“I’m having no luck so far. I’ve driven all the way to the shop and almost halfway back. I need you to send some of our guys out. We have to find her tonight,” I command down the line.
“Whatever you need, son. I’ll send a team out. I’m walking into the jail now,” he says and hangs up the phone. I pull over to the side of the road, take a deep breath, and try to think. Where could she be? Did he take them both? Surely not. Reyessaid he told us to scrape her body off the pavement. She’s here somewhere. My phone pings with a notification, and I unlock the screen.
Eddie:
I got a couple of guys on the street. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.
I lock the screen and drop the device in my cup holder.
Driving down the road further, I turn my brights on and look around. I finally see pieces of her bike scattered across the road. My heart is fucking racing. Stopping in the middle of the highway, I turn my hazards on and jump out of my car.
Running up a little further, I finally see what’s left of her bike scattered everywhere. The more I see, the more my heart falls inside my chest, and I can’t seem to take a full breath. “FUUCKK!” I scream into the quiet night, moving my head frantically from side to side trying to scan every inch of asphalt to find her.
“Raven,” I call out, but get no answer.Where are you, baby?
“RAVEN!” I scream out this time, still not seeing her. Hearing a small groaning sound, I turn toward the noise. There she is, curled in on herself, and not moving.Fuck. Fuck.
I take off running towards her, and fall to my knees as I reach her.No, baby. Fuck. There’s so much blood. Her body is mangled. Fuck! I don’t want to touch her, but I need to know that her heart is still beating.I’m not sure where all the blood is coming from, but she’s covered in it. I look her over as best I can, trying not to move her at all.Fuck, where’s her helmet?Reaching for her neck and resting my fingers there, I try to feel for a pulse. It’s faint, but it’s there. I finally breathe out.Thank God.Pulling my phone out with shaky hands, I call for an ambulance. I give them all the details they need and my location, I try to look around for an exact mile marker but it’s too dark.Now to wait while they take their sweet ass time to get here. I have absolutely no patience right now to wait.
“Fuck, Angel, please hold on. Please, baby, don’t leave me. Help is coming,” I plead. Sitting back on my heels, I continue to look her over. There’s no telling what happened to her helmet, and her pants are shredded, leaving her skin littered with road rash. I lean closer to her, praying like hell that she can hear me. “I never thought I would want to burn the world down for anyone. Then you came along and bulldozed yourself into my life. I wouldn’t just burn the world for you, Angel. I’d carve my heart out of my own chest and give it to you if that’s what it would take to save you,” I admit, brushing a soft kiss along her bleeding lips.
Pulling me from my thoughts, I see red and blue in the distance, and hear the blaring sound of sirens. The ambulance pulls up, and two people jump from the vehicle, running to the back of it. They open the doors and move quickly to pull out the gurney and medical bags before rushing over towards us.
“Sir, did you see what happened? Have you moved her at all?” the female EMT asks.
“No, I didn't see the wreck. I haven’t moved her either, just felt for a pulse. It’s there, but faint,” I reply, the uneasiness rising in my tone.
“Okay, we’ll take it from here. Do you know her? Can you tell us anything that happened?” the male EMT asks next.
“Yes, she’s my girlfriend. All I know is I got a call that she was in a wreck while heading to our auto shop.” They both nod as they carefully lift her onto the gurney.
“Do you want to ride with us, or follow behind?” the lady asks, giving me a sad smile.
“I’ll follow. That’s my car in the road,” I reply, pointing over my shoulder at my car, my eyes never leaving Raven. They both just nod in return while rolling her to the back of the ambulance.
Feeling the tears finally begin to fall, I turn and walk toward my car. Grabbing my phone, I immediately dial Zeke.
“Hey, son, you find her? Is she okay? What do you need?”he asks one question after another, and for a second, I can’t speak.
“Honestly, she’s barely holding on. Her pulse is so weak. They just loaded her into the ambo, and I’m following behind. I need someone to come clean her bike off the road and find her helmet. It wasn’t on her when I found her. I’m going to the hospital to be with her. You have Reyes out yet?” I reply, feeling so fucking numb right now.
“You go be with her. We got the rest handled. We’re waiting to talk to the officer. He will be out soon. I’ll send him to you when we’re done. Love you, son. She’s strong and will pull through. She hasn’t made it this far for it to end here,”he reassures me, but it’s hard to think that way after what I just saw.
“Love you too.”And with that, I hang up the phone. No longer able to hold my emotions in. Fuck, this is bad. She’s hurt, and there’s no telling where Luis is.“FUCK!”I scream into the car while throwing punch after punch into my steering wheel. It can’t end like this! I won’t allow it.
Chapter 3
Raven
You’ll never be good enough for anyone, it’s better this way. To end it all now before you fall in love with them. No more bleeding yourself out, no more blades. The demons will never let me rest. I can faintly hear people talking while I am being jostled around. I can feel him, one of my guys, as he grabs my hand and squeezes. I want to open my eyes, I’m trying, but I can’t. My whole body hurts, and my eyes feel glued shut. Then everything goes black again, and I’m left with a coldness I’ve never experienced before. I’m alone; I’ll always be alone.
“She’s trying to give up,”I can hear a man yell, but they aren’t wrong. Let me go, it’s better for everyone that way. My guys will be better off without me in their life, that’s the only reason all this is happening. Me, it’s all because of me.Bret won’t ever give Luis back if I’m still here. I’ve been a pawn in his game for far too long and now I’ll be off the board. The light is right there, I can see it. I can damn near touch it.
Beeeep. Then my body is jerked from where I’m laying and it feels like I was just struck in the chest by lightning. It happens again, then more commotion as I’m moved around again. Lights pass over my eyes and I just want to open them, then I hear it. Damien’s voice, faintly next to me. Please, please let me see him. One last time, just to see one of the loves of my life before I leave this shit world.
Chapter 4
Damien
