Page 17 of Jackal

The ride back to the clubhouse was tense. Neither of them said much at all. I sat in the backseat like a little girl in the car with fighting parents. This didn’t seem like the time to be a smart ass or push for info. Jackal was tense after his call and Mama Hen dropped her snide attitude fast. Once I saw that his tires had been slashed, I got chills even though it was probably in the nineties outside.

He’d seemed surprised I planned to stay in Georgia, but regardless of what happened with him, I’d already made up my mind. I just hadn’t told Mom or Dad yet.

After we finally pulled back into the clubhouse, Jackal parked at Mama Hen’s, then promptly excused himself.

“You want me to see if Daisy and Lacy can come over here so you don’t have to lug all those bags across the courtyard?” Mama Hen asked.

“If you don’t mind. I didn’t want to invite people to your house, but I want to show them what we got!”

“Tell ya what, I’ll go let them know you’re waiting. I need to check on some things in the kitchen for dinner, anyway.”

“Oh, well thank you. I’ll be upstairs. If you don’t mind, tell them just to come on up.”

Mama Hen winked at me before she turned and hustled toward the clubhouse. I let myself inside, since the door was never locked, and heaved all the bags upstairs. Dropping them all on the bed, I blew a breath, fluffing the hair around my face.

“What a day,” I murmured, even though nobody was there to listen. Or so I thought.

“You okay?”

I practically jumped out of my skin. “Penny, hi. You scared me,” I told her. “Yeah, just beat. We went shopping. What are you doing home?” She normally wasn’t there. I only caught her when she was coming and going from school or heading out to some college function on the weekends.

“I was tired. Did something happen while you were out?”

“Hm? What?” I fumbled my way through, shaking my head. “Just lots of shopping,” I said as I waved my hand over the bags.

She stepped inside, her dark ponytail shining from the overhead light. She was several years younger than I was and could play Snow White in a movie with her nearly black locks, crystal blue eyes, and red lips.

She peeked into the bags, so I started dumping them out on the bed. “I got some good stuff. Now, if I can just get a few interviews lined up…Your mom said she’d help me find a place nearby once I was ready.”

“Are you seriously planning to stay here?” she asked, more concerned than snide.

I nodded and grabbed at some of the new clothes, holding them up. “Yeah. I think so. I kinda like it here and there’s a lotof great opportunities, at least if I can get my foot in the door somewhere.”

“But why here?”

“I know you said you’re tired but I just said–”

“I meanhere. Why haven’t you left the clubhouse yet?”

Shrugging, I answered, “Well, until I find a job, it doesn’t make sense. At least I don’t think so. If I end up taking on clients online, it won’t matter for now, but I’ll just rent if that happens. But if I get a job downtown, I may move closer to there because driving sucks here. This traffic is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re too good for this place, Shiv.”

Before I could make a witty comeback or assure her that I wasn’t, she left my room and I heard her door shut. I was a guest here and wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to follow her. Plus, the ladies were coming soon.

As if on cue, the front door opened, and footsteps trampled up the stairs. “Hey,” they said in unison.

“Look at all my stuff!”

They both squealed and came inside, picking through my new clothes, demanding I try it all on for them. I was squeamish with blood, but bodies didn’t bother me and they both were dancers, so I swapped shirts and bottoms while we talked.

“Oh, I love that peach color on you,” Lacy said.

“I want to see the red,” Daisy said as she tossed one of the tops in my direction.

I was pulling the peach one off and pulling the red one on when Daisy asked, “So what the fuck happened when you were gone? We did a half-day at the shop. Usually if Falcon doesn’t have appointments, he sticks around on Saturdays for walk-ins, but he got a text, and we booked it out of there.”

Lacy was biting her lip, so I asked, “What?”

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