Page 68 of Rogue

“Make the deal or she dies right now,” he hollers. “I ain’t joking.”

He pulls me to my feet and drags me to the door, the gun pressed firmly against my temple.

The scene outside looks as tense as I expected. There’s ten of them and they’ve got a Mexican standoff type of thing going on.

“All right, all right,” Teller says. “We’ll help you after we take care of this. You have my word. All my men here are witnesses. Is that good enough for you?”

Tito exchanges a long look with the guy still holding a gun to my head. I can read it plainly enough. It’s not much of a promise and he knows it. They both do. I guess Unholy was the go-between and with him gone there’s no trust between these men. And I’m in the middle of it all.

“Fine,” Tito finally says and they all lower their weapons.

Teller chuckles and approaches me. “OK, you’re up, pretty lady. We’re gonna call Cross’ son Hunter now.”

“I’m doing no such thing!” I try to back away from him, but the guy holding me has too firm a grip on me to do that.

Teller laughs as he pulls a burner phone from his pocket and a knife from a sheath on his belt. The guy holding me drags me back into the trailer and Teller follows.

“Oh, you don’t have to talk, darlin’,” he says. “You just have to scream.”

33

Rogue

We finally reach the ER what feels like days since we left the battle. I park right across the entrance and help Creed get Blade out the back. He’s unconscious, but I think he’s still breathing, I hope he’s still breathing.

“What’s going on here?” a nurse asks. It’s the blonde that knows Melody.

“He’s been shot,” I tell her. “Get Melody. Dr. Lockhart.”

Two doctors come running out too, neither of them Melody. The doctors are followed by two male nurses pushing a gurney and two cops. One of them is Lopez, my father’s friend from the Academy.

“What’s going on, Gabriel?” he asks.

“Blade’s been shot,” I tell him while the nurse and doctors are already checking him, yelling out stats that mean nothing to me.

“Is he gonna make it?” I ask the doc closest to me.

“We’ll do what we can,” he says and then they’re wheeling Blade in as fast as they can.

Creed follows and I try to do the same, but Lopez stops me by laying a hand on my chest. “Let them work, son. We need a word.”

“What?” I snap. “I need to be with Blade.”

“Where’s Melody?” I ask the nurse again. “Is she still here?”

“She’s gone,” the nurse says and the words take all my air.

“Gone? Gone how?” I ask looking from the nurse to Lopez and back.

“She was with a patient, a biker type like you…” the nurse says. “And then they both disappeared.”

“We think he abducted her. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Lopez says. “What do you know about that?”

“Nothing,” I say, finally getting my breath back and the images of Melody stone cold dead out of the forefront of my mind.

“You know this woman, right?” Lopez asks. “You’re dating her? Could this be someone trying to get back at you? Anything you know can help us.”

I shake my head, trying to keep the images of Melody’s lifeless body out of my mind.

---