Page 90 of Next Level
“Are you with Jane Jones? Is anyone family?” a man in scrubs asks down the hall.
I shuffle to meet him. “Yes, I’m her boyfriend. Her parents are on their way.”
“Ms. Jones suffered a major stab wound to her lower stomach, lacerating her appendix and small intestine. She’s still in surgery, but so far it looks good. She will need a lot of recovery but shouldn’t have any problems. We just wanted to give you a quick update. We’ll let you know once she’s out of surgery and in recovery.”
Relief washes over me that she’ll be okay. “Thank you. How long until we’ll be able to see her?”
“She’s still in surgery, so probably not for a few more hours.”
“Thank you again.”
He grins, giving us a head tilt before walking back down the hall.
Everyone’s standing behind me, listening when I turn around. Each person’s face shows the same relief I feel.
I sigh. “She’s going to be okay.”
Ma claps her hands. “Thank God.”
Noticing Lip and Nut are still here, I motion for them to follow me. I wave my hand, grabbing Chewy, Zip, and Dawg’s attention too. When we’re in a corner, I whisper, “I want to deal with this shit now. He needs to be gone by morning.”
“What are you thinking?” Zip asks.
“Lip and Nut, take off now. Get everything set up. Zip, tell Jay to retrieve the van and bring it to another entrance where we won’t be expected to go out.
“Most of us need to stay here. We have police here, and if Agent Tellez comes back, I want more of us here than not. With our bikes here, no one should question us. I’ll go with one or two people max to meet up with Lip and Nut.”
Dawg chimes in, “I’ll stay here. Sunshine should be here any minute.”
“Okay.”
Zip speaks next. “I want to stay here too.”
“Okay.”
Chewy offers next, “I’m going with you.”
Zoom is last. “I’m with you too.”
“Okay, that’s good. Everyone else stays here. If Agent Tellez shows up, call me, and I’ll shoot back over here.”
Ma’s voice vibrates around us. “I’m going with you.”
“No, Ma, you’re not.”
“If I’m with you, no one would suspect you of doing anything wrong. If Agent Tellez shows up, you could say you took me home or something. I’m going with you to talk to him,” she insists, folding her arms over her chest.
Chewy laughs. “Looks like Ma is coming.”
“Jesus Christ. Fine. I need to complete this task quickly so I can focus on my girl and make sure I’m back before her parents get here.”
Lazy, of course, is all jokes. “Go kill a man, check. Meet your future in-laws, check. Should be a fun-filled evening.”
Everyone finds that hysterical, and before we disperse, I say, “Jay, text when you get back, and Nut, let Joe know I’ll be right behind you.”
I grab Ma’s arm when everyone walks off. “Ma, I’ll talk to him first, and when I’m done, you can say whatever you need to say, then you’re outta there. You understand?”
“I understand, son.”
