Cowboy Bikers MC Lawmen by Esther E. Schmidt

CHAPTER TWELVE

– ATTICUS –

“Why did that damn ambulance take so fucking long to get here?” I growl and pace the hallway in front of the room they just rushed Enid in for surgery.

Fisher releases a deep breath. “I don’t fucking know, Prez. We had everything in place and you know as well as I do they were mere minutes away but they just needed the time to get her here safe. I’m sure she’ll wake up and pull through. What did they say in the ambulance?”

“Three stab wounds. The two in her thigh were deep and caused blood loss but the one in her side is what made her belly fill with blood and they don’t know if organs were hit. I don’t fucking know if she’ll pull through.” Pain hits the center of my chest, making it hard for me to breathe as I croak, “She has to pull fucking through.”

Fisher grabs my shoulder and gives a firm shake. “Knock it off. There’s a reason why you claimed this woman practically on sight, asshole. She’s strong. Didn’t you see her jump right in front of that horse the way we did? Hell, it could have been me or it could have been you. Would you want her standing here doubting if you pull through? Lose it when there’s nothing to flip the fuck out about yet?”

“No,” I hiss between clenched teeth and it’s those words that make me straighten my spine. “But just so you know? I can’t fucking lose her. The first woman that made me feel something deep. She made me wish for a shared future. I can’t describe it, man…I just.”

“She’s merged into your very soul, I get it.” Fisher’s voice sounds different and when our gaze collides, I can see the vivid pain in his eyes. “I had it. I lost it. And I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy. But this? Right here? She’ll fucking pull through, you hear?”

I swallow hard. “I hear ya.”

“Good. Now I’m going to get us some coffee and you’re going to sit your ass down ’cause this is going to take a while so you’re going to let them work on your old lady without putting the staff on edge, right?” Fisher lifts his chin to the left and my gaze follows.

Fuck. The nurse’s station is filled with medical personnel all looking at me with wide eyes.

“Calm them down while you’re getting my coffee. And don’t bring me any of that fancy cappuccino or latte shit either.”

“Decaf for you, got it,” Fisher says and I try to punch his shoulder but he’s jumping out of reach.

I close my eyes and rub my fingers into them. A massive headache is building, another thing I don’t need. I grab my phone and thumb through the messages in the group chat. They dump every piece of information in there that involves the case.

Saul is dead and the knife he used to injure Enid with is consistent with the one used with the other murders. It’s a slam dunk and yet it doesn’t feel like we just solved the case. There’s something about the way Saul went down.

How easy he made it for us by hiding in his parents’ yacht stashed away on his in-law’s property. I mean, the guy catches killers himself, he must have known we would run a background check on everyone in his life.

On the other side, we did link the foster brother who was presumed dead recently died so maybe Nic was our main killer and Saul was just his helper. Maybe Saul thought he owed him. Leland managed to hack into the system of a psychiatrist Saul was visiting regularly after he lost his parents and in those sessions he talked about the abuse suffered at the hands of his parents.

The shit Saul had to endure makes any sane person have the words “his parents had it coming,” on the tip of their tongue. Still, nothing was ever on record and now it’s all crumbled into a pile we need to comb through to close the damn case without leaving any holes or question marks.

Fisher walks toward me with two cups of coffee in his hands as he takes a seat next to me before handing me one. We sit in silence for as long as it takes for us to finish the coffee. I get to my feet and throw the cup in the trash and face my VP.

Keeping my eye on him I prepare to take in every inch of his body language when I ask, “Do you think we got the right man? Closed the case? No loose ends?”

I can see his jaw twitch and his eyes rip away from mine as he shrugs. “What’s there to say? Saul had a knife matching the wounds of all the victims. I’m a hundred percent positive Nic crushed Frankie’s father’s trachea which indicates he could have been Saul’s partner in crime. I guess for anyone else it’s an open and shut case.”

“And for you?” I push.

His gaze hits mine once again and he narrows his eyes. “And for you?”

“Throwing the question back at me?” I start but the clearing of a throat catches both of our attention.

There’s a doctor standing near the door and I rush over to talk to him. Thank fuck Enid pulled through and she’s in the recovery room. I’m allowed to see her and stay by her side and that’s exactly what I do. I leave the discussion with Fisher and the case behind me as I focus on what matters most in life; what matters most in my life.

Stepping toward her and seeing her lying on a bed, so fucking fragile, so damn pale? It hits me hard and square in the chest how close I came to losing her.

“Hey, sweetheart. Don’t ever fucking tip the scale of life again,” I croak, more for me than for her.

I gently slide my thumb over her cheek as I cup the side of her face. She’s still out of it and it’s a good thing too; it allows her body to heal. But it also buys me some time to compose myself. Now I understand why my father stepped down as president and willingly chose to spend more time with my mother.

Those two had the same whirlwind meeting and dove headfirst in a relationship and I’m happy to say they still have the same fire burning between them as they did all those years ago. They’ve mentioned it loads of times but it’s also in their eyes when they look at one another.

With Enid in my life, I would be grateful if after a few decades we would have the same opportunity; to pass the gavel over to my son and retire. And with this thought flowing through me I know we’re only standing on the starting line of all the opportunities and goals lying ahead of us.

We have all the time in the world and right now it revolves around the healing of her body. I’m pretty sure she won’t be able to ride Baby for at least a few weeks. She’s going to be pissed because it was the highlight of our day together each and every time at the end of the day.

Enid groans and I place a kiss on her forehead when she murmurs my name. “I’m right here, sweetheart and I’m not going anywhere.”

It takes a while for her to fully wake up and she has to spend a few days in the hospital before I finally get to take her home. Once we arrive at the ranch, I take her straight to my cabin instead of my room at the clubhouse.

Most of her belongings are here except for some larger furniture pieces and some boxes with stuff she still needs to go through since the cabin was fully stocked with everything already.

She can do it when she’s fully healed. For now, I’m happy she’s home and resting in my bed instead of the hospital. Correction; our bed. This is our home now. I’m fixing her some tea and the second I step inside the bedroom is when she gives me her eyes and a captivating smile.

“I could get used to this,” she says cheerfully as she places the book she was reading next to her on the bed.

“Yeah, well, enjoy because it won’t last. As soon as your sexy ass can roam around again I’m gonna stop.” Her eyes widen at my admittance and I lean in to brush my lips against her and murmur, “Or at least with the overbearing care. I’ll still open the door for you, treat you like a queen while I fuck you hard and all of that.”

She laughs but it abruptly stops as she closes her eyes and bites her lip.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” I quickly tell her, wanting to smack my own head for making her laugh because it hurts the wound on her side.

“Don’t ever apologize for making me laugh,” she says with a grimace. “Besides, the pain makes me remember I’m alive, don’t people say that? I think so. And I’m damn glad to be alive and right here with you. Hell, there were so many things that could have gone wrong that day but we got him.”

This is the first time she’s mentioned that night. I hate doing this but since she brought it up herself, I’ll take the opportunity to see if she has anything else to say about Saul.

“We got him indeed. Shame we didn’t get Saul alive so we could question him. I would have liked to get some answers, you?”

Her eyes go down to her hands. “It doesn’t matter in the end. He’s dead and dead men don’t answer questions.”

“True.” I don’t know what to say and flat-out asking if she thinks the RedBorder killer, or killers, are now dead and handled is not something she needs while she’s still recovering.

“He said he was sorry,” she blurts and her words don’t register.

“What?” I question.

“When he stabbed me. He said he was sorry. For me, for my father, for Mysti. He…I think he said something about not having a choice. How he had to honor a debt.”

“Honor a debt?” I muse. “He actually said he didn’t have a choice and he had to honor a debt?”

“Yeah.” She takes the cup of tea and blows on it a few times until she eventually asks, “Do you think it was a debt between Nic and Saul? Nic having something to do with murdering Saul’s parents and in return he had to cover Nic’s ass for the murders he committed? Or maybe they made a pact and did it together? Or maybe Nic killed Saul’s parents and Saul killed Nic’s brother that day on the boat and they blamed it on the pirates? Made a pact together or a debt to one another, whatever twisted agreement they had.”

“Or maybe Nic’s brother is still out there and is the real killer who killed all those women and Saul’s parents.” I voice the thought that has been keeping both me and Fisher going through everything over and over again for the last few days.

“Who knows? But what I do know is that he stabbed me without hesitation and Nic killed my father, there’s no doubt about it and he did so by crushing his trachea.”

“I’m aware and also about the fact the knife he stabbed you with was the same kind used with all the victims. And we’ve managed to find out the trucker running Jones over was a hit because Saul knew he just met with your father to pull our MC into the serial killer case was the link where it escalated to us killing Nic and then they killed Nyla in retaliation. But still.” I release a deep sigh and take a seat on the bed with my back to the headrest. “What if we close this case and the foster brother turns out to still be alive under fuck knows what name and kills again?”

“Then we will hunt his ass down and make sure he can’t harm anyone else ever again. But really, Atticus. What if he’s out there? What do we have to go on? A name? A phone number? An address? A face? There’s nothing. There wasn’t anything to link back to Nic’s life and nothing found in Saul’s either or did you find something in the time we got him till now?”

“No,” I reluctantly grunt. “We didn’t find any proof if the other brother is still alive or if he indeed was slaughtered in that yachting incident along with the parents.”

“Right. Like I said, maybe it was a pact,” Enid muses. “Nic killing, or helping Saul kill, the parents and in return they killed Nic’s brother. Who knows what he did to Nic? I mean, if it weren’t for Leland finding those files about Saul’s talks with the psychiatrist, we never would have known he was abused by his parents. So, who knows? And none of it is something we can get a grip on or handle now because we’re standing here empty-handed.”

We fall silent, both our heads roaming around the information we just talked through.

“What does Fisher have to say about all of this?” Enid eventually asks.

I release a deep sigh. “Same as you. Nothing to be done about it now and if there still is a killer out there…we will catch him in time.”

“We will,” Enid says with a load of venom in her voice. “Just like we caught both Saul and Nic. Though, I could do without the getting stabbed part.”

I grimace because I can’t laugh, not about this. “We’re going to catch a load of murderers before we retire.”

“Retire? Who’s talking about retirement? I want to work on cases, ride horses, help run the ranch, and do everything together for a very long time, even after we’ve turned gray and wrinkly. Retirement.” She snorts. “I didn’t think the term old man was meant to be put in that sentiment.”

“Hey,” I growl and roll toward her, careful not to touch her side as I lean right into her face. “If you weren’t injured I’d show you what your old man is capable of.”

Enid groans. “Don’t remind me. My side hurts with every movement and I can’t believe we only had sex two freaking times before I was forced into a time out. Believe me, as soon as I’m capable? We’re going on a sex-marathon.”

Now I’m the one groaning. “Drink your tea and start fucking healing.”

A snort of laughter flows through the room before it’s cut off by a hiss and a curse. Yeah, we have a long road to cover but at least it allows us time together. Sex or not, there’s more to a relationship than shoving your cock deep inside a pussy.

And right now? There’s no other place I’d rather be than right next to her in this bed. And the way she leans her head on my shoulder as she sighs in contentment? I’d say she feels the same way.

I carefully slide my arm around her shoulder to guide her against my chest.

Placing a kiss on the top of her head the first thing that comes to mind tumbles right off my lips, “I love you, woman.”

She stiffens at the same time as I do. I’ve never told any woman, other than my mother, those three words and here I go, baring my feelings out in the open. I can’t take them back. Hell, I won’t take them back because they are the fucking truth.

“I fucking love you and you’re not getting rid of me. Hell, I’m pretty damn sure I’ll hunt you down if you leave this world as well.”

Her whole body relaxes and sags against me. “Good. Because I love you too and wouldn’t dream of leaving this world without having you by my side.”

Chuckling, I tell her, “Glad we’re in agreement. Now, how many kids do we want?”

She gasps and smacks my chest. “Stop it.”

“What? I’m just covering the basics since my mother is going to harass me for sure.”

“Five,” she whispers.

Five? “Five? As in two times two plus one?” I ask to clear up the fact she wants five fucking kids.

“You don’t want kids?” She pushes up and I can see the strain in her face of the fact her side is hurting.

Hell, her heart might be hurting because I got a little lost about the number of kids she had in mind, whatever.

I pinch her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “I’d love nothing more than to have your belly filled with our child over and over. When the time comes of course, and however many times we’re graced with.”

She sinks into my touch and our eyes are locked as all the energy is crackling between us.

“I love you,” she whispers, caressing my heart with those very words.

I lean in and brush my lips against hers. “As I love you harder and fiercer with each day to come.”

It’s a vow. A heart’s goal to make sure we’ll last a lifetime. But the way our gazes are locked as we keep staring at one another gives the affirmation we were meant to be united as one in this lifetime, and for sure as fuck in the next one too.

That’s how deep our connection runs and how strong our love has rooted in our hearts.