Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 804(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 804(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“Mushroom,” I answered.
“Drink?” she asked. “Buck’s got Coke and water and pretty much anything with an alcohol content.”
“Water, if you don’t mind,” I told her.
“You got it,” she stated, whirling around so fast her shiny hair spun over her shoulder.
I looked down at the phone.
I punched in numbers, put it to my ear and listened to it ring while Ink got me a glass of water.
“Thanks,” I said quietly when he set it on the counter in front of me.
“Whatever you need, babe,” he muttered then reached across and slid the hair off my neck before turning back to the kitchen.
Yes, definitely nice.
And affectionate.
Bikers were touchy.
And sweet.
Tia’s voicemail picked up and I closed my eyes.
Hells bells.
I waited for the beep and said, “Tia, honey, I…” I didn’t know what to say, “I…well, Esposito got to me. Baby, I need to know you’re okay. I’ll call you back as soon as I can, and if this number comes up on your phone, pick it up.” I pulled in breath and whispered, “Love you.”
I beeped the phone off.
I beeped it back on and called Mrs. Jimenez, leaving somewhat the same message when her answering machine picked up.
I beeped it off again, put the phone on the counter, picked up my water and sipped at it knowing Mrs. Jimenez was probably freaked out and with her son Raymundo.
Tia not picking up…well, that was a bad sign.
I looked and saw Ink was at the counter spreading butter on saltine crackers. Lorie was at the stove dumping condensed mushroom soup into a saucepan.
“Is this your place?” I asked.
“No,” Lorie answered, smiling at me over her shoulder. “I wish. It’s Buck’s.”
I nodded then asked, “Um…where is Buck?”
Not that I wanted him to be there. He was pretty angry with me as I recalled. Him not being there was probably good.
“He’s seein’ to business,” Ink stated, turning and moving to me to set a plate of buttered crackers in front of me.
I took one and nipped at it. It tasted awesome so I shoved it into my mouth.
Then, with mouth full, I looked up at Ink and said, “Thanks,” while reaching for another cracker.
“Don’t mention it,” he replied while grinning at me.
“Can I ask…uh, what business Buck’s seeing to?” I queried.
Lorie looked at Ink. Ink looked at Lorie. And then Lorie went back to the saucepan and Ink turned his attention to me.
“Clary, you woke up in his bed at the Dive,” he told me like that was an answer to my question.
“Um…yes?” I replied as a question, since I didn’t have an answer.
“In the morning,” he stated.
I’d shoved another cracker into my mouth, so I chewed, swallowed and then prompted on a repeated, “Yes?”
“Baby, she doesn’t get it. Look at her,” Lorie said softly from the stove, pouring the milk she’d put in the empty soup can into the saucepan.
“Look at me?” I asked.
“It’s not like you’ve been to a lot of cookouts at the Dive,” she said on a smile pointed my way.
This was true. In fact, I’d been to none.
Thus, I was still confused.
“Sorry?”
“This is the deal,” Ink cut in, having brought the sleeve of crackers and the tub of butter to the counter where I was. He started to slather more butter on crackers as I kept eating my way through them. “You woke up in Buck’s bed, in the morning. Women don’t do that.”
This was surprising considering Ink himself indicated to me that Buck had a goodly number of women.
“They don’t?”
“No, they don’t,” Ink stated.
“Um…okay,” I muttered, now sounding as confused as I was.
Lorie approached the counter and looked at me. “Hon, he’s a man and he likes to have fun, but once he’s done havin’ fun, his girls go. They don’t spend the night. He doesn’t wake up with them. And none of ’em ever made her way up here.”
Oh.
Wow.
“Really?” I whispered, and Lorie smiled big and happy at me.
“Really,” she replied and walked back to the soup.
“But,” I started, “have any of them been beat up by a sociopathic drug kingpin?”
“Nope,” Ink answered, dropping a cracker onto the plate, which I immediately snatched up. “But some a’ them have been worked over. He might take his time to clean ’em up, but he never sent them to Lefty.”
“Or brought them here,” Lorie reiterated from the stove, stirring but facing me. “We figure this means you’re his old lady.”
“Moves fast,” Ink muttered.
“His old lady?” I asked.
“His woman, babe,” Ink answered. “That’s why your ass is here. That’s why he tore outta his room this mornin’ pissed as all hell. That’s why he made the callout to the boys and we rode to your apartment only to find that old woman tied up in it, which made him lose his fuckin’ mind. And that’s why he’s out right now, takin’ care of business.”