Page 26 of Vegas (Stormy Souls MC #1)

My heart is pounding when we arrive at the hospital, despite the EMTs assuring me Ashley’s condition isn’t life threatening. They rush her into the emergency department, and I stay by her side all the way. They check her vitals, take blood samples, and order scans and x-rays, and I’m ushered outside to wait as they take her away. When I step out, I find myself grabbed and thrown against the wall, staring into Raven’s blazing eyes.

“How fucking dare you,” he bellows at me. His arm pulls back, but the punch isn’t forthcoming. Slender has stepped up and grabbed Raven’s arm, while Pennywise is pulls me out of his grip.

“You need to calm the fuck down, Prez. This ain’t his fault. It’s more important to find out what is going on with your sister than caving his head in.” Slender is trying to calm Raven, who finally nods, rage shooting from his eyes like fireworks, all pointing in my direction. What the fuck? He knew I was claiming her at the table tomorrow. Chloe steps out from behind the nurses’ station.

“Chloe, what are you doing here?” I ask. She doesn’t normally work in this area of the hospital.

“I swapped a shift, and I would strongly suggest you both keep your tempers in check, or else I’ll have both of you removed by security.” She stands directly in front of Raven, looking him dead in the eye.

“I don’t care what childish little thing you’ve got going on here, but if you must beat the shit out of each other, do it outside. Ashley would be so proud of you.” Her well-aimed sarcasm shakes Raven out of his haze, and he deflates and nods sheepishly at Chloe.

“Fine, I’ll keep myself under control,” he promises her as he glowers at me.

“Go sit down. I’ll try to find out what I can,” she replies. Slender grabs Raven and leads him to a seat. Pennywise stays with me.

“What the fuck happened?” he asks. I lower my head into my hands and run my fingers through my now wild hair.

“I’ve no idea, Pen, no idea at all. One moment, she was fine, and the next, she wasn’t.” My voice is breaking. “The EMT said she’s stable, and whatever is wrong isn’t life threatening, but it scared the shit out of me. What the hell could’ve happened for her to pass out like that?”

Pen looks at me, shrugs his shoulders “No clue man, but I’m gonna put Raven in the picture.” I nod at him, watch him turn and move toward Slender and Raven, who still glowers at me.

A few minutes later, Chloe reappears. “The scan came back normal, as did the x-ray. They’re doing toxicology blood tests. Is there any chance her drink could have been spiked?”

I jump out of my seat. “Hell no,” I shout. “There’s no chance. I watched her all night.” Raven makes his way over.

“What was that?” he inquires, shooting visual daggers at me.

Chloe repeats her question. “I just asked if it was possible that her drink was spiked.”

At that precise moment, Neil comes running into the area, panting. He overheard the last sentence.

“No,” Raven says at the same time Neil blurts out, “Yes.”

My eyes shoot to Neil in complete shock and disbelief. He holds out a bag with pills.

“I found these in one of the employees’ bags and asked questions. This is what someone spiked her drink with.”

Raven’s mouth drops open, then closes tight. I can hear his teeth grinding, and his face a mask of pure fury. Chloe takes the bag from Neil and asks, “Do you know how many she had?”

Neil nods. “The staff member admitted to putting two in her Coke.”

Chloe hurries into the emergency room, bag in hand. Neil leans against the wall, catching his breath. Raven grabs him and pulls him up and close to his face.

“Who?” he demands. Just that one word makes us all flinch. Neil holds his hands up as if to placate Raven, still trying to catch his breath. In the meantime, Ashley’s phone rings. I forgot that I’d shoved it in my pocket when the EMTs arrived.

I glance at the caller display and freeze. I let it go to voicemail, but within seconds, it rings again, Rusty’s name lighting up the display for the second time. What does that asshole want? A few seconds later, the phone bleeps with a voicemail alert. I return my focus to the conversation in front of me.

“I noticed Karen went on a prolonged break, yet again, and started looking for her,” he explained. “She was in the staff room, by her locker, changed and ready to hightail it out of there. I grabbed her, and dragged her into the office, and locked the door so she couldn’t just bolt. When I got back to the bar, Dawg and Caroline told me Ash had collapsed and was being taken to hospital. I put two and two together and seems I can add to four accurately.” He takes a breath before continuing.

“Karen had been cagey these last few days. I heard her grumbling something about ‘ the last laugh ’ when Ashley pulled her up tonight. I unlocked the door and caught her trying to smash the tiny window. Not that her ass would have fitted through it. Anyway, once I had her tied to a chair, and yes, I tied her up, she started spilling.” We stare at Neil in disbelief. We forgot he used to be a MC member before his club dissolved.

“She had a thing for Vegas for years and couldn’t take Ashley, making it very clear that her advances are not wanted.“

Neil gulps down another deep breath. I’m trying to keep my rage under control, while Slender and Pennywise listen on in stunned silence. I can see Raven’s fists twitching, a sure indication that he incandescent with rage right now.

After a moment, Neil continues. “I searched her purse and found the bag with pills. Not my first rodeo. When confronted with the pills, she broke down crying, knowing her number was up, and admitted to spiking Ashley’s coke. She kept apologizing, but I know you’d want to deal with her yourself. “ He nods at Raven.

“Where is the bitch?” Raven snarls, making even me flinch.

“I kept her tied to the chair in the office, locked both the office and the bar and came straight here.” Neil replies. Raven nods at him.

“Thanks Neil. The club owes you big time. You have done the right thing, protecting our family. I class you as one of ours too, patch or no patch.” He steps toward Neil, hugs and back slaps him. “I cannot thank you enough, brother!” As Neil just nods at him, Raven turns to Pennywise.

“Grab one of the prospects and transfer our guest from the bar to the dugout. That should do as accommodation.” I’ve never seen Raven ask for a woman to be detained in the dugout, a second world war bunker we found on the site and use it to deal with enemies of the club. It is mainly Pennywise’ domain. There are several cells and a larger ‘communal area’ with several of Pennywise’ toys and instruments.

There are rails on the walls and a ceiling with a trolley system that can be lowered and raised as to whatever height needed. I hope for Karen that she doesn’t have to find out what we use those for. She’d be better off to have a bullet put in her head.

Raven and I jump as Chloe returns. “She’s had charcoal and her stomach’s pumped out, but some of the drug was already in her system.” She tells us. “We will take Ashley to a ward and monitor her there until she wakes up. You can both wait with her. Here is the ward and room number.” She passes Raven a piece of paper.

We relay the message to the other brothers, who one by one leave the hospital. Ally and Sparks are last to leave. Ally hugs both Raven and me.

“She’ll be okay. She’s tough. Please call me if she or you need anything.” I nod at her and walk toward the elevator with Raven. We don’t speak. Once on the right floor, we find the correct room. It is tough to see Ashley like this. Pale and not responding.

I lean over and kiss her gently, but she does not respond. Can’t respond because some bitch felt the need to roofie her. My anger churns in my stomach. Raven claps me on the shoulder. I look up.

“Sorry brother, I shouldn’t have lost my head like I did. It’s clear to see how serious you are about my sister. I feel like shit. I should have been able to protect her. And in our own bar!”

I nod. “Join the Club Prez, join the club. I was right there and didn’t notice a thing! When I get my hands on her, I’ll strangle her with my own bare hands!” I hiss.

“Don’t worry, she’ll get what’s coming to her Vegas. I can promise you that much! I’m going to leave you with Ashley and am gonna entertain our guest of honor instead!” he states with a spine-chilling note to his voice. I nod at him and watch him leave.

???

A groan wakes me. I sit up and look straight into two beautiful green eyes. Ashley, thank God, she’s awake.

“Where am I?” she asks groggily.

“You are in the hospital, baby. You collapsed at Stormy’s. Do you remember anything? You scared the shit out of all of us,” I add. She looks at me, confusion showing in her eyes. She winces and holds her head. I ring the bell for the nurse. Chloe came in last night and explained that severe headaches are common after waking up.

The nurse comes in, checks her over, and brings her some pain relievers. Shortly after, the door opens, and the doctor comes in, accompanied by Raven, who looks as though he hasn’t slept a wink.

The doc explains he wants to keep Ashley until tonight to monitor her. Ashley, by this time, has fallen back asleep, groggy from the pain relievers.

“She’ll be fine,” the doctor promises. “You should both go home and get some rest. She’ll be released around five this afternoon, all being well.”

“I’ll be here to pick her up,” I answer before Raven can open his mouth. Both he and the doctor nod at me and reluctantly I leave Ashley to sleep.

Raven brought the club SUV, since one of the prospects at the bar picked my bike up last night. We get in and place our cuts on the back seat, neatly folded.

We don’t speak on the way to the clubhouse. As we walk in, everyone is here, all asking after Ashley, and all angry about what happened to her. News has a habit of spreading like wildfire. It’s not that we’re gossips, but it’s difficult to keep such emotional things under wraps. And the fact that we are hosting a guest in the dugout was difficult to keep quiet amongst the brothers.

“I’ve asked Neil to attend part of the meeting,” Raven discloses quietly, and I nod. Best the brothers hearing straight from the horse’s mouth. Just then, Ashley’s phone rings again. Shit, I forgot to give it back to her before leaving. I answer it.

“Hello?”

“Er . . . is this Ashley’s phone?” a female voice stutters on the other end.

“Yes, it is. This is Vegas, her old man,” I tell the woman.

“Oh . . . right. This is Ellie, Rusty’s sister. She called me the day before yesterday.” I perk up, more alert than ever.

“Oh, hey, Ellie. Yeah, she said she spoke to you. I’m sorry, Ashley is in the hospital. She had a bit of a funny turn yesterday evening, but she’s okay and will be home this evening. Do you want to call back later to speak to her?” There’s a long silence when I can just hear Ellie’s breathing.

Then, “Oh my god. Oh my god, is she really okay? I wish I’d called last night to check on her.” She sounds shocked and rattled, which makes me suspicious.

“Why is that, Ellie?” I question her, then I hear a male voice in the background.

“Who are you calling, bitch?” Rusty’s ugly words are loud and clear.

“Just a friend. Yes, dear, I’ll call you back later. Got to get dinner finished,” she chirps into the phone and hangs up. That was too weird for my liking. I move over to Slender and tell him about Rusty’s calls last night and Ellie’s just now. I see him walking over to Ferret and whispering to him.

Ferret walks to me and asks, “Can you let me have the phone? I’ll trace the call, see where they came from.”

I feel a little guilty for not telling Ashley about this, but hand the phone over, anyway. This is all too weird. He pockets it and we all make our way into church and settle in our places. The only empty chair is Rusty’s. Raven opens the meeting. “Brothers, there’s good news and bad news. Good news first.” He nods at me, and I stand.

“I’m claiming Ashley and need your approval.”

When I look around at the brothers, everyone is cheering, whistling, and hollering. “Another one bites the dust” comes as a chorus from the top right corner of the table. After the hollering stops, the vote starts. There are no objections, so Spen is told to order Ashley’s property cut. Then, the meeting proceeds with business matters, as usual.

As Spen begins to discuss the bar, all eyes are on him. He explains what transpired at the last meeting and about the consideration of turning the bar into a high-end strip club. He hands out copies of Neil’s simplified business plan and projections. We glance it over, and on paper, it looks like it could be a nice little earner.

Raven adds, “I know I announced this yesterday in the bar, but I had my reason for doing so. Nothing will go ahead without being voted on.” He looks everyone straight in the eyes. I wonder what his reasons were, but don’t question it. He’s never steered us wrong yet.

The project passes the vote unanimously and is recorded. Spen is tasked with getting the ball rolling on the purchase of the warehouse behind the bar, and Zippy raises his hand.

“Raven, I’m wondering, if we’re buying the warehouse, could I have a small portion of it for the tattoo studio? I’m all set with equipment, and it wouldn’t cost much to do, if we’re already having building work done. It’d save on rent since the club won’t have to pay rent and utilities on another building,” he suggests. Again, it’s put to a vote and passes unanimously. Zippy promises to have a plan drawn up and given to Spen and Dawg next week.

Raven looks at Slender and nods. Slender gets up and walks out. “I’ve asked Neil to attend for this part of the meeting, as I’m sure you’ll all want to know what happened last night. I’ll let him catch you up. As far as I’m concerned, he’s family, patch or no patch,” he declares to cut off any objections. Not that there are any. Neil is very popular with the brothers.

Neil enters with Slender and takes a seat at the opposite end of the table where brothers have made space for him.

“First, the bad news. Okay, Neil, let them have it.” He stands and explains in the same way he did to us what he found last night. The brothers are getting restless. Disbelief and anger rolls around the room.

Raven pipes up. “Now, Neil has ensured that Karen is our guest in the dugout, so we all owe him a big thank you for reacting as fast as he did and for protecting one of ours.” All heads nod toward Neil.

“Thanks, Neil, that’s all,” Raven decrees. Knowing the protocol, Neil leaves and closes the door behind him. Then, pandemonium breaks loose.

“Settle down,” Raven yells over the many irate voices. Calm returns to the table, but it’s tense and uptight “Now, I know we don’t generally hurt women, but in this case, I think a lesson needs to be taught.” He nods at Slender and Pennywise.

Pennywise gets up. “We don’t have to seriously hurt her to give her a lesson in manners and appropriate behavior.” He smirks at us. “Do you trust me? Do you trust me to do my job as Enforcer?” He looks around at the brothers and everyone nods tersely at him.

“We want to watch,” Dawg states, and Ratchet and Sparks nod in agreement.

Raven looks at Pennywise and agrees. Everyone moves from the room, following the officers to the dugout.

As we open the door, the stench of excrement hits us. She’s been down here for almost twenty-four hours with just a bottle of water and no access to a toilet. In single file, we make our way down the narrow stairs, and at the bottom, Raven flicks a switch causing the fluorescent lights to flare to life. There, in the corner of a cell, is Karen. Her eyes blinking, not used to the light and swollen from crying, she’s still tied to her chair. Slender and Pennywise open her cell and carry her, chair and all, into the larger room.

First Pennywise demonstrative holds his nose. “You need a shower,” he proclaims coldly, grabs a long, large diameter hose, and turns on the tab. Ice cold water hits Karen with high pressure. Her chair topples over, and she sputters and screams to no avail. After Pen shuts off the hose, Slender steps behind Karen and lifts her chair into an upright position. She’s shaking, whether from cold or fear, no one cares.

Pennywise’s eyes bore into hers. Emotionless, his voice is hard. “So, you thought you could drug one of ours, put her into hospital and get away with it?”

He’s in his element. Karen is sobbing in her chair, snot running down her face.

“Now, what shall we do to you today to make sure you understand you’re in trouble? I could break every one of your fingers, to teach you not to touch drugs or spike drinks. Or I could mix you up a nice cocktail you wouldn’t wake up from in a hurry and throw you in a deep ditch where no one would find you,” he bellows in her face.

Karen is trying to scramble away, but the chair prevents that.

He casually walks over to his tool bench and picks up a cutthroat razor that glints in the fluorescent light. “Or I could just cut your throat and be done with you.”

He puts his hand on his chin as though pondering the thought. Karen’s incomprehensibly muttering and crying. The putrid stench of urine lets us know she’s pissed herself in fear.

Pennywise turns to me and orders, “Hold her.” I step forward. “Hold her head still, so I can make the least messy cut,” he tells me in a stone-cold voice while winking at me. Karen is now screaming and begging for her life. I hold her head tight, not knowing whether I’ll be splattered in her blood in the next few seconds.

Pen grabs her by the hair and roars at her. “Shut the fuck up and take what’s coming to you, or else I’ll kill you slowly and painfully.” Karen’s mouth closes, and she’s whimpering continuously. Pen pulls her head right back and brings the blade forward. Fuck, scalping is messy business , I think to myself then breathe out a sigh of relief when he shaves off a handful of her long hair and drops it at her feet.

She screams out, “No, please! No, don’t kill me! Please!” Unimpressed and unwavering, Pennywise continues with a deliberate, uneven, and uncomfortable head shave until she’s bald. He’s left not a single strand of her long hair on her head.

“Oohs” and cringes go around the room. She wasn’t a picture of beauty before and sure as shit isn’t now. By this time, she’s a mumbling mess when Slender steps in front of her.

“We gave you your marching orders last night. Despite that, you thought you could harm one of us. This is your last and only warning. I catch you anywhere near any of the Stormy Souls properties, I’ll cut your throat instead of your hair.” We growl in collective agreement. He [A3] nods at Slender, who cuts her ropes. “Prospects,” he bellows, “escort this lady to the city limits. Make sure she leaves. If she doesn’t, bring her back and we’ll take care of her once and for all.” The prospects nod at his instructions, grab the bitch, and carry her out to a waiting van.