Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
I also hadn’t learned anything about Esther. I hadn’t even had the chance to ask about her in a way that wouldn’t have become suspicious pretty quickly. Even mentioning her name had them looking at me like a hawk. I figured that wasn’t a good thing.
Pulling out my phone, I called Titus.
“You go to the garden center?” he asked, the sound of a bunch of teenagers talking over each other in the background.
“It was just her older brother and sister-in-law,” I said, glancing back at the stupid plants in my back seat. “No sign of her.”
“Maybe she doesn’t work today,” Titus said, the background noise getting a little quieter. “You didn’t ask about her, right?”
“No. I mentioned that I’d gone to school with her and Ephraim and the wife picked right up on it and asked if I knew Esther.”
“Huh.”
“The way she asked was weird, man. Like the answer was important.”
“What did you say?”
“That I knew her as well as Ephraim because it was such a small school. It felt off.”
“I told you they were fuckin’ strange. Didn’t I tell you—”
“Yeah, you told me.” I sighed. “Not sure how I’m gonna talk to her. It’s not like I could randomly run into her somewhere. I haven’t before now.”
“I think the women keep pretty close to home.”
“How the fuck do you know all this?” I asked in exasperation. “You’re the prince of not payin’ attention to what’s goin’ on around you.”
“I pay attention to some shit,” he countered. “Listen, bell just rang and I need to get back to class. I have an idea though. I’ll call you after school.”
He hung up before I could tell him not to do anything. The little shit.
I probably shouldn’t have pulled him into my bullshit, but he was the only one who actually knew who Esther was. If I’d tried to explain the situation to anyone else, they wouldn’t have been able to understand what I was dealing with. Hell, I didn’t fully understand what I was dealing with—but ironically, Titus seemed to have a good grasp on it.
After dropping the plants off in my front yard and putting the Mustang away, I got my Harley out of the garage and headed into work. Thankfully, everyone was pretty easy going about people taking days off or coming in late or early. As long as you weren’t being a dirtbag and still hit your forty hours, they didn’t really give a shit when you were there.
Almost everyone in the club worked at the garage at one point or another, but the old timers came in pretty sporadically, so it was a surprise to see the forecourt filled with bikes so early on a Tuesday.
“Where you been?” my older brother Micky called as I parked my bike.
I waited until I’d pulled my helmet off to answer him. “What are you, my mother?”
“Cute,” he muttered. “Shit’s goin’ down and you’re bein’ cute.”
“What shit?” I asked, climbing off the bike.
“Not sure yet.”
We walked side by side into the clubhouse. It was pretty full of members loitering around, but there were a few missing which meant the big guns were closed up behind the bar talking about shit I wasn’t allowed to hear.
“You know what this is all about?” I asked Micky quietly as we headed toward Rumi.
“Somethin’ about a shipment that never made it,” he replied just as quietly. “I was standin’ next to Dad when he got the call.”
“That’s not good.”
“Understatement,” Micky muttered as we reached Rumi. “You heard anythin’?”
“Not a peep,” Rumi said easily, leaning back in his chair. “I’m sure they’ll be done jerkin’ each other off soon and then the rest of us will get a tug.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mumbled, glancing around to make sure no one else had heard him. I knew he was joking, but saying shit like that could and would get his ass handed to him.
“Stop bein’ an idiot,” Micky said, grabbing a chair for himself.
“Does anyone know what happened?” I asked, glancing between my brothers.
Micky just looked at me.
“That’s what we’re waitin’ to find out, Tiny Tim,” Rumi said, grinning at me.
“You’re such an asshole.”
“You know as much as we do,” Micky said, shooting Rumi a glare. “When they figure shit out, they’ll let us know.”
I looked over at the closed door, wondering what they were talking about in there. How had a shipment gone missing? Our trucks were usually driven by a younger member or sometimes a prospect—I’d had my turn at it a few weeks before—because most of us didn’t have records yet, with two veteran outriders for protection. Had anyone been hurt?
Who were the outriders that morning? I couldn’t remember and I hadn’t seen them at the club that morning because I was so fucking late. I grimaced. What a perfect fucking day to be chasing after some girl.