“Should I call someone to—”
I punched the horn several more times, cutting off Tag’s question when I finally heard the creak of the metal hinges as the gate started to open.
I parked in the middle of the lot and hopped out, pulling open the back door just as I saw Kaden rush from the garage. He was next to me seconds later, peering inside to see what all the commotion was about. Tag hadn’t given Lincoln details, just a curt order to call his mom to come here right away.
“What the fuck happened?” Kaden took a step back, his eyes darkening in fear as he looked at the two men slumped in the back, blood smeared on the seats and doors.
“Reapers.” I wanted to say so much more, but there was no time. While I believed Ryder and Brick would make it through, I wasn’t a doctor. The bullets could still be in them. They could have internal damage. Fuck, they could be bleeding out right now for all I knew.
Lincoln’s truck barreled into the lot, pulling up next to us. Riley hopped out as soon as they stopped, but when she tried to advance toward my SUV, Kaden pulled her off to the side. A minute later, Stone pulled in, Addy in the passenger seat.
For the next ten minutes there was a flurry of activity, more guys rushing out of the clubhouse to see what was going on. Marek and Stone shared a worried look, but the tension in their postures evaporated the second they reached inside and helped Ryder from the back seat. Trigger and Kaden rushed to the other side and scrambled to straighten Brick up before attempting to remove him as well. His skin looked paler than before, but I shoved aside all panic until Addy got a chance to look him over, to assess them both.
“Did you get hit?” Lincoln walked in sync with me toward the door. I heard a bike pull in and turned to see who’d arrived, holding Lincoln in suspense as my eyes surveyed the lot. Tripp and Reece dismounted his ride, following the line of members into the clubhouse. “Well?”
“Uh… I don’t know.”
“What does that mean?” He stopped me with a firm grip on my shoulder. His eyes scoured my entire length. When he jerked me to the side, my hand flew to the back of my head.
“Not so rough, man,” I grumbled, suddenly feeling woozy, my vision tunneling in, then out, then in again. My head felt like a million pounds on top of my shoulders.
“Let me see.” Lincoln removed my hand and cursed. “Um… Ace?” He cleared his throat, his “um” doing nothing but amping up my nerves.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know how to tell you this other than to just blurt it out.” I closed my eyes and swallowed, waiting for his next words. “You got shot.”
“Are you sure I didn’t just hit my head?”
His fingers felt around the area one more time, making me wince from the pressure. “Yeah, pretty sure.”
“Is the bullet still in there?” I smacked his hand away and replaced it with my own.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure my mom can tell. Let’s get you inside. I don’t need you passin’ out on me.” His strained chuckle helped to ease my worry, but not by much. As he helped me toward the door, even though I could walk on my own, minus the waves of dizziness that intermittently struck, I saw Tag’s arm slung over Hawke’s shoulder, hobbling in ahead of me.
I supposed when it came down to it, a crisis put all other shit aside, the main agenda becoming whole again, individually as well as a club.
35
After tidying up the rest of my area, I busied myself checking the schedule for the following day. Jotting down some information onto a piece of paper, I nearly jumped out of my chair when I heard someone pounding on the window. Then a voice accompanied another round of pounding, this person yelling for me to let him in. When I turned, I saw Tripp was the offender, his expression frantic, matched only by his incessant knocking.
Braylen and Zoe rushed down the hallway, standing close behind me as I turned the lock on the door. I barely stepped aside before he shoved the door open with his large frame.
“Somethin’s happened. I need to take you to the clubhouse right now.” A one-eighty change from what I’d just witnessed, his tone was eerily calm, his words making my heart slam to a stop inside my chest.
“Who?” My voice hitched. “Who?” I repeated. I didn’t have to explain my one-word question to Tripp because he knew. I saw it when his green eyes darkened.
“Ryder, Ace, Brick, and Tag.”
Cries bubbled forth from both Braylen and Zoe as they hugged each other, but I stood frozen in place, silent. He didn’t go into any details about what happened or how it happened, and I doubted he was gonna stand here and rattle off specifics, if he even had them. Braylen grabbed my hand a moment later and pulled me into their small circle, but still, I couldn’t say anything. I never made a sound, refusing to allow my brain to believe Ace was fatally injured. He had to be all right. There was no way fate would do this to me. Then again, maybe this was exactly what I deserved for pushing him away for so long. I never appreciated what we had, chalking up our involvement as nothing more than a fling, as if he was just someone to pass the time with. As I chastised myself for my stubbornness, I also reminded myself I’d finally given in to him. I agreed to be his. I just hoped my actions weren’t too little too late.
“Chels.” The far end wall held my focus. “Chels.” Zoe shook my shoulder until my eyes flitted to hers. “We have to go.” I glanced from her to Braylen, both holding up reasonably well given we had no idea if any of our men were still alive. Then my attention was on the large man in front of us. He was resolute in every movement he made, but there was a crack in his stoic demeanor. Worry pierced the haze of his attention, his breaths coming faster the longer we stayed tucked inside the salon.
Tripp held up a finger, opened the door, and stepped outside, scouring the area before returning. “Let’s go.” We followed him out, and as soon as Braylen locked up the shop, he ushered us toward a van parked only feet from the front door. Zoe and I sat in the back, resting on the tire humps while Braylen buckled herself into the passenger seat.
I would’ve loved to say the ride back was quick, but knowing something horrible awaited all of us made each mile stretch into oblivion. While I was concerned for the other three men, all I could truly care about was Ace. He was still recovering from being shot. He was in no way capable of handling anything more, was he? Had he been shot again? Or were they all in an accident? Not knowing drove me crazy, and I decided right then I needed details, otherwise I was gonna continue to think the worst and possibly give myself a heart attack.
“Can you tell us what happened?” My words drifted through the small space, and there was no way Tripp didn’t hear me. The only other sound in the van was the outside world whipping by.
I waited five seconds, then ten. When my lungs filled with air, I opened my mouth to ask again but pressed my lips together when I heard him start to speak.
“All I know is there was an attack. All four of them are alive, or at least they were when I left to come get you.”
I should’ve kept my damn question to myself because hearing his response did nothing but drive home the severity of what I thought to be true.
The chances of Ace being dead seemed more probable than not right now.