“It was Omen, right?” I asked. I knew it was, but I needed to hear it.
“Yeah, sugar, it was.”
“Who shot him?” I asked. “I know you aren’t supposed to tell me stuff like this, but I need to know, please.”
He sighed. “I don’t know for sure. He was hit twice, both bullets were .45 ACP, which means it was either your brother or me, or one from each of us.”
I nodded. That was enough for me for right now. “Um, I told Shannon I would come out and see if I could get an update on Boar. Have you heard anything?”
“Yeah, one of the nurses came out about 20 minutes ago and said things weren’t as bad as they thought when they originally got in there. She said he was doing okay and should be out of surgery,” he looked down at his watch, “any time now.”
I tugged on his shirt to get him to lean forward so I could kiss his cheek. “Thanks. I’ll be in the waiting room.”
I left him where he was and headed back to Shannon. She hugged me tightly when I delivered the update on Boar. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me, to God, or who knows. She let me go and took a seat in one of the chairs. She straightened and squared her shoulders. “Did someone kill that little bastard?”
I couldn’t help myself, I giggled. “I asked almost the exact same thing moments ago.” Glancing around the room, I noticed Phoenix had taken a seat near Dash. Phoenix nodded his head once. “Uh, he’s in police custody, here at the hospital. He was shot and fell into a bear trap or something. Apparently, he is paralyzed now. In any event, he’s going to jail when he gets out of here.”
She sighed with relief and almost immediately stiffened again. “What about my sister? She can’t be let go.”
Phoenix leaned forward and kept his voice low, “She won’t be, but let’s save that discussion for the clubhouse, yeah?”
She lowered her head. “Yes, of course. My apologies, Phoenix.”
Carbon came walking into the waiting room, wearing only his cut over his bare torso. He had a bulky bandage on his upper arm and was holding it close to his body. Before I could ask, he met my eyes and stated, “I’m fine. It’s a small flesh wound, but apparently, I’m a bleeder.” He shrugged. “How are Coal and Boar? Any word?”
“Boar is doing okay right now, should be coming out of surgery soon. Last I heard, it was still touch and go for Coal. He lost a lot of blood…” Phoenix trailed off, his gaze fixed on the wall.
Just then, Ember rushed through the door, startling everyone in the room. “Daddy! I need to talk to you, in private. Right now!” She was damn near hysterical.
Phoenix stepped into the hallway with Ember. Damn it, he closed the door when he left. I desperately wanted to know what had my friend so upset. Harper leaned forward, “I think I need to use the restroom. Please excuse me.”
“Sit your ass down, Harper. You’re not going out there to eavesdrop,” Carbon ordered.
“Since when do I take orders from you?” she huffed, her plan clearly thwarted.
Carbon smirked. “Since I-”
He was interrupted by Phoenix storming back into the room with Ember right behind him. “Byte, I need you to look up something, like now. Do you have what you need for that?”
“Depends, Prez. What is it?”
“Birth records,” Phoenix said flatly. “For Coal.”
“I can probably use my phone for that. I assume he wasn’t born as Coal Martin since he was adopted by the Martins. Adoption records are usually sealed with a ridiculous amount of security. You got anything else to go on?” Byte asked.
Phoenix swallowed audibly. “Yeah, can you pull up any records listing Annabelle Burnett as the mother, particularly on the same day Ember was born?”
I sucked in a breath. “Does that mean…?”
Ember turned to face me with tear-filled eyes. “We don’t know. He, Dad, and I have the same blood type and it’s rare. When I donated, I found out that Coal and I have the same birthday. He’s adopted, he grew up on the farm...it just seems likely that he might be-”
Byte broke in, “He’s your brother, your twin brother.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Duke
I walked into an eerily silent waiting room. Everyone was sitting there with mouths agape, eyes wide, not saying a word. “What happened?” I barked, causing some of the girls to jolt.
