Archer frowned. “Well, that’s my cue to leave,” he quickly said, slinking away.
“We’ll talk later,” Zodiac hollered after him. “Continue, Cap.”
“Anyway, when I was filling up his car, Wesson, their Road Captain, and two other members, one a prospect the other patched, showed up on their motorcycles. The second they saw me, they started causing shit. Wesson pulled a knife on me, slicing my face here. It wasn’t bad, more threatening than harming, but he got me nonetheless. Then I used some of mytraining to disarm him, taking both his knife and gun from him. I got lucky the cops showed up when they did, because Wesson did get off one shot, but he had no aim.”
“So, how do you know they’re holding up in Abilene?”
Cap kicked at a rock in the cement. “A cop told me. He also said to tell Juliette that Chris Barnes says hello.”
Zodiac stood quiet.
“At least we know where they disappeared to, Prez.”
Zodiac’s thick fingers ran through his beard. “Yeah, but I’m still not happy about you disobeying direct orders, Cap. Just because you’re part of our ranked members, doesn’t mean you can do whatever the hell you want.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“What did you do with their weapons?”
“Gave them to the cop.”
Zodiac blew out a frustrated breath. “That paints a pretty big target on our backs, Cap.”
“I know. I know. I already said I was sorry. What else do you want from me?”
Before he could answer, the air brakes of a large bus came to a stop just outside the club, startling everyone.
On the side were big giant letters scrawled in a really wonky font that read:Grief’s Conviction.
The band is finally here.
Zodiac and Cap shared a look.
“Fuck, I don’t have time for this now,” Zodiac grumped. “Looks like they’re early. Just get your shit together, Cap, please. I need you to run point on this.”
“I will.”
“I’m going to warn Bull. I need you and Archer to greet the band. Shit’s about to get very, very interesting.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ruby squeezed my hand as the doors of the bus burst open, and two quarreling band members came arguing down the stairs.
“I told you it wouldn’t take us very long, nitwit!” Sorrow, backup singer and bassist for Grief’s Conviction yelled, smacking Agony on the arm.
“We’re here, aren’t we?” Agony argued, his hand plummeting into the purple hues of his mullet. Big spiked jewelry was on every limb he had, along with a very peculiar dog collar that was currently being tugged around by Sorrow.Looks like they’re back together again.The last time we saw the band, Sorrow had dumped Agony over a stupid argument they had over the last breadstick. A fucking breadstick!
Sorrow’s long black hair had a single streak of blonde in it, creating a tiny pinstripe down the back of her head. She was wearing black shorts and a see-through mesh top with a bright neon green bralette underneath. She was also wearing fishnets under big combat boots. It was her signature style, but still odd just the same.
“We almost didn’t make it here, asshole. Did you even bother checking the tour bus before we left?”
“Of course I did. Everything looked fine.”
“So why were the brakes all wonky?”
“I don’t know, Sonia, do I look like a mechanic?”
“You literally went to school for it!” Sorrow yelled.
