Highway Don't Care (Freebirds) (30 page)

  “I’m running a track on this phone.  Put it in your
pocket, but leave it on the line with me.  Be careful.”  Jack said.

  I did as I was told, and followed Gabe.  Once at the
door, he paused listening to the sounds of voices coming from the left of the
door.  He pushed me back flat against the wall and stepped to the other side
just before they entered. 

  There were two men dressed in jeans that were around
their knees and oversize blue t-shirts.  They never saw it coming
either.  Two quick chops to the neck and both men went down hard. 
I’d really have to learn this trick.  The next trick I didn’t want to
learn though.

  He placed his big booted foot on each man’s neck and
pushed down, a loud crunching noise was the result, and I was nearly hurling by
the time he was finished with them both.

  I knew why he was killing them, he didn’t want them to
come up behind us or sound the alarm.  It didn’t make it any better to
stomach though.  He turned left once he was satisfied with the look of the
hallway, and we hurried along following the glare of sunlight shining through a
window.

  He took stock of our surroundings, as we went; his eyes
never still.  We got to the window, and he hoisted me out after making
sure all was clear.  We went to the back of the lot where there were
trees, and hauled ass.

  He made me run.  I haven’t ran in seven months, and
you would think that being in somewhat decent shape before I got pregnant that
I’d have some sort of stamina, but I didn’t.  I was panting and gagging by
the time we made it half a mile into the woods.  Stopping at a nearby
tree, I rested my forearm against it, heaving breath in and out, holding my
vomit at bay.

  Reaching behind me, Gabe took the phone out of my pocket
and started talking to whoever was on the line.  In the back of my mind, I
discerned pickup, Jefferson’s, and hurt, but I was so sick, sore, and tired
that I just couldn’t concentrate anymore.

  I fell down to my knees, and then rolled over onto my
back, hoping to alleviate some of the throbbing.  I placed my hand on my
stomach, probing.  I was rewarded with a sharp kick where my fingers were
poking, and I smiled hugely.

  Thank God, he was okay.  I don’t know what I would
have done if I went through all of the agonizing weeks of my second trimester,
worrying whether I’d miscarry or not, just to get him taken away from me once I
didn’t have to worry anymore.

  Gabe dropped down to his knees beside me, placing his
hand over my stomach, giving me a concerned look.  The baby kicked his
hand, and his lip curled up at the side once he felt the baby move.

  “Can you walk another mile?  I have Sam picking us
up on Sixth Street.  It’s just through those woods over there.”  Gabe
gestured to the woods behind me.

  Groaning, I rolled to my stomach and pushed up on hands
and knees before getting to my feet.  A hiss sounded from behind me, and I
looked over my shoulder as Gabe watched me get to my feet.  He traced his
fingers down my neck, and I flinched.

  “That’s gonna need stitches.  Let’s go, baby.”

  We walked for a little over fifteen minutes before Sixth
came into view.  We stayed to the side of a Laundromat, and waited. 
Gabe wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight.  I let my weight sag
against him.  I was truly exhausted, close to tears, and I wanted a coke.

  Gabe didn’t say a word the entire ten minutes we stood
behind the Laundromat.  Tires crunched on pavement, and a black Nissan
Titan came into view.  The breath whooshed out of my lungs, and I let out
a relieved breath as Jack pulled up beside us.  Jack hopped out, and he
and Gabe gently eased me up into the truck.

  The interior of the truck still had that new car smell,
and I worried about getting blood on his seats.  “Jack, do you have a
blanket?”

  “Sweetheart, I don’t give a fuck about my seats. 
Get comfortable any way you can.  Buckle up; we’re going to the
hospital.”  He said softly.

  The entire trip to the hospital Gabe and Jack discussed
the accident and subsequent kidnapping; how he got out and all the other
details that I’d rather tune out.

  Luke was at the ER entrance when we got there, waiting to
take out statements.

  “Hey man, just let me get Ember and the baby checked out,
and we can come talk to you.”  Gabe said absently walking past him.

  Luke gave a stiff nod and continued to keep watch. 
My guess was he was hoping some of the gang members would be stupid enough to
follow us here.  I was hoping for the exact opposite.

  I hoped they all would go die somewhere.  I felt
lower than dog shit for getting everyone into this.  It was my entire
fault that Gabe had gotten hurt.  My fault now that our entire group was
now locked down at Free.  My fault that I’d nearly gotten our baby killed.
  “Whatever you’re thinking, knock it the fuck off.  This wasn’t your
fault.”  Gabe said as a nurse showed us to a room. 

  I nodded absently, but knew I didn’t believe him. 
He wouldn’t see any of this as my fault.  Nevertheless, I did.

  “Ember, honey, what the heck happened?”  Cheyenne’s
mom bustled in.

  “I’m okay, Daina.  I just want to make sure the baby
is okay.  Gabe says I also have a cut on the back of my neck.  I
think I may have one on my leg right here too.”  I gestured.

  She tossed a gown at Gabe.  “Alright, Gabe. 
Help her into this.  Use the scissors to help her get the pants off if you
need to.  They look beyond saving anyway.  Call me if you need help.”

  Once the door closed, he helped out of my t-shirt,
carefully easing it over my head.  The bra went next; this one he cut as
so he wouldn’t put me into any further pain.  One shoe, and then the
other.  The yoga pants were cut too, and then he slipped the panties off
next. 

  He studied my bruised and battered body.  Noting the
bruise where the seatbelt ran across my chest and lower abdomen.  My leg
looked had a deep slash in it, most likely from a piece of glass.  He
slipped the gown over my shoulders, and tied it at the back of my neck.

  He sat down on the bed, and then drew me down into his
lap, cradling me like a sick child.  A thought popped into my head, and it
flared into alarm

  “Jesus Christ, Gabe.  Cora!”  I jack knifed out
of his lap. 

  His eyes flared, and he reached for his phone that was no
longer in his pocket.  I went out to the hallway, closing the gown at my
back, to find Cheyenne’s mom again.  She was standing at the nursing
station, speaking with a doctor.

  “Daina.  I need to use your phone.”  I whisper
yelled to her.

  She handed the phone over without comment, and continued
her conversation with the doctor.  His eyes flicked to me, running a
catalog of my injuries, and then went back to the conversation as well.

  I handed the phone to Gabe who started dialing as soon as
he got it into his hands.

  “I’m calling to make sure Sidney was able to get Cora to
the ER alright.”  He said gruffly.

  His stance stiffened.  “What?”

  Uh oh.  I knew that what.  That what meant someone
was about to be in trouble.

  “Thank you.  I appreciate it.”  He said as he
hung up.

  His intense stare did nothing to relieve the hot knot of
fear that lodged into the pit of my stomach.  “She was never hurt.”

  His words dropped like a bomb between us, and I started
to be light headed.  I wasn’t stupid.  How convenient that we go to
pick her up, and never actually make it there.

  We watched each other.  Neither one of us knew what
to say to the other.  Daina rolling an ultrasound machine into the room
broke our silence.  The doctor she was speaking to earlier followed her.

  “Hello.  I’m Dr. Stephens.  I’m here to look at
you.  Your chart says that you’re twenty-nine weeks pregnant.  Have
you had any problems during this pregnancy?”  He asked.

  Gabe explained to him all of the problems we’d had so
far, and some of the concerns we were still dealing with.

  “I understand.  Your doctor is actually on his way
down here now.  You were in luck, he was actually delivering a baby, or
he’d be at his practice right now.  Let’s go ahead and check the baby
out.  I’m going to have a PA come in and check your other injuries. 
They’ll sew you up if needed.”

  I laid on the bed, and held Gabe’s hand as the doctor ran
the wand over my stomach.

  “You sure don’t look like you’re so far along.  It’s
odd to see someone so small this far into their pregnancy, although it does
happen.  Normally those are the ones that never even knew they were
pregnant.”  The doctor mused as he looked at the screen.

  I didn’t answer him.  Same old story, different
person.

  “The placenta looks fine.  The baby’s heart rate is
great.  Its 143 beats per minute.  Looking good.  I’m not seeing
any other signs of bleeding.  We’ll wait for your doctor to do the
internal exam to be sure you’re not dilating.  Little guy here looks
really health.  Chubby.”

  I smiled at that, and squeezed Gabe’s hand.  He
squeezed back, and we watched as the doctor left it in place so we could see
his face and upper torso. 

 I was released from the hospital two hours later. 
Gabe left after he knew the baby was all right to go speak with Luke. 
Cheyenne had shown up, and was walking out with me now.  I’d yet to see
Gabe since he left, and I was getting worried that he went back to the
warehouse himself and killed the rest of the people he could find.

  He was right outside the entrance though, talking with
the redhead that I now knew as Downy, and Luke.  At some point he must
have changed his clothes and had his cuts cleaned, because there was a few
white strips on his face and neck.  Both officers looked relaxed. 
However, Gabe did not.  His shoulders were tense, and he was nodding his
head to whatever Luke was saying to him.

  They stopped when they saw us, of course, and turned
towards me to watch my progression.  Once there, I curled around Gabe and
hugged him with everything I had at that moment.

  “Let’s go home.  I don’t want to be here
anymore.”  I said to him.

  “I can’t.  Apparently, I’m needed for
questioning.  I have to go down to the station.  You can go home with
Cheyenne though.  The cops arrested everyone else that was left at the
warehouse.  They questioned a few of them, and they squealed on their
friends when they were faced with the charges that were set against them. 
No one is left to hurt you anymore.”  He said softly.

  Relief poured through me.  It’d been a long seven
months, and I was finally free to go to the fucking grocery store by myself
again.  No more listening to Max whine about how embarrassed he was by my
couponing.  No more bodyguards following me around while I buy my granny
panties.  I was so relieved; I almost forgot what else he said.

  “What do you mean, you’re being questioned?”  I
hissed.

  Not giving him time to answer, I turned to Luke and Downy
and glared at each of them.  “What’s the meaning of this?”

    “Down, Mama Bear.  It’s only
routine.  We need to get his account down, and the easiest way to do that
is down at the station.”  Downy said with his hands up.

  “Well then that means I can come with him.  Don’t
you need mine as well?”  I said sweetly.

  Gabe laughed and gave me a soft kiss on the
forehead.  “Go rest, sweet cheeks.  I’m gonna go.  I’ll be back
as soon as I can.”

  “You better.  You’ve got until three, that’s four hours,
before I come down there myself.  Trust me; you don’t want me to come down
there.”  I said giving each man a good glare before turning and walking to
Cheyenne’s truck.

Ω

  The bed dipped behind me, and soft lips ran up the side
of my face.  Gabe smelled freshly showered, which reminded me I needed one
too.

  “Why didn’t you wake me?  I need a shower
too.”  I said to Gabe.

  “Sorry baby, I’ll take another one with you.”

  He helped me up, and stripped off his boxers before helping
me out of my clothes and into the shower. 

  “So what happened?”  I asked.

  He soaped up my hair, being careful to avoid the stitches
on the back of my neck.  “Apparently killing four people causes a lot of
paperwork.  They wanted to make sure it was a righteous kill.  Which
it was.  They dropped all charges that were against me.”