Chapter Twenty-One
Pyro
I never thought I would rather be in a hospital than a strip club, but here I am in Club Sated, and its business as usual. Jinx has a few more weeks to go before they release her, she’s healing well enough, but it isn’t without its struggles.
“I don’t want a fuckin’ lap dance,” I growl to one of the dancers. “I’m fuckin’ workin’.”
“Leave him alone, Peach,” Layla the bartender chastises. “Do I need to call Piper?”
The woman, Peach, backs away with her hands up, and I turn to the new bartender the girls hired a few months ago.
Layla offers me a drink, and I refuse. I can’t drink, I don’t even want to drink. I want to get my shift over with and get back to Jinx.
“How’s Jinx doing?”
“You’ve met her,” I ask.
“Twice, new hire paperwork and the other when she came in to get some things. She’s sweet.”
I grin. “She is.”
I ask for a bottle of water and Layla comes back with a glass of ice and a bottle of water. “She’s good. I’ll tell her you asked about her.”
“Cool,” she knocks on the bar twice before leaving me to my watch.
Layla is a beautiful woman, she’s got long jet-black hair, and her bangs are always a wild color. They swoop to the side, hiding a scar from a car accident she was in when she was a teenager; she admitted to Piper that her best friend was killed in the same car accident and Nevada is her fresh start. Of course, Winter and Piper helped her with getting her bartenders license, and she’s been here ever since.
“Shady characters to your left,” Layla interrupts my thoughts.
“Give Sniper a call,” I order.
“You got it.”
I don’t move from my spot, my eyes studying their every move, my prepay goes off in my pocket, I dig it out and answer without taking my gaze off of them.
“Pyro,” I grunt.
“We’ve got a fuckin’ problem.” Braxxon curses.
“I’m lookin’ at about 5 problems right now, Prez.”
“Shit. I was afraid of that.”
“Who’s at the hospital with Jinx?”
Braxxon curses again. “Diz and Lucy.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “We’re bein’ hit, aren’t we?”
“I knew it was too fuckin’ quiet. They’ve been testin’ our strength, sendin’ little nobodies.”
I motion for Layla to come over to me.
“I had Layla call Sniper.”
“I was already sendin’ him to you.”
These motherfuckers are sitting in our club with smirks on their fucking faces, they’re gonna fucking die.
“It’s probably safe to say our doorman is dead, and our metal detectors were disabled. They didn’t go off,” I tell him. “I’ve got a club full of fuckin’ people, Prez.”
“Tell Layla to get the guns from the safe. Give her the code.”
I turn my head. “Get the guns from the safe, walk slow. Don’t fuckin’ rush. 94910. Go.”
She throws the dishrag on her shoulder and does exactly as I say, without a word.
“Sniper’s comin’ in through the back door. I’ve gotta protect the compound.”
Click.
Fuck!
When Sniper comes in through the hall, my body unstiffens. There was no way I could defend all these fucking people by myself. Sniper has both hands armed and zeroed in on the threat, with a look to kill.
I toss my phone onto the bar and take my guns out. One stored inside my cut, the other on my hip. I take the safety off on both as Layla comes back from the office. “Where're the guns?”
“Behind the wall,” she says, motioning behind the bar. “What do you want me to do?”
I’ve got to hand it to her, she’s fucking calm as hell.
“Turn the music off, announce there’s a technical difficulty, and the dancers can head home for the night, tell the customers it’s last call.”
“Take the dancers out the back door, right?”
“Smart girl. Go.”
Layla does quick work with her orders, me and Sniper never taking our eyes off the Mexicans sitting in one of our booths, with those stupid fucking grins.
The customers, even the drunk ones, survey the area; see Sniper with two guns in his hands, and they take off running out of the club.
I get a glimpse of Layla crouching down behind the bar. “What’re you doin’,” I hiss.
“I can’t get out,” she hisses back. “I got everyone out, was about to leave, and a truck filled with them fuckers pulled in. I slammed the door, locked it, and jammed a chair under the knob.”
Fuck!
“You have ZZ’s number?” I say under my breath while my eyes keep watch on the dudes having a stare off with Sniper.
“No.”
“Reach up and grab my phone from the bar countertop. Dial him. Stay low.”
“What the fuck do you think you’re doin’ here,” Sniper roars as he steps closer to them. They haven’t even drawn on him, which means they have a fucking damn good plan. We might be fucked, and we might not make it out of this shit storm alive.
“Taking what’s ours.” The beefiest one says with a broken accent.
Sniper snorts. “You’re fucked in the head.”
“He said Gunners are on the way?” Layla whispers from behind the bar.
Fuck.
I hate owing people.
They’ve cleaned up their act, got a new president and stay on their own territory, this shit isn’t gonna be cheap.
“Ask how many men.”
She whispers my question. “He said enough, and he’s sendin’ four to the hospital.”
“Why four at the fuckin’ hospital,” I growl.
She murmurs into the phone. “He wants your mind focused. It’s a precaution.”
It fucking better be.
“ETA?”
“Fifteen minutes,” she whispers. “He hung up.”
“Go hide in the office, lock the door behind you, stay under the fuckin’ desk, here me.”
“Why don’t you call the cops?”
“Fuck, Layla, they’ll just keep comin’ back. Go, please. You’re too sweet to be fuckin’ dead because of this shit.”
“Okay.”
When she’s out of the room, I move slowly over to Sniper. “Brother,” he grits.
“Ten comin’ from outta town,” I tell him while I smirk at the guys in the booth. “We’re about to be surrounded though, they’ll be comin’ in from the front.”
Sniper snaps and fires a bullet into one their heads, the other four guys don’t even move when the dead one slumps over. “I didn’t like the way he was lookin’ at me.”
I’m a little concerned here.
“Sniper… I think they’re decoys.”
“Fuck!”
“I don’t have my fuckin’ phone. Layla has it.”
Sniper wastes no time putting bullets into each of them. “That was fuckin’ weird,” he says while he digs his phone out.
“No, they’re families will be set for fuckin’ life. That’s how them motherfuckers work.”
“They’re gone,” Layla runs out yelling.
Didn’t she hear the gunshots?
This chick is ballsy.
“I was watching on the camera monitors. The guys in the truck left the parking lot too. I’m out of here.” Layla says throwing my phone at me and taking off out the door before we can say a word.
“Pyro,” Sniper croaks. “ZZ thinks they’re goin’ after the women.”
My heart drops to my stomach, and I’m taking off out the door before he can say anything. I ignore the dead body. Our doorman.
If so much as a hair on Jinx’s head is harmed, I’ll fucking kill everybody.
I don’t remember anything as I drive to the hospital, it’s all a fucking blur, but I pull up at the service entrance of the hospital, and I faintly remember threatening a janitor. If they’re already in the hospital, I couldn’t be seen going through the front. Jinx is in a private suite, which has a private elevator, it takes a keyguard to gain access to; they give you one when you have a loved one in a suite. I pull the keycard out of my wallet and insert it into the slot, the elevator doors open, and I don’t exhale until the doors shut behind me.
The elevator has only one-floor destination.
Floor nine.
When the doors open, I hear nurses talking and laughing.
A good sign, I tuck my gun in the back of my jeans and wave to them as I walk to Jinx’s room.
“What the fuck is goin’ on,” Dizzy hisses.
“They’re after our weakness.”
Dizzy tries to stay calm, but her eyes widen. “Us?”
I nod. “I’ll be right back.”
I push open Jinx’s door, and Lucy draws her gun on me. “Fuck Pyro. Announce yourself,” she says as she lowers her weapon.
When I make my over to Jinx, her blue eyes are smiling at me.
“The girls tell you what’s happenin’?”
She shrugs. “Good drugs.” Jinx motions to her IV. “Bad day, they upped my meds for the night.”
“Woah,” she murmurs.
“So, you know we’ve got fuckin’ problems, and yet your sexy ass is smilin’ at me as if all is good?”
“She’s fierce.” Jinx nods to Lucy. “I’ve heard the stories, and I knew you’d come, man this is really hitting me.”
If I weren’t so fucking afraid for her safety right now, I’d rejoice in the fact my woman knows I’d move mountains for her.
“It’s serious, Shortcake.”
“And you’re a dangerous guy, Ice. Hey, do you know there’s a rainbow above you head? She giggles, waving her right hand all through the air.
“What the fuck?” I pull back confused and run over to her IV. “Who put this in her?”
“A nurse. You guys said you vetted everyone,” Lucy says while she moves over to look at the IV.
“Turn the drip off,” I whisper to Lucy, not wanting to alert Jinx. “Baby, I gotta take this tape off your arm.”
Jinx’s head falls back against her pillow. “Do as you must.”
She’s so lit.
I pull the tape off and slide the needle out of her arm. “How long was she on the new drip,” I whisper to Lucy.
“Not even ten minutes.”
“They’re in the fuckin’ hospital. Go get Dizzy and drag one of the nurses in here.”
A moment later, the nurse they’ve dragged in is asking what’s wrong while they slam the door shut and lock it. I turn my head relieved to see it’s the nurse Jinx says has the hots for me. “Someone put somethin’ in her IV.” Dizzy nods, pushing the nurse over to us as Lucy starts shoving furniture in front of the door.
“Diz, shut the curtains,” I order.
I put my hand on Jinx’s chest. “I don’t know what they have her own,” I choke out. “Her heart beats are fast, and she’s seein’ fuckin’ rainbows!”
Hot for me nurse runs over to the IV bag and checks it. “It’s a saline drip. Whatever they’ve put in, they’ve put it in through the piggyback, move,” she says pushing me out of the way. “Someone start the shower, cold water, she’s too hot, we’ve gotta cool her off.”
Dizzy takes off to the en-suite bathroom and turns the water on while the nurse uncovers Jinx with quick hands.
“Hit the red panic button on the bed, it’ll alert the nurse's station, and they’ll call the cops. This wasn’t one of our nurses.”
How the fuck does she know that?
“Trust me!”
I hit the button, and she orders me to strip Jinx down into her underwear. “Carry her into the bathroom for me.”
I pick Jinx up, careful not to jar her leg and move into the bathroom where the nurse kicks off her shoes, puts a pager on the sink, and sits at the bottom of the shower. “Hand her to me.” I do as she instructs; then she tells me to open the cabinet for a washcloth and two towels. “Give me the washcloth, then cover her leg with the towels.”
“I’m assuming the barricade is because trouble is here?” I only nod. “Why don’t you go make sure trouble doesn’t find its way in here, so I can get back to my son alive, and I’ll do my best to keep her breathing.”
I don’t do well with orders, but she’s doing everything in her power to keep Jinx alive.
“Don’t open this door,” I growl. “Unless you hear the word, ‘ice,’ on the other end.”
“Here,” she says reaching into her pocket and tossing me keys, “you have to lock it from the outside, I can’t get up to do it.”
As I walk out the door, I take one last peek at my beautiful redhead and then look at the nurse. “Please,” I beg. “Don’t let her die.”
“If I get her cool enough, she’ll be fine. Now go.”
I shut the door and use a key labeled ‘master’ to lock them inside.
“Someone’s on the other side of the door,” Dizzy whispers with her gun trained.
Can’t a man fucking get a second to think?
“They’re after women, if they get in here, you stay back, do you two fuckin’ understand?”
“Pyro, you’ll need us,” Lucy whispers.
Bloody hell. “Give me back up from behind, you don’t want them taken you alive.”
Dizzy’s phone vibrates in her cut, and she takes it out to read a text. “Gunners are in the parking lot. Fox and Seneca are on the other side of the hospital room door.”
“Give me the phone.”
I text a single word to Seneca’s number, a test to make sure a cartel member didn’t get one of our guys. I hand the phone back to Dizzy and move to the door. I knock twice and strain to listen.
“Ice.” I hear, and I exhale, two of our guys are fucking safe.
“Ladies you can lower your guns, we’re safe, but we aren’t leaving until we get the go ahead.”
I knock twice on the door and slide the key in. “Ice.”
“Thank god, she needs saline. We don’t keep fluids or meds inside the suites.”
I read the name on her registered nurse tag, ‘Megan’. “Where're the meds at, Megan?”
Megan reaches up, shuts the water off and she removes the towels from Shortcakes leg. “We need to get her dry now.”
I pick Jinx up and back us out of the room, Megan rushes over dripping wet with a hospital gown and some dry towels when I lay Jinx down on the bed. “Take off her underwear.”
I follow her instructions while she dries Shortcake off and slides the gown over her arms. “Meds?”
“I got this,” she says moving over to the call button and holding it down. “I need a doctor, bag of Saline, Narcan, Antibiotics, IV, and a new piggyback, you gotta figure out a way to get it to me,” she orders into the call button, and it crackles to life. “Cops are here.”
Thank fuck.
“Unbarricade the door, ladies.”
“When the doctor comes in to work on her, he won’t allow you to be in here.”
“Like fuckin’ hell, someone fuckin’ did this to her,” I roar.
“I’ll stay,” she offers. “I won’t leave her side until she’s stable. You can stay right outside in the hall.”
I take Jinx’s cold hand and bring it to my lips. “I’ll be right outside, Shortcake.”
I put her hand back down on the bed gently. “I’m trusting you.”
Megan nods.
By the time I reach the door, the girls have the furniture moved and are waiting for me to open it.
I knock twice.
“Ice.”
I open the door, and we move into the hall as a doctor, and a few nurses push passed me and into the room.
“Braxxon, Krew, and a few of the Gunners have the second in command for the cartel Kingpin at the compound.” Seneca hisses under his breath as cops make their way over to us.
“Go, now, I’m not leavin’ her.”
All four of them leave, and one officer tries to follow them to the elevator and isn’t quick enough; you need a fucking key for that elevator douchebag.
“We have some questions we need to ask you.” An officer, who isn’t on our payroll announces when he reaches me.
Here we fucking go.
∞∞∞