Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
When a woman asks you “if you want to see crazy” assure her that no, you indeed, do not.
—Rules to live by
JASPER
Apollo pulled up to the curb between my house and Calli’s and got out.
He held out a present and said, “Found this at the clubhouse.”
I grinned and reached for it. “Thanks.”
I’d ordered a few more things for Calli’s birthday, but I’d had them delivered to the clubhouse to keep her from seeing them—or opening them before I could collect the package.
“What’s going on?” Apollo asked.
I jerked my chin up at the mess in front of us. “She wanted to see if anything was salvageable.”
“Is there?” he wondered.
“Not much,” I admitted. “A few cans from the kitchen. Some Stanley cups. The wrought iron bed frame from the guest room.”
He grunted. “Dru’s with some of the ladies from the club right now buying her clothes.”
I smiled. “She’s going to be all pissy. She doesn’t feel like y’all need to do anything more than you already have.”
“Well, tough shit.” Apollo glanced at me. “Talked to a few people this morning.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “We’ll start with the man who beat the shit out of Harlow.”
I gritted my teeth.
“He’s out on bail, but they already have another warrant out for his arrest. Apparently his daughter shared some more things that’d happened to her, and that gave them free rein to do a search on his place. They found a lot of things that’d been marked missing out of police evidence. He’s cooked.”
“Good,” I said.
I’d talked to Harlow this morning, and she’d had nothing but good things to say.
She was recovering well with her friends, and wasn’t too upset about the outcome of her and Cedrick’s relationship.
“The second thing,” Apollo continued. “I talked with Max. She gave me some information on the man pulling her strings. I did some digging, and I think I’ve pulled up enough shit on this man that he’ll burn in the next few weeks.
Forwarded some shit to some old contacts with the Senate committee I was on, and I don’t think they’re going to take too kindly to his rogue agenda. ”
“Good.”
“Max went back home,” he said. “Bernie is well, well away from Max. She’s holed up in a small town in Montana near Whitefish.”
“Good,” I said.
“And I got on that information with her truck. Called the manufacturer, and they’re very concerned about what happened.
They’re already launching an investigation into everything on their end.
Apparently, this isn’t an isolated issue, and the dealership knew about the possibility of the trucks catching on fire because of a fuel leak. ”
“Good.”
“The house thing, though, I will leave up to you and her,” he said. “I just wanted to stop by and give you an update and drop the package off.”
“Thanks, man.” I held out my hand.
He took it and shook it hard before slapping me on the back. “I did one more thing.”
I looked over at him.
“I hacked into a couple CEOs’ office computers. I changed the bylaws and sent out a company-wide email that changed the distance from office. If you want to stay here, you can.”
I grinned at him this time. “Thanks, man. I’m glad you were able to do it this fast.”
I wanted Calli to have options. If she wanted to move, she could.
But if she wanted to stay closer to her sister, she could do that, too.
Whatever she wanted, I would make it happen.
“No problem.” He walked a little past where we were standing and called out, “Happy birthday, Calliope!”
Calliope popped up with something in her hand and smiled at Apollo, giving him a comically big wave. “Thank you!”
Apollo gave a small wave and went back to his car.
I walked closer to Calli and found that she was wiping something clean with her shirt.
“What is that?” I asked.
She held up something metal and squealed. “I found your Gremlin Bells!”
I caught her as she threw herself at me, the tinkling of the bells sounding right behind my ear as she wrapped every limb that she could around me.
“Did you now?”
“Yes.” She brought the bells in front of my face, pieces of ash falling between us. “See?”
“I do,” I confirmed, blowing out slightly to keep me from inhaling the ash. “Where do you want to go eat for your birthday?”
She sighed. “I’m not a big going out and celebrating person. Plus, I still have that interview in an hour and a half.”
I knew that but…
“Just you and me,” I swore. “We can go anywhere you want.”
She tilted her head. “Anywhere?”
“Anywhere.”
She slowly slipped her legs from my hips, then held the bells out to me. “How about you put these on. I’m going to have to go shower.”
I smoothed my hand down her hair, taming the flyaways as best as I could.
It seemed slightly impossible, though, due to the humidity.
The rain had started to melt the snow thanks to the temperature hitting nearly sixty today, and that’d only ramped up the humidity level to a hundred.
“Did your sister loan you enough clothes?”
“She gave me everything I’ll need,” Calli sighed.
“I don’t think they’re loans, either. I think she went out and bought it all.
That was what took her so long to get here.
I think what happened was she ran to the mall first thing this morning the moment it opened.
Then she tore all the tags off and stuffed everything into the suitcase she’d brought with her. ”
I dropped my hand from her head and caught her hand before guiding her out of the ash that had once been her house. “She loves you.”
“I know.”
“And she has the money to blow, so let her.”
Calli snorted. “She’s been trying to buy me a new wardrobe since this all happened. I just know that she had a grand time today.”
“I say let her.” I stopped at the carport and said, “I’ll be in in a bit…” I studied her. “Do you think you can do a hairstyle that’ll survive the bike? I’d love to take it out since it feels so nice out.”
She thought about it for a long second before saying, “I think I can make it work.”
And she did.
Forty-five minutes later, she came out of the bathroom fully dressed and ready to go.
She also looked killer in a pair of high-waisted black pants, a red sequined belt, and a red long-sleeved top that covered everything from wrist to neck.
Her hair was up in a sleek ponytail on the top of her head, and she reached for the sweatshirt on the bed next to my hip.
“What’s your plan, Stan?” I asked her.
“I’m going to throw this over everything. Tie the hoodie closed. And bring a pair of jeans so that I can change into them.” She frowned. “I don’t have any boots, though. So it’ll be the heels that Searcy bought me.”
“I’ll take care of your feet while you’re at the interview. I’m going to run a few places so that we can go straight to eat.”
“You don’t even know where we’re going yet.” She pulled the hoodie into place. “What if it’s right next to the boot place?”
“Where are we going, Cal?” I asked.
She leaned forward, the hoodie pulled so tight over her head and tied so tightly that the only thing that showed on her face was her eyes, nose, and mouth. “It’s a surprise.”
“Then I’ll get you the boots while you’re interviewing,” I said. “I’ll just be right down the road and can get you anytime.”
Plus, I had one more present to get her, and I didn’t want her there with me until I had it in my hands. “Do you want to open your gift that Apollo brought over?”
“You had time to get me a gift today?” she asked.
“I had it delivered to the clubhouse because you’d started opening my mail.” I chuckled.
She threw herself into my arms, and I had no choice but to fall backward onto the bed, bringing her with me.
She circled her arms around my neck and brought her face closer to mine. “You know, I feel a lot of judgment coming off of you right now.”
“Me? Judgmental?” I joked. “Never.”
She ran her nose over my own before pulling back. “Of course I want to open my gift.”
I picked her up and carried her into the living room where I’d unboxed it and left it sitting on the counter.
I sat her directly next to it and said, “I used to watch you at the bathroom counter when you did your makeup for the day. Your bathroom was directly across from my laundry room. I could see your vanity area, and I used to watch you go back and forth between whatever video you were watching and the mirror. So I got this so you can watch both.”
She picked up the box and blinked. “I had no clue they even made mirrors that allowed you to Bluetooth and screen mirror!”
I shrugged. “I was actually looking for a little sticky case or something similar that you could stick to the mirror. But then this thing popped up and I thought maybe it would work out better for you.”
She set the box down on the counter and walked directly to me, wrapping her arms around my body. “That’s so thoughtful.”
“You’re not going to make note about the fact that I used to watch you in the bathroom?”
“Not if you don’t have a problem with me watching you strip naked in your laundry room from time to time.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Guess we’re both a little creepy.”
“You call it creepy. I call it entertainment.”
Three hours later, she walked out of her interview with a small smile on her face.
She saw me and her eyes lit up.
She hurried down the steps of the huge ass building in the middle of an industrial park and headed straight for me.
When she got close enough, I pulled her into my arms and said, “How’d it go?”
“I liked him a lot,” she admitted. “That was why they were my second choice. I think the CEO is a pretty nice guy. I met him at a job fair right before I graduated, and he invited me to interview when I got back in town. The only reason I might choose the other job over this one is due to the type of work that I’ll be doing.
Here, I’ll be a little outside of my wheelhouse, and it’ll take me a bit to get up to speed.
Hence the lower pay. But only until I’ve learned the ropes.
There, I’ll be able to slip right into my role and get paid about four dollars more to do it.
Plus, I won’t have to be learning anything for three months while getting paid less. ”
“Do you like the other job’s location? The boss?” I wondered.
She shrugged. “I don’t really know.”
“But you do like this place. And you like the idea of a challenge,” I pointed out.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“Because I can see it in your eyes when you talk about this job.” I shrugged. “I’ll be happy either way. I’ll support you no matter which way you decide to go. But I think you should think long and hard about why you like this place so much.”
She hummed under her breath, then pushed off me. “Let’s go eat.”
“You want to run inside and change?” I held out the box to her.
She bit her lip before she looked around. “Take me to the dumpster over there. I should be able to change there without anyone seeing.”
I did as she asked, and she was right. She was changed into her jeans in under a minute and walking back to me with her high heels once again on her feet.
She sat on the curb and held her hand out for the shoes.
I handed her the motorcycle boots with hot pink stitching, and she smiled. “You treat me like a queen.”
“That’s because you are.”
She smiled up at me, then slipped her heels off before shoving her feet into the boots.
She held them up to inspect them. “Do you think I could wear these to work?”
“What’s the dress policy?” I wondered.
“Where I’ll be working here is a little bit more hands-on,” she said. “Which was part of why I really like this one. I’d get to wear jeans and boots. Though, I think he mentioned they had to be steel-toed.”
I bent over and tapped on her toes. “These are.”
“Then if I choose this place, maybe I’ll wear them.”
I waited for her to finish tying up her shoes, then tossed the box into the dumpster before mounting my bike.
She followed me onto it and wrapped her arms around me in excitement. “You know, I’ve been dying to do this.”
“That’s why we’re on it,” I said. “I wanted nothing more than to have you sitting behind me for as long as I’ve known you.”
“Then it’s a good thing that it’s sixty today.” She squeezed me.
“Where am I going?”
“Start her up, and I’ll guide you.”
I did just that, following her step by step turns to the letter until we ended up in the closest shopping center.
“Whataburger?” I asked the moment that I shut the bike off. “Really?”
“It’s my birthday. And you said anywhere.”
I sure the hell did.
“Let’s go.”