Page 46 of Lockout (The Vikings MC: Tucson Chapter #11)

Lockout

T he last thing I wanted to do was to leave her. But Hangman was going to use this as a distraction to try to kill us all. Priest, Hush, and Pyre were back behind the line of cars with Gabby and Keely, keeping them safe.

I just needed to slaughter all these motherfuckers so I could get back to my girl.

I jumped over the hood of the car at the front of the line separating me from my objective.

Safety wasn’t a concern anymore. Not when my old lady was bleeding all over the fucking concrete.

They’d shot her three times in the back while she tried to protect Gabby.

These fuckers had tried to kill a kid, then shot a woman in the back. There was no excuse for that level of cowardice. I dropped the first man I saw with a bullet to the chest. All I could see was Keely’s face staring up at me in shock.

Shaking my head, I tried to focus. I had to take them all down just for my family to be safe. But I also wanted to fucking murder them for revenge. For daring to threaten my old lady. For fucking shooting her. They were all going to pay.

Gunshots ripped through the air and I knew my brothers were on my heels, taking out LoS members as we moved. Finally, the line of cars opened up and there he was.

Hangman grinned at me, tossing a knife back and forth in his hands.

That was the way he wanted it? No problem.

Holstering my pistol, I pulled out my switch blade and dove at him. I ignored everything else. My brothers would make sure the rest of the LoS crew wouldn’t interfere.

In fact, the death screams surrounding me and the sudden flare of fear in Hangman’s eyes told me there wasn’t going to be an LoS crew to interfere.

I hit Hangman like a pissed off rhino, the breath jerking from my lungs as we collided.

“The only regret I have,” Hangman grunted, “was not shooting your woman myself.”

I didn’t speak. Didn’t bother. My only focus was the fight. Was the feel of my knife slicing through his flesh. Kicking out, I took out his knee from the side and he crumpled to the ground with a bellow of pain. I walked around him, like a shark circling.

He glared at me from where he was kneeling. A quick glance around showed my brothers standing nearby, waiting for me to end this.

“You going to go on a long fucking rant before you kill me?” Hangman said with a sneer. “Because it might be your last. The others aren’t going to let you get away with this.”

He seemed to realize he was going to die. Which was good because I didn’t have the time to waste explaining it to him. “They’ll die next,” I told him. The fact that he thought they were going to be any kind of trouble for me once he was dead told me how delusional he was.

His grin spread over his face, blood dripping from different places where my knife had scored him. “That’s not goin-”

He didn’t get to finish. I didn’t have fucking time for him.

He didn’t fucking matter. Stepping forward, I drove my knife into the side of his neck.

The surprise on his face gave me a little satisfaction, but he was taking too damn long to die, his mouth opening and closing like a fucking fish.

So I ripped my hand to the side and my knife bit through muscles and tendon as I slit his throat.

Yanking my knife away, I cleaned it off on his cut as he gripped his throat. Then I walked away from him. I hadn’t even cleared the line of cars before I was running back to where the others were. Where Keely was.

I dropped to my knees next to her. Her eyes were closed, and I couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. My eyes met Pyre’s. “Is she-”

“We need to get her to a hospital,” he said with a shake of his head. “She’s losing too much blood, and I can’t fucking operate on her here.”

“What about Crash Cart?” Hush suggested.

“He’s not going to have the tools necessary for this,” I said, my voice hoarse. “Someone get me a vehicle.”

Scooping Keely up into my arms, I tried not to think about how limp she was in my embrace. Or the fact that her blood was already soaking into my clothes.

It was no surprise when a truck next to us started up. It was riddled with bullet holes, but Warrant had gotten it running. I had no doubt he was a professional at stealing cars.

Toxic took Keely from me as I climbed into the back of the truck, then handed her back over. I dragged her onto my lap, my hand smoothing over her hair. “You’re going to be fine, Baby Girl. Stay with me.”

Half of the men jumped into the truck and in the back with me. Toxic slapped the cab to let Warrant know we were ready. The rest were going to stay and make sure we wouldn’t be connected to this. They’d dump the bodies and wash away the blood as much as possible.

I clutched Keely close the entire drive to the nearest hospital. It didn’t matter that I was about to walk in there and potentially open myself up for investigation. I’d do whatever was fucking necessary to save her life.

Her breathing was shallow, though Pyre putting pressure on her chest, pressing her harder into my body, wasn’t helping with her ability to breathe.

I was doing whatever I could, but I’d never felt so fucking helpless before.

I’d finally broken down both our walls and made her mine and now… I might lose her.

Swallowing hard, I focused on Pyre’s barked orders and did whatever he told me to.

We got to the hospital faster than I thought possible, but each heartbeat felt like it was a year long. Dragging Keely up into my arms, and ignoring the ache starting up in my leg, I jumped out of the truck with her.

Glancing over at the others, I told them, “Stay here. They’ll have to report this to the cops. I don’t need you all getting arrested.”

“I’m going with you,” Idaho insisted.

“I’ll be here,” Static said. “That way if you need me to represent you, I can.”

Idaho and Hush followed me into the hospital, not caring about my orders or the threat of jail time. I started barking at the lady sitting at the front desk as soon as we walked in.

Her jaw dropped open as soon as she saw us and she picked up the phone and spoke into it. Her urgency was appreciated because before I knew it they were wheeling Keely back into surgery.

I followed along as far as I could, but then I had to let her hand go and give her over to the people working on her. I leaned against the wall of the hospital, just staring at the double doors they’d taken her through.

“Lock.”

Glancing over, I met my brother’s gaze. “Yeah?”

“Why don’t you sit,” he pointed over toward a waiting area.

Shaking my head, I sucked in a deep breath. “They’re going to need shit up front. Information.”

“Hush is taking care of it,” he told me, leading me over to one of the chairs. “Just sit for a minute.”

There were only a few people in this smaller waiting room, but they were all staring at me in horror.

Fair enough because I was sure I looked like I stepped straight out of a slasher movie.

My shirt was plastered to my chest and abs.

It was all Keely’s blood. Well, maybe a little of mine, since Hangman had gotten a couple swipes in.

But mostly it was Keely’s. It may as well all be mine.

If I lost her, there wouldn’t be anything left of me.

Slumping in the chair in that little waiting room, I did the only thing I could do. I waited on my girl.

Time wasn’t passing in any recognizable pattern. Hush had shown up. We’d sat there for who knew how long. Then the cops came. I managed to spew out some story about walking down the sidewalk, across town from where the shootout was, and some asshole hanging out the window and shooting at us.

The officers nodded, wrote everything down, and didn’t bother to tell me not to leave. They could tell by the look on my face I wasn’t going anywhere.

As soon as they left to investigate my story, Hush was on the phone with Rip.

Between him and the hacker twins, they’d fabricate some kind of evidence that would send the police on a wild goose chase for some shooter who didn’t exist. They’d never find the man who was responsible because Rip assured me that Hell, Butcher, and Ricochet were dumping their bodies down that handy mineshaft we’d found a while back.

Raking my hands through my hair, I hung my head, not knowing what to fucking do with myself. I always had a plan. Always had something I could do to help. Not this time. It was all up to the doctors at this point. Everything was out of my hands. No plan, no control. Helpless.

“Shit,” Hush muttered.

I raised my head and followed his and Idaho’s gazes. Fuck. The women were rushing toward us, but as soon as they caught sight of me they all stumbled to a stop.

Dani, who looked like she was holding on by a thread already, broke down as she saw the blood covering me. Billie’s face went as white as fucking snow and Toxic had to reach and grab her before she fell.

I searched the group and realized that none of the kids were here. That was good. “Gabby?” I asked as everyone just stood there staring at me in horror.

“She’s okay,” Seek said. “Terrified and worried, but she’s okay.”

“Priest and Jenny are with her. Jenny said she’s sorry she couldn’t come-” Kit broke off, her eyes dropping down to my hands.

“No, those girls will need them,” I said, swallowing because it sounded like I’d been gargling with fucking gravel.

“K- Keely?” Dani finally managed to choke out. Tears were running down her face. “Priest told us-” She took a shuddering breath. “Is she?”

Smoke was holding her up at this point, wrapped up in his arms. He looked over her head at me, worry stamped all over his face.

They were all wearing the same expression. I probably was too.

“The doctors are operating on her,” Idaho said, speaking for me because it was like speaking the words would jinx shit.

I didn’t believe in superstition, but at this point I wasn’t willing to risk a damn thing. A nurse hurried by, her quick movements jerking my attention to her. No one said a thing as I walked over and grabbed her by the arm, hauling her to a stop.

She squeaked out a breath and stared at me with wide eyes.

“You guys are working on my wife,” I told her, scowling down at her. “If she needs blood or anything, I’m O-Neg. You can open up a fucking vein and take it all.”

She gave me a nervous look as she pried my hand off her bicep. “Okay…” she said, hesitating.

“It’s been hours,” Hush said from beside me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Can we get some kind of update?”

Her eyes bounced from me to him. “What’s her name?”

“Keely Bradford,” I told her.

She nodded. “Give me a few minutes.”

Those few minutes might have been hours for all I knew. We all sat down in the waiting room once more, no one talking, as we waited.

When the doctor finally stepped out of those fucking double doors, I braced myself for what was about to come. He looked grim. Tired. For once I couldn’t read someone’s features and it was fucking killing me.

I surged to my feet. For some reason, I didn’t want to be sitting if he was about to give me world ending news. It was too much. So I stood, with my family surrounding me and braced for impact.