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The riders dismounted and approached.

“There are two men in the boat. Not sure if they’re still breathing,” Cypher said. Wrath and Cyclone passed them without a word. “Don’t know if I left prints, but there’s some of her blood in there.” He didn’t know what they would do. Didn’t care either. The only thing that mattered right now was making sure Lauren was okay.

“Oh, they did a number on you, didn’t they, Doc?” Hillbilly said stopping in front of them. He slid his gaze down her body. Cypher could tell from his expression that he wasn’t ogling her but taking in her appearance and doing a mental inventory. “Come on, let’s take a look.” He turned back to where the bikes were parked. Lauren stepped off the wood of the dock onto the grass and followed him. A soft sigh escaped after several steps.

“You all right?” Cypher asked.

“I will be. But the grass is so much softer and cooler than the dock. It just felt so good.”

“Good.”

“Come on sit on Cypher’s bike and let me take a look at you,” Hillbilly said, waving her toward them as he dug into the large case mounted behind the seat on his bike. While she made her way gingerly across the pavement, Hillbilly pulled a battered toolbox, with chipped paint and a couple of dents. He carried the box over and set it on the ground beside Cypher’s bike. “Let’s see what’s going on here.” He knelt and opened the box. Cypher opened the case on the side of his bike where he stood, pulled out a spare t-shirt, and put it on.

“That’s not tools,” Lauren said, her eyes wide.

“Depends on what I’m fixing, doesn’t it?” Hillbilly grabbed a couple gloves from a pile and pulled them on, then looked up a Lauren. “I think we should start with the cuts, get them cleaned up and see how bad they are, and work our way toward your face. Unless there’s something that really hurts and you think it needs attention first. What do you think?”

“I don’t think any of them are deep. He was trying to scare me more than hurt me. And I think he liked the blood.”

Hillbilly pulled several things from the box and got to work, starting with the cuts on her thighs.

“You said they wanted to scare you,” Cypher said. “Did they say why or what else they wanted?” He hoped that by talking to her, getting her to tell him what happened, it would distract her from what Hillbilly was doing. He stepped to the side, so she had to turn her head to look at him. It kept her from seeing exactly what Hillbilly was doing, while still letting Cypher keep an eye on his brother and everything going on behind him. They weren’t in their own territory and they probably weren’t safe.

“They wanted to know what Lacey said to me. I wouldn’t tell them. I couldn’t. They wanted me to commit to not testifying in the trial against her teacher.” She shook her head. “The were working for someone, but they never said who, they just kept referring to him as His Royal Honor.”

Cypher clenched his teeth. Between the registration on the boat and the His Royal Honor, there was little doubt that Mercer wasn’t involved. The question was how deep and how dirty were his hands?

But that was something he’d have to look into later. Now he had to worry about Lauren. As Hillbilly continued to clean her up, occasionally closing a cut with butterfly bandages, he tried to focus on her.

“How did they get you?”

Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I wasn’t paying close enough attention. I came out of the office and put my bag in the back of the car. I was closing the back when an arm came around my middle, and something covered my face. I tried to fight, to get free, but I got dizzy and my muscles went weak, then everything seemed to fade away.” She shook her head slowly, as if she couldn’t believe what she was telling him. “I woke up once. I knew I was in a car and we were moving, but my head hurt so bad and I was nauseated. I tried to stay awake, but I went back to sleep.”

“When they covered your mouth, do you remember smelling anything?” Hillbilly asked. As he moved from her legs to her arms and continued cleaning.

Lauren frowned as she turned to look down at him.

“Yeah. I had forgotten that, it was sweet but off. Kind of chemical. Kind of like cheap diet sodas that leave that nasty after taste, but stronger.”

Hillbilly shifted his gaze to meet Cypher’s eyes. Cypher wasn’t sure what it meant but from the look on his brother’s face, it wasn’t good.

“No problem. I think I got all the cuts, unless there’s something I can’t see?”

“That’s all, I’m pretty sure. Nothing else hurts but my face.”

“That’s next. You don’t sound like you’re having trouble breathing, tell me how it feels.”

“Plugged up. Like the worst cold I’ve ever had. I want to blow my nose but I’m afraid of how much it will hurt.”

“Don’t blow. The nose is broke but I’m more worried about your eye.” Hillbilly flicked his wrist and checked his watch. “Shane should be here with the truck any time. I’m going to recommend the two of you hop in and head back to Mobile.” He shifted his gaze to Cypher. “Take her to see Bones. He’ll run bloodwork and do x-rays to make sure they didn’t break your orbital bone. He’ll do a better job of setting your nose than I would anyway.” Hillbilly lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Plus, he has good pain meds. You’ll want that when he starts moving the bones around.”

He reached into his toolbox and pulled out something Cypher recognized. Bending the white pouch in his hands he squeezed until there was a soft pop, then he shook it a few times.

“Here, hold this on your face. It will help with the swelling.”

Lauren flinched back then reached up and took the emergency ice pack in one hand and held it gingerly against her face.

“Thank you,” she said. “But if we take the truck, how will Cypher’s bike get back?”