the crossfire with me had disappeared before the police arrived. I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, my first encounter with Shot Caldwell had been because his biker buddies didn’t want the law involved in his shooting. But for some reason, I felt abandoned when they took off as soon as they determined the coast was clear. To his credit, before vanishing, Shot took a moment to make sure I was okay. He’d probed the knot on the back of my head with his tattooed fingers and asked if things were blurry and if I had black spots in my vision.
Once I assured him it was just a little bump, he’d given me a hard look and declared our conversation far from over. I wanted to protest, to accept his decree that leaving me alone for good would be the perfect favor to collect from the club, but I didn’t get the chance. And when the deputies started asking me about enemies and if I had any idea who could be behind the shooting, it all got tangled and messy, because I didn’t know for sure if it was Ashby, my former friend, or if it was someone aiming for the bikers. It was convoluted and complicated, like everything in my life currently.
When the curtain surrounding the hospital bed I was perched on finally pulled back, I was expecting to see a harried and hurried ER doctor. I’d been waiting for well over an hour since the deputy rushed me back and left after I answered a long list of questions. To my surprise, it wasn’t a doctor storming into the small space, but my half sister.
Kody was a firecracker by nature. Passionate. Wild. Reckless. She was all the things I’d never dared be, and then some. She was also kind, caring, and considerate, and she had the biggest heart I’d ever encountered. While we didn’t hit it off at the start of our tenuous relationship, she’d done her best to bridge the gap created by our upbringing and personalities. I’d only ever had my mother, and it hurt like hell to lose her. I couldn’t get my head around the idea of being part of a big, boisterous family, and I didn’t even want to imagine what it would be like to suddenly be left alone if they decided I didn’t fit or that they didn’t want me. I tried to keep my distance, but Kody refused to let me push her away.
Kody’s green eyes were wide, and she was pale under the freckles that dotted her pert little nose. She always seemed so vibrant and bright, and she practically hummed with life and energy. I flinched when she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, not because it hurt but because the affection was so instinctual, like she didn’t even have to think about offering solace and comfort to someone who was still mostly a stranger.
“Are you okay?” She pulled back but left her hands on my shoulders so I couldn’t pull totally away. “Case told me you were rushed to the ER. He’s on a call out in the hill country, so he won’t be back in town for an hour or so. I asked what happened, but he wouldn’t give me any details other than you were hurt and headed to the hospital. Do you need anything? Was this that crazy woman who’s after you?”
The questions were rapid-fire and rushed together. I had to lift a hand to get her to slow down and back up a step. I touched my temple where I felt the start of a headache building and briefly closed my eyes.
“I’m fine. Really. There was no need to rush over here. As soon as I see the doctor and get checked out, I’m headed back home.” I forced myself to meet her probing gaze and told her, “Someone took a shot at me while I was standing in the parking lot in front of my apartment. It could have been Ashby, but I’m not sure.”
Kody took the hint and put some space between us. She copied my pose, leaning against the side of the bed rather than sprawling across the top of it. She crossed her ankles and her arms over her chest. I could see a muscle twitching in her cheek before she quietly asked, “Do you have someone else trying to kill you that I don’t know about, Presley?” Her tone made it clear that if I