“Okay, if you wanna help me with lunch, we can talk on the way.” She starts the engine as I buckle up.
“You always been this trustin’?” I ask, a little stupefied she’d not be suspicious of me.
She side eyes me. “You’re Willow’s side piece, of course you’re not gonna do anythin’.”
“Husband,” I pronounce the words like they have three syllables. “Husband.”
“Fine.Husband,what’s going on?” She pulls out of the lot and I don’t know if I’m about to make a big mistake or do what needs to be done, but I have to put it out there.
Clearly, my wife hasn’t raked her over the coals yet. “It’s about you, actually,” I say. “I wanna know what’s goin’ on with Max, the lab, and anythin’ else you’re up to that involves the Sinclairs.”
Her hands tighten on the wheel. “I-I didn’t?—”
“It’s alright, I know you’re not tryin’ to cause trouble. But there’s no point denying it, because I know everythin’.” Okay, I don’t know everything, but she’s on a need to know basis.
“H-how do you know about?—”
“I’ve seen the footage, Hally,” I say. I wave both hands in the air in front of me. “I’m not here to hurt you, I promise. In fact, I think we have somethin’ in common.”
She swallows. “Yeah, what’s that?”
“We both want what’s best for the people we care about, don’t we?”
“Why do I feel like that’s a trick question?”
“It isn’t. I know you mean well, but you’re up to somethin’, and I need to know what it is.”
A long silence follows. “If I don’t come back to the station, they’ll come looking for me,” she says eventually.
“Like I said, I’m not gonna hurt you, but Willow is in trouble, and you may be one of the few people who can help.”
Willow
“That was amazing,” I say, fanning myself. I’ve never done hot yoga before, but on my morning off I wanted to try something new. Apparently, it’s detoxifying, burns calories, and reduces stress. When I texted Audrina about catching up, she suggested it.
“I know. I love it,” Audrina says. “Clears the mind, opens the pores, and I can pretend I’m in Barbados again.”
I smile. “Thanks for inviting me. I think it’s just what I needed to take my mind off things.”
She gives me a one armed hug. “How are things?”
I gave her a quick rundown before class. “I don’t honestly know. I’m mad at him.”
“I can see that, and I’m not sticking up for Haze because you have every right to be mad at him, but our men do crazy things to protect us. Hustler took a bullet for me.”
I shudder at the thought. The shootout with that psycho Shade. That was when everyone knew Hustler was head over heels. “That was pretty crazy,” I say. “But Haze was the one harping on about communicating better.”
“I agree, and he should have fessed up sooner, but do you really want to let everything that you’ve worked hard for go?” She gives me a soft smile. “He means well, even though sometimes he does things without thinking.”
“No shit,” I mutter. “The whole idea that he and my dad cooked this up is unbelievable.”
“You have every right to feel mad,” she goes on. “I would too. He can’t say one thing and do another, that isn’t fair, but I also know how much he loves you. He’s head over heels. I’m surmising your dad laid out a pretty believable plan, and he went into protector mode.”
“I guess you would stick up for him being a true biker chick.” I roll my eyes.
“Nope, that isn’t it. Often our men do things they don’t truly think through in the name of ‘keeping us safe’. I get they always want to keep us out of harm’s way, but we also can’t go around walking on eggshells. You should’ve seen Hustler after I had the baby.” She pats one side of her face, smiling to herself. “I literally had to tell him to cool it. I know there was a huge scare with Shade, but that was in the past. You still have to live your life. I’m cautious, but didn’t want to go around looking over my shoulder twenty-four-seven. Priest got me some mace and a personal alarm, and now we’re all good.”
I chug down half a bottle of water as we walk out to the street. “That’s the other thing — I will be an ol’ lady once Haze takes it to the table.”
