“What do you mean?” The smallest hint of panic coated the simplequestion.
I choked a bit before the words left my throat. “It’s not good,brother.”
“Bear, you fucking need to spit it out.” His voice was low andeven.
“Fuck, man. H-he was shot. There was nothing we could have done. We walked right into their goddamned trap like fucking idiots.” My voice crackled as the thick words forced themselvesout.
“Who? How? What can I do?” The sounds of his boots stomping down the stairs of his houseechoed.
“The Vilas guys need some time. Ryder is his heir. Between Holt and Ryder, they will let us know what needs to be done. Right now, all we can do is reach out to connections and try to figure out who is truly behind this. We know Sinners wereinvolved.”
“They’re too small of an organization to have the balls or manpower to go to war with us.” Buck was right; there had to be something more to all ofthis.
“I am about halfway back to Atlanta. I will call Blaz and Maccon in themorning.”
“Safe home, man. Talktomorrow.”
“Aye, brother. We will make thisright.”
“Nothin’ can make this right. Regicide will never be all right.” I could hear the twisting of Buck’s heart in his words. It mirrored mine. Rage and sorrow collided as we tried to accept our newreality.
After taking a piss and washing my hands, I made my way back through the store. “Have a nice mornin’, darlin’.” I nodded at the clerk on my way out. She never muttered a word all the while her eyes stayed glued onme.
Jaxon was leaning up against his bike, waiting forme.
“Ready to get home?” I asked, throwing my left leg over myHarley.
“That’s a damnunderstatement.”
* * *
We were onlya few miles out from our exit. The road was clear and quiet, it had ben at least an hour since we had seen any other vehicles on the abandoned highway. I could feel the exhaustion from the last couple of days starting to weigh me down. It felt like it had been years since I had truly slept. A flickering light caught my eye just up ahead, off on the shoulder. Right as I was about to signal to Jaxon, he whistled. He must have been seeing the same thing Iwas.
There was a motorcycle on its side, the headlight flickering, the engine making a low crying sound. I flew off my bike, rushing to the aid of the rider who was sprawled out in the damp grass just a few feet from the overturnedbike.
Throwing my helmet to the side, I yelled to Jaxon, “Call 9-1-1!”
“On it,” he responded and I could hear him pushing the buttons on his cellimmediately.
I ripped the helmet off of the injured, passed-out rider and was shocked to find that it was a woman. I checked for a pulse—it was faint, but there. She wasn’t breathing. Without second-guessing it, I started CPR. The song “Staying Alive” played in my head just like the instructor had taught me in the class I had taken in high school when I was getting my lifeguard certification. At the time, I’d thought it was the most ludicrous thing on the damn planet, but in that moment, itworked.
I had no idea how long I was pumping on her chest, if Jaxon was talking or not, or even when the responders arrived. It wasn’t until a paramedic pulled me off of her that my brain snapped back intofocus.
The flashing lights of the ambulance stung my eyes as I ran next to the rolling gurney. I was about to jump into the bus with her when Jaxon’s hand gripped my arm firmly, pulling meback.
“Let’s follow them to the hospital. Let them do theirjobs.”
With wide eyes, I gaped at my VP as we stood next to our bikes. He was right, but it took him shouting in my face a few more times to get me to snap out of my autopilot protector mentality. In the moment we’d found that woman, she had become my responsibility. It was my job to make sure she was going to be allright.
Jaxon’s deep voice broke through the air, “Bear! Get a fucking grip!” he yelled again, barely registering as he pulled me over to where I had thrown my own back to theground.
I pulled my helmet back on, jumped on my bike and hauled ass to follow the flashing lights of the ambulance to the closest emergencyroom.
Chapter 2
Scarlett
Hoursbefore
