The police were also present. It had taken some doing for them not to arrest Scar, whom they had mistakenly believed to be the perpetrator even though he was the one who had called 911. Well, technically Tally would have been the one to call. Not that it would have mattered overall. The police would have never gotten their hands on Scar, and God help them if they’d tried touching Tally, but thankfully it had been straightened out before any boys in blue died tonight.
Carlos was working with the locals, since Ranger’s and Becks’ disappearances were a Mount Grove active investigation. Thanks to the bar explosion, the kidnapping was back page news, and Ghost hoped to keep it that way. He did not want Ritchie or Cameron to panic under the attention and do something rash. Becks and Ranger—now just Becks—were safest if Ritchie and Cameron believed the police did not know anything about the stepsiblings’ involvement.
Which begged the question, why did they let Ranger go. Did they get what they needed out of him? If so, then what about Becks?
Ghost felt like something heavy was sitting on his chest. “He needs to be able to tell us where they were keeping them.” He couldn’t stop the sinking feeling that Becks was running out of time.
“Logistically, it doesn’t make sense to release Ranger,” Lucky pointed out. “Do you think he escaped or was let go?”
“Based on the shoe prints that were found at the side of the road, Scar thinks he was let go,” Bulldog answered. “But I agree with you that it doesn’t make sense.”
Ghost saw Tessa reenter the room, and without a word to his VP or SAA, bolted over to her. “Does he know where Becks is?”
Tessa shook her head, frowning. “He thinks they were being kept outside the Gates of Heaven, Ghost. I’m sorry, but I don’t think he’s going to be much help. Based on the amount of heroin in his system, it’s likely that he’s been high for days. Not to mention the torture and dehydration. He’s got some food in his system, but not much. His chest looks like someone was throwing stones at him. We’re prepping him now to help him through any withdrawal symptoms that may present.” From Tessa’s tone, it sounded like she expected there to be many. “We’ll need you to sign the paperwork to move him to the Psych Ward temporarily.”
Like most of the club who had joined as single men, they’d each signed over medical and financial power of attorney to Steel as president. Those who married had since changed that responsibility to their spouse or significant other. The rest, including Ranger, had been transferred to Ghost when he’d been voted in. Ghost’s had been Ranger until he’d married Becks.
“Can I see him?” Ghost would sign whatever it was Tessa recommended for Ranger’s care. He trusted her implicitly.
Tessa hesitated, but then nodded. “Just you, and very quickly. And Ghost?” She pointed a finger at him. “Donotlose your temper. Mentally he’s even worse right now than he is physically.”
Ghost did not take offense to her warning. He wasn’t doing too hot himself, but he was certainly doing better than Ranger. “I’ll behave. I just need to know what he knows.”
From Tessa’s expression, she had no hope that Ranger would be able to tell Ghost anything useful.
He followed Tessa back through the halls. This hospital was bigger than Mount Grove’s, so it took them a minute to get from the visitor waiting room to the emergency department. The hospital staff certainly weren’t happy about the number of bikers that had entered their hospital in the middle of the night, but they seemed to calm down some when Ghost ordered the club to help out the hospital staff in whatever way they could.
Ranger wasn’t in a secluded room, but on a bed behind a white curtain. He looked horrible. His white-blonde hair was greasy and matted. Bruises covered what skin Ghost could see, including circles around his wrists that indicated he’d been restrained. His face was flushed, though the rest of him looked clammy and sickly.
He was hooked up to an IV, along with monitors for his blood pressure and heart rate. His eyes were closed, and he kept twitching like he couldn’t even find peace in sleep.
Tessa touched his hair gently. “Ranger?”
He blinked his eyes open, and Ghost recognized the haunted look in them. “Becks,” he breathed out. His chest started to shake uncontrollably. “Becks. I need to find Becks.”
Ghost came around Ranger’s other side. “What do you remember? Do you know where you were kept?”
Ranger closed his eyes, shaking his head. “She kept singing to me, keeping me from floating away. I wanted to fly, Ghost.”
Ghost glanced up at Tessa, who looked like she was trying to hold back tears. He reached for Ranger’s hand, hoping to bring him back to reality. “Ranger. I need to find her.Please. Anything. Do you remember anything that will help me find her?”
Ranger licked his lips like he couldn’t get enough saliva into his mouth. “I told her not to sign. Told her I could take it. They won’t touch her. They need her pretty.”
Ghost let out a breath of relief. As much pity as he had for Ranger’s condition, it had sparked a new fear of what Becks was going through. Yet there was no stopping the joy he felt at the knowledge that Becks wasn’t being tortured too.
At least not physically.
As a sailor, Ghost was very aware that some of the deepest wounds were not visible. The trauma Becks had endured over these past several days was no less harrowing than her brother’s physical wounds, and just like with Ranger, Ghost would ensure Becks got whatever help and support she needed.
“Ranger,where? There has to be something you saw or heard, something you recognized.” Ghost was beyond desperate at this point, but Tessa was right that getting angry would help no one.
A tear rolled down Ranger’s cheek. “She’s waiting outside Heaven, man, but I don’t want her to go.”
Ghost opened his mouth to respond, but Tessa reached across the hospital bed and grabbed his arm. She shook her head. “He’s had enough.”
Ghost swallowed back his frustration. He needed to fight something, to destroy it. His body was still healing from the explosion, including the burns on his hands and chest, along with his cracked ribs, but he didn’t care. He would eviscerate anything that would bring him a step closer to finding Becks.
Ranger, though, was not that enemy. Ghost squeezed his hand before letting it go. “Get better, man. We’re all here for you.”
