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Bubba shook his head and gave her a look he hoped she understood meant for her to stay put.
“If that’s true then he’ll be released soon enough. But with this man’s condition, we’ve got to take him in,” Officer Hernandez said.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll go. You hop back in the truck and go see Gizmo. He’ll make sure everything is taken care of. You stay at the clubhouse until I’m out again.” Bubba met her gaze, letting her know he wasn’t worried about this. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Tears pooled in her eyes as they flicked from him to that Troy-fucker, then back to hm again. Then she nodded, shaky at first, then steadier.
The officers remained on edge as they questioned both Celia and him, as if waiting for him to fight them as they cuffed his hands behind his back, then left him kneeling in the yard until the ambulance showed up. The EMT’s put Troy on a stretcher and got ready to put him in the ambulance. Bubba raised a fuss until they cuffed him to the stretcher before loading him up and hauling him off. And they did, but only after getting confirmation from Celia that the fucker had attacked first and that Cole was defending himself. It seemed like another hour of questions but was probably ten minutes before the cops let Celia go, loaded him in the back of Hernandez’s patrol car and hauled him in.
ChapterEighteen
Sissy sat in the driver’s seat of Cole’s pick up and took several deep breaths. She’d handled it all better than she’d thought she would, especially after the panic that shot through her when Cole had asked if it was Troy in the car, and spotting Troy’s face again. The police showing up hadn’t helped.
She’d almost lost her mind when they had insisted on taking Cole in, but he’d told her it was okay and to go talk to Gizmo, so that was what she would do. As soon as the shaking stopped. She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward onto the steering wheel while she waited for the moment to pass. Once she was steady again, she slid the seat forward till she could reach the pedals, started the engine, and put the truck in gear. She had to get to the clubhouse so they could get Cole out of wherever they were going to put him.
She made it to the clubhouse and pulled the truck to a stop in the yard without bothering to find a space and threw it in park before bailing out and hitting the door at almost a run. She didn’t stop to let her eyes adjust to the dim interior but went to the bar.
“Where’s Gizmo?” she asked Sackett.
“He’s not here. What’s up?”
“I need to find Gizmo, where is he?”
“What’s going on?” A woman’s voice pulled her attention. Sissy turned and found a heavily pregnant woman she’d seen a couple times moving for her.
“I’ve got to find Gizmo. They picked up Cole and he told me to get Gizmo.”
“Cole is Bubba, right? Come on, Ruger will know what to do.” The woman who looked about her age, turned and at a semi-waddle, led Sissy through the door at the back of the room she’d never been through. Ruger sat at the back table with a couple other men Sissy had seen before but didn’t know their names.
“What’s up?” Ruger asked as Sissy hurried into the room behind the pregnant woman.
“They took Cole.” Sissy was desperate to find Gizmo like Cole had told her. She didn’t know what either’s position was, but Cole had said Gizmo, so she was looking for Gizmo. “He told me to come back here and tell Gizmo and he would get him out.” She looked around, almost frantic.
“Okay, slow down a minute. I’m not understanding what’s happened.” Ruger stood, nodded to the pregnant woman who moved away while Ruger came around the table and pulled out a chair. “We’ll get Gizmo but tell me what’s happened. Who has Bubba?”
Sissy forced herself to take a deep breath and sit down. She told him everything, from showing up, to the fight, and the police showing up.
“They said because Troy was unconscious, they had to take Cole in too.”
“But this Troy was alive?” Ruger asked. “And is Troy the one responsible for the condition you were in when you first arrived?”
Sissy looked away but nodded. “He was waiting at Cole’s when we pulled in this evening.”
“They’ll take Bubba into booking first. Gizmo will reach out and see what we can do. Tell me what happened from the beginning. From the moment you saw your ex.”
She recounted the whole story, from Cole giving her the pistol to when she’d pulled up in the clubhouse yard.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot. I didn’t bother to park. Someone is probably going to want to move the truck.”
“Sackett!” Ruger yelled, then turned back to Sissy. “Are the keys in the truck?”
She nodded. “I’m not sure I even killed the engine.”
“We’ll take care of it. Is the pistol still in the truck?”
“Under the flip down middle part of the seat. Between the seat and the back. On the passenger side.” She gave details as she remembered them.
He laid one hand on top of hers as the bartender spoke up from the doorway behind her.
