“Pip’s going to need to talk to you,” he tells him. “He’s found out some shit that might have started all this.”
“Pip the target?” Stormy asks.
Cowboy raises his chin. “Could be. Kincaid wanting revenge for personal reasons was one thing. Kincaid being used to get close to Pip to deliver him to someone else is another. That’s Pip’s thinking right now. He just doesn’t know how the pieces fit together.”
Road’s phone suddenly appears in his hand. He reads a text, then touches Stormy’s uninjured arm. “Snatcher wants to talk to you.” Stretching out his hand he helps Stormy to his feet and waits until he’s balanced. “I’ll come with you to his office just so you don’t fall the fuck down.”
28
Stormy…
Feeling as weak as a kitten I accept Road’s help. He opens the door to Snatcher’s office, with a steadying hand on my arm. When I’m settled in a chair, he props the stick against the desk, and leaves with just one instruction.
“Give me a shout when you need to go anywhere.”
His offer surprises me. Before he’d never have given me the time of day. I suppose his sympathy is because he knows what it’s like to cope with injuries such as mine. I hadn’t been that way with him, in fact I’d dismissed him as a waste of space. Cat would be disappointed in me. She might not be here, but she’s taken up residence in my mind.
Belatedly I notice the phone sitting face up on the middle of the desk, but my attention is drawn to it when Snatcher speaks, not to me, but into the device.
“Stormy is with me now, Drummer.”
Fuck. I’d hoped we’d find Cat and I’d get myself straight with Utah before having to talk to the mother chapter prez, or at least be feeling stronger. I’d expected Snatcher would ask for help in checking the Arizona address on the excuse we were tracking down an anonymous girl. But he’s clearly come clean to Drummer.
“So the lost sheep has returned. I hear you’re something of a miracle,” Drummer remarks drily. “And that you’ve been hiding out with a girl.” He chuckles softly. “There’s always a fuckin’ woman at the bottom of it.”
“I shouldn’t have left, Drummer.” I dive straight in. “But I’ve been running on anger for many years now. It was when I met Cat and stopped for a moment, things became clearer.”
“I get that,” Drummer says. “First things first, we find your girl. You were a brother even if you’re not one now, and family matters. I might have issues with you Stormy, shit that needs to be resolved, but I lost Sam once so I know how you feel. I’ve got Blade, Peg, Rock and Marvel heading north as we speak. It’s only a ninety minute ride from us, so they should have something soon. Mouse is contacting Honor to see if there’s anything he can do from our side.”
Even if I had the strength to argue there’s nothing I can object to. I might not be able to be there myself, but I’ve met Peg, the sergeant-at-arms and Blade, Tucson’s enforcer and despite not showing it at the time, have a lot of respect for them.
“If Gun’s not there, will you search the house? There may be paperwork, anything.”
“Already asked my boys to do that,” Drummer confirms, his tone making me suspect if I could see him he’d be rolling his eyes.
“Drummer, I…”
“As I said. We’ll concentrate on finding your woman, anything else comes after that. I heard that you were unexpectedly delayed in reporting her missing. I’m sorry to hear about that.”
Last time I’d seen Drummer he was spitting nails at me. Again, my eyes feel watery which must have something to do with me being so weak. Cat deserves their help, I don’t deserve anything myself. As for his reference to me staying unconscious for three weeks, well I can’t take pleasure in that. If Cat’s not found alive, I would prefer that I’d died.
“I’ll keep in touch, Snatcher. And let you know what Blade and the boys find.” Drummer ends the call without uttering goodbye.
Snatcher eyes me for a moment. There’s something in his expression that has me asking, “What?”
His mouth quirks. “The doctor warned Swift you might have brain damage. Seems like you have. You’ve come back with a personality transplant. I’m just wondering whether it will last.”
I don’t take offence. It’s probably something that in his position, I would also query. “It’s all Cat.”
His brow furrows but he says nothing further. I guess he’s wondering whether I’ll revert to my previous form if we’re unable to find her. I don’t offer my thoughts, I think I’ll be worse.
“Then we better find this woman of yours. Oh, Pip wanted to see you.”
I reach for the stick, but it falls over. My eyes close and I count to ten, seems my impatience is hiding and not completely gone.
With a sigh, Snatcher gets up and comes around the desk. “Let me help.”
I want to tell him I’m perfectly capable of getting up myself—if I can’t, how am I going to rescue Cat when we get word of where she is? But I know I’m unable to. I mutter something like thank you when he hands me my stick and helps me to stand. But almost fall, forgetting I cannot put weight on my broken leg.
Damn it! I’m going to have to call Road for help. I refused to get back in the wheelchair earlier, preferring to get around by myself, but hell, I’ve got to swallow my pride and admit my body is still broken, though not beyond repair. I’ve just got to give myself time. Time Cat hasn’t got.
“Let’s get you to Pip,” Snatcher says in a matter-of-fact voice.
He’s helping me himself?
Pushing down my misplaced pride, I let him take my weight as we exit his office and move to the smaller one Pip had been assigned when he gave up his position to Snatcher.
Entering, Pip stands and comes to help me into a chair. Fuck, how I hate being so useless.
He raises his chin toward Snatcher. Once the prez has closed the door, addresses me. “You want anything, Stormy? Water?”
“Water, please.”
He gets a bottle from the fridge, twists off the top and puts it on the desk in front of me. Then without asking questions about my health as he probably knows all he’d hear is a lie, he gets straight down to business.
I don’t want to be here. I want to be out looking for Cat. Fuck knows, if Pip wants to pick my brain I’ve got nothing for him. All I can think of is finding the woman I love, hoping against hope I won’t be too late. But the damage that Gun had done was more than enough to ensure that I was going nowhere.
Instead my nightmare had become my life. I’m depending on others to do what I should be doing myself.
The only difference being, is deep down I trust them. That’s why I came back, that’s why I apparently defied physical laws to do the impossible and ride a bike. Because there’s only one team I need at my back, the Satan’s Devils MC.
Why have I changed? It’s not down to me, it’s down to Cat. It all comes back to that one revelation of hers which I haven’t been able to get out of my head. That I wasn’t solely responsible for Pooh’s death.