Page 11 of Ignite

Wolf leaned the bike on its stand and opened the squeaky gate to the cracked sidewalk. A dozen steps later, he stepped up onto the porch under the yellow bug light and knocked on their front door. Madge met him in a zipped-up housecoat and slippers, her hair sticking out in all directions and gray circles under her eyes. Exhaustion was written all over her face, and it wasn’t hard to tell that she’d reached the end of her rope.

“Stupid, stubborn mule would rather stay on the floor all night than let me get help,” she snapped.

Bill’s gargling yell came from somewhere in the house. “Dammit, Madge! I told you to leave him alone!”

Madge fired right back. “It needs done, ya jagoff!” She turned to Wolf. “Can you get him up and in the bed for me?”

“Yeah.”

He brushed past her to find Bill sprawled on the floor of the hallway. Nothing was around for him to grasp or take his weight, which meant he’d have to deadlift the big man.

“Where’s his wheelchair?” Wolf asked.

Madge hurried into the back to get it.

Bill grumbled and made noises of protest during the entire operation. “Damn nuisance. Pain in the ass. Useless.”

Wolf couldn’t tell if he referred to himself, his wife, or his rescuer. Either way, the pain that had simmered down in his head after he left the club came back to life with a vicious twist between his eyes. He almost dropped Bill as the man cursed again, this time in a pain that echoed the one in Wolf’s head.

“Son of a bitch! I think I broke my gawddamn arm!”

Madge visibly paled. “That’s it. I’m calling the ambulance.”

“For Chrissake, woman! Just put me in the car and take me to the damn hospital. I don’t want those damn sirens wailing through here, waking the neighbors and telling everyone our business!”

Madge opened her mouth to argue with her stubborn husband, then shut it with a click. Wolf agreed with her silent decision. Better to save her temper and get him medical treatment ASAP. “Wolf, can you put him in the car? I’ll go get dressed and be down in a jiffy.” She looked closer at the biker’s face. “Whatsamatta with you?”

Wolf forced his mouth to relax. “I’m good. I’ll follow you to the hospital.”

Madge shook her head. “They got people there who can unload him. If you want to help me, can you go by Jazzy’s place and tell her what’s happened and that I need her to open the bakery for me? I don’t know how long we’ll be there, and my people need their morning cup.”

“Give me her number and I’ll text her.”

“She broke her phone yesterday and needs buying one. Her place isn’t far, just down the greenway on Butler.” Madge rattled off the address. “Jazzy don’t sleep much and does a lot of computer stuff at night. I’m sure she’s still up even at this hour.”

Wolf’s eyes felt like they wanted to pop from their sockets. Madge’s focus on Bill kept her from noticing, but that was okay. Yeah, he’d go knock on Jazz’s door and tell her what’s going on, then get home himself and eat a bottle of Excedrin or Tylenol or both. Whatever he had in his cabinet. Shit, he hoped nothing had expired.

Madge’s taillights went in one direction and Wolf’s in another. He found Jazz’s house and parked next to her car. He almost missed the odd-looking abode, as only the short bridge connecting it to the road was visible in the dark. He noticed the house faced the greenway and river, and he bet the views were fantastic.

Sure enough, he spotted the lights on in one upper room, just as Madge had said. Even if the house had been dark, he’d still have banged on the door, not caring about waking her. His goal was to get the message to the pretty barista and leave.

He knocked on the door as he swayed with a churning gut. Moments later, Jazz appeared. Her image swam in front of him, and his stomach flipped over as a ringing filled his ears, blocking out all other sound.Fuckwas his last coherent thought as he let loose over the railing.Way to impress a lady, asshole.

He spat the foul taste from his mouth and garbled his words out quickly before his brain exploded. “Madge took Bill to the emergency room and needs you to open the bakery for her.”

The world tilted with sickening angles. Passing out seemed both imminent and a good idea. “Mind if I come in for a minute?”

Without waiting for her answer, he lumbered into her house in search of a place to collapse before he landed on the floor.

* * *

“My name is Mike,and I’m calling from the Internal Revenue Service. Are you aware you have unpaid taxes?”

Jazz coughed. Today she’d decided on her old woman persona. “Oh, dearest, I haven’t paid any taxes since my husband died about seven years ago. He was the one who paid all our bills.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but you must pay something today or else we will have no choice but to send the authorities to arrest you. They’re on their way now and will be there in thirty minutes if you don’t.”

Her fingers flew over the keyboard, easily hacking into her opponent’s system.Not much here. Must be a first-timer.

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