for a second, then heaved a frustrated sigh. “You’re gonna make my life complicated, aren’t you?”
King’s lips twitched in amusement. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just figured I could be a helpful citizen and catch up with my daughter-in-law’s dad at the same time.”
Another sigh came through the line. “Fine. I’ll stop by for a chat between in-laws in about twenty minutes.”
“Sounds good, man. Ella sent a batch of blueberry muffins in with me today, so I’ll even serve you breakfast.”
Randy snorted and told him to have a fresh pot of coffee ready when he got here, too, then disconnected the call.
“You didn’t mention that you brought muffins for everyone,” Bull grumbled.
“That’s because I didn’t. The box is in my office. Ella made them for Lauren and Trick, but I figured they could spare a few for one of Indy’s finest.”
I smirked at Bull, then told King to thank his wife for me.
“I’m not looking forward to telling Lauren about Dustin. I’m sure she’ll be devastated and will probably feel guilty as hell. I’d like to avoid having her talk to Randy if at all possible.”
“She’s not going to be able to tell him anything that will help him, so I don’t see the need to drag her into it. I think I can get him to agree, especially if I play up how traumatized she’s been already,” King answered.
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“She’s not going into the studio, right?”
“No. She’s staying here today, and tomorrow, too, unless we can track that fucker’s whereabouts.”
“Good,” King replied. “The safest place for her is right here on the compound for now.”
They both wished me luck in telling Lauren about Dustin as I left Bull’s office. I grabbed a few muffins from the box on King’s desk and detoured to the kitchen to make my protein shake as well as a cup of coffee for Lauren, then headed back to the room.
“This is gonna fuckin’ suck,” I muttered.