Lucas

The man had lost a lot of blood. I helped get Marcus out of the back of David’s car and there was just so much blood. I didn’t think he was going to make it. I didn’t think that even the Doc could save him.

“Angelo, get the Doc down here now.”

He was on his way. That is what they had been telling me for ten minutes, but he wasn’t moving fast enough. I swear if he was getting head or something like that, I was going to find out about it and there was going to be hell to pay. Marcus had been with me for a long time. His older brother was one of the best men that worked for me and Marcus was close behind. I couldn’t let anything happen to him. Dante would lose it and I couldn’t lose both of them in the same day.

“Marcus, you got to stay with us.”

The redheaded man was in and out of consciousness. David told me that he hadn’t said much. Just that someone was waiting for him and shooting at him when he tried to open the gate. Santiago wasn’t answering my calls and I had to wonder if he was involved. There were a million ways that this could have all went down and I was going to figure it out as soon as I found out that Marcus was going to be okay. He had only been shot once, it had been worse before, but there was just so much blood. How could anyone lose that much and survive?

“Maybe we should take him to the hospital Lucas?” David was looking at Doc like there was no way that the old Russian was going to be able to help. Not really. But I had been with Doc for a long time and I knew that the man was better than anyone at Tulane.

“Doc will take care of him. He took care of him last time. Where do you think he got those three shots in the chest fixed from? Doc stitched him up after he pulled the bullets out and Marcus was just fine. If Doc can’t save him, no one can.”

I believe those words, but I knew that if Marcus didn’t make it I would blame myself and the decision that I made to keep him out of the hospital. I knew how Marcus was and the last thing that he wanted to wake up to was cops asking a bunch of questions. But would he wake up?

Everyone was moving around me. I was left standing there as David and Theo took Marcus into the house. I looked around to make sure that the neighbors weren’t out. I didn’t have many, but there was one couple that was a bit too nosy for my taste. I could just imagine what they would think if they could really see what was going on in my driveway.

Looking down at my hands covered in blood, I knew what this meant. I didn’t know who had thrown the first stone, but someone was in this for war. The battle lines had been drawn and I wasn’t going to sleep until I found out who it was that dared to fuck with us. There was going to be retribution.

When David and Theo came back out, I told them that I would stay and help the Doc. I needed them on the streets so that I would know who did this. Whoever dared to shoot at one of my guys was going to have to answer to me. It was just that simple. “Found out who the hell did this to him David. We are going to make sure that whoever it is doesn’t have another chance. I want them eliminated.”

I went into the house and though everything had been a flurry before, the Doc was setting up with a steady hand. I had never seen the man rush in his life and I questioned if he even could. Everything with him was so deliberate and even now I was thankful for it. He was the type of guy that you wanted in a crisis.

“What do you need me to do Boris?”

“You are going to have to hold him down. We need to dig in and get the bullet out.”

I shook my head. This wasn’t my first go round, but the paleness of his face was alarming. “He looks bad.”

“Getting shot is never good.”

I watched him plunk the utensils he was going to use in the glass of scotch that he had poured for himself. He never was completely sober and I had to wonder if that was what helped him stay so calm. He never seen frazzled and I think it had a lot to do with all of the alcohol that was running through his veins.

“Help me with these pants. I need more room.”

I went to the bed and rolled Marcus over a bit so that we could pull off his clothes. Damn there was just so much blood.

***

“I think we have done all that we can do Lucas. You need to go to your bed.”

I must have dozed off while the Doc was sewing Marcus up. It was late and the day had been a lot to handle. I didn’t have anything to do, so the slow Russian music that Boris had played to settle his nerves had put me to sleep.

“How is he doing?”

“Good. He may need some blood later, but his pulse is strong and he will make some more. I think that he will be fine. This one is strong. I have worked on him before, no?”

“Yes, a couple of times. Last time was three in the chest last year. Do you remember that?”

Boris moved the torn shirt up so that he could see the scars like it was going to jog his memory. I wondered how many bullets he had pulled out of men like me and Marcus. He had the pleasure of pulling a couple out of me on two different occasions.

“Ah yes. I do. He did very well. This man will do fine. Keep it clean and covered. He is lucky that it didn’t do any real damage. This man must have nine lives.”

“I don’t know about that, but he is one tough son of a bitch.”

Boris nodded and told me that he was going to need to be. “It will take time. I will go now if there is nothing else.”

I wanted him to stay and help with the recovery, but that wasn’t Boris’ way. He would come and check on him, but the man was in and out as quickly as he could be. He never asked questions and left as quickly as he came. I had always liked that about him. Now that I knew Marcus was going to be okay, I could worry about other things and start the task of figuring out who the hell had done this.

“No there is nothing else Boris. Will you come back tomorrow?”

“Of course. He is my patient. Tomorrow.”

I watched him leave and hoped that Marcus had enough in him to make it through the night. Fever was always expected and even now I went to the medicine cabinet to find some antibiotics. Boris had always said before it was better to start them as soon as possible. It didn’t feel like it was going to be such a simple thing, but I knew better. This wasn’t my first go round. When my men got hurt, I wanted to make sure that they were okay. Marcus was like family, they all were and when one of my own was hurt, it affected everything. Justice had to be found to move on. That was our way and the justice that we all sought was not something that could be found in a courtroom. We had to make our own.

Calling the men that I had sent out for information, it wasn’t long before there was a whisper of what was going on. It was the same old same old. Territory was threatened and they planned to take out the enforcers. How they knew so much information about us was a mystery, one that I had to uncover the answers to.

I didn’t want to leave Marcus his first night. It was always the worst and I wanted to be there if Boris needed to be called back in. The Doc was on call all of the time for men like us. I could only do so much where I currently was and the restrictions put on me, but everyone came to me. By the end of the night we had figured out which Arc Angels were involved. A little liquor loosened even the tightest tongues and a bragging man brought me all of the information that I needed. I knew exactly who it was that needed to pay for this and pay they shall.