Free Fire & Dark (The Night Horde SoCal Book 3) by Susan Fanetti

him!”
     
    Connor did. The asshole was fucked up bad, and he wasn’t willing to drag his carcass into the clubhouse. He’d been enough trouble as it was. “Okay. We gotta get moving. You found him on the street like this. By his house, someplace not here. Right?”
     
    Getting it, she nodded. “Yeah, okay.” After a beat, she added, “You were gonna leave him.”
     
    “I was. If your brother’s tangled up with these guys of his own will, then that’s nothing I want to meddle in. But I wasn’t gonna serve you up to them. Fuck that.”
     
    She stared up at him for a couple more beats, just long enough for Connor to shift and prepare to remind her that they needed to beat hell out of here.
     
    But she spoke before he could. “Okay. I get it. Thank you for your help.”
     
    “We’re not done yet, puss. We’re riding you out of here.” And he and she were going to have a fucking talk.
     
    “You don’t have to—”
     
    “Shut up, and let’s ride.” With that, he went to his bike and mounted up.
     
     
    ~oOo~
     
     
    In the ER parking lot, Connor dismounted and put up his hand to hold his brothers off from doing the same. They weren’t followed, so the coast seemed clear enough for now.
     
    “You sure?” Sherlock asked.
     
    “Yeah. Got it from here. You get back, catch Hooj up on this shit.”
     
    Diaz and Sherlock exchanged a look, then they nodded in unison and pulled out. Connor took off his helmet. After a thought, he shrugged off his kutte, folded it, and stowed it in a saddlebag. Going into the ER with this douche while he was wearing colors could cause problems. Then he went to Pilar’s car and opened the passenger door. Hugo was unconscious.
     
    He hoisted her brother back onto his shoulder.
     
    “I can take it from here,” she protested.
     
    “Too late. And we’re still not done. We need to have a serious talk. So let’s get him seen to.”
     
     
    ~oOo~
     
     
    Connor sat in the ER waiting room and did what the room was there for. He waited. Until he could grab Pilar and get some information and set some parameters, he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d fielded a couple of calls from his father, but since he didn’t have any more information yet, Hoosier had stopped calling.
     
    It was a pretty sure bet that they were now beefing with the Aztecs, and they had to control the ripple effect to every extent that they could. But there were a lot of unknowns yet—several of which had to do with Pilar and her brother. The club had to decide whether this one foray into helpfulness was the last favor they’d do for them, or if they’d taken them on as a responsibility. To know that, they’d need to know how the fuck Hugo had gotten himself into the position they’d pulled him from.
     
    Pilar came through the doors to the treatment room once, but she ignored Connor. Her attention was devoted entirely to a small, thin woman who’d been standing at the reception desk. The woman was older—elderly, in fact—but her back was straight and her hair and clothes were stylish. Pilar hugged her, hard, and after a few exchanged words, they went back through the doors.
     
    And Connor kept waiting.
     
    Finally, both Pilar and the woman Connor assumed was her grandmother came back through the doors, and this time they headed his way. He stood and met them in the middle of the room.
     
    Pilar spoke first. “Nana, this is Connor. He and his friends helped us today.”
     
    The older woman smiled and held out a spotted hand. “Thank you, Connor. So much. I am Renata Salazar.” Like Pilar, her grandmother had almost no accent. Just a little linger over her Rs.
     
    He took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Happy to help, Mrs. Salazar.”
     
    Smiling at the respect, she patted his hand and then let go and turned to Pilar. “I’ll stay with Hugo. You have done enough for him today, and you have work in the morning. You go.”
     
    “No, Nana—”
     
    “Go, mija . I mean