My eyes flick to her sister. For now, both girls have been allowed to take the same shift. Unlike the confidence Silky portrays, when she turns and spies me, Amy looks like a rabbit stuck in the headlights. I plaster a fake smile on my face and give her an encouraging nod, but continue to watch her out of the corner of my eye as I turn away. She passes close by me, taking a loaded tray over to a party of men at one of the few occupied tables. The glasses rattle loudly against each other, and for a moment, I suspect she’ll drop them before they get to their intended destination.
Unable to watch and not wanting to unnerve her, I move over to the bar, taking a moment to speak to Joe, one of our civilian bartenders.
He leans over the bar to ensure I can hear him over the music. “What the fuck have you landed me with?” His eyes are fixed in the direction that Amy had been walking.
Sighing heavily, I admit, “Her sister, Silky, begged me to give her work. She wasn’t going to be able to cope on the stage, so…” Breaking off, I shrug.
“Silky?” His brow furrows. “She introduced herself to me as Satin.”
I make a seesaw movement with my hand. “Silky, Satin. Close enough.” So I’m not good with names, sue me.
“Ames ain’t looking particularly comfortable in her uniform.” Said uniform consists of a barely there skirt and a tight crop top bearing our logo. He snorts, then his eyes narrow. “Not like you to be swayed by a pretty face. I’d not have expected you to do a favour for one of the girls, though, admittedly, she’s a good looker.”
“What can I say?” I hold my hands out, palms up. “I’m getting soft in my old age. And cut her some slack, it’s her first night.” Quickly doing a one-eighty circuit of the room behind me, I see that Amy, or… hang on, Joe said Ames. Anyway, she trips and only just manages to hold on to her tray of glasses, which are empty this time. “Or maybe it’s her last.”
He laughs like I knew he would. I point to a beer bottle, he takes it off the shelf, opens it, and hands it to me.
“We’ve got church later, but Rattler and Stalker will come soon after and should have everything covered. Meat should be able to handle everything before then.” Meat, so named, because the man’s so huge, he looks like the side of a cow. Ugly fucker too. One look from him, and most of the customers who’re getting out of hand tend to cease and desist pretty fucking fast. “Oh, and I won’t be here for the rest of the week.”
Joe raises his chin. “Going on a ride?” He’s used to members of the club taking off.
“Something like that. Hey, Joe. It’s quiet. You want to go have a smoke? I’ll man the bar for a while.”
“You’re a good fuckin’ man, Freak.”
“You know it.” I laugh, as I wave him off. Later, there will be more bartenders in, but for the first couple of hours, it’s just him. When he disappears out the back, I take his place behind the bar, and while no one wants to be served, I slip the tiny button cameras out of my cut and install them all around. After checking the angles, I confirm we now have a full view ofeverything. I just hope it’s not Joe who’s stealing. I like the man and wouldn’t want to have to end him.
I’ve just finished by the time he’s back.
“Been busy?” he asks.
“Run off my feet.” I grin, then chuckle. “Satin seems to be getting all the attention. While she’s on stage, no one feels like drinking.”
He flicks me on the arm with a towel. “Get out of here, Freak. I’ll handle the rush when she’s finished.”
I accept the bottle of beer he’s passed to me, lift it in mock salute, spin on my heels, and leave him. As it’s quiet, it’s time to get some paperwork done, including checking the inventory Joe will have taken, and ordering more drinks in. Can’t have the Royals running dry.
Realising the volume of the music may have prevented me from hearing my phone ping, and that I may have been too occupied to feel a vibration, as soon as I get to the office, I take the device out and check it.No calls or texts.
Perhaps they're somewhere they can’t get a signal.I hadn’t thought to check the observatory while I was there. Maybe there’s something that blocks cell phones, as the signal might interfere with their delicate instruments. I mean, who’d want to spy a new planet, comet, star, black hole – or whatever the fuck they're looking for, and the multi-million dollar telescope they’re using starts to glitch. Or to be in the middle of conducting a delicate experiment and have their computer go on the fritz. I know fuck all about it, but it makes a certain sense.
That must be whyLife360doesn’t work either, and yes, I had the sense to check. It’s also probably why the message I just fired off from my phone is showing as sent but not delivered. Toni had told me she’s taking Ace to some sort of event, and I remember the Lowell closes at ten. I’ll try again then.
When the time comes, I leave for church, which is a waste of my time. I didn’t really need to be there. Tempest reports on the run we’d taken and offers his views. I just nod to reinforce what he’s saying. Stalker includes in his finance report that money is going missing at the strip club, which gives me the chance to make what turns out to be my only contribution to the meeting, when I confirm I’ve installed the extra cameras, which should be operating now.
When Bullseye calls for any other business, he pointedly stares my way.
I clear my throat. “Ace is in Flagstaff with Toni. I’m going up there tomorrow. I’ll be staying a week.”
“You walking out on us, Bro?” Stalker frowns.
“Nah.” I inject confidence in my voice. “You can handle it. I’ll be back for Friday and the weekend.”
“You putting that piece of skirt before the club?” Rattler grumbles. “Looks like you’re so stuck on her we’ll soon be hearing wedding bells.”
“I’ll ring your fuckin’ bell,” I snarl at him.
“Shut the fuck up, Rat,” Tempest and Saint tell him simultaneously. Then they look at each other across the table and give each other a thumbs-up.
