“Not here for that either.”
“What do you want, Needles?” I breathed out. “No offense, but if you’re here about Scooby, I’m not interested.”
“I’m not here about Scooby, either.”
“Okay.”
“I’m here about Jill.”
I frowned. “Why? Is she okay?”
“Yes, but I can’t look in on her tonight and I really need someone—someone I can trust who can swing by and check on her sutures.”
“Hire a nurse,” I said, filling the coffee maker with grounds.
“You know it’s not that simple.”
I bit back tears of frustration. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Look, sweetheart, I know this is a shit sandwich. I know what I’m askin’ you is more than too much, but I’m in a bind, and you’re the best fuckin’ nurse I’ve ever worked with. I haven’t trusted someone like this in a long time. I could hire someone, you’re right, but I couldn’t hire someone who wouldn’t ask questions,” he said.
I pressed my lips into a thin line. “He can’t know. He also can’t be there.”
“Tonight’s our club meetin’. He won’t be there. Wyatt’ll pick you up and drive you back, a recruit’ll be with you the whole way. He’ll never know anything about it.”
“Can I bring Lord?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t like this,” I said.
“If there was anyone else, Rowan, I swear to god, I’d go to them.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“I’ll text you.”
“Fine,” I breathed out, and he walked out of the diner, leaving me to my thoughts… and my anxiety.
* * *
Wyatt arrived to pick me up at eight, right after the diner closed, and I loaded my medical bag and Lord into her backseat before climbing in beside her. Healy and someone I didn’t recognize were on their bikes behind her.
“Hey, honey,” she said.
“Hi.”
“You doing okay?”
I ignored her question. “Is Scooby at the club?”
“Yes. And he’s being watched closely by both Needles and Sierra. If he even attempts to leave the cabin, I will know.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I promise, Rowan, I have your back,” Wyatt said. “What you’re doing, for both Jill and the club, won’t be forgotten.”
“I don’t need credit, Wyatt. I really don’t mind doing it. I mean, I like Needles. I respect him. It’s just…”