Savage Vandal (82 Street Vandals #1) - Heather Long Page 0,16
man down for eight to ten hours.”
Doc nodded. Then gave a jerk of his head. “C’mon.” He didn’t ask me why or for who, just pulled up a syringe. “Intramuscular. You got that?”
“Yep.”
“Thigh is best. Ass works too.”
“Where does it hurt more?”
The slash of his mouth twisted into a cruel smile, and he tapped the side of his neck. “Don’t hit the jugular. Leaves you with a bitch of a headache when you wake up, and the muscle spasms are vicious.”
“Perfect.”
“Who’s the girl?”
“No one you need to know, Doc.”
“Right,” Doc said. “Hear nothing. See nothing. Say nothing.”
I shot him a look. “Good plan.”
With a snort, Doc strode away, and I headed out the backdoor. With the key fob, I opened the trunk. Our asshole passenger was still out, and I jabbed the needle in right where Doc said to put it and pushed the plunger down. I suppose I could have cleaned the spot up, but did I really give a fuck if he got an infection?
No. No I didn’t.
Done, I closed the trunk and then moved to do a sweep of the area while I loosened my tie. I needed to ditch the suit here soon too. There was a little blood on my cuffs, so I left the jacket on. The mist of rain had begun to fall again, and there was a bitter chill in the air. Phone in hand, I hit Rome’s number, but it went straight to voicemail.
He’d been doing that a lot lately.
“Hey, prima donna,” I said by way of greeting when the beep sounded. “Get back to the club and clean out that room between ours. I have a feeling we’re going to have company.” Message left, I finished the circuit and headed back inside.
Vaughn and Jasper were toe to toe in the hallway, glaring at each other.
“This looks productive,” I said as I bypassed them and headed toward the treatment rooms.
“He’s doing X-rays,” Vaughn said. “Stay out here.”
“She awake yet?” Because if she wasn’t…
“No,” Jasper ground out between his teeth. “Another reason he’s doing X-rays. He wants to make sure she hasn’t done something significant to her skull.”
I got kicked by a mule once at one of those stupid petting zoo things they bussed inner city kids to in order to experience nature. Cracked two of my ribs and left a bruise on me for weeks.
The idea she’d cracked her skull hit just as hard.
Swinging around, I glared at Jasper. “We should take her to a fucking hospital.”
“Thank you,” Vaughn snapped and then shoved Jasper back a step. “That’s what I said.”
“Doc can look after her,” he argued.
“And then what?” I asked.
I knew.
I knew the moment he wanted us to put her in the car.
This was not how this week was supposed to go.
“Then we’ll take care of her,” Jasper said. “Keep watch here. Don’t leave without telling me.” He pivoted on his heel.
“Where are you going?”
“To check on our package—”
“He’s out,” I told him. Not giving him that excuse to duck this conversation. “Doc gave me a sedative for him.”
Jasper making decisions on the fly was something I was long acquainted with, as was his gut. Sometimes, he just had to follow it, even when he couldn’t explain it in logical or rational terms.
“Did your gut say take her?”
Scowling, Vaughn folded his arms. He’d spent the last week keeping a low profile behind the scenes, but he’d been there every single hour she was. He’d been the first to notice the abuse. Or at least the first to tell me. Who the fuck knew what Jasper had seen or when he had seen it.
The door opening behind me saved him from answering. Doc stuck his head out. “Tell me you punks picked up the asshole who did this to her?”
Jasper and I could hash this shit out later. He shoved past me to get to Doc, and I slowed Vaughn with a hand to his chest. “He’s not gonna listen right now,” I told him in a low voice. “You need to back off on picking this fight tonight.”
“You always fucking say that,” Vaughn snapped, though he didn’t raise his voice. “He’s always got some shit going on…but this is fucking different.”
I caught his eye, and I nodded. “It is different. But back off. We need him to calm down so we can ease his grip out. Then we can get her where she needs to be.”