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No, there’s no way that he had something to do with that.
But for some reason, I still felt like I might vomit, unable to settle my nerves. I mean, Gunnerhadbeen doing club business, right? And they were on the other side of the law…
“Are you okay?” Taylor’s voice sounded distant. “You look like you might be sick…”
I shook my head, trying to steady my breathing. My stomach got tighter and tighter, pushing the bile up into the back of my throat. I pushed myself out of the booth, unable to answer Taylor as I rushed to the women’s restroom. My heels slid across the tile floor as I barely made it to the first stall’s toilet before I emptied the contents of my stomach.
“Holy hell, are you okay?” Taylor exclaimed from behind me, pulling my hair out of my face as I threw up a second time.
“I think I might have caught my kid’s stomach virus,” I said, though I couldn’t be sure if it was that or the fact I thought Gunner might be out playing murderer again.
“Let’s get you home,” she said softly. “You need to get some rest.”
“I need to get my car.” I barely lifted from the toilet before another wave of nausea hit, and I vomited again.
“I think I’ll just drive you home, Hal.” Taylor tied my hair up for me, and then grabbed some paper towels and dampened them. I finished heaving, and then stood weakly to my feet. “Here,” she held them out to me.
“Thanks.” I took them and wiped my face, feeling a sudden wave of chills sweep over me. “Maybe I can have my mom’s boyfriend pick up my car when he gets back to town.”
“Yeah, we’ll figure out something. Don’t worry about it,” Taylor grabbed my arm and led me out of the bathroom. As soon as I stepped out into the café, there was something different in the air, everyone staring up at the TV over my head. It was Sergeant Johnston on the screen, giving a press conference.
“Oh wow, I’veneverseen him on the screen before,” Taylor muttered, dropping my arm. “What the hell…”
He was doing a briefing on the apparent murder of Francis Wilden.“At this time, we do not have any suspects, but we’ll keep looking into it. We just ask for your prayers and good thoughts for his family.”
My stomach knotted up again and I went for the booth, grabbing up my purse. I didn’t want to hear anything more about the officer's death, and the chatter that was suddenly filling the café was too much to handle.
“I’ll bet that motorcycle gang had something to do with it,” an older man sitting at a table said loud enough for the whole place to hear.
I picked up my pace, swiftly moving through the café, not even caring that Taylor was far behind me. I needed fresh air,pronto.I burst through the door, the bell ringing, eyes down on my feet. In an instant, I collided with a strong-chested man, the scent so familiar that I nearly passed out.
“Whoa, easy,” Gunner muttered.
I backed up hard, stunned to see him standing there in front of me—did hefollowme? I was blank as I stared up at him, his green eyes full of emotion I didn’t understand.
“Holy shit, Hal. Are you all right?”
Biting down on my lip, I didn’t know what to say to him, and thankfully, Taylor appeared before I had to.
“What’re you doing?” she snapped at him, stepping in between the two of us.
“I was just coming to grab some lunch, and she ran right into me,” Gunner responded, his voice flat. “Not out to cause any problems.”
“Right, whatever you say,” she fired back. “She’s not feeling well, so today isn’t the day to come at her for anything.”
He raised a brow, not remotely looking threatened by my best friend’s gesture. “I have no intention of ‘coming at her.’ I have no intention of ever talking to her again.” His words were cold, and as much as I wanted to be unbothered by his tone, it cut like a knife—right to my chest.
“It would probably be for the best,” Taylor answered for me. “I think your club has enough to deal with right now.”
That comment got him, and his guard dropped.
“What are you talking about?”
“Uh, it’s all over the news that some cop was killed last night, and everyone in the café is already pointing fingers at your club.”
He blinked a couple of times, and the recognition in his eyes made my stomach lurch again. “No way,” Gunner muttered, before spinning on the heel of his boot and heading back toward his lone Harley parked a few spots down from Taylor’s car.
I exchanged a glance with Taylor, and neither of us had to say a word to know what we both were thinking…
