I reached back to rub the back of my neck in frustration and discovered a bandage of sorts back there. “Hey, what’s this on my neck?”
He looked everywhere but directly at me, “Uh, you had a small cut there. Just needed one stitch.”
“You’re lying.”
He whirled around and looked directly into my eyes, “You had a small cut there that needed one stitch.”
I knew what he was doing. He was telling me the truth without telling me the truth. “Tell me, Dash, how did I get the cut?”
He glared at me, “Can’t say. Club business.”
Without thinking I jumped to my feet and yelled, “How is my neck club business?” Then, I promptly bent forward and clutched my side in pain.
“You know, you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Let me see how much damage you just did,” he said, clearly annoyed with me.
I let him gently lift my shirt and look at the stitches in my side. “They’re all still in there. You must have just pulled them real good. At least it isn’t bleeding. You are going to have to take it slow for a few days while you heal.”
“Okay, I get it. Now, can I pee, please?” I asked, my irritation as evident as his.
He gestured to the bathroom like a game show host, “Be my guest.”
I did my business and brushed my teeth. My hair looked like I had stuck my finger in an electrical socket, so I quickly pulled it up into a messy bun. Once I was as refreshed as I could be, I returned to the room to find Dash lounging on the bed and Phoenix seated in a chair next to him.
“Have a seat, darlin’. Dash and I need to talk to you and ask you some questions.”
That didn’t sound good. I reluctantly took a seat at the edge of the bed.
“First, how are you feeling this morning?” Phoenix asked.
I grinned and said, “I was doing okay until I pulled my stitches when I jumped out of bed because Dash said he was going to spank me.”
Phoenix’s eyes widened and he turned to Dash, “The fuck is she talking about?”
Dash was holding his hands up in a placating manner. “It wasn’t like that, Prez. I was just trying to get her to let me help her get out of bed. I said if she ripped her stitches I would tan her ass. I wasn’t serious about it.”
Phoenix just stared at him. Finally, he scoffed and said, “Yeah, we’ll talk about that shit later.” Phoenix then directed his attention to me, “Got a few things I need to tell you. Most of it you ain’t gonna like. Then, I got a few things I need to ask you. You probably ain’t going to like that either, but I need you to stay calm, listen to what I’m saying, and answer my questions as truthfully as you can.”
Well, now I really didn’t have a good feeling about this. “Sure. I’ll try. Go ahead.”
He audibly swallowed, “Last night, after Patch fixed up your wounds, he checked you over to make sure you didn’t have any other injuries.” He paused for a moment. He seemed nervous, like he was having trouble gathering his thoughts, and that did nothing to ease my anxiety. “There’s no easy way to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it. He found a tracking device in your neck. Do you know what that is?”
My hand flew to my mouth and I gasped. I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded. I knew exactly what a tracking device was and I could not believe that they found one in my neck. Well, I could believe it, I just didn’t want to.
He continued, “Patch removed it, which is why you have a bandage on your neck. Did you know it was there or do you have any idea when it was put there?”
How could they? Those lying, evil people at that farm! Oh, something was going to be done about them. They couldn’t be allowed to continue doing things like this. I tried to compose myself, but my anger was at an all-time high. “No, I didn’t know it was there, but I do know when it was put there.” Both Dash and Phoenix looked at me, confusion evident. “About a year ago, I had a physical with the physician that came to the orphanage. Everything was the same as always until he told me he found a suspicious mole on my neck that needed to be removed. He said it was so small that it would be easier to remove it instead of biopsying it. I didn’t put it together at the time, but he had everything he needed to remove the mole with him that day, like he knew he would be doing it. I’m sure he was implanting the tracker and not removing a mole.”
“Patch said you didn’t have any scars back there. Removing a mole would leave at least some kind of mark, so you’re probably right.”
“So they’ve known where I was this whole time? Do you think that’s who shot me last night?”
“Assuming they were actively using the tracker, yes, they have known your location the entire time you’ve been gone. Is that who shot you? I can’t say for sure, but I think it probably was.”
“Why now? Why wait? I’ve been here for over two weeks now.”
“That’s true, but last night was the first time you’ve been in a place where they could get to you. They can’t get close enough to the clubhouse to target you and they’re not going to risk being caught taking a shot at you in broad daylight with a town full of witnesses.”
“That answers my first question. They have been actively tracking me.”
