Strays (Red Kings #1) (26 page)

Jagger nodded before adding his two cents. “It's not quite that simple, but their reasons for avoiding each other are more complicated than I care to explain.”

“This shit storm is going to bite us in the ass. Someone has to tell him.” Vic winced when the words left his mouth, not anticipating the punch to the arm delivered by his wife. He was about to talk again when his phone rang, interrupting the would-be argument. He looked at the screen and then at the bikers around him. “Dean.”

“You won’t say anything if you know what’s good for you, Vic. You tell him she's fine and he'll turn around and go right back to Macon,” Bianca threatened him, watching as he answered the phone.

“Yeah?” he asked, glaring at his mischievous wife as he nodded reluctantly in response to her.

“Hey, Prez.”
Dean’s voice was muffled by the passing cars, suggesting that they had made a quick stop somewhere along the interstate.
“I’m on my way to Jacksonville, be there in a couple hours. How's Jack?”

“Docs aren't telling us anything.” Vic sighed and looked at Bianca, finding little comfort in her smile. “We’re getting both her and Jagger transferred to Lakeside, so meet us there.”

“Yeah, okay. We gotta sit down, talk about this Saints problem you got.”
The Lakeside president could just picture Dean narrowing his eyes.
“Shit got personal. I want in on the retaliation.”

“No problem, brother. Just get here and we’ll talk it out.” Flipping his phone shut, Vic ran a hand through his hair. “Dean will be here soon and he's not happy to say the least.”

The rest of the guys nodded and Bianca went to sit in one of the plastic chairs in the hallway. Tyler looked at them and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I’m gonna go see Jack.” He turned and made his way to the nurses’ station, hoping this situation didn't go to hell in a handbasket.

***

Taking one last drag from his cigarette, Dean stomped it out in the dirt and hung up his phone. Walking towards his bike, he joined Murphy and Nash. They were waiting for TJ to pay for the gas so they could be on their way, trying to keep the stop as brief as possible.

“So?” Nash looked at him with a worried expression. “What’s up?”

“Vic’s getting them transferred to Lakeside. We’re meeting them there.”

“You ask how Jackie’s doing?” He was fishing for information, but he had to know how she was. “Is she okay?”

“Of course I asked.” Dean’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “They haven't heard anything yet.” He knew that Nash and Jackie were close back in Macon, but right now, he was on edge. He was angry and he needed to take it out on someone. That someone just happened to be an uncharacteristically troubled Nash. And as he took in the man's pale face and nervous energy, Dean couldn't help but feel that he was missing something. “You okay?”

Turning his back to him, Nash unzipped his duffel, pretending to look for something. “Fine, just worried about Jackie.”

“Yeah, that's my point. I haven't seen you this worried since TJ got shot awhile back.”

“It's the same thing. Someone I care about is laying in a hospital bed right now. Excuse me for being worried.” The older man's voice was gruff as he avoided making eye contact, which only fueled an already irrational Dean.

“You've known TJ a hell of a lot longer than you've known Jackie. Definitely not the same thing.” The biker grabbed Nash by the shoulder and turned him around so they were standing face to face. “Why so defensive?” Silence reigned between the two as Murphy approached cautiously.

“C’mon, Dean.” Murphy could see that this was spiraling out of control very fast. “We’re all worried, man.”

“What aren't you telling me?” Dean's stare pinned the man in his spot as they both stood their ground.

“I care about her and I'm worried.” Nash spoke slow and clear, hoping to make his point so that the subject would be dropped.

“Were you fucking her on the side? That why you’re so worried?” If he could think clearly, Dean would’ve seen the ridiculousness of his words. High on anger, adrenaline and fear though, that was the road his mind wanted to take. At the very least, he could take his frustration out on somebody nearby.

Nash was caught off guard by this line of questioning, needing a few seconds to string a coherent sentence together. “Are you even hearing yourself?”

“So you guys
were
screwing around?” The angry biker stalked towards his friend and gave him a hard shove. “How long?” Dean shoved him again, making the man stumble backwards.

“You're out of your goddamned mind.” Nash shoved him back. He didn’t care if Dean was acting like this because he was scared about Jackie's condition, he wasn’t about to let himself be bullied by a hothead. “She’s my friend. She's
just
a friend.”

“Friend my ass.” Dean squared his shoulders, ready for a fight.

Nash rolled his eyes, growing tired of the situation and the accusations. “Yeah, right. I’ve been fucking her behind your back all this time,” he replied, throwing his hands in the air in annoyance. “You’re being such a moron.”

The sarcasm not registering, Dean took another step forward and shoved him again. Nash was about to retaliate, but didn’t get the chance as Dean’s fist flew toward his face.

“Say that again, why don’t you?!”

Nash stumbled and shook his head, trying to recover. While Dean had landed a solid punch, the surprise had gotten to him more. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He put his hands up, blocking his friend’s punches. “If you’d treated her better, you’d know exactly why I’m worried, you asshole!”

Dean pushed at Murphy, who had entered the fray and was trying to restrain him. Successfully evading his captor, he ran at Nash and tackled him, causing them both to fall to the ground. “You're probably the reason she ran off!” Dean screamed furiously as they rolled around in the dirt of the parking lot, each one trying to get the upper hand. “This shit is your fault!”

“Trust me,” Murphy muttered as he received an elbow to the face. “That was all your doing, Dean.”

“You're the one that sent her packing! Don't blame this shit on me!” Nash grunted as he wrestled with the bulky man.

Exiting the small convenience store with a cheerful whistle, TJ was stopped in his tracks by the parking lot brawl in front of him. “Shit, you guys can't play nice for three minutes? What the hell happened?” Murphy merely gave him a pleading look as TJ tried to help him separate the pair.

“For fuck's sake!” Having had enough of the tattooed biker, Nash retaliated with a punch square to the face. It was enough to stun his friend and allow the other two to haul him a small distance away. “She’s pregnant, you idiot! You knocked her up. That’s why I’m worried.”

Dean heard the words, but they didn’t register at first and he continued to struggle against the men holding him. The dust settled and the older man could be seen sitting on the ground, running a hand through his short, dark hair.

“What did you say?” Dean’s raspy voice ended the silence between them as he finally settled down and his friend's words started to sink in. His tone was cold and detached, matching the look in his eyes.

“Jackie’s pregnant. That’s the reason she left. She didn’t know how you'd react, so she left.” Nash got up with a sigh, his eyes never leaving Dean.

“She’s having my kid?” He repeated the information over and over again in his head, disbelief written all over his face.

“Well, it sure as hell ain't mine,” Nash said in reference to the man's previous accusations.

“You knew and you didn’t tell me? What the fuck were you thinking?!”

“She didn’t want you to know, man. What was I supposed to do?” Nash shrugged, knowing this conversation was bound to happen sooner or later. “What would you have done if she had told you? Marry her and play house? Buy a car seat for your bike?” He snorted as he shook his head. “You ready for a family, brother? Daddy by day, killer by night?” Nash didn't doubt Dean's ability to be a good father, but he hoped this line of questioning would at least get the guy to actually think about the situation a little.

Dean began to pace like a caged animal, his friends looking on warily. “Doesn't matter. She should have told me.
You
should have told me.”

“It wasn't my place. I did all I could to get you two to talk.” He sighed and approached his friend, who had now calmed down a bit and seemed to have regained his senses. “She was planning on telling you that day you kicked the shit out of the street kid. She was at the clubhouse because she was looking for you, so that she could tell you about the baby. And then after your little outburst, she decided you would never want it and she left. Didn't think she could raise a kid in that kind of environment.”

Not believing all of the shit that had been piled on to his plate in the past few hours, Dean let out a groan and ran his hands over his face. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Nash was right, as always. What was he going to do with a kid? He didn't know the first thing about raising a child. That was assuming Jackie would even let him anywhere near the baby after what happened last time they spoke.

Which was also assuming that both Jackie and the baby were still alive when he got to Lakeside.

Should he still go after all this? Maybe it was better for him to leave them in peace. They'd be better off without him, just like he'd always said. On the other hand, he still needed to kill the bastards that had caused this mess to begin with. 

With a defeated sigh, he turned to his friend of nearly fifteen years for help. The man always seemed to know what to say without being patronizing or judgmental. It was a rare find in the biker community, but Dean was glad to have him.

“What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Nash had never seen the silent killer so helpless and desperate. The vulnerability was so out of character that it had rendered Murphy and TJ speechless on the sidelines as they watched what would probably be a once in a lifetime event. Closing the distance between him and Dean, Nash laid a firm hand on the other man's shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes.

“You go get your girl.”

32

July 20
th

It was just after eight in Lakeside, Florida, and all was quiet at Johnson Memorial hospital. Patients were sleeping peacefully in their rooms, and a skeleton crew of nurses made their rounds with little incident. So when the elevator door opened with a loud “
ding
,” the sole nurse at the main desk of the third floor looked up in surprise. Her frown turned into a sly smile as a biker with short hair and neck tattoos entered her line of sight.

He whistled merrily as he walked the empty hall, a vase of colorful flowers in his hand. Tyler had really lucked out when he learned that one of his favorite fuck buddies was a nurse who happened to be working the late shift that night. Therefore, as the mean middle-aged attendant from the previous shift had kicked him out at the end of visiting hours, Angela, the young woman currently fluffing her hair as he approached, had told him to come back later when things had settled. She said that he could stay the night as long as he promised to behave. There was also an unspoken agreement that she would be getting a lot of sex out of the deal in the near future, which Tyler would happily deliver.

Stopping in front of the circular desk, he leaned against the counter and pulled a single yellow daisy from the bunch. “For you, my lady,” he said with a cheeky grin as he handed the flower to her. She merely giggled in response and twirled it in her fingers as she batted her eyelashes. With a wink, Tyler continued his journey down the hallway towards the room at the very end.

No matter how many times the doctors told him that Jackie was perfectly fine, he just couldn't bring himself to believe it. They had explained to him repeatedly that she had just been knocked unconscious during the accident and had woken up not long after with nothing more than some cuts and bruises. The need for tests and overnight observation was only because they wanted to make sure the baby hadn't been harmed.

But none of that registered with Tyler since he still hadn't talked to her. There were only a few times during the past seven hours that Jackie had been awake, none of which occurred while he was in the room. The doctors insisted that she needed to rest as much as she could, and therefore had been pumping her full of sleeping medications, much to the frustration of her visitors.

He entered the room quietly, trying not to wake her, and was surprised to find her propped up against some pillows and flipping absently through the channels on the television.

“Jack! I'm so glad you're awake.” Tyler set the vase of flowers on the small table as he rushed to the bed, scooping her into a hug as gently as he could. “You scared me to death.”

“I'm fine, Ty,” Jackie mumbled into his chest as they clung to each other. His arms gave her a sense of security that she'd been missing lately. “I promise, I'm fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly as he pulled back slightly to look at her.

“I'm sure. Cuts and bruises, but I'll live.” He nodded and separated from her long enough to situate the lone plastic chair as close to the bed as possible. “You see my stitches?” she asked, pointing to the bandage on the left side of her forehead. “That's gonna leave a wicked scar. Is it weird that I'm kind of excited?”

“Yeah, it's weird,” he said with a shake of his head as he grabbed her hand in his.

“How's my poor truck?”

“Pretty smashed, with a nice collection of bullet holes on one side.”

Jackie cringed as images of her vehicle during the accident surfaced in her mind. “I can imagine. Guess I'll be car shopping when I get out of here.” She paused with a roll of her eyes and a sigh. “Assuming I
ever
get out. What's the latest on my release date? Earlier they said I'd be out tonight, but here I am.”

Laughing at the annoyance on her face, Tyler replied, “They said you could go around lunch tomorrow, just so they can be sure you're okay.”

She groaned loudly and dropped her head dramatically onto the pillows behind her. “They're killing me! I feel fine. It's nothing some aspirin won't cure.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially as she leaned towards him slightly. “You know I hate hospitals, Tyler. Get me out of here!”

“Hey, if the doctors say they want to keep you a little longer, then you're staying. I don't want to take any chances. Especially with the baby.”

Averting her eyes from his stare, Jackie bit her lip nervously as the subject she had been waiting for was finally brought up. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you. You were just having such a good time with the club and...”

“And you didn't want to ruin it. You knew I would drop the club in an instant to help you with the baby. And you knew I'd tell you to call Dean.” She smiled at her friend's knowledge of how she thought. It made the conversation much easier when she didn't have to explain her motives. “When were you planning on leaving Lakeside?”

Her head shot up in surprise at the question. Apparently he knew her too well. “In the next few weeks. I can't hide this thing much longer.” She placed a hand on her rounded stomach, which was framed much better in the thin hospital gown than in the baggy clothes she'd been wearing recently.

“You still gonna leave? Even though everyone here knows you're pregnant?”

“I have to. Dean will find out soon, and I can't even imagine how pissed he's gonna be when he does. I'd like to be long gone by then.”

It occurred to Tyler that he should probably tell her that Dean was currently on his way down with only the knowledge of Jackie on her possible deathbed. But then he thought of how angry Bianca would be if he spoiled her plans at making the pair confront each other and decided to keep his mouth shut about that and simply replied, “Okay.”

“Okay? That's it?”

“Well, you've obviously made up your mind. So I don't see the point of trying to convince you to stay.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, expecting him to put up much more of a fight over the issue. “Okay then.” Tyler merely smiled back cheerfully, knowing Dean would be here soon to hopefully fix everything.

The two friends talked for quite a while, about the baby, future plans, and anything else that came to mind, until a nurse came in, surprised to find her patient awake, and immediately administered a drug that put Jackie back to sleep in a matter of minutes.

An hour later, the Macon bikers pulled into the parking lot of Johnson Memorial Hospital. They were greeted by Vic, Benz, and Johnny, who had arrived just a few minutes before to check on things and get Bianca home for the night. The president's brow furrowed as he took in the beat-up appearance of both Dean and Nash as the group approached them.

“What the hell happened to you two?” he asked, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.

“It's a long story,” Nash replied quietly, cutting his eyes over at Dean, who was standing with his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face.

“You find the fuckers that ran them off the road? I'm ready to kill somebody.”

“Relax, D. We're workin' on it.” Vic was trying to be reasonable with the man, but one look at his face said that wasn't going to be an easy task.

“That's not what I want to hear,” he growled in response.

“I know, but that's all we got so far. We'll find them. In the mean time, you need to go inside and see Jackie.”

Running his hands through his hair, Dean sighed and looked to the ground, his anger fading slightly. “How is she?”

“She's fine,” Vic replied with a smile. “Got scraped up pretty bad, but she'll be okay.”

“Then maybe we should head back to the clubhouse and get to work on finding these guys.” Dean turned to head towards his bike, but was stopped as Murphy blocked his path.

“You need to go upstairs,” he said firmly, holding up a hand to silence the man as he tried to protest. “Go upstairs and see her. Now.”

In any other situation, Dean would have knocked the blonde out for taking that kind of tone with him and giving orders. However, judging by the looks he was getting from the rest of the group, they all had the same idea. Releasing a heavy breath, he nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah.”

It took him almost ten minutes, but he finally wandered up to the third floor and down to the end of the hall where he was told Jackie's room was located. Bianca was standing to the left of the door, looking in through the window at the patient who, much to Dean's delight, was fast asleep. Tyler was sitting in a chair next to the bed, looking as though he himself could use some rest.

“He's barely left her side since the accident,” Bianca commented softly, not bothering to turn her head as Dean came to a stop next to her. “He's a good kid.”

“Yeah, he is.” They stood in silence for awhile, watching and waiting, then Dean spoke again. “She's pregnant.”

“I know.”

Of course she knew. He shook his head and ran a hand over his face, trying to rid himself of the oncoming headache this situation was giving him. “How the fuck did all of this happen? One minute we were fine, we were having fun. And then it just all went to shit.”

The older woman turned to face him, leaning against the window as she refocused her attention. “Allow me to let you in on a little secret: love requires hard work.” His eyes hardened at the four letter word, but they never left the sleeping woman in the next room. “I know you don't like that word, but if you didn't love her, you wouldn't be so frazzled. You would have moved on and forgotten all about her. Instead, you've dropped everything to come be with her. The fact that you're even considering the possibility of doing this is all the information you need.” She smiled at him with motherly affection, marveling at the differences she saw in the man in front of her. “You love her and she loves you. That's all that matters. You'll figure out the rest later.”

“What the hell would I do with a kid? I don't know the first thing about them.” He braced his hands against the glass and sighed. “She needs to take that baby and get as far away from me as possible.”

“Well, that decision isn't up to you,” Bianca said sternly, crossing her arms over her chest. “It's your job to do the best you can. You'll just have to learn on the way.” Silence reigned for a few minutes while he thought things over. “I know you still have doubts, but talk to her before you decide what you want to do.”

Dean nodded, then shoved his hands into his pockets and took a few steps back. “I guess I'll talk to her later. I don't want to wake her up.”

She quickly grabbed his arm and stopped his exit, pushing him towards the closed door. “The docs knocked her out with some medication. She won't be up for hours, but you can still sit with her. Now get in there.”

“But-”

“At the very least, you can talk to Tyler. Poor boy could use some reassurance.” He gave her a disbelieving look, silently asking her if she recalled his abilities of comforting and being nice. Bianca's only response was to smirk and place a hand on her hip, staring him down until he sighed in defeat. He really wished people would stop telling him what to do.

“No promises,” he muttered in annoyance, before slowly opening the wooden door and entering the room. It was quiet, except for the beeping of a small heart monitor. There were numerous vases filled with an assortment of flowers located strategically throughout the room, along with balloons and a large, fluffy teddy bear he could only guess was a gift from Tyler.

The man in question looked up as the door creaked to a close, relief flooding his face as he recognized the newcomer. He stood up with a quick stretch and crossed the tiny room to greet him with a hug.

“I'm glad you're here, D," Tyler said quietly and thumped him on the back before releasing him.