Page 10 of Blackout

“Maybe Riggs,” he says, looking over my shoulder at Deuce. “You would know better than me since I’ve been on paramedic duty for the last twenty-four hours.”

“Stryker and Cobra don’t know and I gotta tell you after everything Ally went through, I wish I didn’t know either.”

“What about Bas and Needles?”

The last I heard, Bas stayed in Purchase to see what happened with Yankovich’s wife and kids. Being his daughter’s sole caregiver, I doubt Needles stayed behind too.

“Bas left early this morning for Kentucky,” Pipe reveals. “Some kind of family emergency,” he adds.

“Needles is home with his daughter,” Deuce supplies. “He gave Ally off the next few days so I’m guessing he’s planning on spending some time with her.”

“Must be nice,” Pipe mutters.

Sensing he’s at his breaking point, I cross my arms against my chest and jut my chin towards the front door. I know the pain that comes with losing your wife. I also know when you get a second chance, you hold on tight. Pipe’s waited a long time to have something good to go home to. Now, he’s got it all. A woman to keep him in check and three beautiful kids to keep him on his toes.

“Go home to your family, Pipe,” I order. “I’ll take it from here.”

Crushing his cigarette in an ashtray, he peers back at me. I turn my head and meet Deuce’s gaze.

“You too,” I tell him. After everything his girl endured, he doesn’t need to hear that girl in there crying. He doesn’t need to hear her beg for death. Not when Ally begged for fourteen years. Not when she still wakes at night reliving the days she was held against her will.

“What are you going to do with her?” Deuce questions.

“I’m not going to hurt her if that’s what you’re asking,” I assure him. If Jack wants to kill this girl, he’s going to have to do it himself.

“You want me to send someone to relieve you?” Pipe asks. “We got the prospect Leo who does nothing but jerk his cock.”

“I don’t want a prospect on this,” I tell him.

“Alright, brother,” Pipe says. “I’ll be back tonight. We’ll take shifts until Jack figures out what the fuck we’re going to do with her.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, dropping my ass on the worn couch. Settling in, I run my fingers through my hair and silently will the girl to shut the fuck up.

“And Black?” Pipe calls.

Lifting my head, I meet his gaze.

“Don’t get soft,” he warns. “We don’t know her, ain’t got no ties to her. She’s just space.”

“She’s a fucking innocent bystander,” Deuce argues. “All she did was go to work. She didn’t ask for any of this.”

Shoving Deuce towards the door, Pipe clenches his jaw and turns back to me.

“She’s nothing, Black,” he reiterates. “Remember that.”

I don’t respond. I don’t even nod my head. Instead, I close my eyes and wait for them to leave. When I hear the rumble of their bikes sound, I open my eyes and stare at the wall. The girls muffled cries fill my ears and I clench my fists.

Pipe couldn’t be more wrong.

That girl is somebody.

She’s somebody’s daughter.

Somebody’s sister.

Somebody’s love.

For Christ’s sake, she could be somebody’s mother.

---