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A few miles from the clubhouse, Spider screeched to a stop in front of us. He kicked down the stand so fast it was a wonder the thing didn’t break off, and started running.
Jet shot me a look, and we both braked and ran after him, not sure what had the bigger man running like the hounds of hell were chasing after him.
“Fuck,” he roared, dropping to his knees. “Jet, call 9-1-1!”
My brother was already on his phone by the time we reached the enforcer. By then, I could see the legs of someone in the dim light provided by the moon and our headlights. “Are they breathing?” I demanded as I came around the bigger man.
The second my eyes landed on the small figure lying there in a dark puddle of her own blood, her face pale and her breathing shallow, I lost my mind.
“Kelli!” I bellowed her name as I dropped down beside her. My hands shook as I cupped her face. “Baby, open your eyes. Fuck! Look at me, Kell. Look at me!”
“She’s lost a lot of blood, man,” Spider informed me as he felt her pulse with one hand and put pressure down on her abdomen with the other. “There’s so much blood, I can’t tell if she was stabbed or shot.”
Tears blinded me. “Baby! Kelli, look at me. Talk to me. Who did this to you?” But she didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, and my heart was breaking.
Above us, Jet got off the phone with the dispatcher and was now talking to Bash. “We’re about two, two-and-half miles from the clubhouse. Kelli is half dead—” My mind was screaming at him to shut the fuck up. She wasn’t dead, but I couldn’t look away from her. Couldn’t stop begging her to open her fucking eyes. “I don’t know, man. Shot. Stabbed. There’s a lot of blood and she’s still warm, so it didn’t happen long ago if I had to take a guess.”
Sirens were screaming in the distance. Spider cursed. “Colt, you need to take over putting pressure on this wound. I gotta start CPR, man. She’s stopped breathing.”
In a daze, I did as he commanded, putting both hands over the hole in her abdomen and pressing down as he started doing chest compressions. Tears poured down my face unashamedly as I watched the big man practically breaking her ribs to keep her heart beating.
“Kell, don’t leave me,” I commanded in a choked voice. “Don’t you fucking die.”
I’d never been so happy to see flashing lights in my life as I was when the ambulance came roaring down the road and stopped just feet from us. Two paramedics jumped out, their gear slung over their shoulders. One urged Spider out of the way and took over immediately. The other tried to nudge me out of the way, but I couldn’t leave her. Couldn’t let go because I was scared Kelli would die if I moved from this spot.
Jet and Spider grabbed my shoulders, jerking me to my feet and away so the other guy could do his job. “You have to let them work on her,” my brother tried to reason as I fought against their hold. “She’s gonna die if you don’t.”
Those words penetrated my shattered mind, and I went slack in their hold. “Don’t let her die,” I snarled at the EMTs.
The first one lifted his head, his expression grim. “She’s lost a lot of blood. There’s an exit wound in her back. We have to move her now.”
The next six seconds felt like an eternity as I watched them put her in the back of the ambulance and then haul ass toward town. I wanted to go with them, but Spider and Jet stopped me, and when I started to get on my bike, they grabbed me again.
“You can barely stand up,” Spider argued. “Bash is on his way in Raven’s SUV. You can go with them. I’ll get your bike back in one piece.”
The lights of my sister’s vehicle were just coming into view. As soon as the SUV stopped, I jumped into the front seat beside my brother-in-law. Raven and Quinn were in the back seat. “Drive,” I roared at the other man, and he stomped on the gas, speeding toward the hospital.
“What happened?” Raven asked, moving so she could stick her head up front. “Are you hurt?”
“EMTs said Kelli was shot,” I reported, my voice shaking. “I don’t fucking know what happened. She was supposed to be at the clubhouse.”
“No one saw her leave,” Bash admitted. “One of the brothers was taking a piss break, and she must have gotten through the gate when he wasn’t looking.”
“She was probably taking a walk,” Quinn commented in a trembling voice. “She does that to clear her head.”
“Who the fuck shot her, though? Was it the Italians?” Raven looked from me to her husband. “Are they back already?”
“It wasn’t Fontana,” I assured her, scrubbing my hands over my face. “He was where Badcock said he would be. There was no way he made it back here before us and had time to do this.”
“Her father?” Quinn offered. “It’s all over the news about all the things he’s done in the past to keep his son out of jail. There was mention of embezzlement and a crapload of other stuff that I didn’t really understand because it was all political. The biggest topic was that someone said the senator’s wife was already staying in a five-star hotel in San Francisco.”
I didn’t have time to digest any of that as Bash hit the brakes right in front of the ER entrance. I could see the ambulance that brought Kelli in, but she must have already been inside. I jumped out of the SUV, Quinn and Raven right behind me. Bash left the vehicle where it was and rushed after us.
Clueless as to what to do, I stood in the middle of the waiting room, tearing at my hair as I looked for someone who could take me to the woman I loved. The place was full, crowded with people who were sick and their loved ones. And I was standing there without mine.
Where was she?