A spasm of irritation crossed Connor’s face and was gone. “No. But it’s trouble. I need you and your girl to pack a bag—enough for a week—and come with us. Right now.”
“What?” Juliana didn’t understand. “I have dinner in the oven.” It was a dumb thing to say, but her brain wasn’t firing on all its cylinders just now. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sherlock cross into her kitchen. She watched as he opened the oven and took out the unfinished eggplant, using a dishtowel as a potholder. “Now you don’t,” he called as he closed the oven door and turned off the heat.
“Juliana, listen,” Connor said, giving her arm, trapped again in his grip, a shake. “This is not the time for questions. This is the time to do what I say. You’re not safe. There are people who will be very unhappy that Trick’s been caught up. Unhappy enough to hurt him, and nothing would hurt him as much as something happening to you. So we’re taking you and Lucie to Bart and Riley’s, and you are going to stay there until it’s safe.”
“I…can’t. I have work. School. Lucie has school. And she has a father she’s supposed to see this weekend. I can’t go into hiding. I have a life.”
This time, Connor shook her arm so hard he hurt her, and she cried out. She knew that Connor was Trick’s best friend, but at this moment, he scared her. Badly.
“Con.” That one syllable was all Demon said.
Dropping her arm, Connor took a deep breath. “Please. Do as I say. We’re trying to keep you safe. We’ll handle Lucie’s father. And your job. Just do as I say.”
Her head spinning much too fast for sense to jump on board, Juliana looked hard into Connor’s eyes, and then Demon’s. And then Sherlock’s.
Sherlock smiled a little and nodded, sending encouragement. “It’s important, sweetheart.”
What choice did she have? Like she was taking a step off a high cliff and falling into a whole new life, she nodded. “O-okay. Okay. I need like fifteen minutes.”
Connor turned to Demon and then Sherlock. “You guys take watch outside.” They both made the same curt nod and went out, closing the door behind them. Then Connor returned his agitated attention to her. “Ten minutes. Take what you need for a week. Only what you need.”
She nodded and went back, deciding that she would tell her daughter that they were having a special treat and getting to stay with Bart and Riley and Lexi and Ian and Deck for a sleepover.
~oOo~
“Did she go down okay?”
Juliana closed the door to the guestroom she’d put Lucie to bed in and turned to answer Riley’s question. “Yes. She’s excited, so it took a couple of extra chapters, but she’s out now.”
The Elstads had so many rooms that they actually had two guest rooms decorated for children and stocked with toys and books. In the rush to leave their apartment, Juliana had forgotten to pack any books for Lucie, but they’d found some in the room that she liked.
“Good.” Riley Chase put her arm around Juliana’s waist. “That’s everybody, then. Come on. I think we need to be drinking tonight.”
“Oh, no. Thank you, but no. I don’t like to drink when Lucie’s with me.”
“Marta is here. She’ll be our designated adult for the night. This is a time for drinking. Come on. Veda showed up, so we’ve got everybody but Pilar, and she’s working tonight.”
“Why…I don’t understand why everybody’s here.”
Riley squeezed her waist. “Let’s go downstairs. The guys won’t tell you much, but the women have some things to say. We’re all here for you.”
They went down the sweeping staircase, and Riley led her into the living room. There Bibi, Faith, Sid, and Veda sat. Most of the them, she’d met at the wedding and hadn’t really seen since. But they’d all been friendly and kind to her, and they smiled at her now as she followed Riley in.
Faith stood up and came to her, arms out, and Juliana let herself be hugged. “It’s going to be okay. Come sit.” Now Faith and Riley both led her to sit on one of the sofas in the large room.
What had struck her first and foremost about the Elstads’ house was its sense of ease. Though it was enormous, and obviously full of expensive things, there was no sense that those things were only for show. She would have expected a celebrity mansion to look like it belonged in a magazine, but this house was just a nice house. It got lived in, and its contents got used. She felt more comfortable because of that.
Connor’s mother, Bibi, spoke first. Juliana had sat next to her, and she reached out a lightly scarred and heavily bejeweled hand and gave her hand a squeeze. “I know this is hard, honey. I’m sure you have questions. Some things we know and can say. Some things we can’t. But those are just details, and they’re not important to the big questions. We can help with the big questions.”
Riley had gone over to a bar at the side of the room. Now she came back with a tray holding a bottle of tequila and six shot glasses. When she set the tray on a low table amidst the sofas and chairs they all sat on, Sid cleared her throat.
“Um…I’m going to pass on the tequila tonight.”
Bibi’s attention spun quickly from Juliana to Sid. “What?”
Sid smiled and waved a hand dismissively. “Just not in the mood tonight. Carry on without me.”
“Sidonie, you’re always in the mood for tequila.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Bibi. You make me sound like a drunk.”
“She’s right, Sid,” Riley offered, handing a full shot glass to Bibi. “You’re usually first to the bottle.”
“Guys, fuck off!”
“Come to think of it,” Faith chimed in, “I don’t remember you drinking at the wedding, either.”
Bibi leaned forward, her full glass steady in her hand. She got a look in her eyes that, even in profile, made Juliana feel vaguely uncomfortable. Like she had turned on X-ray vision or something. “Young lady, did Muse knock you up?”
At the question, Sid blushed and dropped her eyes.
Bibi tossed back her shot. “Well, holy shit. How far? And why you hidin’ it?”
“Thirteen weeks. And we’re just…waiting. I’ve spotted a couple of times, ended up in the ER. Everything’s okay so far. We just wanted not to say anything until I started doing better.”
“Jesus, baby. Well, that explains Muse lately.”
Sid laughed. “Yeah, he’s freaking out. He’s worried about me, and the baby, and that he’s too old to be a father. And he’s terrified he’s going to be a father like his father—but Beebs, don’t tell him that I told you that, okay?”
“Honey, I didn’t need you to tell me that Muse would be worried. But I’ll leave it be.”
“Thank you.”
Faith drank her first shot. “I thought you guys didn’t want kids.”
Sid sighed. “This wasn’t in the plan. It’s a long story. I went off pills because they were fucking with my mood, and then…you know. Got sloppy. But now that I am…”
The women all nodded sagely, even Juliana, who’d been watching this conversation from the sidelines, holding a shot of tequila and finding herself surprised and relieved that she had lost the attention of the room.
The moment made her feel more a part of the group, so she said, “Lucie wasn’t planned. At first, looking at the result on the stick, I thought my life was over. I thought it meant that I was trapped with her father and that all my dreams about my life were finished before I could start them. I even considered having an abortion. But she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Some things in my life are harder now, but I have her, and she makes it all okay.”
Veda was quiet, staring down at her shot glass. Then she sighed and tossed the tequila down her throat. She made a little face and muttered, “Fuck.” Riley put her hand on Veda’s shoulder.
That quiet communication told Juliana that Veda knew disappointment and maybe grief regarding children. “I’m sorry,” she told her and finally drank her tequila. The heat on the way down warmed and settled her tense muscles.
Veda smiled. “It’s okay. It’s just—J.R. and I have been trying for long time, and it’s just not happening. He won’t…” She stopped and waved the sentence away. “Doesn’t matter. Anyway, sometimes it’s hard to hear about people getting accidentally knocked up.”
Riley poured more tequila. “I’ll get you a sparkling water, Sid.”
Sid stood up. “I’ll get it. Can I snag some snacks, too? My all-day-long sickness is finally over.”
“Go for it.”
As Sid headed to the kitchen and Riley sat down, Bibi handed Juliana back her refilled glass, then drank down another shot. “Okay, Juliana, darlin’. Let’s talk. What can we do?”
Juliana took a breath and took in the women seated around her. Bibi, by far the oldest and obviously in charge. She’d noticed that the men all called her ‘Mama,’ except her actual son, who called her ‘Mom.’ The women all called her by name, though.
Faith, who seemed closer to Bibi than the others in this close-knit group. Riley. Somehow Riley fit in, despite being famous and rich. And Veda. Juliana hadn’t seen enough of her or of Sid to have formulated an opinion, but they were obviously part of the sisterhood.
The women all seemed to understand each other, even though they seemed unique each in her own way, and even though their bonds among them were clearly different. Some were obviously more involved with the club than others. Juliana liked the idea that being with Trick didn’t necessarily mean being deep in the club. The club scared her. She tried to settle her mind about it, to tell herself that the club was Trick, and vice versa, but she didn’t believe it. She liked the guys, and the women, but she liked them outside of the club. At their pool party, and at the wedding—she liked that. They were good people. The way Connor had been in her apartment earlier—that was club. It was different.
She swallowed her shot and felt the warmth ooze into her belly. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to ask because I don’t know what to say. I was making stuffed eggplant for dinner and then Trick was arrested and Lucie and I were packing and getting pushed into a van.” Saying that out loud broke a dam she’d erected to help her deal with the craziness of the night, and she was crying before she could stop herself. “I was just making eggplant!”
Bibi scooted over and pulled Juliana into her arms. “Shhh. I know, baby, I know. The boys are doin’ everythin’ they can to get Trick home. In the meantime, we’re all here for you. We’ll help every way we can. We’re a family. Trick loves you, and that makes you part of us.”
Juliana cried harder at that, and stopped fighting the tears. Bibi seemed willing to hold her and let her cry, so cry she did. After a minute or two, Riley’s hand was on her back, running lightly up and down. She had sat down at Juliana’s other side.
“You and Lucie will stay right here with us until this gets figured out.”
Sniffing, Juliana pulled herself together enough to sit up and turn to Riley. “Thank you, but we can’t. I have work and school. And Lucie’s dad has visitation this coming weekend. He’ll take me to court if I flake on that.”
“Let the men take care of all of it,” Veda said. “You have to trust them. If they want you here, it’s because you’re not safe out there. Staying safe is the most important thing.”
“I don’t trust them! I trust Trick! And he’s gone! Oh my God! I don’t understand!”
Juliana put her head in her hands and let fresh tears flood through her. Her life was falling apart, and only hours ago it had seemed on the road to perfect.
~oOo~
She didn’t sleep that night. The bed in the room she’d been given was luxuriously comfortable, but she was beset by fear and doubt, too much for rest. Not even tequila had brought her sleep. As soon as there was any light at all in the sky, she got up, pulled on a pair of yoga pants under Trick’s t-shirt, and went out into the house.
After she checked on Lucie and found her sleeping well, she padded down to the huge kitchen. Fargo and Keanu sat at the breakfast table, drinking coffee and talking.
They were there to guard the house, she knew. The other women had left at some point, and the rest of the Horde, too, she thought. But they’d left two behind to guard the house.
She had been fooling herself about what it would mean to make a family with an outlaw. This was what it really meant.
Fargo looked up. “Morning. You’re up early. You okay?”
“Yeah. Is there more coffee?”
“Sure. It’s fresh.” He nodded to the counter, and Juliana went to make herself a cup. She thought of the mug Lucie had made her a few weeks back, and she had to blink tears away.
“What are you doing up? I thought the womenfolk got you drunk last night.”
Juliana jumped at Connor’s voice. Apparently not all the Horde had left. Connor had become the locus of her fear—maybe simply because he had been the bearer of the news. Or because he’d been so angry and rough. Or all of it.
He looked tired, and he was dressed in the same clothes as last night. She wondered if he’d even gone to bed.
“I—I—” as he came up to her, a racing heart stopped up her words. But he simply bent down and kissed her cheek.
“It’s okay. I want to talk to you. Let me just get a cup, too, and we’ll go sit outside, okay?”
Still mute, she nodded and stepped out of his way.
Mugs of fresh coffee in hand, they went out to the terraced patio overlooking a large, beautiful swimming pool. The vast yard was peace personified. The sun had just peeked up over the lowest eastward mountains, and the morning was quiet and cool. Connor led her to an arrangement of upholstered patio furniture.
As soon as he sat, he said, “I was an asshole last night, and I’m sorry. I’m worried about Trick. The situation is fucked up, and it took me a while to get level. I can be a real dick, I know. But I’ll try to help you get right with this. As right as there is to get.”
Juliana nodded and sipped her coffee. “I don’t know what to ask. I know you won’t tell me anything. Trick never tells me anything.”
“No. There’s a lot that’s better for you not to know. And it’s not my place to tell you what your old man won’t. But you can ask whatever you want. I just might not answer.”
“Where is he? What is he charged with?”
“DHS took him. Homeland Security. I’d guess he’s in L.A., at least right now, but we don’t know. Our lawyer is on it, but the Feds aren’t being helpful. And he hasn’t been charged yet with anything. We want him to be. If they charge him, then that starts a process we can deal with. Until they charge him, I’m not sure we can even find him.”
She frowned; that didn’t sound right at all. “Habeas corpus applies. They’ve got to charge him.”
“I forgot—you know this shit. Okay.” He leaned forward. “Then listen to what I said: DHS has him.”
It was early, she hadn’t slept, and she was freaked out—all likely reasons Juliana hadn’t picked up on it right away. When she did, she almost dropped her mug. “You think they’re holding him as a terrorist? What the hell? What did he do?”
Connor’s only answer was a shake of his head: not a question he’d entertain.
“Oh, my God. Connor—there are so many loopholes in terrorism jurisprudence that the whole system is a sieve. There is no due process. They can keep him indefinitely without charge. They don’t have to give him access to a lawyer. They don’t have to give him visitation. They don’t have to fucking give him anything. EVER.”
Knife & Flesh (The Night Horde SoCal Book 4) Page 27