Page 460 of The Tempted

One of the doctors nodded.

“We’ve closed him up already. Give us a few minutes and we’ll take you downstairs,” he explained.

Downstairs.

The morgue.

My best friend was just another lifeless body in a freezer.

“What about my daughter?” Maria asked.

“I’m sorry but we haven’t heard anything on the other woman,” the second doctor informed us. “Just give us a few minutes. We will take you down, sir and hopefully get another doctor to give you an update on the young woman,” he offered, before turning around and leaving us.

Maria’s lip quivered as she glanced at Anthony.

“Why haven’t we heard anything?” she screeched frantically.

I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. First getting word on Bones and being told he didn’t make it, made me slightly relieved we hadn’t heard anything on Lauren or the baby.

No news is good news, right?

Say I’m right.

One of the doctors returned a few minutes later, informing us that his colleague was still trying to get information on Lauren and asked me to follow him. I stepped onto the elevator, along with the doctor and watched as the doors closed.

The memories hit me hard, and as the elevator dropped so did my heart. We went from kids, to rebellious teenagers, finally becoming men we were proud to be.

I’m a prospect, earning my keep, going to be a Knight one day, Rob.

Why do they call you Bones?

Because I was born to break bones.

Well I need a nickname too.

A Road name. How about Riggs?

Riggs?

Because you were born to walk away from the oil rigs and all that shit that comes with being a Montgomery.

Riggs, no last name, kind of like Eminem. I like it.

You got a kid coming, man. That’s huge. That’s bigger than you, bigger than your girl, bigger than anything you’ve ever known. I know the club is everything to you right now, you worked real hard for your patch but this, you becoming someone’s father? It’s bigger than the club. Own that shit.

His last words to me.

Own it.

The elevator doors opened and I followed the doctor down a hall to another room, he nodded at the lady behind the counter and pushed open another set of doors, leading me into a sterile room. I saw him immediately, laying on a gurney centered in the room, with a sheet covering him up to his chin.

I’ve seen death a thousand times, always in the eyes of an enemy. I’ve never lost anyone close to me, and now here I stood in the morgue, staring at my dead best friend wondering if the girl I loved and my kid would be the next two bodies I saw in this room.

“We’ll give you a moment,” the doctor said, before walking out of the room, leaving me alone with Bones’ body.

I stepped closer to him, my boots pounding across the linoleum, muffling the groan that left my throat as I stared down at his face, pale, and lifeless. His lips already gray, matching the skin unmarked by tattoos.

This was the last time I’d see him, the last chance I had to look at him and speak, from this point forward I’d talk to a headstone, and even knowing that, my words still got lost on my tongue.

---