Chapter 28
28
“ I ’m flying you home,” Roxanne announced when they sat down for dinner.
“My bike is here,” Viper countered, topping off Lina’s wine before reaching for Roxanne’s “special” bottle and topping hers.
“I’ll have Michael drive it down. You cannot hop on a bike and ride to Mystery Lake, Lina. You’ll be shattered when you arrive and then you’ll try to push through and then, because you’ll be exhausted and still sore, you’ll become emotional. Then, you’ll become annoyed at being emotional and thus starts the fatigue spiral. Dante’s inferno wasn’t a figment of his imagination.” She paused. “Well, not entirely.”
Lina cocked a brow. “Are you saying Dante’s nine circles of hell are a metaphor for being tired ?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone knows it’s about the rejection of sin, but you can’t tell me it wasn’t inspired by it. Listlessness and limbo aren’t unrelated. Gluttony and eating your feelings? Wrath? How often have you lashed out, said things you didn’t mean when you’re tired?”
“I’ve never read it, but it sounds spot-on,” Viper said.
Roxanne nodded. “And you don’t want to go through that, Lina. Especially not when I can fly you home tomorrow, see my boys, meet Stone’s and Mantis’s new friends…” She took a sip of her drink.
“Stone was behind the bar that night, wasn’t he?” Lina asked.
He nodded. “He’s ass over teakettle in love with Juliana Morganstern, one of the librarians from the presidential library. They recently went through some shit but ended up uncovering a ring of corruption three decades old. And they got a puppy out of it. Sherman’s damn cute.”
“And I need to meet Sherman,” Roxanne added. “You wouldn’t deny an old lady the chance to cuddle a puppy, would you?”
Lina snickered.
Viper rolled his eyes. “‘Old’ my ass,” he muttered on a sigh. “Fine, but if Michael messes with my bike, the Secret Service will be looking for a missing person.”
Roxanne rolled her eyes right back. “Nothing will happen to Alice. Vehicles of any sort are the only thing Michael has the utmost respect for.”
“Alice?” Lina asked.
“Long story,” he replied, feeling oddly insecure about telling her the origins of his bike’s name. Of course, Roxanne had no such qualms.
“Named after Alice Walker. They both grew up in Georgia, hard childhoods. Although, Jackson’s was harder in many ways. He found a book of her poems a year or so before he discharged. He admires what she made of her life, what she stood for, and what she spoke out about. Naming his bike after her made sense. An homage in a way.”
Lina blinked. “How do you know all this?”
“A night of tequila and dancing four years ago. Well, tequila for him,” Roxanne said, then smiled and added, “I learned a lot that night. By the way, Michael and Klaus lost Sam and Nest near Tacoma and are headed home. You’ll have all your belongings in the morning. And a good breakfast before I fly you down to Mystery Lake.”
“There’s no arguing this, is there?” he asked.
Roxanne took a sip of her drink and shrugged. “You could, but it would be tedious, and you’ll still lose.”
He grumbled to himself, turning his attention to dinner, his silence and the bite of lasagna signaling his capitulation.
They retired to the living room after the heavy meal to enjoy coffee and the fireplace. Halfway through his cup, Mantis called.
“How is she?” he asked.
Viper glanced at Lina sitting on the couch, hunched over one of Roxanne’s old photo albums. Her dark hair fell around her like a curtain, the ends a deep red in the glow of the flames.
“She’ll be sore tomorrow, but otherwise, okay,” he replied. He’d called the club from the airport before taking off from Cannon Beach to fill them in. If they were bringing danger with them to California, he wanted them prepared.
“Good. Leo’s here. He has an update,” Mantis said.
Viper considered putting the call on speaker, then opted to wait and hear what Leo had to report first. If he didn’t have to bring all this shit crashing back down on Lina tonight, he’d rather not.
“Shoot,” he said.
“When do you get back?” Leo asked.
“Tomorrow,” he replied before relaying the plan. “You may want to give Stone the heads-up. I think Roxanne is angling to stay with him and Juliana.”
Mantis chuckled. “Juls is going to freak out,” he said.
“I want to be in the room when they’re introduced,” Leo said.
Viper smiled. Stone’s woman was a major history buff, and while Roxanne wasn’t ancient by any means, she was living history when it came to Hollywood. “I think we all do,” he chimed in.
“I’ll have someone meet you at the airport with your car so you and Lina can head straight to Murphys before meeting everyone at the club,” Mantis said.
“Since you’re going to be here in less than twelve hours, I’ll wait to go over everything in person, it will be easier,” Leo said, returning to his reason for joining the call. “I’ll see if Kara can join us to walk through the medical stuff.”
“That would be great,” Viper said. If he didn’t learn anything new right now, he’d have nothing to share, and Lina could continue relaxing.
“I’ll tell Dottie, too. If I ask nicely, she might make extra coffee cake for you,” Mantis added.
Viper groaned, drawing the women’s attention. He smiled and waved them off. Lina’s gaze lingered, but Roxanne pulled her attention to another photo.
“Fly safe,” Mantis said.
“We will.”
“And tell Lina she’s not getting away without a proper thank you for what she did earlier this summer.”
“I won’t. You can surprise her with that.” Both men were chuckling when he ended the call.
“Everything okay?” Lina asked.
He took a sip of his coffee and nodded. “Someone will meet us tomorrow with my car. We’ll drive to Murphys, pick up the last item, then meet everyone at the club to lay all the cards on the table.”
She studied him, her eyes searching his. Then, with a nod, she turned back to the photo album.
Rather than let his head spin with all the what-ifs and whys and guesses about what Leo and the others would share tomorrow, he opened a browser on his phone and caught up with all his favorite teams and sports news—nothing like a little escapism to pass the time.
Plus, he had a feeling tomorrow would be a big day.