Angel's Halo: Avenged Read online

  Sirens were screaming in the distance. Spider cursed. “Colt, you need to take over putting pressure on this wound. I gotta start CPR, man. She’s stopped breathing.”

  In a daze, I did as he commanded, putting both hands over the hole in her abdomen and pressing down as he started doing chest compressions. Tears poured down my face unashamedly as I watched the big man practically breaking her ribs to keep her heart beating.

  “Kell, don’t leave me,” I commanded in a choked voice. “Don’t you fucking die.”

  I’d never been so happy to see flashing lights in my life as I was when the ambulance came roaring down the road and stopped just feet from us. Two paramedics jumped out, their gear slung over their shoulders. One urged Spider out of the way and took over immediately. The other tried to nudge me out of the way, but I couldn’t leave her. Couldn’t let go because I was scared Kelli would die if I moved from this spot.

  Jet and Spider grabbed my shoulders, jerking me to my feet and away so the other guy could do his job. “You have to let them work on her,” my brother tried to reason as I fought against their hold. “She’s gonna die if you don’t.”

  Those words penetrated my shattered mind, and I went slack in their hold. “Don’t let her die,” I snarled at the EMTs.

  The first one lifted his head, his expression grim. “She’s lost a lot of blood. There’s an exit wound in her back. We have to move her now.”

  The next six seconds felt like an eternity as I watched them put her in the back of the ambulance and then haul ass toward town. I wanted to go with them, but Spider and Jet stopped me, and when I started to get on my bike, they grabbed me again.

  “You can barely stand up,” Spider argued. “Bash is on his way in Raven’s SUV. You can go with them. I’ll get your bike back in one piece.”

  The lights of my sister’s vehicle were just coming into view. As soon as the SUV stopped, I jumped into the front seat beside my brother-in-law. Raven and Quinn were in the back seat. “Drive,” I roared at the other man, and he stomped on the gas, speeding toward the hospital.

  “What happened?” Raven asked, moving so she could stick her head up front. “Are you hurt?”

  “EMTs said Kelli was shot,” I reported, my voice shaking. “I don’t fucking know what happened. She was supposed to be at the clubhouse.”

  “No one saw her leave,” Bash admitted. “One of the brothers was taking a piss break, and she must have gotten through the gate when he wasn’t looking.”

  “She was probably taking a walk,” Quinn commented in a trembling voice. “She does that to clear her head.”

  “Who the fuck shot her, though? Was it the Italians?” Raven looked from me to her husband. “Are they back already?”

  “It wasn’t Fontana,” I assured her, scrubbing my hands over my face. “He was where Badcock said he would be. There was no way he made it back here before us and had time to do this.”

  “Her father?” Quinn offered. “It’s all over the news about all the things he’s done in the past to keep his son out of jail. There was mention of embezzlement and a crapload of other stuff that I didn’t really understand because it was all political. The biggest topic was that someone said the senator’s wife was already staying in a five-star hotel in San Francisco.”

  I didn’t have time to digest any of that as Bash hit the brakes right in front of the ER entrance. I could see the ambulance that brought Kelli in, but she must have already been inside. I jumped out of the SUV, Quinn and Raven right behind me. Bash left the vehicle where it was and rushed after us.

  Clueless as to what to do, I stood in the middle of the waiting room, tearing at my hair as I looked for someone who could take me to the woman I loved. The place was full, crowded with people who were sick and their loved ones. And I was standing there without mine.

  Where was she?

  Was she still alive?

  Had I lost her?

  I didn’t know the answers, and I could feel what was left of my sanity begin to snap.

  Raven went to the reception desk. “Kelli Murdock just came in via ambulance. We need to see her. Now.”

  The guy in scrubs behind the desk pulled up something on his computer. “She’s already on her way up to surgery. I suggest you head up to the OR waiting room and wait for one of the scrub nurses to come talk to you.”

  “I want someone to fucking talk to me now!” Raven exploded, and the guy flinched as if she’d hit him. Not that it wasn’t possible. My sister was just as likely to beat the results out of this guy as make demands. “My sister-in-law was shot, and I want to know what’s going on right the fuck now.”

  Bash caught her shoulders and whispered something in her ear that had her calming down. He pulled her behind him and glared down at the guy in scrubs. “Thanks for the help,” he muttered. Taking both Raven’s and Quinn’s hands, he headed for the elevator, and I was helpless to do anything but follow.

  No sooner were we in the OR waiting room than Bash was urging Quinn down into a chair and pulling out his phone. I only caught snatches of his conversations as I paced to the window and back to the door, needing the physical activity so I didn’t start climbing the walls.

  Hours passed. My three brothers, along with Gracie and Flick, showed up. Jet stopped me long enough to get the card Badcock had given me earlier, then went outside. I didn’t even think about what he was doing, why he wanted to call the other guy.

  My mind was trapped in the memory of seeing Kelli lying in a pool of her own blood on the side of the road. Her head had been right in the way of any oncoming vehicle, and they could have run over her if they weren’t watching closely enough.

  Who shot her? Who the fuck did this to her?

  Spider came through the door and pushed Willa down beside Quinn, where Gracie was also sitting. Trigger came in with Aggie, saying something about Max and Lexa staying with Matt and Rory back at the clubhouse. Badcock walked through the door with his two goons, and after talking to Raven and Bash, took a seat in the corner and remained quiet. I barely noticed his arrival and forgot about him as soon as I was pacing again.

  People were showing up left and right, but there was no sign of a nurse or doctor who could tell me how Kelli was doing.

  Finally—fucking finally—the door opened, and a guy in sweat-drenched scrubs walked in with a nurse behind him. His face was gray, his eyes hooded with fatigue. My knees felt unsteady as I crossed the room to him. “Well?” I choked out through a throat that ached from the lump that clogged it.

  “Are you Kelli Murdock’s family?” the man asked with lifted brows.

  “She’s my fiancée,” I answered without hesitation. “How is she?”

  He exhaled tiredly but began to explain Kelli’s condition. “There was a single gunshot wound to the upper abdomen that caused a lot of damage. It ruptured her spleen, and she lost a lot of blood. The spleen was removed, and we did an exploration of the surrounding area to ensure there was no further damage to anything vital. Her upper intestine was nicked, but we repaired that easily. Her heart and lungs are fine, but she did sustain some damage to her left kidney, which also had to be removed.”

  “Is she okay, though?” Quinn demanded, her hand touching my arm and her nails sinking into my skin as she waited for his answer.

  “She’s going to be fine as long as she doesn’t run into any complications. Infection is the biggest cause for concern, but I don’t foresee any issues that will hinder her having a full recovery.” The doctor gave us a grim smile. “She’s being moved into recovery as we speak and will be in ICU overnight as a precaution.”

  “When can I see her?” I demanded, relief making my voice hoarse.

  “Let’s give her tonight to come out from under the anesthesia, and I’ll let you spend as much time as you want with her, come morning.” He paused, his face turning serious. “Since this is a gunshot wound, the authorities had to be contacted. Do you have any idea who could have done thi
s to her?”

  Without answering, I offered him my hand. “Thank you, Doctor. For everything you did. I really appreciate you saving my Kelli.”

  He shook my hand and backed up, his nurse still by his side. “The cops will be in touch, I’m sure,” he said as he walked out the door.

  “Of course they will be,” Raven muttered then threw her arms around me. “She’s going to be okay. You can relax now. She’s not going anywhere.”

  I hugged her tight for a long moment before stepping back. “Stay here with her,” I told her. “If anything happens, call me. Anything at all, Rave.”

  Her brows knitted together. “Where are you going?”

  “Stay with her,” I repeated as I walked out the OR waiting room door.

  Behind me, all three of my brothers followed me out, with Bash and Spider right behind them. As I pushed the call button for the elevator, Badcock and his two men joined us.

  “Samson?” the old man asked in a low, dangerous tone.

  I lifted my chin in an affirmative. “He could be anywhere by now, but I’ll find the bastard if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “I’ll find him,” Badcock assured me. “Let me make a few calls.”

  “How do you know where to look?” Jet asked, brows raised.

  “I’ve kept up with his comings and goings for over a decade now. Finding out where he is right now won’t take much.”

  I didn’t care how he found him, I just wanted to know where the motherfucker was. He was the only person I could think of who would even want to hurt Kelli other than Fontana. And the Italian was over two hours away when Kelli was shot.

  I was going to find Samson and put a bullet in him.

  Chapter 25

  Colt

  Samson wasn’t too far away. A handful of phone calls later and Badcock was instructing us where to go. Less than an hour outside of Trinity County was a hotel I wasn’t expecting to find someone like Calvin Samson in.

  The place was run-down, more a room-by-the-hour than the five-star resort I would have thought the senator would be more comfortable in. But with the press already having a field day over the story that was all any news or radio stations were talking about, even at two in the morning, I guess he needed a place where not even his own mother would think to find him.

  The smell of cloves and something strong filled the air as we walked across the parking lot. In the back corner where the dumpsters were, I could see a John getting a blow job from a hooker, her head bobbing to a beat in her head as she sucked off her customer. From behind a few of the doors we passed, we heard fake orgasm moans of other working girls, while the guys grunted like their lives depending on blowing their load.

  Definitely not where anyone would think to look for someone as influential as the honorable Senator Calvin Samson.

  How Badcock had gotten this intel, I didn’t know and I didn’t ask. All I cared about was finding the SOB I suspected had put a bullet in the woman I loved.

  My brothers, Bash, and Spider all rode with me. They stood behind me as I knocked on the motel room door with Badcock—minus his goons, who stayed in the SUV—right beside me. From the other side of the door, I could hear someone shuffling around inside. There was no peephole on the door, but the curtains shifted, and I heard the fucker curse when he saw who was outside.

  “Open the fuck up!” I raged, pounding my fist on the rusty door again.

  “We only want to talk, Samson,” Badcock called out in a reassuring voice.

  “Fuck off,” the senator yelled through the door.

  Taking Badcock’s arm, I shifted him to the side. I nodded at Bash, and he was kicking the door in. I walked through the broken doorframe, noticing Samson in only his boxers. The old fuck had saggy man boobs under the thick patches of gray chest hair. He didn’t look like the arrogant, high on himself senator right then. Instead, he looked like an old man life had beaten down.

  I grabbed him by the hair, my fingers tightening at the roots as I jerked his head back and forced him to his feet. “Get up, you motherfucking coward.”

  “What are you doing?” he demanded, outraged. “Let go of me!”

  “Shut the fuck up,” I muttered, forcefully slamming his shoulder into the broken doorframe as I pushed him out of the room, making him howl in pain.

  I marched him in only his boxers across the parking lot and tossed him into the back of Badcock’s SUV where the goon with the scar on his face held the door open. Pushing Samson over, I got in behind him.

  “I demand you release me right now,” he commanded in his usual confident, authoritative voice that I was sure went a long way back in DC, but wasn’t going to fly with me and my brothers.

  From the other side, Badcock opened the door and pushed Samson into a sitting position on the seat before climbing in beside him. Being so close to the other man, the senator tensed, his face turning cold and blank as he stared the other man down.

  “Good to see you again, Calvin,” Badcock greeted him in a friendly enough voice.

  If we had been in any other situation, I might have actually believed the other man was glad to see the senator. But then a steely expression came over Badcock’s eyes. He leaned in closer, and I heard Samson gulp nervously.

  “I told you if you ever touched Kelli again, I would come after you. I told you that, didn’t I, old friend?” His voice, so full of menace and ice, almost made me shudder. Samson was practically pissing his pants. “Leslie broke it off with you because you hit Kelli. That was the one thing she couldn’t abide. She didn’t seem to care that you treated your own daughter like she didn’t even exist, but when you raised your hand to her, she sent you packing. I promised her when she ended things with me, that no matter what happened in the future between me and her, or even you and her, that Kelli would always have my protection.”

  “Wh-what has that got to do with me now?” he stuttered out, trying to sound innocent but failing miserably in the face of a man who scared the fuck out of even me.

  “Kelli lives,” Badcock informed him, and Samson’s shoulders stiffened as I felt the rage begin to enter his tense muscles.

  “That’s impossible. I made sure that bitch was dead before I—” He broke off abruptly, realizing what he’d just confessed.

  I punched him in the back of the head, so hard he lurched forward, his shoulders colliding with the front seats. Grabbing his hair again, I jerked him back and planted my fist in his side, going straight for the kidney. “You shot your own daughter?” I seethed in his ear. “You dared to touch the woman I love? Motherfucker, you touched the wrong female. Because I’m about to be your Angel of Death.”

  Badcock nodded to the driver, and the SUV started.

  The senator whimpered.

  Chapter 26

  Kelli

  I was floating in sweet oblivion. There was no pain. No scary monsters with the face of my father. No darkness that wanted to swallow me whole.

  No Colt.

  My eyes snapped open as I gasped. Heart racing, I glanced around frantically, disoriented and unable to decipher where I was. The room was dark, no window to allow light in, and any overhead lighting was turned off. The smell hit me next. The strong sterile smell that was associated with hospitals.

  I lifted my arms, felt the sharp tug of something in my left wrist, and once my eyes adjusted, I realized there was an IV in it. Inhaling deeply with relief, I then groaned in pain. My chest and stomach ached, and the memory of Calvin shooting me flashed through my head.

  The bastard really did it. He shot me.

  He tried to kill me.

  I wasn’t sure how I got here, but I was thankful to whoever saved me. Right now, however, all I wanted was Colt.

  A door opened, letting in a thin stream of light, and then I heard the click of a switch flipping up, and the soft fluorescent lighting over my bed came on. I blinked, taking in the room. It was a standard private hospital room. A small television was mount
ed to the wall in the left-hand corner. A tray on wheels was pushed against the wall, a portable IV pole beside it.

  On the other side of the bed, there was a single plastic chair, but no tattooed biker was there waiting for me.

  Tears burned my eyes. Where was he? Why wasn’t he here?

  I wanted him here, damn it. I wanted him to be sitting in that fucking chair, holding my hand, more than I could ever remember wanting anything in my entire life.

  “Baby, why are you crying?”

  My head snapped around at the sound of his voice, the tears falling faster from my eyes as I looked up at Colt. He looked so good standing there. Even with the dark circles under his green eyes, his shoulders slightly slumped in exhaustion, I was sure I’d never seen a better sight than this man.

  In a handful of long strides, he was beside my bed. Sitting on the edge, he cupped my face in his hands. “Kell? Baby, are you in pain? Let me get the nurse.”

  He started to stand again, but I caught his wrists, urging him to stay. “Don’t leave,” I croaked out.

  “Are you hurting? I’ll get them to give you something for the pain.” He seemed anxious, his pulse jumping under my light hold on his wrists.

  “I don’t…care about…the pain,” I got out slowly, my eyes eating up the sight of him. It was like I was looking at him for the first time. My eyes traced over all the ink I could see on his neck and hands before going back to his face and memorizing every hard angle.

  When I got to his eyes, I realized they were glazed with tears. “What?” I demanded and started to sit up.

  Strong hands pushed me back down, and his head followed, kissing the breath out of me in a slow, tender kiss that only made my tears flow faster.

  “I thought I lost you,” he groaned against my lips, and I tasted the mixture of both our tears. “I thought you were dead.”