Claiming Crusher (Savage Brothers MC #4)(76)

“What are you saying *, I can barely hear you?”

“Man, listen the cars are rigged to blow. I got Dani now, but you really…”

“You got Dani? Fuck, man your signal sucks. Where’d you find her? We’ll…”

“Listen, Dragon! I can’t talk. You got to hear me. The cars, especially yours—don’t use them today. Don’t use any of them, get Freak to…”

The call drops.

Fuck! I try several times to reconnect and keep getting a Call Failed message.

I have to worry about Dani, I don’t have time to spare.

I go to the front of the barn, take a breath to steady myself, and draw my gun. Then, I kick the door open, firing while searching for the f*cker that Michael left behind. I train my gun on him and then shoot until the hammer clicks and nothing happens. I watch as his body falls to the ground, then reload my gun in case the others come back.

I go to Dani and get down on my knees, checking her out. The sight of her hurts. It was bad from a distance, but it’s much worse up close. She has to be dead. No one could survive this kind of beating, especially a woman as small as Dani. I should have gotten here sooner. My hand trembles as I move it to her neck, which is colored with…rope burns? Did they strangle her? I try to move her hair, but it’s so caked with mud and… shit, it’s soaked in her blood. I slide my fingers to her throat trying to find a pulse.

I find nothing.

“Oh f*ck, Hellcat, don’t do this to me. You’ve got to survive, to punish this S.O.B.”

I go down flat on my ass, feeling the hurt and pain seep into my system. I let another woman down; I was too late…again. I reach out for her hand, I need to hold it, if only for a minute. Her beautiful hand that I’ve felt slide over my body countless times, is now almost as unrecognizable as her face. Her fingers have been broken and they’re swollen and distorted, bending in ways I’m not sure can ever be straightened. Then I notice she has no small finger. It has been cut right at the base of the hand. The wound is open, angry, and infected. Motherf*cker.

I scream out in denial, as I pull her broken body over to my lap and I hold her hand in mine. I feel as if I’m dying inside. My eyes close as the tears fall. I close them to try and stop the flow, but it does no good. I see her, her face as she’s laughing at me, her eyes when she needs me, the look on her face as I’m sliding inside of her, and finally my favorite memory. The memory from the day at the beach when she kissed me in front of everyone and gave me a look of trust. Trust she misplaced…because I failed her.

“I’ll get him, Hellcat. I’ll get him and make him pay.”

I kiss her forehead in goodbye and slide her off my lap. I notice a hunting knife on the ground. Something about it is familiar, but I push it away. I need to get her out of here. My woman deserves to be at rest in the sunshine. When I get revenge on these motherf*ckers, I know in my heart I’m going to join her. We didn’t have much in this life, but the next…the next I will make it my mission that she knows nothing but joy. I’m preparing to get her out of here, when I hear it… It’s faint, very faint, but I latch onto it immediately.

“Zander,” her voice whispers, it’s disjointed and full of pain.

“Oh f*ck, sweetheart, you are hanging on. That’s my Hellcat. I knew you had balls of steel. Let’s get you home.”

It takes me awhile to get her out of there because every movement causes her pain and I can’t risk them discovering us.

“Hang on a little longer, Hellcat. Just a little longer and I’ll have you at the hospital.”

“No.”

It was one syllable but the terror in her hoarse, whispered voice spoke volumes.

“Hellcat.”

“Married. He’ll…please, Zander.”

Married. My Hellcat doesn’t know it, but she’s going to be a widow pretty f*cking soon. I call Doc and arrange to have him meet us at the club. Then I try constantly to call Dragon. Each time the call goes unanswered and I’m asked to leave a message, my gut clinches. Fuck. I hope I wasn’t too late. That’s when I notice it. I don’t know how I didn’t before, maybe it was because her injuries are so damn extensive that I could look for weeks and not find them all. I don’t know, but there is a large stabbing wound in the middle of her chest. Thankfully, it’s nowhere near her heart, but there’s so much blood.

Hospital it is. I reach over and grab an old shirt that is lying in the passenger floorboard and push it into the wound. I wince because I know that f*cker can’t be clean, but it’s all I can do for now. My foot presses harder on the accelerator, but inside I feel like time is running out.





Chapter 39




Bull


We’re all at the hospital. It’s a f*cking mess. Dragon’s car blew up at the wedding. There was nothing left of him or Frog…nothing. My brothers are gone. Nicole is a basket case. I helped get her settled and the Doc gave her something to make her sleep. I posted Freak and Hawk outside her door and ordered them not to let her leave or let anyone in. Then Doc told us about Crusher and Dani and the rest of us came here. It’s bad…really f*cking bad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any motherf*cker in this shape—let alone a woman. How she’s still breathing is beyond me.