Punc turned into the parking lot and found a spot. “Whatever you need, man. As long as it isn’t free admission to Platinum’s it’s all good.”
“You fuckin’ work there.”
Punc chuckled. “Yeah, and I want to keep working there.”
“Whatever, I’ll text you when I get to their house. Later.”
The parking lot was half-full, but that was typical for a Monday evening. Punc tucked his phone into his back pocket and went in through the front door.
Beast stood behind the counter while Tundra worked the door. Two men had just entered the club. Annoyance shone from Beast’s eyes. “About fuckin’ time you came back. Why’d you have to take Ava home?”
“She just got out of the hospital and can’t drive yet. Seeing as how she’s the last one they attacked, for all we know those fuckers will target her too since they already took Suzy and Nora.”
“What?” Tundra demanded.
Beast pointed a finger at Tundra. “You keep workin’ the door.” He glared at Punc. “You’re manning the register. Both of you need to be focused. Don’t let this shit distract you from any other threats the Devil Lancer’s might have.”
Punc hated working the front of the club. If it was busy, it was a toss-up as to how obnoxious the men would be, but when itwas slow, manning the door was worse than watching cement dry.
The night had been excruciatingly long. They didn’t know what was happening to Nora and Suzy, until nine-thirty when Beast shared that they were safe and being questioned by the police. When his break rolled around, he grabbed a candy bar and went out to his vehicle to call Savannah and check in on her.
At closing, Punc took the cash drawer upstairs to the office where Beast was counting the bar register.
“You can go. I trust this will be cool,” Beast said.
“You told us about Suzy and Nora, but what about Prime? Did the cops get him or are we hunting his ass down?”
Beast’s blue eyes locked with Punc’s. “Why do you sound so angry? I mean, none of us want to see a brother’s woman get taken, but you sound like it happened to your woman.”
Punc widened his eyes. “Ava told me what she said to Yak. Prime was in on her attack, but nobody gives a damn what happened to her. When I joined this club, we were sending a vicious message to the fuckin’ Devil Lancers. Now, they’re back and up to the same shit but worse, since Prime was in on it with them, and he’s a patched member inourclub. I’m pissed and want to know what we’re doing to that motherfucker.”
Beast’s expression went flat. “I can’t answer that since I’m not an officer, I’m just filling in for Turk and Yak. But you’ll find out when we have church.”
10
Never a Waste
Savannah
“I’mgoingtobed,”Catalina said, standing in my doorway.
I smiled at the sight of her pajamas with various pictures of Pusheen scattered on the pink shorts. As much as she loved that sleep set, she never used the stickers on social media or when she texted me.
“Sleep well, Cat.”
She dropped her chin toward her neck. “You should get some sleep too, you know.”
I nodded. “I will, after I talk to Alanis.”
For the first time, possibly ever, I wasn’t looking forward to talking to my best friend. At the hospital, she’d made it clear how upset she was that I’d hidden my audition from her. The situation was so extreme and I knew she wasn’t in a position to help me. I should have told her sooner, but… she’d have stillprobably been mad about it. It all felt like a no-win scenario. We hadn’t even gotten into me being with Punc… but then I wasn’t sure there was a ‘me and Punc.’ He slept on the couch because he felt obligated. The way he held me in his vehicle earlier had felt good, but it also felt like we were just friends.
Catalina cut into my racing thoughts. “Yeah, I hope things are getting back to normal on the Alanis front. She was really torn up about you hiding your other job from her. She should hear you out.”
I pressed my lips together. “Yeah, I hope so. Good night.”
The sound of her door closing seemed amplified in the silent house. I hadn’t lived here in almost five years, but when Mom was alive, she’d been a night owl. The TV a constant source of noise to compete with other sounds. That wasn’t there any longer, and my mind wandered to the enormity of the problem she left us.
I’d never had a problem this big before, and all I wanted to do was call Mom because where else would I turn? Yet… the thought brought me to tears and enraged me. I’d lost my rock. Even if my rock was the reason for my problems, she’d know exactly what to say.
