20. Taylor #2
When we get our order, Cici takes a spoonful of hers and looks at me. “So, what was the rush?”
I shrug. “I’m not a fan of Molly.”
“Why not? She’s always been nice to me.”
“There’s something off about her. You should be careful around her. I don’t trust her.”
“Why not?”
I don’t know how to warn her without setting her off about her mother’s death. “I just don’t.” I study her. “Do you trust me, Cici?”
“Player does, so that’s good enough for me.”
“Just believe me about Molly, okay? I don’t trust her motives. Promise me you won’t go anywhere with her alone.”
“All right, but what do you think she’s gonna do?”
“I think she might be a mole.”
“A mole? What’s that?”
“Someone who gains the trust of a group and secretly gathers information from the inside, passing it on to the enemy. Sometimes it’s months or years before they’re exposed as a spy.”
She chuckles.
I frown. “What’s so funny?”
“Molly the mole.” She snorts.
I grin. “Good one.”
“If she’s working for the enemy…” She sits up straighter. “I need to tell my father. If it’s the Depraved Sinners—”
“Just hold on. We don’t know anything for sure.”
“Well, what did you hear her say?”
“Okay, it sounded bad, but maybe it isn’t what it sounded like.”
“Well, what did it sound like?” She quirks a brow, like I’d better goddamn tell her.
“It sounded like maybe she gave someone information before the bombing. It sounded like they weren’t supposed to hit the place when your mother and my brother were there. But Cici, I could have heard wrong.”
“That fucking bitch. I’ll kill her.”
I grab her arm. “You’ll do no such thing. The club will deal with her when they return. Promise me. She could be really dangerous, and it sounds like she has even more dangerous people on speed dial.”
“Fine, but when they get back, the shit is going to hit the fan.”
That gives me pause. “Cici, who are you staying with while they’re all out of town? You’re not out at the beach alone, are you?”
“I wish. I’m staying with my grandmother here in Rehoboth.”
“Does Molly know where your grandmother lives?”
“I didn’t tell her, if that’s what you mean.” She takes another scoop of ice cream. “She’s really been trying to befriend me. I guess I know why.”
“Honey, don’t let her suck you in.”
“I won’t.”
“Maybe it would be better if you stayed close to home until the guys get back. And make sure your doors and windows are locked.” I make a face and dig in my purse.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. My arm is starting to ache.” I shake a pill out and swallow it.
Her gaze falls to my arm. “Are you afraid it’s going to scar?”
“I know it will, but I can’t do anything about that.” The thought makes my eyes fill.
She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Maybe there is, I mean, once it's healed.”
“Like what? Plastic surgery?”
“Beck has an old friend from high school who does tattoos. I bet he could cover it up.”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m the tattoo type.”
“It’s got to be better than a scar, right?”
“Maybe.”
“He’s really good. He’s got his own shop and everything. The Inked Tiger off Rehoboth Avenue.”
I frown. “That big two-story brown house with the driftwood sculpture out front?”
“That’s the place. Wanna go talk to him? He could tell you if he could cover it.”
I’m not really interested in a tattoo, but Cici seems to want to help me, and I want to be friends with Player’s sister. “Okay. Sure.”
“We can leave your car here for now. I’ll drive.” She finishes her ice cream, tosses it in the trash can beside her window, and backs out.
We chitchat on the drive over, and I find out she’s been crazy about Drae for years now, but he’s never let her get too close.
When we pull in the lot of the shop, she parks, and I follow her inside. A man is at the counter with a customer who walks out with a bag of product, and he leans his elbows on the counter. His muscular arms are covered in ink.
“What brings you in here, squirt?” he asks Cici.
“Zaden, this is Player’s girl, Taylor. Taylor, Zaden.”
He straightens and nods. “Nice to meet you. What can I do for you ladies?”
“I was just telling Taylor what an awesome tattoo artist you are, and I thought maybe you could help her out with her scar.”
He frowns. “Scars can be tricky, but the good thing is the skin is usually pain-free because the nerve endings are deadened. How big is your scar?”
“Um…well…” I stammer.
“It hasn’t had time to heal yet. It’s under the bandage,” Cici says. “You should show him, Taylor.”
I bite my lip. Oh, what the hell. I lift one side of the bandage for him to see.
“Whoa. That’s a bad burn. You have a doctor look at it?”
“Yes. He said it would take a while for it to heal.”
“Her old boyfriend did it with a curling iron. Isn’t that sick?”
Zayden stiffens. “A guy did that to you?”
I drop the bandage and don’t meet his eyes. I’m sure he can tell by my body language that I don’t want to talk about it.
“Look, I’m sorry that happened to you, and that guy should be strung up from a tree, but yeah, I could cover it up once it’s completely healed for a while. I wouldn’t want to rush into it anytime soon, though.” He slides a book over and flips to a page. “How about something like this?”
He shows me a beautiful spray of flowers and butterflies in beautiful soft colors on a girl’s thigh.
“That’s lovely.”
“Thanks. You can’t even see the scar underneath, can you?”
“That girl has a scar?”
“Yep. Big jagged one from a car wreck.”
“Wow. That’s amazing. I couldn’t tell at all.”
He grins. “It’s all in the magic.”
Cici tugs me to the wall and points at a design. “That one’s pretty, too.”
We spend another few minutes looking at designs, then I thank Zayden for his time and tell him I’ll keep him in mind when it heals.
He wishes me luck, and we leave.
Cici drops me at my car, and I make her promise she’ll steer clear of Molly. Then we part ways.
I go up to The Rusty Pelican, but Kayla won’t let me work. Instead, she parks me at a table and feeds me lunch. She won’t let me drive and has Pete take me home, and Ron follows him to drive Pete back to the bar.
By sunset, I’m exhausted and tucked into my bed.
Knowing Randall is far away, I rest easy and fall asleep soon after texting Player that I’m home and going to bed.