Chapter 35
MARIETTA
Word of my big mouth gets out fast, and even Iron Jack agrees that I have to stay at the club until the raid is over. No bar. No class. No leaving at all.
Symphony about loses her shit over it and drives up to the club with Jenna. Betz makes them turn around, pointing to Adam on the roof with his gun.
I know all this is too much. If romance author Joanna Wylde put this in one of her motorcycle club books, she’d get one-starred into oblivion for not being believable.
But it’s happening. I don’t know what to do to stop it.
Betz is super pissed about me talking at the bar and gives me the silent treatment outside of ordering me around.
Carol sleeps odd hours with the new baby, and Celia has decided motherhood is in her future and hangs out with her and the kids.
So, I spend most of my time in the bunkhouse with the new girls. It turns out Crystal’s name is actually Christina. The Kin changed it as a joke. Once she and Jami get some sleep and decent food for a few days, they look a lot better.
Iron Jack limits their roaming to the bunkhouse, kitchen, and back porch. We lug a TV into the bunkhouse from the storage room. It has a crack across it, but it mostly functions. I have Merrick smuggle me a wireless streaming stick, and we watch Netflix like it’s our job.
We try Sons of Anarchy, but the whole storyline with Jax and his pregnant ex makes Jami sob like the world is ending, so we switch to reality TV, especially Love is Blind. Christina is nuts for that show.
“I can’t believe Salvador called off the wedding at the altar!” Christina shrieks Thursday night when we’re watching season two. “What the ever-loving hell?”
Betz appears in the doorway. “You three, make yourself useful. We’re doing steak and potatoes for the last supper. You all need to prep.” She disappears.
I shut off the TV. “You ever heard anyone call something ‘the last supper’ at your club?”
Christina scoots off her bed, pulling a black scrunchie off her wrist to tie up her black hair. “Sounds biblical.”
I’ve been careful not to talk about the raid in case the two of them have a way to communicate with the Kin. As far as I can tell, neither of them came with a phone or anything else, and we sure haven’t provided one, but we can’t be too careful.
“Never heard of it,” Jami says. She strips off the gray cardigan she’s wearing over a long-sleeved T-shirt covered in kittens. The bunkhouse can get cold, but she gets hot in the kitchen.
I’ve been living in sweats since I got banished to the clubhouse. I smooth my hair in its ponytail and head to the other room.
Betz has left two full bags of baking potatoes on the counter. “Who wants to scrub and prick?” I ask.
“I’ll take the pricks,” Jami says, and she and Christina burst out laughing.
“I’ve had enough already,” I say, passing them the bags.
“Cute thing like you?” Christina dumps the potatoes in the sink. “Looks like you have that one guy all wrapped up.”
“The prospect!” Jami says with a laugh.
“The other prospect,” Christina says. “Jami has been eyeing the red-haired one.”
This is new. “Adam? You’ve talked to him?”
“Nah,” Christina says. “She’s been giving him fuck-me eyes.”
Jami elbows her. “Hush. He was looking the other day.” She presses a hand to her faded purple hair. “I wish I could fix this.”
“I’ll see if someone can’t get you some dye,” I tell her. We’ve gotten a few ordinary clothes and some toiletries through Celia, who is allowed to go into the city. I don’t know who pays for it.
“He’ll be at the last supper, for sure,” Christina says, taking the washed potatoes from Jami and poking them with a fork.
I’m glad they haven’t talked yet. Adam would probably do all right and not spill anything important, but he was definitely easy for me to get information from.
I pull a hunk of cheddar out of the fridge to grate for the baked potatoes.
“So, how long have you and the hot prospect been a thing?” Christina asks, laughing as she shifts to avoid Jami’s irate swing of her leg.
“Adam’s hot, too. Geez.”
I sit on the stool with the cheese and the grater. “I don’t know that we’re a thing.”
The two of them look at each other.
“Is he poking any other holes?” Jami asks.
Christina sobers at that. “You know I didn’t want Halo.”
“I know,” Jami says. “He was an ass. But I want to know about Marietta’s man.”
“I don’t think so,” I say. “I keep him busy.”
They burst out with fresh laughter at that, and I realize how it sounds. My cheeks burn. But it’s true. Merrick comes in around three every morning after the bar closes, and I’m always awake. And we’re still up for hours.
Everyone seems to know about us. Chain’s room is next to ours, and he sometimes bangs on the wall for us to shut up. I asked Merrick if anyone has mentioned it to him, but he just shrugged it off. Adam is on the other side, and he won’t say anything, I’m sure.
“We heard you were a cherry before him,” Christina says.
I wonder how they heard that. They’ve been kept away from the club members other than when we serve food, mainly to avoid them hearing about the raid.
“I was.” My concern grows. Could they talk to the Kin? Could I find out if they were communicating somehow?
“Is the prospect your ride or die?” Christina asks.
That’s a new term to me. “I don’t know. What makes someone a ride or die?”
Jami turns off the water. “It means you’re with them no matter what happens. If it gets ugly or hard or dangerous, you’re still in.”
I’ve never had to think about a relationship in those terms. “Do you have a ride or die?”
Jami shrugs. “I thought Halo would be, but obviously not.” She scrubs extra hard at the potato with the steel wool, like it’s a difficult thing to talk about.
“I had a ride or die once,” Christina says. “Back when I was twenty before I messed around with the Kin.”
“What was he like?” I ask, dumping the precarious pile of cheese into a bowl and continuing to grate.
Christina waves her fork, stuck in a wet potato. “He was nice. A real keeper. Had a job doing cement work. Only had one roommate in his apartment, not six.” She elbows Jami. “Am I right?”
Jami nods. “Sucks when they pack them in. Banging them is like doing a sex show.”
I can’t even imagine. “What happened?”
“I fucked it up.” Christina yanks the fork from the potato and stabs it again. “I dunno. He was safe, you know? I guess I didn’t believe he could be real. So, I took off with a loser type. You know the ones. They burn hot, promise the world, then disappear.”
“Did you try to go back to the nice one?”
“Nah.” Christina picks up a fresh potato and stabs it with renewed vigor. “He found some good girl while I was fucking around. They had a proper church wedding and got a dumb little house, the whole enchilada.”
That potato gets the full prick treatment before Christina realizes what she’s doing and sets it with the stabbed ones.
My cheese pile gets high again, so I move it to the bowl. I think I understand the concept of the ride or die. Is Merrick it?
I’m here, grating cheese, skipping class, agreeing to what amounts to a house arrest.
That’s for him.
I try to imagine leaving, getting out of the whole situation once the raid is over and the Kin gone. But the hollow ache that sweeps over me tells me I’m feeling something.
That isn’t sex. That’s yearning.
“How long were you with Halo?” I ask Jami.
“Not long,” she says. “I was supposed to be with Anarchy, the president, as a second ol’ lady. His ol’ lady picked me out, actually, wanting someone else to take on his appetite.”
I paused grating. “You were willing to do that?”
“With a president? Sure. There’s a lot of clout in that. My own cabin on the property. Money. I wouldn’t have to work.” She pushes her lilac hair behind her shoulder. “But he said the expansion of the club was more important. He didn’t want another ol’ lady. So, he passed me to Halo.”
Wait. Did she mention the expansion?
I think for a second about how to ask about it without tipping her off that it was important. “Why was the expansion so hard that another woman would take too much time?”
Jami shrugs, folding the empty plastic bag from the potatoes. “It wasn’t about time. He said something about the wife of somebody being jealous, somebody important. He was fucking her. And she was the reason the locals were looking the other way while the Kin started three meth operations.”
My heart beat faster. “She must have been important. And jealous.”
“Yeah, her husband was paralyzed or had a bum leg or something. She was hot for Anarchy. She put up with the first ol’ lady since she already existed. But I’m pretty sure she was the one who blocked him getting a second.”
That’s good information. I finish grating the block and move the grater to the sink. “I’m going to check that the steaks are defrosting,” I tell them. “Grab a platter and cut four sticks of butter into squares for the potatoes. Actually, six.”
I hurry to the bedroom where Betz is helping Carol change the sheets. “Where’s Stoney?”
Carol looks up from the bed. “He’s about to head to the Leaky Skull to meet with Iron Jack. They’re talking to Merrick about the raid.”
Betz looks like she’s about to ask me why I need to know, but I rush out front.
Stoney is strapping on his helmet.
“Stoney! I might have some information,” I call. “I just got it out of the Kin women.”
He snaps his chin strap. “What did they say?”
“Anarchy is the president of Lucifer’s Kin, right?” I ask.
“He is.”
I speak carefully to make sure I get it right. “He has an ol’ lady, but he’s also sleeping with the wife of somebody important enough that nobody’s stopping the Kin from expanding their meth operation.”
Stoney stares me down. “They have someone on the inside? Who?”
“They didn’t know her name, but her husband is paralyzed or has a problem with a leg.”
“Huh.” He glances back at the club, then at me. “You want to come with me? We better talk to Iron Jack about this.”
I look down at my clothes. Sweats, hoody, tennis shoes. I guess I’m okay to go. “All right.”
He unlatches his spare helmet. “Let’s go.”
It’s bliss to be back on the road after several days stuck at the club. Stoney rides as smoothly as Merrick, even though holding on to him isn’t nearly as fun.
We pull up to the Leaky Skull. It’s late afternoon, so there’s a decent number of cars and bikes, but it’s not crowded.
Inside, Diesel and Jake work the bar with Vicki. A woman I don’t recognize sits at the bar. Diesel keeps smiling at her and laughing. Who is that? Symphony might have a cow if she saw this.
I watch them so intently that I ram into a chair, making a screeching sound.
Stoney shakes his head and steers me toward one of the booths in the corner. Iron Jack is holed up with Merrick with a map laid out in front of them.
Iron Jack lifts an eyebrow when he sees me, but I scarcely look at him, so happy to see Merrick.
He gives me a slow grin. “Not your usual bar outfit.”
I glance down at my sweats. “I didn’t get to change.”
Stoney slides onto a seat. “Out with what you know, Mouse.”
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to sit or not, but then Merrick pulls me onto his lap. This gets the attention of the woman at the bar, who openly watches us.
I try to ignore her. “I talked to Christina and Jami today. They had some information I thought you should know.” I repeat everything they told me.
Iron Jack sits forward. “I know exactly who they’re talking about.
We thought the sheriff’s wife was stepping out with the Kin, but now, we can put it together.
” He turns to Stoney. “Blow that information up. Get it to his staff through the network. Someone will tell him. He’ll put her on lockdown.
That’ll put them all on edge before tomorrow night.
They’ll make more mistakes if they think they’ve lost their ace in the hole. ”
Stoney smacks the table. “On it. As soon as I have a beer.”
But as he slides out to head to the bar, that woman who was talking to Diesel stands in the way.
I glance up. Maybe now I’ll figure out who she is.
“You can sit,” Iron Jack says, and there’s a note in his voice I’ve never heard before.
She waits for Stoney to leave and takes his spot across from us. “You all look so serious.”
I realize she’s vaguely familiar. But from where?
Then I have it.
“You’re Greta!” I say.
She snags a peanut from a bowl on the table and raises her eyebrows. “I am. I remember you from Bailey’s wedding.”
This is Merrick’s sister! The one he and Deisel took home and kicked out her good-for-nothing husband.
Oh, shit. And I’m wearing sweats and have helmet hair. I tug on my hoodie self-consciously.
Merrick leans in to my ear. “You look fine,” he whispers.
“I see you two are getting along well.” Greta dusts the peanut salt off her hands. “How long has this been going on?”
“A while,” Merrick says. “You haven’t said why you’re in town unannounced.”
“Just checking up on my big brothers!” She stands up. “Come on, make me that fizzy pink thing.”
Merrick slides out, his hand on my hip.
“Leave the mouse for a moment,” Iron Jack says.
Greta shakes her head. “So much for women’s lib.”
I don’t think I’m making a very good impression.
“Come on,” Merrick says. “I’ll fix your drink.”
Merrick and Greta head for the bar. I sit across from Iron Jack.
He watches Greta walk away. Is that interest? Huh. I’ll have to ask Merrick about this. I haven’t seen Iron Jack look twice at anybody since I’ve known him.
He finally drags his gaze away. “Thanks for the intel. I knew you were a smart girl.” He makes a few notes on the map. “Everything all right with you and the prospect?”
“Yeah. It’s good.”
“Any talk about what will happen at the end of the two weeks?”
I shake my head. “I think we’re focused on the raid.”
He nods. “I’m sorry I had to confine you to the club. You’ll find your way. The information you get about us is a lot to absorb at first, but you’ll come to understand when to talk and when to be silent. Lives are at stake.”
I stare at the grain of the table. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re all right. We all have to learn. Stoney will take you back when he finishes his beer. Don’t leave his sight.” He tilts his head to where Stoney is downing a pint.
Iron Jack returns to his map, and I realize I’ve been dismissed. I stand up and head over to Stoney.
I only hope I contributed something that might offset the damage I may have caused the club.