Page 6 of Property of Bigfoot
“Someone called it in. I can only assume the trucker did after his buddy didn’t catch up to him.” That was disturbing information.
“He was behind me for a good haul,” I muttered. There was no need to say the rest out loud. Whoever Bigfoot’s enemies were, they might know exactly who I was and that I stopped to help him. The disappearance of the shooter would be linked to me.
“I know. We’re handling it. These men,” Baffle stated as he tipped his head to indicate the human wall of his club brothers that surrounded me, “are here to protect you until we can get Prez in a room and you in there with him. Then we’ll make sure no one gets to either of you while you’re both here.”
I gave a sharp nod of my head, but then I groaned. “You said someone called it in. They called the police?”
“Quickest way for them to assess what happened to their hitman.”
“They have to work out logistics, since we crossed state lines to get Bigfoot to the hospital. Rest assured someone will come and they will want to speak to you.”
“What do you want me to say to them?” I asked.
Baffle and Jester shared a look that said they were shocked that I would cooperate that easily. “You don’t mind leaving pieces of the details out?” Baffle questioned.
“Not at all. As far as I’m concerned, a truck blew a tire and kept going. Your friend was thrown from his bike, and I stopped to help him until you got there. Nothing else to say.” I gave him a solid look. “I assume you’ve already taken any evidence that I had a dash cam up?” I whispered my question, as if someone might overhear me. It wasn’t necessary, but it made me feel better.
“We have it,” Baffle assured me as the prospect made his way back to us.
The boy extended his arm out over the shoulders of the row of men who sat immediately in front of me. “Thanks,” I continued to whisper as I took the hoodie. My hands shook as I tried to pull the bottom open, so Jester took his arm from around me and helped me pull the hoodie over my head and settle it around my body. When my head popped back through the hole, I noticed Baffle gave him a weird look. Jester gave a quick shake of his head, as if in answer to a question that hadn’t been asked.
“I used my sweater and jacket for your president, but I don’t know what happened to them,” I explained. It felt like that might have been what Baffle wanted to know. It was clear the sweatshirt I had been given belonged to a club member, since it had the masked skull king logo on it that the club used to identify themselves.
“We’ll get you replacements,” Baffle insisted as he patted my leg and then stood in front of me. He turned to some of the men who had been silently watching our interaction. “No one gets to her. Prez wants her kept safe.”
That was news to me. I wondered when that had been determined. Then again, Baffle had ridden with him to the hospital, so I had to assume they spoke on the way.
“What about LEO?” one of them asked him.
“Especially LEO. We’ll make sure she has someone with her at all times.” I guess he didn’t trust me to keep my word about not mentioning the shooter.
“I meant what I said.”
Baffle glanced down at me. “Don’t know you, why you were really there tonight, or what the fuck you have going on, lady. Someone will be by your side until I say otherwise.” His commanding tone said that he wouldn’t put up with any arguments from me. “Going to check and see how shit’s going. Keep her by your side and nothing more.” Baffle gave Jester another weird look that I couldn’t decipher, but the man didn’t say a single word back to his vice president. Instead, he tapped his hand on my knee twice and then sat back and spread his legs out, as if he was the most relaxed man on the planet. As if he hadn’t cleaned up a murder, helped his injured friend, and looked out for me. I’d think their behavior was weird had I not done my time in the Army. Their ability to speak full conversations with just looks was reminiscent of some of the people I’d worked beside over the years.
3.AN ANGEL AMONG US
BIGFOOT
“Ma’am, we really need your statement,”I heard some asshole practically growl. Fuck, my head was more than a little fuzzy, but I knew exactly where I was. A motherfuckin’ hospital.
“I already told you.” A woman, who sounded vaguely familiar, snapped at him. “Open your damn ears and listen to the words that already came out of my mouth. I was driving on US-60 in the dark. There was a motorcycle in front of me. One minute all was well. The next, he was flying through the air. I must have looked down, or maybe I forgot because shock set in as I was trying to keep him alive on the side of the road, but I don’t even remember seeing what caused his accident. I can’t say it in any other way. I can’t make it any plainer for you. That is all I know.”
“Yeah, sure. You’re trying to convince us this man is a total stranger to you. You happened to be behind him on the road when he wrecked, you called his club instead of 9-1-1, and now you conveniently don’t know what happened. And here you are sitting vigil by his bedside waiting for the man to wake up.”
“Obviously, you’ve never trauma-bonded with someone. I held this man’s bloody head in my hands. I waited with him as he came to and passed out several times on the side of the road. Should I have left him there to be hit by someone else?”
“You should have called us first.” The man – who I figured was a cop – told her.
“Well, the only thing he said to me was ‘Call my brothers,’ and so I did. He was worried about his motorcycle.”
I opened my eyes in time to catch the officer roll his at the woman. I dragged my eyes toward her and immediately sucked in an audible breath. My guardian angel was just as gorgeous as I thought she was. “You,” I managed to say.
“Hey!” She spun around and grabbed hold of my hand again. “I was so worried about you. Do you remember me?”
I tried to nod, but it hurt, so I stopped.
“You should stay still. The doctor mentioned you have a pretty nasty concussion which probably isn’t being helped by this guy yammering on and being as loud as is humanly possible without purposefully yelling.” She made the declaration sound like she was scolding a child. I wanted to laugh but was afraid it would hurt.
