Page 13 of Venom's Sting

“I just hope that wherever her mother is, those missing meds are getting to her,” Rage says, looking concerned.

“Yeah, me too,” I tell him grimly.

Rigs calls in the other club officers, as well as Zen and Smoke. We devour the information in the scrapbook and begin brainstorming possible scenarios.

***

We’ve got some ideas about what might have happened, I’ve been waiting outside the clubhouse since one for Amy, and finally at just after half past one, the prospects wave her through the front gate. She parks in front of the clubhouse, and I catch her eyeing the place pretty hard when she gets out of her beat-up chevy. To be honest, her car looks more like a death trap than reliable transportation. I’m thinking about having our garage give it a once over, when suddenly I notice her cheek is bright red and she has a small cut on her lip.

I rush out to meet her in the parking lot. “Are you okay? What happened to your face?”

“The assholes you threw out a few weeks ago, came back about thirty minutes after you left.”

My anger rises hard and fast as I tilt her head back to get a look at the damage. “Fucking hell, sweetheart. They really did a number on your face. It looks like your right temple is bruising up, in addition to your cheek and lower lip.”

She glances away, clearly embarrassed. “I’ll be okay. It’s not the first time they’ve slapped me around and it probably won’t be the last.”

“Trust me it’s going to be the last time because I’m going to put them both in the fucking hospital.”

She frowns up at me and shakes my hand off her chin. “No, you’re not. We don’t have time for distractions. The only thingthat matters is finding my mom. You promised me that you’d help me do that. Remember?”

I give her a single, grudging nod. “Yeah, I remember. We’re on it and we already have several ideas to explore with you.”

Her face lights us with a brilliant smile before she shuts it down, cupping her lip with her hand. I can see the cut has opened back up. I wrap one arm around her and guide her into the clubhouse. The second we step into the Rigs’ office, Rage jumps to his feet and begins acting like it’s an emergency. He sits her down and sends Rigs to get his medical kit from the armory.

Amy does not appreciate the fuss we’re making over her injuries. Her eyes keep cutting to Siege and the other brothers we’ve assembled to help us find her mom. They don’t bat an eye because taking care of her injuries comes first.

Rage shines a light in her eyes and begins asking her questions. “How long ago did his happen? Did you lose consciousness? Is your vision blurry? Have you felt lightheaded during the day? Did they inflict any other injuries?”

“No, to all of that. Honestly, they just shoved me a bit. I caught myself on the edge of the counter,” she lifts up the side of her shirt to reveal a large bruise that takes up most of the right side of her ribcage.

I curse under my breath, but it’s Rigs who asks the question that I’ve overlooked. “Why? Why do they keep attacking you? There has to be a reason.”

She sighs, “They work for my grandfather on his farm, I don’t know why they feel the need to keep on antagonizing me. Today they came to deliver a message. My grandfather wants me tocall him, I told them to go to hell. That’s when the assholes got handsy.”

Rigs shoots a warning look to Siege who speaks for the first time. “You know that you can’t go back to work, right?”

Amy’s head whips around to look at our club president. “What? That’s crazy talk. I’ve got to earn a living if I want to keep a roof over my head, food in my belly, and to continue searching for my mother. God, I can’t just quit my job.”

I squat down to look her in the eyes. I’m wondering why it’s only just now I’m learning that she knows who these fuckers are, and that they aren’t just some local idiots. Before I can speak, Rage tells her, “Do you know what would have happened if they broke your rib and it punctured an internal organ? You might have bled out internally without even realizing how serious the injury was. You can’t keep risking yourself like this.”

She starts getting emotional, so I take her hands in mine and break it all down for her. “You already said if anything happens to you, there’ll be no one to keep the search for your mother alive. You can’t afford to let those assholes take you out of action.”

Her voice is pleading when she speaks, “I need to work. I can’t live on air, and my gas tank has to have gas, especially if I can’t afford my room rental moving forward.”

Shooting Siege a quick glance, I turn back to her. “We have an opening for a bartender here at the clubhouse.”

Her eyes open wide, “I don’t know anything about mixing drinks.”

“Trust me, it’s not rocket science. I’ll be right by your side, teaching you everything I know. You learned to be a barista, right?”

She nods, still looking shocked at this latest development.

“If you can learn to be a barista, you can learn to mix drinks. It’s really not that hard. Most of the brothers drink beer anyway.”

“But I can’t really stay here, can I?”

“I have a small suite, it’s nice and big enough for two. You can take the bedroom, and I’ll have the sofa. The clubhouse is private property and guarded day and night. You’ll be safe because those assholes can’t get to you here.”

---