Page 8 of Property of Doc

One of the worst parts about withdrawal is my moods are all over the place. Not only that, but the fatigue is ridiculous. I know it’s my body’s way of healing itself, but it’s a bit maddening. Still, a nap right now sounds good, so I grab the fuzzy throw that Docbrought me and pull it over my body then curl onto my side being careful not to pull on the IV and drift off to sleep.

A knock on the door wakes me up and I call out, “Come in.” Seeing Constance, I shyly smile and duck my head.

“No need to be embarrassed, Gretchen. I wanted to see if you preferred a tray up here or if you’d rather come downstairs and eat with everyone else,” she says.

“Um, if Doc says it’s okay, I’d like to get out of this room. Staring at these four walls is making me crazy,” I reply.

“He’s the one who suggested it,” she acknowledges.

“What do I do about this?” I ask, pointing to the IV bag.

“He’s rigging up another pole downstairs. I’ll help you maneuver with this one,” she tells me.

“If I didn’t say it the other day, thank you for helping me,” I say.

“You’re part of the Kings family now, Gretchen. It’s what we do for family,” she replies.

My mind is whirling again at her words. I mean, I work for a Kings backed business, of course, but that doesn’t make me family. Still, I accept her help especially since I’m still so damn weak, and before I know it, I’m at a table with Doc, my IV bag hooked on the wall using one of those Command hooks. As a plate is set before me, I get a whiff and groan.

“Chicken and dumplings?” I ask.

“Well, it’s somewhat bland but still has what you need,” Doc says. “Just eat what you can, it’s going to be a bit before you’re able to eat regular portions since you were starved for a few weeks. Lots of small meals throughout the day will ensure that you don’t overeat and get sick.”

“Still might get sick,” I point out.

“Hopefully not, baby,” he murmurs. “But don’t worry, I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

I’m counting on it, my mind whispers.

CHAPTER

FIVE

Doc

“Do we have any leads on who abducted the people we rescued?” I ask as we sit around the table in church.

“No, but the cameras I placed caught some interesting video the other night,” Nerd says. “Let me set it up.”

I take a closer look and see that Pokey doesn’t look well. Fuck, he’s a stubborn asshole on the best of days, but I make a mental note to get him into the clinic for a full work-up. He’s older than most of us as he was part of the club when Paps was president, so it could be that time is simply catching up with him. Regardless, he’s a brother and we don’t leave one behind so whatever I can do, I will.

Nerd sets up the screen and starts playing the video. Initially, all you can hear are normal night sounds—dogs barking in the distance, the occasional banging of a door that wasn’t secured that’s now blowing in the slight breeze, faraway horns. Then the sound of tires moving across the asphalt can be heard and as a unit, we all lean in closer.

A black SUV stops in front of the burned-out warehouse and after several long minutes, a tall, lanky man gets out and stares at the rubble that remains.

“Son of a bitch!” he yells before pulling out his phone. “Jbone, where the fuck are you and Gash?”

They must respond because then he yells, “No the fuck you are not! Because I’m standing here looking at the detritus of our base of operations. Get your fucking asses down here now so we can figure out what the fuck happened. We’re gonna have to push the auction back. I told you it wasn’t a good plan as to how you procured them but no, you thought it was a great idea. Now, get here, motherfuckers!”

We watch him stomp around muttering, but his voice is now too low to catch anything of substance. Twenty minutes later, another black SUV rolls in next to the first one and parks. Two guys get out; one is short and stocky, the other is tall and lanky.

“Do you have other views that can get their faces?” Rio asks as we watch them walk over to the first man.

“Already running them through facial recognition, prez,” Nerd replies, his fingers flying over another laptop keyboard. The man should have a bad back since he usually carries two of them at a time, but instead, he acts like it’s nothing. Again, something that’s new over the past few months. How have I missed this? Pokey has been taking more of a backseat to Nerd for quite some time and I decide to have a chat with Rio as soon as possible because he probably knows what’s going on.

As the three men huddle together, the audio picks up their conversation. “Jbone, tell me again where you and Gash were at?”

The one called Jbone audibly gasps and says, “We were here around seven, made sure all of them were topped up, got rid of the one dead guy, then we went to grab something to eat really quick. When we got back, it was on fire.”