He doesn’t say a word, just starts moving things on the table as the other brothers seem to be getting Jimmy ready for…Oh my God, are they planning on doing surgery on my big brother? This place isn’t close to being sterile. And how do I even know if any of them have medical training? Just when I get ready to let loose, I hear a coarse voice behind me by the hallway. Turning, I see Blue Eyes leaning against the wall, the brother with almost white hair behind him. I can tell he’s still in pain, but this is serious.
“Cobalt, I don’t want Dead Man Walking touching my brother. He’s the reason he’s hurt in the first place. How do I know that he even knows what he’s doing? If anyone has to cut my brother, let Hurricane do it.”
The man in question’s head jerks up and his two-colored eyes stare at me with something like admiration and confusion in his eyes. Then he flips to Incubus and finally Cobalt, who just shakes his head. Oh, I’ve hit on something, though Blue Eyes doesn’t give me a second to try and figure it out.
“Darlin’, look at me. First, yeah, not gonna lie, we did rough your brother up because he’s gotten himself, and what looks to be you, in some serious shit. But he was already beat to shit when we found him. None of us hit him too hard ’cause he was on his way to the burner, so it didn’t matter.”
Every single head in that room jerks to Blue Eyes. Not sure why I again ask the dumb question.
“Blue Eyes, what’s a burner?”
His head drops and I hear him let out a huge breath of air. Oh God, what were they planning on doing with my brother? When he lifts his head, I see the answer in those stunning eyes. My hands shoot to my face as I feel like I’m going to pass out. Where are we and who are these freaks?
“Julie, listen to me closely, as I’m gonna be totally honest with ya. Your brother did us wrong on a couple of things. He pissed off the wrong folks also, which happened to be people we have worked with in the past. A favor was asked and we were in the process of fulfilling that request when Stash started talking. I saw a way out for all of us and took it. Now we can continue to try and hash this out but, from the looks of it, Stash doesn’t have a lot of time. You can either let Incubus get started on trying to save your brother’s life, or we can call an ambulance. If he makes it to the hospital, neither of you will ever leave, well, outside of a body bag. And do you know how I know this… because yourfriend, Salvatore, offered the Kings of Anarchy a million dollars to murder both you and your brother. So whatever you have on the Mob must be substantial ’cause, Darlin’, they ain’t playing. Ball’s in your court.”
My head automatically tilts as I try to get inside Blue Eyes’ head, though his face shows absolutely nothing. Hearing someone walking toward me, I’m shocked to see Incubus standing off to the side of me, his face also blank.
“How can I trust you to save him? Are you a doctor or surgeon or just playing at one? I can’t lose him too, Incubus.”
His face instantly shows a trace of pain before it goes blank again. He raises a hand and gently puts it on my shoulder. Then he lays it on the line.
“Julie, I’ve never really spoken about this, but maybe I feel like I owe you. To answer your questions, yes, was a medic like Hurricane when we served. Came back and, yeah, I have or, well, had a license to practice medicine. Not going to go into details but something happened with the administrators who ran the facility. Long story short, I got framed and was given a choice to stay and be tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison, for only God knows how long. Or leave and never practice medicine again. Cobalt and I have been friends forever and when he started to prospect in his dad’s club, after what happened to me, I put my hat in too. The rest is history. I will tell you that over the years I’ve been in the Kings of Anarchy club, I’ve saved quite a few lives. But the bottom line is you have to trust me, and I can’t make you. Will tell ya, looking at Stash, you don’t have a lot of time to decide.”
He doesn’t take his hand off my shoulder, which for some reason is comforting. I look over my shoulder to see Cobalt watching us very closely, though he must feel me looking at him ’cause his eyes shift to mine. I mouth, “Do you trust him?”
He replies with no hesitation, “With my life.”
Turning back to Incubus, I shift so his hand falls and I see the flash of something cross his face before I walk into his body, putting my arms around his waist. Instantly, I feel him tense up as the entire room takes in a huge breath. I can hear gasps and shit, but I don’t care. I need to do this and, somehow, I think Incubus knows ’cause he doesn’t return the hug but also doesn’t step back. I lean back, looking up into those dead eyes, praying I’m making the right decision.
“I’m trusting you, please don’t make me regret it. Incubus, please save my brother.”
To my utter shock, he leans down without touching my body and presses his lips to my forehead for a brief second. Then he turns and walks to where Hurricane, Mammoth, and a few other brothers are waiting on him. Incubus starts barking orders and once again goes into the kitchen, I’m guessing to wash his hands. I’m watching him so intently that when thick arms wrap me up from behind, I almost jump up off the floor. His voice sends shivers down my spine and I don’t know if they are the good or bad ones.
“You made the right decision, Darlin’. If anyone can save your brother, it’s Incubus. Like I said, trust him with my own life. Not sure you want to watch this, so come on, let’s sit in the library while they start.”
Did I just hear this man say the library? What kind of motorcycle club is this that they have a library? What is it filled with, a bunch of Harley Davidson books? I nod at him and he leads us to a smaller room with bookshelves from the floor to the ceiling, with all kinds of paperbacks and hardcovers. When Cobalt sits in one of the oversized chairs, I wander around and am shocked at the different genres. Again, these men are more than what they want you to think. When I see a familiar book cover, I almost laugh out loud. The red lettering and the skull face actually has me giggling. I grab the paperback, turningto Cobalt, and showing it to him. He gives me a grin before shocking me to hell.
“Yeah, Sparkles likes those books, so she’s got herself a couple of shelves now for her books too. Do you know that series or author? Sparkle just loves him or her.”
Glancing down, I just can’t believe it.What a small worldis my thought as I sit in the other oversized chair and start to reread the second book—Shadow, in one of my favorite series—The Devil’s Handmaidens Motorcycle Club Timber-Ghost, Montana Chapter.
SEVEN
COBALT
Damn, can’t believe it’s only been a week since we brought the brother-sister team to the clubhouse. It was touch and go for a while for Stash, as Incubus discovered he had a ruptured spleen. As he explained to Julie: usually, if it’s a small tear, observation and rest can usually allow it to heal. Unfortunately, Stash wasn’t that lucky. There was, according to Incubus, a moderate laceration which required him to perform a splenorrhaphy, which repairs the damage. Thank God it worked out because Incubus said that Stash was in hemorrhagic shock, which happens when a person loses large amounts of blood. Incubus was able to stop the bleeding, then he repaired the tear. The concern was the loss of blood. Since we don’t keep blood on hand in the clubhouse, Incubus approached Julie to see if she and Stash had the same blood type, which they did. Julie donated blood to her brother to make sure there would not be further side effects from his injury. Stash is doing surprisingly well, under the circumstances. He is following Incubus’s orders without question. It’s actually surprising to me to watch my brother start to form a friendship with someone other than the men in this club. Not many of my brothers understand just how intelligent Incubus is. That library was put together specificallyfor Incubus so he had a place within the club to engage in his favorite pastime, which is reading. Yeah, what an oxymoron… our enforcer, whose job is to eliminate any and all threats, finds pleasure in reading when not protecting our club and members. Personally, I know how hard it is for him not to be practicing medicine, but he’s managed to blend into the club effortlessly. It’s been seven days that Stash has been under close observation, on very strict orders as far as activity. After a day or so he was allowed to get up and walk around. Had to send Rocket to pick up a walker because Incubus didn’t want Stash to lose his balance and fall. One of the club girls, Raquelle, has been helping Julie keep an eye on her brother. It gives Julie some time to take a break, read a book, or just get some sleep. The circles under her eyes give away all the time she’s been awake keeping an eye on her brother. The only thing good that’s come from Stash’s injury and emergency surgery is, I don’t have to worry about either of them trying to leave the clubhouse.
Sitting at my desk, I’m going through some of the invoices Sparkle dropped off when my phone rings. Looking down I cringe, but know if I ignore it, he will just keep calling and calling. So I pick it up, knowing what I say will piss him off right off the bat.
“Hey, Sally, how the hell are ya?”
He takes in a deep breath, then lets it out before he growls for me to quit calling him a bitch’s name. I wait ’cause two can play his game. Finally, he engages.
“Cobalt, how are you? I haven’t heard from you since I made my generous offer regarding Stash and his nosy as fuck sister. Has your club decided to not only take this job but find those two ungrateful bitches? I can’t imagine what that kind of money could do for your club and brothers.”
Laughing, I let him stew for a few minutes. Then I drop my bomb again.
“Sally, guess you didn’t hear me before. We are not taking this job or any other offers in the future. We are willing to provide protection and cleanup services, like always, but if you are looking for hands to do this type of dirty work, you have the wrong club. Told you we’ve retired from that part of the business and, Salvatore, listen to me closely. We mean it and won’t be changing our minds anytime soon, no matter what is offered.”
