A tap on the door pulled us apart, and I glanced over at the entrance to the private room. Doc didn’t think I needed to be in ICU now, but he warned I might end up back there for a little while if my body didn’t handle the surgery well for my arm.
I kept my good arm wrapped around Jos as the door cracked open, and Raider stuck his head inside. “Hey, Bates is being a little pissant. He wants to talk to you and take a statement. You up for that, or do you want me to sic Gracie on him?”
The air in my lungs turned to ice, and my hand clenched into a fist on Jos’s back, instinctively pulling her in close.
Bates.
I’d forgotten about that motherfucker.
“Get in here and lock the goddamn door!” I yelled.
Raider didn’t question me. He moved so he was inside the room with us and used his back to hold the door shut since there wasn’t a damn lock.
“What the hell, Tanner?” Jos squeaked when I sat up, looking around frantically for somewhere to hide her.
“Something wrong, brother?” Raider asked, his voice calm as he watched me from across the room.
“Bates is the one who took me to Fontana,” I whisper-shouted. “Help me hide Jos before that bastard sees her.”
“Bates?” Raider’s entire face changed, and he pulled his gun from the holster hidden under his cut. “That motherfucker did this to you?”
“Hide Jos!” I roared when he started to open the door.
“He’s already fucking seen her,” Raider yelled back. “He’s been sniffing around the clubhouse for the past few weeks. He’s seen her plenty of times.”
“Goddamn it,” I groaned. “Are you the only one here? Please tell me there are other brothers in the waiting room somewhere.”
“Jet is talking to Bates at the nurses station. Colt is getting us some coffee, and Spider is watching the lobby,” he assured me.
“The sheriff helped do this to you?” Jos breathed out raggedly. “He helped that monster hurt you?”
“The bomb blast threw me between two cars and knocked me out,” I explained. “The next thing I knew, I was in some trunk. I passed out again from pain and then woke up to Bates and Fontana standing over me. He only stayed the first day. The rest was Fontana.”
“He’s a dead man,” Raider seethed.
“You can’t kill a cop.” Jos tried to rationalize. “Not somewhere there is an entire building full of witnesses.”
I almost grinned down at her. The fire burning in
her eyes and making her shake was a hell of a turn-on, but I was too scared of Bates snatching her from me and taking her to Fontana. “You have to get out of here,” I told her, pushing her legs off the bed and urging her to stand. “Raider will take you back to the compound. Bates can’t see you with me.”
She stood but glared down at me. “I’m not leaving until after your surgery.”
“Jos, please,” I begged her unashamedly. “Fontana knows you’re the only thing that could even begin to crack me. He will use you to get to me, and Bates is his little bitch.”
She grasped my four-fingered hand, squeezing lightly. “Calm down. Give me a second to think. Okay?”
“Baby—”
She covered my mouth with one hand. “Be quiet, Tanner. I’m thinking.”
Chapter 12
Raider
It was amusing to watch Jos boss Tanner around. At first, I didn’t know what to make of those two together, but I could see now that Jos was what he needed.
She dropped her hand from his mouth and turned to face me. “Here’s what we’re going to do for now. Tanner is going to pretend he doesn’t remember anything from when he was at Fontana’s. Nothing. Don’t even open your mouth, Tanner. Do you hear me?”