Hunter's Rose (First Draft)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hunters pov:

I sighed as I rubbed my hand over my beard. My gaze moving from the papers in front of me, to my phone a few inches beside them. It had been a few hours since Rose left, and I was fighting myself on if it was too early to check up on her.

I felt a smile form on my face at the thought of her. It was amazing, how someone could go through so much and still be as caring and brave as she was.

The fact that she went through so much, but was still able to give her trust and love to people blew my mind. Most people would have lost themselves, turned into someone else, after dealing with the tragedy she did. Instead, she powered through it.

My gaze moved over the bed, my mind playing a memory of her sitting on it while she watched tv. Her gaze moving to mine when she caught me staring, sending me one her soft, shy smiles before a gorgeous shade of red would cover the top of her cheeks as she looked away.

I was brought out of my memories as a knock sounded. I glanced over to see Ace leaning against the frame, a knowing look on his face.

"Want a break?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. "I was thinking about going out for a ride, if you want to join?"

I was nodding and standing from my chair before he finished his question.

I was going crazy. I'd had three more memories between my bedroom and the garage, all about a tiny brown haired goddess.

The first was at the bottom of the staircase, the memory of her meeting the guys. How she started out wide eyed and nervous, to when her tiny hand found my own and it seemed to give her the strength she needed. She shut those beautiful emerald eyes, pushed her shoulders back and stared up at me with a look of determination.

The second one happened when we stopped in the kitchen. My gaze automatically moved the the stool at the bar where she always sat. Her chin resting on her hand as she laughed softly at whatever nonsense Jackson and Jai were spouting.

And the third memory, the one I had been previously pulled from, was of her sitting on the back of my Harley after our ride to town. Her emerald eyes wide and sparkling, her pearly white smile taking up half of her face, her cheeks flushed red and her hair a wild untameable mess. There wasn't a look I had seen that she couldn't pull off.

I jolted as a laugh sounded near me, shaking my head as I glanced over at Ace.

"Man, you got it bad." He stated, a teasing but soft smile on his face.

I let out a small laugh, nodding my head. "Yeah man, I really do."

"I'm happy for you." He admitted. "Rose is great for you, and she's great for our group. All the guys love her."

I couldn't stop the proud smile that stretched on my lips. "I don't think there's a person on this earth that could dislike her."

"We all miss her, you know?" My head swiveled over to see the small brown on his face. "I know it's not been long, but it's weird." He let out a sigh as he sat down on once of the benches along the wall. "I went to find her earlier, when I was getting ready to prep for dinner. I was stuck between two meals and was hoping she would help me decide like she normally does."

I took a seat beside him. "It's amazing. " I laughed out a sigh. "She showed up, this broken little flower, and I thought 'If I do anything good in life, I'm gonna fix her'. Then it turned out she was the one who fixed me."

"Ain't that the truth." Ace laughed. "I haven't seen this much of you since we were roomies over sea. I definitely haven't ever seen you smile this much, let alone laughing."

"It was just easier to be alone." I admitted. "After everything we saw and did."

"I get it man, trust me I get it." He said softly.

A ringtone sounded through the room. I glanced over as Ace pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Hello?" He sat up straighter. "Yes, this is him. I'm sorry, can you say that again?" His gaze moved to mine, his eyes wide, causing my furrow. "Which hospital did you say? Do you know if he was alone?" His gaze moved to mine again, before quickly moving away. " You're sure there was no one with him? Ok, we'll be there soon. Thank you."

I stood up as he did, waiting to hear what was going on. His gaze met mine, slight fear in them.

"Jackson's in the hospital. He's been shot." His voice was hard. "Hunter. They said he came to the hospital alone." My stomach sunk at his words.

"Rose wasn't with him?" He shook his head no. I quickly ran my hands over my pockets. Where was my phone? The desk. I turned quickly, taking off towards my room.

Snatching my phone off the desk, I opened it up. My heart stopping when I noticed no missed calls. I quickly scrolled through my contacts, finding Lisa's number and hitting call. No answer. I tried again, and again, before I slammed my phone down. My fingers curling into fists a few times as I tried to take calming breaths.

I picked my phone up again, my heart skipping as the picture of Rose popped up. She didn't know I took it, she had been curled up on the sofa reading a book, the sun shining through the window and casting a glow on the side of her face. I clicked on my contacts again, my thumb clicking on Dan's name. I brought the phone up to my ear as it began to ring.

Twenty minutes later, Ace, Jai and I pulled into the back parking lot of the gas station. Arthur had volunteered to go to the hospital to check on Jackson.

Dan's head turned as we pulled in, I dropped my kickstand and turned the bike off, hopping off and meeting him halfway.

"We just pulled the camera feed." He said I'm a rough voice. "It looks like this happened a couple of hours ago. I'm not sure why it took so long for us to get the call." He let out an irritated breath, bringing a hand up to loosen the top button of his shirt.

"Do we know who it was? Or where Rose and Lisa went?" My heart sped up at the fallen look that crossed his face. I glanced over as Ace and Jai made it to us.

Dan glanced away for a moment. "It was Jacob and his brother." His gaze came back to mine. "He caught Rose as she was coming out of the gas station, one minute after Jackson had walked out. There isn't a camera on the side of the building, but he pulled her around back here. She put up a fight." His gaze moved to the blood splattered on the ground behind him.

My gaze followed his, my stomach turning. "Jackson showed up a few minutes after she was dragged back here." He continued. "Jacob pulled a gun out and shot him, then he knocked Rose out and loaded her into a car."

Fury raced through my body, my vision turning red. The urge to hit something, someone, took over my body.

Ace's face appeared through the fog of red, his lips moving but no sound coming out. "Hunter! Listen man, I know you're mad. We all are, but this isn't helping. Rose needs you." The fog began to recede as his words became clearer. "Are you gonna sit here and get angry about what you couldn't help, or are you going to straighten your shit up and go get your girl?"

My vision cleared, my head nodding at his words. I glanced over at Dan, who was watching with slight concern.

"Can I borrow some men?" I questioned as I made my way to him and Jai. He sent me an apologetic look.

"You can, but it's gonna be a while." His gaze moved to the crime scene behind us. I sent his a short nod in understanding as I made my way to my bike.

"Send them my way when you have some available." I called out before bringing my bike to life.

I sent a glance over to Ace and Jai, sending what I hoped was a grateful smile as they started their own bikes, before hitting the throttle.