Page 1 of Huge Dynamite
Chapter One
Dynamite
Blink!
Ignoring the fifth text that’s come in since I stepped into the shower, I let the hot water beat against my tense neck muscles. I know the text isn’t from Colt, my kid brother, because he has a different text tone, and I doubt it’s Bullet, our club VP, or Bullseye, our treasurer, or Nick, our president, because I’ve just left them at Hoppa’s Taphouse, the current meeting place for the Steel Knights. That means it’s got to be someone from the construction company with questions about the build of the new clubhouse. Our proposal is due on Monday, but their texts can wait.
Bending my neck forward, it feels good to let the hot water work its magic against my tight muscles, but it doesn’t offer any reprieve from all the freaking stress. Lifting my head and then letting it drop back, I turn into the water stream, and the water bounces off my naked chest.
Between trying to make things right with my kid brother and my constant obsession with the memory ofthatnight and Dr. Holly Boling—Christ. It’s a miracle I’m functioning at all.
I met this woman just over a month ago when I went to the ER at her hospital with a freaking knife stuck in my shoulder. But it wasn’t just any knife—it was my own knife, and it was put there by me when I was fighting Avery. In the heat of the moment, when he grabbed me from behind, I swung my knife up and over my shoulder to stab him. He ducked, but my shoulder didn’t. She fixed me up, and since that moment, I haven’t been able to think of anyone but her.
“Seth!”
“What is that?” Turning my head in the direction of the bathroom door, I’m certain I heard my name. Whoever’s yelling is so loud I can hear them over the sound of the shower. Reaching out, I quickly turn off the water, grab a towel, and tie it around my waist.
“Seth!” It’s my name, and someone’s yelling it as they pound their fists against my apartment door.
“What the hell?” With my heart thumping, I jump out of the shower and—careful not to slip on the tile floor of the bathroom—I rush to my front door. “Who is it?”
“It’s Harry and Avery. Let us in.”
“What the hell is going on?” Yanking the door open, I take in the stern looks on their faces. “Guys?” It feels like all the blood drains from my face. “Is it Colt?”
“No. Colt’s fine.” Harry shakes his head as he quickly moves inside, followed by Avery.
“Seth, listen.” Harry’s speaking quickly, and I can hear the urgency in his voice. “There’s a fight going down right now. We just got word that the Unchained Dogs attacked the Black Vipers at their clubhouse.”
“They also attacked a Viper-run business,” Avery tells me.
“Fuck. Do you think they’re coming for us next? Or the Blazing Rebels? They need backup?”
“No, we think they’re isolated fights. They say the Vipers infringed on their turf. That they started running product through a business in Dog territory.” Harry sighs heavily.
“That business…” Avery shakes his head. “There are civilians involved. That’s why it was so important that the land we got for the new build wasn’t on anyone’s turf.”
“So, what’s our move?” Suddenly, it’s like the room begins spinning and I’m caught up in it. Dropping the pitch of my voice, I make eye contact with one man and then the other. “Why are you here?”
“The Vipers’ clubhouse is farther west than ours,” Harry explains.
“Closer to Phoenix.” As my heart rate takes off again, I begin to put the pieces together.
“The business they attacked,” Avery says, “it’s in what the Dogs call their turf. Just outside of—”
“Phoenix.” My heartbeat is so loud, I swear it’s beating in my brain. “Are there a lot of injuries?” Injuries need doctors and ER rooms…
“A lot so far.” Harry nods solemnly. “And the fight is still going.”
“But there have to be a ton of hospitals in a city as large as Phoenix, right?” Trying to calm my racing thoughts with logic isn’t helping, so I take deep breaths.
“Yeah, but no Dog would go to a hospital unless the injury was life-threatening. They wouldn’t risk someone contacting the police. Like us, they have doctors who are connected to the club who can handle smaller wounds. If they have something so bad it needs medical attention—like a knife or gunshot wound—they won’t risk driving all the way into Phoenix. Like us, they’ll find the closest hospital.”
“The closest and the largest,” Avery adds. “The busier it is, the less risk of being called out on anything—like weapons charges. Too much going on.”
“The largest hospital between us and Phoenix,” I mumble. “Dr. Holly’s hospital.” Just saying it out loud—the words hit me like a ton of bricks.
“That’s what we’re worried about, yeah.” Harry scrubs his face.
