“It’s true. But there are far more than three patients.”
My throat grew tight. “How many were there?”
Wandsworth’s grimace turned further down at the edges. “Forty-one.”
I gasped, and the pain that triggered in my body was enough to make the dizziness hit me full-on in the face.
“Forty-one?” I repeated, unable to believe it. Not willing to believe it.
How had forty-one people died, and no one had questioned their deaths?
“How did Annie Young suspect you were aware of her activities?” Granger barked.
For a second, I was so dazed that I didn’t even hear his question. “I was talking about it with Harriet, a patient on my rotation. She must have overheard, and when I went outside and talked about it with Indy, she was there then. She must have followed me.”
“Harriet Kundy?”
I grew still at that question. “Please tell me she didn’t die!”
“I’m afraid she did, Dr. Walker.”
My heart twisted in my chest as pain splintered through me.
“She’d believed me when I lied to her. She said she saw someone in Angela’s room the night she died, when everyone should have left. I said it was a nurse. There was no reason for Annie Young to believe she was a threat.”
“As far as we can see, Young was derailing. She started off with meticulous notes on each patient, everything from their diagnoses to their prognoses, how the doctors were giving them the wrong treatments, and why they needed her help. On her early victims, there were upwards of thirty pages, and in the latter stages of her…” Wandsworth struggled to find a word. “Work, she was reduced to four or five.”
I rubbed my brow where the ache from the drugs had morphed into a migraine that made it painful to open my eyes.
“As you can see, my client is in severe discomfort. If that’s all?”
Rachel’s professional tone didn’t appease Granger. Instead, he asked, “You want to tell me why when you went missing, a horde of MC bikers overtook your hospital? And you want to tell me why when one of those bikers was riding back to Jersey, he was shot? All around the same time as your kidnapping? I think there’s something you’re not telling us, Dr. Walker, and I can assure you that we’ll figure it out.”
I flinched at his words, cast Indy a look, and saw she was just as in the dark over who had been shot as me.
But when I looked at Rachel, I saw she knew, and from her face?
There was pity there.
“No,” I moaned.
She winced. “He’s stable.”
Rachel’s reply had me tunneling back into my pillows.
How many times had I used that word to get cops or patients’ families off my back while I tried to do my job and save their detainee or loved one?
How many times had someone not been stable when we struggled to make them that way?
My mouth worked, no words fell from my lips, but I just found myself in an utter state of despair as I recognized that Steel, the love of my goddamn life, had been shot, and when it boiled down to it, he wouldn’t want me at his bedside.
Wouldn’t want me there to hold his hand.
And that was a knife to my heart that Annie Young might as well have wielded.
Fourteen
Lodestar
When I heard the giggle around the back of the clubhouse, I hid a smirk because, all told, I found the sex amusing at this place.
For someone like myself, who was incredibly repressed, it was like watching a show. In fact, it was better than a show. It was like having access to porn twenty-four seven, and here, they actually came.
I’d admit to being fascinated by sex, even if I wasn’t very good at it personally. Even if I never really had much desire to do it myself.
But I loved how open they were at the compound—and not just the Sinners’ either. Most MC’s clubhouses were like this—orgies at night, sleepy and slumberous through the day.
That was why hearing that kind of giggle now surprised me. It was far too early for that type of hijinks.
When I peered around the corner, trying to spot who it was, my brows rose when I recognized the two faces.
I tutted under my breath as North slid his hand up the skirt of a woman who was definitely his stepmother, and I arched a brow as I leaned back, content to watch the show of a son cheating on his father.
I swear, this was better than Maury.
I mean, come on! This had all the thrill of a soap but with real life action.
Fascinating, I thought. Fascinating.
Not as fascinating as what I was going to do, however.
I grinned at North as he moaned into his stepmomma’s lips, then I let out a soft wolf whistle that disturbed neither of them when I watched her start to fumble with his fly.
Tipping my head to the side as she slipped her hand around his cock, I registered that this wasn’t the first time this had happened.
At least, I didn’t think so.
There was no hesitation in the woman’s touch, in her grip. And the way North sank his forehead onto hers as he shuddered through his pleasure at her touch told me that this wasn’t a one and done kind of thing.
All the better!
I hummed under my breath, and when they didn’t hear that, I clucked my tongue.
I’d come out here just to clear my brain.
After trying to find Stone, and failing, and being pissed at the lack of resources that would have enabled me to get her back without any police involvement, I needed a break.
Then I’d heard the giggle, and as I watched a family episode of Jerry Springer unfold, I knew that I could use this to my own gain.
Of course, gain was such a hard way of phrasing it.
It wasn’t like I was going to blackmail them into doing stuff.
At least, not stuff that wouldn’t be happening in the long run anyway.
My tongue cluck, surprisingly, did the job, and the woman stiffened. I couldn’t, in all honesty, remember her name because I’d only ever seen her around this place twice, I just knew she was always glued to Dog’s side, and Dog was related to Giulia, and therefore, was of interest to me.
When she saw me, terror lit her eyes, and I smiled at her. That didn’t soothe her fears, however, so quickly, I muttered, “I’m not going to tell Dog.”
My words had North jerking back, and when I saw his dick flop between them, something he hurriedly tried to hide, I whistled between my teeth.
Jesus, he was a big boy.
Eyes on his dick until he got it zipped up, I grinned at him and saw he was scowling at me.
I shrugged, utterly unapologetically. “You’d stare at my tits if I flashed them, wouldn’t you?” I winked at him. “Can’t blame a girl for looking.”
North huffed. “What the fuck are you doing watching us?”
“Watching you make out with your stepmomma?” I grinned at them both. “Don’t worry,” I repeated. “I won’t tell Dog, but I want you to help me with something first.”
His brow crumpled. “You’re blackmailing me?”
“Clever boy. But we don’t have to put a name to it. I only want one thing—”
“All fucking blackmailers say that,” the woman interrupted with a huff. Was it Jenny? Charlie? I wasn’t sure.
Didn’t matter.
“Nope, I actually mean it. I just want to know where the crate Steel brought with him was stored.”
North narrowed his eyes at me. “Why would you want to know that?”
The woman elbowed him in the side. “Shut up and tell her, North. If that’s all she wants to know.”
He tugged at his cut like it was impeding his throat, like it was a uniform or a fucking shirt collar, and I rolled my eyes at the gesture.
“Look, you tell me where it is, I won’t say shit.”
“I can’t tell you where it is. I’m already in the crapper for what went down with Lily and Tiffany.”
“What harm can it do?” the woman cooed, placi
ng her hand on his stomach as she batted her lashes up at him.
‘What harm?’ Well, that was a question worth asking.
I thought about whether my intentions would put North in danger, and I didn’t think so. I could probably find my way there myself, but it was easier to ask than to spend the next day hacking into a satellite that would help me pinpoint where this particular bunkhouse was at.
I knew it was called the Fridge, had overheard them talking about it, but the truth was, I’d never been able to find it when I’d visited, so now that there was a treasure trove of goodies in there, it was time that I started working on Lancaster.
I had questions that the Sinners wouldn’t ask, and I had means they wouldn’t resort to in order to get to him.
North might get into shit, but I wasn’t going to hurt Donavan to get my answers.
I was just going to fuck with his head.
The best kind of torture.
I hummed and stated, “I just need to know where it is.”
“You can’t access it without a truck or an ATV.”
“Well, I have an SUV. Remember?” He’d been the one to greet me at the gate when I’d arrived here that first day. It was such a shame North was so pretty yet so dumb. Unlike his brother.
Hawk was a very tasty piece of ass, who very rarely smiled and was usually miserable, but he had a face like a marble statue and apparently the brains of someone who knew how to add two and two together without coming up with eight.
North?
Hmm, I wasn’t so sure.
It was clear that the council favored Hawk over North from the tasks they gave each brother. It would make an interesting psychological experiment on twins to see which one fared better with approval from their peers and the opposite, but I wasn’t that mean.
Not anymore.
That was another Lodestar. From another time and another place.
The woman patted his belly again. “Okay, North, I know you don’t want to, but if your father finds out, you know he’ll beat the crap out of me.”
He tensed at that, but her words had me narrowing my eyes. “He beats you?”
She flinched at my question and gaped at me. “What the fuck do you care?”
“I care a lot actually.” I hummed. “Do you want him out of the picture?”
Her mouth gaped wide. “Huh?”
“You heard me. Is he a danger to you?”
“Only when he’s drunk.” Her answer didn’t fill me with confidence.
“And apparently now. Do you fear for your life?”
I could tell she’d never expected me to ask that question, but also, I wasn’t your average blackmailer.
Sure, motive and opportunity were two things, but I wasn’t a bitch.
And to my core, I was a feminist.
In fact, I wasn’t just a feminist, I was a fucking feminist.
No way in hell was I going to let this woman have the shit kicked out of her with no recourse.
“I don’t think he’ll kill me.”
“Not even for cheating on him with his son?” I asked, my tone softer.
When she winced, then shot North a look that I could only classify as puppy love, I heaved a sigh.
“I’m surprised. Nyx usually takes care of the wife beaters.”
“Only if they tell him.”
North’s mutter had me huffing under my breath. “Well, yeah, the man ain’t a mind reader. You got to cut him some slack.”
The woman shook her head. “I don’t want no trouble. If I do as I’m told, Dog is good as gold.”
Every part of me shuddered at those words.
If I do as I’m told?
What was she?
A Labrador retriever?
I hissed out a breath, unable to deal with a woman undervaluing herself to that extent, and I mumbled, “North, you’re going to tell me where the Fridge is, not because I caught you cheating on your dad, but because I’m going to kill the motherfucker and you’re going to thank me for it.”
His mouth dropped wide open at that. “I don’t want him to die. I love him!”
“You love him?” I sneered. “If you loved him, you wouldn’t be boning his missus around the fucking corner of the clubhouse where anyone could see. It’s not like I had to travel far and wide to find you fucking, was it?” I rolled my eyes. Jesus, were the pair of these numbskulls sharing brain cells?
The woman grunted at that, but I saw a flash of guilt in her eyes.
A flash that made me wonder if she was trying to force a scene.
I wouldn’t blame her.
North was a cutie. He wanted her, and if she wanted out of her relationship with Dog, then…
I definitely didn’t blame her for preferring the son over the father.
I rubbed my chin as I pondered what that look could mean in its entirety.
Was she manipulating North, or was she genuinely scared of her partner?
Then, I thought about that phrase.
Do as I’m told…
Nah, something wasn’t right this side of Kansas.
“If I find out he isn’t beating you, and I take him out, then I will come for you and haunt you,” I growled, watching her eyes widen with terror.
She gulped, her throat bobbing as she shook her head and whispered, “No. I swear. But it’s only when he’s drunk.”
I hummed under my breath, trusting her fear. Then I beamed at her. “Well, you got your wish. One partner out of the picture.”
“I didn’t ask for that,” she whispered, her mouth quivering with panic and her hands clutching at North like he could keep her safe from me.
Like I was a danger to her.
Pur-lease.
“No, but I’m not about to let him threaten your life.” I smirked at her. “Or any woman’s life.” I was the superhero for my gender that no one knew existed. It was why I dedicated years of my life, my time, my money, all to causes that no one else gave a shit about except for me.
Well, this woman had just gone to the top of my list.
After Donavan Lancaster, of course.
Rex had given me permission to speak with the bastard, but I knew that was for after they’d dealt with him.
Men, they preferred to think that fists and blunt objects could achieve more than the accurate slice of a scalpel.
Fools.
North licked his lips as he cut a look at his stepmother. “I don’t want my father to die.”
“You should. He beats the woman you evidently care for…” I arched a brow at him, then enjoyed his blush. “And I imagine that he hurt your momma and your sister too.”
He winced. “It was their fault.”
I snorted at that. “You’re working your way onto my list too, buster, if you don’t watch your fucking mouth.” I huffed. “Their fault, my ass.” I shot her a pointed look. “You sure you want this charmer?”
She made some more goo-goo eyes at him. “He’s good to me.”
I hummed again. “Gotcha. If you say so.”
In my opinion, she needed some self-worth, but who was I to judge? Most women needed it. Letting men run them around, breaking their heart left, right, and center?
Fuck that.
I was fine in my ivory tower. No one could touch me.
Well, no one except for that aCooooig cunt.
He’d gotten into my servers and had managed to attack me from the inside.
Bastard.
I huffed as I thought about how much hardware I’d had to toss because of that prick, and prompted, “North, the Fridge? I ain’t got all day, sweetheart.”
He gulped. “I can take you there.”
I smiled. “Good answer!”
Apparently, kiddo wasn’t as averse to patricide as it first seemed.
Twenty minutes later, tucked into my SUV, we were riding across a side of the compound that was entirely off road. It irked me that I’d have to have my car cleaned, but fuck, it was worth it for the cause.
As we rolled over
grassland—something that was like peat because the wheels almost sunk into the ground—and drifted farther and farther away from civilization, I saw it. Humming at the sight, I muttered, “There you are.”
“Why do you always hum?”
“Because I like the song,” I replied.
“What song is it?” he inquired when I fell silent, just staring at the Fridge, a barely eighteen foot by eighteen foot box that housed a man I’d been seeking for far too long.
“’Firestarter’ by Prodigy,” I answered absentmindedly.
He laughed. “I know that one. It’s a banging tune.”
My lips twitched.
Banging was the word.
“You’ve got two choices, I can leave you here and you can walk back, or you can stay in the car and not say shit if you hear someone scream. And by someone, I mean the man who’s inside the crate in there.”
He gulped. “There’s a man in that crate Hawk drove back yesterday?”
Jesus. How out of the loop was this kid?
Wary now because Rex was smart and wouldn’t have kept him in the dark unless he was a dumb fuck, I wanted to smack myself for running my mouth, but North, apparently, wasn’t a total dick.
He swallowed and whispered, “I won’t say anything. I’ll stay here. Just in case you need a hand with something.”
I arched a brow, surprised by his comment.
“The offer is kind, but you don’t have to—”
He shook his head. “If Donavan gets away, then I’m fucked.”
I snorted. “Trust me, bubba, he ain’t going nowhere.” I winked at him, unsurprised when he shuddered. “I ain’t your average woman.”
His gulp said it all, but he confirmed it with, “Yeah, I can see that.”
Fifteen
Stone
It was late when Indy wheeled me in. Late because I knew that he’d be asleep, high on drugs, and that this would be the last chance I had to see him before I started the process of being discharged.
He looked ill.
He looked like death warmed over, and from the color of his skin alone, I knew the fight for his life had been a hard-won thing.
As Indy wheeled me over to him, feeling shaky and all kinds of nauseated when I glanced at the bandages on his chest, I whispered, “He nearly died.”
Steel: A Dark MC Romance (A Dark and Dirty Sinners’ MC Book 4) Page 16