There was so much drama in this big ol’ house, so instead of focusing on all that crap, I decided to focus on Ava and Molly. I knew where she worked and it was only a matter of time before I finally found her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jameson
It was Friday night, and Charlie had texted me earlier to get to the clubhouse. I didn’t know what he needed, but I hoped it was to make amends. I missed my brother.
I sat back in a chair at a round table with an ice cold beer in my hand and a smile on my face. I should have been having a good time, with the music blasting hard rock through six-foot speakers, shot glasses that never emptied, and half-naked chicks happy to show off newly bought tits or freshly drawn tats.
It was the same Friday night I’d experienced with this same group of men and women for as long as I could remember, except tonight none of it felt real. Authentic.
Everything was off. Just fucking off. Like I didn’t belong here anymore.
Charlie clapped me on the back and flashed a wide smile. “Hey man, glad you could make it. I want to apologize. I was going through some stupid shit, with Savannah and being the new Prez, Mom and Dad busting my balls. You’re my brother, man. I love you.”
“We’re cool. Just don’t let it happen again.” I smiled. Glad to have some semblance of a brother back.
Charlie nodded, silent and contemplative. “You know, it’s harder having a kid brother who’s a cop than I thought it would be.”
“Regretting that you gave me your support?”
“Hell, no. I’m proud of you. Glad you’re out there helping the community. You have a lot of Mom in you. I just really wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you.”
“Fuck, yeah, you do.” Charlie smiled again, and I let out a loud laugh. Then he whistled and yelled across the room. “Hey, Chickie, can you bring that bottle of Patron over here?”
“She still here?” I felt like I hadn’t been here in years. Although I knew it was only months.
“Always, man. Lousy fuck but makes a helluva waitress.”
“Please tell me you aren’t fucking her.” I snorted after she left the bottle on the table.
Charlie put the bottle to his lips and took a long pull. I cringed. “Nope, just that one time when I’d just turned eighteen. Damn, Mom was pissed at her.” He laughed. “She was almost forty, I think. Bitches be bitches for sure.”
It was good to laugh with my brother again over random bullshit, but I wondered if a time would come when I would have to choose between being a cop, an Ellison, or a Reckless Bastard. I didn’t have any answers, so I shook that shit off with a shot of tequila and a long pull of my beer.
“If you don’t find a way to turn off that big brain of yours, Jamie, you’ll burn out before you have a chance to figure out what happened to Luke.”
At my look of surprise, Charlie laughed. “You think I don’t remember? You two were tight as fuck and his murder changed you. I had no idea how much until later, but it was obvious. Even back then.”
“You’re right, but I don’t know how to shut it off yet. How do you do it? And don’t tell me Chickie is the answer.” I snort-laughed.
“Usually I get lost in good pussy. For days. If that doesn’t help, a few shots of tequila and then get lost in good pussy.”
A smile it up his face just as Savannah walked in, tall and confident as if she owned place. She greeted everyone with a smile, except the Reckless Bitches, which made me snort, before greeting my brother with a hot kiss that sent the probies into fits of whistles and catcalls.
Before the longing for Maddie set in, my phone buzzed with a message from Agent Beck. Meet in 15 at The Guinea.
The Guinea was a local cop bar where cops could have a beer and talk shop without worrying about civilians or fucked up reporters with phone video. It was an ideal meeting spot for a Friday night, and when I walked in, I spotted Beck looking like she was too young to order a beer at a back booth. She was a fine looking lady, but her personality sucked.
“Hey, little girl, are you lost?”
She flipped me off and I laughed. “I’ve got your little girl right here, fucker.”
“You kiss your mama with that mouth?”
Beck laughed again. “Only when she pisses me off. Sit.”
I grabbed the seat against the wall because it gave me the perfect view of the entire bar just in case some shit popped off. “So what’s so important on a Friday night, Beck?”
“I think we should arrest Calvin Ashby. I know you don’t think he had anything to do with the murders, and the truth is I don’t either, but we need to get Sadie or Jasper to do something rash, and this is one way to accomplish that.”