by Vera Quinn
“It’s alright. I’m sorry. I would never hurt any woman. You startled me. You can’t do that. I’m a man with ghosts, Honey Girl. Don’t ever do that again.” I hug her to me and she is clinging to me. I push her back a little so I can see her face. I push the strands of hair away from her face. “Are you okay?” She pulls me back into her. I can barely hear her voice but I know she is still shaking.
“I’m okay. It’s alright, Rome. You just scared me. I thought.” Honey Girl stops and starts again. “I thought you were going to kill me.”
“No, never. You just startled me.” I step back from her and let go of her. I take another step away from her. “Are you sure you are alright? I need to get a shower.” I see the minute her eyes change.
“Can I wash your back for you?” I shake my head at her. I have already upset her enough but that is not happening.
“No. My answer is never going to change to that question. Just be careful in this hall and don’t walk up behind people like that again.” I see the disappointment. I turn and leave Honey Girl standing in the hall. I don’t know how many times I need to tell that woman no.
I make my way into my room and this time I make sure I lock my door. I know Honey Girl does not know the extent of the things that happened to me overseas. It’s not something I share with a lot of people. I try to act as if I don’t have problems adapting back to civilian life but I need to be honest with myself. It’s a work in progress and the thing that just happened in the hall is exactly why nothing can ever happen between Tara and myself.
I would never intentionally hurt a woman but I cannot control how I react to everything around me no matter how I try. I wish I could. I grab some clean clothes and take my cut off and lay it on the bed along with my phone and other things in my pockets. Then I head into the bathroom and strip. I turn the hot water on and put just a little cold with it. I need to steam the tension out of my body. By the time I am finished the bathroom is full of steam.
I push back the shower curtain and reach for a towel and dry myself and slip on my boxers. I grab the jeans and t-shirt that I brought in to put on and open the door and go enter my room. There’s someone knocking on my door. I put my jeans on being sure to button and zip them in case it is Honey Girl. When I open the door, Oz is standing there and I do not like the look on his face. “What’s up?”
“I’m rolling out to the hospital. Bud called.” My heart freezes before he can finish. “Tara was attacked at work. That asshole Liam pulled her out of the diner and did a number on her. Bud was upstairs with the telephone company and no one helped her. That older waitress called 911 but it is bad.” Oz looks worried so I know it is really bad.
“Let me grab my cut.” I yank my t-shirt over my head and put my cut on over it. I run my hand through my short hair. I almost forget but turn back and grab my phone and things for my pockets. Oz walks down the hall. I shut my door and lock it then I follow him down the hall. As we walk through the main room I see it is empty except for Gertie and the club girls. “Where’s everyone?”
“Devil and Hacksaw have already rolled out to the hospital. Everyone else is working at the gym.” Oz tells me. We hit the front door and don’t stop until we are on our bikes. Oz hesitates before starting his bike and I wait to see what he says. “Bud told Devil that Tara was in and out of consciousness but she kept saying Rome and Devil. That’s why Bud called the clubhouse. The hell of the thing is that Tara’s sister and mom sat in the diner while Liam attacked Tara and then they left with him.”
I have heard how Lena and Sheila are towards Tara but how could they let this happen to family? I want to kill the little fucker that put his hands on Tara. I feel a need to protect her. I never want to see any woman abused but this is something more. Something I don’t want to look at too closely right now but it’s there.
We start our bikes and leave the parking lot. I can’t get to the hospital fast enough and apparently Oz has the same thoughts. It only takes twenty minutes to get there. I see Devil’s and Hacksaw’s bikes close to the emergency room entrance. Oz and I park close to the other bikes. I see Callie’s SUV pulling into a parking space. Oz and I walk over to Callie’s SUV and we see she’s not alone. Her friend Felix is with her. I go to Callie’s side of the vehicle and I open the door for her and help her out.
“Thank you, Rome. Have you heard anything? Kylar called for me to meet him here and told me to bring Fe.” Callie is calm and cool as always. Being brought up in a motorcycle club she knows not to let things rattle her.
“We haven’t heard anything except she was in and out of consciousness and that Liam hurt her. It happened at the diner and her family was there when it happened.” That surprises Callie.
“Let’s get inside and I will see if I can find someone to give us some information.” Felix tells us. Felix is enrolled in the nursing program and he has clinicals at this hospital so he may be able to help.
“If you can’t then I will call Tito and get him to get in their system so he can get a look at her records but your way would be faster.” Oz says, keeping his voice low so no one else around can hear. There’s no one around but you can never tell if there are unknown ears around.
We go through the automatic doors and walk the hall to the emergency room. We see Devil and Hacksaw talking to Chad. Chad is Felix’s man and a nurse here at the hospital. Chad usually works in the maternity ward but looks like he may be in the emergency department today. Devil sees us approaching and waves us over. Chad is giving him details and I try to hear what he is saying.
“Tara has a tough few hours and maybe days coming her way. Dr. Cornell is treating her. She has trauma to the back of her head where it was beaten against the wall. It was not a penetrating wound. The doctor is hoping it is not a basilar skull fracture. It looks to be subdural hematoma that is causing the brain to swell. Tara still has not regained consciousness. They are doing an MRI right now but right now that is all I can tell you and I shouldn’t be sharing this information because you are not family. I could lose my job, so keep this quiet. I will update you as soon as I can.” Chad looks at Devil and then to Felix. Chad starts to walk away, looking around to make sure no one else has heard him.
“I’ll walk with you. I am going to get everyone some coffee.” Felix tells Chad and starts to walk away with him.
“I’ll go with you to help update Bud. It looks like it may be a long night.” Hacksaw goes with the two. I look to Devil.
“What happened?” Callie asks.
“Let’s go over here and I’ll tell you what I know.” Devil leads us into a smaller waiting room and shuts the door. Callie sits down and Devil sits beside her. Oz and I sit across from them so we can all hear.
“What Bud told me was that Lena, Sheila, and Liam came into the diner. Lena was giving Tara hell for moving out or so one of the other waitresses said. When everyone was busy, Liam pulled her outside right in front of the diner and started banging her head into the wall. He was choking her while he was banging her head up against the wall. He had her so the waitress couldn’t see them and Bud was up in the apartment with the friend running phone wires upstairs. The waitress finally saw what was going on and called 911. Some man up the street was running up the sidewalk towards the scene. Liam yelled at the other two women and they got out of there before the cops could get there.”
I am trying to grasp everything Devil has told us. Tara had to of been terrified. I want to hunt this asshole down and show him how it feels to be beaten. I want to put him to ground after I show him a degree of pain he’ll still feel when he is burning in hell. No one will ever hurt Tara this way again. I may not be able to have a relationship with that beautiful woman but I can damn well make sure no one ever lays another hand on her.
“Was she unconscious the whole time or did she say anything that might give us a clue to why Liam went crazy on her? Why would he even care enough to bring the PD down on him? It makes no sense, since as far as I have been able to find out, Liam is just Sh
eila’s latest fuck partner.” Oz voices the exact thoughts I had been questioning in my own mind.
“The question that is bothering me is why would the diner owner call you? Tara hasn’t even worked for the Feral Steel MC at the gym yet. Did I miss something?” Callie is right.
“Bud got to Tara right before the ambulance got there and she was in and out. Bud said Tara kept calling for me and Rome. Bud said she wasn’t making sense. She was incoherent but he knows it was something she was trying to get out to us. Bud told the paramedics he was her uncle so he could ride in the ambulance with her but she never said anything else. The cops closed the diner as a crime scene. Bud didn’t see anything so they let him ride to the hospital with Tara. The waitress is being questioned and as soon as she can lock everything up at the diner for Bud she will be here and we can talk to her about what went on.” Devil is about to say something else but stops.
“Do you think it has to do with the damn company Liam keeps?” Oz asks.
“That’s exactly what I think.” Devil says. The door to the room opens and Hacksaw, Felix, and Bud walk in. They are all carrying coffee. They hand us ours and I look at Bud.
“How bad of shape was Tara in before the ambulance arrived?” I know I shouldn’t ask but I need to know. Bud gives me a hard look and then looks at Callie but he answers.
“The back of her head was covered in blood and I could see the choke marks on her neck. Her pupils were dilated but she was out of it. Nothing she said was making sense. She was incoherent. When I saw all the blood I thought she was going to bleed out right there.” Bud looks like he is tired but I hear the worry in his voice.
“Does she have family we can contact?” Callie asks Bud.
“The only other family I know about is her brother and he is in the military.” Bud says.
“Her mom and sister are not getting anywhere near Tara. If they could let this happen to her then they are as bad or worse that this Liam guy.” Hacksaw, Devil, and Oz all look at me.
“Brother, you know this is not exactly club business. Tara wasn’t working for us when she was hurt.” I hear a growl come from myself, and it not only surprises everyone around me, but me also. “I’m just saying that maybe it would be better to cut this one loose. We can’t rescue everyone. We just need to see why she was saying the Prez’s and your names. Bud said she wasn’t in her right head, maybe it was nothing.” Hacksaw finishes.
“You know damn good and well this situation was started the day you three were in the diner and had the confrontation with Liam. Don’t you find it a little too much of a coincidence that until you three were around that Tara didn’t have an enemy in the world? The girl keeps her head down and avoids even being noticed. All she wants to do is get a damn education and get away from her mom and sister.” Bud is not trying to hold his hostility back from what Hacksaw said.
I agree with Bud. We helped bring this trouble to Tara. We may not have initiated it but we compounded it. I look between Devil and Hacksaw just waiting to see which way Devil will go. Devil is about to say something when his phone goes off and then Hacksaw’s. Only a few seconds later Oz’s and mine goes off. Hacksaw walks away and takes his phone call. I look at mine and see that it is Bowie. I step away from the group and see it is only a text.
Bowie: Roll out. Fire at the gym. Tito caught inside. On the way to ER.
I hear Devil and Hacksaw voices raised in the background. I turn and walk over to them. Oz approaches from where he had walked off to.
“Hacksaw, roll out to the gym and see what you can find out. Cowboy said the fire department has the fire mostly contained and Tito is on the way here in an ambulance. He was working on the surveillance equipment with a prospect. They haven’t found the prospect yet but everyone else had already gone back to the clubhouse. Oz, ride out with Hacksaw and see if you can get any feedback on the temporary cameras we had installed until the rest could be done. I don’t think anyone knew about them so maybe we can see where the fire started.”
“Do you think someone started it or could it have been faulty wiring?” Callie asks.
“We just had everything inspected to make sure it was up to code. The city inspector was just there and everything passed code. The electrician said there was no problems.” Devil answers Callie. “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions but if someone fucked with the Feral Steel’s property there is going to be hell to pay.” Devil doesn’t look convinced. “Rome, stay here in case I need to leave. I don’t want to take any chances, so if I need to leave, I want you with Callie and Felix.” The door to the room we are in opens and Mildred walks in. Felix looks at Devil and there’s some message between them. Mildred approaches us looking very uncomfortable.
“Bud, I locked everything up but the cops said no one is allowed back in until they give us the say so. They still have that yellow tape everywhere but they left for the night.” Bud takes the keys Mildred is handing him.
“Thank you, Mildred. There’s still no word. Why don’t you go on home? I will call with any updates.” Mildred puts her hand on her hip and cocks it out.
“Bud, I am not leaving until I know if Tara is going to be alright. I did not haul my but down here for the scenery and the last I knew you have no ride here.” Hacksaw laughs.
“Mildred, would you mind coming to the cafeteria and helping me get everyone some snacks? Looks like we might be here for a bit and Callie needs to feed that baby.” Felix is trying to get Mildred out of here so Devil can finish but Mildred just throws out some of attitude.
“Well, sure. It’s not like I just got off a shift of waiting on people so I’ll haul my butt down to the lunch room with you.” That made Callie and Felix both laugh but Devil does not look amused.
“You, I like. Tell it like it is. How about you, Felix, and I, all three, go down to the cafeteria and bring something for everyone so the men can finish up with whatever they don’t want us to hear or you can step out here in the larger waiting room?” Callie looks straight at Mildred and Mildred nods her head.
“That, I can do.” Mildred concedes. Callie kisses Devil on the cheek. Devil doesn’t like the idea of Callie leaving his side.
“I’m going, too.” Bud is still pissed at what Hacksaw said.
“Stay with Felix and do not leave the building. Tito should be arriving anytime.” Callie nods in agreement. The four go through the door to the other waiting room. Devil looks at us.
“This may just be a coincidence but I have a bad feeling about it. This is not a setback that we need. A lot of the club’s money is tied up in these new businesses and we need to get them all open and bringing money in. We have enough cash flow to sustain us for a while but can’t keep bleeding money and even if I like Tara and think she would be a fit for us she is not one of us yet. If we did bring this trouble to her, we are not hanging her out to dry. Callie would have my balls. Our focus today is making sure Tito is alright and finding out about this fire.” Devil doesn’t like what is happening to Tara but what is happening with Tito comes first. Tito is club and that means family. Normally, that is where my mindset would be but my mind keeps drifting to Tara and not making her a priority does not sit well with me.
“Devil, everyone already knows Callie has your balls.” Hacksaw is trying to ease the tension. “She carries them around in one of those bags she hauls around.” Devil levels Hacksaw with a fuck you look. I even laugh at that.
“Fuck you, just get to the gym and talk to the fire chief.” Devil is in no mood to play around.
“I’ll check the cameras as long as they aren’t fried.” Oz heads for the door with Hacksaw behind him. They leave and I hope they get some answers. I don’t want to have this conversation with Devil but there’s no way around it.
“I want to hang around for Tara. If you need me I will go, but if not, I want to make sure she is going to be alright even if she doesn’t remember why she was saying our names.” I don’t want Devil to make a big deal of this but the smile on his face tells me h
e already is.
“I figured that. Let’s get back to the emergency department to make sure Tito is alright and see what he can tell us about the fire or even if he can.” Devil doesn’t push me to give him more details or an explanation why.
We walk out of the small waiting room into the larger one and it is empty. We keep going through the other door into the hallway that leads us to the emergency department. We hear the ambulance before we see it. Callie and Felix have joined us at the door, waiting to see what shape Tito is in. The ambulance is in the breezeway leading to the door into the emergency entrance.
“Felix do not let Callie out of your sight.” Felix leads Callie into the waiting area so they sit down. Devil and I walk over and wait for them to bring Tito out.
When they open the doors of the ambulance we see Tito sitting on the side of the gurney with an oxygen mask over his face. The two paramedics bring him out and we approach. The hospital staff try to keep us away but we push through. Tito is coughing but brings his mask down and waves us over. We can barely hear his voice. It’s raspy like he can’t get the words out and he is trying not to cough.
“We were hit. Get the camera feed. I think Tig helped them. They had full masks on. If it was another club, they didn’t have cuts on. They came in the back. I was shutting the computer down when I heard the noise. I yelled for Tig who was making sure everything was locked up and got no response so I went to check it out. Someone hit me on the back of the head when I left the office. I don’t know how long I was out but I heard Tig talking to one of them saying I had already signed off the computer and he couldn’t get into it. It’s a damn good thing I just put the password encryption on it.” Tito stops talking in a coughing fit.
“We need to get him inside he has inhaled a lot of smoke. We’ll come and get you in the waiting room as soon as he has been checked out.” One of the doctors that came to meet the ambulance tells us.