JJ set another bottle in front of him. “Drink that one, too.”
Hammer complied, and JJ brought him a steaming mug of coffee.
“Want some hair of the dog in that?” JJ asked with a grin.
“Shit, no. Just let me die in peace.” Hammer took a sip and set it down. “I don’t remember shit from last night.”
JJ chuckled. “Saw you talking to that dark-haired girl, then you were both gone.”
Hammer frowned. “Tink’s sister?”
JJ shrugged. “The pretty one in the dress. Think they called her some bird name.”
“Raven?”
“Yeah, that was it.”
“Ghost said you two disappeared down the hall not long after Tink left.”
Hammer frowned and checked his phone. There were no missed calls or texts from her. He stared at the bar top. It had to have been Tink he was in bed with. “When’d she come back?”
“Don’t know. Didn’t see her.” JJ dipped his head. “Nice hickey, old man.”
“What?”
JJ laughed and pointed. “On your fucking neck.”
Hammer swiped his hand over his throat and shoved his stool back, moving around the bar to lean into the mirror behind it. There, on the left side of his throat, was a big purple mark. He swiped his fingers over it. He couldn’t fucking remember a damn thing. Had to have been Tink. He needed to call her.
A cell phone chime went off, and he glanced at his phone lying on the bar top next to his coffee. It lit up. He reached across and grabbed it.
“Yeah, Ma, what’s up?”
“Son, she’s gone.”
He frowned. “What? Who?”
“Josie.”
Hammer tried to make sense of what she was saying. “She checked herself out of rehab?”
“The police are here.” His mother broke down in sobs.
He was already headed toward the door and his bike parked out in the yard. “I’ll be right there.”
He paused at his bike and dialed Tink. It went straight to voicemail. “Babe, call me.” He hung up and dialed Skylar.
“Hey, Hammer.”
“Hey, how’s Ethan?”
“He’s playing with Rebel. They had a great time last night. The sleepover was a success.”
“Thanks, sweetheart. Look, I’ve got to run out to my mom’s. Something’s up with Josie. Can I pick him up in a bit?”
“Sure thing. He’s fine here. Kids are having a ball. Do what you’ve got to do.”
“Thanks.” He disconnected and fired his bike up, pulling out.
***
Twenty minutes later he rolled up his mother’s driveway. A squad car was parked at the curb. He raced up the steps. The screen door banged behind him. He found two officers sitting in the living room with his mother. She lifted her arms toward him, tears streaming down her face. He went to her, took a knee, and wrapped his arms around her. As he ran his hands up and down her back, his eyes connected with one of the officers. “I’m her son. What happened?”
“It’s about your sister, Josie.”
“She’s gone, son,” his mother sobbed.
Hammer pulled back, taking her hands in his as the officer delivered the news.
“She was dropped off outside the emergency room at St. Vincent’s.”
Hammer frowned. “She’s at the hospital? She was supposed to be in rehab.”
The man nodded. “We’re checking into that.”
“How is she?”
“I’m sorry to tell you, son, but your sister passed away last night of an overdose.”
Hammer felt the floor drop. “What? How?”
“We don’t have all the answers yet. I’m sorry.”
“She was getting treatment. How did this happen?”
The other officer stepped outside to take a call.
“Ma, I’m so sorry.” Hammer hugged her, and she clung to him. His thoughts went to little Ethan. He’d grow up never remembering his mother. Hammer felt his chest tighten and his eyes sting. He couldn’t let himself break down. He couldn’t let himself fall apart. He had to be strong. Strong for his mother and strong for Ethan.
His eyes fell on the pictures his ma kept on the credenza of him and Josie when they were children. Him in his baseball uniform and little Josie with her pigtails and freckles eating a popsicle. She’d been so innocent. How had she ended up dying of a drug overdose? Anger tore through him. He knew exactly who to lay the blame for all of this. If their father had been a decent man, if he hadn’t molested his own daughter, maybe she would have had half a chance.
The screen door creaked as the second officer walked back in. He stopped behind Hammer, and Hammer twisted, looking up at him.
“That was the clinic returning my call. Seems she had a visitor by the name of Jason Riggs. That’s when Josie decided to check herself out against the administrator’s advice. That was at 4:00 pm yesterday.”
“And within what, eight hours she’s dumped at a hospital OD’ing?” Hammer growled, getting to his feet. “He’s the asshole who’s responsible. He showed up here a few days ago. First time I’d ever laid eyes on him. He looked like a strung-out tweeker. I threw his ass out. Told him Josie was trying to get clean, to make something of her life.” Hammer had no intension of telling the police about Ethan. They might try to take him.
The officer wrote down his name. “We’ll see what we can find on him.”
The first officer stood. “I’m sorry for your loss Mrs. Dodge. Whatever funeral home you choose can pick up her body up when the coroner releases her.”
His mother burst into new sobs.
The officer extended his hand to Hammer. “Sorry for your loss.”
Hammer shook it; he couldn’t wait to get them out of his mother’s house.
When they’d left, he pulled his phone out and dialed Slick. His brother picked up on the second ring. “Yo?”
“I need to meet you at the clubhouse in a couple hours. Need everything you found out on Jason Riggs. He checked my sister out of rehab, gave her drugs, and she OD’d last night.”
“Oh, man. I’m so sorry, Hammer. What can the club do?”
“Help me find that asshole.”
“You got it.”
Hammer disconnected and turned. His mother had her hands over her face, her frail body shaking with her sobs. He knelt and held her. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she clung tightly to him.
“My b-baby’s gone,” she cried into his shoulder.
He rubbed her back. “I’m so sorry, Ma. This is my fault. I should have done more. I should have killed that asshole the day he showed up here.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault, son. It’s not. It’s mine. I didn’t protect her when she was a child.”
“You didn’t know, Ma.”
“I should have known. I knew your father was no good. He wasn’t always. Not at the beginning, but then the gambling took hold. I should have thrown him out when you both were little. And now my baby girl is dead.” She burst into sobs.
“I could have done more,” he whispered, wondering if deep down his mother would come to blame him.
“Poor little E-Ethan. Where is he, son? I need to hold that sweet baby.”
“He’s at Skylar’s house, playing with Rebel.” Hammer realized the boy’s life would never again be the same, and he was going to have to step up. Because one thing was for damn sure: he couldn’t let the boy’s father have him. Everything had changed today. For Josie, for Ethan, for his ma, and for him.
“Will you bring him to me?”
“Sure Ma. If that’s what you want.”
“I do.”
“I’ll bring someone to stay with you.”
“Stay with me?”
“For protection.”
“Protection? From what?”
“Ma, Ethan’s father is going to show up here again, sooner or later. And I’m not letting that son-of-a-bitch take him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Hammer sat at the bar at the clubhouse, his head in his hands.
He’d dropped Ethan off at his mother’s house, along with Sherry, who’d offered to go with, knowing Mrs. Dodge was taking the death of Josie hard and was in no condition to care for Ethan alone. Hammer had also, with the club’s blessing, left one of their prospects there for protection.
He was taking no chances with Jason “Coolie” Riggs.
He knew he should be there, helping his ma with funeral arrangements, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He wasn’t ready to face the fact that his only sister was gone. He thought back to the happy times they had when they were children. He remembered riding their bikes down the hill to the little toy store that used to be on the corner, and then over to Sunny’s Drug Store for root beer floats at the little soda fountain at the front counter. Josie always drank hers faster than him. Then they’d burp and giggle.
Hammer downed another shot of whiskey and pulled his phone out. He’d tried Tink a dozen times, and she wouldn’t pick up. Maybe he should drive over to her apartment. But Slick was on his way, and he’d be here soon to go over everything he’d found out about Riggs.
The door opened, and a flash of bright sunlight flashed through the clubhouse, reflecting off the mirror behind the bar. Hammer squinted, catching the glimpse of a female figure, just a silhouette with the bright light behind her. He craned his neck, hoping it was Tink, only to be disappointed when he saw this girl had long dark hair.
The door shut behind her, and Hammer’s eyes were able to adjust.
Raven. Shit.
He turned back to his drink, not interested in why that bitch was back in his clubhouse. Then he frowned. Maybe she knew where Tink was. He started to move off his bar stool to go ask her, when she sat beside him.
“Hello.”
His brows slashed down. “What are you doing here? Where’s Tink?”
“That is the silliest nickname. You mean my sister, Alexandra?”
“Have you seen her?”
“Don’t I even get a hello? I mean, after last night I thought you’d be a little more excited to see me.”
“Last night?”
She lifted her hand and brushed her fingertips over the mark on his neck. She gave him a seductive smile, and his stomach fell to the floor. Dear God, no.
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember? You certainly enjoyed yourself.”
Hammer vaulted off his stool, batting her hand away. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
She took a step back, her smile fading. “I’m talking about you and me. Last night. You fucked my brains out. And you loved every minute of it.”
“You lying fucking bitch.”
“Don’t remember?” She pulled her phone out. “Want to see?”
She pulled a photo up and turned it for him to see.
He wanted to puke. His eyes moved from the photo to her. “Why would you take a picture?”
She shrugged, smiling happily. “Just nice to have proof in case people don’t believe me.”
“What people?” And then he put it all together. “You showed that to Tink, didn’t you? That’s your M.O., isn’t it? Especially since I turned you down. That pissed you off, didn’t it?”
“She found us in your room together. It isn’t my fault.”
“Nothing is your fault, is it? Why the fuck do you always want what Tink has?”
“I don’t always want what she has.”
“You’re standin’ in my clubhouse. Here. Where she came thinking you’d never try to insinuate into this world. But here you are, going after her man. And that’s what I am, Raven. I’m hers and she’s mine.”
“Oh, really? Then why is she headed to the airport?”
Hammer frowned, his world tilting for the second time that day. “What? Why would she be doing that?”
Raven shrugged. “She’s leaving town. LA, I think Ada said.”
“Ada?”
“Our cook. Tink tells her everything. She didn’t tell mother or father, but she couldn’t keep from telling Ada. I knew if there was one person who would know her plans, it’d be Ada.”
“What plans? What are you talking about?”
“She’s through with you and felt she needed to get away, clear her head, start a new life somewhere else.”
“Start a new life?”
“She was never enough woman for a man like you, Hammer. You had to know your little…fling wouldn’t last. I’m sure she knew it. Alexandra always gets over these things. Don’t worry about her. She’ll be fine.” She stepped closer, running her fingertips up the patches on his cut. “Let’s not talk about her anymore. How about you show me your room again?”
Hammer grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from his chest. His grip was tight, and she winched.
“Ow. You’re hurting me.”
“What flight? When’s it leave?”
“Oh, my God. You’re not seriously going after her, are you?”
“Fuck yeah, I am. What airline, bitch?”
Raven tried to jerk her arm free. “Let me go. You’ll never catch her. Her plane leaves in a little over an hour. She’s probably through security by now.”
“What airline?” he snarled.
“American.”
Hammer let go of her arm, shoving her away, and whirled for the door, but his phone went off. He yanked it out, hoping it was Tink.
It was Sherry.
“Yeah, babe? Everything okay?”
“Hammer,” her voice was shaky and trembling. His stomach dropped for the third time that day.
“Babe? You okay?”
“He took him.”
“Who?”
“Ethan. That guy came and stole him.”
His legs went weak, and he wanted to drop to his knees right there in the clubhouse. Only an iron will kept him on his feet. He felt like a train collision in slow motion, every car going off the rails. He was on the brink of snapping under the pressure. He swallowed. “When?”
“Just now. He knocked out the prospect.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Hammer stood in the clubhouse, his world crashing around him. If Raven was telling the truth, Tink was about to board a flight to LA. He needed to get to the airport and stop her. Once she got on that plane, his hopes of getting her back disintegrated. The clubhouse was twenty minutes from the airport, fifteen if he gunned it down the interstate. If he left now, he might catch her. Hell, she didn’t even know about Josie.
But as he ran out the door and jumped on his bike, he knew it wasn’t the airport he had to aim his bike in the direction of. It was his mother’s house. If it were a choice between stopping Tink—or possibly losing her forever—and going after Ethan and saving him from a lifetime with a father like Coolie, he knew there was no choice.
He had to save Ethan. The boy was an innocent child in all this, and Hammer loved him like he was his own. He owed it to his sister, Josie, to take care of the boy and to keep him safe. He’d failed him in letting that loser get a hold of him, but he wouldn’t fail him now. He’d get the boy back, if it was the last thing he ever did.
Pulling out of the gravel lot of the clubhouse, he tore through the neighborhood, running lights and blasting down the on ramp to the interstate. Once on, he raced through traffic, swerving and darting around cars and trucks.
When he arrived, the paramedics were there. He tore up the stairs into the house. His mother had an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, the tube hanging down. She was struggling to breathe, but her frightened eyes connected with his and she waved her arm at him, motioning him closer. She tried to pull the mask away to talk, but the medic restrained her. “Mrs. Dodge, you need the oxygen. He can wait.”
Sherry jogged to him, coming against his chest, and his arms enfolded her. She sobbed, “I’m so sorry, Hammer. I’m so sorry.”
He rubbed her back, feeling like Deja Vu. Grabbing her upper arms, he pulled her onto the porch, out of sight of the paramedics to question
her. He kept his voice low. “What happened?”
She wiped her eyes and whispered, “We were playing on the floor, Ethan and I. Your mother was on the phone, calling family and making arrangements. The prospect was on the porch smoking a cigarette. We heard a thump. He’d fallen to the floor. He’d been hit in the head with a baseball bat. He never saw it coming. When I opened the door to see what had happened, the guy—the one your grandmother said is Ethan’s father—he pushed his way inside and grabbed him.” She collapsed in sobs. “I’m so sorry. I tried to stop him. We both did. He choked your mother and tossed her across the room. She’s bruised up.”
“You call the police?” Hammer asked.
She shook her head. “Just the paramedics for your mother. I know how the club feels about talking to the police. I knew you’d want to handle this yourself.”
“Good girl. What’d you tell them?” He jerked his head toward the paramedic wagon.
“Just that her daughter died today, and she’s been so upset her emphysema flared up, and then she got dizzy and lost her balance and fell.”
Hammer put her aside, saying, “Call the club. Tell ‘em to get here quick.” She nodded, and he moved back inside to his mother. The paramedics were strapping her to a gurney. “Is she okay?”
“She’s having trouble breathing. We want to take her in and have her checked out. They may want to give her something to calm her down. She’s pretty upset. I understand she lost her daughter today.”
Hammer nodded. “My sister. Can I have just a minute with her?”
They stepped back.
His mother held her hand out to him, her eyes over the oxygen mask, frantic and scared. He knelt next to the gurney and grasped her hand in his. Then leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry, Ma. I’ll get him back. I swear to you, I’ll get him back.”
She nodded, seeming to relax.
Hammer kissed her forehead, then stood.
They rolled her out.
Hammer moved back to Sherry. “You okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
She shook her head.
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