24

I spoke to my sister after that, and she agreed to give us a back room in the clubhouse. I would have to pay her, but it was nothing compared to the money we were about to be making. She had a computer there, and I had looked for hours for anything pertaining to Donovan and the Hawthorns. I was currently suffering from information overload.

Charlie Hawthorne was basically a nobody. He kept a low profile. He was a high school dropout, who grew up in foster homes. He had never stayed in one place for long and had volunteered at the fire station a lot before being recruited. He didn't have social media, but he had a phone number online. I also had an address on him now as well and his work schedule. He probably had no family or friends. He was a loner with a lot of time on his hands. So he had a lot of time to plan my murder. Lucky man, he was now number one on my hit list.

The Buckout boyz were known for being brutal. They were rowdy and known for taking hits at a high success rate. I was lucky to still be breathing. They were not too bad for some county boys.

Deciding to stop thinking about all that for a while, I played poll with Joey, just to get away from it all. He was probably going to win, and I was okay with that. Christian and Reese should be done with the exchange soon, and I would have to relay everything to them.

We had been at it about a solid hour and I was finally kicking his ass when Leo and Montel came in carrying an unconscious and bloody Reese. Anger and panic immediately began to bubble within my stomach. He was covered in blood. My mind immediately thought of Christian, who was nowhere in sight. A sinking feeling swept through me, temporarily paralyzing me.

"What the hell happened, and where is Christian?" I yelled as I snapped back into action. Reese was hurt. We had to help him. I rounded on the pool table. Joey cleared the table and Reese was laid on the green felt. He was completely unconscious and leaking.

"I don't know," said Montel, "his car was outside of his mom's house and he was in it slumped. He's not dead though, but he's been shot."

"Cherie, I need some scissors," I yelled to my sister, who was at the door, eyes wide. "And some tweezers, I think, just bring a first aid kit."

She rushed out of the room as I unzipped Reese's jacket and ripped his shirt. "So no sign of Christian?" I asked while I worked. I swear to God I have never seen so much blood. I have also never removed a bullet. I was going to have to try, though. It wasn't like we could take him to the hospital.

"No, just Reese. Do you want us to go look for him?" Asked Leo.

"No," I said. "we got to take care of Reese first and see if we can get him woke. We got to find out what happened."

My sister returned with the first aid kit and a bottle of water. I poured some of the water over the hole to clear the area so I could find where he was hit. Everyone was quiet as I located a hole in the side of his stomach. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew he would bleed out and die if I didn't stop the bleeding. Of course, it wouldn't matter if the bullet had hit anything important. Without seeing it, I searched under him for an exit wound and found none.

"The bullet must still be in him," I said as I gulped around the bile rising in my throat. "I'm going to try to get it out. Y'all be ready for him to wake up. It's going to hurt like a bitch."

My sister appeared at my side again, and I was glad she had the sense to bring Vodka, even if she was drinking most of it. The guys took a position, two at Reese's head and two at his feet. I pushed every squeamish thought aside, as I dug into the hole. I held my breath the entire time and was at my fingertips when I felt the bullet. I silently sent up a prayer as I opened the tweezers and gripped the bullet. I wanted to jump for joy once I got a good grip. That was when he started having feelings again. His body started to shake as he went into panic mode. Probably not knowing where he was. My sister went to his head and started talking to him gently and the guys held on tight as I located the bullet again, gripped, and pulled. It came out and crashed to the floor, followed by more blood.

I had no way of telling if there was internal damage, but I sure hope not. I applied pressure until the bleeding slowed and was relieved to see Reese still awake and drinking the vodka. That meant he wasn't dead. The hole was small, and I applied some liquid stitches that were in the first aid kit and covered it with gauze and tape. Joey was already grilling Reese.

"Calm down Joey, Reese tell us what happened," I said, coming into view where he could see me. He looked horrible. He had dark circles under his eyes and his lips were pale. He was dripping sweat and his eyes appeared darker. I knew he had to be in so much pain. His body was stiff, and his fingers were tight around the bottle as he drank deeply. I took the bottle of liquor and handed him the remaining water from the bottle I had cleaned his wound with. He took it, trying to smile his thanks. It was more of a grimace.

"Take your time," I said. I really wanted him to spit it out too. However, he had just been shot. I did not know how that felt, as I had never been shot. I also wanted him to know that I cared. Even on the inside, I was still waiting for Christian to come through the door.

"We went to the gas station," he started, "there were two guys, one in the front, one on the back. Guy in the back had the money and the guy in the front took the product. Christian went to the back, and I stayed in the front. I heard gunshots and started to take out my tool, but the dude shot me and ran. I went to the back, no sign of Christian or the bag, and the dude that shot me took the weed. I think Christian shot the guy in the back. He was dead. I think they were trying to rob us."

I walked to the window as he talked. Where was my man? What if Christian had been shot too? What if he was somewhere bleeding to death? I turned away from the window and shook those thoughts off. I had to stay positive. The guy had definitely set out to rob us. There was no doubt about that and that fact, pissed me off.

"Who was this connect of yours, Reese?" I asked.

"My cousin Ace. We not close, I just knew he bought weight," he said.

"He's dead," I spat. I really hoped the whole family relation didn't cause any problems. I had cousins I would die for, but they weren't snaked. Reese's cousin was a grade-A snake.

"He sure is," Christian said, walking in the door and threw a duffle bag on the pool table next to Reese. "They robbed the fuck out of us. Nothing in here but newspapers." I felt some of the tension leave my body at seeing Christian. He was alive and in one piece. I wanted to do the girly thing and run to him, but business first. "They got our drugs, and we got no cash," Christian said. He was so mad he was turning red, nostrils flared and fist clenched.

"What the fuck are we gonna do?" I said. Our problems were just raining in. "This is the worst possible way for this shit to take off. We got a mess to clean up and they just keep piling up. We got a price on my head, a nigga in Reese's basement. Reese was shot! He was fucking shot! We've been robbed and now we owe money and we have no way of getting it back. What the fuck?"

"Pretty much," Leo stated.

When it rains, it pours.