“How long will they be there again?” Harley asked, showing more interest than she had since she came into the cafeteria.
“Uh, excuse me.”
CJ ignored Skye. “Mom said Rebel wanted a second chance at shopping on Rodeo Drive.”
Harley smiled. “Her cast was a big hindrance.” She started to stand. “I think I’ll go to the office and see if I can get a ride home.”
His next class was art. If he drove Harley to the club and they left in the next ten minutes, he’d return in time for Ms. Flotsam’s class. “I’ll call Diesel and ask him to sign you out so I can bring you home.”
“What about our project?” Skye inserted.
Harley shook her head. “It’s okay, CJ. You have things to do—”
“I can miss my next class, which is just art, and return in time for English.” CJ stood and grabbed both their trays. “I’ll be fine.” He looked at Skye. Her expression was unreadable, so he kept his words brief. “We’re still on for the project,” he told her, and guided Harley away before Skye answered.
“Where the fuck’s everybody?”
Val looked up from the sheet of paper Christopher had given him when he walked into his office a few minutes ago. “Like who?”
“Johnnie. Mortician. Kendall. Bailey. All missin’ motherfuckers. I looked at the footage. Kendall left early Sunday mornin’. Johnnie took off not long after. Mort and Bailey left that evenin’. Bailey not talkin’ to me, so even if I texted her she ain’t respondin’. Besides, she’s only Mort’s woman. Johnnie and Mort, though? Kendall? The first two motherfuckers high-rankin’ club members and the other one the club’s lead attorney. All three of those motherfuckers know about the formal signing between the clubs.”
“Yeah, Prez, but you called the meeting at the last fucking minute.”
“Bash said he ridin’ out early Thursday and he asked us to get the shit done. Ain’t no fuckin’ reason to hold it up. All the shit agreed on.”
“I’m just saying when they left nothing was on the calendar this week. Brooks can handle the signing.”
“I ain’t lettin’ that faintin’ motherfucker around me. I ain’t in the mood. It’s gonna be Diesel. I’m just fuckin’ curious why those other three suddenly left.”
“Four with Bailey.” Val thought about it for a moment. “Maybe they all somewhere trying to work on their marriages, Outlaw. Even if Johnnie didn’t open his fucking mouth, if Mort was going on club business, he would let you know.”
“He usually keep me informed of anywhere he go,” Christopher grumbled. As Johnnie once had. He shoved that thought away. “What the fuck is wrong with these motherfuckers?”
Eyeing him, Val made his way to one of the chairs in front of Christopher’s desk and sat. “You and Meggie arguin’? You seem upset about something and I know it don’t have to do with four willingly gone motherfuckers.”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, Christopher scowled. As much as Megan’s performance in the early hours of yesterday would live in his fucking memory, being away from her tore himup. “I ain’t slept too much. Megan took Rebel back to LA.”
Val widened his eyes. “What you did?”
“What the fuck you mean? Why the fuck her leavin’myfuckin’ fault.Thatlil pain-in-the-ass-motherfucker decided to go.”
“I’m glad shedecidedto leave the girls alone cuz whatever you do usually trickle down to us.”
“I ain’t did nothin’,” he snapped, refusing to admit to the birth control fiasco. “She just decided to fuckin’ leave.”
“And she’s going to keep leaving as long as Rule in LA, Outlaw. Meggie love her children. That kid’s hundreds of miles away and she don’t even have parental authority no more. The only reason she haven’t packed the fuck up and demanded you two find a place close to him is because of Jo andyou. The club.”
“I sent Rule to the best place for him. Bailey suggested it because I sure the fuck didn’t know what to do.”
“Did she suggest you give the priest authority over Rule, too?”
“We ain’t talked about that,” Christopher admitted, guilty of another crime against Megan. “Kendall kept her opinion mostly to herself and drafted the documents. Even if I revoke Wilcunt’s power of attorney and whatever else, Rule still’ll be in LA. He sound like he thrivin’. What the fuck am Isupposed to do?”
“Leave shit as is, for starters. Rule needs consistency. The last thing Meggie want to do is upset him.”
“I know, but I miss my fuckin’ wife.”
“Your daughter coming home soon. I doubt Meggie’ll leave her baby behind and Jo been so sick, she won’t want to put her through the stress of traveling.”
