That wasn’t a question.
“I will,” I said.
“We don’t want anything else to happen to her.These guys would have to be real fucking stupid to try to hit her again, but they hit a woman in the first place, so we know they’re not geniuses.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.“I’ve got her.”
Mason stepped in.“What about the pipeline guys?Those guys have been rolling in and out for weeks.A lot of them seem to be wandering into the bar.Adley said this wasn’t the first time she had seen those guys.”
“No one in town had seen them before, so it makes sense that they are part of the pipeline,” Pipe agreed.
“Take Thorn,” Wrecker said.“Ask around and see what you can find out.”
Mason nodded.“We’ll head out this afternoon.”
Wrecker and Dad stayed in the backroom while Mason, Pipe, and I headed back to the common room.
“I’m gonna go find Thorn.Probably going to have to drag him out of bed.”Mason headed down the hallway toward Thorn’s room.
I finished my coffee by the bar.
Pipe called to me.“You good?”
“Yeah.”I didn’t have any other choice but to be.“I’m just gonna try to sleep for a couple of hours,” I added, “then check on Star or head over to the hotel in town to see if they have anyone new checking in.”
He studied me for a second, eyes sharp.“Don’t do anything reckless.”
“Not my style.”
“Good,” he said.“Because we don’t need that.”
I nodded once and headed down the hallway to my room.
The door shut behind me with a quiet click.
I kicked off my boots and left them where they landed, then shrugged out of my cut and dropped it over the back of the chair like it weighed nothing.My shirt followed, tossed aside without thought.
I didn’t bother turning on a light.
The bed creaked when I collapsed onto it.Exhaustion hit all at once now that I wasn’t holding myself upright out of pure will.My muscles ached.My head buzzed.My body finally gave up the fight.
I stared at the ceiling for half a second.
Star’s face filled my mind without invitation.
I exhaled, slow and heavy, and my eyes slid shut before I could stop them.
Just a couple of hours.
That was the plan.
The last thing I thought before sleep dragged me under was that I’d be back at the hospital before the sun went down.
Chapter Five
Star
The doctor had kind eyes and the unfortunate habit of delivering bad news like it was a compliment.
