by Karen Renee
I was trying to wrap my head around all this, and blurted my question, “If they got Starla, then what’s the big deal that she’s related to Mark Stillman?”
Trixie understood my confusion, because six years ago if someone had pulled that sort of shit and the club ‘got’ them, it would mean their body would be long gone.
“Babe, not the same now as it was under Teach,” Trixie said, gently.
“So she’s alive.”
Trixie’s head swayed on her neck slightly, “Yeah, though I have to say, I thought the dumb bitch would have learned her lesson that night in Daytona. She got a beating that was fuckin’ brutal. If the brothers hadn’t pulled Natasha off her ass, I think Starla might have suffered even more serious damage.”
I made a mental note not to piss off Natasha, and then I asked, “But what does any of this have to do with Vamp and Emily Yates?”
Jackie nudged my cocktail at me. “I don’t know, but it’s best if we leave it to the men. Vamp damn sure didn’t do it, and the club lawyers are damn good at their jobs. Drink up, Frankie.”
I didn’t want to let it go, but I reluctantly took a sip of my drink anyway.
Suddenly Trixie’s hands were coming at my midriff as she said, “Let me see your belly-button ring, woman. You always had great taste in hardware. I need some ideas, I’m getting tired of my current nipple rings.”
I tried not to choke, and I swatted her hands away while I shook my head. After I swallowed, I said, “I don’t have any hardware anymore, woman.”
“What do you mean? That’s how you met Vamp way back when. I used to love your navel ring, it was gorgeous. Jackie’s the only woman who’s got anything even close.”
Jackie gave me a shocked look and as she lifted up her t-shirt she said, “Wait a minute, is this…”
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw my old belly-button ring on her. I had known Henry would give it to a very special woman.
“Do you want it back? I mean if that’s how you and Vamp met, it seems like –”
I cut her off. “No, way! That has too many bad memories now. If my piercing hasn’t closed up, then I might get new hardware, but seriously, I ran straight into Henry after finding Vamp the way I found him. The impulse just came over me and I knew it was the right thing to do. I took it out and gave it to Henry with explicit instructions to give it to a very special woman. There is no doubt in my mind he gave that to you because you’re special and that makes it yours.”
*** ***
Almost an hour later, church let out and all the brothers came back into the common area. I expected one of them to say something to us, let us know what was going on, but no such luck. I looked at Jackie and Trixie on my left side, and the annoyance must have been written on my face. Jackie just gave me a resigned look and shrugged, but Trixie outright laughed at me.
“What’s funny about this?” I snapped.
“The look on your face, that’s what. I just love it. You look about how I feel most of the time, with all their clandestine shit.”
Volt and Cal were standing around by one of the pool tables, so I made my way over to them. As soon as I approached, Cal sauntered off toward Mallory. Typical. I had been planning on playing them off one another. I took a deep breath and tried to make my expression as blank as I could.
Leaning a hip against the pool table, I said, “So, Henry. Can a girl get an update? What’s the story?”
“There is no story, as far as you’re concerned.”
Not only was this not the answer I was looking for, it was not the tone of voice I wanted to hear from Henry either. His tone of voice was similar to politicians who were good at telling any and every reporter, “No comment.” That kind of answer was not going to fly now that I was giving Vamp his much desired second chance and had essentially agreed to marry his ass. Keeping me in the dark made me feel affronted.
I blurted loudly, “C’mon! Aren’t I like your little sister?”
Henry’s jaw clenched. “Don’t go there, Lo-lo. You know you are, but even if Dolly were here right now to beg me, too, I wouldn’t tell her, either.”
“What am I supposed to do? I love him, and we’ve just gotten back together. I have to be able to do something to help, Goddamn it!”
My voice cracked at the end of my rant and my nose was stinging. Suddenly Henry wrapped me in a tight hug. His mouth went to my ear and he whispered, “Nothing’s gonna happen to him, Lo-lo. We got fuckin’ great lawyers. You sit down, breathe easy, and don’t worry about it. That’s what any good old lady does.”
I pulled back from him and gave him a hard stare, “Not his old lady yet, so—”
Henry shook his head at me, “Good as, Lo-lo. I know your game. You’re not the first woman I’ve had to contend with when their old man is dealing with heat. We got it handled.”
Before I could respond to him, Henry turned on his heel and left me alone at the pool table. I was fuming, but doing my best to keep it together. It wouldn’t do for me to lose my shit because they were keeping me in the dark. I noticed there was another woman at the bar with Trixie, Mallory and Jackie. She was petite and had naturally-red hair that was cut in a pixie haircut. At the back of my mind, I thought I knew her, but there was no way it could be who I thought it was.
I walked up to the women and asked, “Abby? Is that you?”
Pulling me into a fierce hug, she said, “Rainey! It is so good to see you, girl!”
“Why did you cut off all your beautiful hair?”
“She had long hair?” Mallory whispered behind me.
I heard someone approaching us and looked up to see Cal and Blood standing close by.
“She got tired of it,” Blood answered for her.
Abby gave me a sly grin that said otherwise. “Not really. It’s just that this way he has to work harder.”
Mallory gave a startled, “Hunh?”
I mumbled, “I think she’s referring to the bedroom.”
Mallory gasped, “Oh,” while Jackie said, “Oh, I want to know more about that.”
Mallory and I both said, “No.”
Abby looked at Jackie “I’ll tell you later.”
CHAPTER 19
I needed to figure out a way to get the hell out of the compound. None of the brothers were sharing a thing with me, and I was beyond antsy. I grabbed my purse from where I had hung it on the back of a chair at a small table. I fished out my cell phone and saw I had missed a call from Roxanne and one from either Reggie or Tucker, since it was their home number.
I decided to tackle the easy call first, and dialed Reggie and Tucker’s number.
“Is this Frankie?” Tucker asked when he answered.
“Sure is. What’s up, Tucker?”
“Some drag queens will be later, that’s what’s up. You comin’ with me and Reg to the Metro for the big show? Or are you still in Daytona with your burly-biker lover-boy?”
I gave a bark of false laughter. “I wish we were still in Daytona, then he wouldn’t be at JSO headquarters for questioning.”
“What?” Tucker asked, with a gasp.
“Yeah. Not good times. Two detectives were waiting outside my house when we pulled up ’round noon.”
“Why?”
I sighed, “Emily Yates, the sister-in-law of douchebag Stillman, was apparently beaten really badly sometime in the middle of last week.”
“What the hell’s that got to do with you?”
“I don’t really know, except that the cops have spoken to her friend that witnessed Stillman beat me, and she knows that Emily came to see me at my office on Tuesday, so –”
“So, that’s fuckin’ circumstantial bullshit.”
“Tucker, calm down. It wasn’t like they were arresting me. They were just asking me questions, and besides, the lawyer for the Riot MC got me in and out of there in short order. I just wish I could say the same for Vamp.”
Tucker sighed. “Well, this is just fuckin’ bullshit. Girl, you need to come with us to
the Metro; you know ain’t no place better to get your buzz on than with a bunch of gays!”
Actually, the best place to get my buzz on was with Vamp, wherever that might be, but I wasn’t about to argue with Tucker about the Metro.
“Well, I’m not so sure that’s gonna happen. Vamp’s not back, I haven’t even been inside my own home yet and on top of that, I’m dressed for a high-speed ride on the back of a Harley in sunny weather, not the Metro on drag queen night.”
Mallory was wandering by as I said this and she whirled around to face me. “That’s not true! I meant to tell you when you got here, but Trixie took control of the conversation to say the least. Your dresses from Rebel Market and a few other things are in Vamp’s room.”
“I heard that,” Tucker said in a sly voice.
Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t know. I still wouldn’t feel right if ‒”
My phone was suddenly snatched out of my hand, and I do mean ‘snatched,’ like it was nothing more than a piece of paper I was holding near my ear. Then I realized that, just before it happened, Trixie had said, “What’s she talking about? And who’s she talking to?”
With my phone at her ear, Trixie said, “You got Trixie, and what is it Rainey wouldn’t feel right about?”
There was a pause and then, no kidding, Trixie’s jaw dropped slightly open and her eyes almost doubled in size, it seemed. It was hard to find something Trixie would flinch at or find the least bit surprising, but it appeared Tucker had managed to do it and he wasn’t even here to observe the results of his efforts.
“You’re shittin’ me?” she asked.
Then her head reared back a touch on her neck and a shit-eating grin split her face. “Oh, we’ll figure somethin’ out. You can count on that, Tucker, man. I always wanted to go there, but never had anybody to go with me. You talk to Mallory about this?”
Trixie was looking right at me, but I couldn’t tell if she was talking to me or Tucker. Then Trixie clipped, “Yeah. Whatever, I’m pushy broad, and if I get my way, there’s gonna be five or six of us women there. That probably means we’re gonna have to drag four or five biker brothers with us. Are you seriously groaning at my pun, Tucker?”
That was enough, I could tell Trixie was about to get in a tizzy. I snatched my phone back from her, though not with as much finesse, since she saw me coming, but I had it firmly in hand to ask Tucker, “How about I call you later, hon?”
Tucker chuckled at me. “That sounds like a plan, hon. But just so you know, I like this Trixie chick, even if she makes the worst possible plays on words.”
I ended my call with Tucker, and thought for sure Trixie would be right in front of me about the Metro, but she was off talking to Jackie and Abby. I wandered out of the common room and went down the hall to find Vamp’s room. It was the only room with the door open, and I saw my shopping bags sitting on top of the made-up bed. There was no way that Vamp made his bed before he left the compound, whenever that might have been. No way. But he said he’s changed. Apparently, so has the weather in hell, I tried to tell that overly-optimistic side of my brain.
I closed the door behind me, sat down on the bed and looked up to see the extremely cluttered top of a dresser in front of me. Now that was something I remembered from living with Cary so many years ago. Our shared dresser was always covered in a variety of receipts, loose change, bills, ticket stubs, jewelry – his, not mine, since I had a fabulous jewelry box ‒ and any other kind of odd or end that he could pile on the surface. I would have said that nothing had changed, except that in a way it had. Since he didn’t share this room and therefore this dresser with anyone, he had far more surface area to cover with his crap. I smiled to myself, and then reminded myself why I was there. I needed to call my boss.
Looking at my phone, I realized that there was a voicemail for me. I punched the icon to listen to it and heard Roxanne’s voice.
“Frankie. I know I told you I got what I needed from your friend Reggie, but this Emily chick has not yet called me back, and I’ve left three messages since Thursday. HR is getting leery about this, legal wants to get in touch with this friend of hers like last week, and as much as I hate to say it, Alex seems to be losing his patience. Call me.”
I hit the call icon on Roxanne’s contact, and immediately got voicemail. “Hey, Roxanne. It’s me. Sorry I didn’t catch you earlier. I’ve been questioned by JSO about Emily Yates. Apparently she was beaten very badly last week, and she’s in a coma, from what the police tell me. I’m in town, so call me back, I’ll help in any way that I can.”
I put my phone on the nightstand, which also had a hodge-podge of stuff all over it, but there was a sliver of space that I guessed Vamp used for his beverage of choice. I moved my shopping bags to the floor, and lay down on top of the comforter. I caught a faint whiff of Vamp’s scent, and I yanked the pillow out from under the comforter, and curled up with my nose in it. If he got arrested for something he didn’t do, I’d lose my ever-loving mind.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I hadn’t realized how tired I was, and I thought about taking a nap. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, than the door to Vamp’s room swung open and Trixie bellowed, “There you are!”
There ain’t no rest for the wicked. I knew that was the damn truth, and then Trixie flopped onto the other side of the bed and squashed down the pillow that was hiding my face.
“We’re going to the Metro! Did you know that?”
I made a tsk-ing noise in my mouth and said, “You’re going to the Metro. I’m probably still on some form of house-arrest until Mark Stillman is dealt with and Vamp is released from the JSO questioning.”
“Oh, no! We’re going. I’ve already been sworn to my payment to Cal because he’s coming with us and I’ll probably owe Tasha too, because I don’t know how I can swing both the Jazz Festival and Metro in the same night. She is all kinds of fired up about seein’ Trombone Shorty after she missed her shot years ago because of a freak tropical storm that came through in May,” Mallory said as she sat down near my feet.
“Damn straight, we’re going,” I heard Abby say, and then she continued with, “Blood’s coming too. Been a damn long time since we been to a good gay bar. This will be fabulous.”
I rolled my eyes heavenward, but since I was inside that was a futile task. It was also the reason my eyes hit upon the heavy-duty hooks in the ceiling. Hooks, as in three of them, in the ceiling.
A horrified look crossed my face, and then I felt my expression relax into one of curiosity, but Trixie asked, “What is it, Rainey? What’s wrong? You look like you’re disgusted and maybe a bit concerned about something.”
“There are hooks up there,” I whispered.
Trixie didn’t seem to hear me, but Mallory did. I felt the bed depress as she leaned back on her hands next to my legs.
“Oh…my….God. It’s true,” she whispered.
“What? The swing story?” Abby asked.
The bed jerked repeatedly and I figured Mallory had nodded.
“Of course, it’s true. And it’s so much fun, but I didn’t tell you that. What Vamp doesn’t know won’t hurt him. You okay, Rainey?” Abby asked.
I knifed off the bed as I realized that she and Blood must have been in here to use those hooks, I gave a full body shake and said, “Whatever.”
“Gonna get that stick outta your ass, girlfriend,” Trixie muttered.
*** ***
I was saved from hearing just how Trixie was going to get the non-existent stick out of my ass because Roxanne called me back. I looked at the display and said, “Ladies, I need to take this. It’s my boss. I’ll see you in the kitchen or something, ok?”
They all nodded, though Trixie’s nod was reluctant at best, and I closed the door behind them, certain to lock it this time. I sat on the edge of the bed, so I wouldn’t be tempted to stare at the hooks in the ceiling.
“Hey, Roxanne.”
“Frankie. I don’t have much time, been in and out o
f meetings all day. I got maybe two-minutes for you. Are you sure Emily is in the hospital? I don’t want to take this to Alex, HR, and legal if something has changed.”
I sighed, “Well, as of one o’clock she was still in the hospital, or at least, that’s what the JSO detective told me during my questioning. In fact, you can have legal speak with my lawyer, who was at the questioning.”
I fished Martina’s business card out of my back pocket and gave Roxanne the phone number. “I would imagine she’ll be able to shed more light on this whole situation for the legal department,” I added.
“Good idea. Think you can grab a drink with me this evening? Be good to catch up with you in person.”
That sounded like a brilliant idea, and if I could get out of the compound unnoticed it would keep me from feeling so helpless.
“What time were you thinking?”
“Six-forty-five sound good? I was thinking Kickbacks. After this day, I definitely need a good beer and they got plenty on draft.”
I wasn’t really feeling like having any beer. However, I’d been to Kickbacks before, and they had an extensive and quirky menu which would make the trip well worth it. They also had a well-stocked bar and unique cocktail specials, so I knew I could find something to suit my mood.
“Absolutely. I’ll do my best to be there on time.”
“Later,” Roxanne said and we both hung up.
I looked at my phone and saw that it was already four thirty, and I hadn’t even eaten lunch. On top of that, I had to figure out what I was going to wear to a drag queen show. Food needed to be first, or I was liable to pass out on the spot. I left Vamp’s room and wandered into the kitchen. I rummaged through the refrigerator and found some cheddar cheese which was not expired and didn’t have any mold on it. Then I found two slices of rye bread, and made myself a grilled cheese on the stovetop in the kitchen.
I took my sandwich back to Vamp’s room on a paper towel I was going to use as a plate, and started thinking about what to wear to the Metro. I might have gotten away with upstaging Marnie at her own wedding, but drag queens were not always so forgiving. In fact, women committing any number of perceived slights against a queen could find themselves being called out over the PA by the queen himself. At the Metro, whenever that happened the crew operating lights and house music would get in on the act and single the woman out, like shining a floodlight on her was tantamount to the Bat-Signal and would bring Batman to Jacksonville. I made a mental note to have a word with Mallory and Jackie, as I took the third bite of my grilled cheese. I figured Abby would be hip to the ways of a gay bar, based on what she said about her and Blood not having been to one in a while. As for Trixie, if she had the bright lights on herself, I figured she’d enjoy it thoroughly. Besides if anyone could give a queen a run for his money, it was damn sure Trixie.
