Page 69 of Bourbon & Blood

“I what?” I prompted when she blushed a bright crimson and her bravery faltered.

“You want me to fall in love with you, don’t you?” she rushed out.

I blinked in surprise.

“I mean, I didn’t expect it,” I told her honestly. “And I don’t get into the habit of hopin’ much anymore.”

Her look crushed down into something like sympathy which I hated. I reared up and smacked a kiss on her lips, not much likin’ how I was feelin’ in that moment.

“I need to get a shower and get movin’,” I said. “More work to be done findin’ your friend.”

She sat up, her expression suddenly closed off and unreadable. I vaguely worried that I may have hurt her, but there weren’t nothin’ for it right now.

“What’s on the agenda today?” she asked and the lightness to her tone sounded forced.

“Gon’ talk to Hex and then we maybe gon’ see about gettin’ us a lawyer.”

“A lawyer?” she asked, her head jerking back with the unexpected comment.

“Can never have a good ‘nough lawyer hangin’ around,” I said. I went out to use her shower, leavin’ her lookin’ mollified on the bed.

* * *

Hex was waitin’on me when I got to the club. leaned up against his bike, his own cup of coffee from inside the clubhouse in his hand.

“How’s your lady?” he asked when I shut off my bike.

I nodded. “She’s good,” I told him. “Catchin’ feelings already – her words, not mine.”

“Heh.” He hitched up a little with his laugh. “Well, I’ll be damned. An’ you thought you’d need my ass to coach you.”

I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. Knowing him like I did, I sniffed and confessed, “I thought she was on the verge of havin’ a mental breakdown last night.” His easy teasing smile fled his face.

“Oh yeah?” he asked. “Makes you think that?”

I shook my head and heaved a sigh. “She was losing it, started crying and couldn’t even tell me why. The stress was gettin’ to her, for sure,” I said.

He nodded and sighed. Without any real wisdom to offer on the subject, he just changed it.

“Been thinkin’ about this lawyer,” he said. “Can’t be droppin’ more bodies surroundin’ this fucker’s campaign without settin’ off any alarm bells. An’ to be honest? A lawyer’s always a good thing to have around. ‘Sides that, I thought the name sounded familiar, and I went back ‘n looked. Cornelius is the guy that got ol’ Snowball off on that assault with a deadly and attempted murder charge scot-free about five or six years back. Baby Ruth done had him in his hip pocket somehow.”

I hated bein’ anything but clean, and clean meant leaving no one behind to rat on you or to fuck you over down the line. Still, Hex wasn’t wrong. Couldn’t go stacking up bodies like that without ringin’ some bells and getting law enforcement sniffin’ our asses. I rubbed the stubble along my chin and had to scowl.

“Be right back,” I said, getting up off the bike. “I’ma go shave. By the time I get my ass back out here, you think of a way to get this motherfucker inourhip pocket, because like it or not – you’re right. Dropping more bodies surrounding Bashaw’s campaign is apt to get the wrong kind of attention and we don’t want to do that.”

“I might have Benny workin’ on some of the rest of this mess right now, to put that off or make it unnecessary,” he said.

I said, “Tell me about it when I get back out here.”

I went on in and back into the back to the bathroom we had in the clubhouse with a shower and shit. I opened one of the four lockers we had back in it along one wall. It had my lock on it and I kept a bunch of shit in there. Some towels, some clothes, and ah – there it was. I took out my shaving kit, hanging up my cut and pullin’ the faded black muscle tee I had on off over my big head.

I shaved my head and my face and took my time about it, thinking to myself all the while about the problem in front of us of finding my girl’s girl.

I knew in my gut Maya’s daddy had somethin’ to do with this, and I was determined to get my girl closure on this deal, no matter what it took.

When I came back on out, Bennie was with Hex at the bar.

“Beignet, what you got for us, boy?” I asked.

---