Patriot (Hades Abyss MC 6)

by Harley Wylde

  Hatter came out of nowhere. He flapped his wings as he dug his little claws into her scalp and pulled on her hair. “Bitch! Bitch! Kill her!”

  MaryAnne’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. I hadn’t taught Hatter that one, so it made me wonder just what my sweet MaryAnne had been saying when she’d been alone with Hatter. “Something you want to share, Little Bit?”

  “Get them off me!” Blaire yelled.

  I nudged Rascal and Archimedes aside and waved off Hatter. Grabbing Blaire by the arms, I flipped her over and gripped her wrists at the small of her back. “Little Bit, get the cuffs out of the bedside table drawer.”

  “Out of… where?” MaryAnne’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “Something you want to share?”

  “Stop being a smartass and get the cuffs, woman. Unless you want me letting this she-devil go?”

  MaryAnne scurried off the couch, or tried to. She cried out and collapsed. I saw the bleeding seeping through her pants leg and cursed. I couldn’t release the bitch on the ground to check on her. Riley ran into the house with two more brothers on his heels. I sent him upstairs for the cuffs and tried to keep an eye on MaryAnne. Riley tossed the cuffs to me and I put them on Blaire just as Kraken came through the door. I sat back on my haunches and looked over at him.

  “Are you shitting me?” he asked. “A fucking club whore took out three of our brothers?”

  “Three?” I asked.

  “She got Poison, Philly, and Brick.” Kraken nudged her with his boot. “What the fuck is your damage?”

  “I think she’s on something.” I hurried to MaryAnne’s side and helped her back onto the couch. Blood gushed through the tear in her pants. “Get me a fucking towel or something. Need to tie this off.”

  “Did her husband really make her a whore?” MaryAnne asked, her voice soft and low. I could tell it bothered her. In other circumstances, I’d have felt bad for Blaire.

  “She’s been arrested multiple times for prostitution,” I said. “Don’t you fucking feel sorry for her, Little Bit. Her situation is nothing like yours.”

  Riley hauled Blaire off the floor and shoved her toward Kraken. He got a good grip on her arm and started marching her out of the house. I got a better look at her face and knew I’d been right. She was on something. Probably more than one thing. I didn’t know what the club would do to her, but she wasn’t my problem right now. I needed to focus on MaryAnne.

  “Bones is tending Poison, Philly, and Brick,” Kraken said. “I’m taking this one out to the barn. Think we need to have a chat.”

  “Find out where her husband is. I’d prefer not to have any more surprises tonight.”

  “Um, Patriot,” MaryAnne said, her voice sounding a little thin. “I think I’m bleeding a little too much.”

  “Fuck!” I swung my gaze back to her. “Little Bit, I need your pants off to see how bad this is.”

  “Take her to the hospital,” Kraken said. “If she needs stitches, it would be better if Bones doesn’t have to do it. Text Bones and see if he has anything to help with the bleeding until you can get her there.”

  I lifted MaryAnne into my arms. “Come on, Little Bit. Kraken’s right. Need to get this wound checked out. Maybe the hospital will give you something for the pain.”

  I carried her out to the Bronco, only to remember the damn window hadn’t been fixed yet. I kept walking, heading to the clubhouse. We’d have to use a club truck. And I needed to get the fucking Bronco working, especially if we were bringing a baby home. Or maybe I needed to buy something new.

  I eased her onto the front seat of the first truck and ran inside to get the keys. The hospital was twenty minutes away, and I didn’t like the amount of blood soaking into her pants and the rag I’d used as a tourniquet. MaryAnne looked too pale.

  I stopped long enough to text Bones. Anything to stop MaryAnne from bleeding? She got stabbed.

  He responded almost immediately. I had some Celox but I’m out.

  I reached over to squeeze her hand as I broke every speed limit in town, trying to get her some help as fast as I could. I also needed to come up with a story because if they went looking for Blaire, it would cause problems for the club.

  “Little Bit, when we get there, we’re going to have to tell them something.”

  She didn’t answer and I glanced her way. She’d slumped against the window and her eyes were closed. Panic clawed at me and I brushed my fingers over her wrist, searching for her pulse. I found it, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as I’d have liked. I stopped the truck at the ER entrance. Getting out, I ran to her side and pulled her from the truck before hurrying inside. I hoped like fuck she’d only passed out from pain and not blood loss.

  “My wife’s been stabbed!” I yelled out, hoping to get some help quickly. A nurse ran over and started asking questions. “I-I don’t know. It happened kind of fast. We were taking a walk in town and someone came at us. A woman.”

  I was fucking this up and sounded like a damn idiot. But it was MaryAnne, and she was bleeding entirely too much. If my story was full of holes, I’d deal with it later. I finished answering her questions and stayed by MaryAnne’s side. I held her hand as they took her back to a curtained off area.

  “Sir, we need to get her undressed and into a gown,” a nurse said.

  “I’ll do it,” I said. “She’s my wife. I can’t leave her.”

  The woman gave me an understanding smile and set a gown on the bed. “If you need help, just call out.”

  After she’d closed the curtain again, I worked at getting MaryAnne undressed and into the hospital gown. It wasn’t easy since she hadn’t woken yet. The wound looked worse than I’d thought, and blood still gushed from it. It wasn’t near an artery, so I didn’t know why it was still bleeding so bad.

  I yelled out for help and the moment the nurse saw the wound she started barking out orders. MaryAnne was wheeled away from me, the medical staff running alongside her. The nurse who had been helping us stayed behind, keeping me from following.

  “Sir, you have to go to the waiting room. Your wife needs surgery and you can’t go with her.”

  Surgery? Had it really been so deep?

  “I can’t lose her,” I said. Even in combat I’d never been this close to coming undone. MaryAnne was my everything. I’d have rather faced several thousand insurgents than even think of living the rest of my life without her.

  The nurse briefly touched my arm. “We’re going to do all we can for your wife, but in order for us to do our jobs right we need you to remain in the waiting room and try to keep calm. As soon as we know something, we’ll come find you. Is there someone you can call to wait with you?”

  I nodded and followed her back to the waiting room, where I collapsed into a chair. I pulled out my phone and sent off a quick text to Titan.

  MaryAnne is in surgery. They sent me to the waiting room.

  The Pres didn’t answer right away, and I figured he was dealing with Blaire, or tracking down her husband. When he did answer, I felt a moment of relief.

  Delilah is heading your way, along with Pretty Boy and Stone.

  Chapter Eleven

  Patriot

  I got up and paced until I found the coffee. I poured myself a cup and leaned against the wall as I sipped at it. It gave me something to do, but it didn’t slow down my mind. All I could think about was how still she’d been, how pale. If MaryAnne died, I’d personally send Blaire straight to hell, and her husband too.

  My phone chimed and I checked it, seeing a message from Kraken.

  Bitch is high as a fucking kite, but she’s talking. She acted on her own tonight. Another club whore helped with the tire incident. She’ll be dealt with too.

  Great. That meant Walter was still out there, and possibly gunning for the club. All because his wife tried to whore herself out to us in hopes we’d save her. Or that’s what I’d gathered from all the screeching she’d done tonight.

  My phone went off again.

  Wizard is
tracking Walter. Just focus on your woman.

  I pocketed my phone and tried to do as Kraken said. It wasn’t like Walter would come into the hospital, guns blazing. Well, he might, but I didn’t think he was entirely stupid. The man had managed to escape police custody. It either made him incredibly lucky, or smarter than I liked.

  The doors opened and Delilah rushed in with my brothers following in her wake. She came straight for me and gave me a hug.

  “I’m so sorry, Patriot. How is she? Have they said anything?” she asked as she pulled away.

  “Nothing yet. Thanks for coming.”

  “Phoebe offered to watch Walker. Titan went to help Kraken.”

  Pretty Boy stared at her. “You know more than you should.”

  She glared at him. “I’m married to your President. While he doesn’t share everything with me, he does try to tell me enough that I don’t worry myself sick over him every time he walks out the door. If you have an issue with it, by all means, tell Titan. Just let me get popcorn first before the show starts.”

  Stone snickered and slung his arm around Delilah. “I knew I liked you.”

  She rolled her eyes and faced me again. “We’re here for however long you need us. Let Titan and the others handle everything else. Just focus on MaryAnne. She needs you more than the club does right now.”

  “She’s not wrong,” Pretty Boy said.

  I finished my coffee and poured another cup. I found a spot and sat down with Delilah next to me and my brothers sitting directly across from us. I appreciated the three of them coming. It felt like forever before a doctor came out. He scanned the waiting room.

  “Family of MaryAnne Caffee.”

  I stood, along with Delilah and my brothers. The doctor came over.

  “How is she?” I asked.

  “Are you her husband?” I nodded. “Mr. Caffee, the wound to your wife’s thigh wasn’t just deep, but whoever stabbed her must have twisted the blade a little. We were able to stop the bleeding and put in stitches. I don’t think she passed out from blood loss but more likely from the pain, which is a good thing. We didn’t have to give her any blood.”

  “She’s going to be okay?” I asked.

  “She should heal just fine as long as she follows her aftercare instructions. We’re going to keep her for a few days, make sure she’s healing well. Once the anesthesia wears off, we’ll put her in a room, and you’ll be able to go sit with her. Are you going to stay the night?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I’m not leaving until she can go with me. One night. Four. Doesn’t matter. I’m staying by her side.”

  “I figured as much. I’ll be sure to let the nurses know. Someone will come get you as soon as Mrs. Caffee is settled into a room.”

  “Thank you,” Delilah said. “For everything.”

  The man flashed her a smile and hurried off. It felt like a weight lifted off me and I could breathe again. Pretty Boy patted my shoulder and wandered off a moment, pulling his phone from his pocket. I didn’t know if he was giving everyone an update on MaryAnne, or doing something else.

  “We’ll make sure the two of you have whatever you need,” Stone said. “If the hospital asks for payment, stall them. I have a feeling the club will step up for this one.”

  I hadn’t even thought that far ahead. I vaguely remembered handing over a card when the nurse was asking me a shit ton of questions. I pulled out my wallet and noticed my bank card was missing. Must have grabbed it instead of a credit card. “I think I may have already paid and overdrawn my account. They have my bank card.”

  Stone cursed and rushed toward the triage desk. While he spoke with the woman, waving a hand in my direction a few times, I sat again and stretched my legs out. Delilah retook her seat and placed her hand on my arm. “I know Titan will handle the bill. If they’ve charged you, he’ll reimburse you from club funds. MaryAnne got hurt because of a club whore. That’s not on you.”

  “Thanks, Delilah. I wasn’t even thinking. They kept asking me shit and all I could think about was MaryAnne bleeding to death before they helped her. I don’t even remember everything I said or did when we got here.”

  Tension rose in the waiting room and I glanced toward the door in time to see two police officers stroll inside. They went straight to triage, where Stone was still trying to get my card back from the nurse. I had a feeling they were here for me. At the very least, they’d have questions about how MaryAnne got stabbed. I couldn’t remember what the fuck I’d told the nurses. Now what was I going to do?

  The officers headed my way, and I recognized one of them from the other night. Officer Bowers. Looked like he had a different partner this time. One who didn’t seem to be quite as wet behind the ears. I wondered what had happened to the younger guy.

  “We meet again,” Officer Bowers said. “Care to take me through the events that led to your wife being stabbed? Because I have to say, you have the shittiest luck.”

  “Or he stabbed her himself,” the other officer said.

  Bowers gave him a glare. “Already made up your mind, Taylor? I’ll make a note of that in my report.”

  The guy backed off, but the red tinge riding his cheeks told me he was pissed about it. Officer Taylor refused to look my way, staring at a spot over my head. Guess he wasn’t as seasoned as I’d thought.

  “The night is kind of a blur right now. My wife just got out of surgery and I’m still processing everything.” I stood to speak to him. “There was a woman. I remember her eyes being bloodshot and she kept sniffling. I wondered if she’d been doing drugs.”

  Officer Bowers nodded. “The hospital said you were attacked in town. Why didn’t you call 9-1-1?”

  “I didn’t think MaryAnne had time to wait for an ambulance. Even if someone had been available right away, it would have taken longer for them to reach us and get here than if I’d just put her in the truck and brought her myself. I had a towel in the backseat. I tied off the wound and got her here as fast as I could.”

  “Any idea who the woman was?” Officer Bowers asked.

  And here’s where it got tricky. If I said I didn’t recognize her and they somehow later discovered it was Blaire Wilcox, there would be more questions. If I admitted who it was, they’d look for her, and then her husband would be connected to the club. So I decided on partial truths.

  “Looked like a club whore. Some new woman. I haven’t been to any club parties since MaryAnne moved in, so I haven’t officially met her before. And everything happened so fast tonight, I could be wrong. Might have just been someone who looked similar.”

  “Got a name?” Officer Bowers asked.

  “Something with a B. I don’t really remember. Just know some of my brothers have talked about her.”

  Pretty Boy had heard everything and must have figured out what I was doing. He gave me a subtle chin lift and approached. “Her name is Blaire. Don’t know her last name. Haven’t had the displeasure of being with her, but she’s been hanging around the club for at least a few months. I think. Just popped up one day out of nowhere, looking to have fun. Those women come and go so much it’s hard to keep track.”

  “A description would be nice,” Officer Bowers said.

  “Average height. Blonde hair.” Pretty Boy shrugged. “I can’t really help beyond that. I can see if Stone knows her better. He might be able to tell you more.”

  The club Treasurer headed off in the direction of the triage desk, where Stone either wasn’t having any luck with my card, or was getting lucky with the nurse. It could go either way. Despite his stoicism, the ladies loved him.

  “You and your wife seem to be having a rough time,” Officer Bowers said.

  “Wrong place at the wrong time. I’m starting to think we should just stay in our house until after the holidays. This time of year makes me people crazy.”

  He chuckled. “No truer words were ever spoken.”

  “I heard the man who attacked us escaped custody. Y’all find him yet?” I asked.

  O
fficer Bowers shook his head. “Thought we’d tracked him down, but when we got there, the place was empty. We’re keeping an eye out. Although, since he attacked you once already, this could be a related incident. Woman might know him.”

  “True. I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Stone and Pretty Boy came back. Stone handed my card to me and I put it back in my wallet.

  “They hadn’t charged your account yet,” Stone said. “Pretty Boy talked to Titan. You don’t need to worry about the bill.”

  “Thanks, brother.” I rubbed at my forehead where a headache was building. “Wonder how much longer until I can see her. Shouldn’t she have come out of it by now?”

  Officer Bowers took a step back. “We’ll head out for now, but give me a call if you think of anything else. Even something small might help us find the woman who attacked your wife.”

  He handed me a business card and walked off, his silent partner trailing after him. Pretty Boy, Stone, and Delilah all waited with me until a nurse came to take me to MaryAnne. They followed us up to her room, got a list of things we might need, and left. I tugged the recliner closer to the bed and reached for MaryAnne’s hand.

  “I’m here, Little Bit.”

  Her eyes slowly opened, and she gave me a slight smile. “Hey.”

  Her voice sounded scratchy and I reached for the cup on the tray by her bed. I pulled out an ice chip and held it to her lips. She took it and sucked on it. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Scared me too.”

  “They had to do surgery, but think you’ll be okay. You have to stay a few days, though. They need to make sure you’re healing right.” She gave my hand a slight squeeze. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I asked Delilah to bring you a change of clothes for when you can go home. Something soft like your leggings. And my brothers will drop off some clothes for me too. I’m not leaving until you can.”