Page 61 of Jacked and Jaded

He introduced his partner. “Dagger, this is Riggs, my new partner. He just graduated a month ago.”

“Oh,” Dagger lifted his chin. “That explains it.”

Riggs, the rookie, was confused. “This here,” he hooked a thumb Dagger’s way, “is my brother-in-law.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you, Mr. Dagger.” Riggs extended his hand.

The VP laughed and shook his hand. “It’s just Dagger, son. Breakin’ in another one?”

“Yeah,” Ben chuckled. He looked around the kitchen. “Can anyone here tell me what happened?”

“Yeah.” Calliope sat up and would have gotten to her feet, but Jackson wouldn’t let her get up until a paramedic had checked her out. “My friend Bellamy and I were sitting at the kitchen table with Chris.”

“Who’s Chris?”

“He’s one of our prospects,” Dagger filled him in.

“Got it.” Ben nodded and continued his questioning. “Go on.”

“The back door flew open and bounced off the wall. My ex boyfriend kicked it in. He swung a bat at Chris before anyone could move. He hit him in the head and knocked him out. Then he forced me and Bellamy to drag him down the hall and shove him in a closet. Then he made Bellamy get in.” She stopped for a second and rubbed her forehead. She was getting a skull-splitting headache. “Then he dragged me back to the kitchen and was going to take me out the back door. He said I was coming home with him. I tried to get away and he backhanded me. When I tried harder to get away we ended up on the floor. He was getting mad because I wouldn’t cooperate with him. He tied my wrists together around the table leg, then he banged the back of my head on the floor a few times, until I was forced to stop struggling.”

Jackson growled at that bit of news. He was having a hard time reining it in.

“He started to unzip and unbutton his pants. He planned on raping me. He said it was obvious I haven’t been disciplined enough while I’ve been away from him.” She stopped again, her stomach feeling a little nauseous.

“He’s done it before. Raped her. Beat her bad enough to put her in the hospital in Boulder. She has a restraining order against him. You can check with Officers Daniels and McMillen, they’ll fill you in,” Jackson added.

“Where is he now?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know. He must’ve taken off when he heard me pulling into the driveway,” Jackson told him. Riggs stuck his head through the door leading to the garage.

“Did you ride your bike here?” Riggs asked.

Figures the little shit would go all detective on him. “Yeah. The sound of my pipes probably alerted him I was here and he took off.”

Riggs would have continued with his line of questioning had Dagger not exchanged a quick look with Ben. “Riggs, why don’t you get Bellamy’s statement and information?”

Ben was a good man and his sister was married to Dagger. He loved his sister a great deal and he saw how much Dagger loved her, too.

He’d done more than one favor for the Sons of Redemption in the past. He’d gotten them information, he’d alerted them when a raid looked imminent and he taught the young rookies under his watch how to deal with bikers. He’d been around the club enough to know that the Sons may carry out some shady shit, but for the most part, they were a good group of guys. They only pushed back when someone pushed them first. And the Sons finished it.

The paramedics wheeled an unconscious Chris through the kitchen about that time. He had a large white bandage wrapped around his head and was strapped to a gurney. He looked awful. Jackson was worried.

One of the paramedics stopped in front of Calliope. “Ma’am, how do you feel?” He waved a pen light in her eyes, causing her to flinch.

“I’ve got a headache.”

“She had her head banged on the floor a few times. I think she’s bleeding on the back of her head,” Jackson volunteered.

“We need to get this one to the hospital ASAP. Do you want to ride in the back of the ambulance with him?” the paramedic asked. “You’ve had a bad head injury and need to be checked out.”

“That’s okay. Get Chris to the hospital. I’ll have Jackson drive me. We’ll be right behind you,” Calliope suggested.

“Ma’am, I would really prefer to take you in the ambulance.” The paramedic looked to Jackson for help.

“Calliope, you’re getting in the back of the ambulance and I’ll be right behind you on my bike.” He left no room for argument. Whatever it took, he wanted her to get checked out. He waited for her to agree before he helped her to her feet. He walked her out to the ambulance, waited for them to load Chris, and then helped Calliope inside. He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right behind you.”

She tightened her grip on his hand, leaned in and whispered, “Where’s Clint?”

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