Hammer (6 page)

The second man is much taller with darker hair and a bodybuilder frame. His thick muscles are only covered by a black T-shirt and black cargo pants. If the first guy is supposed to be the “brains” of the duo, then this guy is probably “the brawn.” It doesn’t escape me that he has a gun strapped to his waist, and there is no telling what other weapons they may have on them. The two of them could have easily come out of some poorly made mob movie.

“You should have done what we asked, Suzie,” the man growls at her. “Now, because you didn’t, I’m standing here, covered in your blood, when I have better things to do. Not to mention, I’m gonna have to trash this suit. You have any idea what it cost me, bitch?”

I gasp as he runs his knife across her stomach.

Suzie looks toward me, her eyes meeting mine at the same time her tormentors spot me.

“Run!” Suzie chokes out in a yell before the man in front of her brings his knife up and slits her throat. Her eyes never leave mine.

As the blood runs out of her, and the life leaves her body, I finally react.

Not thinking, I drop my phone in my haste as I turn and take off into the woods, my survival instinct kicking in. I run like my life depends on it because it does.

Suzie, my Suzie Sunshine. My best friend, my confidant, my baby sister is dead. Her life was snuffed out in a manner too horrific to imagine, let alone witness. Nothing will ever be able to erase the sight of my sister’s blood running so freely that it poured like a waterfall from her open throat and soaked into the ground beneath her feet.

My mind races, and my body kicks into overdrive as I continue deeper into the woods. The branches cut into my skin, but I don’t stop, don’t slow; I just run.

Before I know it, I am deep into the national park and nowhere near the trail. My ankles and knees jar harshly as I run on the uneven terrain. I even trip a few times yet somehow manage to keep myself from falling. The branches of the trees around me tear at my hair and clothes, scratching me raw, not that I’m going to complain about those scratches … ever. A little scratch is nothing compared to the horror my sister just died from.

I don’t know how long I run. I just go, sending a silent thank you to above for all the training and conditioning I do in my job.

When my muscles start to burn from overuse, and my lungs feel like they are going to explode, I stop as cautiously as I can. Listening, I don’t hear footsteps behind me. Therefore, I decide to rest and gather my bearings.

Leaning against the large tree beside me, I slow my breathing as my body comes down from the endorphins and adrenaline rush. As fatigue fills me, I drop to the ground, rest my back against the trunk of the tree, and hang my head.

Tears fall freely as I think of what I witnessed.

What was my sister involved in? Why did they have to kill her?

Thinking of the pain she endured, I want to cry out, but fear silences me.

I fist the leaves around me, letting her dying eyes haunt my mind. The agony, the pleading, and the apologies she was silently sending me all wash over me.

Time has passed in a blur. Night has now fallen, and the woods are far too dark for me to safely traverse. Exhaustion consumes me, and I find myself drifting to sleep against my will.

Chapter

4

~Hammer~

Fire. I feel a fire inside me.

Pain. This is a pain like nothing I have ever felt before.

The beeping noise beside me is giving me a headache. What the fuck did I drink last night? I have never had a hangover this bad.

Last night. My mind is blank.

Yesterday. My mind is blank.

I try to move my head. I can’t move.

Panic fills me.

I can’t move.

I struggle to open my eyes, to shift my legs, to move my hands, or to turn my head. I can’t fucking move.

I want to yell, throw something, fuck somebody up, but I can’t do anything.

Will someone please shut that fucking beeping noise off?

Slowly, I think,
Am I in the hospital
?

Hospital.
Why would I be in any medical facility?

I blink finally. My eyes slowly focus on a tiled ceiling above me. A few of the tiles are stained from age and perhaps an old leak. The lighting is dim, and I’m conscious enough to be grateful for that.

Shifting my gaze, I see a TV is on but muted, and an oversized dry erase board is directly underneath it with the words “My Care Board.”

I am in a hospital. And according to the neat, blue handwriting on the board, my nurse’s name is Dorothy.

I try to look down, but I’m held immobile.

I groan in frustration.

“Hammer, chill. Let me get the nurse,” a voice calls out to me, a familiar voice.
Who is here?

When a man comes to stand over me, his eyes call to me. As if in rewind, everything flashes in my head.

Mission.

Regulators MC.

Our team.

We are undercover as outlaw bikers, but we aren’t outlaws. We take down the criminals.

By any means necessary.

I took an oath. Brett ‘Ice’ Grady, my club prez, he took it, too. We are in this together.

The girls. Did we get the girls?

I twist my face in discomfort as so many questions for why I’m in this bed race through my mind.

My brother Evan comes over and grips my hand. “The nurse is coming. She’ll get the neck brace off and untie your hands. You’ve sustained a serious injury and had surgery. They didn’t want you to wake up in a panic. They need to know you’re calm in order to take all this stuff off.”

I give him a small nod.

My mouth is dry. My tongue feels like sandpaper. I need water. This is worse than any mission we faced in the desert when we had to ration our water.

I smack my lips loudly then hear one of the guys laugh.

Evan holds an ice cube over my lips and runs it across the seam.

Ice chips! Seriously, I’m an injured man, and these fuckers tease me with one fucking piece of ice?

My face must show my annoyance because Evan smiles.

“Hang in there. Once they clear you, they will give you more options. Go slowly this time, brother.”

A nurse comes in and removes my neck brace as she rambles off my bland diet and the step by step process of building me to solids. She puts some medication in my IV without a second thought, as if this is all second nature to her. Well, it may be for her, but for me, being helpless like this is a torture worse than any terrorist could ever give me.

After she releases my wrists, I happily move my arms and twist my head to the obnoxious machine keeping up with my heart beat, blood pressure, and oxygen rate.

“Mr. McCoy, the doctor will be in shortly to go over your injuries with you. Until then, I imagine your mouth is dry. As I stated previously, at this time, you can only have ice chips to give you some moisture.”

I nod my understanding as I take a mental assessment of my body. My legs. The pain is from my lower half.

I’m starting to move the blanket when Evan’s firm hand comes down to stop me. He shakes his head, and I lay my head back against the pillow in frustration.

A few moments later, a silver-haired doctor enters my room and begins his assessment.

“Mr. McCoy,” he begins in his obnoxiously high-pitched voice that only grates on my nerves further. “You suffered superficial lacerations and quite a bit of bruising. After x-rays, we found you had an intertrochanteric fracture, which in simple terms, means you have a severe hip fracture between the neck of your femur and the lower jutting bone we call the lesser trochanter. The lesser trochanter is important because it serves as an attachment point for a vital muscle in your hip. This sort of fracture can cause life-threatening complications.

“You underwent an extensive surgery to repair the damage to your hips and the torn muscle. We had to insert a compression hip screw to secure your hip bones back into proper placement. It is my understanding you were hit by a car that pinned you to a concrete wall. From the way you came in and the damage inside, honestly, Mr. McCoy, you’re lucky to be alive and that we were able to repair your hip at all. If, after physical therapy, you are still unable to walk, we might have to go back in and give you a complete hip replacement. You have a long road ahead of you, but you are young, fit, and healthy, so it looks promising for you to walk again.”

Promising?
Did he just say it looks
promising
for me to walk again?

~Desirae~

Waking up to the morning dew resting over my now aching body, I sigh. My night was spent restlessly waking to every noise in the woods. However, I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Fear.

Sadness.

Anger.

Desperation.

All of these emotions held me still. I have no way out. They know I saw them. I saw what they did to her. To my sister, my precious baby sister. They know I can identify them. I can testify. I’m a liability.

What the hell am I going to do?

Slowly, I stand and stretch, feeling helpless. Then I take in my surroundings and find my direction. By now, they have found my car.

Knowing I can’t go back to it, I set my mind to the local direction and head out, knowing the forest comes out along two different highways. I can come out on Highway 24 and get to a gas station to call Tank or come out on Highway 58 and make my way to Haywood’s Landing without issue.

The walk is long, and my body aches, but I push through my discomfort and make my way to a boat ramp rather than the highways I was hoping for.

Apparently, I shouldn’t be on a survival challenge. I would most definitely fail.

Dawn is just breaking as two old men drop their boats in the river. I see their gaze hit mine, and I blink. After taking what feels like one long look at me, they rush over.

I can’t imagine the thoughts in their heads as they see the scraped up mess of a woman I am right now. My hair is wild around my face, my body is weak, and my eyes are swollen from crying. I’m sure I have tear streaks and dirt running down my cheeks as well as the scratches covering every piece of exposed skin.

“What’s your name? We need to call you an ambulance,” one of them says immediately.

Fear grips me. “No, I just need to call my friend for a ride.” My mind isn’t thinking rationally. My single thought is of the Hellions. I don’t feel safe, and I know they will protect me.

I don’t know anything about the two men who killed my Suzie. What if they have someone at the police station who works for them? What if they are waiting for me to end up at the hospital?

My sister!
I gasp.

I need to call the police so they can get her body, but then I have to answer questions. I need help. I need to calm down and think this all through. In order to do that, though, I need to feel safe.

The other man reaches in his overall pocket and hands me his cell phone. “Call your people, girl. Then we’ll getcha to the hospital.” He spits his chewing tobacco out on the ground next to me as I take his phone with shaking hands.

I call the one person I know I can trust in this situation.

“Tank,” he barks into the phone.

“It’s Des. Come and get me,” I whisper.

“Where ya at? What the fuck happened?”

“I’m in Croatan. I’ll explain when you get here.” I rattle off the name of the boat ramp, fighting to keep my emotions at bay, knowing I won’t be alone soon.

“Don’t move. I’m on my way.”

I fold the old flip phone closed and hand it back to the kind stranger.

What takes less than fifteen minutes on a regular day seems to take an eternity. I can’t help looking around me, waiting for the bad guys to jump out and get me, while the two fishermen watch me intently before the first one goes to his truck and comes back with a sweatshirt.

“Put this on.” he tosses it to me. “You’re shaking something fierce.”

The rumble of the Harley hits my ears, and tears fill my eyes. Tank pulls up, and the two old guys actually move to stand in front of me as a sign of protection. I almost laugh … almost.

“He’s here for me. Thank you.”

They both move back, and Tank looks at me cautiously as he cuts off his bike and drops the kickstand.

I’m over to him before he can dismount. He holds me in a one-arm hug as I sob on his shoulder. “Shhh …” he comforts. “You gotta calm down. Where’s your sister?”

I shake my head and cry harder.

He pulls away. “You’ve gotta tell me, Desirae. Where is your sister?”

Looking over my shoulder, I see the two older men have gone back to their boats, but they are keeping their eyes on me and Tank. I’m sure seeing the big, tattooed and pierced biker has a multitude of questions running through their minds.

“Suzie …” I choke out. “She’s … she’s…” I stutter, unable to control myself. “She’s dead, Tank. They killed her in front of me. They know who I am. They’re gonna get me next.”

He reaches up and grips the back of my neck tightly, forcing me to look at him. “Ain’t nothin’ gonna get to you. I know this shit is hard, but you’ve gotta tell me everything. If your sister’s dead, where’s the body? Why are you in the woods? Where are these guys? Why did they kill Suzie?”

With as much control as I can muster, I replay the events of yesterday and my night in the woods. He doesn’t move, only listens intently as if his own life depends on it.

After a few phone calls, Tank looks at me sadly.

“Sit. Roundman is callin’ the cops for us. He’s gettin’ us some guys we can trust. You’ve gotta tell them what’s goin’ on. Then I’ve gotta get you to the clubhouse to put you on lockdown. Do you need to go to the hospital”—he pauses raising an eyebrow at me—“and … umm … get checked?”

“I’m okay. Just scrapes. They didn’t catch me. My sister, though.” I start to sob again.

It doesn’t take long before there are a number of different law enforcement vehicles parked around me. I’m a little staggered to see the Cape Carteret Police Department, the Carteret County Sheriff’s Department, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation all there, not to mention an ambulance and a fire truck. I know the fire department is there because they are first responders and have joined the search for Suzie’s body. What upsets me the most, though, is that the ambulance is there to check up on me. I would give anything for them to be there to take care of my sister because she was still alive.