Lennon threw her head back and laughed. I shivered a bit. Lennon had one of the sexiest laughs I’d ever heard. Like we were strictly platonic girlfriends, but her laugh resonated in a way that caught the attention of everyone who heard it. It sounded rich, sultry, and smooth, like whiskey and honey. I loved it and tried to get her to laugh as much as possible. I also noticed that Bones frowned whenever he heard her laugh like that, which just made me want to make her laugh more.
“Well,” Lennon replied, “I need to do a fashion color dye job. So something other than natural hair colors. I was wondering if you’d like to dye your hair something fun, and I could trim and shape it up a bit for you. Maybe add some layers?” She looked at me hopefully, her hands clasped under her chin in supplication as she gave me puppy eyes.
“Dye my hair?” I’d never had my hair dyed, let alone cut professionally. The idea was exciting but also intimidating.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun! How about this, we’ll dye your hair, and I can do our makeup. Then we can go out for a girls’ night! There’s a club in Reno with an amazing DJ. We could have a few drinks and dance the night away. Sound good?”
Lennon had no way of knowing how excited and terrifyingly happy her words made me. I’d never had a girlfriend or a girls’ night out or… any of it, and I was dying to have a small piece of normal fun that most people took for granted. I never thought I’d get to have a friend, the freedom to go out dancing, or the choice to change something about my appearance as trivial but also as personal as my hair color. Women dyed their hair all the time, but transforming something about myself gave me a sense of agency that I hadn’t known I was missing before.
“Are you saying you want to be my fairy godmother and give me a makeover before we go dancing at a ball?”
“Uh, sure, except we won’t have a lame curfew, and the dye job definitely won’t disappear at midnight.”
I grinned at Lennon. “Let’s do it! Paint me like one of your French girls, Lennon!”
Priest
This girl was a damn ghost. Officer Perkins hadn’t found anything on her, and there were no hits on her DNA. I didn’t even have a name, so I couldn’t search for any social media profiles. How was it freaking possible in this day and age for someone to exist and leave no trace at all? It was beyond frustrating. Perkins asked for more time. He said he had a few other options to explore, but he’d probably come up with fuck all to show for it.
I just needed something concrete on her. I’d spent the past few weeks watching her prance around the compound, trying to learn about her and see if she let any details slip that could clue us in on where she came from. She was undeniably crazy, but she wasn’t stupid. She seemed completely naive one moment and jaded the next. The girl had obviously been physically abused—psychologically and emotionally too, judging by how she reacted to things sometimes.
Listening to her recount a sexual assault to Lennon had been jarring, but it was her behavior after, when she believed she was alone, that worried me. She had seemed to dissociate; her pupils dilated, but her gaze was unfocused like her mind was wandering. Her fist had struck out in a blur of speed, smashing into her reflection and distorting her image. The act seemed to bring her mind back from wherever it had gone, then she drew a damn smiley face with her own blood on the mirror. Fucking.Crazy. Not that I really blamed her. It sounded like she had a reason or two to be unhinged.
I ran my hand over my face, giving each cheek a quick slap to wake me up. I rose from the chair at my desk and walked to the bar cart I had in the corner. Duke was calling church, and I needed a drink if I was going to sit through the entire meeting with Bones glaring at me. He was still salty about my treatment of our resident vagabond. He and Cricket might like the little psycho, but being civil was the best I could do until I knew more about her and where she came from. I just couldn’t stand the thought of a potential threat under our roof, putting everything we have at risk.
Scotch in hand, I left my office and headed down the hallway to the room where we held church. As the last to arrive, I got a raised eyebrow and frown from Duke, where he was seated at the head of the table.
“Now that Priest has decided to grace us with his damn presence, we can begin,” Duke growled. “Close the door.” I closed the door and strolled to my seat at Duke’s right hand. As his son and VP, Duke was the only man in our chapter higher in rank than me. As sergeant at arms, Bones sat on his left, and the other brothers were seated on a first come, first served basis. Cricket, Bard, Pyro, Bear, Tank, Ratched, and Thor were all close to me and Bones in age. Sticks, Ace, Knuckles, and Blaze were old-timers like Duke. Prospect was the only missing face from the table, but he wasn't allowed in church until he was patched in and made an official member. Duke, Sticks, Ace, Knuckles, and Blaze were second-generation Los Cuervos, patched in by the OG Crows a long time ago. Bones, the younger guys, and I were third-generation Crows, and if we wanted there to be a fourth generation someday, we needed to run a tight ship.
Brothers had branched off and started chapters of Los Cuervos MC in other states across the Southwest. We weren’t huge like the Hell’s Angels or Iron Demons, but our MC was respectable in size and successful. We had legal businesses like Rusty’s Garage, Crow’s Landing, Harrison & Sons Construction, and stakes in a couple of casinos. Los Cuervos also operated an underground fighting ring in Reno and ran guns from Mexico for the Alvarez Cartel. From the beginning, our MC refused to engage in human trafficking and drugs, which wasone of the reasons we’d never become a huge player in the underworld. This was fine with us. We’d rather keep our souls and remain a regional club than sell our humanity for national or global reach. Some things you couldn’t come back from.
In order to stick to our guns, we had to ensure every branch of our business remained successful and ran smoothly. Blaze, known professionally as Van Harrison, owned Harrison & Sons Construction. His father, Kris, started the business, and it was the second legit business opened by the MC after Rusty’s Garage. Los Cuervos owned large stakes in each company and relied on funds from each to operate. Starting today’s meeting, Blaze gave us a rundown of HSC’s quarterly earnings and estimated completion date for the house being built on the compound. Next, Bones gave a similar report for Rusty’s Garage. Cricket managed our bar, so he went over Crow’s Landing profits, and Knuckles did the same for our casinos. We had stakes in the locations where money made from our arms shipments was laundered. Finally, Bard detailed his plans with our contact south of the border for the next shipment of guns from the Alvarez Cartel. We still had two months to scout a site for the transfer and negotiate delivery. This piece of business was the most pressing issue, and I made a mental note to get with Bard to discuss details in the next day or so.
Believing business concluded, I grabbed my empty glass and went to rise when Duke’s gruff voice called out, “VP, you got somewhere more important to be?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Nah, prez, just stretchin’.”
“We got one last piece of business. The girl. Bones said her van is coming along. I know we’ve all been watchin’ her, and other than being a littleodd, she hasn’t stepped a toe out of line. Girl’s obviously been through some shit, but who at this table can’t say the same?” Nods and grunts met Duke’s statement, and I narrowed my eyes, wondering where he was going with all this.
Pyro scoffed and sneered, “Yeah, the whore’s a real peach.”
Ace, one of the old-timers who generally avoided club drama and elected to remain silent most of the time, decided now was the moment he’d been waiting for to chime in. “You’re just sayin’ that because that little girl stomped your ass into the ground.”
Knuckles sniggered, and Cricket let out an “oh, snap!” Pyro’s face went red in anger and embarrassment. The change in his coloring made his birthmark stand out even more harshly on his face, a vicious glint entering his eye.
“That bitch will get what’s coming to her.”
“You seem awful bent outta shape over this girl. Did she bruise your ego worse than she did yourwittle baby balls?” It was odd for Ace to say much in church, but for him to be doing it just to piss Pyro off… Something was happening here, and I wasn’t sure what it was. I subtly shot Bones a questioning look, but he was too busy glaring at Pyro.
Apparently, Duke had had enough of this exchange. “Both of you just shut the fuck up. Pyro, let me hear that stupid shit come outta your mouth, and I’ll knock your teeth outta your head. And you,” he said, pointing his finger at Ace, “you stop stirring up shit. I don’t know what your problem with Pyro is, but you both need to work it out on your own time.”
Ace didn’t take a vocal interest in much, and if this spat between Pyro and the girl caught his attention, there must be something more to it.“Ain’t no problem, prez,” Ace said calmly. “Pyro here likes to beat on women, but he don’t like women to beat on him. Seems likesomebody’sa bitch, it just ain’t that girl.” Ho-lyshit. I’d never heard Ace say this much in my entire life. Maybe longer, judging by the stunned looks on more than one brother’s face.
“Take a walk, Ace,” Duke said in a voice that brooked no argument. Ace shoved away from the table and left church, storming down the hallway toward the kitchen door.
“Look,” Duke sighed, massaging his forehead. “The reason I brought her up is because we’re fixin’ to need a bartender at Crow’s Landing. Cricket was sayin’ that Lennon had been teaching her how to make drinks, and he thinks she might be a good fit. I want to suggest offering her the position; she could settle in Sagebrush or make enough money to get her settled wherever she decides to go. Either way, we could fill the spot and help her out at the same time. Anybody object?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Duke cut me off. “Anygoodreason for us not to offer her a job? I ain’t interested in bullshit.” I clenched my jaw. I let him know of my concerns regarding the psycho living in ourguest room, and he brushed me off. He let his grief over Ellis and his gratitude forherkilling Slyzec blind him to the glaringly obvious threat a stranger at the heart of our compound posed.
