Love? Shit. This just got a whole lot more complicated.
The bouncer nods at the guards, and they let us by with no fuss. I open every curtain we pass. Some tell me to fuck off, others say nothing. I don’t care. All I know is she isn’t here.
“Where is she?” I mutter to myself as we make it back out to the roped-off entrance and see Bane walking up with Tommy and Mack.
“Where is she?” I ask them.
Mack shakes his head. “Been looking for her myself for the last five minutes. One of my guys said she had to piss, but she isn’t there. Menace knows not to let someone get the upper hand on her. Guy would be dead if he tried it. She’s either still around her or….”
“Or she’s dead,” I finish for him. No other way about it. Viv’s a fighter. Even while drugged, she took out her assailant. I have to expect the worst, even if I’m not ready to give up on her yet. I won’t. Not till I see a body. Even then, I’m sure I can negotiate with the Reaper himself to get her back.
Lucky comes running up to us. “I tried calling, but I think there’s a jammer in this place or something. Nothing’s going through.”
“You find Viv?” I ask in desperation.
He shakes his head. “No, but I found Link. Stabbed and losing a lot of blood, but I called the paramedics over, and they’re going to take him to the hospital in a few minutes.”
“Paramedics?” Rooster inquires.
Tommy nods. “We always keep legit doctors around and a few paramedics for serious shit.”
Lucky points behind him. “They’re this way if you want to get to him and ask a few questions before he gets hauled out of here.”
I run with Lucky, my only acknowledgment that I’m in on his plan.
By the time we get out there, a few brothers are already surrounding the ambulance. I book it just as Link’s gurney is lifted in. I crawl in, and before the paramedic can bark at me that I’m not allowed, I turn to face him. My face conveys every ounce of threat I hold, and he wisely keeps his mouth shut.
“Who did this, Link? Did you see who it was? Did he get her?”
Link nods, but it’s weak. As if just that slight movement takes a ton of energy out of him.
“Grabbed Menace. Tried to stop him.” He coughs, and the paramedic pushes me out of the way as something starts beeping.
“Where is she? Where did he take her? Link, who was it?”
“Sir, you need to exit the vehicle. We need to get him to the hospital. If we stay here much longer, he’ll bleed out. Sir, please.” The paramedic keeps trying to get me out of theambulance. When a brother touches my shoulder, I shove him off and hop down.
The doors shut, and the ambulance peels out, dusting me with a cloud of dirt as my brothers surround me.
“Now what?” Lucky asks, but I’ve got no clue if he’s asking me or not.
“You keep cameras in this place?” I ask Mack, who’s walked up to the group.
“No. As a rule, we don’t.”
I glare at him and then turn it on Tommy.
He shakes his head. “No, sorry, we don’t keep eyes in here either.”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuckity fuck!
I kick a rock and then grab my hair as I pace, thinking a million things at once. Trying to figure this out. Trying to see anything and everything to find out where my girl is.
“Rooster, Bane. Go after the ambulance. You tell me the second Link is awake and able to talk. Get me anything you can. As for the rest of you, I want you in there asking everyone what they saw. There are over a hundred people in there. Someone was bound to see who it was.”
Most of the brothers jog off to do that, and Tommy steps forward. “I’ll have my guys help. It’s my fighter who was taken, after all. I’m not about to lose money training another.”
I huff at his remark. The guy might have to be tough with those who work for him and his family, but I see right through it. He cares for Viv too. Not like me, but enough to want to know what happened to her and want her back. And yeah, it probably has a bit to do with the money she makes for him too.
