Page 77 of Devil's Due

For a moment as I drive around the back and park, I wish I was back in Tucson. Here I don’t know who I can trust or put my faith in. Not that I’ve actually spent long enough on the compound to find out.

I lift Max out of the truck and clip his lead on, then help Stevie down. She sniffs the air and gives a weak grin. “Well now I know we’ve arrived. I can smell oil and gas.”

“Yeah, we’re here,” I confirm, needlessly. “Ready to go inside?”

“How many men in the club, Beef?”

Hmm. Mentally I count them up. “Fourteen, nah, sixteen. There’s two just been patched in as new members. And me, for now.”

“You outnumber the Warped Jokers, or those on the outside.”

“Sure do, darlin’.”

It’s clear she’s searching for something to give her confidence, so now’s not the time to remind her about the dominant club who also doesn’t want her to testify.

Having witnessed her depression on the drive here, I’m heartened when she draws in a deep breath and straightens her back, before demanding with lips curved up, “Lead on, then.” I have to smile at the instruction that’s becoming familiar.

I take her arm. As I’ve parked the truck at the rear of the building, it’s quicker to take her through the entrance that leads to the kitchen, rather than back around to the front. The kitchen is full of women. Most I know from the times I’ve been here before, but there’s a new woman who catches my eye. She’s wearing respectable clothing so she’s certainly no sweet butt.

“Hi Stevie. Remember me? I’m…”

“Jayden. And I can hear Violet, can’t I?”

“Yup, I’m here.”

Stevie tilts her head toward the stranger who’d been speaking as we walked in.

“I’m Melissa,” the new girl replies. “I’m with Skull.”

Oh, yeah. He mentioned he had a woman. “He claimed you?” I ask, wondering whether in the time I’ve been gone she’s been officially added to the ranks of the old ladies.

“He has.” It’s Jeannie who answers, putting her arm around the girl she appears to have taken a liking too. Jeannie’s been in the club getting on forty years now. If she’s okay with the newcomer, that probably means she’ll be alright.

“I’m Jeannie, I keep everyone in line.” The way she says it means Stevie doesn’t need to see the wink she gives to Violet, the prez’s old lady, to know she’s joking.

“Melissa likes cooking,” Violet explains with a gleam in her eye, “especially baking. Get ready to put on some weight when you taste her muffins.”

“My mouth’s already watering.” Jayden licks her lips, then leans over. When she straightens, she stands with a baby in her arms. “Think Theo’s teeth are bothering him, Vi.”

“Oh, give him to me,” his mother requests and starts fussing over him.

“How old is your baby?” Stevie asks, and it seems to be from genuine interest and not her just being polite.

Violet answers, at the same time as Jeannie bends her knees to kneel on the floor, her knees creaking. “Who’s this?”

“Max,” I tell her. “Stevie’s seeing-eye dog.”

“He okay?” While I’ve foregone his bandage for a few days, his shaved legs and scarring show he’s been through the wars.

As Stevie crouches down by Jeannie’s side, affectionately stroking her dog and explaining, I sum up the scene. There are things I need to be doing, but I reckon Stevie will be fine if I leave her with the women for now.

“I gotta talk to the prez, babe. You gonna be okay?”

Violet’s eyes meet mine and she raises her chin in a gesture she must have caught from Demon. “Stevie will be fine. But the dog…”

I swing around in time to see Bitch with her back arched and her fur erect walking into the kitchen. Max tilts his head to one side, then starts stretching out his nose. Then rears back with a yelp.

“Max! Beef! Is he alright?”

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