Wren sags a little in my arms. Taco finds another chair, and I help Wren sit in it. Quickly, I remove my jacket and cover them. “Sit, sweetheart. We need to get you seen by Greer.”
Wren puts their hand over their wound, blood staining their palm. “Wait. Where…is the…money?”
“Crypto wallet, on my phone,” Chase says. “All of it. You can have it. Just…let me go.”
“You should be saying your prayers. It’s your lucky day—you’re going quick, you sick fuck.” Shade shoves his hand into Chase’s pocket, pulls out his phone, puts it to his thumb, and it opens. Then, he hands it to Wren.
“What are you doing with it?” Grudge asks.
“I’m moving the funds to a holding account,” Wren says. Their hands are shaking as they work, and I fear it’s blood loss. “I can decide what…to do with it…later.”
Wraith walks over. “I found some rope.” He flips it up and over a beam in the ceiling before making a knot.
“No,” Chase shouts as Atom gets up and lifts the chair off him.
He tries to fight, but Atom simply wraps his arms around the man’s chest. Between him and Shade, two of the biggest bastards I know, they restrain him without a mark.
“Where’s Greer and Butcher?” I ask Smoke, worried about Wren.
“Twenty minutes out,” he replies. He slices a strip off his T-shirt and presses it against Wren’s wound. “We need to keep pressure on this.”
Grudge pulls all the papers off the wall. “You did what we talked about, right?” When he turns, he’s looking straight at Wren.
“I did,” Wren says.
“Good.” Grudge smiles for the first time today.
I touch Wren’s cheek. “What did you do?”
Wren smiles, then winces again. “I changed…any mention of me…And…I?—”
“Save your energy,” Grudge says. “I spoke to Wren. Asked them to change their name in Chase’s files, change the Outlaws to the most lethal motorcycle club in Europe, and remove all trace of Vex and Calista. Everything else in there remains the same.”
Taco bursts in, holding a broom and a bottle of acid. “I found these. Best I can do to clean our way out and get rid of any blood.”
“We need to move,” Smoke says.
“I want…to do this,” Wren says. “I need…to.”
Wraith moves to hand them the loop he’s created. “Put it over his head, but then you need to get out of here.”
“Stop,” Grudge says, before they take it. “Wren’s leaving blood evidence if they touch it.”
“Put your hands over mine,” I say. I tug my gloves out of my pockets and put them on. I could just give Wren the gloves, but I want to help them do this.
Wren does as I say, their hands warm through the fabric.
Chase tries to move his head. “Fuck you,” he curses, spitting at me. It misses my face and lands on my shoulder.
But together, Wren and I lift the noose over his head.
“Get Wren and Catfish out of here, Wraith,” Grudge says. “You two need to go and ride towards Butcher. We’ll clean up. Trust us.”
“The blood,” Wren says.
“We’ll clean up.” Jackal reaches up and tightens the noose. “Even the stuff outside. Go. Just don’t touch anything on your way out.”
We leave the warehouse quietly. Wraith leads the way.
