Before Cole pulled up.
“Get in, and hurry. I saw two bikes headed in the opposite direction. I think I know who was watching you,” he said.
I slid Josie into the backseat. “Astrid, get in with her. I’ll ride up front with Cole.”
The fact that he even mentioned bikes told me everything I needed to know, and I quickly pulled my phone out to call Brooks.
But when my ass touched the passenger’s seat of Cole’s car, a phone call from Brooks came rushing through.
“Tell me you have something,” I said as we pulled away from the hospital.
“I’ve got more than something. I know who beat up Josie. We need church. You with Cole?”
I nodded. “We’re heading back to the clubhouse. I’ve got Astrid with me. Josie will need a room.”
“She can have mine!” Archer yelled in the background.
I furrowed my brow. “You with the rest of the guts?”
“Yep. We’re already here. You guys keep your wits about you and get back here, though. We have a lot of talking to do.”
I hung up the phone. “Cole?”
He cleared his throat. “Yep?”
I looked over at him. “Step on it. We need to get back, and fast.”
We raced through town and didn’t once stop until we pulled up to the clubhouse. Brooks was the first to greet us on the porch before he leapt off, charging for the backseats. I slid out and watched Brooks embrace his sister before we all helped Josie out of the car.
And one by one, I watched the guys’ jaws drop open at the sight of her.
“Jesus fuck,” Brooks whispered.
“What in the ever-loving hell?” Tanner murmured.
“Put her in Archer’s room, Brooks,” Cole said with command, “and Archer, can you get my suitcases out from beneath my bed and drag them in there? I’m gonna need every tool in my belt to get her back in working order.”
“I don’t wanna…” Josie murmured.
She groaned in pain and I halted everything so she could speak.
“What was that?” Astrid asked.
Josie opened her eyes for the first time and tears mixed with blood streaked her cheeks.
“I don’t wanna… be… a burden,” she choked out.
Astrid kissed her cheeks and wiped away her tears. “You’ll never be anything near that, okay? Cole’s gonna take very good care of you, and I’m not leaving your side. I promise, okay?”
Josie sniffled. “Why did they do this to me?”
Astrid cried. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out, okay? I swear we will.”
Archer held out his arms. “I can take her. Let me get her in the room. You and Brooks really need to talk. You guys can fill us in later.”
I passed Josie off to Archer and there was a look behind his eyes that I couldn’t interpret. I mean, I saw him blinking back tears like most of the other men in the clubhouse. But there was something else as well. I didn’t have time to parse through it, though. I had way too much I needed to be filled in on, apparently.
And after watching Cole, Archer, and the girls disappear down the hallway, the rest of us got together in the living room.
Before Brooks spoke. “So, I backtracked to the dance club that Josie was at. The one that gives out those orange-and-yellow checkered bands? It’s a new dance club called Ecstasy, but they don’t do stripping.”
I furrowed my brow. “All right, so where does Josie work?”
Brooks pointed at me. “That’s where it gets interesting. It didn’t take much describing of Josie’s features to trigger the bartender’s memory. Apparently, Josie and a few of her co-workers go to Ecstasy frequently to wind down because that place is owned by the same people who own the strip club she works at. Or at least they used to own it.”
Finn walked over toward us. “What do you mean, used to?”
Tanner parted the circle and stood beside me. “Who were the original owners?”
Brooks held up his hand. “Just let me finish. The owners of both Ecstasy and the strip club—which is called Karma, by the way—are retirees. They came this way from the East Coast to try and have the kind of retirement they wanted, and it was the wife’s dream to own a club and the husband’s dream to own a strip joint.”
“Some couple,” I said with a chuckle.
Brooks grinned, but it faded quickly. “I was able to talk with them, and they told me a very interesting story about how four men in black leather jackets came into their office last week, dropped a bag full of cash on their desk, and told them it was the down payment for their strip club. Said they wanted to buy the damn thing off them.”
I blinked. “How much was the down payment for?”
Brooks eyed me hotly. “Four hundred grand.”
Finn whistled lowly. “Holy shit, that’s a serious down payment.”
Brooks linked his fingers behind his head. “I had Tanner quickly pull public records of that place, and from the square footage of the strip club and where it’s located, four hundred grand is about half the payment of buying out the building altogether. These ‘guys in black leather jackets’ are paying well above market price for that shit.”
I blinked. “You don’t think…?”
Tanner sighed. “Actually, we know. Tell them about the footage, Brooks.”
All of us fell silent as Brooks chewed on the inside of his cheek. And when I saw his face redden with frustration, I didn’t even have to hear the words to know it was true.
“The Black Flags have taken over Karma, and that’s who did such a number on Josie,” he said.
And I knew, then and there, I’d be able to keep my promise to Astrid.
Because I’d slaughter every single one of them without batting a fucking eyelash.
Sneak Peak at Archer
Hearing Josie hiss in pain with every step we took not only broke my heart, but enraged me beyond belief. The idea that there were still men in this world that could harm women like this without batting an eyelash made me hungry for their blood. My arm gingerly draped around Josie’s waist. I didn’t want her to feel as if I were taking advantage of a situation, despite the fact that I thought she was breathtakingly gorgeous.
You know, beneath the bruises and the stitches and the blood still caked on her face.
“In here. Cole’s waiting for you,” I said.
She paused. “Wh-wh--who’s Cole?”
I swallowed down my anger at the fear still laced in her voice. “He’s one of our guys. Used to be a combat medic. He can help clean you up and get you something for the pain. Is that okay?”
She slowly looked over at me. “And--who are you?”
I tried my best to smile. “Archer. The name’s Archer. I’ve been running with this crew for a few years now.”
Her lower lip quivered. “Can I lay down?”
Cole poked his head out of his room at the end of the hallway. “Yes, you can. It’ll help me work better if you’re laying down, anyway.”
Fear rushed behind Josie’s eyes and I shushed her softly. She laid her head against my shoulder and I ushered her down the hallway, trying not to concentrate on the mixture of tears and blood gracing my t-shirt. I helped her into Cole’s room where he already had his trunks of utensils and shit he needed splayed out everywhere.