“Hunter…Hunter, wake up.” The sound of Claire’s soft, sweet voice penetrated the fogginess in Hunter’s head and he slowly opened his eyes. He tried to move his arm before he remembered how much pain he was in, and he cried out, embarrassing himself when he saw Claire’s big eyes watching him. “You were moaning in your sleep. If you don’t have any pain medicine, I need to go find you some.”

“No…I have some in the bathroom cabinet,” he groaned out. Fuck, his arm felt ten times worse this morning than it had the night before. Claire slipped out of the hold he had on her with the other arm and even in excruciating pain, he appreciated the sight of her sexy behind, leaving the room. It was even hotter when she came back in the room, completely nude and holding a glass of water and a bottle of pills. She sat the water at the bedside and opened the bottle. She shook two out in her hand and he grimaced and said, “Three…please.” When she cocked an eyebrow he said, “I’m a big guy.”

She rolled her eyes, but she didn’t argue. She put the three pills in her palm and held it up to his mouth. There was something intimate and sexy to him about taking them off her hand with his lips. She held the water glass for him too as he sipped it and washed the pills down. He hoped they worked soon because the pain was fucking unbelievable. “Thank you.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome. How about I shower and go find us something to eat while you get some more rest?”

He curled his lip. “I’d rather you lay back down with me.”

“You can’t take that much pain medication on an empty stomach. I’ll get us some coffee and pastries and be right back, okay?” He nodded, reluctantly.

“Okay,” he said, as he dropped back down on the bed. He grimaced again, holding back the moan that wanted to escape his lips. He didn’t want her to think he was a bigass baby…but fuck, it hurt. He got to watch her leave the room again, which was nice. But he was back asleep before she finished showering and left. He didn’t know how much time passed before he was woken up to the wailing of his phone.

“Hunter, it’s David. Dax found Angel, she’s alive.”

“Thank fucking God. Is she okay?”

“She’s pretty beat up, but she said he didn’t get a chance to…you know, touch her.”

Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes he wondered how women stood it, walking around next to a bunch of pigs all day who thought they had a right…he shrugged off that thought and concentrated on the fact that she was alive. “Did he get the guy that took her?”

“No. That’s why I’m calling. Angel killed one of them, a guy named Sam Winters. He used to be a Skull. He is also Larry’s dealer’s father.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. Fucking mess. Anyways, we have prints on the other one and I ran them through CODIS this morning. This guy just got out of the pen…I mean literally, just got out yesterday. He’s been there since he was twelve years old.”

“What the hell? Why would a guy who has been incarcerated his entire life want to get straight out and go after Dax Marshall’s old lady? Was he related to this Winters guy?”

“I don’t know. We’re still working on all that. His name is Josiah Miller and he was arrested in 1999 for robbery and attempted murder. His mother disappeared before he was arrested, but there was no father listed on the birth certificate or any of the records I’ve been able to access so far. The only person who ever visited him in prison was Winters.”

“Maybe Winters was his old man.”

“Maybe, but the thing is, Sam had three kids. One was a daughter who took off years ago, one is Georgie Winters, Larry’s dealer, and the other is a guy named Charles Winters…”

“Fucking Chuck.”

“Yeah, that’s what we think. Charles was the only one of them that made good, unless the daughter did something with herself—I don’t know. Anyways, Chuck was an insurance salesman in Boston up until about three months ago. He got fired for fraud, but they didn’t bring any charges. My best guess is he needed cash and hooked up with his family and this bullshit they’re trying to accomplish by pitting the Skulls and Street Chaos against each other. I’m just making an educated guess here too, but since Sam used to be a Skull and they took Angel, Dax is probably their primary mark.”

“What does Dax say about all of this?”

“I haven’t talked to him yet. He’s holed up with Angel at the hospital. He’s not going to leave her side. I did let Cody know what was going on, and Gunner. Cody remembers Sam. He was a friend of Cody’s old man…a real dickhead, according to Cody. He says he thinks he might have seen Chuck at the Bent Wrench a few weeks ago, but he didn’t remember exactly who the guy was at the time…”

“Isn’t Cody’s last name Miller?”

“Yeah, but he says he’s never heard of this Josiah guy.”

“Hmm…seems like a big coincidence.”

“Yeah, I think so too. What I need from you, if you’re up to it, is to talk to your contacts inside the prison and find out more about this Josiah guy. He’s ghosted on us and since he didn’t have any place listed as an address other than Winters’, we’re at a loss. I know they said no one else visited, but maybe some of the guards know who he ran with and who else might have gotten out recently that he might have hooked up with.”

“Good idea. Yeah, I’ll work on that. Hey, how is Kyle?”

“He’s stable. The asshole used fucking exploding bullets. Luckily, he only shot him once. The bullet missed his heart but he ended up with shrapnel in it. They cleaned that out and had to repair about a dozen of his arteries as well as a lot of soft tissue. He’s a strong son of a bitch, though. They say his vital signs are all good. They’re keeping him in a medically induced coma for a few days to keep the stress off his heart and give it time to heal. Which is good, because he’s even more stubborn than you. He’s going to be hell on wheels for those poor doctors and nurses.”

Hunter chuckled; he could only imagine. “Well, that’s good news that he’s stable, I’m glad to hear that. Please give Angel my love when you see her and I’ll call you as soon as I have any information on this other character, Josiah Miller.”

“Thanks, Hunter.” David ended the call and Hunter pressed in the number of one of his friends that worked inside the penitentiary. He was a parole agent, but he worked with the inmates on the inside, preparing them for life outside the walls. Hunter knew he took his job seriously, but sometimes people are just lost causes.

“Chris! Hey, it’s Hunter, how the hell are you?”

“Hangin’, old man, how are you?”

Hunter glanced at his arm. The pain was down to a dull ache finally. “I’m great, but I was wondering if you could meet me for a drink this afternoon? I need a favor.”

“I’m out of here in a few minutes at three,” Chris said.

“Damn, is it almost three already?” Hunter had no idea he’d slept in so late. But, in his defense, it had to be after five a.m. when they finally went to sleep.

“Yep. You been out partying with some hot little piece all night, or what?”

Hunter thought about Claire and her erotic massage. “Something like that. Hey, let me ask you this, was Josiah Miller one of yours?”

“No, but I saw him a few times when my partner was on vacation. What’s going on with Josiah?”

“I’d rather tell you in person, and if there’s any information about him you can access in the meantime…” Chris had helped both Hunter and Chase in the past. He knew what kind of information Hunter wanted.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” Chris said.

“Great! I can be in Suffolk County in an hour. Is there somewhere close to you we can meet?” Chris gave him the name and address of a bar not too far from the prison. As soon as Hunter ended the call, he got out of bed. The dull ache in his arm escalated to pain when he stood up. He groaned and held it close to his body as he hobbled over to the closet.

“What are you doing?” Claire’s voice startled him. She was standing in the doorway with her hands on her slim hips. Damn, she’s hot. He smiled.

“I have to run an errand.”

“You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I’m good. I won’t be gone long…”

“You still have the rental car?”

“No, Kat and David took that back.”

“How do you plan on running this errand?”

“Dax had one of the guys bring my bike out while I was in Rockport. It’s in the garage.”

She furrowed her brows. “You think you’re riding your bike? How do you plan on doing that with one arm?”

“Superman,” he said with another grin.

“Stupid man is more like it. If this ‘errand’ is urgent, I’ll drive you.”

“Nah, you don’t have to…”

“Unless you’re going to see another woman, I’ll wait in the car and not get in on your business…but you cannot ride a Harley in your condition.” Hunter pulled a pair of jeans off a hanger and grabbed a shirt.

“So, if I’m going to see a woman, you won’t wait in the car?”

She snorted. “No.”

With a little laugh he said, “Can I ask what you would do?”

She had one hand on her hip and an eyebrow cocked as she said, “Probably use my pipe.” Hunter laughed hard at that. She was full of surprises, and he loved it.