Wild Blaze (10 page)

fifteen.

Brody hated the idea of being so
far away from Heather right now. There was too much trust being left in the
hands of prospects. While guys like Lane and Jack were okay, there was a good
goddamn reason why they weren
’
t
wearing Back Down Devil patches.

Griffin was in the hospital, along
with Jace. The rest of the guys were busy dealing with the other situation,
meaning the bomb that almost took Erik
’
s
life. If that wasn
’
t busy
enough, Landon had taken on some unneeded guilt and had a woman with him in the
clubhouse trying to escape some of her own violent demons. The entire club and
clubhouse was a big fucking mess. But that
’
s
how the life treated those in it. It would pile on and slowly go away.

One by one, the battles were won.

Brody remembered a very drunk Miller
saying that to him one night years ago. It stuck and it always held true.

“
Bro,
we good here?
”
Gaige asked.
His cigarette was perched between his lips.

“
I
’
m losing it,
”
Brody said.
“
I can
’
t stand waiting.
”

“
Griffin
will call. We have to let the rest of the shit fall into place.
”

They were near the hospital but not
close enough for Brody
’
s
comfort. He wanted to be next to Heather. He knew the peril of sending her back
into the arms of Lyle. He gave her fear and that fear was a crutch and a curse.
If she showed anything out of the ordinary, including accepting punishment for
leaving with Brody, then Heather would be screwed. And not the good kind
either. Lyle would fucking kill her.

Brody gripped the handlebars on his
motorcycle and growled.
“
I
can't wait much longer on this shit.
”

“
Take
it easy. Save the energy for when this goes down.
”

“
This
town
…
sometimes
…”

“
It
needs us,
”
Gaige said.
“
We let one thing go and it all
goes to hell.
”

“
We
’
ve been shot at. Attacked.
Bombed. I mean
…”

“
Would
you want anything else?
”

The question was honest. And it
hurt. This life was all Brody knew. It kept him alive during times that were
dark. It always gave him a purpose. And while right now his mind thought way
too much about Heather, if it wasn
’
t
for this damn life, he would have never met her and had the chance to save her.

“
This
is my life,
”
Brody said.
“
I just don
’
t want anything to hurt
…
outside people.
”

“
That
woman? Heather.
”

“
I
’
m not talking about my feelings,
”
Brody said with a grin.

Gaige
’
s
cell beeped. He pulled it from his cut and Brody jumped at him.

“
Whoa,
”
Gaige said.

“
Let
me
…
please, man
…”

“
You
don
’
t need to talk about
your feelings,
”
Gaige said.
“
Not when you
’
re showing them like this. You
big pussy.
”

Gaige gave Brody the phone.

“
Griffin,
bro. What
’
s going on?
”

“
All
is calm,
”
Griffin said.
“
Gaige okay?
”

“
He
’
s fine. I grabbed the phone.
Where
’
s Heather?
”

“
She
’
s making her rounds, brother.
Just saw Erik. She got a cup of coffee.
”

“
Lyle?
”

“
He
called. He
’
s on his way.
She
’
s playing it, man. She
’
s doing good.
”

She
’
s not fucking playing
anything. She
’
s
fucking scared.

“
Okay,
”
Brody said.
“
What about the shipment?
”

“
The
shipment is on its way,
”
Griffin said with a laugh.
“
Everything
is right on schedule. It
’
ll
cross into Frelen and then
…
well
…
it goes away.
”

“
And
Lyle?
”

“
Jesus,
man, relax. It
’
s all going
to go according to the plan. Ease up on this one. I mean, what are you falling
for this chick?
”

Brody handed the phone back to
Gaige and shook his head.
“
I
’
m done with this shit. I have to
get in there. I have to be there to make sure
…”

“
Fuck,
”
Gaige said. He put the phone to
his ear.
“
Griffin, just
keep me updated. I have to talk this love sick puppy off the edge.
”
Gaige killed the call and
climbed off his motorcycle. He took a deep drag on his cigarette.
“
Look, I get it. What you went
through as a kid and what
’
s
happening to Heather. I get that it
’
s
eating you alive right now. You want to save her. Like you couldn
’
t save your mother.
”

“
Fuck,
”
Brody said. He moved at Gaige
and grabbed him by the shirt.
“
What
the fuck do you know about any of that?
”

“
And
how the fuck do you think I survived?
”
Gaige asked.
“
You think I
ate off a silver spoon?
”

“
I
never
…”

“
Exactly,
”
Gaige said.
“
I
’
m
sorry for what happened. That
’
s
then, this is now. You care about that woman in there? Then you shut up and
stick to the plan. You wait here with me. The call will come and then we end
this. There
’
s no other
choice. There
’
s bigger
things on the horizon for this club, bro. I
’
m
sorry your world is hurt right now, but we
’
re
hurting all around. It
’
s time
to fix shit. Make it all right.
”

“
Fair
enough,
”
Brody said. He let
Gaige go and backed away.
“
Sorry.
”

Brody turned and ran a hand through
his hair for what felt like the millionth time since he woke up.

This was so dangerous. This was so
risky. If anything went wrong -
anyfuckingthing
- it would be Heather
’
s life that would be sacrificed.

Brody took a couple breaths and
looked over his shoulder. It was just in time to see the little black speedster
cutting through the hospital parking lot. With a whistle, Brody nodded to
Gaige. Gaige looked and nodded back.

It was time. Lyle was here.

sixteen.

Heather made her rounds but couldn
’
t focus on a damn thing. Luckily
there wasn't anything pressing happening. Just the normal check on vitals, give
out medicines, coordinate checkout times and routines. Everything was going
along smoothly. It was hard to imagine the guys and prospects from Back Down
Devil weren
’
t just in the
hallway looking out for their injured brother Erik, but they were there to
watch over Heather and protect her. She didn
’
t
like that Brody was outside, but he told her this was the plan.

What the entire plan was she had no
idea, but she was told to work her shift and wait for Lyle. He had sent a text a
half an hour ago.

A second one came through.

“
He
’
s here,
”
Heather whispered.

Brody gave her strict orders not to
leave the hospital with him right away. Make him come inside so the guys in
Back Down Devil could see Lyle and know the plan was going down.

Again, what
’
s the damn plan?

Heather walked around the entire
floor of the hospital and waited at the elevators. They were the same elevators
where Peter had come and gone. The spot on the floor had no stain from the
coffee that was spilled. In Heather
’
s
mind, she pictured Peter. Tied to chair. Beaten half to death. In the end of it
all, Peter would be killed. Not that he didn
’
t
deserve it. The way he talked to Heather, grabbed her, wanted to touch her.

The elevator doors opened and Lyle
came flying from them. It was like he knew Heather would be there waiting. And
as he came at her, Heather had nothing but flashbacks from all the years of
being with Lyle.

As reality set in, she realized she
had no air, no breath. Lyle had a hand around her throat and was squeezing damn
tight. She reached up and grabbed his hand, pulling, wanting him away from her.

“
You
…
fuck
…
I
’
ll
…”

“
Stop,
”
Heather whispered.
“
I can help
…”

“
No,
”
Lyle said.
“
I
’
m
going to kill you right here. Like I should have done
…”

From the corner of Heather
’
s eye, she saw someone coming
around the corner. She hoped it was help from the MC, but it wasn
’
t. Just some guy in a suit.

When Lyle saw the man, he took his
hand off Heather
’
s throat
and pulled her close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
As Heather gasped for air, Lyle rocked her.

“
It
’
s okay, baby,
”
Lyle whispered.
“
He
’
s
in a better place now.
”

Heather wanted to scream but couldn
’
t. This was how Lyle moved. So
smart. So cunning. And by the time Heather could push away from Lyle, they were
alone again in the hallway.

“
Are
you going to kill me now?
”
Heather asked.

“
Why?
So you could have your new boyfriend punch me again?
”

Heather looked left to right.
“
No
…”

“
Fuck,
do you think I
’
m stupid? Do
you think I
’
d trust you?
They
’
re here, aren
’
t they?
”

“
Lyle,
listen to me.
”

“
You
listen to me,
”
Lyle
growled. He grabbed Heather by the wrist.
“
You
want out of this? It
’
s in a
body bag. You fuck
…”

“
They
know,
”
Heather said.
This
is part of the plan. Lead him on. Scare him.

“
They
know what?
”

“
The
truck,
”
Heather said.
“
They know there
’
s a truck coming through town.
They have someone on the inside.
”

“
How
the fuck do you know about the truck? I never told you
…”

“
They
told me,
”
Heather said.

She could see the worry in Lyle
’
s eyes. He backed up and started
blinking fast. Really fast.

“
It
’
s okay,
”
Heather said.
“
They
don
’
t know I
’
m telling you this.
”

“
What?
”
Lyle asked.

Lead him on, sweetheart. Tell
him what you know. He
’
ll
storm away. Leave it to us from there
…

“
Lyle,
I
’
m sorry.
”
Heather forced herself to step
forward.
“
I was scared,
okay? I didn't know what to do. They were there. They hit you. They hurt your
guys. I didn
’
t want them to
kill you.
”

“
So
you went with them?
”

“
I
used them, baby. Like you taught me. I flirted and found so much out. They
’
re afraid of you, Lyle. They
’
re afraid of your power. That
’
s why the truck is such a big
deal.
”

“
It
is a big deal,
”
Lyle said.
“
I have my life on it. This goes
bad, I
’
m dead. Fucking
dead.
”

Heather reached out and touched
Lyle
’
s face. She was
cringing and feeling sick on the inside. On the outside, she was smiling.
Holding it all together.

“
Don
’
t let it go bad,
”
Heather whispered.
“
They
’
re here, watching me. They think they
’
re helping me. You can go stop
the truck, right? Take a different route. There
’
s
got
…”

“
I
’
m dead.
”

“
Not
if you stop a threat, right? You can prevent something big from happening. You
look - and are - smarter than everyone else around you, Lyle. You have the
power. You have the ability to make everything right.
”

“
And
you want that with me?
”
Lyle asked.

“
Yes,
”
Heather said.
“
I want what
’
s right. That truck can
’
t come through Frelen. Right?
”

Lyle nodded slowly. He stepped back
and took Heather
’
s hand.
“
You
’
re right. If I can stop the truck, I can save the
shipment. The bikers won
’
t
realize it. They
’
ll know
later I outsmarted them.
”

“
Yes.
They
’
re so afraid of you
already, Lyle.
”

Lyle smiled.
“
They want to kill me. But I can
’
t die. I
’
m like a doctor. I get to be God in all this. I
write the story.
”

“
Yes.
Write it.
”

Lyle reached back and hit the
button for the elevator. It let out a ding and the doors opened.

This was the part of the plan when
Lyle would let Heather
’
s
hand go and be off to face his fate. He
’
d
probably drive away fast and the MC would chase him. They
’
d get him. They
’
d get the shipment. They
’
d take care of it all.

All Heather had to do was stay in
the hospital and wait for Brody to call her. Or better yet, come to her. Run
down the hall and scoop her up. Spin her around and whisper into her ear that
everything was okay. That nothing else bad could ever happen to her. That he
would be there to protect her.

It all seemed to come together in
Heather
’
s mind.

Reality didn
’
t take hold in her mind until she was inside the
elevator with Lyle. And he had a gun pulled and stuck into her ribs.

“
What
…”

“
You
’
re coming with me,
”
Lyle said.
“
We
’
re
doing this together.
”

Lyle grinned and Heather felt her
face flush. She was stuck, trapped, and worse yet, she had to face the fact
that Lyle really was a smart man. And a very bad man.

That
’
s
when another harsh dose of reality hit Heather.

I
’
m going to die.