Page 17
“Hey.”
He yanks off his helmet and looks at me, desperation in his eyes. “I need help,” is all he says.
“What’s going on?”
“Layla’s gone.”
His pregnant girlfriend.
“Define gone.”
He runs a hand down his face. “We had a fight. She told me… she said the baby’s not mine. That she lied so I would take care of them. I told her I didn’t care, but she said some bullshit about me deserving better. I thought we’d talk some more, but when I got home from work tonight she was gone. All her stuff. The thing is—she doesn’t have much money or a car or anywhere to go. Which means she’s probably back on the street.” He hesitates. “Or getting high.”
I feel for him but there’s nothing I can do. Especially not tonight.
“Look, man, I’d love to help but Courtney is in labor. We have a skeleton crew here and there’s no one available until after Courtney is home safe.”
He nods, resignation coloring his face. “Okay. Yeah. Sorry. I just didn’t know where else to turn. The club…well, they think I’m better off without her. But they didn’t see her face, the shame and the fear that I was going to reject both her and the baby.”
“I’m sorry, man. I’d help if I could.”
“Allora said she’d help but I don’t want her out there at night. Not safe for her.”
“No.” I shake my head. “And Grim doesn’t need to be distracted when he’s watching Daniil’s back tonight.”
“Of course not.” He sets his jaw. “I guess it’s just me then.”
“Look, as soon as Courtney has the baby and we can relax security, I’m more than happy to help you search. Do you think she’s walking the same streets she walked before?” Layla is a sex worker. It’s common knowledge so I’m not speaking indelicately.
“I went there but couldn’t find her,” he admits. “I’m scared for her. What her old pimp, from before she got in with the club, might do to her.”
“Keep me posted, will you?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” He gets back on his bike and heads down the street. I watch until I can’t see his taillights anymore and then go back inside.
“Everything okay?” Mark and Luna are waiting in the lobby.
I tell them what I know.
“Damn. Layla’s been doing so well,” Luna says softly.
“You know her?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah, she and Allora hang out sometimes and we had a spa night a few weekends ago. When you guys were in L.A. doing that job for Willow St. Claire.”
“Did she seem okay then?” I ask.
Luna shrugs. “She was quiet but I figured it was pregnancy-related.”
“That’s a hard life,” Mark says after a moment. “Both being a sex worker and being the old lady of a guy in a motorcycle club. Not the life for me.”
“Me either,” I agree.
Luna stares out the window and for a while we just stand there.
Finally, I say, “I guess we should get back to work.”
Everyone agrees but there’s a heaviness to the atmosphere that wasn’t there before.
