Melted Iron (Blue Bandits MC Book 3)

by Michelle Woods

  Iron was staring at Roz. She was biting her lip as she stared at the bike. Iron saw her glance up, her eyes moving past Burner. He watched as if in slow motion as her arm raised, a gun in her hand. At first he thought she was going to shoot Burner and his heart almost stopped until he realized she was aiming behind him.

  Roz screamed, “Burner, get down!” But it was too late. The Headhunter who they’d shot in the chest had already taken his shot. Burner was in the process of turning to see what she was aiming at and he was hit in the chest by the bullet flying towards him.

  Roz took a shot at the man, almost missing him completely but managed to hit him in the neck. Blood sprayed out and he staggered, letting out another shot that went wide before he fell to the ground dead. Iron moved then, his heart racing because if Burner had gotten down like she told him to, she’d be the one lying on the ground with a bullet in her chest. He knew he should have checked that those men were really dead. Fuck, that should have been the first thing he’d done. After all he wasn’t a fucking rookie.

  Roz was moving to Burner, who had fallen to his knees clutching the wound in his chest. Iron moved then, but he was over in the tree line checking the other men and grabbing their guns. He kicked the one Roz had shot because it made him feel better. That son of a bitch might have just killed his brother or his woman. He then texted Lance to get over here with his equipment because Burner was shot. He also sent it out as a general alert to the club knowing they would all want to know before returning to Roz’s side.

  Iron could hear Roz talking to Burner telling him to stay with her. Iron knelt beside her seeing that she held pressure on the wound. She’d cut Burner’s shirt off with his knife and was holding part of it against the wound.

  “Iron, go inside and get the plastic wrap for me,” she told him, glancing at him.

  Iron frowned, unsure why the hell she wanted him to go inside for plastic wrap at this moment. His brother was lying in the dirt dying and she wanted him to go inside for fucking plastic wrap?

  Had she lost her ever loving mind?

  “Don’t argue with me, just do it. Now, damn it!” Roz screamed hysterically. “And be fast, really fast!”

  Unsure why the hell her tone was so urgent but unwilling to tell her she had lost her mind with everything she’d been through tonight, he jerked to his feet and rushed inside for the plastic wrap. He slammed into the kitchen hearing Laci behind him asking what was wrong. He ignored her, flinging open drawers and cabinets. Unable to find what he needed, he commanded, “Where the hell is the plastic wrap?”

  Laci walk into the kitchen pulling it out of the one cabinet he hadn’t opened and handed it to him. He grimly nodded and headed towards the door with her following behind him.

  He turned to glare at her. “Stay inside, damn it.”

  He stormed towards the door, slamming it in her face before running back out to Roz and Burner. He handed her the wrap and watched as she efficiently ripped it off the roll, lifting the pressure off the wound.

  Iron reached out shoving her hand back down. “What the hell are you doing? Keep the pressure on the wound!”

  “Iron, I don’t have time to explain, just let me do this!” Roz demanded, shoving his hands off Burner and resuming her work. She placed the wrap over the wound, holding the sides tightly. Blood poured out of the wound for a minute before the wrap stopped it. Iron was watching Burner’s chest rise and fall slowly and damned if after she put that wrap over him if he didn’t take in more air.

  What the hell?

  “It’s to keep air out of the wound. It can collapse his lung and end up killing him. He’s in bad shape, Iron.” Roz’s eyes met his, tears falling down her cheeks. She had blood on her face where she must have brushed her hair out of her face at some point and he couldn’t stop staring at her. She was beautiful even with dirt and blood streaking her face and tears in her eyes.

  He suddenly had a moment of blinding clarity. As he knelt in the dirt across from her he knew that he loved her, that he had always loved her, and that he always would. Roz was it for him, his one true love, and that was just the way it was for him. That was why he was so angry with her when she had fallen out of that truck into his arms. Iron reached out cupping her cheek in his hand and wiping away the tears with his thumb, feeling the rioting emotions that had bombarded him all week settle inside him.

  “It’s okay, baby. He’s strong. He will make it,” Iron whispered to reassure her, seeing in her eyes that she thought this was her fault.

  Roz thought that she’d distracted them from checking that the men were dead but Iron knew that he was too worried about why those men were here and he’d slipped up. It was something he would have to live with, but he hoped to hell that Burner didn’t pay for his mistake with his life. Iron heard the cage come to a squealing halt a few feet away and the opening of the doors.

  “Over here!” Iron called out and moments later Lance and Lock moved over Burner’s body trying to save him.

  A few minutes later Reaper, Sarah and Animal arrived. Reaper fell to his knees beside Burner, his face pale and his eyes haunted as he grabbed Burner’s hand, gripping it tightly. Iron held Roz against his chest where they stood watching Lance work. Animal and Lock were holding flashlights so Lance could see what he was doing as he used the surgical unit to repair the damage. Sarah stood near them hugging herself with tears running down her face as she watched them all silently. It seemed to take hours before Lance finally spoke.

  “Okay, let’s move him. Iron, good work with that wrap. If it hadn’t been for that, I don’t know if we could have saved him. His lung was already half collapsed,” Lance said, standing back while Animal, Reaper and Lock lifted Burner to carry him to the truck.

  Iron glanced down at Roz who had her face buried in his chest. “It was Roz.”

  “Really? What made you decide to do that?” Lance was staring at her with a raised brow and a quizzical look.

  Roz stirred looking at Lance, her face still covered in dirt and blood that was now streaked with tears. Her hair was wild and she still seemed a little shaken.

  “Dr. Rogers always told us that emergency field medicine was important and made all his employees learn what to do for any given situation. He said that it might be frowned on by most doctors as an obsolete form of treatment but that it had saved many a life when the technology we have now wasn’t available,” Roz said and Iron realized she must have worked for a doctor in Grandyville. That surprised him because she had hated medical facilities after her father’s illness had kept him there so often. Although the fact that she wanted to help people didn’t surprise him at all. His Roz had a soft heart.

  “I see. Well, he’s a smart man because you likely saved Burner’s life tonight. You should come by the clinic. I could use some help over there and someone with your skills would be a godsend,” Lance said before he followed the men who were carrying Burner to the cage he’d driven over, supervising them loading him into the bed of the truck.

  Sarah moved forward and jerked Roz into her arms hugging her tightly, her body shaking. “Thank you. Reaper and I would be devastated if we lost Burner and I know he isn’t out of the woods yet, but at least there is a chance now. So thank you.”

  She then rushed after the others, reaching up to grab Reaper’s hand as he pulled her up into the bed of the truck before sitting down with her on his lap. Iron and Roz watched as they drove out of the parking lot headed to the medical center at Lance’s place. Iron held Roz against his side with an arm around her waist. She still looked a little shocked at the events of the night, not that Iron could blame her.

  Iron glanced at the bodies and knew someone would have to take care of them but right now he needed to get Roz inside and cleaned up. He texted Colt to get some prospects to come with him to deal with the bodies before he began leading Roz inside.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he told her kissing her forehead gently.

  “Okay,” Roz said, a dazed look still on
her face.

  He waved Laci off, who demanded to know what had happened, before he led Roz into their room and headed to the shower.

  Chapter 14

  Iron leaned on the wall beside Pansy watching the Red Devils getting off their bikes. It had been ten days since the night Burner got shot at the rec center. He was feeling better if a little cranky because Lance was making him stay at the medical center for another three days because he was worried that he would start bleeding internally if he tried to do too much too soon. Burner wasn’t too happy about it but he was staying because Reaper had insisted. Iron knew that he was livid that he couldn’t be here tonight, but Iron was with Lance on this one as were Reaper and Sarah.

  Burner had almost died from the gunshot wound to his chest and although the surgical laser sealed it all back up, it still took time for the body to strengthen those repairs so that they weren’t easily ripped back open. Burner had been insistent that he needed to be here tonight and Reaper, having already left to head to the meet, hadn’t been there to tell him he was staying with Lance.

  Roz, who had started working with Lance, was the one who’d finally convinced Burner to chill. She’d basically told him that he was being an idiot and that if he didn’t appreciate his life, she wouldn’t bother to save his sorry ass the next time he went and got himself shot.

  Burner had stared at her for a long moment before a small smile had cracked across his face and he’d given in on staying at the medical center. Iron was grateful she’d convinced him because Burner was still pale and he still moved slowly due to the healing his body was still doing. Beyond that Reaper would have had his head because he wasn’t rational where Burner was concerned. Reaper was closer to Burner than he was to any other man in the club and that meant Reaper’s protective side kicked in making him irrational.

  Dog walked over holding out his hand and Iron shook it. “Animal rip anyone else’s nuts off lately?” Dog asked with a slight chuckle.

  “Nah, his old lady makes him a little more stable, I guess,” Iron told him grinning. “But if you weren’t such a pussy it wouldn’t bother you.”

  “Asshole,” Dog muttered, glaring at him with a slight smile on his face.

  Reaper was sitting with Bone, Tank, Mack and Death Rider at the table across the room. They were discussing the Jackals’ and the Headhunters’ movements and what was going on with them. It seemed that the two groups were becoming one club and that was not good news for any of them. If those two clubs hooked up, then both the Blue Bandits and the Red Devils were going to end up with their hands full trying to prevent them from taking over.

  Iron knew that they needed to prevent that but it wasn’t looking good. The Headhunters were already moving into Red Devil territory and they were seeing drug stores in theirs which was likely from the damned Jackals. The fact that only twelve men from the upper ranks of both clubs were here tonight said a lot about how worried both clubs were about this issue. Reaper had left behind Lock, Bull, Animal, Rebel and about forty prospects to protect the women.

  They’d brought ten prospects with them here tonight but after two hours they weren’t any closer to figuring out what the two clubs were up to than they had been when they arrived.

  “Think they’ve figured out what those assholes are up to?” Dog asked, looking at him quizzically.

  “No, problem is their behavior is random. It’s not making a damned bit of sense. Just seems like they’re disorganized or that they aren’t all in agreement, I don’t know which,” Iron told him, his face grim.

  “Yeah, that’s my thought too. They seem to be making it up as they go along which is stupid as fuck, but likely the reason they’re so easy to kill. We’ve taken out half of the Jackals club in the last three years and they still seem to keep popping out of the woodwork and now they’re shoring up the holes we’ve made in their club with the damned Headhunters,” Dog muttered, pulling out a cigar and lighting it.

  “It’s not much better on our end with these damned kidnappings. If we could only find the damned leader we might be able to get ahead of the game. Only he’s like a slimy eel that keeps slipping right out of our grasp every time we get close.” Iron grunted, glancing over at Reaper who seemed to be wearing an even grimmer expression than the one he’d walked in with from whatever Bone was showing them on a map they had laid out on the table.

  “Yeah, shit’s getting real crazy over our way too,” Mock said from his position beside him and Iron glanced at him. He was one of Death’s enforcers and they had worked together on several occasions.

  “What’s been going on over your way? I thought we had your side settled?” Pansy asked, looking worried.

  “Fuck, we thought so too but last week some chick said she was seeing Headhunters moving in on the outskirts of our territory. We checked it out and a new group was movin’ into the old Harold’s warehouse out there by the train depot. They haven’t caused trouble yet but it’s likely only a matter of time before it starts,” Mock told him, a scowl on his face.

  “Damn, that’s halfway between us and really fucking close to––” Iron stopped talking because he’d almost said church but didn’t want to give away the location to Dog despite their two clubs being friendly. Things change and you never knew where you’d end up with another club if shit hit the fan unless they were a patched over club. Information like that was kept on a need to know basis. “We’re going to have a time keeping them in check if they’re that far away from our territories and they start opening up shop there,” Iron finished.

  “Yeah, it’s not flipping great, that’s for sure,” Mock said, his eyes on the table and the map they were looking at. Iron was feeling restless suddenly and he wanted to head back to Roz because the odd behavior of the Headhunters was making him nervous.

  “No,” he muttered, shifting uncomfortably against the wall. “It’s not.”

  Roz leaned over picking up the gauze that had fallen off the counter while she was putting away the IV bags. Laci was sitting near the window playing cards with Burner who was trying to teach her how to play poker. It wasn’t going well. She didn’t seem to be picking it up very fast and kept asking him questions. Roz had a feeling it was an act though. She wasn’t sure why but she knew that Laci was smarter than she was acting at the moment.

  Burner was looking interested in fleecing her and Roz hid a small smile because she had a sneaky suspicion that it wouldn’t go like he thought it would. Roz stuck the gauze into the cleanser unit and hit the button that would sterilize it while she listened to them chatter. Laci was working her way up to suggesting they play with real credits, she’d bet her life on it. Bull walked into the room, his eyes taking in the way Laci was flirting with Burner, and shook his head as he neared her.

  “Doesn’t that idiot know she’s playing him?” he asked her in a low voice.

  “Apparently not,” Roz whispered back, seeing Bull’s small grin. He liked Laci despite the fact that she did nothing but argue with him. Roz didn’t know what was going on with the two of them but he always seemed to be close by and his presence somehow reassured Laci because whenever Bull was around she relaxed. Laci was almost never relaxed and a few days ago she and Sammy had finally found out why the girl didn’t want to go home.

  Apparently her father was a loser who’d gambled her away to Jumper and that was how she’d ended up in that little hovel to begin with. It wasn’t the first time he’d tried to sell her either. Laci told them she’d been sold to a woman as slave labor for almost a month until the woman he’d sold her to had died from a overdose of Juice. When she was sixteen, he’d tried to sell her to a man to pay his debts, but thankfully the man had refused and taken their car instead.

  Roz couldn’t see how someone could do that to their own child, it was barbaric. That was also why she thought that Laci was faking her lack of knowledge because growing up as she did, she knew about gambling. Roz knew that she had won her freedom once with a game of blackjack. She watched as Burner dealt the
cards and laid his credits on the table and shook her head. Yep, he’d win for a while and then when he really started betting Laci was going to take him to the cleaners. She almost felt sorry for him but it served him right for underestimating the girl.

  Bull pulled a chair up near the table to watch the show, his grin wide. Burner looked at him asking, “Wanna play?”

  Laci was waiting to see what he would say because she seemed to know he knew she could play. She was waiting with a slight frown for his answer.

  “Nope, just going to watch,” Bull said, leaning back in the chair as another bright smile spread over Laci’s face. Roz let out a snort and walked into the hall, almost walking into Grace. Shit, she so didn’t want to deal with her today. Grace’s face turned red and she glowered at her.

  “What are you doing here?” Grace demanded.

  “I work here so the better question is what are you doing here?” Roz said, raising a brow as she watched the woman.

  “I––well I,” Grace stuttered, then to Roz’s shock she burst into tears. Roz wrapped her arm around her and led her out of the hall into one of the rooms nearby.

  “Hon, what’s wrong?” Roz asked her, feeling her heart go out to the other woman who was sobbing her heart out. Roz really hoped this wasn’t about Iron.

  “I–I just don’t know what to do. I can’t–– he won’t even acknowledge it’s his and I––I don’t know what to do. I can’t raise a baby alone,” the woman wailed and Roz felt a sinking sensation in her stomach for a moment. “He-he called me a wh-whore when I told him and he threw me out but it’s his, I know it is.”

  “Whose baby is it?” Roz asked, praying that she didn’t say Iron because she didn’t think she could handle it if she did. It wasn’t that she thought he would betray her because she knew he wouldn’t; it was that she didn’t know how long before she arrived Grace and Iron’s one night together was. Could the baby be his?