West (The Henchmen MC 19)

"Berton," Huck repeated.

"An iguana. He was good company. But he made no attempt to save me when I fell out of said tree later. The nurse told me there was an airboat tour going on. Luckily, one of them saw me fall. They got me help. I figure they thought I was high or something. Speaking of high. I wonder if Booker will front me any of that Oxy that I nabbed for you. They didn't give me a script, and my arm is starting to throb."

I'd have a follow-up with an ortho, but nothing to hold me over until then.

"Fortunately, I know someone who can nab you some," Huck said, hands gripping the wheel tightly as he drove us through traffic, eyes scanning the road.

"Who?"

"Seeley," West supplied.

"The cute little puppy?"

"That cute little puppy has some serious street connections," Huck said, and I felt like I was missing something there.

"Is he like part of the group now?" I asked.

"Let's just say he was more helpful than even Navesink Bank was when it came to tracking you. We'd been in the Glades all morning looking for you because he found some people who said you would likely be taken there," West told me.

"When it comes to bikers, he would be like a probate, right?"

"Prospect," West corrected.

"They do the grunt work."

"Yep."

"I could have a lot of fun with that."

"I bet you will."

There was something sad in West's voice right about then. But exhaustion and pain and relief were dulling my usually sharp senses.

I couldn't have known.

Surely, there was no way to know.

That in less than twenty-four hours, he would be gone.THIRTEENWestIt was the Ukrainians.

Once we got Auggie home, got some food in her, located some pain medicine so she could think straight, changed her into something comfortable, and got her resting, she was able to give us a description of the two guys.

It was pretty easy from there to realize what happened.

While we'd been focusing on taking out one of the Russians and framing the gangs, the Ukrainians had been watching from afar, realizing that once the gangs were taken down, we were the biggest threat in the area. Taking out Adrian, the remaining Russian brother, wouldn't be a big deal compared to taking out all six of us.

So they did what they could.

They took our most vulnerable person.

Their plan had likely been to use her against us, to make us agree to back down, or to simply lure us out into the open, then slaughter us all.

We had to be thankful for Auggie's fighting spirit, her ability to think clearly even in a crisis, and her killer instinct.

I knew back home that Lo and her people who taught self-defense said that many women, even when faced with a life-or-death situation, found it incredibly hard—if not impossible—to cause serious bodily harm to another human being.

Then there was Auggie. Trying to stab someone in the eye with a pen. Attempting to slice someone's carotid with a piece of plastic.

You had to admire her will to live.

"She's going to be a miserable patient," Huck warned as we stood in the kitchen, looking out as the cotton ball someone dared to call a dog finally settled down on her lap, curling smaller, and immediately falling asleep.

"She's been pretty decent, all things considered."

"Wait," he said, smirking. "The demands will get more and more ridiculous."

"More ridiculous than a dog?" I asked.

"That dog is probably the most rational request we will see from her for the next week or two."

"Well, she went through it. I don't mind playing nursemaid. How did Reign take it?"

"You know him," Huck said shrugging. And he likely meant that Reign was often a man of few words, but still managed to convey a lot. "He told me to have you call him once things with Auggie were settled. Told him I had you running around making her comfortable."

"I'll call him now," I said, closing the door to the bedroom with a soft click, even though I knew she slept like the dead generally and likely even more so when she had some pain medicine.

"Seeley should be back soon with the items we asked for," he added as I made my way downstairs.

That kid had turned out to be a really useful asset.

"We can go over the plans then," I agreed, heading out into the backyard, nodding at McCoy who was keeping an eye on the grounds.

"About time," Reign barked in my ear when I dialed him up.

"Sorry, Pops. Shit's been crazy."

"That's why we needed to talk. We're coming down."

"Oh, alright. Does Huck know?"

"Not yet. Figure it would hurt his pride. But when innocent women are getting wrapped up in this shit and hurt, it's time for reinforcements."

"Who is coming?"

"Me, Pagan, Virgin, Adler, Roderick, Roan, Cam, Edison, Repo, and Duke."

Shit.

Half the fucking club.

Leaving just a few people in charge and to keep the clubhouse safe.