Viper's Run (The Last Riders 2)

Evie waved on her way out the door giving Bliss a look that couldn’t be mistaken. Taking the hint Bliss climbed out of his bed. Coming to stand in front of him she reached up to place a kiss on his lips. He wanted to turn away but didn’t, letting her have her moment.

“Thanks Viper.”

“Thank you, Bliss.” Giving a cheeky grin, the woman left. He was sure to gather the women together to make a run to town to get the tattoo proclaiming her a full fledged member.

“Viper.”

Viper sat down on the bed, putting his boots on. He turned to see Cash getting dressed.

“What’s up?”

“Don’t know how to tell you this so I am just going to tell you like it is. That was the sheriff’s office. They need me to track a suspect into the mountains that almost beat a woman to death last night. They didn’t find her until this morning when security got there to open the school for a basketball practice.”

Viper sat there in the chair and knew whom Cash was talking about. He had warned Winter a hundred times about staying at school so late.

“How bad?” Cash tugged on his boots, while grabbing his bike keys off the nightstand. He hurried to the bedroom door pausing just long enough to tell him what information he had been given.

“Bad. He almost beat her to death, and then she lay in the parking lot exposed to the elements all fucking night. The Sheriff doesn’t think she is going to make it. Sorry man, but I have to go. They are waiting for me.”

“Go.” Cash didn’t have to be told twice.

As Viper was walking out, he could hear the sound of Cash’s bike as he throttled it down the mountain road. His hand reached out to grab the handlebar of his bike but he couldn’t climb on. He was too busy vomiting.

***

Pain. That was all she knew for the longest time. At first when she would try to wake up, the pain would drive her back into unconsciousness. When she was able, after the longest time, to open her swollen eyes, her screams of pain could be heard down the hallways and the nurses would rush to inject her with more pain medication.

Winter learned eventually to wake slowly with as little movement as possible until the pain medication could take effect. Lying still was a torture in itself to someone as active as she had been. Completely at the mercy of various nurses, they cared for all her basic needs, taking away what little pride she had left. Her mind would drift away when they would impersonally clean her, changing the pads and sheets underneath her broken body.

The worst was when the doctor considered her lucid enough to give her details of her condition. The medical terms were hard to understand with the pain medication clouding her mind. The nurse, understanding her confusion, waited until the doctor left to explain that she had a vertebral fracture, which they had to operate on in order to stabilize. The brace she was in would be on for several weeks and she was going to require therapy to return to normal. The concussion must have come from having her head slammed into the car window that had left a large gash across her forehead, requiring sutures that would undoubtedly leave a scar. Her jaw had been fractured, and two of her ribs were cracked. When she was finished answering Winter’s questions she reassured her that she would heal, given time.

The gossipmongers that came by to see her were never given admittance to her room. The first words Winter spoke was to keep visitors out. She had no family left and the few friends she wanted to see were put on a list. A security guard was placed outside her door when Viper tried repeatedly to gain admittance. She didn’t want his sympathy and she certainly didn’t want him to see her looking like a prizefighter after twelve rounds.

Viper would sit in the waiting area, which luckily for him, was a few feet away from her door. He became a master at reading the nurses’ and doctor’s expressions as they left her room-whether she was having a good day, or one in which even medication didn’t help. He knew what the doctors were going to tell her before she did. He had bribed the nurses on duty to see her doctors’ notes and to make sure she was taken care of the way he wanted.

He was watching her door when he saw the Sheriff coming down the hallway. Their eyes met before he entered Winter’s room. He also knew that she was about to find out who was responsible for putting her in the hospital; the man that Viper had every intention of killing.

Chapter 3

The door opening didn’t even draw Winter’s attention. She had become so use to the nurses coming and going, it wasn’t until the Sheriff moved to stand in front of her that she lifted her eyes. Even a man who had been through two tours in the military and cleaned up many fatalities flinched when he saw her face.

“Winter.”

“Sheriff.”

“I waited until the doctor said it would be okay to let you know what happened.” Will Hunter had been sheriff for several years and while she liked and respected him, she couldn’t help but hold a grudge that he hadn’t taken her more seriously when she called to report Viper’s trespassing.

“I already know what happened. What I want to know is who?”

“Jake, he blamed you for telling Carmen’s parents that he was mistreating her.”

Her eyes deadened even further if possible.

“He ran off into the mountains and we tracked him down. He’s in custody. What I need to know is, did you see his face?”

“No, he attacked me fr

om behind. I was too disoriented to see who did it. How do you know it was Jake?”

He really did not want to tell her this part but knew if he didn’t that someone else would.

“He paid Carmen’s parents a visit before you. Luckily they weren’t home. Trashed everything in the house, then set it on fire. One of the neighbors saw him running out of the house.

“The doctor told me I almost didn’t make it.”

The sheriff nodded. “You’re going to recover Winter.”

He wanted to reach out and touch her hand but there wasn’t a place that wasn’t covered in bruises.

“That’s what they say,” Winter turned her head away not wanting the Sheriff to see how upset she was that one of her former students had hated her enough to almost kill her.

“You will heal, it will be a long journey but you will make it, Winter. You have a lot of people who care about you and want to see you.”

Winter turned her head back to face him, “Is he still outside?”

“They say he has been here since the day they brought you in.”

“Make him leave. I don’t want him here.”

“I’ll take care of it, anything else?”

“No.” Winter closed her eyes letting the medication put her to sleep with a click of a button. The sheriff stood by her bed until he was sure she was asleep before he left.

Viper watched closely as he came out the door and sat down silently next to him, his hat in his hand.

“She wants you to leave, I told her I would get you to.”

“I am not leaving.”

“I know, but I am telling you now it’s a wasted effort.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes you do. You’re not going to earn her forgiveness sitting outside her closed door. Go home, get some rest, take care of business. Winter has a long road ahead of her. When she gets out of here, she’ll need you then. You won’t be any help if you’re burned out before she’s even released. Right now she has good care, you’ve seen to that. Reserve your strength for when you’ll need it the most.