Warrant (Righteous Outlaws #1)(22)

"It should be a beautiful weekend," William said. "The past nine months  seemed to have dragged. I'm looking forward to two consecutive days of  sun."

Mom took a sip of her martini. "We'll be attending the Hill Foundation's  Paws for a Cause in Black Hills. You should come," Mom said, and I  fixed my eyes on her. "Aubree will be there, and I doubt she wants to be  hanging out with her parents the whole time. We'll make a day of it,  and have dinner at the club afterwards."

"That sounds great to me." William swiveled in his seat and dropped his  gaze to mine. "I mean, if that's alright with you, of course."

There was no use fighting the inevitable. The more time passed, the more  I realized that William and I were meant to be together. Cash was just  an added bonus in between.

"I'd like that," I answered.

"Great!" William exclaimed, just as Dad's cell phone rang.

Dad took it out of his pocket, and glanced down at the screen. A touch  of annoyance streaked his face as he shoved his phone back into his  pocket.

"Who is that dear?" Mom asked.

"Not important," Dad responded. "Who would like another round?"                       
       
           



       

Mom held out her martini glass, and Dad quickly carried it over to the  drink cart. He mixed her a drink, and his phone rang again.

"For something not important, they sure are calling a lot," Mom said as he handed her the glass.

"I guess I'd better take it. Excuse me." Dad exited the room, and Mom  continued to tell William about the charity event. I couldn't help but  laugh. She acted as if she cared about those dogs when, in reality, she  was just doing it to look good to her friends, though it was on a much  smaller scale than the events we were used to. Dad suggested it, and Mom  jumped on it. In Mom's eyes, the smaller the event the more it looked  like she actually cared.

Dad came back in the room with a look of disappointment and frustration. "I have to go," he said.

Mom halted her next sip. "What do you mean, ‘you have to go'? We're about to have dinner."

"It was the hospital. Dr. Crayton is in surgery and the surgery is more  invasive than he expected. He would like another neurosurgeon on hand."

Dad was the best neurosurgeon in the country, so it wasn't uncommon for  him to be called in for second opinions or to help in major surgeries.

"When work calls," William said and stood up. He held his hand out to  Dad. "Mr. Harrington, I will see you Saturday." Dad shook William's  hand, then leaned over and kissed Mom on the head.

"Hopefully, I won't be too late," he said, before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Take your time," I said. "Somebody's life is depending on you.

Dad hurried out the door and Mom, William and I sat down to a very uncomfortable dinner.





Cash





"Where the fuck is the doctor?" Miles growled as I poured more Jack down his throat.

"He's on his way," I assured him. I just hoped the doc took my threat  seriously, and would get here sooner rather than later. Though, the  minute I brought up filling his family in on our little secret, he  jumped on it. He might have thought our deal was a one-time thing, but  he couldn't be more wrong. We would hold that shit over his head for the  rest of his fucking life.

Besides, it was good to have a surgeon on call, especially when our members had a bad habit of getting shot.

"I wish he'd hurry the fuck up," Miles spat, ripping the bottle out of my hand and downing it.

"No one told your dumb ass to get shot," I said.

"Tell that to the fucking cops who shot me."

Hudson plopped down on a barstool, while Kade and I stayed by the couch  with Miles. We were in the fucking clear; the explosion I created did  exactly as we hoped. All the cops ran out, leaving behind a rookie to  watch over things.

It was easy for Kade to lure him out, but who knew that, when we bolted  for it, the bastard would be gun happy? He got Miles right in the  shoulder. From the look of it, it was clean, and went straight through,  missing any arteries. Still, Miles had a fucking bullet hole in his  shoulder and needed to be tended to.

The excitement helped clear my mind of fucking Sunshine. Now that we had  nothing to do but wait, she was back in my head. I worried about her,  and how she was dealing with the fact she shot that motherfucker. She  was an innocent, and shouldn't have that shit in her head. The thing  that screwed with my skull most was that I fucking couldn't keep her  safe. I sure as hell tried, but if she hadn't shot that bastard, I don't  know what would have happened. We could have both been taken out.  Thinking about that shit kept me up most nights and made me anxious as  hell.

I swore I'd stay away from her, but I wanted to see her just once.  Sienna said she was doing well, but I wanted to see it with my own  fucking eyes.

The door pushed open and the doc walked in, carrying a black bag.

"Over here, Doc," Kade said, waving him over.

He stormed over, rage in his eyes, and stopped right in front of me. "I told you the last time I saw you that we were through."

"If that was the case, then why the fuck are you here?" I asked, kicking  my feet off the table. I stood up and walked toward him. I was a good  four inches taller than him, and I could see he was intimidated by me in  the way he rocked back on his heels as I approached him.

"You threatened me. What else was I supposed to do?" he questioned as beads of sweat dripped down his face.

"I guess we're not through then until you don't feel threatened anymore.  But, since that will only happen if you come clean with your family,  your colleagues, and the federal government, it looks like we'll never  be through. Might as well face it, Doc. You are a part of us, and that  is not going to change any time soon."                       
       
           



       

"I never should have trusted you thugs. I should have known better."

"We prefer outlaws," Kade interrupted.

"You can call me whatever the fuck you want. Just get this fucking thing  out of me," Miles spat, the half a bottle of Jack not even slurring his  speech.

"Please," I said with a smile. The Doc gave me a dirty look, and, after a  moment, went over to Miles. It was a doctor thing. He couldn't ignore a  person in need. The need to help was ingrained into his very being.  Even if we didn't have anything over him, I don't think he'd be able to  say no.

"It looks like a clean shot," he announced.

"That's what I said," I mumbled, and the doctor shifted his attention to  me. "Probably can just pull that sucker right out. Give it a good  cleaning, and pump him up with antibiotics."

"Since when did you become a doctor?" he asked.

"I've taken a bullet a few times myself. Didn't always have a doc around  to fix us up. I performed surgery on myself, my thigh, after doing  research on the Internet."

Shock plastered across the doc's face. "And you healed alright?" he questioned.

"Not even any nerve damage. Just a scar, but the chicks dig that shit, so I'm okay with it."

He looked at me with either disgust or admiration, I couldn't quite  tell, but he quickly turned back to Miles. While the doc worked, Kade  and I took our asses to the bar and had a beer. "I never thanked you for  taking care of that situation at my house," I said, tipping the bottle  to my lips and taking a long sip. I smacked my pack of cigarettes on the  bar and then slipped one out, before offering it to Kade.

Kade took a stog, and lit it then passed me his lighter. "Don't worry  about it. Kind of worked out perfectly, you know? According to Nick,  that Argentinian bitch thinks it was the Montamos and, because they have  no proof to prove otherwise, the war is between them. Let those fucks  kill each other."

I took a pull off my cigarette and leaned back in my chair. "I didn't  kill that guy," I said. I thought about it the entire thirteen hour  drive to and from fucking Montana. Kade and me didn't do secrets. I  could trust my life to him. The minute we stopped telling each other  everything was the beginning of a slippery path that neither of us  fucking needed.

"What the fuck are you talking about? I cleaned up the body. He was fucking dead."

"I'm not saying he wasn't. I'm saying I wasn't the one who killed him."

The beer bottle in Kade's hand stopped just shy of his lips. He stayed  like that for a moment before leaning up and putting the bottle back on  the bar. "If you didn't kill him then … " Kade sat straight up on the  stool his mouth parting in surprised amusement. "Oh fuck, dude. That  prissy bitch killed him?"