by Amy Cecil
Unfortunately, I really couldn’t do anything until after the club had my service. I wondered where they were with all of that. I needed to check in with Rebel later and find out. Now that Hawk was aware that Rebel knew, Hawk could keep Rebel informed. I only wanted one point of contact, it was cleaner that way.
So, for now, I just needed to lay low and watch the Satans.
Chapter 12
Rebel
Ice came downstairs, grabbed some coffee, and headed toward the door. “Thanks, man. Take care of our girls,” he said as he approached the door.
“Sure thing, boss,” I replied. Laughing to myself, I added, “Hey man, have fun driving that cage.”
“Fuck you, Rebel! I’ll be in touch.” With those words, he was out the door. My president was always a ray of sunshine. But there wasn’t any other person that I trusted to keep the club whole.
A few minutes after Ice left, Emma came downstairs. I could tell she had been crying and thought perhaps she needed some cheering up. “Good morning, Rebel,” Emma said. “Did you sleep well?” she asked.
“I sure did. Did you sleep well?” I asked her teasingly, betting she hadn’t gotten much sleep at all. She blushed—I knew that would get her.
“You just never mind how I slept, or I’m gonna tell on you!”
“Who you gonna tell?” I asked, baiting her.
Smugly, she replied, “I’m gonna tell my big badass biker old man—who, I might add, happens to be your president. That’s who!”
I laughed. “Look at you, already playing the old lady card. Good girl, you learn quick,” I replied. Then I added, “Don’t forget that, either. There may come a day when you will need to play that card.” She smiled and walked over to the coffee pot, poured herself some coffee, got some cream from the fridge, and then walked over to the bar and plopped herself onto a stool. That girl always put more cream in her coffee than actual coffee. It was disgusting.
“Are the girls up yet?”
I shook my head. “Naw, this is way too fuckin’ early for Ari. That girl will sleep until noon if you let her. Honey will most likely be up in about an hour.” I looked at my watch. “Her rise-and-shine time is usually 7 am.”
“Wow, you know a lot about those two,” she said, sounding surprised.
“What can I say? I know things.”
We sat there in silence for a while. I was checking out the sports page of the paper and Emma was just sitting and staring off into space. After several minutes, I started to worry about her. It was obvious how much she cared for Ice, and I knew she had to be worried sick about him. “You ok, sweetheart?” I asked.
She looked over at me and smiled. “Yeah, I’m ok. Just worrying about what happens next.” She paused momentarily and then added, “I’m not sure I can do this, Rebel. Pretending he is dead is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Do you know how all this going to play out?”
She’d asked a very legitimate question, and I’d do my best to answer her. “Well, from what Hawk has told me, he is going to set up a memorial service for the club, all the Chapters, and all Ice’s friends. Which will probably be a couple of days from now. Obviously, the whole club will attend. I’m sure he will also invite members from other Chapters to make it look as real as possible. Once the service is over, which will be the hardest part, we will then go about our days without Ice. Keep in mind that Hawk, the girls, you, and I are the only ones that know that he is alive. The rest of the club believes he is dead. So when you are around other members, you are going to have to be on your guard.”
“This is not going to be easy,” she said, still sounding worried.
“I know, darl’n, but think about how worried you are about him and how much you miss him. That will keep you in the right frame of mind.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I was trying to think of sad things that would make me cry so that I can shed some tears, too.”
“Good girl. You got this! I’m not worried at all.”
Just then, Honey walked out into the kitchen, looking like death warmed over. I looked at my watch: 7 am. Pointing at my watch, I said, “See? Like clockwork.” Emma and I laughed while Honey looked at us, wondering what in the hell we were laughing at.
“You two are chipper this morning,” she said, sounding disgusted. She was definitely not a morning person.
“Yes, we are. You might want to get yourself some coffee and maybe you could join us,” I said sarcastically.
“Fuck you, Rebel!”
Shit, that’s the second time today that someone said that to me and it’s only 7 am! Was it something I said?
Several hours later, Ari emerged looking as beautiful as ever. I thought, One of these days, real soon, I am going to let her know how I feel about her—but not until the time is right.
We had a late breakfast and then the girls got ready for their day. I was sitting in the family room when my phone rang. I looked down at the caller ID. It was Hawk.
“Yup,” I answered as I stepped outside so that I could talk freely.
“Hey Reb, how are the girls doing?”
“They’re good. Getting ready to start their day. What’s up?”
“I’ve made contact with the presidents of all the Chapters and explained to them what’s going on. They are all on board. I also told them that we are having a service, biker-style, for Ice next Friday. That’s a week away, which gives the Chapters time to travel. I’ve made all the arrangements and will need to have the girls be ready.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“Yeah. The boys cleaned up the mess at Grayson’s house. They torched the house, too, so that will explain why we don’t have a body. The Satans will know soon that Grayson is dead. You need to let Ice know.”
“You think we will get any blowback from the house being torched?” I asked. Torching the place seemed a little drastic to me, but it definitely would give us a reason to not have a body.
“I’ve already taken care of that. I’ve spoken to Briggs. He’s going to take care of everything for us.”
Jack Briggs was our guy on the force. He knew how to make it work with us, and we respected him for it. He wasn’t in our pocket, but he was always willing to help if we needed it, as long as we weren’t breaking the law. Well, I guess burning down someone’s house was breaking the law, but I was sure that Hawk had told him everything about what that animal had done to Emma. Briggs believed in the law, but he also believed that there were always exceptions to it.
“Good. What do you want the girls to do until the service? Want me to keep them here?” I asked. Shit, I hope he says no, but I am sure he is gonna say yes. Fuck. I’m going to go stir-crazy.
“Yeah, I do. They need to lay low until the service. Remember, they are grieving. Our new clubhouse won’t be ready for several weeks and Betty’s will not be able to accommodate all the people and the food they will be bringing once Ice’s death is confirmed. We need a temporary clubhouse in the interim. I don’t want folks bringing stuff to Ice’s house—I don’t want to draw attention there. Got any ideas?”
“What about Kandi’s?” It seemed so obvious, I didn’t know why we hadn’t thought of it sooner. Kandi’s was our club, so we wouldn’t even need to ask anyone.
“Fuck, that’s a great idea. It’s a little farther out than I had wanted, but still a good location. Good job, Reb, I should have thought about that myself.”
“Hey man, you have had enough to think about. You gonna call Callie?” I asked.
“Yeah, I will give her a heads-up and tell her we’re taking over the club for a while. We can keep the strippers working and use the back two convention rooms, along with the private rooms. We’ll lose a lot of income from the private rooms, but we’ll save in the long run paying rent somewhere.”
“You got that right. If you need anything, you know where to find me. You know, me, the Knights of Silence Club Sergeant at Arms and babysitter.”
He laughed into the phone. “Don’t knock
it, brother. At least you can enjoy the scenery,” he said.
“Yeah, Hawk, that’s the problem. I can look but I can’t touch!”
I could hear Hawk laughing as he hung up the phone. Fucker!
After I’d finished talking to Hawk, I walked back in the house. The girls were sitting in the great room, chatting. Shit, don’t they ever run out of things to say? What’s wrong with just enjoying the silence? I swear I will never figure women out.
I said, “Hey, girls. I just got off the phone with Hawk. Ice’s memorial will be held next Friday.”
Honey said, “Rebel, that’s over a week away. Why are we waiting so long?”
“We got a lot of members coming from all over; they need travel time,” I said. “Hawk has decided to give them that time, and since he’s the new prez in the eyes of the outside world, we do what he tells us to do.”
Honey just smirked and rolled her eyes.
I continued, “So, as I was saying, the memorial will be held next Friday. We are securing a location at Kandi’s to accommodate the members from out of town that will be coming in, as well as using it for a clubhouse until the new one is fitted to meet our needs.” I looked over to Honey. “Honey, you will be in charge of coordinating logistics for our guests. Emma, you and Ari can help with that. Honey has a lot of experience handling this, you both can learn a lot from her.” The girls nodded and looked at me as if there was more. “What?” I asked.
“Well, what do we do between now and next Friday?” Emma asked.
Was I just speaking another language? Did they not hear a word I just said? “Like I said, you and Ari will be helping Honey with logistics.” Emma still looked at me with confusion. I looked over to Honey, pleading with my eyes for some help.
“Emma, dear, what Rebel is saying is that there is going to be a lot of out-of-towners coming in over the next few days. We will work together to ensure that everyone has a place to sleep, that they are fed, and that everyone is comfortable.”
“Oh,” Emma said, as if she understood.
Isn’t that what I just said? I just shook my head. I didn’t know what to do with that.
Then Emma added, “Is everyone staying here?”
“No,” Honey said. “They will be staying at Kandi’s. Which means that we will need to gather up blankets and pillows and get some food. It’s gonna be a week, and we better get started.”
“Isn’t Kandi’s that strip club?” Emma asked.
Oh fuck, I don’t like where this is going. I like Emma, I really do, but she sure has a lot to learn about being an old lady. Thank God for Honey.
“It is, but there are rooms in the back that we can use. I’m surprised Hawk didn’t think of it before, it’s perfect as an interim clubhouse,” Honey replied.
“Ok, just let me know what you need me to do,” Emma said.
“Well, first, why don’t you and I sit down and figure out food? Then we can send Ari with Rebel to do some grocery shopping and get it all delivered to Kandi’s. Then, you and I can get on the phone with the other old ladies to secure the other items we need. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” Emma replied.
“Yep, sounds good to me,” Ari chimed in.
I thought, I knew Honey could handle all of this. She’s gonna make a great old lady someday.
The girls sat down at the bar and worked on planning food, and I took advantage of the quiet time, grabbing a beer from the fridge and going to sit outside. I needed some time to myself before all the chaos of the next few days arose. Usually I’d be removed from this type of shit, but as babysitter to the girls, I was stuck right dab in the middle of it this time.
One thing I needed to do was get a cage. I really couldn’t buy groceries and haul them home on my Harley, with Ari on the back. Ari on the back of my bike. What a nice thought. I think I will ponder that for a while. I took a drink of my beer, laid my head back, and just relaxed for whatever time I had at the moment. I’d call Tiny later, after my nap.
Chapter 13
Emma
I spent most of the day helping Honey get things arranged and ready for all the bikers coming into town. Tiny had brought over the black pickup truck that he’d used to take me to my apartment so that Rebel and Ari could go get food. A memory of that truck flashed through my head. That was the day that Mark followed us. I hadn’t known it was Mark at the time, but had found out after we got back to the clubhouse. Suddenly, I became scared and nervous thinking about Mark and had to remind myself that he was dead. Cade had killed him. Brutally.
Will I be able to get past the fact that Caden killed him? It doesn’t bother me so much that Caden killed him, anyone could see it was done in self-defense … well, to an extent. But the way that Caden killed him. I can’t get the image of Mark’s body hanging in the basement. Am I ever going to get over this? Will I ever feel safe when I see something that reminds me of Mark? I shook my head as if to free myself from the thoughts that plagued my head. I couldn’t think about that now. I needed to keep busy.
“Honey, what else do you need me to do?” I asked.
Honey looked at me quizzically. What was wrong? She was giving me the oddest look.
“You’re back with us,” she said.
“What do you mean? I’ve been sitting here the entire time,” I responded, totally confused by her remark.
“Sweetheart, your body may have been here, but your head was a million miles away.” Well, she was right about that. I didn’t realize it was so obvious that I had been lost in thought.
“Oh, that. I just have a lot on my mind. Things that I need to deal with.”
She walked over to me and gave me a hug. “If you need to talk, I’m here, sweetie. You’ve been through a lot the last couple of weeks. Nobody can blame you if you are still dealing with the ramifications of all that.”
“Thanks, Honey. I really appreciate it and in time, I may just take you up on it.” I paused for a moment and then added, “Can I tell you something?”
“Sure, hon.”
“I was so jealous of you when I first got back in touch with Caden. I knew I came between you two. I felt bad to an extent, but was more jealous than anything else. You know the man that he is today, and all I had was the boy I had known 20 years ago.” I waited for her to say something, but she didn’t. Feeling the need to add something, I continued, “And, well, now that I have gotten to know you, I really like you. You’ve become a good friend to me.”
She smiled and said, “Well, that makes us even. I was jealous of you, too. I knew that you and Ice had a history and I guessed that you were the reason he never settled down with anyone. He was never going to make me his old lady. I never realized that until you came.”
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. “I really never meant to hurt anyone by coming back into his life.”
“I know that, really I do. I was hurt at first, but I know that you are the one that has been meant for him all along. I’ve never seen him content, truly content like he is with you. I loved him—hell, I think I still do in a way. But it really makes me happy to see him happy. That’s what’s important,” she said.
“And what about you?”
“Oh, now don’t you go worrying about me. I know there’s someone out there for me. There has to be, right?” she asked with a laugh.
“I know there is!” I said confidently. “What will you do now? Will you stay with the club?”
“Ice has assured me that I will always have a place with the club. He has told me over and over again that this club is my home. So, I plan on sticking around. Besides, I really enjoy taking care of these boys and I do consider you a friend.” She let the silence between us settle and then said, “You know, he took me in when I had nothing. I will never forget what Ice and this club have done for me.”
“What happened to you before you came to the club?” I asked. I had always wondered how she’d gotten involved with the club.
“That, my dear Emma, is a story fo
r another day. Right now, we have work to do.” She was right. I decided not to push the issue. I figured she would tell me when she was ready.
“Can I ask another question?” I added.
“Sure hon,” she replied.
“Is Honey your real name?” She laughed, and in a way it did seem a bit odd to ask, but I was curious and I wanted to know.
“No, It’s Amanda. The boys gave me the name “Honey” and it kinda stuck.” She paused for a moment and then looked at me oddly and said, “Did I really just say that?” And we both started laughing.
Just then, Hawk walked through the front door. “Hey, girls. How are things going here?” he asked. He looked at me and then over to Honey. Oh my God, did he just blush? Is Hawk crushing on Honey? I wonder if she knows. This was definitely something to get my mind off of everything. When I was hiding out with Rebel I had made a pact to myself that I was going to find him a nice girl. But after seeing him and Ari together, it looked like he had already found her. So I decided that my new mission was to hook up Honey and Hawk. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? I asked myself. Just then I noticed both of them staring at me curiously. “What?” I asked.
“What’s going on in the head of yours, Emma?” Honey asked.
“Not a thing,” I replied smugly. “Don’t you need to tell Hawk about all the arrangements we’ve made today?”
And just like that, it was like I was no longer in the room. Honey and Hawk went over all the details and arrangements and I just sat there watching the two of them. I don’t know why I didn’t see their connection before.
A couple of hours later, not long after Hawk had left, Ari and Rebel returned empty-handed. As if he could read my mind, Rebel said, “We dropped everything off at Kandi’s. Thought it was pointless to carry everything in here, only to pack it up again to take it there. Don’t ya think?”
“Good thinking,” said Honey.
“We did get a few things for here for the next few days. I’ll carry those in now,” he said as he headed out the door.