“His brother’s name is Jonathon.”
Keri’s face scrunched as she turned the picture, trying to see the person in the background. She sat back down when Calder came back into the room, ignoring them to clean and wipe down the counter.
“Hand me my phone. I’ll show you the pictures of mine.” Crazy Bitch held her thumb down as she opened her cell phone, going to her photos. “Scroll through those bad boys.”
Keri sat down on the floor next to Meri as they stared at the pictures.
“That’s a good picture of Uncle Calder,” Keri complimented her uncle.
“He looks damn fine. Keep scrolling.
“That’s Sam. I brought him to Star’s birthday party.” She hated him now, but he was good-looking.
“That’s Jace,” she continued, smothering a smile at their faces.
“He’s one of dad’s friends.”
“Yes, he is. He’s mine, too.”
“Who’s this?”
Each photo showed men who would stroke any woman’s fire.
“That’s Joker. He had a big gut, but he was still smoking hot.”
Keri stopped when she came to a face she recognized. “That’s Shade.”
“That was wishful thinking.” She finished Meri’s nails, closing the nail polish to put it neatly back in the case. Holding out her hand for her phone, Keri placed it in her hand. “I can show you the rest another time. It’s bedtime.”
“I wanted you to paint mine.” Star jumped up after putting the cards back in the box.
“I’ll do yours tomorrow night,” Crazy Bitch said, closing her case as Star looked at her wistfully. “Come on; you can help me open the couch.”
Star got a kick out of tossing the cushions off. Crazy Bitch then let her pull the strap that would open the full-sized bed.
“Can I sleep here?” Star pleaded.
“No, me and Calder are sleeping here. You’re sleeping….”
Meri’s face fell as if she had wrecked the sweet used car Stud and Sex Piston had surprised the twins with when they had gotten their licenses. “I thought me and Keri were sleeping on it.”
“You’re a guest. I can’t have my guests sleeping on the couch. Time to go beddy bye. You all have school in the morning, and Calder and I have work.”
“That’s right. I’ll pack your stuff into your room for you.” Calder gave her an amused smile as he passed them to get the twins’ suitcases that they had deliberately left by the door in the hopes of being able to go to Sex Piston’s parents’ home.
When the twins huffily went into the bedroom, Calder hooked an arm around her shoulders, pulling her toward him. “Sorry my nieces are being such brats.”
“I’ve dealt with worse.” She lay her hands on his chest. “We have any ice cream left? I’m in the mood for something sweet.”
“You’re sweet enough.” He kissed her then went into the kitchen. “Step into my parlor,” he teased.
She sat at the counter, admiring his easy familiarity with her kitchen. “You know, you’re very sexy when you’re waiting on me.”
He sat a bowl down, scooping in ice cream then dousing it with hot fudge sauce. “Am I as sexy as the other men on your phone?”
“There’s no comparison; that’s why you’re my screensaver.”
“You deserve whipped cream for that answer.” He gave her a generous splat on top of her sundae.
She took a generous spoonful of her ice cream, letting the gooey deliciousness slide down her throat. There were two things she was thankful for. Ice cream was one, and beer was the other.
Calder tossed the empty ice cream container away, coming to sit on the stool next to her. “You really not saying anything to Stud or Sex Piston?”
“Of course not. I swore. You heard?”
“They won’t be happy if they find out you knew.”
“You going to tell him?” She spooned another spoonful of better then sex ice cream into her mouth.
“Yes.” Calder eyes narrowed on her rapturous expression.
“Then that solves that problem. I swore; you didn’t. It kills two birds with one stone.”
“What would you have done if I said no?” His Adam’s apple bobbed when she licked her spoon. She loved teasing him. It was like putting out cat nip in front of Manson.
“I would have told Star to tell on them.”
“You have a very devious mind. You know that?”
She stared down at her melting ice cream. “Does it scare you?”
“There isn’t much in life that scares me anymore. Prison has…”
Her spoon halted halfway to her mouth when his eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”
“Where’s your notebook with the clues?”
“In my bedroom.”
“Get it.”
She went to the bedroom door, knocking. “Can I come in?”
A minute later, she set the notebook down on the counter in front of him.
“The ground beneath me is frozen. No kings or queens live here. You can enter my gates, but unless you have an invitation, you won’t be allowed to stay and rescue the damsel.”
“You think of something?”
“The ground beneath me is frozen, which could mean no one wants to be there, not even kings or queens.” His voice rose in excitement. “You can enter my gates, but unless you have an invitation, you won’t be allowed to stay…. We thought the castle Greer was referring to meant buy tickets for tours or booking a room to stay the night.”
“It isn’t?” she asked, staring down at the clue then looking back at Calder. “What else could it mean?”
“An arrest warrant is a kind of invitation. Or it could be the sentence the jury hands down. What do you think?”
She gripped his strong thigh. “I think you’re on the right path.” Crazy Bitch pointed at the word frozen. “Frozen could mean frozen in time, and no one wants to be there!”
“You have to get approval for some prisoners, too!”
They smiled each other, and then she leaned forward and kissed him. “Killyama may have nabbed the rich one, but I got the smart one!”
“What?” He frowned.
“Never mind. Who do The Last Riders and the Destructors know in prison?”
Their enthusiasm waned as they started thinking of all the people they knew were in prison.
“It has to be a woman.” Crazy Bitch stared at the clue, seeing damsel.
“Let’s google prisons in Kentucky. I was in the Grange. I can’t think of anyone… Candi. The damsel could be her.”
“She’s no damsel.” She snorted. “Let’s look at the prisons.” She took out her cell phone, putting in “prisons in Kentucky.”
She scrolled down the list as Calder looked on.
“Fuck.”
“What?” Crazy Bitch paused.
Calder laughed. “Kentucky State Penitentiary, it’s nicknamed ‘the castle.’ Greer has sent us chasing our tails, looking for castles, when it was just a nickname.”
“It’s a maximum and supermax security prison. Who in the fuck do we know who could be there?”
Calder shook his head. “I don’t know, but I’ll call Stud and tell them to head back tomorrow. Maybe he knows.”
“Go ahead and call Stud. I’m going to get ready for bed.”
She left him to make the call, showering and getting changed in the bathroom. She had grabbed a nightshirt when she had gone into the bedroom for the notebook.
Calder took over the bathroom when she came out.
She turned out the lights, leaving the light on in the kitchen so Calder would be able to see. Setting her alarm, she then snuggled down under the sheet, seeing the light under her bedroom was off.
“You need anything before I lie down?” Calder asked when he came out of the bathroom.
“Just you.”
The light went off, and then she felt the bed dip as he snuggled against her back.
“My neck is much better. I wanted to thank you this mornin
g, but you were already gone.”
“I didn’t want to wake you up. I knew you were tired.”
He slipped his hand around her waist. “It’s nice having a house full of kids, isn’t it?”
“It’s a blast.” She yawned, nestling her ass into his cock. “Only boys.”
“Star is a girl.”
“No more girls,” she said drowsily, feeling him smiling against her neck.
“We’re going to count Star as our first?”
“Of course,” she mumbled, hearing the subtle opening of her bedroom door. Instantly rising up onto her elbow, she said, “Alexa, light on.” The kitchen light turned on, shining into the living room. “Can I get you girls anything?”
“Uh… no, we were just going to get something to drink,” Meri said as both girls went to the kitchen, coming out seconds later and heading toward the bedroom with bottled waters.
“If you girls need anything, don’t hesitate to wake me.”
“We won’t,” Keri said as they were about to close the door.
“Oh, Meri, those jeans are too tight to wear in school. I hope you packed another pair in your suitcase.”
“I did.”
The door slamming had her lying back down. “Alexa, lights off.”
“You could have told me you can do that in the kitchen, too.”
“Now you know.” She thumped her pillow, scooting her ass backward until she felt a hard body behind her. “Night,” she muttered, closing her eyes.
“Good night.”
It felt as if she had just gone to sleep when she heard the soft chiming of her cell phone. Sitting up in the bed, she rolled over onto her back, unintentionally waking Calder.
“Something wrong?” He raised up to look at her in the dark.
“No. Go back to sleep. I got this.”
“Got wha—”
The creaking of her bedroom door had their heads turning.
“Need more water, girls?” Crazy Bitch asked, not bothering to turn the lights on.
The bed shook with Calder’s laughter when the door slammed shut.
Reaching for her phone, she reset her alarm.
“You going to do that all night?”
“They’ll give up after a couple hours. You see why I don’t want more girls? They give you sleepless nights.”
“If we have boys, they won’t give us sleepless nights?”
“No, they’ll be giving some other girls’ parents sleepless nights. I’ll be sleeping like a baby.”
“Isn’t that sexist?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. No daughter of mine will be a hump post for a randy, hormone-fueled, blue-balled little motherfucker.”
“If you do end up having a daughter, are you going to say that to her?”
“Of course. Why not? I have plenty of experience with the little fuckers. Did I ever tell you about the men I killed?”
“You mentioned it, yes.”
She tucked her sheet around her, making sure Calder had enough for himself. Stretching her hand out, she double-checked the alarm was set. Those little fuckers from Eastern weren’t going to score on her watch.
“You still want to talk about having kids with me instead of going to sleep?”
“No, I don’t think I do.”
29
Stud had called that morning, telling him that he and Sex Piston were home. Calder hated having to tell his brother how Meri and Keri had acted the night before and about the men they had been texting.
“You and Crazy Bitch mind keeping Star and Harley another night?”
“No. Why?”
“They get upset when their older sisters get in trouble. When Sex Piston gets done with them, they’re going to realize the painful reality of making us both angry at the same time.”
“No problem. You packed them enough clothes for two days. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”
“Thanks, bro.”
He disconnected the call, not feeling guilty about the girls being in trouble. They had been disrespectful to Crazy Bitch. He had ignored the way they talked to him, not mentioning it to Stud. He had made his own bed where that was concerned. How could he expect his nieces to respect him when they were aware of his past? Neither Stud nor Sex Piston had discussed it with the girls. It had been his Aunt Katy.
She had cut him out of her life, and when Stud didn’t do the same when Calder got out of prison, she moved away. Stud was hurt and angry, but he still let her see his kids. She had helped them, and he hadn’t wanted to punish them for their aunt’s decision.
Calder had a couple of jobs he had promised to finish for Stud. When he was done, he decided to pick up carryout for Crazy Bitch’s lunch. With Sex Piston being off, she wouldn’t be able to leave the beauty shop, and they had their hands full this morning, so he knew she hadn’t made herself lunch.
The drive-thru was busy. He edged his bike along after each car in front of him ordered. When it was his turn, Calder paid, taking the food from the worker’s hand before riding around the front of the restaurant to put it in his saddlebag.
He was about to get back on his bike when he looked through the glass window inside. The woman staring back at him recognized him, standing to come outside.
“Calder!”
When the woman would have thrown herself into his arms, he shrugged her off, getting back on his bike. “Candi, when did you get out of jail?”
His ex-girlfriend looked good. She had gained some weight during her prison sentence, her snug jeans highlighting her firm body. She had cut her hair, making her look younger and healthier. Her gaunt cheekbones had filled out, making Calder realize how he had been attracted to her when they were younger.
“Last week. I was planning to come to the club tonight to see you.”
“Don’t bother. You’re not welcome there. Not now, not ever.”
Her jubilant attitude vanished. “We have some things we need to talk about.”
“We don’t have shit to talk about. I’ve done my time; you’ve done yours. I don’t want to talk about old times. They weren’t good. Have a good life.” His hands went to his handlebars.
“Has Stud told you that Star—”
“That Star is my kid? No. He didn’t have to. I saw the birthmark. I may have been a drug fiend when I was with you, but my head is clear now.”
“You hate me because I married Stud. Baby, don’t be jealous. I never fucked him once.”
Calder gave a harsh laugh. “That doesn’t surprise me. You’re not Stud’s type. I couldn’t believe it when he wrote to me when you got married. When he sent the picture, I knew why.”
“He didn’t leave me a choice but to marry him. When the cop busted you for buying and Bobcat implicated me for setting up the buy, I would have gone to prison, too. When I told Stud that I was pregnant and wasn’t going to have my baby in prison, that I would have an abortion first, he made me marry him.”
That Stud had kept Star from being aborted was another heavy weight that always sat on his shoulder. How could he ask Stud to tell Star she was his when she wouldn’t have been born without him interceding?
“I didn’t hate you before. Now I do. Stay the fuck away from me and Star. I mean it, Candi. I’m clean now, and I’m not going to let you twist me around your little finger to get a hit.”
“You think you can talk to me like this and get away with it?” Candi grabbed his handlebar contemptuously. “I can fuck you over so badly that you’ll never see Star again.”
“That would be a big mistake. Move.” Calder let his bike roll so she would have to step back.
“Calder! Come back here!”
He drove back to Stud’s garage, too angry to see Crazy Bitch.
Going into Stud’s office, he immediately dialed Diamond’s number.
“Hello?”
“We need to set up a meeting for tomorrow afternoon. You available?”
“If this is about Crazy Bitch, we may have gotten a break. A realtor had a video camera poi
nted at the street where she was pulled over. I sent Knox to get a copy. The realtor just got it installed and didn’t realize it was pointed at the street.”
“How did you know the realtor had a camera?”
“When I was in town, bailing her out, I drove by where Crazy Bitch was pulled over and took a chance that the camera would see something. I got more than I expected. I’m hoping to get the charges against her dropped. I have a meeting with the DA on Monday. So, keep your fingers crossed.”
“I will. I’m glad her case is looking good, but that isn’t why I need to meet with you.”
“Is two o’clock good for you?”
“Yes. Thanks, Diamond.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After he disconnected the call, he reached for a sketchpad that Stud used to make drawings of motorcycles. Stud’s motorcycles were customizable. He would work with the riders until he drew their dream bike, and then build it.
He had an idea he had been thinking about since he had begun working with Stud. Taking a pencil, he started sketching out his dream motorcycle.
As far back as he could remember, he had loved motorcycles. He loved the sounds they made, being able to feel the powerful machine beneath you and know you controlled it, the ability to ride the wind and feel it, like a knife through soft butter, and knowing it wouldn’t be the same because you had managed to slip through it at speeds that left other drivers in the dust.
He started the drawing to take his mind off Candi and the conflict she could cause. He was surprised when he looked at the wall clock to see it was almost time to pick up Star and Harley.
Star was in school, and Harley was in the daycare attached to the school.
Flipping the sketchpad closed, he shut down the garage, making it to Harley and Star’s school on time.
“Where do you want to grab a bite to eat before dance class, Star? How about you, Harley?”
“You pick, Harley. I’m not as picky as you are. I can eat anything.”
Calder grinned, looking into the rearview mirror as Star looked at her brother.
“Can we go to Taco Hut?” He swung his legs in his car seat.
“I don’t see why not. That sound good to you, Star?”
Star clapped her hands. “I love Taco Hut. Mama never lets us go.”