"You're hurt."

"Dislocated my shoulder when I fell," he said through gritted teeth.

"We need to get you to a hospital."

"No hospitals. The club. But first you have to help me with my shoulder."

"How?"

"I need you to hold it in position while I slam it against this wall. That should jam it back in."

"Have you done this before?"

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"Okay. What do I do?"

"Take my arm."

She slid her hands on his bicep.

"Push it up."

"Like this?"

"Yeah. Right there. Hold it."

"Okay."

"One, two, three."

He slammed it into the wall, and Jessie could hear it pop. It was a sound that had her wincing.

"Fuck!" He bent over stomping his foot as the pain shot through him. "Fuck. That hurts like a bitch."

"Are you okay?" Jessie asked, her hands cupping his face as he straightened.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. We need to get out of here and find a phone."

They stumbled down the gangway until it came out on the street. They paused at the corner of the brick wall, peering around.

"You see 'em?" Ghost asked, glancing around.

Jessie searched in both directions. "No."

"We need to find a phone."

"There's a convenience store on the corner across the street. I could go and make a call."

"You remember that number I made you memorize?"

"Yes."

"Okay. But be careful."

"I don't want to leave you here."

"I'll be fine. You have to hurry, Jess. They realize we're gone, they're gonna double back."

She nodded. "Stay hidden."

"You got it, cupcake." He grinned at her.

She lifted up on her toes, her hands on his chest and lifted her head for a kiss. He dipped his head and met her halfway. And then he was pulling back.

"Go."

She dashed across the street.

A bell tinkled above the door as she entered the tiny store. There was metal gating across the front window cluttered with beer and cigarette ads. A counter stood to the left with a cash register. Jessie glanced around. There was no one in the store.

"I need to use a phone. It's an emergency."

The man behind the counter eyed her with little sympathy.

"Please," she begged.

He huffed out a breath, but reached for a wireless phone and handed it to her. She frantically punched in the number Ghost had taught her.

"Clubhouse," a deep voice muttered through the receiver.

"Ghost is hurt. We need help."

"Who the fuck is this?" came the reply.

"It's Jessie."

"Where is he?"

Jessie pulled the phone away from her mouth and asked the clerk. "Where am I?"

"Gip's. Fifty-Third Street. Fairfield."

She repeated the information into the phone.

"Okay. Hang tight, girly." With that nickname, she realized this must be Griz.

"Hurry, Griz, please."

The phone went dead. She shoved it back at the man with a mumbled thank you and dashed out the door. Terrified the entire run back across the street that Ghost would be gone, that they would have doubled back and found him. She reached the gangway, and he stepped out of the shadows.

She flung her arms around him, "Thank God."

"You find a phone?" he asked, his head dipping next to hers as she held him. "You okay?"

She nodded against him, knowing her reaction must be scaring him. Everything was starting to catch up with her. She'd been running on pure adrenaline, but now she was starting to fade fast. "They're coming, Ghost."

"Good, baby doll. You did good." He kissed the top of her head.

They waited in the gangway, the whole time she couldn't keep her hands off him. She needed to touch him.

About fifteen minutes later they heard the distant roar of several bikes approaching. They staggered out together into the street, and three bikes came to a stop, followed by a panel van. Hammer, Griz and JJ were on the bikes, and Heavy was in the van.

Griz was off his bike in a flash, grabbing Ghost to him. "You scared the shit outta me, bro. What the fuck happened? We found Yammer by the gate. He's not sure what hit him."

"Death Heads. They're after Jessie. Get us the fuck out of here, before they come back."

Griz put his arm around Ghost and led him to the van. Hammer approached Jessie.

"You okay, darlin'?" he asked softly, studying her face.

"I'm fine."

Hammer put a hand on her back and guided her to the van.

It was late that night when Ghost finally rode them back to his place, escorted by two of his brothers who stuck around long enough to check the place over, then left with a nod, their bikes roaring off down the road.

As Jessie's eyes followed their fading taillights, Ghost grunted, "You don't feel safe, I can get them back."

She turned to look at him, and shook her head. "It's fine."

"Is it, Jess? Cause tonight changed everything. They know you're here in town. They came for you. It's a whole new ballgame now."

She nodded. "I suppose it is."

He stared at her a moment as if trying to come to a decision, then jerked his head. "Come on. I want to show you something."

He moved around the side of the building, and she followed. Instead of moving toward the terrace, like she'd expected, he moved off toward the adjacent vacant land. It was part field, part wild bushes, and part overgrown underbrush. They walked through the knee-high grass some distance until they got to a tree line where he stopped beside a fallen log.

"See this?"

She nodded, wondering why in the world he'd bring her out here to show her a log.

He knelt down, dug around under some brush, and came up with what looked like a canvas backpack. Flipping it open, he pulled out a 9mm.

"Its got a full magazine. All you have to do is take the safety off. Aim and shoot."

She glanced around. "You think they'll come here?"

"Maybe."

She knew he was being honest with her, giving it to her straight, but that honesty was doing nothing to reassure her.

"They do, and something happens...in a way where I can't help you, you get out and get here."

She understood what that hesitation in his explanation meant. That 'something' being something happening to him, as in them killing him.

"Ghost-"

"They come, they'll have to go through me, Jess. But I want you prepared. Just in case you're on your own."

She looked down at the gun in his hand and hugged herself. She couldn't bear the thought of something happening to him.

"Blood already taught you how to shoot it, right?"

She nodded.

"I wasn't too happy about that. Now, I'm glad. He's a smart man. Guess he saw this coming."

She glanced around as the wind whipped her hair in her face. She didn't want to talk about Blood, or her shooting lesson, or how smart the man was. She wanted to know about a gun in a bag in a field. "Why is it hidden out here?"

"Rally point."

"What?"

"We get separated and you make it out, you come here, get the gun and run if you can. If you can't, you shoot the shit out of whatever comes after you."

"Please stop talking." She closed her eyes.

"Not sayin' this shit to panic you. Sayin' it cause it might come to that. If it does, you've got a plan." He was silent for a moment. "Jess, look at me."

She shook her head.

"Jess."

She opened her eyes.

"You understand?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Good." He put the gun back, stood and strode the three steps that separated them.

She looked up at him. "I'm sorry about before, about not trusting you enough to tell you everything. I was ashamed, Ghost. And now I've brought all this trouble."

His hand came up and cupped the side of her face, his thumb stroking over her cheekbone. "We done fighting?"