Page 109 of Mensa's Match

His eyes locked with mine, and from the crazed look in his eyes I saw my mistake. Rod hadn’t tackled me. Rod hadn’t picked me up off the ground. Hell, back at the strip mall, Rod wasn’t the one who stuck me with a needle. He’d let other people do hisdirty work. That didn’t mean healwayslet other people handle his problems though.

And I hadn’t noticed if he had a weapon on his person or not.

Most likely it was five seconds that Rod stared at me, but it damn sure felt like five minutes. Whether it was a bizarre law of human nature or pure instinct, the moment I decided to flee, Rod also pulled a gun.

I took off at an angle, but it wasn’t enough. The sound of Mensa shouting my name… no, the gut-wrenching plea in his shout was something I’d never forget.

White-hot pain sliced along my left shoulder blade. The ground looked and felt like it had tilted. I had a fleeting thought to stretch my arms out in front of me before the ground rushed up to greet me, then my vision went dark.

Chapter 28

You Gotta Fight

Mensa

“Whitney, don’t!” Mensa shouted,the moment he saw Rod pull a gun. The sound of his voice was raw and foreign to his ears.

He heard the gunshot, and saw Whitney’s body jerk on impact. His whole world fell out from under him. She took a bullet in her upper torso. Then he saw Whitney fall to the ground and uncontrollable rage engulfed him. He felt Finn or Gamble grab for his arm, but he broke free and ran toward Rod. He yanked Rod around by his shoulder. Before Rod could take aim with the gun, Mensa was tackled to the ground.

Mensa shoved against the man and found Brute had taken him down. “Goddammit, let me up! I’m gonna kill that asshole!”

Over Brute’s shoulder, Rod hovered over them and laughed. “Typical Riot pussies. Won’t let another brother fight because you’re all pussy-whipped by your fuckin’ women.”

Sirens wailed in the air.

Two of the Corrupt Chrome members shuffled their feet. One of them looked toward the back gate. “We gotta move, Rod.”

Rod lifted his chin. He moved toward the bikes, passing Whitney’s body along the way, and the asshole stopped and kicked her in the ribs.

Mensa struggled against Brute’s dead weight. “That asshole is fucking dead!”

“Let him leave,” Brute muttered.

“Let me up. Whitney needs help. Get the fuck off me!”

Brute backed off by two inches and with herculean effort, Mensa shoved him away. Within seconds, he’d scrambled to Whitney’s side. He found she had a pulse, but when he rolled her over, the amount of blood on her upper chest gutted him. In a flash he shrugged out of his cut, and tore his t-shirt off to put it on the exit wound.

“You gotta fight, Blume. Don’t give up, baby,” he murmured.

The sound of motorcycles roaring away enraged him anew. A huge part of him wanted to chase after them and wreak vengeance, but there was no way he would leave Whitney’s side. He forced himself to remain calm for her sake.

She opened her eyes. He leaned forward in time to hear her whisper, “I love you.”

He stared into her eyes. “I love you, too. Now, you fight this, woman.”

She closed her eyes just as two EMTs squatted next to him. Their instructions for him to let them take over barely registered, but he found himself standing back shirtless, watching them move her onto a gurney.

One of his brothers handed him his cut, and he shrugged it on. He turned to follow the EMTs, but stopped short at the sight of police officers blocking his way. “I need to go with her, she’s my fiancée and she was shot by a Corrupt Chrome member.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” the closest officer said.

Mensa focused on the gold name plate which read, Officer Wilson. He did his best to make his tone neutral. “She could be dying.”

“We have to secure this crime scene, and question your involvement in her shooting.”

“I’ll answer all the questions you want at the hospital.”

Another officer who seemed to be in charge sidled closer. “I’ll question you and get someone to take you to the hospital.”

---