Page 89 of Lady Sings the Blues

We’ve only just turned right out of the parking lot and driven maybe a mile down the road when Levi’s cell starts blowing up. At the first red light he answers.

“Shit!” His response sharpens the edge I’ve been on since I came to in that old farmhouse, an edge that had only started to dull when her bikers showed in the IHOP.

He hangs up, dialing Blue. His one-word clipped into the line, “Shipyard.” Then he hangs up on him without a sign off. Repeating the same with Blaze, “Shipyard.”

When the light goes green, the boys speed off, weaving in and out through traffic. “Hold on tight,” Levi finally addresses me, shifting down more like navigating the Daytona International Speedway than a busy boulevard. “Change of plans, Boss needs us at the shipyard. When we get there, you stay in the truck and keep the doors locked until one of the brothers you know comes to you. Get me?”

Get me?Here I sit, totally freaking out inside, those pancakes a regret waiting to happen. And he expects an answer? The gurgle my stomach makes suggests that regret might appear sooner than later.

“Elise? You get me?” He repeats himself.

His tone startles me out of the fear stupor. I swallow back the breakfast on the verge or resurfacing. I’m a Brimstone Lady, I can’t lose it, at least not yet. “Get you.”

“Nope. Beau says I need the words from you, or it don’t count.”

Really? At a time like this, Beau’s going to worry about me lying to him? Fine then. I give him what he wants to hear. “When we get there I stay inside the truck ‘til one of the brothers I know comes to get me.”

“Good girl,” he says.

Fear replaced by irritation, I reach over and punch his shoulder. Not hard, but satisfying. “Don’t be patronizing. Remember I’m older than you, buddy.”

He only laughs. So I narrow my eyes at him.Bikers.

When he turns into the shipyard, the scene looks right out of a movie where the protagonist finds his way to one of those bike rallies, there are so many Harleys scattered everywhere. Also scattered everywhere are their riders, so many Lord’s cuts. All in black leather, all sporting the flaming devil head, only some with Illinois rockers, some with Kentucky and even some from as far away as Missouri. I didn’t even know they had a Missouri chapter.

Both Blue and Blaze park then hop off their bikes. Before he leaves too, Levi turns to me. “Remember, Elise, doors locked. Only brothers you know.” That’s all I get. He swings open the door and slides out, slamming the door behind him.

I, being the ever dutiful biker old lady, do as directed by my badass biker friend who was given his command by my own personal badass biker, and reach over to lock his door after making sure mine is secure.

Now the waiting commences. I watch through the windshield of Beau’s truck as the bulk of the men take off toward a pier at the end of one of the shipping lanes.

Please let Livvy be safe.

Please let Crass be safe.

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