Knees in the Breeze (Kings of Vengeance MC Book 3), page 13
Core cleared his throat. “It’s just the feeling I got.”
Aw shit. Core was talking about the little talk we had with him when Quinn wasn’t there. Except he wasn’t telling Quinn we had said anything. Even tied to a fucking chair and his nose bloodied, he wasn’t going to snitch on us.
Quinn studied Core. “A feeling you got, huh?” Quinn turned and slowly looked at all us. “You guys want to maybe expand on the feeling Core had?”
Dyno cleared his throat and shook his head. “Don’t know where he would have gotten that from.”
I shook my head. “No clue, boss.”
Quinn shook his head and turned back to Core. “Fucking explain getting a job where Petra works.”
Core’s eyes darted to the floor. “I just needed a job.”
“A job? The only place that was hiring happened to be where one of the ol’ ladies work?” I asked.
Core’s eyes snapped to me. “I didn’t get a job there because of Petra. It just happened to be a coincidence.”
“I’m so fucking confused,” Dyno muttered.
“Not hard to do,” Zephyr replied.
Quinn held up his hand. “Can the fucking peanut gallery shut the fuck up?”
Dyno cringed and took a step back. “Sorry, boss.”
“Sorry, boss,” Zephyr parroted.
Quinn took a deep breath. “What was the reason you got a job at the shredding place?”
Core gulped. “I, ah, had another job.”
Dyno threw his hands up in the air. “How am I the only one who is confused?”
“I had connections from the Rolling Devils. Ones that had nothing to do with the Kings of Vengeance,” he added quickly. “They didn’t even know who you guys were or that I was part of the club.”
“Keep going,” Quinn replied.
“So, after I couldn’t work up the courage to grovel back to you guys, I called an old buddy and asked if he had any work.”
“Are we talking about the shredding place or someplace else now?” Dyno whispered to me.
I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. We were going to have to put a fucking muzzle on Dyno.
“What kind of work?” Quinn asked.
“Uh, the one he thought might work for me was contracted to him. A few lose ends that needed to be tied up.” Core cleared his throat. “Just some B&E and uh…kidnapping.”
Quinn dropped his chin to his chest. “And you fucking agreed to it.”
“Tentatively. Before I got with the Rolling Devil’s, I had done some similar stuff and managed to make some money. It seemed like an easy enough job.”
“And your target works where Petra does?” I asked.
Core nodded. “She does. But once I found out who it was, I let them know I was out.”
Wait. She? I stepped toward Core. “Who was it?” I demanded.
Core had only worked for a few days. I watched him every day, and there were only a handful of people he talked to.
“Queenie.”
My heart sank when he said the name.
“The chick with the kid?” Dyno shouted.
Quinn help up his hand again. “You better tell us everything you know right now or I’m gonna fucking kill you, Core.”
Core nodded. “I don’t know who wants her dead. All C told me was they wanted the baby alive and the woman dead. I talked to Queenie today, and as soon as I got home, I called C and told him I couldn’t do it. He was mad as hell and said he had someone local who would do it. I was on my way over to Queenie’s when you guys barged in here.”
I ran my fingers through my hair.
Someone wanted Queenie dead?
What in the fucking hell was going on in the world that someone would want a woman dead who was taking care of her dead sister’s baby? None of this made fucking sense.
“Why were you going over to Queenie’s?” Dyno asked.
“I was going to warn her and get her to someplace safe.”
Quinn leaned forward. “Core.” His voice was low, and his tone was deadly. “How long did you have to kill Queenie?”
“The twenty-ninth.”
My heart sank.
Today was the twenty-ninth.
*
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Petra
Is she okay?
“I love cheese,” Fancy moaned. She took a bite of pizza, and a huge string of cheese hung from her mouth. “Lettuce won’t do this.” She pointed to the cheese dangling. “Lettuce doesn’t love anyone like this.”
Kimber tipped her head to the side. “I think you might be falling into a cheese coma. You’re becoming delirious.”
I dropped my napkin on the table and sighed. “Whoever made the decision for extra meat is my hero.”
Kimber pointed at Point. “He tried to deny that he liked extra meat, but as you can see, he’s a fan of the meat.”
Point had sequestered himself in the kitchen. “You’re welcome, but I don’t ever want to hear you say I’m a fan of the meat again.”
Kimber shook her head. “I’m totally calling him Captain Meat from now on. You walked right into that one.”
Point groaned and stood. “I’m going outside to smoke.”
Fancy shoved the last bite of pizza in her mouth and wiped her hands. “He is so easy to annoy.”
Point flipped her off and strode out the door.
“Has anyone heard from Queenie?” It had been almost two hours since Fancy said she would be here within the hour.
Fancy looked at her phone. “Nope. She saw my message I sent asking her to stop for ice cream, but she never responded.”
That was weird. Queenie normally always replied even if it was just a smiley face.
“Oh, my God!” Kimber exclaimed. She shoved her phone in my face and squealed. “Look at the little kitty!”
I melted at the gray fur ball on the screen. “He’s a cutie.” My heart sank at the memory of Oscar. He had been gone for almost a month and I still reached for him.
“I miss having Oscar around,” Fancy sighed. “I only knew the little man for a little bit, but he really made an impression.”
That had been the magic of Oscar. It only took one look from him, and he stole your heart.
“Do you ever think you’ll get another one?” Kimber asked.
I grabbed her phone and stared at the little gray kitten on the screen. “Yeah. I don’t know when, but I know I want another little buddy. It was nice to have him when I didn’t have anyone else.”
“That little fluff ball is at the humane society in town,” Kimber whispered.
The scruffy little face stared back at me, and I smiled. “He looks like a little troublemaker.”
Could I really get another kitty so soon? Could this little guy help heal the hole in my heart left from Oscar?
My phone rang, and I handed back Kimber’s phone. “I’ll just send these guys a message and see if this guy is still available,” she whispered.
I bit my lip and nodded.
I grabbed my phone off the table and saw it was Queenie. “Speak of the devil,” I laughed as I picked up the phone. “Hey, Queenie. Where the heck are you?”
“Um, is this Petra?” A woman’s strange voice on the other end of the phone asked.
My stomach dropped. and I clutched the table. “This is her. Where is Queenie?”
“She’s here with me, but she can’t talk.”
“Who are you?” I demanded. I heard sirens in the background and a loud voice yelling orders to stand back.
“I’m Susan Miller. Your friend was attacked at the Whitmore gas station a few minutes ago.”
I shot up and clutched the phone to my ear. “Is she okay? Who attacked her? Where is Gunner?”
“I…just hold on. She’s trying to talk to me.” I heard Susan’s muffled voice and what sounded like Queenie struggling to talk. “She wants to talk to you, but I have to tell you, it’s extremely hard to understand her.”
“What’s going on?” Kimber demanded.
“Someone attacked Queenie at the gas station. I…I don’t know…what’s all wrong with her,” I sobbed. I stabbed the speakerphone button and looked down at the phone.
“What?” Point shouted. He was back in from his smoke and was trying to figure out what was going on.
“Petra,” Queenie croaked on the line.
“Oh, my God, Queenie,” I shouted. “What’s going on? Are you okay? We’re coming to you.”
“They…they took…” Her breathing was heavy, and she struggle to get a single word out. “G…Gunner,” she finally stuttered.
“They took Gunner?” I asked.
She didn’t answer. The sirens sounded like they were getting closer, and the woman came back on the line. “She passed out,” the woman yelled frantically. “I don’t know…” her voice trailed off and the pit of dread in my stomach rose.
Pointed grabbed the phone from me. “Ma’am,” he shouted. “Can you tell us where they’re taking her?”
“I, ah,” she stuttered. “Let me ask the paramedics. Hold on for a bit. I’m going to set you down next to her.”
We stood there gathered around the phone listening to the chaos, helplessly.
“Get shoes on and whatever shit you need,” Point ordered. “I’ll stay here on the phone.”
I looked down at my bare feet. I couldn’t go to the hospital like this, but I couldn’t move. All I could do was listen to the sirens and he commotion.
This had to be a nightmare. This wasn’t real.
Nothing was wrong with Queenie.
No one had taken Gunner.
“Petra,” Point shouted.
I looked up from the phone he was holding. “What?” I whispered.
Kimber and Fancy had both run to their rooms to get shoes and what not, but I was still standing here.
“Listen to me, darlin’, go to your room, put on your shoes, grab a coat, and your purse. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded. I could do that. Those were easy things I did whenever I wanted to leave the house. “Yes.”
Point laid his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll wait here for you. I promise I won’t leave without you. We gotta leave so we can be there for Queenie, okay?”
“I need to be there for Queenie,” I repeated. My feet finally moved, and I ran for my room. I shoved my feet into the first shoes I saw, pulled a sweatshirt over my head, and grabbed my wallet from the nightstand.
Kimber and Fancy collided with me in the hallway, and we clamored to get back to Point.
“Okay. We’re getting in the car right now.” Point ended the call and shoved my phone in his pocket. “They’re taking her to Marion Memorial Hospital.” He looked us over and shook his head. “I guess you guys will do. Let’s go.”
“How is she?” I asked.
Point pushed me toward the door and ushered us out. He locked the door and again had to push me to the car. Why couldn’t I make myself move? I was like a zombie who couldn’t even think.
“I don’t know anything other than they were loading her up in the ambulance and they were headed to Marion Memorial Hospital.” Point opened the door to Kimber’s car and pushed me in. “The sooner we get there, the more we’ll know.”
I sat next to Fancy, who was on the phone.
“Just meet us there, Dyno. We don’t know anything other than she was attacked.” Fancy reached over and grasped my hand. “I love you, too.” She dropped her phone in her lap and put her arm around my shoulder. “I told Dyno what was going on. He said the guys are headed to the hospital, too.”
I numbly nodded. “Okay.”
“Everything is going to be okay,” Kimber reassured me from the front seat. Point was driving and Kimber was next to him. “They’re taking her to the best hospital within a hundred miles, Petra.”
Marion Memorial was where both Kimber and Fancy worked. I had thankfully never been there before, but it seemed that was about to change.
Point drove off on the side of the road and slammed on the brakes.
“What the—” My words were cut off by the growing sound of sirens. I twisted around and looked out the back window.
An ambulance barreled down the road with its sirens blaring and lights flashing.
“Is she in…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. Saying that Queenie was in there would make all this real.
The ambulance streaked by us and rocked the car. Point slammed down on the accelerator, and we rocketed after the ambulance.
“We’re right behind you, Queenie,” I whispered. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer for Gunner. I didn’t know where he was or who had him, but we were going to find him, too.
*
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rhino
It’ll be okay…
Petra clutched my hand in hers and stared at the white wall in front of us.
We knew nothing.
It had been close to two hours since our last update about Queenie.
Three gunshot wounds. She had lost a shit-ton of blood and had coded once in the ambulance.
Queenie was hanging on for her life, and all we could do is sit here.
“It’s been too long,” Petra whispered. “This isn’t good, Rhino.”
I squeezed her hand. “She’s strong, Pet. She’s a fighter.”
While I had only known Queenie for a couple of weeks, I knew she was strong. She had to be.
Petra turned and buried her face in my shoulder. “Someone took Gunner and tried to kill Queenie,” she sobbed.
I rubbed her back and lifted her into my lap. “I know, Pet. It’s all going to be okay, though.”
She shook her head. “You can’t say that, Rhino. You can’t know that any of this is going to turn out okay.”
I didn’t, but if I couldn’t have faith that it was going to be fine there wouldn’t be anything to fight for.
The police had put a BOLO out for the man and car seen fleeing the scene and the media was plastering Gunner’s little face all over. Whoever took him also grabbed the diaper bag Petra had packed for him. They didn’t take Gunner with the intention of hurting him. If they had done that, they wouldn’t have grabbed his bag. That was what gave me hope.
And the fact that Core had told us his instructions when he had agreed to the job were the baby needed to be alive.
Gunner was going to be okay. We just needed to find him.
A doctor walked into the waiting room. He was wearing blue scrubs and had a stethoscope around his neck. “Queenie Montgomery’s family?”
Petra jumped up and scurried over to the doctor. “I’m Queenie’s family.”
“We all are,” Kimber stated.
The doctor looked around wearily. “Uh, okay.”
“How is she?” Petra demanded.
I stood next to her and laced my fingers through hers. I didn’t know what the doctor was going to say, but I had prepared myself for the worst. I knew if it was bad, I was going to need to there for Petra.
“She’s stable,” the doctor started.
“Oh, thank God,” Fancy gasped.
“But she’s not out of the woods yet. Not by a longshot.”
Petra sagged into me, and I put my arms around her shoulders. “She’s stable, Pet. Focus on the positive. She needs you to be strong for her.”
She needed to be strong for Queenie and then I would be there for Petra. I would be the one to recharge her and make sure she had enough to give to Queenie.
“She has three gunshot wounds and lost a lot of blood. We were able to get one of the bullets out of her shoulder and the one in her arm. The last bullet was too close to her spine. We’re hopeful that the bullet didn’t damage her spine and she’ll have a full recovery.”
“What happens if it damaged her spine?” Quinn asked.
The doctor raised his hands. “That’s a very hard thing to say. The next few hours are going to be telling of what road she’ll be on. I don’t want to speculate when we really don’t have much to go on at the moment.”
“But she’s alive and stable, yes?” Kimber asked.
“She is those two things,” the doctor confirmed. “She’ll be in ICU for a few days, and hopefully, in that time, we’ll have a clear idea of what’s to be.” The doctor nodded to me and slipped back through the swinging doors of the OR.
Petra turned into me and buried her face in my chest.
“She’s stable, Pet. She’s gonna make it.”
She sobbed uncontrollably and collapsed into my arms. I cradled her in my arms and sat back down. All I could do was hold her.
Her sobs finally calmed, and I stroked her back.
“You’re always there for me, Rhino,” she said softly.
“That’s my job, Pet.”
She tipped her head back and a small smile was on her lips. “I thought your job was to keep me safe?”
I brushed her hair from her face. “That, too. I’m here for whatever you need.”
No matter what Petra needed, I would always be there for her. Nothing could stop me.
She stroked my chin and leaned up to press a kiss to my lips. “I love you, Rhino. You’re my own knight in shining armor.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I chuckled.
“I would.” She tipped her head back and her eyes locked with mine. “Though your stead is a Harley.”
“A stead that you’ve yet to ride on,” I pointed out. “I’ve been dying to get your knees in the breeze, but life had has other plans for us.”
She glanced at my lips and then back up. “We’ve got the rest of our lives, right?”
I placed a kiss on her lips. “We’ve got fucking forever, Pet.”
*
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Queenie
Um… beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeep.
The End
About the Author
Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Winter Travers is a devoted wife, mother, and aunt turned author who was born and raised in Wisconsin. After a brief stint in South Carolina following her heart to chase the man who is now her hubby, they retreated back up North to the changing seasons, and to the place they now call home.
