Reaper's Stand (Reapers MC, #4)(92)

Hunter almost knocked me over, he was out of the room so fast. I was on his heels, tearing down the stairs and out into the backyard.

Oh, shit, Heather murmured in my head. That’s our baby . . .

What I saw nearly killed me.

It’s probably no surprise to hear I’ve ended more than one person’s life—I had a pretty good idea what it looked like when someone lost too much blood to live. That much blood and more coated Em’s lower body, and the blanket she’d been lying on was soaked with it, too.

Hunter stood over her—frozen—as two EMTs worked frantically.

London stood to the side, her eyes full of despair. A distant part of me noted that she was covered in blood, too. It ran down her head and into her face. It even dripped off her arms—looked like her clothes had been . . . shredded?

Fucked-up shit, and my baby girl was in the middle of it.

For an instant I was almost thankful Heather was dead, because if she was still here, she’d tear the skin right off my body for letting this happen. Whatever the hell this was. Looked like the blood was comin’ from between Em’s legs, and that was a bad f*ckin’ sign for my grandbaby.

I’m so goddamned sorry, Heather.

Hunter turned on London, grabbing her arms and shaking her violently.

“What the f*ck did you do to her? I’ll f*cking kill you for this, bitch!”

Skid, Gage, and Horse leapt into action, pulling him off and dragging him halfway across the lawn before the cop had time to do much more than blink.

“What’s going on?” I asked one of the EMTs, my stomach sinking. I’d never dreamed London could be a threat to Em—was she behind this? Fuck. What the hell had I done, bringing her here?

“Looks like a miscarriage,” the man said, catching my eyes. “You a family member?”

“I’m her dad.”

“You need to follow us to the hospital,” he said. “This is serious—she’s lost a lot of blood. I don’t know what the hell’s going on around here, but time to cut the drama because your kid needs you. Got it?”

“Got it.”


Christ. I hated this helpless feeling. It took forever for them to load Em—looked like she was dying, and there wasn’t a f*ckin’ thing I could do to help. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the firefighters checking out London. She didn’t look so good, either. I glanced up at the carriage house, finding the remains of the second-story window. She’d obviously smashed it out and then dropped down into the bushes. There were broken leaves and sticks everywhere.

Fuck.

“That woman saved your daughter’s life,” the cop said, coming to stand next to me. He obviously recognized my colors, but he didn’t seem intimidated. “She jumped out the window and called nine one one. You wanna explain to me why someone would have to break out of a second-story room to get help, instead of using the stairs?”

“No idea,” I said. They were loading Em into the ambulance. Shit. I needed to follow them.

“Take care of your kid,” the cop said. “Don’t worry about the other victim. I’ll make sure she gets to the hospital and stays safe.”

His words caught me, and I looked at him—really looked at him—for the first time. He saw right through us, I realized. He knew London was a prisoner, and he was going to get her out of here. Of course, I had thirty brothers with me, and they’d fight to hold her if I asked them to . . . but that was a losing battle. This guy might be the only cop, but there were at least six firefighters. We tried to pull any shit, whole f*ckin’ city would come down on us. The cop smiled, because he knew he had me. Ignoring him, I strode toward the carriage house, jerking my chin for Skid to join me.

“They’re takin’ London to the hospital,” I said in a low voice. “Cop knows it’s not right, he’s gonna talk to her. I need the brothers and the evidence out of here before that happens, got me? Just in case.”

“I hear you,” he said, eyes narrowing. “Fuck. You should’ve taken care of this before you left home—shut her mouth so she’d never talk.”

“If we’d done that, Em would be dead right now,” I said coldly. “Don’t forget who called nine one one. London said she wanted to help us and she’s got good reasons to keep her word. Those cops won’t be able to get her cousin out. We’re her only hope, so let’s just wait and see what happens.”



LONDON

“Reese asked me to find a box for him,” I told the cop, my words deliberate and careful. “He’s my boyfriend. We rode over from Coeur d’Alene last night to visit his daughter. I went up to the storage room and started looking around—then I accidentally bumped the door and it swung shut, locking me in. That’s when I saw Em outside in the backyard, and after nobody heard me shouting, I broke out the window and jumped down.”

“What was in the box?”

“Motorcycle parts. I never found it.”

“If he’s your boyfriend, why isn’t he here to make sure you’re okay?”

I sighed, because now he was just being stupid on purpose.

“Because his daughter was bleeding out the last time I saw her, and all I’ve got are a few scratches. I think she takes priority over me for now, don’t you?”