Chapter Five
Five
Lyric Johansen had somehow managed to wind herself around his insides.
Deep. So deep. Keys knew he was never getting her out.
That meant he had to accomplish three things.
The first was to get her back to Caspar, where his club would keep her safe and teach her the meaning of family. He had every faith they could do that.
He had to find the four assholes hunting her and take them down.
Code, the club’s resident geek, could do that easily.
He would deal with the fifth one, the one in prison.
Then he wanted to find her parents. That wasn’t something he would share with her.
He wasn’t doing that for her; he would be doing it for himself.
He hiked his way through the woods, searching for an open area, somewhere high, where there would be the possibility of catching a signal so one of the phones would work.
He had rehearsed what he would say so he could get it off fast. There was no doubt in his mind the Headed for Hell club would be attempting to track the phones to find their missing members.
They knew the woods, and they would be swarming up the trails, hunting Lyric and him.
He found the spot he needed and scored with the first phone. The code was easy. The guy hadn’t bothered to put in a two-step verification. He wanted easy and fast.
Code answered his SOS immediately. “Tracking that phone.”
“You won’t have much time. You aren’t the only one tracking it, and they’re closer.
Was attacked along with a woman, name’s Lyric Johansen.
Something happens to me, I want her protected by the club.
We’re both injured. She has a head wound and was beat the hell up.
Two bullet wounds, both defending me. I was hit on the head with a baseball bat.
Concussion, but I’m functioning. We’re somewhere in the forest, in the mountains behind the bullshit town the Headed for Hell club claims to own.
It’s a big place, but we can’t move around much with Lyric hurt the way she is.
I’m going to throw this phone over the cliff but leave an open line so you can get some kind of idea where we are. ”
“We walking into a mess?”
“You just heard me. They had us locked in a coffin on the way up. Planned on raping Lyric and torturing us both. That didn’t happen.
Five down. Their brothers aren’t going to be happy.
You need to get here fast. That’s the only real thing I can say.
We’re not going to be able to hold out long if they come in force. ”
“Sent the call. We’re scrambling. We’ll call the Trinity branch since we’re going in hot to another club’s territory. Hang in there, we’ll be coming.”
“Take care of her for me,” Keys reiterated. “Word of honor.”
“Czar just gave his word, and that binds every member of the club. Stay under cover and stay alive until we get there.”
Keys threw the phone over the embankment, leaving an open line.
Code was a miracle worker, and he had a good chance of figuring out the approximate location of where to start hunting for Keys.
They had signs they left one another that no one else would understand.
Czar had drilled that into them: When apart, leave signs. They would come.
He kept the other phones just in case and immediately marked the direction he was going so if his club showed up, they would be able to follow him.
Other than those few signs, he erased his tracks the best he could.
Merrit’s brethren would be out for blood, and when they discovered the wreck of a truck and evidence of burned bodies, they would tear up the forest looking for Lyric and him.
Keys’ club would come, uncaring that he’d fucked up.
That was what family did. They weren’t blood, but the ties were stronger than blood.
He’d broken sacred rules, but it wouldn’t matter.
Code didn’t hesitate, and he’d somehow managed to patch Czar into the conversation.
Czar was president, but he let Code do the talking.
That was his way. Whatever was needed most, Czar saw to.
Keys needed to stay alive to teach Lyric the importance of family.
He wanted her to learn to surround herself with people who cared enough to show up, regardless of whether she screwed up or not.
That’s what they did. They didn’t have to be blood, but they had to have that tight bond.
He wanted that for her. She deserved to have people who saw her. Who recognized her worth.
He’d made certain his people knew she’d taken a couple of bullets for him.
That would mean something. The fact that he was adamant and had made Czar give his word to keep her safe would mean even more.
What he’d said was tantamount to claiming her as his old lady.
He’d have to sort that out later if he lived through this.
He made his way back to the shallow cave, gathering as much dried wood as he could find.
He didn’t want to leave a trace of them behind, so it took longer than expected to cover his tracks after getting the wood.
Still, they needed it. He used the water filtration system to replenish their water supply.
His head was aching by the time he stepped inside the cave.
It took a moment to spot the little heap lying on the sleeping bag.
She took up so little space she appeared to be the clothes pile, not a woman curled up in the fetal position, her hands over her face.
His breath caught in his throat. Had she been afraid?
Sick? Hurting? He swore under his breath and put the stack of wood on the pile near the fire.
It had gone out, which meant she’d been out for a while.
He was concerned about the head wound. It was deep.
She clearly had a concussion. He’d noticed she was dizzy when she stood up to go outside to relieve herself.
Had she gone outside and fallen? He swore again and crouched down beside her, sweeping her hair from her face.
His heart nearly stopped beating as he saw the leaves and twigs tangled in her braids.
She had fallen. He wasn’t with her, and she’d gone outside and fallen.
“Open your eyes, Wildfire.” He turned her slightly to take a look at her clothes. Her shirt had mud smeared on it.
She made a sound, a single note of pain, but she didn’t open her eyes.
“Need to know if you’re nauseous, baby. Give me your eyes.”
“Can’t.” She whispered the denial. “Let me sleep a little longer, Keys. Vicious headache.”
“Did you get sick?” he persisted. He should have told Code to ensure Steele, the VP of Torpedo Ink, was with them when they rode. Steele was a doctor, a surgeon, but he could also heal psychically, and he was damned good at it. They would need him.
“No.” She sounded a little petulant, which he was happy about.
“You’re ruining my calm Keys’ vibe, woman. I can’t turn around without you doing something to give me gray hair.”
Her lips curved into a brief smile. That dimple flashed just for a moment, but it was there. “Lucky for you I have mad skills when it comes to hair. I can fix you up.”
“You think I’m going to let you dye my hair?”
“Lots of men dye their hair.”
She still hadn’t opened her eyes. Both hands still covered her face. That was just as well, because when he looked at her, her eyes seemed more swollen than they had before. Looking at her hurt.
“If I let you dye my hair, my brothers would never let me hear the end of it. I’d get so much crap I’d have to move a state away.”
“Don’t be a baby.”
That was more like Lyric, but her hands didn’t move from her face. She rocked her body in a self-soothing motion.
“How did you fall?”
“Didn’t see a broken branch. Already a little dizzy. It isn’t a big deal.”
“Next time I’m tying you up. When I say stay put, you need to do that. I’m not just getting gray hair, you’re shaving years off my life.” He began picking the debris from her hair.
She gave him her little laugh. “Stop. I told you my head hurts. If I move, it gets worse. Every time you make me laugh, I can’t keep my head still.”
“Sounds like a you problem to me,” he said, once more brushing at the hair falling around her face. “Babe, we have to have a serious conversation.”
“Can we have it with me not moving? I promise I’ll listen to every word.”
She had the ability to make him want to smile.
It wasn’t even that she was being sassy.
He liked that in her. It was that she wasn’t afraid of him.
She said whatever she thought and wasn’t concerned with the consequences.
There were times she should be, but she got out of trouble because she was cute.
He groaned and scrubbed his hand down his face. Since when did he ever refer to a woman as cute?
“Bring on the lecture, Keys. I’m all ears.” She kept her hands over her eyes, but he knew she wanted to cover her ears.
“This is serious, babe.”
Her half smile faded. “I know. I really will listen.”
“With an open mind. Hear what I’m saying to you.”
“Aye-aye, Captain. I said I would.”
That was the best he was going to get. “This situation with your head is serious. You clearly have a concussion, but it could be worse. You could have a brain bleed. That isn’t something we can deal with.
The concussion, you lie still, get as much rest as possible, and we’ll wait for the cavalry to arrive.
My club has a doc, a surgeon, and he kicks ass.
If we can keep you alive long enough for him to get here, no matter what is going on, he can fix it. ”
“I didn’t leave the cave to defy you, Keys. In fact, I replayed your orders several times, and it wasn’t clear to me, if I had to relieve myself, what you wanted me to do. I thought going outside was better than making a mess in here.”