Ozzy watched Jet for a second, then said to Shay, “Stay here. Need to talk to Jet for a minute.”
He didn’t wait for a response but went after the former cop as she disappeared through the door to the bunkhouse with the three-pound, four-legged beast circling her feet like a shark.
Only two people could touch that dog. Her and Rook. That was it.
With a last glance over his shoulder at Shay sitting at the bar, he went into the back, securing the door separating church from the bunkhouse behind him.
He shoved the kitchen’s swinging door open to find Jet’s head already buried inside the commercial cooler.
No surprise, Cujo ran up to him growling as if he could protect his mistress. A quick boot to the head would prove otherwise. “Shut the fuck up, asshole.”
“You should know that doesn’t work,” came from inside the huge refrigerator.
“Got a method that would work, but you might not like it.”
Jet pulled her head out of the fridge, her arms full of the shit hardly any of his brothers touched. Or at least his single brothers who lived in the bunkhouse.
Usually the ol’ ladies came over and did their “shopping,” taking all the healthier foods. The Amish dropped off a lot of fresh shit that would rot if the sisterhood didn’t come scarf it up.
He never once saw Easy or Whip wandering around gnawing on a stick of celery. If they did, it would be loaded down with a half jar of peanut butter.
“Jet…”
“What?”
“Need a favor.”
She put the produce in her arms into a box on the counter behind her. When she turned back to him, her hands were on her hips and her ice-blue eyes were narrowed. “You need a favor.”
“You’re family now, figured you’d be willin’ to do a favor for family.”
“Uh huh.” She raised a hand and did a “give it to me” motion with her fingers. “Let’s hear it. This should be good.”
“It’s more of a favor for Shay.”
Her eyebrows shot up her head. “For Shay, then. Not you.”
“Well, me, too.”
“So, this woman who’s here to create a website for…”
“For all of the club’s businesses.”
“Damn, that’ll keep her busy,” Jet whispered. “Okay, so… this woman who’s only here to create websites needs a favor? Why?”
“She used to live in Manning Grove when she was a kid.”
“Okay?”
“Her father disappeared around the same time as the club imploded.”
“And?”
“I’m tryin’ to figure out if he was an Original.”
“You were one, wouldn’t you know?” Her brow dropped low. “Wouldn’t she know? It’s not like you guys don’t advertise who you are and what you belong to right on your damn backs. With both your cuts and your tattoos.”
“True, but if he was one, he hid it from her.”
“So?”
“So… He disappeared.”
“You said that already.”
“Wife filed a missin’ person’s report with the PD.”
“And nothing ever came from it?” she asked with a frown and rubbing a thumbnail across her forehead.
“No. Shay don’t know what happened to her pop. Just seems weird he would disappear around the same time everyone else did.”
“From what I understand, Fury members didn’t simply disappear.”
“Yeah,” was all he said.
Jet was smart enough to put the pieces together of what happened back then. Her uncle had also been a cop with the local five-o during that time. He probably had plenty of stories from back then about the Fury.
And knowing Jet was now involved with the Fury because of Rook, Ozzy was damn sure Ron Bryson shared some of those stories as a warning to her.
Jet’s crystal blue eyes turned toward the kitchen door before landing on him again. “What’s she to you?”
“Nothin’.”
“Let me get this straight… You want a favor, but you’re going to lie to me? That’s not a good way to convince me to help you.”
“Her.”
“You,” she corrected him.
Jesus fuck. “Okay, me.” He drew a hand down his beard. “She’s…”
Jet smiled.
“Christ,” he muttered.
“You got a thing for her,” Jet concluded.
Fuck it. “Yeah, got a thing for her.”
“Are you going to fuck it up like you did with Liz?”
“Jet…”
Jet lifted a hand. “Sorry, that isn’t my business. But maybe what happened to Shay’s father isn’t any of yours.”
Bullshit. “What if he was an Original?”
“What if he was? What if he was caught up in the mess and was killed by someone he thought was one of his brothers? Then what? What’s she going to do with that information? What are you? All it’ll do is label her as the daughter of an Original and get Trip involved. And you know how he gets when someone has Fury blood running through their veins. He’ll start pressuring her to stay and also play by his rules. Do you want that for her?”
Yeah, he did. He wanted Shay to stay. He was being selfish and he didn’t give a fuck. “Trip don’t gotta know, but she would like closure on what happened to her pop.”