I gasped and turned to face him. “What do you mean? Did she report it?”
Austin nodded.
“Officially?” I pressed.
“Yeah, babe. Officially. They buried it.” He frowned. “Or they tried to. I found it.”
“You found it? How?”
He scowled. “I hacked into their system and found the report. It landed me in jail.”
I gasped again. “You went to jail because you hacked CPS’s system?”
“No, I went to jail because I beat the shit out of our foster dad. Put him in the hospital and wasn’t street smart enough yet not to get caught. Jail is where I met Crow and he’s the one who gave me a purpose.”
“Crow?”
“He’s our Prez.”
I shook my head. “I’m assuming that’s not his real name?”
“It’s his legal name. Crow Butler.”
“Shut up.”
He grinned.
“So, Crow gave you purpose. How?”
“He bailed me out, gave me a family,” he said. “Became the father I never had. I owe him everything. And he needed a little help protecting the club from an ex-member who had computer skills as good as mine. Better, even. But in answer to your original question, I don’t speak like a thug because I have to work with highly educated people on a regular basis, so Crow made sure that I could converse with them properly. I’m “Booker” because, not only did I used to have my nose in a book most of the time, I do the club’s books.”
“Wow.” I dragged my legs in front of me, criss-cross style, and leaned forward to study him. “What happened to your foster dad?”
“He was arrested once the evidence was released and several other girls came forward. He was an asshole, but I could deal with that, I was sixteen when I went to live with him, and other than verbal abuse, he never touched me. He probably knew I’d kill him if he did. But I wish I’d known about Annie before I left. I could have protected her.”
“Where is she now?”
“She’s an old lady to one of our California charter’s members. She’s protected.”
I settled my chin in my hand. “How does the old lady thing work?”
“Lookin’ to be one?”
“Ah, no, I don’t think so.” I wrinkled my nose and sat up a bit. “It’s a horrible title.”
Austin dropped his head back and laughed. “It’s a title of honor, babe.”
“How is calling a woman ‘old’ a title of honor?”
He tugged on my hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing my palm. “It just is.”
I shrugged. “If you say so.”
He released my hand and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Yo,” he said as he answered it.
So much for my “doesn’t talk like a thug” theory.
“Yeah I’m here.” Austin glanced at me and then frowned. “Shit, are you serious? Tell the little fucker it’s not gonna happen. No, Mack, it’s not a fuckin’ option.” He rose to his feet and stepped outside. I was left sitting on my couch in the same position I’d been in for the last fifteen minutes and wondering what the heck was going on.
