“Oh shit! You got hit?” Tatum said and let go of me. “The shooter’s in custody. I have to get back over there since I'll be taking her in and leading the interrogation because these bozos couldn't even execute a simple apprehension correctly. But I'll meet you at the hospital as soon as I'm finished.” She got to her feet and held out her hand. “Sorry, Pinky, I'm going to need your weapon.”
I grumbled under my breath when I gave it to her, knowing it would be weeks—if not months—before I saw it again. She took it and started to walk away before she turned back and said, “I haven't had a chance to call the club yet.”
“I took care of that,” Chains interjected. “I’d spoken to Phoenix earlier this week to get his permission to wear my colors through Blackwings territory. He said to tell you that he'll meet you at the hospital.”
“Thanks, man,” I said and extended my hand to him. “Your Old Lady saved my Old Lady's life, so as the VP of the Devil Springs chapter, I'm extending a marker to you and yours.”
He shook my hand. “Anytime, man. I'm glad we were able to help.”
“We’re ready to go,” one of the paramedics announced. “Is someone riding with her?”
“I am,” I declared and stepped forward.
“But you're hurt,” Sloane argued.
“I'll get it checked out at the hospital,” I promised and gestured for them to start moving.
Once we were in the ambulance and moving down the road, one of the paramedics said, “Ms. O’Shea, are you on any blood thinners?”
“No, I’m not taking any medications other than birth control,” she replied. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Let me start by saying it’s nothing to be overly alarmed about just yet, but you’re bleeding a bit more than usual for this type of injury, and I’m having a hard time getting it to slow down.”
“Sloane,” I said slowly as a thought I wasn’t ready to process occurred to me. “The tooth you used for the DNA test. How did you know it was Paige’s tooth?”
“I saw a picture of her with gauze in her mouth and an ice bag held against her cheek,” she explained. “Why?”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “I know what picture you’re talking about. That was taken when Paige had gum surgery a few years ago. Where did you find the tooth?”
“In a small jewelry box that was in the stuff from the rental house.”
I cleared my throat and reached for her hand, unsure of how she was going to react when she heard what I had to say. “I remember when she had to have the tooth removed. Since she wasn’t one to frequently call in sick to work, I clearly remember when she asked for a few days off to take care of her tooth a few years ago. She joked about keeping it as a reminder of how much unnecessary pain she was in because she was too stubborn to go to the dentist before it got bad. However, I didn’t realize she’d kept it,” I paused and gently squeezed her hand. “It was Heidi’s tooth, not Paige’s.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she shrieked. I blinked, taken aback by her reaction. “Answer me, damn it!”
“Because Heidi had an undiagnosed clotting disorder that caused her to hemorrhage and die after giving birth. If she’s really your biological half sister, then there’s a chance you could have the clotting disorder too.”
“Wouldn’t I know that by now?” she asked, seemingly slightly dazed.
“Not necessarily,” the paramedic chimed in. “Many times, less severe forms go undiagnosed until the individual undergoes a massive trauma to the body, like a gunshot wound or giving birth.”
“You’re absolutely certain that tooth belonged to Heidi?” she asked.
“Positive. Paige got a flat on the way home. She called the club for help, and I was the one who went and changed her tire. Then, I helped her get Heidi home and into bed. But Heidi kept going on and on about her tooth. She told me to put it in the green bag in her jewelry box. I did it to appease her, but I had no idea she actually kept it,” I prattled on
“Then that means Blue is my niece,” she mumbled before her eyes closed and her head lolled to the side.
“Sir, I need you to sit back so I can work. Her BP’s dropping, and she’s lost consciousness.”
It took everything I had to let go of her hand and move out of the way as best I could. All the while, I kept my eyes focused on her pale face and prayed she’d wake up. I couldn’t go through losing another person I loved.
It was a blur of activity when we arrived at the hospital. Sloane still hadn’t woken up, but I managed to kiss her and tell her I loved her once more before a team of people clad in masks and scrubs whisked her away.
A smaller team approached me. “Sir, let’s get you to a room and have a look at your wound,” one of them said, eyeing me cautiously and obviously terrified to come any closer.
My woman was fighting for her life, and once again, I’d almost had my life taken from me. I was on the verge of a breakdown and needed a distraction before I lost my shit without my brothers around. I turned to the frightened medical student, took one step forward, and shouted, “Boo!”
He jumped and let out a high-pitched scream while I threw my head back and laughed. “Let that be a lesson to you about judging a book by its cover. Now, if you’ll point me in the direction of my room, I might even be willing to comply and put on the gown.”
“Right this way,” a middle-aged woman said and escorted me to my room. “I just need to get a little information from you, and we’ll get you fixed up shortly.”
“Can I give you the information on the woman they just brought in first? I know her name and most of her details. But the important thing is we believe she has a clotting disorder. The same one that her sister died from a few months ago. They need to know that before they do anything to her,” I insisted and blurted Sloane’s basic information while she wrote it on a scratch piece of paper.
“Thank you. I’ll be right back,” she said and quickly left my room, hopefully relaying the information I shared.
When she returned, I asked before she had a chance to speak. “How is she?”
“I can’t tell you much because of the privacy laws, but I will tell you that they’re taking her to surgery to get the bleeding under control. From the looks of it, we should be able to get you stitched up and out of here around the time she’ll be in recovery.”
“Works for me. Let’s do it,” I said and settled back onto the thin plastic pad they called a mattress.
A short while later, the doctor came in, removed the bullet from my shoulder, and stitched the wound in less than ten minutes. “All right, we need you to hang around for a little longer to make sure you don’t have a reaction to any of the medications we gave you. Your nurse will let you know when it’s okay for you to leave.”
“Thanks, doctor,” I said and shook his hand.
Shortly after he left, the door opened again. Expecting it to be my nurse, I kept my eyes closed and waited for her to start going over my instructions. “The fuck you doing getting shot at a book signing convention?” Phoenix rumbled from the door.
I flinched, followed by a grimace. “Fuck if I know. Trouble follows me everywhere.”
“You got that right. You doing okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. It’s just a flesh wound. I’m worried about Sloane, though. She’s in surgery now.”
“Knock, knock,” my nurse said before she entered the room. “I have your discharge papers to go over with you, and then we can get you out of here.”
“Let me save us all some time,” I interrupted. “I’ve had stitches more than once before. I know how to take care of them. If I have any questions, I have a very good friend who’s a nurse and one who’s a paramedic that I can ask.”
“Okay, I need you to sign here, and here, and then you’re free to go.”
“Thanks,” I said and got to my feet. Turning my attention to Phoenix, I asked, “Is Copper on his way?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Should be here
soon. Shaker left to go get him as soon as I got off the phone with Chains.”
I stopped by the front desk and asked the receptionist where I could find Sloane. My eyes flicked to hers when she made a choking sound. She sat ramrod straight in her chair and kept her eyes focused on the screen. “I need you to verify the password before I can provide any information.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. No, she didn’t. But, I knew she fucking did. Sighing, I tilted my head to the sky and uttered the words I was going to spank her ass for making me say, “I like anal.”
The secretary was trying to contain her laughter and looked like she was about to have a seizure. I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Just fucking laugh and tell me where my woman is.”
We followed the directions to the surgical waiting area and made ourselves comfortable. It seemed like only seconds passed before Copper, Judge, and Batta arrived. And Batta looked pissed.
“Oh, fuck. She didn’t?” I asked, already knowing the answer—she left without telling him she was attending the book signing with the intent of taking down a criminal.
“She fucking did,” he grumbled, “but I’ll take that up with her. Right now, I’m just glad you and your woman weren’t hurt worse than you were.”
“Family of O’Shea,” a female voice called from behind me. I stood and made my way over to her. “She’s in room three. It’s the third door on the left once I buzz you through.”
With that, she pressed the button that opened the door giving me access to Sloane’s room. Without hesitation, I made a beeline for the third door on the left and almost tripped over my feet trying to enter the door too quickly.
I sagged in relief when I saw Sloane awake and looking somewhat healthy. Rushing to the side of the bed, I reached for her hand and leaned over to place a kiss on the top of her head. “How are you feeling? Have you spoken to the surgeon? What did he say?” I rattled off.
My relief vanished when Sloane began to speak. “I fleel grapes. A bully went zippy zoom through me flesh, and Dr. Groan plucked it out with his mighty plucker. But they took me titsling, and now me boobies is a wee bit nippily,” she slurred and erupted into a fit of giggles when she finished.
I whirled around to look for a nurse and found one sitting in a chair at the nurse’s station. “What the fuck is wrong with her?” I demanded.
“She’s recently had some pain medicine and is still coming off the anesthesia. The combination made her pretty loopy. She was singing songs from Disney movies at the top of her lungs until she dozed off a few minutes before you came back,” she shared.
Exhaling in relief, I smiled, “That sounds like something she’d do. Did everything go okay?”
“Yes, it did. The doctor was able to stop the bleeding and close the wounds. He’ll be by to go over things in more detail with Sloane when she’s awake and alert.”
“Thank you,” I said and extended my hand to her.
Suddenly, Sloane started loudly blurting random words, one at a time. “Big.”
“Badass.”
“Biker.”
“Bronze.”
“You calling for me, Sweet Sloane?”
“Mmm,” she moaned. “I thought I smelled you.”
I laughed. “You don’t handle narcotics well, do you?”
“I’d say yes since I’m as motherfucking cheerful as a cheetah cooking clam chowder.”
Slapping my hand over my mouth, I tried to at least muffle my laughter because there was no other way to control it. Then, an idea hit me, and it was too good to pass up. Clearing my throat, I deepened my voice and said, “Today’s letter is P.”
“Penis. Peen. Pecker. Pipe. Python. Package. Pole. Prick. Pussy pounder. Pu—”
“Stop,” I wheezed, laughing so hard I could barely breathe. “Shit, Sloane, you have to stop.”
“S. Slap. Smack. Spank. Strike. Swat.”
“Fuck,” I cursed and realized my mistake immediately. “Wait! Let’s count!” I suggested before she could start listing F words.
“One, two, three,” she started and dozed off somewhere around two thousand six hundred and thirty-two, which coincidentally was around the same time they came to move her to her hospital room.
Refusing to leave her side, I sent a text to Phoenix telling him and the guys to meet us upstairs in her room on the post-surgical floor.
“On that note, now that Sloane’s awake, I have some business to take care of,” Tatum announced with Batta following her out of the room.
“What did she mean? Does she need to ask me some questions?” Sloane asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“She meant she was going to go interrogate the shooter now that she’s seen for herself that you’re okay,” I explained.
“Aw, that’s so sweet.”
“It is, but don’t tell her that if you want her to keep liking you.”
When Tatum returned to the hospital several hours later, she didn’t come alone. “Ginger and Jennifer would like to stop by for a visit,” she said and held up her hand. “I ran backgrounds on both girls and didn’t find anything to be concerned about.”
“I don’t have a problem with it, but it’s up to Sloane,” I said and returned to my seat by her side. “Do you feel up to having them stop by?”
“Yes, I want to see them,” Sloane mumbled. “Will someone tell them to come up?”
“You got it,” I said and nodded to Tatum.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and disappeared into the hall.
“Who exactly are Jennifer and Ginger?” my brother asked for clarification.
“Patience, old man. I’ll introduce them when they get here.” I said, grinning when he grumbled in irritation.
Tatum returned to the room with Jennifer and Ginger in tow several minutes later. Surprisingly, neither one seemed to have any qualms entering a room full of bikers.
“This is Jennifer and her friend, Ginger,” I said to the room. “They’re both huge fans of Sloane’s, and they helped save her life today.”
The guys went around the room introducing themselves before ending with Tatum. “We’ve already been acquainted, but I’d like to add one thing. I specialize in disappearances. As in orchestrating them. Both living and dead bodies. Carry on,” she said, her tone changing to cheerful on her last sentence as she gestured for Jennifer to start talking.
Jennifer choked on something and went into a fit of coughs for several awkward moments before she recovered enough to speak and introduce herself to the room. “I’m Jennifer, as you already know. I-I’m an avid reader, proud book nerd, and professional librarian,” she said, her voice growing stronger toward the end.
Tatum grinned. “Josie, and our friend, Adrianna, are both avid readers. They’re always trying to get me to read their romance books, but I only like to read the dirty parts.”
Jennifer didn’t miss the opportunity to do what she did best. “Then you would love Sloane’s short stories. She sets the scene and introduces the characters within a few paragraphs, maybe a chapter at most. Then, she uses a few chapters to build the tension or set up a dilemma before she goes right into the good stuff.” Jennifer paused to fan herself. “I’m telling you; they’re short, to the point, and hot as hell. Make sure you have some fresh batteries handy after you read one.”
“She’s trying to go green, so she uses me instead of batteries,” Batta interjected, causing everyone except me to laugh.
I was exhausted, and my shoulder was starting to throb. I just wanted to know what happened so I can make myself comfortable in the recliner and go to sleep. “Can we get on with it? What did you find out?” I snapped.
Tatum sighed. “I have a lot of information to share with you regarding the shooter, but I’ve just come from listening to the biggest load of absolute bullshit that’s ever been spewed at me, and I do not have the ability to repeat it to you in a professional capacity. In other words, if you want to know what happened, I'm going to speak freely.”
Tatum shook her head and dropped into a chair. "Let me start by apologizing in advance. This is a long and fucked up story. Side note: I’ll refer to the shooter as Dill from this point forward since we’re still in the process of verifying her legal name.”
She paused and inhaled deeply before beginning. “Dill was one of your fans—a superfan is the term that was used, I believe. Of course, she had all of your books. When she got engaged and moved in with her fiancé, she hid her collection of your books in her closet. At some point, the fiancé found the books, read them, and became obsessed with you.”
“What?” Sloane gasped.
Tatum nodded and continued. “Yep. He was obsessed with you to the point that he started asking Dill to dye her hair the same color as yours, and he even made requests for her to dress like you did in some of your pictures on social media. She didn't figure it out until he made a few requests in the bedroom that were very similar to scenes from some of your books.”
Tatum paused and looked down at the phone in her hand before she continued. “By this time, Dill was on your ARC team. This is when she started suggesting that you write things for her and her fiancé to try in the bedroom. She wanted him to think it was based on scenes from your stories when it was really her idea. According to her, that worked for almost a year. Everything went to shit when you repeatedly rejected one of her ideas. She said you eventually refused to speak to her about it anymore and kicked her off of your review team. This part was somewhat unclear, but she said your stories had changed, and she wasn't willing to go along with it anymore. Which ultimately led to him breaking up with her. She blamed you for ruining their relationship.”
“She did all of this just to get back at me for something I didn't even do?” Sloane asked.
“Actually no,” Tatum said and leaned forward on her elbows. “She did all of this to prevent you and your books from ruining other relationships.”
“You have got to be shitting me?” I shouted and got to my feet, cringing at the slight burn in my shoulder.
Bronze (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 5) Page 23