Chapter 7
About an hour later I’m back at the bar when Ice comes back downstairs. All the boys are in the chapel waiting for him. When he gets to the bottom of the steps he doesn't say a word, he just goes straight into the chapel and closes the door.
I decide that I am speaking with him tonight. I know I have lost, I knew it the minute she arrived, but I need to hear it from him. I will make him face this one way or another. I busy myself getting their shot glasses ready. It's a common practice when they finish with their meetings for each member to come out and have a shot. I never understood that. Those meetings must be pretty stressful.
About forty-five minutes after the meeting started, Emma comes back downstairs.Why can't she just stay in her room so I don't have to look at her?I look at her and see that she has been crying, and I immediately want to help. But then I remember who she is and how she has turned my life upside down in just twenty-four hours, and I decide that she can fend for herself.
When she gets up to the bar, she says, "Excuse me?"
I ignore her. I can't even look at her, I'm just not ready. I know that when I do, I will see Ice's lips fused with hers and I will lose my shit.
"Honey, may I please have a shot of whiskey?"
Whiskey? Now that fucking gets my attention. Without looking at her, I reply, "Coming right up." I place her drink on the bar as the boys adjourn from their meeting and head straight for the bar. The last one out of the room is Ice. He pauses at the door and scans the room. I know he's looking for Emma. When he sees her, he makes a beeline directly for her.
"What are you drinking?" he asks her with a mischievous smile on his face. He seems amused that she isn't drinking her usual foofoo drink.
She ignores him and picks up her glass and downs her shot. Slamming it down on the bar, she turns toward Ice and says, "Whiskey." Then she looks over at me and slides her shot glass toward me. She says, "I'll have another one."
I just nod. I am surprised by her boldness. She is pushing his buttons now; she is clearly stating that she is not going to take his shit.
Ice bellows, "No! She will not have another one, Honey."
I immediately stop pouring her drink. She looks at him in disgust.Oh fuck, this is gonna be good.
"Cade, I want another drink!" she demands. Just like that, Ice backs down and nods to me. I finishing pouring her drink and bring it to her. She picks up her second shot and downs it, again slamming the glass down on the bar.
"Holy shit, Emma. I never knew you drank the hard stuff." Apparently he's no longer mad; he’s acting as if he is proud of her drinking like this. Then he asks, "Why are you drinking?"
The defiance in her response makes me take a step back. "I can drink if I want to. I'm a grown woman, Cade. I'm not a child anymore."
"Calm down there, sweetheart, I was just asking. It's not like you to be drinking hard liquor in the middle of the afternoon."
"How would you know what I’m like? You haven't seen or spoken to me in eleven years. I've changed, Cade. There are a lot of things I do now that I didn't do before. Get used to it."
Are they fighting, or is this foreplay? I really can't tell.
"Emma! Stop! Now!" he says angrily. It’s obvious that he's pissed off by her defiance and the fact that she is calling him out in front of the club. Even I know that's a big no-no. "If you don't stop now, I'm gonna take you over my knee." Finally, she stops baiting him and shuts up.
It’s lucky for her that she got the hint when she did and shut up. She asks me for another shot, downs it, and then leaves the bar, heading straight for her room. I know she is not a regular drinker, so three shots of bourbon are going to make her feel pretty good in about fifteen minutes.
Right after Emma left, Dbag comes out of the back room and approaches Ice. He says, "I got an ID on that black SUV."
"Whatcha got?"
"SUV is registered to a Mark Grayson. He's a big-time attorney, works in Erie. Lives here in Edinboro."
"You got anything else?"
"Well, I think I might have found something, but I don't know. I searched both the DMV databases and the crime databases. An incident report showed up about the chick's disappearance. Emma's friend."
He looks at him in surprise. "What?"
What the fuck is going on? Some of the pieces are starting to fall into place, but I'm still so confused.
"Well, apparently, the same black SUV was noted on the report. There weren't any details as to how or why it was there. It was just arbitrarily listed on the report as a vehicle involved, but with no evidence tying the SUV to her disappearance. I'm not sure, boss, I've never seen a police report like this one before."
So that's what is going on with Emma. It seems that she's got a friend that is in trouble. And who is this Grayson guy? Boyfriend or fiancé maybe? If she has one of those, that could be good news for me.
