But Zag ignored the question. “I’m coming.”
The paramedic grabbed Zag by the wrist and calmly rotated his arm. “Barry, call for another ambulance to come out. We have another gunshot victim. Right arm. Through and through.”
“Fuck that. I’m not waiting around for another ambulance. I’m either riding with my girl or driving myself.”
The paramedic gave a huge sigh. “Fine, climb in, but don’t get in the way.”
Zag scrambled in and took a seat on the side opposite Jessica. He tossed a head nod Bump’s way, then turned to the paramedic and gave them his no-bullshit stare. “You guys better drive to the hospital faster than you made it here.”
Whatever the EMT might’ve said in response was lost to Zag as he noticed Jessica’s eyelids flutter. He cupped a hand behind her head and bent down closer to her. “You’re gonna be fine, princess. We’re going to the hospital and they’ll get ya all patched up.”
Her lips moved behind her oxygen mask, but Zag couldn’t make out the words.
“Don’t try to talk. We’ll be there in no time. You’re gonna be fine.”
Relief rushed through Zag as she opened her eyes and looked into his. They were unfocused but open. She was going to be fine. She was alive. Breathing. They were gonna get through this.
She lifted a shaky hand to her mask and pulled it off her face slightly. “Pregnant,” she croaked.
For the second time that night, Zag’s heart froze.
Zag opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was dimly aware of the paramedic bent over Jessica from the other side, attempting to question her. But all Zag could hear was the roar of his pulse.
Pregnant.
Jess was pregnant. With his baby.
And shot.
Oh fuck.
His panic returned, and it was all he could do to stay conscious. He tried to ignore the buzzing in his ears and the dots of bright lights dancing in his vision, but it was a close thing.
The paramedic shook his shoulder. “You still with me, buddy? What’s your name again?”
“Yeah. Zag—I mean, George. George Cooper.”
“Okay, George. Do you know how far along your girlfriend’s pregnancy is?”
Zag’s eyes swung back to Jess, but her eyes were closed again. “I—uh, not far. First trimester? She…uh, hadn’t gotten around to telling me yet.”
The paramedic’s frown deepened, but he didn’t comment. The ambulance swayed as they took a hard left turn, and they both braced themselves. A few packs of gauze rained down on Zag.
“And her name’s Jess?”
“Jessica. Jessica Miller.”
Their ride came to a jarring halt, throwing Zag forward. Before he had a chance to sit back upright, the rear doors were wrenched open and the bright lights of the hospital’s ambulance bay shined down on them.
Zag immediately jumped down as hands appeared to roll out Jess’s gurney.
The paramedic hopped down, spouting Jess’s vitals. All Zag could do was try to keep pace as they ran into the building.
“Sir, I’m sorry. You’ll have to stay in the waiting room.”
Zag turned to the nurse. There was no way they were separating him and his girl. Not now. Not ever. But before he could say anything, one of the paramedics piped up.
“Actually, he’s your other gunshot victim. Right arm, through and through. I didn’t have time to get any vitals in the field.”
The nurse grabbed hold of Zag’s right wrist and tugged him from the room. He must’ve lost more blood than he thought because he wasn’t capable of putting up much of a fight.
“Come on through to Bed Two and we’ll get you all checked out.”
“But Jessica…”
“We’ll keep you apprised of her condition. But first we have to see to you.”
For the next half hour, Zag was poked and prodded and questioned incessantly by the medical staff before they sutured him up and slapped a bandage on him. The whole time, all Zag could think was Jessica was lying in the other room. Shot and pregnant. He’d done that to her. Put her life in danger when she was so vulnerable and should’ve been coddled.
He’d fucked it all up.
Finally, the nurses and doctor left him with a strict warning to stay put, as the police were on their way to question him.
Fuck. That.
The minute the curtain was pulled closed around his bed, he was on the move. Tugging off the hospital robe, he shrugged on his True Brothers vest, sans shirt. He couldn’t even think about where his bloody shirt was without getting pissed off.
That fucker Preacher was going to pay.
Leaving the curtain in place, he slipped through the gap and went back to the last place he’d seen Jess.
But when he got there, the room was empty. No Jessica. Not even the gurney she’d been wheeled in there on. All that was left was too many discarded bandages caked with blood. And the bloody T-shirts he and Bumper had applied to her.
His head swam. How much blood could her body lose in one night? Oh God, please don’t let her die. Not like this.
But she wasn’t here. What did that mean? Was she…He couldn’t even finish the thought.
“She’s been taken upstairs for surgery.” A battle-ax of a nurse answered his unspoken question. “And you need to take a seat and wait for the police.”
“What floor’s the surgical ward?”
“You need to—”
“What I need is to know how my girlfriend is! What floor’s the surgical ward?”
The nurse leaned back and her eyes flickered to the security guard already walking toward them.
Fuck. He needed to keep it together. He sure as fuck wouldn’t know anything about Jess’s condition if the cops locked him up for going nuts in the ER. He took a huge breath. “I’m not going to cause a problem. I just want to know how Jess is doing. I’ll wait in the surgical waiting room for the cops like a good boy. You can even send security to sit on me. I just have to know how she…I mean they…are.”
He hadn’t thought it possible, but the nurse’s eyes softened, making the formidable woman look almost approachable. She nodded, then waved the security guard over. “Henry, escort Mr. Cooper to the surgical waiting room and inform reception that the police can meet with him there. And make sure they do.”
Zag gave the nurse a grateful look and calmly followed Henry to the elevator, and then the waiting room. He picked a chair in the back corner and sat with his head in his hands.
The next few hours were unbelievably long.
After a few minutes—and once he thought to text his buddy—Bumper showed up and silently took the chair next to him. Zag hardly noticed. People came and left. No one had any information about Jess’s condition. He didn’t know if that was a good sign or not.
Eventually, the police showed up, and he woodenly answered their questions. He couldn’t let his rage boil to the surface. Not here. Not until he knew. But he couldn’t help but blame the pigs. If they’d done their fucking job and found that fucking punk, Preacher, this wouldn’t have happened. His girl wouldn’t be somewhere on this floor fighting for her life.
After a few veiled threats to take him away for questioning at the precinct—Zag had a creative alternative for them but didn’t voice it—the police finally left, and silence reigned in the waiting room again.
The uncertainty was killing him. He wanted some answers, dammit.
Was Jessica okay? Why didn’t she tell him about the baby? Was she planning on keeping it? Was she still pregnant? All his unanswered questions were eating him up inside.
He should’ve left her alone. A girl like her didn’t belong in his world. He’d known that since day one, but he’d ignored the obvious.
And now Jessica was paying for it.
Fuck. She deserved better than a loser like him.
“Jessica Miller?”
Zag’s head shot up and he was across the room before Bumper could even stand. But Zag wasn’t alone. A middle-age
d man and woman stood in front of the doctor, their hands clenched together. And two men about Jess’s age filled out the semicircle on the other side of what had to be Jess’s parents. Her family. But strangers to him.
“How’s my baby?” The woman’s voice was shaky, like she’d been fighting tears all night.
The doctor’s eyes flickered over Zag and his shirtless torso before returning to the family in front of him. “She’s stable. The bullet missed her veins and arteries but nicked the upper lobe of her lung. We were able to extract the bullet and repair the damage. But the next twenty-four hours will tell us for sure. She’s been transferred to the critical care unit.”
Relief swept over Zag. She was alive. She’d made it through the surgery. His princess was strong. They were going to make it through this. And yet he still had to know.
“And the baby?” Zag almost couldn’t recognize his own raspy voice.
The woman gasped and everyone swung around to stare at him, but Zag only had eyes for the doctor. “Did the baby make it through the surgery?”
The doctor frowned. “Are you the father?”
Zag nodded jerkily.
“Yes, the fetus survived the surgery. Since the pregnancy is so young and Jessica lost so much blood, the chance of miscarriage is still very strong. You need to prepare yourself.”
Zag tipped his head in acknowledgment but couldn’t bring himself to meet the undoubtedly angry gazes of Jessica’s family. It was his fault their daughter or sister was lying in this hospital. He was the scummy asshole who had gotten their daughter into trouble on so many fucking fronts.
“If you’ll all follow Ms. Holloway, she’ll show you to the ICU and make sure you’re on the approved visitor list.”
But Zag couldn’t let himself fall into line with the rest of her family. He didn’t belong. He was the reason Jessica was lying in the ICU.
Plus he had business to take care of.
Instead, he turned in the opposite direction and tossed a head jerk to Bumper. They had to ride.
—
The group of bikers surged through the rolling bay doors, with Tank hanging back to make sure only True Brothers entered. When the bay doors came down, Zag turned to Bobby. “Get the duct tape.”
After all his time working on his own bike in the shop, Bobby knew the shop like the back of his hand. He came back a second later with the tape in hand. Zag tore off a strip and taped Preacher’s mouth closed. He took extra pleasure in making sure the tape covered Preacher’s mustache. A few seconds later, he and Bobby had Preacher up on a table, with his hands and feet taped down.
Zag whipped out his switchblade. “Now, me and you are gonna have a little conversation.”
“Mmmm. Hmmmm, mmmm!”
“You think there’s a fucking thing you could say to me after you shot my girl?”
Preacher’s eyes gleamed wetly as they widened with terror.
“You deserve to be shot just like her, but there’s no way I’m gonna let you off that lightly. No, fucker, you and me are gonna dance.”
“Zag, are you sure—”
Zag swung around and glared at Bump. His buddy raised his hands in a placating gesture and backed away. Zag looked around the garage; no one else dared to challenge him. He had the biggest score to settle with Preacher. This dance was his and his alone.
He turned back to Preacher. “First, I’m going to have to take those patches back. We voted at the meeting in May, and you’re out.” Zag sliced through Preacher’s leather vest. He didn’t knick the flesh, but Preacher’s wide-eyed stare had him thinking the sensation wasn’t pleasant. Although that might have something to do with the size of his blade.
“Then, of course, there’s the matter of your Brother tattoo.” Reb ripped the rest of Preacher’s shirt off, exposing the tattoo on his upper arm. “Usually we give guys the option of getting ‘banned’ tattooed across it—”
“But you’re a special little snowflake.” Zag smiled wickedly while his knife made short work of Preacher’s jeans. Sadly, it looked like Preacher’s arm was the only place he’d been branded with the True Brother logo. “Bobby, bring the acetylene torch over.”
Zag grabbed the striker off a nearby worktable and cranked the tank Bobby set down next to him. The garage was deathly silent. He squeezed the striker a few times to draw out the moment. The grinding metallic sound was ominous. He let the striker catch the torch and adjusted the flame.
“Now, about that tattoo…”
Chapter 27
SEPTEMBER 28
Four hours later, Zag pushed his way through the True Brothers’ clubhouse bar, sat at a barstool, and nodded to Bumper for his usual whiskey. Despite the things he’d done to Preacher, his body still vibrated with repressed anger. That bastard got off too lightly. He deserved so much more than the hours of torture they’d inflicted on him. Even now, Jessica and his unborn child were lying in a hospital bed—in pain—because of that piece of shit.
He slammed his bruised knuckles on the scarred bar top. Jess and that baby deserved so much better than this life. He had to do better.
His explosion made his arm throb, so he shrugged off his leather jacket to take a look at the bandage. Judging from the red smearing the inside of his jacket sleeve, the stitches hadn’t held up.
Not that he’d noticed earlier. He’d been too busy beating the shit outta Preacher.
The second Bump slid his whiskey glass to him, Zag slammed it down in one swallow and waved Bump over for another. The whiskey took a little of the edge off his pain, but he still simmered beneath the surface. He needed to get his shit under control before he went back to the hospital. The way he was feeling now, he wouldn’t do anyone a fuck lot of good. Least of all Jess.
He just…didn’t know what to think. Why hadn’t she told him? Why had she kept her pregnancy secret? Did she not want his baby? Or him?
Because he did. He wanted them both so much he ached. But he didn’t know what to do about it. What did he know about relationships? Or raising a kid?
“You all right, partner?” Reb pulled out the stool next to him and collapsed on it with a heavy sigh.
“Jessica’s pregnant.” The words spilled from Zag’s mouth the second the thought was fully formed in his mind.
Reb choked on his beer. After he cleared his throat a few times, he patted Zag on the back. “Hey, man, that’s great news. Congratulations!”
Zag didn’t look up from his glass. “She hasn’t told me yet.”
“Wait, what?”
“She told the paramedic in the ambulance. She had to’ve known for days or weeks and she never told me.”
“So…”
“If she hasn’t told me yet, maybe that means she’s not keeping it.” Zag ran a hand through his hair.
Reb paused and took a sip of his beer. “Christ, man. You sure you’re not getting ahead of yourself here?”
“No. I mean, can you blame her? She’s lying in a hospital bed because of me. And look around you. You know what I did tonight. What woman would want to get saddled with a guy like me for the rest of her life?”
“I thought I taught you better than that.” Beer sloshed as Reb slammed his drink down.
Zag just shook his head and looked away.
“Shit, kid, you gotta stop being in your head so much and start thinking with that lump in your chest.”
“Not much to think about. If she wanted me to know, she would’ve told me. But she didn’t, which means—”
Reb shook his head. “That she’s scared? Doesn’t know how you’re gonna react? That what you mean?”
Zag froze. In all honesty, neither of those scenarios had occurred to him. He’d been so wrapped up in how much he wanted this baby and how certain he was that Jessica didn’t…Of course she was scared. Christ, so was he. The thought of having to take care of a little baby had to be one of the most terrifying things ever.
But still, he wanted to. Wanted to have this baby with Jess. Even though he didn’t know t
he first thing about babies. Or being a father.
Then again, maybe he did. The only person Zag ever had to look up to was Reb. The guy took him in when he was still a teenager after the last time his druggie mom had beaten him up and thrown him out. What Reb saw in a punk kid like him, Zag would never know. But he owed Reb. Owed him more than he’d ever be able to repay.
Maybe he did know something about being a father. He had the best example in Reb.
“So maybe give the girl a break,” Reb said.
Zag took another gulp of whiskey, then looked at Reb. “I’m sorry for all the bullshit I’ve given you over the past few months. I let that shit get under my skin and I acted like a little bitch.”
Reb gave him a nod. “I know I was out of line for how Preacher’s expulsion meeting went down—after you claimed Jess as your woman. I just—I was going through shit with Rhonda and I didn’t want to see you tied down in a similar situation. Bullshit reason, but there you go. Obviously, I was wrong. Jessica is a fine woman. You couldn’t do better, in my opinion. But at the time I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe something like what Jessica’s feeling now.”
“Okay, I get it. You don’t have to hit me over the head with it. Jessica’s scared. And you were looking out for me.” Zag gave him a wry grin. “Like you’ve been doing for the past twenty years.”
“Yeah, well, I should’ve realized that you could handle it. It won’t happen again.”
Zag laughed. “Yeah, it will.”
“You’re probably right. So we good? Hallmark moment over?”
“Yeah.”
Reb grunted. “Good. You figure out what you’re gonna do with Jessica?”
“Not really.”
“Word of advice: Don’t leave her alone too long. A woman alone with her thoughts can be a dangerous thing.” Reb paused and looked down at his beer. “A very dangerous thing.”
Zag knew Reb was thinking about his bitch of a wife—hopefully, soon to be ex-wife. He and Reb hadn’t talked about that night when Rhonda had dropped her bombshell about Tucker’s paternity. Not that he believed it for a minute. That bitch would say anything to make Reb hurt. Zag was just glad Reb was finally getting clear of her.
Ruthless Page 23
