“Brother, get your car, reverse as fast as you can straight at the door, and break this fucker in,” Booth ordered already moving to clear his bike out of the way.
Deck and Steel did the same. Mannix had stayed back at the compound to guard Rainn, Mia, and Stella.
I ran to my vehicle and did exactly as my pres said. I revved the engine, spun it around, and threw it into reverse, then dropped the clutch and floored the accelerator, backing the car straight at the door. The impact jolted me forward, the sound of crushed metal hitting the door loud, but the door did not give.
“Again,” Booth bellowed.
Three more times I went forward twenty metres then reversed at high speed, and each time, I got closer to breaking through.
“One more, Creed. Go forward further, and then hit it as fast as you can,” Steel called out.
With a nod, I sped forward one hundred metres from the door, then slammed the car into reverse and backed up as fast as the car could go. This had to work. Memphis needed me—I needed her. I braced myself, hands gripping the steering wheel, and my body tensed for the impact. I hit the door dead centre, and large splinters of wood flew all over the back of the car, giving us a way in, finally. I jumped from the car, barely taking the time to turn off the ignition. At a dead run, I jumped over the back of the car and all of the debris as I followed my brothers through the broken door. Deck was already screaming out for Charlotte and Shiloh. Like me, he had already been in this position before, fearing the loss of your reason for living.
Memphis was my reason. She had to be okay, she just had to be.
From the other side of the building, we heard Charlotte screaming out no, and it sounded desolate, anguished.
“Sweetness!” Deck rushed out of the office area and towards the dance room, and we all followed, our boots on the wooden floor sounding like thunder.
We ran through the rooms until we reached the empty dance room, but they weren’t there.
“Angel, where are you?” I cried out at the same time Booth called for Darth. Our voices overlapped, and I nearly missed the sweet but rasped sound of my name being called by my wife.
“The playroom,” Deck shouted and took off for the door at the end of the room.
“Oh, Jesus, no, fuck no. Darth!” Booth let out a guttural shout.
I entered the room a split second after him and saw the worst sight of my life. Charlotte had her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with her sobs and her hands covered in blood. Darth’s big body lay on the floor, and a pool of blood seeped out from underneath him. Shiloh was plastered across him, her tiny hands on his cheeks, shaking his face, begging him to wake up. Booth and Steel were on their knees in front of our brother, their heads hung. Deck had Charlotte in his arms, and from where I was, I could see the tears on his cheeks.
In a panic, I searched the room for Memphis. My eyes landed on her a few feet away from Darth’s lifeless body. I could not process that my brother was dead, not right now.
“Angel.” I ran to her and immediately noticed the large patch of blood on her thigh. A pink jumper, soaked in blood, lay beside her. I slid on my knees just in front of her.
“Memphis, I’m here, honey,” I assured her.
Her hands, shaking and smeared with her own blood, went straight to my face, and I pressed a kiss to one palm, craving that feeling only Memphis’s touch could provoke.
“He sh–shot Darth, he… he… killed…” Memphis shook uncontrollably.
Quickly, I tore off my cut and put it over her shoulders.
“Oh, Angel, I’m here. Let me look at your leg.” Blood was seeping out of the bullet wound too quickly, so grabbing the jumper, I pressed it to her thigh, and when Memphis cried out in pain, the sound went straight to my heart.
“I’m sorry, Angel, so fucking sorry, but I have to keep the pressure on it. We need to stop the bleeding.” Turning my head, I yelled at Booth.
“Pres, Memphis has been shot. Call triple zero now. Please! Now!”
Booth nodded and pulled out his phone. Instantly, memories of another time overtook me. There had been blood that day, too, so much fucking blood. I could hear my breathing getting out of control. This can’t be happening again. Surely this can’t happen to me twice in one lifetime.
“Shiloh. Did Rogue hurt Shiloh?” Memphis asked.
I shook my head, which was fucking stupid.
“He wanted to shoot her, Creed. The man is insane.”
“He is, Angel, but we are going to get him. I promise.”
Memphis grunted every time I pressed harder down on her leg. I hated that I was hurting her, but it was the only way to stop the flow of blood. I was no medic, but I had seen enough bullet wounds to know the bullet had at the very least nicked a vessel. This was a time-sensitive situation, her pregnancy only compounding the seriousness of it.
“Angel, did you fall on your stomach? Did Rogue hit you?”
Memphis looked at me confused for a second before it dawned on her what I was asking.
“Oh, God, the baby! Creed, have I hurt the baby?” Memphis screamed, panicked.
I leaned forward and kissed her roughly, my forehead pressing against hers.
“Nothing is going to happen to our baby, Memphis. Lila wouldn’t let that happen. She is up there making sure of that,” I vowed vehemently. Inside, though, I was shitting myself. Please, Lila, let us keep this baby. Memphis deserves it, and I fucking deserve this. I had paid my dues with enough loss, and this was my time to receive some good.
“Okay, baby, okay,” Memphis answered with a watery smile.
There’s my strong girl, my beautiful angel.
My free hand rested on her lower belly, and hers immediately covered mine. Behind me, I could hear Steel on the phone talking to Jason, telling him about Darth. The dance school was going to be swarming with cops soon, and Memphis and Charlotte were most definitely going to be questioned. More importantly, Memphis needed to get to the hospital. I was having a hard time dealing with the fact my wife was shot by Rogue, and an even harder time dealing with the fact my friend was dead. Darth joined the army as a medic, so he was front and centre with every injury the team sustained in battle, and then he joined the club and became an integral member. I was going to miss the big prick.
“Ambulance is five minutes out, Creed,” Steel called out, his voice choked with tears.
Booth had Shiloh in his arms, her head tucked under his chin, and I could hear her soft sobs. How was Shiloh going to understand everything that happened right in front of her? Dundee, Vegas, and now Darth, even her own mother, she’d had enough loss in her young life.
I returned my attention to Memphis, who was smiling a sad smile, looking in the direction of Darth’s body, which was now covered up with a paint drop cloth Steel must have found in another room.
Thank God that Memphis can’t see this, I thought to myself, then leaned over and kissed her softly.
“I love you, Angel. You are going to be fine. I won’t allow anything other than that,” I said firmly.
“I love you, too, baby, even if you are a bossy alpha. Really, you won’t allow it?” Memphis muttered, rolling her tear-filled eyes at me.
I smiled despite my brother lying dead not a few metres from me. My whole world was still mine—Memphis was alive.
———
I stared at the door where Memphis was taken behind an hour ago, my back against the cold wall. Once the ambulance arrived at the dance school, everything went fast—the cops swarmed the building, and Booth, Deck, Steel, and I were questioned, but I left to go in the ambulance with my wife. There was no stopping me from going. I felt torn between my position as an officer of the club and staying with our dead brother, helping find out what happened and why, but I had—no, needed to be with Memphis. After she was in such a dangerous situation and was shot, I was not leaving her side, but then I had no choice when the triage nurses told me to wait out here and took her from me. She cried for me, fucking begged for me t
o stay with her, and my heart felt like it was being torn out with each tear she shed. I tried to tell them she needed me because she was blind, but they still wouldn’t let me in there.
“They will look after her, Creed. She is in good hands.” Steel came up beside me, his hand on my shoulder giving it a hard squeeze.
Shaking my head, I ran my hands through my short hair.
“Brother, she won’t know what is going on. They have no clue how she feels things or to squeeze her hand. She fucking needs me, Steel. I’m useless out here.” The frustration of being out in the hall was getting to me. Finally, things were going good—no, better than good. They were fucking fantastic. Memphis and I were in love, I’d let Lila go—not completely because she would always be in my heart after having been a huge part of my life and meaning everything to me for a long time. Then Memphis happened, and I fell harder than I ever thought possible. Now she was carrying my baby, and today, I could have lost all of that because of Rogue.
“You won’t be any good to her if you don’t pull yourself together, mate. She is alive, and that’s all that matters. You didn’t lose them, Creed.” Steel’s speech penetrated through the fear clouding my mind. He was right, I didn’t lose them, thank fuck.
Loud voices came from the visitor’s waiting room and turning, I saw Ford had arrived at the hospital. The club’s computer expert looked agitated, and when he saw Booth, he ran straight up to him. Something was happening with Rogue, I would bet my life on it. I looked at the door, and then made eye contact with my pres. His chin lifted once, and then he motioned for all my brothers who had made their way to the hospital to follow him. Relief flooded me that Booth understood I did not want to be too far from Memphis.
“Okay, Ford, what you got?” Booth’s voice was low. There were so many people around we couldn’t risk anyone hearing what Ford had to say.
“I got the number for Rogue,” Ford announced triumphantly. “I put an app that can determine where a call is coming from on your mum’s mobile phone, hoping he would contact her. He did an hour ago.”
I knew Booth wasn’t happy with the idea of using less than legal avenues to help the club, but he would have if pushed. Thank God, that wasn’t necessary now.
“He called Mum. What the fuck for?”
“She said he was all worked up, kept on rambling about getting you and that you and the rest of us would pay for ruining his plans. He went on for so long it gave me a chance to locate his phone number,” Ford explained as he handed Booth a piece of paper.
“Let’s go over to the corner there.” Booth pointed to a small alcove just a few feet from the room Memphis was taken into. “Creed can still hear if Memph needs him.”
“Thanks, brother.” I smiled at Booth, grateful for former CO’s kindness.
“Can’t say how good it is to see you smiling again, mate, even with all this shit around us. I just wanted you to know that.” Booth clapped me on the shoulder once, then took out his phone and powered it up.
Shiloh was seen by a doctor and deemed unharmed, at least physically. Her heart was a different matter. Seeing Darth die the way she did could possibly stay with her for a long time to come, especially coming so close after Vegas and Dundee. Deck didn’t want to take any chances with hers or Charlotte’s safety, so his parents came and picked the girls up and took them back to their place right after the doctor said they could travel. Shiloh had not wanted to go, and neither had Teach, who thought it would be best if she stayed with Memphis at the hospital.
We also called Jimmy to come down as another set of eyes. He was currently on the way, and we planned to position him here at the hospital. Mannix was bringing Rainn, Mia, and Stella here to the hospital since this was the safest place for them with plenty of people, doctors, and security around. Booth was worried Stell’s morning sickness was not getting any better, but maybe he might calm down a bit if she had trained medical people to keep an eye on her.
Booth held out his phone, and the sound of ringing echoed on speakerphone. It only rang three times before the other end was picked up.
“Got yourself another dead body, Vincent. Some fucking president you are. Your people are dropping like flies. Who will be next, I wonder,” Rogue taunted as soon as he answered. There was no digital changer. There was no need now since we knew he was the arsehole doing this to the club.
“You,” Booth said, his tone short and sharp and his jaw clenched as his hand gripped the phone so hard I worried it was going to break.
“Me? Oh, I don’t think so. Maybe I planted a bomb at your idiotic compound to take you all out, save me some time. This game is getting boring.”
“You are losing your touch. Callie has rolled over and pointed her finger right at you. The police have your weapons, and your fingerprints are all over them and on the illegal explosives found in the car. Face it, fucker, you lost. Now, how about you stop hiding behind women and face me. Just you and me—one on one. Let’s see who is the better man, Dad.”
My head whipped around, and I stared at Booth. His taunt by calling Rogue Dad was a dangerous one, brilliant but dangerous. Booth was going to end this terror, and I believed in him, but how he was going to do it concerned me.
“Don’t you call me that! I am not your father,” Rogue roared through the phone.
Booth had hit a nerve.
“You weren’t a father to Carson or to me. He fucking hated you.”
“You and me, boy. I will enjoy taking you out, once and for all.”
Booth laughed, and the gleam in his eyes took me back to those times in the desert when he had the enemy right where he needed it. Booth never did anything without a plan, and I was sure he would let us in on what that was soon.
“Be at the compound in an hour. You may have started this, but believe me, when I tell you, I will be the one to finish it,” Booth said, and then cancelled the call, cutting off the viciously yelled response from Rogue.
“You know what you just did, don’t you, Pres?” Steel asked matter-of-factly with his typical cocky smirk on his face.
Booth pocketed his phone, his attention back on the hall as his eyes waited to get a glimpse of his wife.
“Yeah, brother, I know. This ends tonight. No one else I love dies by the hands of that man,” he promised, and Booth always kept his promises.
Chapter 22
MEMPHIS
I sifted my fingers through Creed’s short hair. His head was lying on my stomach, his hand clasping mine tightly. When I arrived at the emergency room and was whisked away from him so quickly, we barely had time to say anything to each other. Creed had argued that I needed him as only he knew my techniques to see things, and he wasn’t wrong. I did need him but not just for that reason. Creed was my reason to breathe, his support I had to have, but his love was essential.
“What names do you like?” Creed asked, the question surprising me.
I was still coming to terms with the fact I was pregnant, and we were going to be parents, not to mention how I was going to deal with being a blind mother, so naming the baby hadn’t even entered my mind yet. Hell, I was still getting used to the idea that Creed loved me.
“I haven’t thought about names, to be honest. Processing the fact that I am pregnant has taken up most of my time,” I admitted ruefully. I closed my eyes and enjoyed feeling my husband’s fingers trace circles over my lower belly where our child was nestled safe and sound. The doctors had to do another ultrasound, so an internal one had been ordered by the gynaecologist referred to my case when I first came in. I wished Creed had been there to see because when our baby appeared on the screen, he would have described it in great detail to me like he did the first time. It made the experience all the more upsetting after getting shot, Darth dying, and Shiloh being in danger, which proved Creed’s point that he should have been allowed to stay with me.
“Memphis, you are going to be a great mum. I told you I’m with you every step of the way. You are going to get so sick of me, you will beg fo
r some alone time,” Creed joked, but I didn’t see the funny side.
I tugged at the ends of his short hair, and he lifted his head from its resting place.
“What, Angel?”
“Don’t say that, Creed. I’ve lived enough of my life without you, so spending forever with you touching me, loving me, wanting me, sounds like heaven to me,” I told him seriously. I reached my hands out, being careful of the needle and IV they’d put in my arm, and Creed grabbed my hands in his, and then placed them on his cheeks for me. My man always knew what I wanted.
“I’m never going to stop loving you, Memphis, so getting rid of me will be an impossible task. There’s nothing else I want more than to spend the rest of my life loving you and our kids.”
Tears welled in my eyes. Creed had a way with words. Who knew the road captain of the Wounded Souls could be such a romantic. Wait… Did he say ‘kids’? More than one?
“Kids. Plural?” I squeaked.
“Yep, I want five kids—four boys and one girl. I’m older than you, Memphis, and I want to enjoy my children while I’m young enough to,” he announced.
Five kids! Was he insane?
“You want five children? Baby, that’s a lot. Are you sure about that?” I asked, but Creed’s answer was interrupted by the opening of the door to my hospital room. I tensed instantly, still a little jumpy from the day’s events. Rogue was still out there somewhere, more dangerous than ever.
“It’s just the flock, Angel,” Creed whispered, his lips pressing against the inside of my palm, soothing me, always soothing me.
Greetings and well wishes came from everyone. The voices I recognised, but I needed to picture what was going on.
“Where.”
“Everyone is on the left side of your bed. Deck is on his own, Steel and Booth are both carrying their women—nothing new there—and Stella doesn’t look so good. Mannix is hovering behind Rainn with his arms are around her. It looks like he is trying to hold her belly up for her,” Creed said with a laugh.
He might not have been wrong. The other day, I felt Rainn’s stomach for some reference, and she was huge. Scary thoughts started to enter my mind. What if I tripped over something, maybe Apollo? Being pregnant was going to be a minefield of learning, I decided. One I was looking forward too, for sure, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be apprehensive.
His Angel: The Wounded Souls Series Page 15