by Jessie Cooke
8Ball took a step toward him and Gunner stood his ground. Billy cleared his throat and said, “Gunner.”
“In a sec, Bill.”
“Gunner, it’s Dax. He wants to know what’s going on.” 8Ball was still facing Gunner, and the look on his face was priceless when Dax’s voice came over the line. Billy had it on speaker.
“Gunner, are you there? What the fuck is going on?” Gunner looked right at 8Ball as he said:
“Tommy’s been shot. He was taken out in an ambulance to San Antonio. Randall and Tamara went after him.”
“Do they have enforcers with them?”
“Yeah, Randall had two guys with him and two went with Tommy. I’m going to head over there. Tamara wants me there, that is if 8Ball and Dogg are kind enough to lend me a bike.”
“Let me talk to 8Ball,” Dax said.
“He’s right here. He can hear you.”
“Hey, 8, I’d be grateful, if you can’t ride along with my brother, if you can send someone with him.” Dax just glossed over the part about them lending him a bike, assuming they would.
The big ugly man cleared his throat and said, “Yeah…sure, Dax. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll owe you one.”
“No sweat, brother.” 8Ball looked at Dogg and said, “Get one of the prospects’ bikes out of the shop and make sure it’s gassed up.” Dogg glared at Gunner, but he didn’t question 8Ball. Billy ended the call with Dax and said:
“You want me to go with you?”
“Nah, it’s probably going to be a long night. 8Ball’s gonna keep me company on the ride, so I’ll be alright.” He knew that he shouldn’t antagonize the big man, but it was hard not to. 8Ball ignored him and was already gearing up to ride. By the time Dogg brought an older Fat Boy out of the shop for Gunner, 8Ball was ready to go. As soon as Gunner straddled his bike, 8Ball was off and he hauled ass the entire 45 miles to San Antonio, probably hoping he’d lose Gunner along the way. Gunner held his own, and they pulled up at the hospital side by side. At least 8Ball knew his place once they were there. He didn’t even try to follow Gunner into the hospital.
The emergency room was full to capacity but, even in the midst of all those bodies, it only took Gunner a few seconds to locate Randall and Tamara. They were surrounded by the four bikers that had escorted them there. As soon as Tamara saw Gunner she ran over and he wrapped his arms around her. Randall continued to sit with his back to them, but the four enforcers stared at them, hard. Ignoring them Gunner said, “How is he?”
She shook her head into his chest. “I don’t know, they won’t tell us anything.”
“It’s probably just too soon. Come on, let’s sit down. Can I get you anything?”
Gunner sat on a small love seat facing the chair Randall was sitting in. Tamara sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. Randall met Gunner’s eyes over his daughter’s head and held them for several long seconds. He finally leaned forward and put his head in his hands. Gunner pulled Tamara into him tighter and they all waited silently together.
30
“Mr. Covey?” Gunner hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep until he heard the doctor’s voice. He jerked his head up in time to see Randall do the same, and Tamara shot up off his lap. He glanced at the clock on the wall. They’d been there for just over five hours. The four enforcers were still on their feet behind the furniture the rest of them were sitting on, and the doctor was eyeing them warily.
“Yes,” Randall said, getting to his feet. He towered over the young doctor, who was wearing green scrubs, a paper hat, and a mask around his neck. He looked up at Randall through a pair of thick glasses and said:
“Your son is just being brought out of surgery. He was shot three times. One of the bullets was lodged in his colon, so part of that had to be removed. The other two bullets exited out his back; there was some damage to the spinal cord but we won’t know the extent of it until he wakes up. His gall bladder also had to be removed as well as a portion of his liver.”
“Fuck,” Randall said. The doctor cleared his throat nervously and said:
“He’s stable for now. He’ll be sedated for several days.”
“Can I see him?” Tamara asked.
“I’m afraid not,” the doctor said. Gunner put his arm around Tamara. He could feel her body tense up.
“He’s my brother. My twin brother.”
“I understand,” the doctor said, flatly. “I’ve been told by the police officer guarding his door that he’s not to have visitors.”
“Police?” Randall said. “When did the fucking police get here?”
“It’s standard procedure, sir, that we notify the authorities in the event of a shooting. When Mr. Covey wakes up they’ll want to talk to him. I imagine they’ll want to talk to you as well.”
“We’ll talk to them,” Tamara said. Her father shot her a dirty look and she went on, “But please ask them if I can see my brother. I didn’t shoot him and I need him to know that I’m here. He’ll know I’m in the room even if he’s sleeping. Please.” She had tears in her eyes again. The doctor’s eyes softened when he looked at her.
“I’ll ask the officer,” the doctor said with another nervous glance at Randall.
“Thank you,” Tamara whispered. As soon as the doctor went back behind the double doors, Randall kicked the chair he’d been sitting in. It slid across the floor and into one of his men standing guard, who stopped it with his foot.
“We’ll talk to them?” he said to Tamara, sarcastically.
“This is Tommy we’re talking about, Dad. Is this club shit really more important to you than your son?”
“Club shit?” he said, angrily. “This ‘shit,’ as you call it, is our life. It’s what has kept you fed and clothed and put you through college.”
“I don’t care. Tommy’s life is more important.”
“Talking to the fucking cops is not going to help your brother.”
“I’m not a fucking idiot,” Tamara told her father. She let go of Gunner and stepped up so she would be in his face if he weren’t a foot taller than her. As it was, her face was in his chest and her neck was hyper-extended to look up at him. “I will answer their questions with the same answers you taught me my whole life. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I didn’t see a thing. But God damn it, Dad, I will say whatever I need to say, to whoever I need to say it, to keep my brother from lying in some cold hospital room all alone thinking no one cares enough about him to be here. One of the first things I learned in that college you like to remind me you paid for, is that even patients in comas can hear what you say to them. I’m going to go in there and tell my brother I love him and that we’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure he gets better—and you know what, Dad, if I have to kiss a cop’s ass to do that I will. Fuck you if you don’t like it.”
Randall’s face was bright red with anger. Gunner’s senses were on high alert because he honestly thought Randall was about to put his hands on his daughter, and if that happened Gunner was going to step in. Somehow Randall was able to rein it in. He turned to one of the men standing by and said, “Viking, you’ll ride back with me to the compound. The rest of you stay here with Tammy and Tommy. If Tammy comes back, two of you ride with her. I want one here on Tommy at all times, understand?”
The three men all nodded in agreement. Randall turned his attention to Gunner then and said, “I don’t like you and I don’t trust you, but for some reason my daughter does. I’ve never had reason to doubt her judgment, so for now you can stay with her as long as she wants you here. But just make sure you know that if anything happens to her on your watch, I will kill you myself.”
“Nothing will happen to her,” Gunner said. Tamara reached up and put her hand on the side of Randall’s face. He covered it with his big one and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he looked down at her softly and said:
“Tell your brother I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“
Please be safe, Dad.”
Randall brought her hand up and kissed her palm. “I’ve got nine lives,” he told her, “and I’ve only used four so far.”
Tamara wrapped her arms around his bulk and buried her face into the beard lying on the front of his chest. He patted her hair and held her there for only a few seconds before pulling back. “I have to go, Tammy.” She nodded, and while she watched her father leave she clutched onto Gunner’s hand. They sat down once he was gone and waited again. Another hour passed before a man in a three-piece suit, whom Gunner recognized instantly, came out of the back. The only sign that he recognized Gunner too was a raised eyebrow in his direction.
“Miss Covey?”
“Yes.” Gunner and Tamara stood up again. The man looked at the two enforcers behind them with something like amusement in his eyes.
“I’m Detective Samuels from the San Antonio Police Department. I’m investigating your brother’s shooting. Do you know what happened tonight?”
“No, sir. Tommy was shot outside the gates of our clubhouse is all that I know. No one saw the shooter.”
“Of course they didn’t. Were you there?” he asked, looking at Gunner.
“I was at the clubhouse but not anywhere near the shooting.”
“Of course you weren’t,” he said with a sigh. “Miss Covey, you understand that your brother is not in trouble here, right? It’s the shooter we would like to catch and maybe even punish for what he did to him.”
“I understand that, yes. I’m a nurse, Detective Samuels. I understand wanting to help people. I want the man or men or woman that did this to my brother caught and punished. If I had any information that would help you do that, I’d give it to you.”
The detective looked at Gunner again before he asked Tamara, “Do you know Eddie Martini?” Tamara was still holding Gunner’s hand. He felt her tense just slightly as she said,
“Of course—I mean, I know of him. He owns a lot of businesses in this town.”
“I’ve been told by some very good sources that there might be some trouble brewing between Martini and the Head Hunters. Have you heard that?”
“No, sir, but women aren’t really privy to club business.” Suddenly Tamara had gone from the badass daughter of the VP of a 1% MC to a sweet little nurse that had no idea what was going on while she was baking cookies and kissing booboos. Gunner was having fun just watching her transition. The detective didn’t look like he was having fun, or like he believed her.
“Mr. Davis, it’s been a few years since you and I have seen each other. How have you been?” Tamara looked up at Gunner with surprise on her face. Gunner kept his eyes on the detective and with a smile he said:
“Well, sir, since you haven’t seen me in a while, five years to be exact, I’d have to say I’ve been staying out of trouble.”
“Or you’re getting better at not getting caught. I’m surprised to see you with the Head Hunters. Wasn’t it the Skulls you had alliances with back in the day?”
“As it turns out, Detective, my brother is the president of the Southside Skulls.”
The detective raised an eyebrow again. “Dax Marshall is your brother?”
“Yes, sir, he is.”
“Interesting,” Detective Samuels said.
“Detective, can I see my brother?”
The detective looked at Tamara and back at Gunner. “He’s not under arrest. You can see him according to the hospital regulations.” He took out a card and handed one to each of them. “Give me a call if you think of anything you forgot to tell me. I’d like your contact information as well, in case anything else comes up.”
“Sure thing,” Gunner said. He and Tammy gave the detective their phone numbers. Gunner got another hard look from the detective before he turned and left. When he was gone, Tamara said:
“How do you know him?”
“He arrested me the night I picked up the package at the docks. He was at my parole hearing the day they released me. He recommended supervised parole. The woman that was supervising me was his partner. She disappeared going after Eddie.”
“Shit,” Tamara said. Gunner didn’t reply. That was really all there was to say about it anyway.
When Gunner woke up in the waiting room several hours after Tamara had gone back to see Tommy, he realized he should be at least somewhat grateful for the way that he’d grown up. Spending his life sleeping in back alleyways and junkyards and on the banks of the San Antonio River had prepared him for all of this waking up in different places. He sat up and looked around. The enforcers were still there, and still awake, but they had sat down and they were drinking coffee. He chuckled to himself, happy to know they were at least human.
“Tammy didn’t come back out yet?” he asked. The two men looked at each other as if trying to decide which one had to answer before the one in the Brownsville chapter kutte with “Woody” stitched on the front said:
“No.”
“Where’d you get the coffee?”
“Cafeteria.”
Gunner was tempted to think of something else to ask him, if only to see if he was capable of speaking more than one word. He was too tired to play, though, so he got up instead and looked around for a sign for the cafeteria before realizing he didn’t have a wallet, or any money. He sat back down. The man of few words surprised him by saying:
“You take sugar and cream?”
Gunner grinned. “Just sugar, thanks.” Woody didn’t smile back, but he got up and went to get the coffee. He was back with it in just a few minutes and Gunner had only taken one sip when Tamara appeared from the double doors. “Hey!” Gunner stood up and she once again wrapped herself around him. He was getting used to it, and he liked it. “How’s Tommy?”
She sighed and stepped back so she could look up at him. “I don’t know. They say stable. He looks like a mess, the poor thing. I’m sorry I kept you out here so long. You could have gone back without me.”
“No way. “Woody and I have just been having coffee and shooting the shit. It was great.” Tammy looked at Woody’s solemn face and then back at Gunner with a smile and a shake of her head. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked like she might collapse. “We need to get you home and into bed. You look exhausted.”
She nodded. “I am. I’ll sleep for a while and come back.” Woody and his partner stood up as soon as she agreed to leave. The partner spoke for the first time.
“I’ll be here with Tommy. I won’t leave him.”
Tamara put her hand on his wrist and the blank expression he’d worn all night dissolved into something warm and almost friendly. “Thank you, Buck. If there are any changes…”
“You’ll be the first one I call, Miss Tammy.”
She surprised Gunner by leaning in and kissing Buck on the cheek. The tough, cold guy was almost in a puddle by that time. “Thank you. You’re coming with us?” she asked Woody. It was apparent that she didn’t know him as well.
“Yes, ma’am.” They left Buck there with Tommy and headed back out to the compound. When they got there, Gunner started up toward the house but Tammy put her hand on his arm to get his attention and said:
“I want to stay with you.” He was sure that wasn’t going to go over so well with her father and the other brothers, but he didn’t give a shit. He turned the bike toward the clubhouse and ignored the stares of everyone in it when he and Tammy walked through hand in hand on their way to his room.
31
When they got to Gunner’s room Tammy was practically dead on her feet. He was having a hard time controlling his impulses. Being so close to her the night before and so close to her all morning had his hormones working overtime. But lately, he’d finally gotten to a point in his life where he was realizing that other people’s feelings, especially Tamara’s, were more important than his own, and sometimes immediate gratification wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. He led her to the bed, and even after helping her out of her clothes, he tucked her under the covers in her bra and underwear wi
thout doing anything inappropriate. She had her eyes closed when he leaned in to kiss her softly. He was surprised when her tongue came out and licked across his lips. He licked hers back and then said, “Rest.” She nodded and within seconds she was breathing evenly and he knew she was out. He sat and watched her sleep for a while, marveling at how incredibly beautiful and sexy she was without make-up and after a week or so of long, hard days. The bruising to her face was fading, but he could still see the telltale signs of where she’d been punched by a grown man, and it still made him angry to think about it. He leaned down and kissed that side of her face gently and then went into the bathroom and got into the shower so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch her and keep her awake.
When he got out of the shower she was still sleeping. He finally used one of the razors and shaved his face, and then dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that one of the girls had left him the day before. He opened and closed the door softly and went out to the great room. It was filled mostly with women and kids. Billy was watching a football game with a couple of the retired patches and Patty was wiping down the bar.
“Hey, kid, how are you doing?” she asked when she saw him. Whatever was going on between her and Louie was making her soft. Gunner wasn’t sure he liked it.
“I’m okay. Tommy is stable for now and Tammy’s finally getting some rest. How are things around here?”
“Quiet,” she said. “Only a few of the guys stayed back; the rest of them went out with Randall. You missed the arrival of Swinger early this morning. Have you met him?”
“Not yet.”
“He’s interesting,” she said with both her eyebrows raised.
“Interesting in what way?”
“He’s…I don’t know, you’ll have to meet him for yourself. He’s hard to describe.”
“Looking forward to it,” Gunner said, sarcastically. “I’m starving, Patty.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “What do I look like, your mother?”
