That thought had Menace looking up to the roof at the security cameras monitoring the alley. “We’ll need to go through the security feed and see what we can find out.”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s good and all, but that doesn’t matter right now.” Becoming more nervous by the minute, Diego announced, “We gotta take her to the hospital or something. Look at her. She’s bleeding all over the place.”
“No hospital. Too many fucking questions. We’re taking her to the clubhouse so Doc can check her out.”
“You sure about that?” Menace asked.
“Absolutely. Only way to make sure the cops don’t come snooping around.” I could tell that neither of them were happy with my decision, but I didn’t have a choice. There was too much on the line. Besides, I trusted Doc and knew if anyone could fix her up, it would be him. I looked over to Diego. “Need you to keep your mouth shut about this. Got it?
“Yes, sir. I won’t say nothing.”
“Good.” Diego was a good kid. His mom was laid up and unable to get a decent job, so he worked at the club to help support his family. No way he’d jeopardize a stable income by running his chops. I turned to Menace. “You on your bike?”
“Nah, I brought the truck tonight.”
“Good. We’re gonna need it to take her to the clubhouse.”
“I’ll go pull it around.”
While he went to get his truck, Diego and I checked the dumpster, clearing out any bags of garbage that might have blood on them. As soon as Menace brought his truck around, we started to load her into the back seat. That’s when I saw it—the odd-shaped silver pendant that hung around her neck. I had met her before. She was the chick who’d come to the strip club with her friend. Fuck. This girl had made quite an impression on me that night. Hell, I couldn’t count the number of times she’d crossed my mind over the past few months, and seeing her like this gutted me. I knew I had to do something to help her. Once I made sure she was secured in the back seat, I rushed around to the passenger side and got in.
The second I closed the door, Menace whipped out of the alley and started towards the clubhouse. We hadn’t gotten far when I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure she was still breathing. The sight of her beat to hell with blood covering her clothes brought a knot to my stomach. There’d only been one other time I’d seen a woman look so close to death—Lindsey, the girl I once loved more than anything in the world. That thought had me even more eager to get to the clubhouse.
Menace had called ahead to let Viper and Hawk know what had gone down, and that we were on our way to the clubhouse. When we pulled up, they were waiting for us at the back door. As soon as we got her out of the SUV, they helped us get her down to our makeshift infirmary. As I laid her down on the stretcher, Viper sighed and shook his head, making it clear he wasn’t pleased. I couldn’t blame him. We didn’t know a fucking thing about the girl, and that could come back to bite us in the ass. I could’ve saved us all the hassle by dumping her somewhere and making sure there was nothing that traced her back to us, but in my gut, I knew bringing her here was the right thing to do. We all stepped back and gave Doc some room to check her out.
She was unconscious and barely breathing when he cut away her blood soaked top and pants. He grimaced with disgust as he checked the knife wounds on her chest and abdomen. After several minutes, he finally said, “Damn, somebody did a real fucking number on her.”
“How bad is it?” Hawk asked.
“Honestly, I can’t believe she’s still alive.” Doc’s face was marked with concern as he continued, “She’s lost a lot of blood. Got multiple stab wounds, a few cracked ribs. Maybe one that’s broken, a possible concussion, and bruises and contusions all over. She’s a damn mess.”
I looked down at her broken and battered body and was hit with an unwanted memory of Lindsey. While this woman’s wounds were different, she looked just as lifeless and out of reach as Lindsey had been the night of her accident. I hadn’t been able to do anything to save her and feared the same would hold true tonight. Worried that she might be too far gone, I asked Doc, “Do you think you can fix her up?”
“I can try, but I’m not making any promises.”
“Not expecting miracles. Just do what you can.” Doc wasted no time getting to work. Seeing he had his hands full, Viper started walking towards the door, motioning his head for us to follow. On our way out, he called back to Doc. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
As soon as we stepped out of the room, Viper started in. “You got any idea how much blowback we could get from you bringing this girl here?”
“Didn’t have much choice in the matter.”
“There’s always a fucking choice, Shotgun.”
“I’ve done some fucked up shit, brother, but I’m not the kind of man who can just let a girl die for the fuck of it,” I answered, sounding harsher than I’d intended. “Maybe I was wrong to bring her here, but if Doc can help her, then maybe she can tell us who did this shit to her and why they decided to toss her in our strip club’s dumpster. For all we know, that shit was done on purpose, and if that’s the case, we need to know who’s behind all this.”
“He’s got a point,” Hawk replied. “Everyone around here knows we run Stilettos, so there’s a good fucking chance that—”
“Enough. I got it,” Viper interrupted. “Just know if this comes back on us, I’m holding you two responsible.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth, Menace’s burner started to ring. He quickly answered and said, “Whatcha need, Diego?”
Menace’s eyes widened as he listened to Diego on the other end of the line. After several moments, he said, “Let them look around outside, but tell them it’s after hours, and if they wanna come inside, they need to have a warrant.” He paused for a moment, then said, “Just do what you can to stall them. I’ll be there in ten.”
When he hung up, Viper asked, “What the fuck was that?”
“Two patrol cops just showed up at Stilettos. An anonymous call said they saw some guys toss a body into our dumpster.”
Without any further explanation, Menace bolted towards the front door with Viper, Hawk, and me following close behind. Viper and Hawk got on their bikes. Since I’d left mine at the strip club, I rode back over with Menace. When we pulled up, there was a cop car parked out front with its lights on, but no one was in sight. We parked and immediately headed around back. As soon as we turned the corner, Diego was talking to two officers. They were both in uniform and had their flashlights out surveying the dark alley. If Diego’s expression was any indication, he was completely freaked out and struggling to keep it together. He quickly stepped away from the cops and rushed over to us. “They’ve already checked the dumpsters and stuff, but thankfully, they didn’t find nothing.”
“Then, what the fuck are they still doing here?” Wasting no time, Viper walked past Diego and over to the two officers. “How’s it going, boys?”
“It’s going,” one of the answered.
“What brings you out tonight?” Viper stopped as he got closer, and a mix of surprise and relief crossed his face while studying one of the officers. “Tate? Little Tate Morgan? I’ll be damned. Is that really you?”