Chapter 16 – Whitney
WHITNEY
Iwent back inside, confused by the way Stone abruptly ended our conversation. He seemed mad, but I didn’t think I had said anything to upset him.
When I arrived at the table, I realized someone new had joined us. “Whitney, this is Naomi. She’s Cora’s daughter,” Stevie said. “Naomi, this is Whitney.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “So, that makes you Sin’s sister?”
“Oh, you weren’t here for that,” Hadley said. “Cora is married to Juice, the original president of this chapter. They have four kids—Sin, Danger, Naomi, and Halo.”
“I don’t think I’ve met Halo or Danger.”
“Halo is the baby-faced biker with blond hair. The one to his left is Danger,” Naomi said, pointing to the table where they were sitting.
“So, what did Stone want to talk about?” Stevie asked.
“He had some questions about Glenn and the shit that happened today,” I told her and scrunched my nose. “He seemed …”
“Pissy,” Naomi finished for me.
“Yeah, maybe.”
She laughed. “Don’t take it personally. Stone’s always been moody.”
“I don’t know. This was abrupt. I think it was something I said.”
“What were you talking about?” Stevie asked.
“Um.” I glanced across the table and back to Stevie, unsure of what I could say in front of Naomi and Cora.
“We know why you’re here,” Naomi said quietly. “Our family is the core of the chapter. Mom and I are the only nonmembers who always know what’s going on, so you can speak freely in front of us.”
“We were talking about the letter and who might’ve sent it. I asked if they could possibly have meant another girl in a casket. He said I’m the only one they’ve found, so it has to be me. And that’s when he ended the conversation and went back inside.”
“You can’t ask shit like that,” Stevie whispered harshly.
“I can’t ask if they’re sure I’m the subject of the letter?”
“You can’t ask about their business dealings. Would you ask a mob boss if he mixed up any of his hits?”
“Oh, I see what you mean. Should I apologize?”
“Nah,” Naomi said. “Like I said earlier, he’s moody as fuck. His dick probably touched his leg wrong or something.”
Hadley made a strange sound and quickly shoved back from the table as beer streamed from both nostrils. It looked like someone had turned on a faucet. “Ugh,” she coughed. “Warn a bitch next time!”
“Yeah,” Stevie laughed. “You can sit with us any time.”
We continued talking to Naomi and Cora for another hour before we went back to our room for the night.
“Are y’all sure I shouldn’t say something to Stone?” I asked. “I don’t want him to think I’m an asshole.”
“Trust me. He doesn’t think you’re an asshole,” Hadley said confidently. “Have you seen the way he looks at you?”
“Yeah, like he’s pissed off at me.”
“No, like he wants to devour you.”
“Is she serious?” I asked Stevie.
Stevie shrugged. “Maybe it’s both. Angry fucking can be top tier.”
“I think you’re both wrong.”
“We’ll see,” she said.
“Do you feel like going over some stuff?” Hadley asked. “Or would you rather wait until tomorrow?”
“No, I’d rather start now. I don’t think it would be a good idea to let my mind wander unsupervised until tomorrow morning.”
Smiling, she reached for her laptop. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
* * *
The next morning, Stevie drove one of Hadley’s cars to work while Sin followed behind her in his truck. She was adamant about not drawing any attention to the situation, and that was the compromise they reluctantly agreed upon after a lot of arguing over breakfast.
Hadley and I spent the morning searching for more information on Nate and Tate Wood and any connections they might have to me other than Glenn.
I hadn’t been able to find any. The only people who cared enough about me to do something like that were Stevie and Hadley.
And the only people I knew to have shady connections were my mother and Glenn, and they were both dead.
“Damn,” Hadley said after lunch, “I don’t want to stop working on this stuff, but I have to take care of a few administrative things for the other businesses before it gets out of hand.”
“Is there something I can do so you can keep working on it? You’re much better at finding information than I am.
” I’d helped Hadley with administrative tasks for her PI business here and there over the years when I was in between jobs or when she was overloaded with cases, but I’d never been involved with her other business ventures.
“Yes!” she said excitedly. “I need to order supplies for the diner and sign off on payroll for last week. Then, there’s an email from Anthony with a list of shit that needs to be addressed.
Order and approve whatever he needs. Then, I need to move any meetings I have this week to next week or the one after. ”
“I can take care of all that.”
“Are you sure? It’s a lot of boring shit.”
“Yes, I’m sure. I’m happy to help you so you can help me.”
“While you’re ordering things, order yourself a phone and have it delivered tomorrow. I was thinking about it, and I don’t think you should turn your old one back on anytime soon. If anyone asks, say you lost it and borrowed one from me until you’re able to get a new one.”
“By anyone, you mean the police?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t want to talk to the police.”
“You might not have to. But if you do, we’ll make sure you know exactly what you’re supposed to say,” she said as if it wasn’t a big deal.
It was a huge deal. Any time a cop had wanted to talk to me, it didn’t end well, starting with the first time my mother lost custody of me.
* * *
Hadley and I were sitting with Cora and Naomi at a table in the dining area, with a warm plate of food waiting for Stevie as she requested via text before she left the courthouse. Apparently, her day didn’t go as planned, and she missed lunch.
“Thank fuck!” Stevie said, picking up her hamburger and taking a bite before she sat down. “Mmm,” she groaned. “So good.”
“Busy day?”
“You have no idea,” she said, talking with a mouth full of food. “People are fucking crazy. Holy shit, this is good.” She grabbed a couple of fries and shoved them into her mouth. “Is there a gym around this monstrosity? I can’t keep eating like this without working out.”
“There’s one downstairs in the flood zone,” Naomi said.
“That’s what she calls the area under the house,” Cora clarified.
“Because that’s what it is,” she said. “I can show you where it is, or you’re welcome to join me when I go down a little later. I usually walk a few miles on the treadmill and then go for a swim to cool off.”
“Thank you. I would love to join you. But not tonight. I need time to mentally prepare for exercise.”
Naomi laughed. “Same, girl. I try to get down there every night during the week, but I make no promises for the weekends, including Friday nights.”
“Count me in for tomorrow night,” Stevie said and looked at me. “Did you order a bathing suit?”
“No. I didn’t think you were serious.”
“I’m sure I have something you can borrow,” Naomi said. “I’m bad about ordering things online and never returning them when they don’t fit.”
“Perfect,” Stevie said. “Problem solved. So, did anything exciting happen today?”
“No, not a damn thing,” I said.
“Well, don’t sound so disappointed. At least the total body count didn’t go up. That’s something to be happy about.”