Chapter 34

Austin
I am awakened by shouting at my door. I jump out of bed and grab my Glock 18 from the nightstand next to my bed. I am delirious from lack of sleep. After Shane, Max and I got back from my mom's house late, I had to speak with Chance on meeting up with Snake. I want him and Cage to go with me. Cage is a lethal mother fucker. He would be a higher-ranking member but his temper gets a little out of control sometimes. It may be a little dangerous bringing him but if shit hits the fan he is who I would need next to me.
A fist banging on my door brings me back to the present. I open the door quickly and come face to face with Max. He has a gun in his hand too and nods his head toward the front door. Our flood lights are on. I see other brothers running to the door and in one movement they all look to me. I walk up to the front of the pack and open the door. Shane is by my side instantly. We all run out separating at the gates to see who the hell would dare run up on us in the middle of the night.
I hear Max scream something and run straight to the gates. I run right after him, afraid he might be running to a trap. It isn't until I get closer to where he is leaning down on the ground that I see that it's a woman. She has been beaten and she seems to be holding a piece of paper in her hands. I see Max get down on his knees and check her pulse. His breath of relief lets me know she is still alive.
"Get Slice here now, she's alive." He shouts to no one in particular. "It's Candice, Austin. She's hurt bad man." He says to me in a hushed tone. My mind reels at the recognition of the beautiful nurse that I met the other day. Why in the world is she here? Who the fuck did this to her? Anger nearly clouds my judgement. I lean down to Max's level and put my hand gently on her face. Someone is going to fucking pay for this. Slice comes into my view and has to tell me several times to back up, so he can evaluate her.
I stand up and see all the brothers just standing around. I start ordering them around to start on shifts around the perimeter, get me the video from the security cameras we have set up, everything. Everyone starts running around and creating a storm of chaos.
I step back as Slice comes in and leans down to inspect her. I grab the paper in her hands, read it, and then narrow my eyes on Max. He notices my glare but ignores me and helps Slice lift her up. As a unit, we all head inside minus a few of the guys that have started looking around the perimeter.
Once inside, I grab Spiff and Demon and have them watch the doors. I look around for Psych, I know I told him to keep an eye out at the front gates. How did we not notice a woman passing out in front of our building? Slice starts cleaning off her face, there is some swelling beginning where her left cheek is, like someone got a good hit in. I want to destroy these assholes for putting a hand on a woman, especially this woman. They will pay with their lives.
Once Slice has her face clean he turns around and sees everyone is staring. Slice is another old timer from my dad's day. He was a firm believer in getting out of the drug business. At the time, his two daughters were going into high school and he knew he didn't want rumors circulating about them. I see where he is going with the look he is giving everyone so I whistle loudly and tell everyone to kindly fuck off.
"You all have shit to do. Someone dropped her off like this with a note to us. It's a threat. We need to be on lock down now. Get every brother here. Once she is secure and in a room, we have church, so don't go anywhere far. Call your families, get on duty with Chance and Shane, get me some keys for handcuffs and someone fucking find Psych." I yell. I can tell Slice needs to examine her.
Max and I lift her and take her into my room to lay her on the bed. Max gives me a strange look as I lead us to my room but I wanted her in here when she woke up for some reason. I don't want her in another man's room. What hell is with me?
"Austin, I'm going to call Abigail. Of what I can see, she is okay, a few bumps and bruises but nothing too serious. She has a pretty gnarly bruise around her mid-section, looks someone took a fist to it several times. They weren't trying to kill her, just scare her and threaten us. I just need to make sure she is alright… everywhere." He says in a hushed tone.
Spiff runs in with keys for the handcuffs and hands them to Slice. Once he uncuffs her, we turn her on her back fully so she can be more comfortable. I'm able to see her face a little better now.
I stare at the beauty in front of me that is marred with bruises growing into a dark purple right in front of me. I know what Slice is getting at. Abigail is the daughter of one of our bothers Bone. She is a few years younger than Max and me, but practically grew up with us. She became a nurse after graduating from high school and has always been there if the club needed her.
"Aus., did you hear me?" Slice says shouting a little.
That stirs Candice just a little and instantly Max and I are by her side simultaneously. Max gives me another weird look as I narrow my eyes on my baby brother. I have always been close to Max, always wanted to look out for him, but right now, all I want is for him to step the fuck back. I don't know what is bringing on this sudden burst of jealousy.
"Yeah, go ahead Slice, looks like she is waking up anyways. If I remember right she is a nurse so she will be able to determine just as much." I say as Max shoots me with yet another strange look. It's making me want to hit him. Does he not think I remember her as well? Why the hell is he acting like he cares for her so goddamn much?
Slice leaves and I go to stand up. I indicate for Max to stand as well and once we are eye to eye I grab the letter that was in her hand from my pocket and hand it to him. Max reads it and glances my way. Seems like there is something he isn't telling me.
"Fuck" He shouts. We both look to Candice, seeing if that woke her up. She startles a little but resumes her sleeping form. I give Max a chin lift so that he can explain.
"They must have thought that we were together when I gave her a lift. That means they are fucking watching us. Those bastards beat her because they saw me with her." He says grunting his teeth.
I calm down a little and take two steps closer to him. I know my brother very well. If he feels even slightly responsible for this it will eat at him. He is my VP because he tends to keep me sane, however there has been plenty of times where I have had to bring him back from the other side. Max has a darkness in him that even I can't understand.
"Max what happened?"I ask, getting a little worried his eyes haven't met mine yet. Only certain things make my brother break down like this. None of them being good.
"I attacked her Austin. I don't know what happened. One minute I'm telling her the tow is no charge, the next my hands are around her throat." He says quietly looking down at his hands as if they aren't real.
I take a deep breath. I was afraid of something like this. When Max finished his last tour, he came back a different person. He was quick to get angry, which is not something my brother had done before. Carefree, happy go lucky Max was gone. Sure, he still made jokes and smiled in front of people, but I knew my brother better than he knew himself. Something over there changed him. I walk over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. I get ready to let him know that everything will be okay when a soft voice stirs us both from our somber thoughts.
"Wh-what's going on?" Candice says with her eyes shut.
I walk slowly over to the bed and lean down to talk to her. I notice her body is shaking. I don't know if that is for the trauma or if something is wrong so I quietly ask Max to go find Slice just in case. After I watch Max leave, I glance back to Candice and try and calm her down a little.
"You're safe darlin'. We aren't sure what exactly happened but we found you outside the compound. You were unconscious and handcuffed so we uncuffed you and brought you in here. You remember anything?" I ask her.
I can tell she remembers something because she closes her eyes and her breathing gets a little harder. I grab her hand firm in mine and start whispering to her. I tell her that everything is going to be alright, I tell her that I won't let anything happen to her. She starts calming down a little and eventually her breathing becomes controlled again. Max returns telling me that Slice is on his way.
"Candice, before you tell us what you remember, I need to know, did those men hurt you anywhere else?" I ask with apprehension.
She gives me a confused look and I rub the back of my neck with my hands. Shit, I am not good with this kind of thing. I usually don't care about people's feelings. I would normally just stick to being direct but there is something about this girl that has me wanting to comfort her. Could be the way I spoke to her the first time I met her, could be her apparent bad night, I have no idea how long she was out there like that. Before I could find another gentle way of putting my question she interrupts me.
"No, they didn't hurt me in that way. They attacked me in my home, then beat me, there were two of them. Once they were finished they cuffed me and put me in a van. I thought….. I thought…" I hold my hand out for her to grasp again.
I can tell she is trying to be strong, but anyone going through what she went through tonight is definitely entitled to have a break down. I am not a sexist asshole or anything but I'm guessing for a woman the thought is even scarier. She probably thought they were going to kidnap her and take her someone to rape her.
"Shh, darlin it's okay. We can stop if you want. We can let you rest for a bit before questioning you." I say.
Part of me knows I need these answers as soon as possible, but I just can't demand them from her. I want to hunt down those fucks that hurt her, especially if they are the same ones that are fucking with my club. Candice shakes her head at me, determined to continue. I blow out a breath of relief. I hate that she went through this, especially if it had something to do with us. This could be our fault.
"About fifteen minutes later they pulled to a stop and got out. They threw me to the ground and put a piece of paper in my mouth. It said something about old ladies." I nod my head at her story, relieved that they didn't go further with her.
"How did they get in your home Candice?" Max says from behind me in a calm tone. I didn't even hear him come back into the room.
"A girl knocked on my door. It was late but I thought nothing of it when I saw her car broken down in the middle of street. I went to go grab my cell phone for her when the two guys rushed me. Why was I so stupid?" Candice explains crying out at the end.
"Don't worry darlin, you did good. You survived babe. You're safe here. We won't let anything happen to you. Do you remember what they looked like? Were they wearing cuts like what we have on?" I say pulling my cut as reference. Candice shakes her head again answering my question about identifying.
I look down and get even more pissed. I am not angry at her and I don't want her to feel that way but I am getting sick of these pieces of shit fucking with us. To attack who they assumed was an old lady is crossing a line most motorcycle clubs won't cross. Whoever these fucks are, they have no morals. I have always had anger issues, but knowing what they did to her, is making me lethal. First, they run me off the road, then beat up Jazz, now they hurt who they assume is Max's old lady. I'm barely hanging on to my sanity as it is. Mix that with seeing her lying unconscious on this bed, I'm ready to kill.
I nod my head at her letting her know she won't have to answer any more questions. I hear a knock at the door. I get up to answer it and see Abigail. I was just about to have Max let Slice know we don't need her anymore but since she is here I can have her at least sit and talk with Candice while I go inform the guys on what's going on.
"Hey babe, thanks for coming. She's awake and already confirmed nothing happened. Me and Max are gonna go speak with the rest of the club. You need anything, go get one of the prospects, we'll be in church."
Abby nods her head at me and starts walking in slowly with a small bag in her hand. I eye it with a raised eyebrow and she explains that she got Candice some clothes. They are about the same size so it shouldn't be too bad. Abby walks all the way in, pats Max on his shoulder and pulls a fold out chair in the corner of the room over to Candice. She folds it out and sits down carefully. Candice eyes me a little strange and gives me a pleading look. I walk back over to her and put her at ease.
"Candice, I need to go inform my men on what's going on. We'll be in church for the next hour or so, but I'm not leaving. I'll be right down the hall. Got a couple prospects on you for the time being but Abby will be staying in here with you. You need anything, tell Abby and she will come get me personally. Understand?" I tell Candice.
Candice nods her head at me, still looking a little unsure. I bend down, kiss her forehead and stand up to address Abby only to see her give me an amusing smile. Abby is one person that has always called me on my bullshit. Being nine years younger than me she has always been like a little sister to me. I appreciate her more than she knows.
"Take good care of her, yeah babe?" With a single nod from Abby, Max and I leave the room.