T-Bone - L. Wilder Page 0,52

was glad to see that they both were staying on top of things and making sure that Samantha was safe.

I knew Samantha would rather be in the room with Gus, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Since Gus was in the ICU, there were only certain hours she could spend with him. I walked over and sat down next to her, and she put her magazine down. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to come by here today.”

“Just wanted to see if there’d been any change.”

“Not yet. I was able to stay with him a little longer this morning, but I’m not sure he even knew I was there,” she replied with disappointment.

“I’m sure he did.”

“I hope so.” She shrugged, then asked, “How did it go with church?”

“Good.” Club business wasn’t discussed with anyone—not even with the president’s ol’ lady, but after everything she’s been going through, I had to give her something. “We have a lead on who shot Gus.”

“Really?” she asked, sounding hopeful. “Who is it?”

“You know I can’t say.” As much as I wanted to update her with what’s been going on, I couldn’t. It would only put her in jeopardy if I told her any more than I already had. “Just know, we’re gonna take care of it.”

“I don’t want any of you boys getting hurt, Bone.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. We’ll be just fine.” I could see that she wasn’t pleased with my response, but there was little I could do to ease her mind. “Just keep your focus on Gus, and let us worry about the rest.”

“I wish it was that simple.” Her eyes dropped to the floor. “You boys and that club mean so much to Gus. His whole life is wrapped up in you guys, and I don’t want him to have to lose that on top of everything else.”

“Gus isn’t going to lose anything, Samantha. He’s gonna pull through this thing, and when he does, we’ll be here waiting for him to step back into his role as president.”

“Thank you, T-Bone. I really appreciate you saying that.”

“I said it because I meant it.” I stood up and asked her, “What can I get you from the cafeteria?”

“A cup of coffee and a chicken sandwich would be good.”

“You got it.”

I went down and got her a bite to eat, then did my best to keep her company. When the nurse walked in the room and told her it was okay to visit with Gus, I said my goodbyes and headed back to the clubhouse. I wanted to make sure that Murphy and Rider were able to get the cars that Riggs had told them to pick up. To my surprise, both vehicles were already parked up front when I pulled through the gate. Murphy and Skillet, one of our newest prospects, were standing by their bikes when I walked up. “Looks like you got the job done.”

“We did,” Skillet answered proudly.

“Have any problems?”

“Not really,” Murphy answered. “They were both parked with easy access, and we were able to grab them without anyone seeing us.”

“Awesome.” I glanced down at my phone to check the time. “It’s almost seven. Anything else that needs to be done?”

“We’ll need to grab some more ammo and then get Riggs to give us the exact locations of where we’ll be going tonight.”

“Good. Let’s do it. I’m ready to get this shit done.”

“You and me both, brother.”

We all headed inside and started prepping for the night ahead. The plan seemed pretty cut and dry, but I’d done this sort of thing enough times to know that nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Sadly, tonight would be no different.

12

Alyssa

“Have you talked to your brother?” my mother asked. “I’ve been trying to call him for days, and he hasn’t answered.”

“He’s fine, Mom. He’s just busy with club stuff.”

“Are you sure? It’s not like him not to return my calls.”

She’d called during my break, so I didn’t have time to go into a lot of detail with her. “Yes, Mom. I’m sure. He’ll call as soon as he gets a chance.”

“Well, okay. If you say so.” She paused for a moment, then asked, “What about you? How are things going at the restaurant?”

“Things are really good, actually, and if they keep going like they are, I might get promoted again in a few weeks.”

“I’m not surprised. You’re a natural, Lyssa. I have no doubt that you’ll go far.”

“Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate that.”

“What about the house? Are you still liking it?”

“It’s