He gets up from putting the beer on the floor and glances our way. He raises his head; his hair falls back out of his eyes. “Yes, I did. I got you two,” he says, his eyes darting between Elena and Ava. “Four bottles between you. Is that enough?”
Axle chuckles and answers for them. “Hell yeah! I’m getting lucky.”
“Yes, it is, thank you, Rage.” Elena’s eyes flit back to me. “Axle’s a handful!”
I crack a smile and peek at Axle. “I can see that.”
“I got your whiskey too.” Rage says.
I look up to see his eyes on me. I swallow hard and feel a hand on my arm.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else you drank, so I made sure there was enough whiskey here,” says Ava.
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
“I know what it’s like to feel out of place here,” Elena says, but Ava finishes.
“We wanted to make sure you felt welcome. No matter what happens, we would love to exchange numbers with you. We don’t have any real friends, and it’s hard to find genuine people these days.”
My hand goes to my heart. “I’m flattered. I would love to catch up again.”
I’ve missed having friendships with other women. I have people I work with, but I’ve never found a bond like the one I had with Misty. I know I never will, but I need to stop comparing my friendship with her to my friendships with others. These women are here now and seem like lovely people to build one with.
“Did you want to go outside?” Elena asks. “Somewhere a bit more private.”
We follow her out past the kitchen and out the back door. Conan raises his head and wags his tail when he sees us. When we step down closer to him, he stands with his long tongue hanging out. We all pat him as we walk to the table and chairs, and he trots beside us. When we sit, he sits in front of Ava.
“He’s like a big gentle teddy bear,” I say to them.
Ava laughs and rubs behind his ears. “Yes, he is,” she replies.
Conan groans with enjoyment and leans further back into her.
“How are you?” Elena asks.
My lips press into a line. “I’m struggling, if I’m being honest.”
“You don’t have to tell us anything, but know that if you need to talk to someone, we’re here for you.”
I pull my phone from my pocket and pass it to Elena. “Can you both put your numbers in my phone?”
Elena grasps the phone and types away on it, then passes it to Ava.
“There’s so much going on, but it looks like my sister and Knox’s mom, Audrey, left together. Audrey now lives in their holiday home in the mountains, so we think that is where Misty is. But then again... I don’t know how much you know about Knox’s family, but they are very wealthy. Audrey could have taken Misty wherever she wanted.”
“I knew the clubhouse is on Bomber’s land,” Ava points out.
“If I was that rich, I’d be living it up somewhere on a beach, drinking wine.” Elena shakes her head. “How do you feel about the news that they left together?”
My throat tightens. “It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it hurts. I thought me and Misty were close... but the more information that’s uncovered, the more I don’t think I knew her at all. The Misty I knew would never leave her family and Kane.”
“That’s Bomber’s brother, isn’t it?”
I give Elena a sharp nod.
“All I know is the police officer managing Misty’s case did a poor job and purchased a home in Crown Village, which his wife paid for in full. So we’re thinking he got paid off by Audrey.”
“Isn’t Crown Village expensive to buy in?” Elena asks.
