“We have a big fucking problem. Scar is alive.”
“Fuck.” Closing my eyes, I lean my head back. “How?”
“I guess true evil is hard to kill. The fire department found Scar under burned-out building pieces. And they want me to watch over him at the hospital.”
“Come to the clubhouse now.” I retrace my steps back into the clubhouse.
“They already changed my work area for when I start Monday.” Her words blur together as she panics.
“Calm down, breathe and get here safely. I need you in one piece.”
“O–okay. I can do that.” Nodding, she disconnects, and I jog to the table.
“Is this where the leaving shit early for your girl starts?” Speedy asks.
“Scar is alive.”
Tank chokes on his beer, and Shotgun shakes his head. “Fucking how? Is he a damn demon?”
I hold up a hand. “I don’t know the details. Nadia is going over right now.”
“Why didn't we know this?” Tank whispers.
“They have someone in the hospital on their payroll. They want Nadia to be his nurse. There was enough pull for them to get her area and schedules swapped.”
“Fuck. We need to find out everything we can about this. Get Retro on this now,” Tank rises from the table.
“On it, boss,” Speedy runs off, and Shotgun stands.
“I’ll scout the hospital cautiously. I’ll take a car to see how serious they are about protecting them,” Shotgun offers.
“Don’t get caught.”
“I’ll be good and do the incognito thing.” Shotgun salutes.
“We can use this to our advantage,” Tank says.
“How.” I slap my palms on the table. “The minute he lays eyes on her, she’s done for.”
“We’re still standing, and so is she. This means Scar can’t communicate. I don’t want to jump the gun and give away anything.”
Speedy returns. “Retro is booting up the system in his Batcave. Do I sound the alarm for a lockdown?”
Tank shakes his head. “No. I want us on high alert. We’ll rally everyone on the low. No sudden changes on the outside. In case we’re being watched.” Tank pulls out his phone and sends out a coded group text. We’ll be flying under the orange flag. More than slight caution, but we’re not lined up at the doors in full gear.
“Your girl will get her chance to prove herself sooner than we thought,” Speedy says.
“Wait till you fall for someone, Speedy. I will enjoy every minute of watching you go up in flames when she twists you up into a million knots.”
“Hey.” He jumps back and makes the sign of the cross. “Don’t hex me like that, punk.” The bastard looks afraid. Ignoring him, I walk toward the door to wait for Nadia’s arrival. I’m out the door before she can step out of her car.
“You okay, Nightingale?” I hold her car door as I help her stand.
“I don’t know what I am. What are we going to do?”
“We’re working on figuring that out.” I cup her face. Searching her gaze, I run my thumbs up and down her cheeks until her muscles unclench and her breathing evens. “Better. How did today go?”
“Okay. Until they ambushed me.” She exhales.