Page 10 of Thor
Daryl grinned for the first time since entering the room.“Yeah.I know.”He tucked his notepad back into this pocket and looked at Ace.“You can let me know if they’re keeping him or not.In the meantime, no one talks to the cops unless I’m present.Understood?”
Ace nodded.“Understood.We’ll be in touch.”
Daryl gripped my hand.“Take it easy, bro.I’ll take care of the legal shit.You just focus on getting well and maybe tying down that little chick.Not that you deserve her, but I think she’s good for you.”
Ace barked out a laugh.“He’s been trying.She’s playing hard to get.”
Daryl shook his head.“Can’t say as I blame her.Who wants to be tied down to a guy who doesn’t even see an ambush coming?”
“Asshole.”I looked around for something to throw, but he ducked out past the curtain before I had a chance.
Ace settled down beside the bed.Stretcher, actually.Calling this thing a bed was a bit optimistic.“I’ve got a couple of prospects out in the waiting room.I imagine your woman has spotted them.They’ll be ready if you get cut loose, or they’ll guard your room if you have to stay for a day or two.”
I scowled.“I don’t need armed guards at my room.”
“Not negotiable.Until we know you weren’t a target, or until you’re healed up enough to defend yourself, you get a shadow.”
“Who decides when I’m well enough?”
Ace smirked.“I think I’ll leave that up to the woman who chased the cops out of the room.I have a feeling she cares about you a lot more than she’s willing to admit.”
Chapter Three
Janet
I read the doctor’s report.He might be a bit abrupt in his bedside manner and the doctor I least liked working with, but Dr.Murphy was the best trauma doctor in the state.Although a deep cut, and definitely messy, the knife wound wasn’t serious.Thor was being admitted overnight, but I suspected that was more to make sure he didn’t move around and tear out any stitches than because of any concerns.
I’d taken advantage of the time Ace and the lawyer had spent with him to contact my mole in the family mansion.Montgomery’s role in the family could best be described as butler/bodyguard.I don’t remember a time he hadn’t been around, rescuing me from the consequences of my own actions.I trusted him implicitly, even to the point of keeping my calls to him a secret from my parents.I hadn’t talked to them in years.
Montgomery swore no one had been paying any attention to my dating habits or anything else about me in the past year.They knew I was dating a biker and didn’t seem to care.Thought that it couldn’t possibly be serious.My mother thought I just picked a biker to annoy them.He pointed out that even Maxwell, the guy my parents had decided I was to marry, hadn’t shown much interest other than making sure he was never seen with another woman in public.Montgomery had his theories on that one as well, but Maxwell’s sex life was of little interest to me as long as I wasn’t included in it.I felt a bit better after the call but that still left the questions -- who set Thor up, and why?
Or was it really just a big coincidence?
I hesitated to call Maxwell directly.If anyone, like my family or his, caught wind of the fact I’d been in touch they might ramp up the marriage pressure all over again.That wouldn’t be good for either of us.Montgomery didn’t seem to think Maxwell was behind this, so maybe I should let it go for now.No point in stirring the pot.
The lawyer, Daryl, strode into the waiting area and nodded to me as he headed out the door.Moments later, Ace appeared, stopping by the admissions desk where I was sitting.“Sorry about that.Club business.”
I rolled my eyes.“Yeah.I get it.So, what can I know?”
He countered with a question of his own.“Are they keeping Thor in overnight, or sending him home?”
I glanced down at the chart still in my hands.“Keeping him overnight at a minimum, but he’s stable.I think the main reason is to make sure he stays in bed and lets things start to heal.”
Ace snorted.“You mean they don’t trust him not to jump on his bike and go after someone?”
“Pretty much.”
“Good call.In that case Daryl thinks we should let the cops interview him here.Neutral ground and all.They can’t try to bully him into admitting something he didn’t do if there're witnesses, and it’s easier to handle the narrative.”
That almost made me laugh.Thor wasn’t the kind of guy you could bully into doing something he didn’t want to do.“Sounds good.Give them an hour or so to get him upstairs and settled, though.”
“Okay.I’ll call Daryl and have him set it up.Let me know when he’s ready.”He pulled out his phone and paused.“Thank you for looking after him.”
I looked over at the two prospects lounging against the wall in the waiting room.“Looks like you’re doing some looking-after too.Joker left when those two showed up, but he made a point of telling me who they were.I let the triage nurse know to ignore them.”
Ace glanced over at the prospects.“Yeah.We take care of our own.”
And Thor was one of them.A good man, and an ex-SEAL who didn’t quite fit back into civilian life.That was one of the things that drew me into their world.There was no jockeying for favors, no backroom politics.Just a bunch of guys looking out for each other and trying to make the world a better place.
