Hudson
Wait until you get home
I laughed and told them what he was saying. Rosa’s phone had been buzzing too but she hadn’t bothered looking to see what Ballistic was saying.
“I feel left out,” Cassie said, though she didn’t sound in the least bit as if that statement was true.
I hadn’t managed to get her to give me any information on her tryst with Handlebar, but she knew I knew about him. I made out like it had been obvious something was going on from the way they were around each other, plus what Rosa said at the party that night. Her only response to my quizzing her was a cryptic, ‘it would be more hassle thanit was worth.’ She was a vault otherwise, just like he had been. Damn them both.
The drive back was a lot more pleasant than it had been when we were heading down there. Shady swore profusely, startling me out of my thoughts. He looked up at us with panicked eyes and held up his phone. The screen said, ‘King calling.’
“Rather you than me,” Cassie told him, with a perfectly straight face.
“Fuck me,” he whispered and answered the call. “Prez.” After a few moments of listening, his face stricken, he gulped and held the phone out to me. I rolled my eyes and took it.
“Yes?”
“If you don’t want Hudson getting a reputation for being a pussy whipped asshole, you need to start listening to him.”
That…wasn’t what I was expecting him to say.
“I’m not saying you should bow down to him, I know you’ll never do that, in private. An Old Lady has her place in the club. And you’re one of those now. He’ll lose respect if you treat him like shit.”
I swallowed. “To be fair, I’m doing the same thing to you and Warren.”
He sighed heavily. “Don’t make me force him to get you in line, Waverley.”
I wanted to protest but I clammed up because, as difficult a pill it was to swallow, I didn’t want anyone ridiculing Hudson. He had a certain reputation in the club and me undermining him would tear that all down. I didn’t have the right to do that. I should have answered his call and explained why I wanted to come back and given him the opportunity to allow it, letting the others know it was his agreement that had us returning, even if he really didn’t have a say in it. I could still give him an earful, in private.
“Fine. I’ll apologize when I get back.”
King hung up.
“Old Lady politics,” Rosa guessed. “You’ll get used to it,” she patted my lap. “Hudson’s new at it too, he’ll learn.”
Shady almost choked in the back of the car. I passed him back his phone and gave him a big smile.
We had almost reached the outskirts of Wantage, chatting away about Lana and Felix’s upcoming wedding. She had been bitching about thebaby which had yet to make an appearance, despite being five days overdue.
“Wait, what was that. Hush,” Rosa shouted, wafting her hand at us and then turned up the sound on the radio, there was a news report which was about halfway through but when we all quietened down and listened the guy was talking about the Mayor’s son-in-law being arrested.
“Is that Andrew?” I asked.
“Ssh,” Rosa narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, as if that could make her hear better.
“This arrest came as a complete shock for the mayor’s son-in-law, who is currently under investigation by the Sussex County Sheriff’s Department over alleged historical sexual assaults. A number of victims have come forward since the original claim was made. Mr. Reinhart has adamantly denied any involvement and the Mayor threatened the Sheriff’s Department with legal action for false accusations besmirching his character. However, the arrest warrant issued today by the FBI is a different matter, and Mr Reinhart was seen being physically removed from his place of business in downtown Wantage.”
“FBI?” Cassie leaned forward. “What?”
“We don’t have the full details as yet, but it has been alleged Mr. Reinhart has been under investigation by the FBI’s Corporate Fraud team who have today executed a search warrant on the beleaguered property developer. As soon as we have more information on this unfolding story, we will report further.”
“Corporate fraud?” I turned to Cassie. “What does that mean?”
“Falsifying financial information,” Cassie said, tapping a finger against her chin. “It’s likely false accounting or fraudulent trades that make it look like he has more money than he does, or he’s been hiding the losses he’s made. Given the fuck up we made of his contract on the MC properties, it may have alerted the feds to look closer.”
“Didn’t you say his accountant said he was broke?” I ask Rosa.
“Yeah. That was what drew my attention, I heard the name of the accountancy firm. We missed the full report, but I think it might have mentioned them being involved. Shit, I hope Sarah isn’t in trouble,” Rosa worriedly bit her lip.
