Page 45 of Ink & Dust

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“Will do.”

With that, Donny and I rushed back to our little group. I rested a hand on Silk’s back. “We need to keep looking for her.”

I scanned around but didn’t see Royce. “Where’d that bastard Royce go?”

The president nodded toward the pasture. “Said he had to go check on horses or some shit.”

“I got a bad feeling he’s behind this.” I looked up and down the fence line until I spotted a gate. “Donny, go get the gate for me and we’ll head over that way.”

He jogged that direction while I went to my truck. As I shut the door, the younger biker climbed onto the bed and the opposite door opened as the club president climbed in. “Name’s Scout, man on the back is Mac, and that girl is like a daughter to me. We’ll handle whatever we find.”

With a nod, I gunned the engine and headed toward the now open gate. I stopped long enough for Donny to join Mac in the bed, then I took off over the pasture, praying my girl was okay.

Gabs

With a groan, I woke up to agony. Fuck, what had happened?

“She’s alive. Fuck. Dammit, I just lit her shit up to make it look like she died in her trailer.”

“Another bullet will fix that.”

“Don’t you fucking dare shoot again. The fire is nearly out and there’s a whole lot of people hanging around for news. Can’t risk they’ll hear it.”

“Well, those fucking beasts won’t budge for us, you go try to move them away from her.”

“What happened to Bob?”

“Horse stomped him when he tried to get to the bitch.”

The three of them kept talking but I tuned them out. They’d burned my house down? Forcing my lids open, I blinked until I could make out that all three horses stood around me. We were close enough to the barn, there was enough light to see.

Whiskey stomped and neighed toward the men, clearly trying to scare them away from me. Damn, I loved these horses. They were literally saving my life right now.

An engine revved close and not wanting to risk moving and hurting myself more, I tried to see that way without turning my head. Was that Bo’s truck with a couple men in the bed? I blinked away tears that kept coming and nearly sobbed when the truck skidded to a stop and Donny along with Mac from the Charons jumped down and took off after the men, Scout on their heels. Boone came toward me.

“Gabs? Sweetheart, tell me you’re still breathin’ darlin.”

I could barely get a word out past the emotion clogging my throat, but I forced out his name. “Bo.”

“Thank fuck. How we gonna get these girls to back off and let me at you?”

“I’m shot, and I fell hard. We need an ambulance.”

He pulled his phone out and made a couple calls. Then lights flickered over the pasture and another car pulled up. Then Silk was there, with SeVen and Bulldog. Silk had come with me to visit the horses several times so they knew her. She came closer slowly.

“Hey, Whiskey, baby. You gonna let us get our girl some medical help?”

Boone had gone into the barn and returned with some treats to lure them away. Together with Silk, Boone got the horses to back up. Boone guided Silk and SeVen on what to do to get Whiskey, Cloud and Flint back into the barn where they bedded them down for the night. I looked around the best I could and saw that Bulldog had Bob pinned against the side of the building, but Scout, Mac and Donny hadn’t returned yet.

Then Boone was dropping to his knees beside me. “Ambulance is nearly here. Fuck. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your call. I’d left my phone at home… if I’d just—”

“Stop it. This was gonna happen at some point. Call another ambulance for John and Kate. Not sure if it’ll be too late, but I heard them talking about how Billy and Bob had helped Royce off his folks so he could get the ranch.

Boone looked over at the man Bulldog held. “Is that the same guy from—”

“Yeah, the both of them.” I cut him off before he could say more. The club didn’t know about what had happened that night at The Barn, but Bulldog was no fool.

“Darlin’, be straight with me right now. You’ve had trouble with these fuckers before today?”

Before I could come up with a way to soften the story, Bo spoke. “The night I met Gabs, we were at The Barn. She was in the back hallway with him and his buddy. They were trying to drag her out the back door.”

“She broke my fuckin’ nose!”

With a fist wrapped in his hair, Bulldog slammed his face into the wall, no doubt rebreaking his nose. “Now I have too. Fucker.” He turned back to us. “I’m gonna go hold him around the other side. The club’ll deal with him and his buddies.”

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”

I hadn’t wanted their help earlier, but clearly being charged for what they’d done hadn’t done a damn thing to change their ways. They would continue to hurt people until they died. The club could arrange that and dispose of the bodies, so they were never found. I’d always chosen to ignore that side of the Charon MC but after today, I saw it in a different light. I’d sleep better in the future knowing for sure that my attackers were all gone from the world.


Tags: Khloe Wren Romance