Page 69 of The Heart We Guard
I call Greer over to the window. “Are those the Midtown Rebels you’ve been having trouble with?”
She glances behind the curtain and sees them in the lot. Their bikes are lined up and they’ve all got off. “Oh my God. How did they find me? It’s to do with Nicholas Gray.”
“The patient you treated?”
“Yes. The one whose father came to thank me. They think I know something.”
I take both her hands in mine. “What do they think you know? And be honest with me.”
Greer doesn’t even hesitate with her answer. “When he came in, he had multiple gunshot wounds. But just as he was being wheeled into the OR, he grabbed my wrist and whispered a name to me. Gage. He said in case anything happened, Gage did it.”
I cup her cheeks. “And you didn’t tell anyone?”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t. But as he was being wheeled in to be prepped for surgery and I was about to go scrub in, he yelled that I should remember what he said.”
“Was he a member of the Rebels or an enemy? Do you know?”
“He was wearing a prospect cut for the Rebels.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. “Okay. Do you have a car here?”
“The one I came to see you in was a rental. I sold my car to one of the nurses after I got it detailed to clean up your blood. I was just going to get a taxi over to the airport. Shit, I didn’t cancel my flight yet. And those men, how did they know I’m here?”
I kiss her. It’s the only thing I can think of to stop her spinning out. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Let me make a quick call. I have two brothers close by. Jackal and Shade. Let us figure it out.”
I call Jackal, and he answers on the first ring. “Prez,” he says.
“I need a detour. Need you to double back to the location I’m about to send you by the airport. I need some backup.”
“Is it urgent?” Jackal asks. “‘Cos between Shade and me, we’re carrying about twenty grand of weed. And we’ll miss the courier.”
“Okay. Go make the drop. We’ll wait inside.”
“Wanna give me a heads-up?”
I pull Greer back from the window. Pretty sure this hotel has them tinted from the outside for privacy, but we can’t be too careful.
“Five Rebels around my bike at the parking lot around the back of the hotel. Possibly looking for me or the person I’m with. A woman. I need to get her safely out. Gonna take her out on my bike, but I need my rear covered.”
“Sounds like a fun morning. Be there as soon as we can. Courier is already waiting for us at the truck stop.”
“Call when you’re getting close. We’ll be ready.”
“I could just get an Uber from the front of the building,” Greer says when I hang up.
I huff. “Greer. They could have the front entrance covered. And the sides. Could even be sitting in the lobby drinking coffee, for all I know. Just because those assholes are around the back doesn’t mean you’re safer anywhere else.”
Greer sits down on the bed, suddenly fatigued. “What about my things?”
“Call down to the lobby. Tell them we’re going to be leaving them for a few hours. I’ll send one of our hang arounds to come and get them later.”
“They came to the house the day you left. I heard bikes and thought it was you,” Greer admits. “So, I didn’t even check. I just walked right over. Esme pretended she’d called the police to get rid of them.”
“Why’d she pretend and not actually call them?”
Greer’s eyes are haunted when she looks at me. “Because she knew I missed you and wasn’t sure whether the bikers were with you or not.”
Her words hit me like a kick to the chest.
