“Okay. I’m on it.”
Lucy sits down next to us while Carrie goes off to the bar.
“Shorty has been looking forward to this Christmas party all week. We got out of going to my moms, because he can’t stand my mom, so this is his saving grace.”
Mindy nearly spit out her wine when Lucy said that.
“He’s open about not liking your mom?” I ask.
“Yeah, Mom doesn’t like him either. It’s funny, honestly. Mom’s been an alcoholic for the majority of her adult life, so we don’t exactly have the best relationship. I try for my kids, so that they know their grandmother and she understands that if she’s drunk when we get there, we leave. So far, for the past six years she’s been sober for our visits.” Lucy shrugs, like it doesn’t affect her that much and that almost makes me sad.
“Holy shit,” Mindy says quietly.
“It is what it is.”
Carrie returns right on time and sets my drink down in front of me and takes a seat at the table next to us.
“Thanks, love,” I say, sipping the delicious apple flavored drink in front of me. The flavor explodes when it hits my taste buds, making me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
“Where’s Leo?”
“He’s around here somewhere. Probably getting the food out of the truck. We made a chicken and sausage gumbo in his cast iron pot. He’s probably got one or two other guys helping him unload that heavy ass thing.”
The bitterness in her tone tells me she’s the one who helped him load it into the truck in the first place.
“Oh my God, that sounds so good right now,” Mindy says, rubbing her stomach.
Carrie laughs at her.
“What? I haven’t eaten all day almost and I’m starving.”
I cut daggers at her with my eyes, not about to say anything out loud though. She can’t be doing that. She needs to eat. It isn’t just her anymore. There’s a little one in there.
She gives me an apologetic smile and sips her wine. I look around the club house at everyone piling in. There are members here from out of town, celebrating with us as well as many of the members that were here during the war between Hounds and Moccasins. I see a few familiar strange faces while my eyes search for Cass. I don’t see him anywhere at the bar or among the other members sitting at a few of the tables. I wonder if he’s upstairs.
I excuse myself from the table and walk upstairs in search of him. I know that there are rooms upstairs that are off limits, but I’ve never seen them. I don’t venture up here often at all. I walk down the hallway that leads to the room that we stayed in for a little while, but I don’t see any lights on or hear anyone.
I turn around and go back to the stairs but notice a light on at the end of the hallway on the other side of the building and curiosity gets the best of me. I walk down the unfamiliar hallway and hear Cass and Snapper talking. I peer around the doorway and can see Cass’s shadow pacing back and forth across the room while he talks.
“You never got any information out of Keith about how he knew about my house before you killed him, did you?” he asks.
He knew about our house? How could he have known anything about our house?
“No, brother. He wouldn’t talk. I tried my hardest, too. I tortured him with techniques I’ve never used before on anyone and that druggie fucker still wouldn’t talk. I guess he really just had nothing to lose.”
“Fuck. How long did you hold him for?”
“Five months. I kept him alive and tortured him for five months, brother. And that motherfucker still wouldn’t talk.”
I see Cass’s shadow nod and they stand there in silence for a minute.
“And Gater?” Cass asks.
“Gone. Nowhere to be found. He’s one hundred percent off the radar.”
“I see. Huh, it’s funny. I thought innocent people didn’t run away.”
“I’m doing everything I can to find him and when I find him, rest assured he will pay dearly. He did leave his cut-off and patch on our table along with his keys and any club property he had. At least he was smart enough to return what’s ours.”
