Page 70 of Pirate

After hugs and well wishes, some members had to leave to take care of family or work obligations. Some left to not crowd Jenna, though they offered to stop by later or if she just wanted company. The rest remained behind to learn more about Jenna’sillness and symptoms. More importantly, to learn what she needed to better her quality of life and how they could get it for her.

Throughout it all, no one saw the dark shadow in the corner of the room stir as the silent figure who’d been standing there exited the house.

CHAPTER 12

The atmosphere around the clubhouse varied from day to day as they drew closer to the wedding. While excitement rose in anticipation of the club’s party two days before the wedding, the rehearsal dinner, and finally the wedding day itself, there was an underlying tension that seeped into nearly every conversation or gathering.

Parents decided to share the news with their kids separately about their Aunt Jenna’s illness. The hardest one, of course, was Scotty. Things like life and death were confusing and upsetting for the teen. Lucky actually brought Juliana, the child psychiatrist from town that Bree saw, to his house to help explain to Scotty about the changes that would be occurring in his Aunt Jenna’s life. For a special boy who believed nose-kisses could cure anything that ailed someone, it was an extremely difficult conversation.

Jasmine was trying to include Jenna in every last minute decision. The men of the club seemed determined not to let Jenna lift a finger. Food kept appearing in Steel and Jenna’s fridge, like casserole dishes, ready to bake one-pan meals, or slow cooker dump bags.

Possibly the worst of it all, though, was Ollie’s reaction. While Steel and Jenna had told their adult children, they hadn’t yet broken the news to Ollie until after the club knew. He’d screamed and cried so loud that the occupants of the Pentagon had heard him from their own homes. He accused Jenna of abandoning him and asked if the adoption was reversible.

Distraught at the news or not, Steel wouldnotpermit Ollie to speak to Jenna like that. He practically threw the teen onto his hog and the two of them rode off for nearly half a day. When Ollie and Steel returned, Ollie went running up to Jenna in the clubhouse and hugged her. He openly apologized, saying he was just scared to lose the only mother who’d ever given a damn about him.

In addition to the wedding to keep everyone’s spirits up, Sophia and Pirate’s news that they were dating was met with cheers and a lot of shouts of “finally!”. Pirate did confront Keys in private to ask if Keys had told Steel about their drunken marriage, but Keys swore up and down that he hadn’t. The kid looked so shocked by the question that Pirate believed him.

Pirate’s leg was doing better. He was not fired from work, but he was put on notice regarding his multiple unexcused absences.

Sophia continued to have what she called “weird glitches in the Matrix”. In addition to her Boot Mover, who had not returned or been seen on camera again, and her tires being slashed, weird things continued to happen. Orders that she called in would be canceled, a check she mailed out from one of the charities she volunteered at went missing, a goat was delivered to the clubhouse with a note that it was from Sophia to the club kids, and a singing telegram dressed as Elvis Presley appeared in the school’s parking lot to sing Pirate a love song, loudly, in the middle of the school day.

Sophia, of course, had no idea about any of it. She had not canceled the orders, she had sent the check, she had not boughta goat, and she had not hired an Elvis impersonator. It was the nuisance of it all that stumped Pirate. What was the fuckingpoint?

Just to appease his own peace of mind, Pirate had Keys track where Fletcher had been recently. Other than twice driving past some place that Sophia was, Fletcher was not near Mount Grove at the time of the incidents. Burner phones were used to cancel the orders and book the telegram. The farmer who delivered the goat gave the description of a man who did not match Fletcher’s features.

Fletcher did try to call Sophia’s cell phone once. She ignored the call and blocked his number. Though he did bump into Jasmine and Sophia atLoafin’ Around, the town’s bakery and coffee house, he did not try to sit with them or speak overlong with them. He claimed he was meeting a date there, but neither Jasmine nor Sophia stuck around to confirm if that was true.

The club’s Church schedule changed the week of the wedding. Usually, the officers met on Friday and then everyone met on Saturday. This week, both meetings were shifted one day earlier, so the Church session with all the club members would be held on Friday prior to the club’s celebration dinner that was hosted at a steakhouse out of town. Steel had rented out the entire restaurant for the club and their family members as a wedding gift to Jumper and Jasmine. Saturday would be all about the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner with just the wedding party. Due to the Sunday celebration, the traditional club run was now a wedding parade for the members to get Jumper to the Groveton estate.

Pirate was unfortunately at work and did not witness the events following the officer’s meeting in person, but he heard all about it and Keys was kind enough to share the security videos with the entire club so everyone could join in on the laugh.

Darrin was the prospect on guard duty at the gate. As the officers’ were wrapping up their meeting, Bulldog received a call from Darrin to inform the SAA that Fletcher Montague was at the gate and he’d brought his lawyer with him. More out of amused curiosity than anything else, Steel permitted the two to come on property.

As Pirate and several others watched on the big screen television, a shiny, slate grayBugattiDivo came speeding down the drive to meet the gathering officers in the parking lot. Steel would not permit Fletcher or his lawyer inside the clubhouse. Other members were around, including Papaw, Pumpkin, and Angel. They came to witness what the fuss was about.

Fletcher had brought his lawyer with him to personally inform Steel that he was filing a civil lawsuit against the club for damages to and theft of hisDodgeTomahawk V10 Superbike.

The cameras did not show Steel’s face, but one could guess his bored expression based on the drawl in his voice. “You mean your Tomahawk youlefthere at three o’clock in the morning when you walked off property of your own freewill?”

“It was completely destroyed! I couldn’t take it with me!” The whine in Fletcher’s voice could be heard over the camera’s audio loudly.

“But you could have picked it up the next day. Whatever damage you did or did not do to it is not on me or my club, Montague.”

“Romeo,” the man insisted belligerently.

“I am not and will never call another man ‘Romeo’,” was Steel’s reply.

The lawyer stepped forward then. “Mr. Montague has informed me that you dismantled his Tomahawk Superbike to the point where it is irreparable. I will be filing a claim on his behalf for the sum total of?—”

“Irreparable?” Steel repeated, his voice laced in confusion. “What are you talking about? It’s just stored in our garage. We moved it there afterheabandoned it on our property.”

“It’s dismantled!” Fletcher argued. “I’ll never be able to drive it again.”

The lawyer held up a hand to stop Fletcher from continuing. “Are you telling me that the motorcycle is in drivable condition?”

Steel turned his head and simply said, “Pumpkin.” Then Pumpkin ran out of the camera’s range, one could presume to the garage. Steel faced the lawyer again. “I don’t know what Mr. Montague means by ‘dismantled’. The motorcycle was left on our property and I can show you our security video of Mr. Montague walking up the drive of his own freewill and leaving his motorcycle behind. We then stored it in our garage for safe keeping. It was not stolen, damaged, dismantled, or anything else Mr. Montague has told you. He left it and never came back for it until now.”

Just then Pumpkin came riding back into view on the Tomahawk—a fully functioning, without a scratch, Tomahawk. Hopping off, he tossed the keys to Fletcher. Red-faced and slack-jawed, Fletcher caught them. He sputtered out excuses about the bike being in pieces and being forced to put it back together. The lawyer just scowled at him, said something about him wasting his time. When Fletcher persisted, the lawyer snapped, “Your father will not be happy when he hears about this!”

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