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His smile slowly faded from his face, and his expression became serious. “Not gonna lie, brother, that shit don’t sit well with me. Secrets, lies, all that shit is what I hoped we wouldn’t have in the rebuild. That’s why I stayed.”
“That wasn’t a club decision. That was mine,” I reminded him, but he was shaking his head before I finished speaking.
“Bear knew, and he kept that shit to himself too. You told us we were taking down the Widows because of the girls and drugs they were selling and to hopefully run them out of this town, but you never told us, and neither did Bear, how personal this was.” He ran his hand over his bald head. “That’s how people get dead, Gunn, and you know that.”
“It wasn’t the right decision.” That was my only defense. I screwed up, I knew that, but all I could do now was own that shit and move the fuck on.
“Gonna take a while,” he said honestly. “You savin’ Pop was a step in the right direction.”
I knew it was going to take a long time for my brothers to trust me and my word, but they would. I didn’t have any other fucking secrets; all my skeletons were standing proudly in the open for them all to see.
I came out of my own thoughts when I heard his voice. “Gotta be honest, I don’t like how quiet the Widows have been. In my experience, the only time those fuckers are quiet is when they’re planning shit.”
He barely finished speaking before Bear called out my name. I glanced over, but he was already running for the door. I moved quickly, feeling Bull do the same behind me. Pulling open the door, we rushed through the parking lot toward where Bear was kneeling on the ground.
“Call an ambulance!” he yelled, just as Becs ran past me and slid to her knees beside her friend Josie who was lying on the ground, bleeding.
I ripped my phone from my pocket and stepped away to speak to the dispatcher, gave her the address, ended the call, and shoved the phone back into my pocket.
“Why the fuck was she out here alone?” Bear roared, but at no one in particular. I thought she was still at the bar with Bear and hadn’t been paying attention. Fuck, I didn’t even know she’d left.
“Bear.” Becs whispered just as I squatted down next to him.
“Ambulance is on the way.”
He jerked his head in acknowledgement, but his eyes stayed locked on Josie. “Josie, who did this? Did you know them?”
“No.” Her voice sounded rough when she answered. I looked at her neck and saw small bruises forming like someone had choked her.
“Can you tell me what they looked like?” Bear gentled his voice when it was obvious she was scared.
“Three men.” She answered slowly, her eyelids drifting shut. The swelling around her left eye was bad, and the way she held her arm against her side, I’d guess she took a few hits to her ribs. “Black vests. Big one said to tell you…” She paused, but Bear prompted her to continue. We needed to hear her say it even though black vests told me everything I needed to know. I knew Bear was thinking the same.
“Tell me what?”
“He said…” She paused again and licked her lips. “We’re coming.”
Bear’s body jerked, and he looked back at me. “Fucking Widows.”
“They know,” Bull growled from where he stood behind me, and I stood. “Knew they were too fucking quiet.”
“Why Josie?” Becs glanced over at Bear, and I saw the absolute horror on her face.
Race had been quiet up until now, just standing behind Becs who was still kneeling on the ground. “Fuckers must’ve been watching and saw me take Dozer, so no one was watching the parking lot or the door. They probably thought they hit the fucking jackpot when a woman walked out, especially because I’m sure they thought she belongs to one of us.”
Sirens sounded and Bear stood, watching over Becs who whispered quietly to Josie. His face was hard, his eyes glued to the woman lying on the ground.
“Gunn.” My head jerked to the left when Bull said my name, and I saw Maggie jogging across the parking lot.
She was almost in front of me when she called out, “I heard the sirens. What happened?”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my chest, laying my head on top of hers. “The Widows attacked Bec’s friend when she left tonight.”
She pulled back and looked up at me. Gravel crunched behind me when an ambulance and two police cars pulled into the lot, but I ignored them and kept my eyes locked on Maggie. “How bad is she?”
I blinked my eyes slowly, knowing this was going to bring back a lot of shit for her, shit she’d been conquering until now. “Not sure, baby, but she’s conscious.”
She nodded and looked down at the ground. We listened to the police talking to Bear and the sound of the EMTs asking Josie questions, but we didn’t move. There was nothing I could do to make this better. She knew as well as I did that her being out of the clubhouse would once again be limited as would Becs. I also knew for her, that the small taste of freedom she had, could only be that.