Ink:Did you lie to the cops?
I laughed to myself at his response. I didn’t need to hear his voice to know he was teasing me.
Presley:Yes, I did.
Ink:I’m going to send a prospect over to your place until you get home. He’ll stay outside. Let Ariel know so she isn’t scared.
Presley:Say what now?
I’d barely pressed send when my phone rang with Ink’s name on the screen.
“Hey, Ink,” I answered.
“I figured it would be easier to explain over the phone. So, prospects are guys who are trying to become patched members of the club. The particular prospect I have in mind is Jake Marks, Jacquelyn’s grandson. He’ll stay outside, probably sitting on his bike in your driveway, until you get home from work. If anything happens, he’ll intervene and call for backup.”
“Oh, that’s right. I remember you explaining prospects to me. So, you’re basically sending a security guard to my house?”
“Pretty much. If that’s okay with you.”
“You trust him?”
“Absolutely. Like I said, he’s Jacquelyn’s grandson, but his dad and great-grandfather are also patched members. Oh, and Byte’s his uncle. He comes from good people.”
“Okay, I trust your judgment.”
“I’ll let him know. Be sure to tell Ariel. He might be there before she gets home, and I don’t want him to scare her.”
“I will. Thanks, Ink.”
I glanced at my phone and realized I’d missed Ariel’s lunch period. I didn’t want to try to explain everything in a text message, so I sent one asking her to call me as soon as she got out of school. Then, I sent a second one assuring her that nothing was wrong.
It didn’t matter. When she called a few hours later, she thought something was wrong. “Mom, what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Everything’s fine,” I said and walked to the break room so I could talk. “A detective called and wants to talk to us about the break-in. I’m sure I’m just being paranoid because of everything that’s happened, but I didn’t want him to know you would be home alone after school today. Anyway, he’s going to come by tomorrow around four. I asked Ink if he could be there with us when the detective came over. One thing led to another, and he’s going to have one of the younger MC guys hang around outside our house until I get home from work.”
“Do you realize how that sounds? You don’t want an officer of the law to know your teenage daughter is home alone, so you got a biker to come over instead,” Ariel laughed.
“Would you rather come hang out at the hospital?”
“No, thank you. If I ever smell a GI bleed again, it will be too soon.”
I laughed. She wasn’t wrong. There weren’t many smells that were as bad as the smell of someone pooping blood. It tended to linger on the nose hairs for days.
“So, what am I supposed to do with the biker?” she asked.
“Do you realize how that sounds?” I retorted. “You don’t have to do anything. He might be there when you get home. If he is, just say hello and go inside. He’ll stay outside until I get home.”
“Do we know the biker’s name?”
“Yeah, his name is Jake Marks.”
“Mom,” Ariel groaned. “Are you kidding?”
“No,” I said slowly. “Do you know him?”
“Everybody knows him. He’s rich, and he’s insanely hot.”
“Um, sorry, I guess,” I said.
