He already had the phone pressed to his ear. “Yeah, just pulled up to our apartment and the front door’s been kicked in. Looks like the place has been trashed.”
“Yeah, we’re still outside. Yeah, got it. See you in a few,” he said and disconnected the call. “Copper wants us to wait outside. He’s on his way, and I’m sure he’s not coming alone.”
“I don’t think anyone’s in there,” I said.
But as soon as the words left my mouth, a pained groan filled the air. “Help me. Fuck, please,” a garbled voice said.
Ignoring my President’s orders, I entered our apartment with my gun leading the way. I took two steps over the threshold and saw a bloodied and bruised Grant on the floor.
“Fuck! Coal, get in here, now!” I bellowed as I knelt down beside him. “Hey, man. It’s gonna be okay.”
“Shit,” Coal cursed. “I’m calling an ambulance.”
“Who did this?” I asked.
“Gym guys,” he croaked before his eyes rolled back into his head.
“Grant!” I shouted. “Grant! Stay with me, man!”
A hand landed on my shoulder as someone else knelt on the other side of Grant. “He’s all right. He’s probably been fighting to stay conscious until someone got here,” Judge said from behind me.
“Did he say who did it?” Copper asked.
“He said, ‘Gym guys,’ when I asked him.”
“Motherfuckers are gonna pay for this,” Copper grumbled.
“Splint’s here,” Batta called from the door.
Splint and his partner didn’t waste any time. They had Grant loaded into the rig and were on the way to the hospital in less than three minutes.
“Judge, you and Batta go to the hospital. I’ll meet you there after we finish up here.”
“Got it, Prez. Officer Dunk and Officer Underwood just pulled up,” Judge said.
“Thank fuck those two are working tonight,” Copper said.
Officer Dunk entered the room and glanced around briefly before directing her attention to Copper. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
Copper shook hands with both officers. “Ain’t that the truth. Not sure if you’ve met our newest members. This is Kellan Ward—we call him Savior—and this is my cousin Coal Martin-Black.”
“So, what happened tonight?” Officer Dunk asked.
After filling her in, we went through each room to see if anything was missing. Neither one of us had anything of real value in the apartment, but the television was busted and the living room furniture was ruined.
“Do you have any idea who could be responsible for this?” Officer Underwood asked.
“I asked them the same thing as soon as I got here,” Copper said. “They haven’t been in town long enough to piss anyone off.”
“But the one who just went to the hospital is from Devil Springs, correct?” Officer Dunk asked.
“Yeah, he is,” Copper said.
“Once we finish up here, we’ll head over to the hospital to get his statement.”
After another thirty minutes or so of answering questions, we were finally allowed to go check on our friend.
11
