I growled under my breath, but I stepped to the side.
Mac didn’t hesitate. She slipped past me and into the room like she belonged there—like I hadn’t just spent ten minutes trying to keep her out. The door clicked shut behind her.
“You really had to give her the okay to go in there?” I muttered.
Poppy chuckled. “You’re acting like you’re guarding a room full of gold, Pirate.”
“Yeah,” Yarder said and stepped closer. “What the hell’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing’s gotten into me,” I said, a little too quick and a little too defensive. “Saylor needs to rest, and she can’t do that with Mac staring at her.”
Poppy grinned. “But she can rest with you staring at her?”
I grunted, not dignifying that with a response.
“The cops come by at all?” Yarder asked, as his tone shifted to something more serious.
Poppy smirked. “As if he would let them talk to Saylor.”
“No one’s been by except you guys and Mac,” I said. “Are the cops looking to talk to her again?”
Yarder nodded. “Yeah. She told them what happened already, but I guess they have more questions. The guy who attacked her took off, but she managed to get some hits in. They found his blood on the rock she used. Won’t have results for a few weeks, though.”
Jesus.
“You heard what the guy said to her, right?” I asked.
Yarder nodded again. “Dice let me know everything. Said the guy called her one of the ‘Iron Fiends’ bitches’ and claimed it was ‘for the asshole who keeps sniffing around.’” Yarder’s eyes darkened. “That shit’s too specific to be random.”
It didn’t make any sense. Saylor didn’t have ties to us. Not really. She worked on the show with Mac. That was it. She wasn’t patched in. She wasn’t dating anyone. Hell, she barely spoke to any of us.
“She really doesn’t have a connection to us other than the TV crew,” Yarder added, confirming what I was already thinking.
But that didn’t stop the guy from attacking her.
Yarder eyed me carefully. “What’s the deal with you sticking with Saylor?” he asked. “You got something going on with her?”
I shook my head. “No.”
He waited and gave me that look like he wasn’t buying it.
Poppy didn’t wait. “Then why the heck are you being her watchdog?” she demanded.
I looked at both of them, but I didn’t really have an answer that made sense. All I knew was I had to be here. That when I saw her on that stretcher, something had shifted. I wasn’t going to leave her side. Not until I knew she was safe.
“It’s our fault this happened to her,” I finally said.
Yarder shook his head. “This is Boone and Gibbs’ fault, not fucking ours. They’re the psychos that won’t leave us alone.”
“That’s true,” I admitted. “But I still feel a fuck-ton of guilt. If it wasn’t for us, she’d still be walking around without bruises on her face.”
Yarder frowned, but he didn’t argue.
“I’m not letting her out of my sight until this shit is over. Who’s to say the guy who attacked her won’t come back and finish the job? Someone has to make sure she’s safe.”
“And you decided that someone is you,” Yarder said flatly.
I nodded.