“Birdie,” I said dramatically. “You need to start talking.”
She laughed. “Oh good. It’s my turn to shock the shit out of you for a change.”
SEVENTEEN
SUGAR
As soon as Coochie and I came back upstairs, Whisker banged the torque wrench on the table. He stood and raised the patch so everyone could see. “This is Cooter’s patch. The woman he gave it to just brought it back to the clubhouse. She wants to exchange it for the life of the woman who stabbed Sugar a few weeks ago and killed another man last night—her granddaughter.”
“Those are two separate incidents,” Bush pointed out.
Thank you.
“One could argue that Birdie saved two lives when she earned that patch, not just one,” Coochie added.
“Will somebody please tell me what the fuck she did?” I blurted. I’d had it with the references. I wanted to fucking know.
Whisker nodded at Coochie. “You were there. Give us a short version.”
“Birdie saw two members of the Depraved Sinners in Liquid Anarchy without their colors. She let me know so I could tell Cooter. He told them to leave and one of them took a shot at Charli. Birdie jumped in front of her and took the bullet,”Coochie said and looked at Whisker. “She was five months pregnant with you.”
“Why did she recognize them?” Whisker asked.
“She lived in Huaka at the time,” he said. “She said they were newer members. They thought we wouldn’t recognize them. And they were right. We didn’t. But thank fuck Birdie did. Before you ask, I invited her to Kahakai for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. She’d just gotten divorced and was having a tough time.”
I glanced at Coochie. Did he think Whisker was overly suspicious of everything, too? Because it couldn’t be just me.
Whisker nodded, seemingly satisfied with Coochie’s answer. “Yeah, that’s the same story I got from Mom.”
Coochie’s eyebrows narrowed slightly. I wondered if he was thinking what I was.Was Whisker questioning Coochie’s loyalty by verifying the story with Charli?
“Before Cooter and Pocket were locked up, Cooter reminded me someone had his patch, and he told me to give her whatever she wanted if she brought it back,” he said. “She wants to leave here with her granddaughter free and clear. I don’t like it, but I have to uphold the promise Cooter made. Having said that, they’re not leaving until all loose ends are tied up and we’ve got a handle on potential blowback. And we need to make sure Kalani knows how to keep her mouth shut. Birdie obviously does.”
I laughed. “She can keep her mouth shut. Just make her think she’s being maliciously compliant, and she’ll do it.”
“What?”
“I told her not to make a sound or I’d break her jaw. That bitch didn’t utter a sound until I specifically told her she could talk.”
Biscuit snorted. “Was that before or after she stabbed you?”
“Fuck right off, man.” I was never going to live that down.
“We’ll work out the details later. We’ve got other shit to deal with. For now, they’ll remain here as guests until the storm passes.”
“Guests?” I asked.
The bitch who stabbed me gets to be a clubhouse guest. Great.
“Will it make you feel better if we make them stay with the sirens?” Biscuit asked.
I knew he was busting my balls, but that had no effect on the way I felt. I did not want Kalani staying with the sirens, but I didn’t want to acknowledge why. So, I went with a different angle. “It doesn’t matter to me, but they’ll all be trained killers by morning if she stays with them.”
Coochie chuckled. “I can only imagine what would happen if Birdie stayed over there too.”
“I’m not concerned about Birdie, but I want Kalani to stay with Sugar until they leave,” Whisker said. “I can’t have her killing anybody else while she’s here.”
I tensed at his words. Kalani had a valid reason for each person she killed. “We don’t have to worry about anyone killing Kalani’s mother because that’s already happened. So, as long as we don’t have any uncles trying to take pictures of nieces or sell them into trafficking, I think we’re good.”
