The doctor called us into Kevin’s room and said that the surgery went as expected. After going through all the ins and outs of the procedure, he mentioned that he had a few prescriptions for Kevin and instructed us to call his office to set up some follow-up appointments. We were also informed that as soon as Kevin was fully awake and able, he’d be ready to go home. I couldn’t believe my ears. When I first got to the hospital, I was a total wreck, completely consumed with worry and guilt. Watching my son being wheeled into that operating room nearly ripped my heart out. If it hadn’t been for Kenadee, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Just having her there at that moment gave me a reprieve from the shit-storm that was going on in my head and kept me from losing my mind. She was so easy to talk to, and it didn’t exactly hurt that she was even more beautiful than I remembered. When she left the cafeteria, she told me she’d see me when Kevin came out of surgery, but he’d been out for over forty-five minutes and she was nowhere in sight.

“Dad?” Kevin mumbled.

I hopped up out of my chair and rushed over to the bed. Kevin’s eyes were barely open. “Hey, buddy. How ya doing?”

“I’m hungry. Can I have some ribs?” he mumbled.

“You want ribs?”

“Yeah. Fried pickles with ranch.”

“Okay.”

“He hates pickles,” my mother whispered from the corner.

My mother had a bad habit of reminding me of things I already knew. She was just trying to help, so I tried not to let it get under my skin. “I know, Mom. He’s still pretty out of it.”

“Okay.” She held her hands up defensively. “Just making sure you knew.”

Shaking my head, I looked back to Kevin. “I can get you some fried pickles, bud. Whatever you want.”

“I wanna go to the clubhouse tonight and get the guys to sign my cast.”

“That, I’m not so sure about. You’re gonna need to get some rest tonight, buddy, but I can run you over there tomorrow. I’m sure all the guys will want to sign it, but you gotta save some room for your friends at school.”

“I don’t like none of dem people,” he answered sounding like the biggest southern hick I’d ever heard.

“Kevin!” my father scolded.

“Yo, Kevin. Why don’t you just lay back and get some rest?”

“I ain’t gonna sleep … Nope. I ain’t gonna do it.”

I had no idea where he was coming up with this shit, but it was only a matter of time before he said something that was going to send my folks into a conniption fit. I leaned over the bed and gave him a firm warning, “Kevin, go to sleep.”

“I done told ya. I’m not tired,” he said with his eyes closed. “I done broked my elbow. You know, I should kick dat boy’s ass for breaking my elbow like he did!”

“Whoa. Hey, now.” The light shimmered in Kenadee’s dark brown eyes as she fussed. “Young, handsome boys like you don’t talk like that.”

“Hey! Nurse Kenadee!” Kevin shouted with a slur. “Dad, look. It’s Kenadee!”

“I see that.” I smiled. “Hello, nurse Kenadee.”

“Hi, Sawyer.” Then, she turned to my folks and said, “Hi, Janice. Hi, Dan.”

My mother replied, “Hi there, sweetheart.”

She pushed her monitor cart over to Kevin and said, “And hi to you, too, honey. I need to check to see if your heart is still pumping. Is that alright?”

“Yes, ma’am. I think it’s still pumping.”

“Well, let’s just check to be sure.”

I watched as she checked his vitals, and even though I’d seen nurses do it to him a hundred times before, I was completely mesmerized as I observed her with him. Watching them talk and cut up together was absolutely surreal. Kenadee was utterly amazing on all levels. She hadn’t just won me over; she’d gotten to the whole Mathews crew. When she was done, she looked down at Kevin’s cast and said, “You know, blue is my favorite color.”

“It is?”

“Yep. When I broke my arm a couple of years ago, I had a cast just like yours.”

“Awesome.”

“So, are you about ready to go home?”

“Yes!”

“I thought you might be. We’ll need to monitor you for just a bit longer, and if everything looks good after an hour or so, then you should be set to go.”

“Okay.”

“Would you like something to drink … or maybe a Popsicle?”

“He was just telling us that he wanted ribs,” I told her.

“Umm … I think it’s a little too soon for that.” She laughed. “How about some crackers and a Sprite?

Kevin nodded. “That sounds good. I want some Goldfish.”

“You got it, kiddo. I’ll be right back.”

Once he was able to eat and drink a little without having any problems, and the anesthesia finally wore off, the doctor approved him for discharge. Kenadee brought in all of his paperwork and prescriptions, and once I’d signed everything, we were set to go. My father walked over to her with a warm smile and said, “Thank you, Kenadee. You’ve been wonderful.”

“It’s been my pleasure,” she answered. “Kevin’s a great kid.”

I lifted Kevin out of the bed and put him into the wheelchair, then, Kenadee wheeled him out of the room and into the hall. Once we were at the front doors, she turned to us and said, “I’ll wait with him while you go get your vehicle.”

My dad handed me the keys and said, “It’s parked right out front.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” I rushed over to my dad’s car and pulled it up to the curb. By the time I’d gotten out, she wheeled Kevin over to the passenger door. Stopping her, I said, “That’s alright. I’ll get him.”

As I put him in the backseat and buckled him in, my parents were busy getting themselves inside. Once they were out of the way, she leaned in the window and said, “Take care of that elbow, kiddo.”

“I will.”

“Bye!” She waved and started to walk away.

I looked at Kevin and said, “Are you good for just a second?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” I rushed over to Kenadee, stopping her before she went through the door and said, “You know, you never did answer my question.”

The wind was blowing, making her long, brown hair flutter around her face as she asked, “What question?”

“When am I going to see you again?”

A light blush crossed her face, letting me know I’d caught her off guard. “I don’t know. What do you have in mind?”

“Why don’t you give me your number? I’ll give you a call later and we can figure it out.”

“I guess that could work.” She reached in her pocket and took out her phone. “What’s your number?”

“Hold up. I thought you were giving me yours.”

“I will when you give me yours.” She smirked. “I’ll send you a text.”

“Fair enough,” I told her before giving her my number.

Seconds later, I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket, and she said, “I better get going.”

Before I could respond, she’d slipped through the door and was gone. Having no choice, I walked over and slid in the seat beside Kevin. He was sitting with his arm propped in his lap, and he was meddling with the tips of his fingers. “You alright?”

“I’m good. It’s just my fingers are still numb.”

“That’ll get better soon,” I assured him as I patted him on the leg. “Alright, Pop. I think we’re ready to go.”

Once he started driving, I reached in my back pocket for my phone, and as soon as I saw the unknown number, I clicked on the message.

Kenadee: Just so you know, I hate clowns, too.

After I added her to my contacts, I went through all my other missed messages. My brothers had been calling and texting to see about Kevin, and I’d been too preoccupied to get back to them. Just as I sent them a message, letting them all know that he was doing fine. As we were headed home, I looked over at Kevin and found him staring at me with a concerned look on his face. “Everything alright, bud?”

“I just wanted to say that I was sorry about today.”

“Why would you be sorry?”

“I messed up your run, and—”

“Kevin,” I told him as I leaned closer to him. “You are and always will be the most important thing in the world to me. You got that?”

“Yes, sir,” he answered.

“And you didn’t mess up anything, so get that out of your head.”

“So, you aren’t mad?”

Shocked by his question, I asked, “Are you still on the loopy juice or something? Why would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Kevin, I’m not mad at you. Not even the tiniest bit. I was worried sick about you, and I hated that I wasn’t there when you were hurt. If anyone should be mad here, it should be you.”

He perked up with that, like I’d given him new ammunition. “I was a little sad that you weren’t there.”

“I can’t blame you for that.”

“Especially after you promised to be at all my games.”

I’d officially opened a can of worms. “You’re right.”

“And it really hurt when that kid broke my arm,” he pushed.

“Um-hmm. I’m sure it did. Must’ve hurt like hell,” I told him as I tried not to smile. He was gonna hit me up big this time. I could feel it.

“It did, and I was really scared when I had to go to the hospital without you.”

“Yeah. I’m sure that was pretty tough on you. You might be scarred for life over that one,” I teased.

His blue eyes widened as he fussed, “I’m serious, Dad.”

“I know you are. So, how can I make it up to you?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

I could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he bit his bottom lip. Thankfully, our conversation got interrupted when Dad parked the car and announced, “We’re home.”

After I helped Kevin out of the car, he went inside and crashed on the sofa. We were all wiped, so my folks said their goodbyes and slipped out. I sat down on my recliner, and in a matter of minutes, we had both dozed off. I had no idea how long I’d been asleep when I heard someone pounding on my back door.

I glanced over at Kevin, and he was still out like a light. With a groan, I pulled myself out of the chair and tried to be quiet as I made my way to the back door. When I opened it, I was surprised to find Gunner standing there with Sadie. “What the hell, Gunner?”

Gunner was in his late thirties and built like a fucking tank. He’d gotten his name in the military. Word was that he was one of the best snipers around, but he was wounded during a raid and never quite the same after that. His voice was low and calm as he said, “Gus sent me over. He’s called us all into church.”

Knowing he wouldn’t call church this time of night unless something was up, I asked, “What’s going on?”

Without answering, he looked over to Sadie and said, “He thought she could sit with Kevin while you were gone.”

Fuck. At least he’d sent Sadie to watch him. Of all the hang-arounds, she was the most responsible, so Kevin wouldn’t be freaked out if he woke up and found her there with him. Having no other choice, I took Sadie inside and showed her his medication. After explaining when he’d need to take it, I followed Gunner out to our bikes. Suddenly my exhaustion was gone, and I could feel the adrenaline pulsing through my veins as I started up the engine and followed Gunner out onto the main road.

By the time we made it to the clubhouse, the brothers were already filing into the main meeting room. When I walked in, Gus was at the head of the table talking with Moose and Runt. The room was oddly quiet as I made my way over to my spot next to Spyder and Riggs, making me even more anxious for Gus to get on with the meeting. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but the tension in the room was building by the second.

Gus finally turned his attention to us and said, “Chaos and Sinners were hit tonight.”

“What the fuck?” one of the brothers grumbled.

“Someone set Chaos’s club and garage on fire and there was a drive-by shooting at the Sinner’s club bar. They might totally be unrelated to the hit on the Rogues, especially since they’re smaller clubs, but I’m not taking any chances.” He leaned forward, placing the palms of his hands on the table as he growled, “I want to know who the fuck is doing this shit.”

“These clubs are out by the docks. There might be a connection there,” Gunner suggested.

“Maybe, or it could be a matter of some kind of retaliation that we aren’t aware of,” Spyder added. “You know how those assholes can be. They’re always arguing about something.”

“I’ve already spoken with the presidents of all the clubs involved. There’s no feud among the clubs, so that’s not what’s going on here,” Gus clarified.

“Then, somebody’s trying to move in,” Runt snarled.

“Maybe.” Moose motioned over to Riggs. “Tell ‘em what you found.”

Gus sat back in his chair and crossed his arms as he watched Riggs stand. My brother was all business when he said, “Someone’s been trying to fuck with our security cameras at the garage and at the diner.”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me.” Runt leaned forward and asked, “When?”

“A couple nights ago, and again, last night.”

“It’d take someone with some mighty big balls to come fucking around our shit,” Runt barked. “Did you see who it was?”

“No. The guy was wearing a hoodie, and I couldn’t get a good look at him.”

Obviously on edge, Runt snapped, “So, what exactly do you know other than this guy’s wearing a fucking hoodie?”

“I’d say this guy isn’t a professional, otherwise, he wouldn’t have to keep coming back, so we still have a chance to catch him and figure out what he’s up to,” Riggs answered calmly.

“How you plan on catching him?” I asked

“I’d say we could try setting up motion sensors, but with the traffic that comes in and out of the diner and the garage, it’s not gonna do us much good.”

“We’ve got the prospects taking shifts, keeping a close eye on things, but everyone needs to be on watch,” Moose warned. “We all need to be in on this. If you see or hear anything, anything at all, you come to us. Understood?”

After all the brothers agreed in unison, Riggs said, “I’ll put a few extra cameras along the street corners and down the alleyways to give us some better angles and see if we can get more of a view of what’s going on.”

Gus stood with his fists clenched at his sides, and his voice was full of caution as he said, “As of now, consider the club on high alert. I need every one of you at your best. During times like these, one mistake could cost us everything.”