TORTURE ME_ The Bandits MC(167)

I glanced at the rest of my guys, tired and dumbfounded from the night we’d just had on the boat.



“We’d appreciate it, yes. Is there anything you need us to do before we board your boat?” I asked.



“No, it’s fine. We’ll handle everything we need to do here.” I could see several men in suits with blue gloves on their hands hustling back and forth with sealed packages from the yacht. “Let me show you to your quarters.”



I grabbed Julia and carried her in my arms across to the stranger’s boat. I could hear Jorell and Angelo telling me to be cautious in the back of my mind, but I ignored their advice and accepted the stranger’s help without question. The mayor had been good to us so far, and if this man said he was sent by the mayor, then he was alright with me already.



He showed us to a small room with a couple of bunk beds and couches. I set Julia down on one of the beds. The guys took to one of the couches, and I knelt down beside Julia, keeping her company and comforting her while we waited to figure out what our next move was going to be.



After a few minutes, our stranger came back. “Gage, we’re about to take you back to shore. Do you have a way to get back to Kings HQ or do you need us to escort you? I’ll be more than happy to provide you with a way back so that you can focus on taking care of your people.”



I looked at the guys. This stranger’s generosity almost seemed too good to be true, but I accepted. We needed all the friends we could get right now.





Chapter 33





The man in the suit gave us a ride back to HQ in his black SUV with its blacked out windows. He never told us who he was or who his people were. They definitely weren’t law enforcement. Their mannerisms were too relaxed. They seemed to be government types, or else they belonged to a gang we didn’t have a rivalry with. Either way, they dropped us at HQ and offered to get our bikes replaced.



One of the men went out and took down the year make and model of each motorcycle we had. He got contact information for each member of the MC so that he could work with them to organize the replacements. We took the men at their word, and it was only a few days before they started coming through on their promises. All the bikes were replaced, and the replacements were delivered directly to our members.



I shut HQ down in the meantime. It didn’t feel safe to have anyone hanging around while there were still some rogue agents out there. Aleskei, Jorell, and the princes who had come out to the boat with us were still missing. I didn’t want to put anyone else in harm’s way, especially while I was at home with Julia.



I watched her condition worsen before it improved. I had doctors and nurses visit her at my place.



“It looks like her body went into shock when she hit the water,” my doctor told me after examining her. “She’s dehydrated, malnourished, and it looks like she might have been suffering from sleep deprivation at the time she went into the water.”



I liked Dr. Fiso because he was old school. He believed in house calls. He billed reasonably and allowed me to pay him in cash, instead of demanding that I provide insurance information. And he didn’t ask questions. Of course, I was sure my cash payments helped ease his professional curiosity a good bit.



“Just give her some time. I’ll send a nurse around to help you keep an eye on her. She needs lots of rest and plenty of fluids. She’s probably going to sleep for the better part of the next couple of days, but once she comes around fully, she’ll probably be pretty hungry, I imagine,” he told me.



“Yes, sir. I don’t need a nurse here full-time, just maybe a couple times a day to check and make sure she’s doing alright,” I suggested to him.



In true Fiso fashion, he accepted my suggestion without question and told me he’d send someone around in the morning and evening, twice a day, unless I called to request additional visits.



“I understand you value your privacy,” he said. “So, I won’t intrude, but let me know if she gets worse. I don’t expect her to, but just in case.”



He left me there with my sleeping beauty. And she slept, alright.



I kept her propped up with pillows and helped her sit up when she woke up for a few minutes here and there to get something to drink or use the bathroom, though I couldn’t imagine how her body was able to work up enough waste of any kind to expel.



I sat next to the bed and watched TV. I watched the news while I waited for her to come around. News of the drug bust on Lake Michigan aired that same night with images of the FBI agents raiding the yacht and carrying Ivan, Dimitri, and Boris into custody. The men looked away from the cameras.