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I gestured to the side of the road. “We have a body down over there. Don’t forget about him. We don’t want to be explaining a dead kid to the police.”
Thunder slapped me on the back. “I’ll take care of it personally. You driving them?”
I nodded. “Yeah, of course. If y’all need me, call and I’ll come running.”
“Will do,” Thunder replied before turning to take care of the mess we were leaving behind.
I climbed into the van and heard Corey mumble, “I don’t feel so good, Jav. I feel cold, so cold.”
“You’ve lost a lot of blood. Hold on, Corey. We’ll be the at hospital in a few minutes.”
I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital. The map on my phone said the nearest trauma center was twelve minutes away.
I didn’t think Corey had twelve minutes. I put the pedal to the metal and watched the speedometer go from fifty to sixty to seventy and finally to eighty. We picked up a police escort along the way, but I didn’t have time to pull over.
I came to a screeching stop outside of the emergency room and we hauled Corey out of the van and inside. The medical team took him back right away. Javelin went to check his brother in while I made my way to the restroom to clean the blood off me.
The minute my ass hit the chair in the waiting room, the cops who were behind us were all over me.
The older of the two spoke first. “My name is Officer Swift, and this is my partner, Officer Wells. We’re with the California Highway Patrol.”
I never liked cops very much, but I gave them my name. “I’m Marcel Pierce.”
“Can you tell us what happened? How did your friend get shot? Were you involved in a gang war of some kind? Maybe something with another MC?” Officer Wells asked.
I sighed in exasperation. “I don’t know nothin’. One minute we were riding down the road and the next there were people shooting at us.”
Wells started to open his mouth again, but his partner cut in. “Let’s slow down a bit and get our bearings. Where are you from, Mr. Pierce? You sound like you’re straight from the bayou.”
“Yes, sir, I grew up in St. Mary Parish in the Atchafalaya Basin. It’s about halfway between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.”
He held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Pierce. You’re being a good sport by talking to us today. Do you mind if I ask what brought you so far from home?”
I shook his hand and replied, “I was in the Army and a bit rudderless after I got out. I found a brotherhood made up mostly of veterans down in Griffinsford. Decided to settle in for a bit.”
“I can see you don’t have a one percent patch. Do you think one of the local MCs were antagonized by you and your club brothers being in their territory?”
“No, sir. It wasn’t bikers who attacked us, that’s for damn sure, excuse my language.”
“How can you be so certain?” the younger cop asked.
“Because they didn’t have leather on their backs, there wasn’t a cut in sight. No, these men were all wearing fancy suits, like big city criminals.”
“Why would mobsters come all the way from LA to attack a group of bikers that aren’t even outlaws?” the older cop asked.
I gestured to myself with both hands. “Do I look like a guy who knows anything at all about mobsters? Maybe whatever small town is near has an infestation that needs seeing to.” I raised my eyebrows, in an obvious expression that meant they needed to get right on that problem.
About that time, Storm came through the double doors of the emergency room and headed straight for us. I shot out of my seat and met him halfway. “They took our prospect back the minute we got here. While the cops were talking to me, Jav finished checking in and went back to check on him.”
His ice blue eyes held mine, worried. “I heard it was bad.”
“It wasn’t just bad, boss. We were hijacked, just like back in the war. We were outnumbered and outgunned. It was a fuckin’ bloodbath.” Now the adrenaline was gone it was all sinking in, and it felt like my chest was being squeezed in a vise.
Storm grabbed my cut and pulled me close. “Pull yourself together, Mason. This situation is triggering your fucking PTSD. Go outside and take a break, brother. I’ll take care of the police. Don’t leave, though, in case they want to ask you more questions.”
I turned and stalked out of the ER, feeling more stressed than I could remember since the military. Once I was outside, I pulled out my vape and took a hit as I paced back and forth on the sidewalk. I could see that Storm had parked the white van I drove in a nearby parking space for me. In the chaos, I’d forgotten all about it.
The words Corey had spoken in the back of that van echoed through my mind. “I’m cold, so cold.”
