Page 2 of Jake's Angel

Caleb is Gabe and Thomas’s father. Caleb’s large body crouched down is blocking my view of Thomas. I can only see the dark puddle of blood on the ground. It’s running past Thomas’s legs.He must be in bad shape.

I scan the scene, looking back and forth for any sign of Pop. Caleb yells to Mom, “Thomas is alive,” drawing my attention back to the bike.

He says a few other things as Mom approaches him, but I can’t make out what he’s saying.

Where the hell is Pop?

Mom’s a nurse, so her first instinct is to go to Thomas, but before she takes another step, Caleb shouts, “I have Thomas’s wounds handled. An ambulance is on the way. It’s Gabe and Mack who need help.”

At the mention of Pop’s name, I scan the scene frantically, not seeing him anywhere.

Pop needs help? Where is he? I’m ready to jump out to assist, but I don’t know where Pop is, and I can’t leave Jayde in the truck alone. She’s two.

I watch as Mom hesitates for a moment until Caleb says something else. I see his mouth moving but can’t hear anything but my own breathing echoing in my ears. My eyes follow his pointed finger over to the black car where Pop and Gabe are desperately trying to drag someone from the front seat. I feel a sudden rush of relief to see Pop alive and in one piece. “Pop!” I yell through the window, while tears I hadn’t realized I was crying stream down my face. He turns, scanning the area until he catches my eyes. As soon as he does, he stands tall and nods. It’s all I need to release the tension and the ache holding my chest hostage this whole time.

“Pop’s alive! It wasn’t him. He’s not hurt,” I say to Jayde, but really trying to reassure myself, as my heart jolts back to life and relief floods my body, loosening most of my tension.

I know it’s pretty fucked-up to feel this relieved while others are hurt and there is so much chaos and apparent tragedy going on. I might feel guilty, but I won’t apologize for the solace I feel. The fact is, at this moment, knowing I haven’t lost my father is what matters most.

I feel myself calming a little as I follow the movements of the men working around the car. Gabe’s in the front passenger’s side seat, while Pop’s in the back.The car’s rocking back and forth with whatever they’re doing inside the vehicle.The railing is making an eerie creaking sound, and more and more fluid continues to drip from the front end as the car rocks.

Mom is standing near the back of the car.I hear her yelling at the men, asking how badly she’s hurt. I assume she means the driver.

There’s a weird mewing sound. It doesn’t fit with what’s going on.

Gabe drags a woman from the front seat and lays her on the ground with her head in his lap.He quickly takes off his cut, folds it, and places it under her head, sliding her off his lap as he begins inspecting her body for injuries.Her body lays there, lifeless. The image of how he’s clinging to her, stroking her long blonde hair while tears drip from his eyes, will forever be burned into my memory.

The neck and shoulders of the woman’s blue top are covered with blood. Her long legs lay there, completely unmoving.

Using his black handkerchief, Gabe wipes frantically at her face, trying to clean her, talking to her as he does.He touches his forehead to hers as he speaks to her, rocking her back and forth in his arms. I’ve never seen a man like Gabe cry before. He’s one of the toughest bastards I’ve ever met. I’ve admired him in every way, as much as I do my father, and here he is in front of me broken, looking completely lost.

“I wake with a start, gasping for breath. Raising my arm, I clutch my chest and rub, wondering if I’m having a heart attack because the tightness is so bad. I move to sit up in bed and run both hands over my face, then into my hair. My head is still foggy from all the alcohol I consumed and sweat covers my body, but I know it was the nightmare that has me feeling wrecked.”

Fuck me.

I reach for a water bottle beside me, twist the cap off and guzzle half of it down.

Jesus, it’s been sixteen years since hell rained down on the Kings of Fury MC.I was only ten years old the day everything went to shit. It was one of the most difficult things this club has ever lived through. I didn’t understand it all at the time, but the events of that summer would change not only my life, but the lives of everyone around me. It was the day I learned, even Kings can be brought to their knees.

What I didn’t know, is it wouldn’t be the last time.

CHAPTER ONE

JAKE

My phone vibrates again.The incessant rattling across the wood jolts me from my thoughts.

It hasn’t been nine minutes since I hit snooze. What the hell?

I look at my phone to seeDipshitflash across my screen and groan to myself.

I’m not coherent enough to deal with his shit yet.

I hate nightmares. Knowing it’s a memory and not a dream, I hate it even more. If it were a dream, I would be in control.No matter how many times I dream it. No matter how hard I try to save them. The ending never changes.

I rub the sleep from my eyes with one hand and reach for the phone with the other. As I twist my torso, an unfamiliar arm starts making its way slowly across my abdomen. Red fingernails lightly tickle my skin, until the moment the body attached to the arm hits the floor with a loudthud.

What the … shit?

---