“I can’t promise you, but I agree with you, and I’ll do whatever I can to keep him from killing Rusty. Okay?”
She nodded and ran a hand through her hair and exhaustion washed over her. She was going on about forty hours without a wink of sleep. Wouldn’t be long before her body took over and crashed her, hard. “Thanks. You know what they’re talking about in there?”
With a shake of his head, Jig said, “Nah. Zach got a call, freaked, and asked me to guard the door. All I know.”
The important thing now was for Copper to rest and heal. Hopefully whatever news his brothers brought to his literal door wouldn’t impede his recovery.
“GO WITH HER, LJ,” Copper ordered before Zach could start talking. “Make her sit that fine ass down and eat something. I don’t care if you have to tie her to a chair. I want her fed and off her feet for a while. Hear me?” He wasn’t above using force to get Shell to take care of herself.
“You got it, prez,” LJ said with a nod. He was almost as big as Copper, but with the way he worked out, would probably be even bigger in no time. “What happened?” he asked once the prospect was out of the room. LJ was a fantastic prospect, nearing his patch-in date, but he was still a prospect and wouldn’t be the first to hear any significant club news.
Zach ran a hand through his hair, messing the typically perfect style. Dark circles rimmed both his and Screw’s eyes, speaking to the long days they’d had searching for him. The men appeared almost as wiped as Shell. He cleared his throat.
Shit, this wasn’t going to be good.
“Rusty’s dead,” Zach said.
Copper blinked. He swore his heart missed a few beats.
Fuck.
Fuuuck.
“How?”
“Thunder and Mav were transporting him to The Box. We were gonna let him simmer there until you got released or gave other orders. Halfway to the clubhouse, they were run off the road. SUV fucking flipped twice. Mav was disoriented, but conscious though he couldn’t get out of his seat. Thunder was out cold. Next thing Mav knew, there was a pop and Rusty had a bullet to the brain.”
“Jesus fuck.” Anger had him curling his fists. To the right above his head, the monitor started beeping.
“Take a fucking breath, prez,” Screw said. “Your heartrates jumping up. The nurse will be in if you can’t calm your shit.”
Fucking thief. That was his kill. Rusty was his. He’d been fantasizing about the end of Rusty’s life for days. Countless scenarios and plans, not one involving someone else pulling the trigger. “They okay?”
“Mav’s good. Banged up and pissed off, but that’s the worst of it. Thunder broke a wrist, busted his nose, and has a concussion. Lucky as shit, all being said.”
“Who?”
“Mav was pretty sure it was Lefty. Thank fuck a couple of our guys were close behind. They startled him into fleeing. If they’d been alone, Mav and Thunder might have bullets in their skulls, too.”
Lefty. Copper ran a hand down his face, wincing when it bumped his nose. “Get Joe on the line for me.” The club had held up their end of the bargain, collecting Joe’s money, and delivering it to him four days ago. Lefty should have been on Copper’s fucking doorstep by now, not running around killing his men.
Zach nodded and turned away, phone to his ear.
Goddammit, this was fucking with his head. Not the fact that Rusty was dead. That was the only way this fairy tale would end, but Copper had wanted, no needed to be the one to pull the trigger. Only one who deserved the kill more than him was Shell and he’d set fire to his bike before letting her live with the burden of taking a life. Copper needed the closure. And to have Lefty be the one who took it from him...the universe’s sick joke. He was fucking done with this bullshit. If Lefty wasn’t trussed up and waiting for him by the time he got out of the hospital, there’d be hell coming Joe’s way.
“Here, boss,” Zach said, tossing the phone his way.
Copper caught it easily. Before he even had it to his ear, Joe was rushing to explain. The man hadn’t been shitting him when he said his crew didn’t want trouble with the Handlers. “We fucking had him, Copper, but we underestimated him. Guy looks like a cheesy Rambo wannabe, but he’s smarter than we’d anticipated.” The growl of frustration had Copper believing Joe’s words.
“What happened?”
There was a loud crash on Joes’s side like he’d thrown something across the room. Copper understood the sentiment. “We snatched him up easy. Set up a meet to deliver some product, and grabbed his unsuspecting ass, no problem. But the guy killed two of my men and escaped.”