Page 101 of Fighting a Riot

In seconds, Ghost and Prime were cuffed and lying on the floor. A female officer escorted us out of the building and into an unmarked police SUV.

Chapter 15

Steer a Situation

Yak

Toward the end of the afternoon, Volt dropped by to review the weekly revenue.

“Surprised you came by this afternoon, man,” Yak said.

Volt shrugged a shoulder. “Jackie took Simone to a doctor’s appointment.”

“You didn’t want to tag along?” Yak asked, grinning.

Volt shook his head. “No. I fuckin’ hate doctor’s offices and I hate watching my girl get shots. Didn’t hurt that I was already on this side of town.”

Yak nodded, recalling how much he despised doctor’s offices. To his mind, it seemed everything revolved around the doctor’s schedule. In some cases, he could see that. Docs who delivered babies didn’t get to dictate when that shit went down. Yak got that. But, rescheduling physical therapy to a day earlier with no true explanation or even monetary compensation… that pissed him off. Especially since doctors were so damned quick to charge people if they canceled the day of an appointment or worse, assess ‘late fees’ if someone didn’t show within twenty minutes of their appointment.

It was all a racket. And it always had been.

Ava wandered into his office. “You got a minute?”

Two days ago, Ava had been discharged from the hospital after a six-day stay. The induced coma had been lifted after forty-eight hours when her brain swelling subsided. She had a broken rib and four others were bruised. Her face had been beaten, but her nose wasn’t broken. The light in her eyes had dimmed somewhat, and Yak despised seeing that in any woman.

He smiled at her. “For you, I got twenty of them, but then you need to go home.”

She noticed Volt sitting on a sofa to the side and her eyes widened. “Am I interrupting? I can come back.”

Yak shook his head. “Anything you got for me can be shared in front of Volt. You know that.”

She settled into the seat across from the desk. “Right. Just saying, I’m not going home after this, because I’m here to help Desiree with some stuff for her new routine. Anyway, I don’t know if I should tell you this because I’m not sure if my brain’s playing tricks on me.”

He straightened in his chair. “What do you mean by playing tricks? Is this about the attack?”

Her lips pressed into a straight line as she nodded. “I swear I came to before you guys found me and I heard Prime talking to the attacker. That’s why I think it’s my mind messing with me.”

Tightness invaded his chest, and as much as he wanted to think this was a mind trick, his gut said Ava was right.

“What did he say to the attacker, Ava?” Yak asked.

“I heard the word Ghost multiple times, and he said something about how Iggy would be proud –though it might have been ‘Ziggy’. Before I passed out again, he said something about how he didn’t have to hit him so hard.” She hesitated. “That’s crazy, right? I mean, why would Prime talk to the asshole who attacked us like that? And only musicians go by a names like Ziggy or Iggy, right?”

Volt leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees, concern creasing his features. “Did they see that you were awake?”

She shook her head. “No. That’s all I remember. It seems like so little, but with all the weird shit going on, Desiree told me I needed to share with you guys.”

Yak nodded. “That’s right, Ava. You did good.”

Volt stood. “Yeah. You need anything while you heal up, don’t hesitate to tell us.”

Ava left the office, Volt closed the door behind her then turned to Yak. “Where is Prime? Still at the clubhouse?”

“Fuckin’ shit!” Yak hissed.

“What is it?”

Yak couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice. “He’s got Nora. Her fuckin’ physical therapy was moved and dumb ass that I am, I let him drive her.”