Page 92 of Fighting a Riot

“What the fuck, Yak?” Turk demanded.

The second screen lit and Yak’s stomach plummeted. “Fuckin’ security monitors were off. Shit! Prime’s out cold and somebody’s beating the shit out of Ava!”

He ran out to the parking lot, and heard Turk and Blood behind him.

Yak’s boots slid over the loose gravel on the asphalt. The attacker straightened and whirled.

Yak stepped forward while aiming an upper-cut at the man’s jaw, but the coward lunged to the left and took off running.

“Stop, motherfucker!” Yak yelled, chasing the man.

In the back of his mind, he heard Blood talking and he realized his Vice President had called 911.

The attacker was tall and thin, but didn’t appear to be as tall as Ghost. When the man scrambled up and over a chain link fence, Yak was nearly certain this wasn’t Ghost. That man didn’t have the physicality for fences.

Turk had come even with Yak in their pursuit.

Yak had gripped part of the chain link and took a foothold when Turk grabbed his shoulder.

“Man, we gotta get back to Ava and Prime. We’re not gonna catch this asshole and Blood’s called the cops.”

He dropped his foot down and turned from the fence. “This is so goddamned fucked-up, Turk! We never call the fuckin’ cops.”

Turk glared at him before he started jogging back toward the club. “We got two people who are gonna need medical attention and most of the dancers still haven’t left yet.”

Yak hoofed it to keep up with Turk’s long strides. “Right, but is Ava really that bad off? I saw red the moment I realized someone was beating her.”

Turk kept jogging. “I didn’t see much either, man. But, that guy wasn’t going easy on her when we busted out through the back door.”

At the reminder, Yak yearned to turn back and scale the fence after the asshole. “Goddamn it, man. How did we miss this? And for fuck’s sake why were only two monitors off in the office? Who the fuck would have done that?”

They slowed to a walk in the parking lot as they neared Blood, Punc, and Tundra who were talking to two patrol officers. An ambulance blocked the drive while EMTs tended to Ava. From the corner of his eye, Yak saw a burly EMT examining Prime.

“Follow the light with your eyes, sir,” the EMT said.

“Maybe he can tell us something when the medic is done,” Turk muttered.

Yak let out a quiet sigh. “If he’s got a concussion, that shit’s serious and he’s got to get checked out at the hospital, T.”

“Fuck, you’re right,” Turk hissed. “But he’s gonna argue.”

“Tough shit.” He halted as the EMTs moved a stretcher and the florescent light pouring out of the ambulance lit Ava’s petite frame. “Fuckin’ hell,” he whispered.

One of the patrol officers blocked their way. “The two of you shouldn’t have run after the assailant.”

Yak shrugged. “Sorry, officer, but it was reflex and adrenaline.”

The officer glanced to the side, then nodded. “Right. That’s understandable.”

Yak wished he could see the officer’s name tag, because that was the first time any cop had told him something was ‘understandable.’ However, with the officer standing with his back to the ambulance light, Yak couldn’t make out the letters.

“He got away from us by climbing over a fence. Is there any chance—”

The officer sighed. “We’re trying to get an air presence, but that takes time. Odds are good the perpetrator is already long gone in a vehicle. Or on a bike.”

Yak fought bristling at the mention of the person being on a bike, as though the cop were needling him and Turk for being bikers.

Turk lifted his chin. “Can we check on our employee who was so badly assaulted? She’s only been on the job for a week with us, and I hate the idea of her being taken to the hospital without hearing from either me or Noah.”

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