Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
While Jack brings them up to speed, I sit in the bar with Earl and Dolly and keep the Devil’s Steed occupied with some King’s Pride.
Jethro toys with his shot glass. His brow furrowed.
“Your girl… what’s her name?” Dolly asks, refilling the glass.
“Katey.”
“That’s a real pretty name.” Dolly smiles warmly. “And what are Katey’s favorite flowers?”
Jethro thinks for a minute. “Daisies. She’s always taking photos with daisies.”
“Well, when she wakes up tomorrow, there’ll be fresh daisies in her room, I’ll make sure of it.” She gives Jethro a wink. “Let her know the Kings are thinking about her.”
He raises his shot in appreciation and then throws it back.
Jack reappears.
Church is over.
“Let’s ride.”
Jethro’s daughter is barely conscious when we get to the hospital.
Not a lot triggers me but seeing the young girl hooked up to machines and trussed up like a fucking mummy kicks me in the gut.
Only her lips and eyes are visible. Her gaze is hooded and sleepy, but her eyes are open enough for me to see the trauma in them.
I’ve seen that look before.
They broke her.
Jethro sits and takes her hand in his. “It’s okay, baby. I’m here. I brought some people with me, men who are going to help us. Squeeze my hand if that’s okay with you, honey, squeeze my hand.”
Her fingers tighten around his beefy digits. Beside her, the beeping on the heart monitor speeds up when Jack moves closer to the bed.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Jethro reassures his daughter. “He just needs some information. Anything you can remember.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you, darlin’,” Jack says in a voice I’ve never heard him use before. It’s gentle. Soothing. “We’re going to find the people responsible, okay? But I need your help. Do you feel up to talking to me about it?”
Big blue eyes bounce between Jack and Jethro before she nods.
“The scum who did this to you, did they say who they were?”
She nods. “The… Three.” Her voice is raspy from the breathing tube she had in.
“That’s what they called themselves?”
She nods.
“The doctors tell you what they cut into your forehead?”
Again, she nods.
“They say anything while they were doing that to you?”
“They said they won’t stop…” She struggles to speak. “Until they’ve made an example of all the… sinners.”
Jack asks, “Can you remember anything about them that might help us identify them. Any jewelry? Distinctive marks? Tattoos?”
“One had a tattoo on the top of his hand. It looked like a clock face… but instead of numbers, there was the letter H in the center and… the number two.” Her throat works as she struggles to swallow, her breath gurgled and hoarse. “And the number eight.”
“Sounds like a symbol,” Jack says.
I open Google on my phone. “It is.”
I bring up an image and show Katey. “Is this the tattoo?”
She sobs. “Yes.”
I show Jack and Jethro. “It’s the symbol for Azrael. The angel of death.”
“How’d you know that?” Jethro asks.
“Prison. It gave me a lot of reading time.”
Katey turns to look at Jack. “They’re… fucking… evil. Someone has to… stop them.”
“Darlin’, that’s exactly what we plan to do.”
Her breathing is rough. “Why are you helping me?”
Jack crouches down. “I have a daughter your age, so when your daddy came to us and said he’s going to find who did this, I agreed to get the Kings involved. I don’t want you to worry, okay, darlin’, because the psychos who did this aren’t going to be wasting oxygen for too much longer. Now, I ain’t gonna lie to you, you’ve got some journey ahead of you, that’s for real. But you’re gonna get through it, one day at a time. You got me?” He looks at Jethro. “Anything she needs, and you can’t get it, you come see me.”
Respect passes between the two presidents.
Jack stands, but Katey reaches for his hand. “I’m the only one who has survived one of their attacks.”
“That’s right.”
“Are they going to… come after me again?”
“You’re safe. Your daddy ain’t gonna let anyone hurt you. And if you get scared, I want you to know that it’s not just your daddy’s club behind you, but you’ve got the entire Kings of Mayhem Motorcycle Club behind you too. You got that, kid?”
It’s late when we leave, but I don’t want to head back to the clubhouse. I feel restless. Worked up. Seeing that kid beat up and broken on the hospital bed makes me want to punch something. I need to hit the gym, pound the bag for an hour or two to work off some of this restless energy. But as I ride toward Oscar’s Gym, I suddenly veer off and pull up to Rory’s apartment.
I fucking need to touch her.
Taste her.
Get fucking lost in her.
She opens the door, and just the sight of her beautiful face fuels the need in me. Without a word, I step inside and take her in my arms and kiss her fiercely because her lips are like wine, and I am the addict who needs them. And after the shit I saw tonight, I need her to soothe the panic in my heart.