“Dad and Sparky are with JJ and the twins. They thought I was dead, made out I was.”
“It’s all good, bro. We'll get you fixed up then we’ll go get them,” Luca says and goes to help him up. I lean down and take his other arm. Together, we get him over to the van and Angel takes over helping him while I whip out my phone and search for a local health clinic.
“Have you got cash to pay and possibly blackmail someone into helping him? Cause if we rock up and use guns and violence, we’ll have the cops chasing us and we ain’t got the time for that,” I ask Luca.
“It’ll be fine,” is all he says.
“Prospect!” I holler.
He jogs over. “You’ll ride my bike, I’ll drive the van.” I hand him the keys and warn, “You fuck my ride, even scratch it, I’ll shoot ya.”
“Got it. The van key is in the ignition.”
Luca slams the passenger side door shut and waves his hand for brothers to leave.
“We’ll follow you,” he tells me.
I slide in behind the wheel and set my phone up with the directions.
“If you fuckin’ die on me, I swear I'll dump you on the side of the road.”
His laughter is strained. “I ain’t got time to die, brother. Who's at the club with the old ladies?”
“Luca left Max, King, and Warren. I left our prospect there for extra measure.”
“I’m pretty sure the prospect is one of Hopper’s men.”
Frowning, I glance over at him then back on the road. “Our prospect?”
“Yeah. Call one of Luca’s guys and tell them to keep their eye on him, but don’t make anything obvious. I'll deal with it when we get back.”
I put the call in to King and bring up the directions back onto the screen when it’s done.
“What was your plan, anyhow, back there in the bathroom?”
“Clean myself up, then get help.”
“How the fuck did you get to the gas station?”
I've got to keep him talking, awake.
“I didn’t want to die. Holly believes in me to come home, I couldn’t let her down.”
I take the last corner, and the clinic comes into view. It's rundown and there are undesirable types hanging around out front.
Luca parks and runs over to Leo’s side as I bring the van to a stop by the entrance.
“You still with us, brother?”
“Yep, not gonna last much longer.”
“Stop talkin’ shit. Come on.” He helps him out and I jump out and run around the van, helping to carry him inside. No one outside gives a fuck as Leo drips blood over the sidewalk.
“What’s going on?” a doctor asks rushing over. “He needs to go to the hospital!”
Luca and I ignore him and carry Leo through the clinic as Angel opens treatment room doors looking for an empty one.
“He only needs stitches, doc. You fix him up, I'll donate ten grand to your clinic,” Luca tells him, leaving no room for any other answer than, okay.
