Zero

All the men turned to look at her.

“We know.” Tiny rubbed a finger over his lip. “Okay. I’m calling Devil. We’re going to need his help.”

“You can’t bring that maniac here,” Zero said.

“I’m calling him ready for help. I’m going to give him the heads-up. We don’t know how far this f**ker is going to go. He’s a criminal and could have a shitload of backing. You didn’t want to deal with this, then you should have put him in the ground ten f**king years ago,” Tiny said.

“He was supposed to die in the burning f**king building. I f**ked up. I know this.”

“You branched out ten years ago.” Tiny stepped closer invading Zero’s space. She tensed. The older man looked like he could squash Zero without any effort. “Not once did you ask for club help, but now we’re all involved. This is our f**king business.”

“No, you’re not. He’s after me.”

“He’s going after everyone close to you. That means the whole f**king club. Angel, Lash, Nash, my kids and my woman, Sophia. Think about it, Zero. We’re going to need all the f**king help we can get.”

Tiny made sense. Alan wasn’t going to stop until Zero begged for death.

“Don’t argue,” Prue said, speaking up. “You know he’s right, Zero. We don’t know where he is. This is a message. No one is safe, and you also know something else.” She turned away from the remains of the nurse. If they didn’t move her soon she was going to throw up.

“What’s that?” Zero asked, going to her side.

“He’s not planning on living. You once told me, in drink, how you got to Alan and what you did. You didn’t care if you lived or died. There was nothing else for you. I was safe. This is what you did to him, but he hasn’t burned her. Alan has nothing to lose. He’s more dangerous than ever before.”

“She’s right,” Tiny said.

Before she could say anything more the police entered the room. They saw Zero next to the body, and he raised his hands. “I’ve got to take you in, Zero. We got a call about you an hour ago, and we need to take you in for questioning,” the officer said.

“I’m not going with you. I didn’t do this,” Zero said, folding his arms, facing off with the men.

“Zero, be reasonable. Go and give them a statement. Don’t make this harder on everyone,” Tiny said. “He’s willing to give a statement, right?”

The officer nodded and put the cuffs away.

“We’re not here to take you in, Zero. We want to ask you some questions about this. There was a phone call earlier speaking of you and this woman f**king. I need to ask you questions, get a statement from you, and then we can handle this.”

She saw the determination on Zero’s face. He wasn’t going to be forced into anything. “Zero, don’t do this,” she said, begging him.

“I want a guard posted on her door. I can’t leave her alone. You know what this lunatic is all about,” Zero said, looking toward Tiny.

“After this incident I’ve already got a man posted on the door. He will follow her whenever she goes. Nothing will happen to her, I promise.”

Zero was silent for many minutes, and no one spoke as he weighed up the problems. Prue knew what was wrong with him. Ever since they were young he’d always had a problem with being in tight, confined spaces. Something happened with his father where he kept him in a cage over a weekend or something like that. When he got out, he spent the week with her and Trevor at their house.

“I’m not doing shit. I f**ked the woman, but I didn’t f**king kill her.”

“I’m not saying that you did, Zero. I’m offering my help as an officer of the law,” the policeman said. “I can only do my job if you give me all the facts.”

Zero shook his head. “No, you’ve got no way of dealing with this shit. You don’t have the first clue what to do to help us. You can’t even handle the f**king town. We’re the ones who do it.”

“Zero!” Tiny yelled. He wasn’t listening.

She squealed as Zero lashed out, hitting the man who’d been talking. In the sudden chaos Zero was tackled to the floor, cuffed, and escorted out. The other Skulls were on the phone as they were also taken out of the room. Tiny was cursing and looking deadly as he followed them out. In the ensuing commotion she was tugged out of the bedroom and moved to a different ward. She heard Zero screaming about not leaving her alone. Panicking, she looked around the new room wishing there was something she could do. It was daylight, so no one could come to her.

What was happening to Zero? Why did he do that? All he needed to do was go with the police and give a statement. Now they could make his life a hell of a lot more difficult.

How did Alan manage to bring a dead body into the room?

The sound of the toilet flushing to her left drew her attention. She jerked as the man in question walked out of the room. He wore a jacket with a hood, hiding his face.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, terrified. Who had wheeled her bed into this room? What the hell was happening?

There was no Skull around, and the hospital staff was dealing with the dead body. She was all alone with a lunatic, a murdering lunatic.

He closed the door, flicking the lock. Next he drew the blind down before standing at the base of the bed. She gasped as he pulled the hood back, revealing his face. Prue stared into his eyes. They were dead of all emotion.

“Did you miss me?”

She pressed the emergency button. There was no light beside her.

“This is an awful hospital. A dead body and they stop plugging in the electrics when they move you from room to room. Someone should complain about the standards in this shitty little town. You can shout if you want. I doubt they’ll hear you over the yelling,” Alan said. “Half of the cameras are fake. Did you know that? The security is around ten fat guards and a few cameras. Most of them are posted near the kiddie wards. They’re more worried about the little ones than the adults,” Alan said, grabbing her feet.

She whimpered at his touch. “What do you want?” she asked.

“I’m letting you know how easy it is for me to get to you. No one will stop me, Prue. Are you scared?”

“Terrified.” Tears filled her eyes, and she gripped the sheet over her lap. “Are you going to kill me now?”

“Why would I kill you?” he asked.