“You heard me and it’s a valid question.”
I answer without hesitation. “Of course I fuckin’ do.”
Raising my brow, I ask, “Do you?”
“My trust in him has never wavered. I’ve been waiting for him to make moves like this.”
The asshole is probably loving this, him and his brother. They are never happier than when the club is on violent terms.
“Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Not tonight. Leo's gonna wanna talk to everyone tomorrow, though. Be here early.”
“Cool. Freddie and Frankie ain’t sleeping at the moment so Aspen would rather me be home.”
I don’t blame him. I would rather deal with two crying babies than this shit at the moment.
“How’s Harper doing?” he asks.
“She’s dealing.”
Tapping the table, he takes his beer and calls it a night. Now the chapters have gone home, I look around the empty bar. A few club girls, bored, are sat around, and the prospect. Zach will be with Kristen. Myles with Emma. Mason just left. And Leo, who the fuck knows where. Dad is at home. And Cas was heading for his bike a few hours ago.
I had heard Luca was in town, but I haven’t seen the asshole. I hold my empty beer bottle up, signalling to the prospect for another and then dig my phone out. I call Leo and it goes to his voicemail. I put my phone down on the table and it starts ringing. I don’t recognise the number but I answer and press it to my ear.
“Who’s this?”
“It’s the Sheriff.”
“What do you want?” I grunt.
“Just letting you know Cas Jackson is passed out at Josie’s. He needs picking up before he spends the rest of the night in my holding cell.”
“Don’t fuckin’ touch him. I'm on my way.”
Pushing up out of my seat, I meet the prospect halfway to the bar and ignore the beer he holds out for me. “If you see Leo, tell him I've gone into town to get his dad.”
“Will do.”
“And tell him to turn his fuckin’ phone on.”
I jog over to my bike and make a sharp turn and head for Shane’s truck instead. He always left the keys in the ignition. There's no chance of riding with Cas and making it home in one piece.
During the drive, I try to recall if I’ve ever seen Cas drunk before, and I can’t. I’ve seen him with a beer thousands of times but never drunk. Occasionally he would have a measure of whiskey, but most of the time, it was beer. I call Luca as I approach town and get his voicemail after it rings out. I try Leo one more time and still, I get his voicemail. I swing the truck into the parking lot and shut the engine off.
Walking into Josie’s, it’s not difficult to track down Cas. He's slumped over at the bar with a deputy stood guard farther up the bar. His eyes narrow my way, and I refrain from rolling mine.
“You can fuck off now,” I tell him and not having to be told twice, he leaves.
“How many has he had?” I ask Josie.
“I lost track after he went through the bottle in an hour.”
Shit.
“Cas?” I say, shaking his shoulder.
“You won’t get any sense outta him tonight,” Josie tells me. “I’ve been trying to wake him for the last hour.”
