“I will. Thanks, brother.”
“Train … it’s not your fault that Sasha is sitting in jail.”
“I made it possible. You tried to warn me about Killyama, and I didn’t listen. Now Sasha is paying the price.”
Train could hear Viper’s sigh through the phone. “You didn’t let Sasha down, you didn’t let your mother down, and you didn’t let Gavin down. You don’t know how to let anyone down. That’s why I didn’t promote you to VP, even though you deserve it. It’s why I chose you to protect Winter and Aisha if anything happens to me. You were born a soldier; you don’t give up, no matter what hell is waiting.”
15
“Shade’s here.” Hammer turned to stare at her in the backseat. “You want me to give it to him?”
“No, we all will.” Killyama reached for the door handle.
“You can wait here. Me and Hammer will go.”
She ignored Jonas’s gruff offer, stiffly getting out of the car and heading toward Shade, who had his motorcycle parked at the back of convenience store, out of sight of The Last Riders’ clubhouse.
“We need to quit meeting like this,” Killyama joked, tossing Kane’s burner phone to him.
Shade deftly caught it. “How did it go? I was getting worried. You’re an hour late.”
“I stopped for a hamburger. Jonas checked the phone out. There’re a couple of pictures of Kane and several of the women at the massage parlor. He must have paid extra to let them take it. Sick fuck likes to strangle them as he fucks them. When you talk to Yates, tell him he should check and see if there are any unsolved murders in town. He gets off on it too much for there not to be a skeleton in his closet.”
“If not more.”
Hammer’s sickened agreement had Shade’s discerning gaze moving from one to the other.
“You have any problem finding the jewelry?” Hammer asked.
“No. You could have warned me about the guard dog, though.”
“I couldn’t make it too easy for you. A little dog shouldn’t have been a problem for you.”
Shade’s gaze settled on Hammer. “There wasn’t anything little about that Doberman. He ripped my favorite pair of jeans. It was a trained attack dog. If I hadn’t worked with them in the military, it would have had me for lunch.”
“Couldn’t have been too bad; I don’t see a mark on you.” Hammer drew Shade’s gaze back to him as it had once again wandered to Killyama.
“We were best friends by the time I left him tied to a tree outside.” His eyes cut back to Killyama. “I’ve never seen you with a scarf. Maybe you should get a thicker jacket.”
Killyama shrugged. “I’m cold-natured. You should know that by now. If we’re done here, I’m ready to head back to Jamestown … unless you need me to dig you fuckers the rest of the way out of the hole you dug for yourselves?”
“No, I think we have it.” Shade’s eyes were like blue lasers as she turned to walk back to the Escalade.
Killyama counted the steps, breaking out in a cold sweat. “Is he still watching?” she whispered hoarsely so Shade couldn’t hear. The son of a bitch hadn’t started his motor. He was waiting for them to leave.
“Yes.”
She didn’t know what she wanted to do more: faint or vomit.
Jonas hurried to open the door for her, blocking Killyama from sight, and Hammer climbed in beside her.
She watched as Jonas waved at Shade as he got inside to start the SUV. Jonas slowly drove past The Last Riders’ clubhouse, maintaining the speed limit until he turned down a dark street where he accelerated, the streets passing in a blur.
Dropping her head onto Hammer’s shoulder, she unzipped the tight leather jacket and let him help her out of it before sinking against him, seeking comfort she would never accept if she weren’t hurting so badly.
“Get me to the hospital.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Do you think we fooled him?” She weakly tried to reach for the blood-soaked bandage that was wound around her neck, but Hammer pulled her hand away, holding it tightly in his hand.
“He bought it, hook, line, and sinker. Now, will you quit worrying about Shade and let us take care of you?”
She didn’t talk the rest of the way to the hospital.
When Jonas brought the SUV to a screeching halt, Hammer was already jumping out, reaching inside to lift her out then carrying her into the emergency room. Thankfully, she passed out before the electronic door could close behind them.
She awoke in the dark, not remembering where she was. She tried to speak, but the fire in her throat prevented anything but a guttural sound to escape.
Feverish, she imagined Train was in bed with her and sleeping, so he couldn’t hear her. She had to wake him up. She needed his help.
Afraid she was being held down by mysterious hands in the dark, she needed him to get them off so she could breathe.