Using the hand holding my chin, he shoved my head back into the side of the truck hard enough that black spots danced in front of my eyes. Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he yanked me away from the truck and wrapped his hand around my throat, dragging me away from the large doors and even farther into the shadows.
Panic overwhelmed my body, and I tried to scream, but he tightened his hold on my neck when he heard the sound, only letting me go when he slammed me into another truck. I didn’t hesitate when his hand dropped from my neck. I lifted my knee and aimed for his balls. He moved, but not fast enough that I didn’t get him a little, at least enough to knock the wind out of him.
I pushed by, forgetting entirely about the other two men until they blocked my path. My eyes scanned the parking lot, looking for a place to run. I screamed as loudly as I could, but I knew they wouldn’t hear me over the music inside, and there wasn’t a house in sight around this place.
He grabbed my hair from behind and slammed my face into the side of the truck. I pressed my hand to my head when a stabbing pain ripped through my forehead. My feet were kicked out beneath me, and I fell to the ground, landing hard on my knees.
Shifting my hand, I held it against his where he was pulling my hair and tried to stand, but then a searing pain shot through my side. I fell to the ground and onto my side from the force of his kick. He pushed me to my back and stood over me, breathing hard, his face contorted, and I felt momentarily happy that I’d at least gotten a knee to his balls. He pulled his arm back, and his fist came toward my face faster than I could move.
My head slammed to the side from the force of his hit, and my stomach roiled. I lifted my arms and covered my face as pain throbbed along my temple. Something warm rolled down my cheek just as another sharp stab shot through my side. I dropped my arms and wrapped them around my middle after his heavy boot landed against my side again. I closed my eyes briefly and tightened my arms, gasping when a burning sensation tore through my side.
Agony washed over me when he forced me to my back and leaned over me with his fist raised. I knew the pain that would follow. I tried to lift my arm, but the burning along my side forced it to fall to the ground beside me. More pain shot through my cheek, and my body became heavy. Unable to lift my head, I welcomed the blackness slowly surrounding me until all noise faded to nothing but silence.
The sound of a vehicle starting brought me back to the moment. Tires squealed loudly as they moved past me, but I couldn’t move. I hurt. I hurt everywhere. I wasn’t a fighter. I couldn’t even remember a time in my life when I’d been hit. Shifting, I moaned from the intense pain, and warm liquid rolled down my cheek, off my jaw, and onto my neck. If I could at least get to my knees and crawl, I could get help, so I attempted to push off the pavement, but the black spots returned. Knowing I was going to pass out again, I fought against it, but in the end, I lost.
The sound of a vehicle and crunching gravel brought me out of the darkness. My body in fear mode, and almost without my command, rolled to its side, and I attempted to climb to my knees, but my limbs were heavy, and I fell back to my side. Doors slamming tore through my aching head, and I moaned.
“Holy fuck!” someone shouted, and I attempted to open my eyes. Only one opened slightly, making it difficult to see in the darkness, but I recognized his voice.
Dozer. I remembered his name was Dozer.
I exhaled a shaky breath.
“Race!” he yelled. “Over here!”
When Dozer called out, boots pounded on the pavement just as huge spotlights turned on. I blinked against the sudden brightness and saw Race was almost to where I lay and had his phone to his ear.
When Race finally got to me, he shoved his phone in his pocket, squatted down, and put his face close to mine. “Sweetheart, you with me?”
I swallowed hard and gasped when pain tore through my side.
Noise and music poured into the quiet of the night before more pounding sounded. Fear from the familiar sound clawed through me, and I attempted to curl myself into a ball, but when that searing pain once again shot through my side, I gave up, closed my eye, and laid still.
I felt someone else beside me and winced when he yelled, “Call an ambulance!”
“Josie, honey, talk to me. What the hell happened?” I recognized Bear’s voice and moaned when he gently moved me until I was flat on my back. Something soft touched my face before I heard Becs’s voice.
“Josie. Oh my God, Bear, what happened?” She was kneeling on my other side and had wrapped her hand around mine. “You’re going to be okay now, Josie. We’ve got you. An ambulance is on the way.”
“Why the fuck was she out here alone?” Bear yelled from beside me, and I flinched.
“Bear,” Becs whispered. I opened my eye to see her looking at him and realized she’d felt me flinch.
He looked down and saw my eye open, so he spoke. “Josie, who did this? Did you know them?”
“No,” I replied, but it came out rough because my throat hurt.
“Can you tell me what they looked like?”
“Three men,” I answered slowly, understanding they needed to know so they could tell the police, especially if I passed out. I remembered the message I was supposed to give and swallowed gently before speaking again. “Black vests. Big one said to tell you…” I paused when nausea overwhelmed me.
“Tell me what?” Bear prompted.
“He said…” I licked my lips. “We’re coming.”
Bear’s body jerked, and a voice behind me swore. “Fucking Widows.”
“They know,” another strange voice declared.
“Why Josie?” Becs asked.
Sirens screamed through the night, and a rush of relief washed over me.
“Fuckers must’ve been watching and saw me take Dozer so no one was watching the parking lot or the door. They probably thought they hit the fucking jackpot when a woman walked out, especially because I’m sure they thought she belonged to one of us,” Race explained.
I closed my eye and listened to the sound of Becs’s soft voice telling me everything was going to be okay and not to worry, that her brother would take care of it.
I had no idea what that meant.
But I was about to find out.
CHAPTER TWO
BEAR
Sirens sounded, and I stood, watching over Becs, who whispered quietly to Josie. To say I was pissed would be more than an understatement. The blood pounding through my veins scorched me like fire. I stared at the girl lying on the pavement outside of my fucking club, fighting to keep open the one damn eye not swelling shut, and tried to calm down. I tried to stop the wild thoughts racing through my mind. Thoughts I did away with years ago.
Like find the bastards responsible and kill them slowly.
The ambulance flew into the parking lot, and two paramedics jumped out quickly, racing toward Josie, who’d given up the fight and closed her eyes. I ran my hand over my beard when an SUV pulled in seconds later. I waited for the man who had slowly become a part of my inner circle from years of earning one another’s respect, but this shit could put us back at odds.
Luke Dimarco made his way toward me with his brother Cam right beside him. It was odd to see them together on a police call, and I wondered if they’d been at the station when the call came in or if they were here for personal reasons. Either way, I was about to find out why two of the most respected cops in our little town had arrived.
Luke glanced down at Josie, who was being transferred to a gurney just as he made it to us. He closed his eyes briefly, and I understood why. His job with the department was working with special victims, which included women and children. He hated what he saw every day, but because of his job and with his help, my best friend, who was also the vice president of our club, was able to save the woman he loved.
Cam threw out his hand first, which I shook, followed by Luke. Luke jerked his head in Josie’s direction, but his eyes focused solely on me. “She yours?”
I clenched my fi
sts at my sides when my anger boiled to the surface. “Friend of Becs. Just met her when she drove Becs home after her car broke down. She came in for a drink but left alone when no one was paying attention. I had no one on the door.”
Luke’s eyebrows drew down. “She was attacked at random?”
“She said there were three wearing black vests who told her to tell me, ‘We’re coming.’”
“Fuck,” Cam whispered and put his hands on his hips. “Widows?”
I nodded. “Couldn’t be anyone else.”
“Why her?”
I ran my hand along my beard again. “They probably figured she belonged to a member, and this was them making a statement.”
“This being called in to the station opens a huge fucking can of worms,” Luke confirmed.
I nodded. “We got nothing to hide, you know that.”
“I do,” Luke agreed. “But this town may see it differently. I should hold lead investigator on this case unless my superiors think our relationship will interfere with procedure. Cam and I were both in the office when the call came in, so we took it. I’ll do everything I can to make sure one or both of us remain on the case.”
I watched while the paramedics rolled the gurney toward the ambulance. “I’m going to the hospital. Can we do this there?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah.” He reached up and wrapped his palm around my shoulder. “Sorry, brother. I know we were all hoping the fuckers would just disappear.”
“They were too quiet. We stopped paying attention. This is on me.”
Becs called out my name and pointed at the ambulance before she grabbed Josie’s purse from the ground and jogged to the back. An EMT helped her in before I watched her sit down and wrap her hand around Josie’s. When they slammed the doors closed, I faced Luke again.
Luke dropped his hand. “Meet you at the hospital.”
I nodded and turned to face my vice president. “Gunn.” When I had his attention, I continued. “Going to the hospital. Race is with me, and Becs is with Josie. I need you to get everyone else inside and call the other members, fill them in, tell them to be on alert, and sleep here if they need to.” I glanced back at the ambulance one last time before facing Gunner again. “Tell them church tomorrow morning at eight.”
We watched the ambulance pull out with the police cars close behind.
Gunner slapped his hand against my shoulder. “Consider it done.”
I jerked up my chin. “Keep everyone close. I’ll call you with an update.”
I started to move away, but when I heard Maggie’s voice call out to me, I stopped. “Be careful.”
I nodded at Maggie, but then aimed my stare in Gunner’s direction. “This ends.”
He wrapped his arm around Maggie and tucked her close to his side. He was as worried about the Widows as I was but for a more personal reason. He had his girl to protect. A girl who had given us information to tear the Widows apart. We believed they didn’t know she’d helped us or that we were hiding her.
Obviously, they knew more than we thought.
I pointed at Race, who started up his bike. Moving quickly to my own, I straddled and started it, the loud rumble doing nothing to comfort me as I rode through the dark streets toward the hospital. It only took about ten minutes before I walked through the double doors with Race beside me and started searching for Becs. She turned from the nurses’ desk and made her way over to me, planting her face against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight.
“I can’t believe that happened to her,” Becs whispered. “And I put her in that situation.”
I wrapped my hands around her upper arms and gently moved her back. “Not your fault, Becs.”
She rolled her eyes and sniffed. “Come on, Bear, if I hadn’t brought her to the clubhouse, then none of this would’ve happened.”
“You thought it was safe,” Race said quietly from beside me. “We all did.”
Her attention moved from me to Race. “I’m sure you wouldn’t have made a mistake like this, though, right, Race?”
I saw the tic in his cheek. It was slight, but I noticed it, and I sighed silently. These two would need to figure out their shit soon. When he only stared at her, I knew he wasn’t going to answer, so I turned back to Becs.
Laying my hand on her belly, I grinned in an effort to alleviate the worry in her expression. “You need to stop worryin’. This baby should be your only concern.”
She broke her stare with Race and faced me, her eyes full of concern. “She’s gonna be okay, right?”
I looked around the room behind her, unable to make that promise. “Have you heard anything?”
She shook her head. “No, but Luke and Cam are back there. The doctor came out and asked for her family almost as soon as she was brought in. He agreed to talk to them because of their position with the police, but I haven’t seen anyone since.”
I frowned. “They denied you information?”
“Yeah. They said they could only release information to family, but then Luke explained the situation, and they went back down that hallway.” She pointed at a hallway behind her, and my eyes went there, but I didn’t see anyone.
“What do we do?” she inquired softly.
I exhaled heavily. “We wait.”
CHAPTER THREE
BEAR
My boots echoed loudly down the quiet hospital hall until I was finally standing outside of Josie’s room. It was a little before midnight, and Luke had just left with the promise to meet here tomorrow after church. We’d barely sat down in the waiting room before Luke came out. He explained her injuries, which included a few busted ribs along with a lot of bruises and a gash along her temple that required stitches. He also said they sedated her pretty heavily and didn’t expect her to wake up tonight, but he told me her room number anyway. I guess he knew me better than I thought.
We talked a few more minutes, and he informed us he would be the lead on the case, which hadn’t surprised me. He was well respected, and I was sure his superiors knew him well enough to know the law would come before any friendships he had in the community. But what did surprise me was his warning. He knew if Josie pressed charges, the department could not provide her with the protection she would need, and he was concerned she would become a target.
He was right.
If she pressed charges, they’d retaliate.
And she’d disappear.
I’d agreed, and that was when we’d decided we needed to meet. After he left, I asked Race to take Becs back to my house, where she’d been living for the past month. He agreed, and I hugged her tightly, promising to keep her updated.
Stopping in front of the closed door displaying the room number Luke had given me, I inhaled deeply and braced myself for what I would see. I’d seen way too much abuse in my life, and since rebuilding the club, I have committed myself and the club to doing anything we could to help those in need. I would help her without question, even if I didn’t feel responsible for her lying in a damn hospital bed, but I wasn’t that lucky. I needed to see her. I knew standing outside her door that I wouldn’t get to speak with her, but just so I could get some fucking sleep tonight, I had to see for myself that she was okay.
After all, she was there because of me.
Because of my club.
Because of a fucking vendetta.
Pushing the door open, I walked as quietly as I could into her room, and my jaw hardened when I saw her. She was beat to hell with a black eye and a split lip. Her face was swollen, and I could see some blood matted in her blond hair, which obviously came from the gash on her temple. Shaking my head, I walked into the bathroom and found a basin to fill with warm water. Grabbing a washcloth folded on the sink, I went back out to where she lay sleeping. Setting everything down on the small bedside table, I wet the cloth and wrung out the excess water. I ran the warm cloth over her hair and wiped the crusty blood away. I continued to do this until the water cooled, then I went back to the bathroom, dumpe
d out the dirty water, and refilled the basin.
I refilled that fucking basin three times before the water stayed clear. Putting the basin and washcloth back in the bathroom, I returned to stand by her bed just as the door was pushed open.
I looked over my shoulder when I heard the soft sound of her door opening and watched a nurse walk in wearing a frown. She looked tough, and I had a bad feeling she was going to toss me. She was all of five feet tall, but she was one of those people who could scare someone off with a look. She reminded me of my mom, and I was suddenly glad she was the nurse guarding Josie’s room.
Her eyebrows lifted while she stared at me. “Visiting hours are long past over.”
“I know.” I shifted my attention from her to Josie when she walked around the bed and checked a few machines that were beeping.
She looked down at Josie and frowned. “Such a shame. Are you a relative?”
I thought back to the emergency department and how difficult it had been to get any information on her before I answered. “Fiancé.”
She narrowed her eyes and stood straight, but I lifted my hand, having already guessed she thought I’d done this. “She was attacked outside my clubhouse when no one was with her.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and her eyes softened. “That’s terrible. Did you find her?”
I nodded and glanced down at Josie. “Yeah.”
She reached across the bed and squeezed my hand before releasing it. “I’m sorry.” She glanced at Josie and tilted her head to the side. “You cleaned her up.”
She stated the obvious, but I felt like she wanted an answer anyway. “Yeah.”
Her hard features softened further. “I’m sure she’d rather you did it than me.”
I only nodded. I had no doubt that when Josie opened her eyes, she’d want me as far away from her as possible, but I couldn’t do that. She would need protection now that the Widows had targeted her, especially if she chose to press charges. I planned to try to talk her out of it, but I had the feeling she wasn’t the type of girl who’d be willing to let our MC handle this situation on our own.
End Game (Sinners MC Book 2) Page 3