She shakes her head. “No, I already called them. But if you call them too, at least they’ll be expecting you. I don’t want them turning up and thinking you’re the bad guys. I didn’t go through all this just to lose either of you now.”
Toot moves away, pulling his cell phone out to call the police, giving me and Delphi a little space.
“Where’s Theo?”
“He should be at the clubhouse by now.”
“Jesus, Delphi. One of these days, you guys are going to give me a heart attack. What the fuck happened?”
She glances over to Toot, who is on the phone, and lowers her voice. “I’ll explain everything later. I just need you to trust me here, okay?”
I narrow my eyes at her. Something isn’t adding up. “What did you do?” I whisper.
“Later, I promise.”
“Dispatch said they’d already got a call and cops are minutes out,” Toot states, dropping back down again. “I’m going to look at this arm of yours now, and you’re going to be a good girl and let me.”
“You bossy with all women, Toot? Or am I just the lucky one?” Delphi mumbles.
Her skin is cold to the touch. I worry she’s going into shock. I slip off my cut before yanking my sweatshirt over my head and wrapping it around her.
“Don’t answer that, Toot, or I’ll cut out your tongue.”
“So touchy,” he grumbles, pulling the bloody towel away.
I slip my cut back on as I hear the sirens approaching.
“Well, the good news is you’ll live,” Toot tells her. I reach over and punch the cavalier motherfucker, having reached my limit.
He rubs his jaw and sighs before focusing back on Delphi. “Bad news is, it’s not a graze. You have a bullet wedged in the fatty part of your arm.”
“Did you just say I have fat arms? Kruger, Toot’s being mean to me,” she complains, her eyes slipping shut.
Before he can say anything, cops burst through the door, guns raised, pointing at us.
“Hands in the air where we can see them.”
Both me and Toot raise our hands.
“I’m the one who just called 911. I’m Toot. This is Kruger, and this woman on the ground is Delphi. She’s been shot in the arm, and judging from the vomit and her current state, it looks like she’s had a seizure.”
“And you’re an expert?” one of the cops snaps.
Toot doesn’t rise to the bait. “No, but Delphi has epilepsy. This isn’t our first rodeo.”
“This guy’s dead,” someone calls out, but I don’t need to turn to see who they’re talking about.
“This one’s got a pulse. Get the paramedics in here.”
“You two, get down on the ground and put your hands behind your backs.”
I curse under my breath. “Sir, my woman’s head is on my lap. I need my hands to at least ease it to the ground.”
“Fine, but any unnecessary actions and you’ll be in a world of pain.”
“Are you threatening him?” Toot hisses. “His woman is bleeding and was unconscious when he got here five minutes ago.”
I let Toot keep their attention as I gently lower Delphi to the ground. Her eyes flutter open as she looks up at me.
