“Hanging in there. No updates yet. The doctor should be coming back in soon though,” I say, and Zeke looks back over at me and nods.
“Anything on Luis yet?” Reyes asks. Zeke’s head drops, shaking in defeat.
“Not yet, son. We got some footage of the van leaving the shop though. Whoever it was, he was smart and didn’t put tags on it. The guys we know on the force are seeing what they can find. Not to mention the amount of people Eddie has on it. I’ve got a meeting with a couple of my guys later,” Zeke informs us.I need him back. Other than Raven, they are the only family I have.
“Did Reyes show you the folder?” I ask them both, trying to change topics. I can’t stand to think about him out there and what he’s going through. They give each other a questioning look and then look over at Reyes.
“What folder?” Zeke asks, looking back over at me.
Spinning toward the room door, I turn the handle and quietly push it open as we all walk in. Stepping over to the bedside table, I grab the folder and hand it to them.
“What’s that? Judging by the look on your faces, it’s nothing good,” Naomi chimes in, confusion crossing her tear-streaked face as she watches their facial expressions.
“So I took Raven for coffee the other morning, before all this shit happened, and as we were getting in the truck to leave, one of your guys,” I point to Eddie, “came up to my window and handed me this. He told us it was information that you had gotten on her stalker. Raven called him out and said he looked familiar. Apparently, he went with Marco to bring her car to the shop the day she dropped off her bike. He kinda took off after that. I thought it was a little suspicious, but thought little of it. This is what he handed me.” Reyes huffs a breath out, getting irritated all over again. Luis was our main computer guy. He knew how to get into everything and track anyone–other than Raven’s stalker, and now we know why. He was hiding amongst us the whole time. And it only pisses me off further because I didn’t have enough time to show my best friend.
“These are the specs for her bike and how to disassemble the brakes,” Eddie starts as he flips through the contents in the folder. “He was working for me? The whole fucking time? Raven said we should go through our employees the other day, but I didn’t get a chance to. Goddammit! We’re missing something. If she recognized him, I should have dug deeper right then,” Eddie almost yells. This man never gets mad. When it comes to his girls though, he doesn’t fuck around.
“This guy was right under our noses, using our own shit to cover his ass this whole time? I can’t believe this. We’ll get him. Period. No more running in circles. We know his face and can pull it from the gym's cameras. We just need to look up anything he may have that’s associated with his name. We’re bringing our brother back, and I’m getting my payment in blood for all the shit he’s done,” I reply, almost seething. I’ll be making this painful for him. He fucked with not only my brother but OUR girl.
“You're right. If she wakes up before we get him back, you know nothing will stop her from going too. Just keep that in mind. I don’t care if we make this a family event, but we will make sure she gets her payback for this. She’s been through enough in her life,” Eddie states, walking up beside her sleeping form and kissing her forehead.
As we sit there trying to come up with our next move, we stay in hushed tones. We want her to know we’re here, but we also know she needs to rest, to recover. The door slowly opens, and we all look up as the doctor walks in. He looks over at Raven before turning to us and filling us in with everything they plan to do over the next couple of days. Tomorrow they will take her to redo scans. If the swelling has gone down, they will start pulling her off the meds, and if everything is good, she should wake up by herself. We just don’t know how long that will take. As much as I want–noneed–for her to wake up, I need her to be okay, medically, even more.
“Alright guys, I’m out. Please call me when the results come back. I need to go to work and distract myself. If y’all need to go to the shop at all, I can come sit in for you too,” Naomi says, standing from the chair and hugging each one of us.
“Nah, we’re good. I made some calls, ensuring both shops will be covered until further notice. We’ll be here and will keep you filled in,” I reply. She nods and walks out the door.
“We’re headed out too. You call if you need us, no matter what. Please get some rest, you both look like hell,” Eddie says, him and Zeke both chuckling.
“Yeah, I gotta get a head start on digging up more on this guy,” Zeke adds. I just roll my eyes and laugh as they both walk out.
“I definitely think they were talking to you, brother. You look like you’ve been locked up or something,” I joke, not able to hold my laughter any longer. Giving me the fakest laugh he’s ever managed, he flips me the bird and slides his chair closer to the bed. We both grab one of her hands and rest our heads on them. Reyes pulls his phone out and puts on some music, turning it down low. Before I know it, my eyes are falling shut and I’m drifting off to sleep, to a world where our life isn’t in fucking shambles.
Chapter 7
Luis
Groaning, I move to pick my head up, trying to blink a few times to make my eyes focus enough to see where the hell I am. Everything looks so blurry, like I’m in a haze. I try to move my arms, but panic sets in when I realize I can’t. Looking up as I try shaking my arms again, my eyes widen when I hear chains rattle. My hands are cuffed, my arms hanging above me. My shoulders are screaming in pain, and the cuffs are biting into my skin. There’s no telling how long I’ve been here, everything aches.What the hell? Where am I?My mind starts running wild with thoughts. What even happened? I swear, if this is some kind of joke Raven is playing, I’m going to redden that sexy ass of hers.
Trying to turn and see my surroundings, I freeze and scream out in pain. My whole body lights up like it's on fire, and my voice sounds like I haven’t had water in a year. It’s now that I realize it’s pitch black in here with just a sliver of moonlight coming in through a small window. I try moving my legs next, but they are cuffed too. I’m definitely awake now, trying to takeinventory of my body. I stop and try to take a deep breath, only for pain to shoot up my body when I inhale.Okay, so somehow I may have broken ribs?My hands and feet feel numb.It’s that pins-and-needles feeling that’s making them feel cold.With what little breaths I can manage, I see the cold fog come from my lips.
“Okay, what the fuck is going on?” I croak out, only to be met with silence. Closing my eyes, I try to remember what the hell happened, and how I ended up here. The last thing I recall was working at the shop.
I must have passed out again, the heavy footsteps coming down the stairs wakes me up and has my head snapping in that direction.
“Well, well, well, if the man of the hour isn’t finally awake,” comes a voice that sounds vaguely familiar, but yet no one comes to mind.
“Where am I? And who the fuck are you?” I manage to say, every word feeling like sandpaper.
“Oh, don’t you know? I’m the guy who told you to leave what’s mine alone. What a waste that I had to kill her though. Tsk. Tsk. You really should have listened and just gave her to me.” He laughs maniacally, sending a chill up my spine.
“Wait, killed who?” I ask.NO! No, no, no!
“Raven!My Raven!She’s dead. She was going to make me a pretty penny, but y’all just couldn’t leave well enough alone. I had to take the next step. Don’t worry, you’ll be dead, just like her, soon enough, and your brothers won’t be far behind,” he says, but I stopped listening when he said Raven is dead.She can’t be!
“Noooo. You’re lying! You didn’t kill her!” I seethe, not believing one word he’s saying.
“Oh, but I did. Here, I’ll show you,” he replies, opening his phone up and showing me a picture of Raven. He took the photostanding over her. She’s laying on the ground, covered in blood, with her body scraped up, looking so broken. He swipes the picture and another one comes up. It’s a closer picture of her laying in a puddle of her own blood. Her eyes are closed, her beautiful hair now soaked with blood and covering her face as she lays there surrounded by the mangled pieces of her bike that are scattered along the pavement.
