Page 40 of DOG Part 2
“That’s what it looks like,” Deuce said from next to me. “They might have been trying to scare us by being this targeted. It’s not their style at all.”
From the other side of the room, Banner let out a groan.
“Hush now,” Steph whispered to him. “You’re going to be all right. A big man like you can take just about anything.”
I clapped Skate on the shoulder and pushed past him to get to Banner. My heart was beating ten times as fast as it should have been. His getting shot was my responsibility. Being a club’s top dog came with a lot of perks, but it also came with accountability for all its members. Anything that happened to any member of the Rugged Angels was my doing. It’s up to me to protect them, not stand by while someone gets pumped full of bullets. I’d been over at the clubhouse all day while he’d been out risking his skin.
Basically, it should have been me and not him.
“Don’t even look at me like that,” Banner groaned, turning his head slightly to look at me. “I don’t need pity.”
“It’s not pity you’re seeing, Banner, but drop it anyway. How are you hanging in there?”
“I’ve been through worse,” he groaned.
His face was pale and streaked with sweat. He grimaced and went to sit up, but Steph put a hand on his shoulder.
“Watch it,” she said. “You need to rest now.”
For a second Banner looked like he wasn’t going to comply, but then he scowled again and gave up, his head falling back down onto the pillow.
“He was shot twice, but he’s lucky,” Steph explained. “Both were flesh wounds. I got the bullets out, so now all he needs to do is stay put for a few days, or he could start bleeding again.”
“You better do as she says then, Banner.”
He bit his lip. “I saw their faces, the sons of bitches. They came in here with their cut. All their patches were on full display. They weren’t even trying to hide.”
“They want us to know it’s them, just like you said. They’re trying to lure us in, that’s why. They want to put us on the defensive and that’s not going to happen.”
“Good. Kane, listen.” Banner reached up suddenly, clutching at my arm forcefully. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” I said, and I meant it. My loyalty to the Rugged Angels went as deep as any commitment could. They were my brothers, and the only thing I could really count on when it came down to it.
“Protect Kim for me. I mean I need you to do it yourself. Take the team and go to her apartment, then get her out of there.”
“All right.”
I knew what he meant when he said ‘the team’. He was talking about the five people who held office in the club—Deuce, the Vice-Pres; Skate, the Secretary and Treasurer; Big Tom, the Road Captain; Kyle, our Sergeant at Arms; and me. Some other Rugged Angels officer might have questioned Banner’s suggestion to send the entire team to take care of his daughter, but not me. There was logic to it. True, with the five of us gone that would leave less than ten men to protect the clubhouse. Either way you tossed the coin, we were shorthanded when it came to defending our turf, but even that came second to protecting our kin.
Banner groaned in pain and rubbed his palm across his face. “What does it take to get a fucking drink around here? This is a nightclub, isn’t it?”
“I’ll get it,” Deuce answered quickly, stepping up to the bar to pour a glass of whiskey.
Steph was about to say something to stop him, but Banner sounded off with, “Don’t tell me not to sit up, Steph. Not when I need a drink this bad.”
Banner began to hoist himself up, and I leaned over him to help him into a sitting position. Deuce passed him the whiskey, and we all looked on as he took a big gulp of the clear drink. “Next time bring the whole bottle, got it?”
Deuce laughed. “Yes, Sir.”
“Kim is going to fight you tooth and nail,” Banner continued after another long sip. He glanced up me. “She’s not going to want to go with you.”
“I assume five men can take on one woman. We’ll figure it out.”
“Here.” Banner reached into the inside of his leather vest. “Take this.”
I held out my hand and he dropped a round pin into it, a simple, round gold pendant decorated with flowers, and the letters ‘JLK’ at the center.
“Give her this. It was her mother’s.”
“This will do it? How will she know we didn’t just nab this off her mother’s body?”
“She’ll know. That pendant is special. Kim helped her mother pick it out for me as a Father’s Day gift years ago. She’ll know it’s coming from me. Kim may have pushed me away, but she won’t forget about this. When you show it to her, she’ll understand.”
I closed my fingers over the cool gold and reached into the zippered inner breast pocket of my cut to put it away for safe keeping. “Deuce and Skate,” I called out. “Are you two ready for this assignment?”
Skate nodded, and Deuce shuffled his feet, anxious to get a move on. “I was born ready. Let’s do this.”
“All right then.” I slipped a sure hand on Banner’s shoulder, looked him in the eye and gave him an understanding nod before straightening up again. “Let’s go.”
