Page 27 of Roughstock
I turned the bike onto the road leading to the Bastards clubhouse and gunned it, rocketing down the road. Cheyenne gripped onto me tighter as she laughed. Her spirit was infectious, and I laughed along with her as I slowed the bike and turned into the parking lot. My space was open near the back door of the club.
Helping Cheyenne off the bike, I linked my hand with hers as we walked inside. Loud music and voices filled the small hallway, and as we entered the actual bar, I could tell we had a full house. I assumed having the bar closed on a Saturday evening was what had the place so full tonight, butI wasn’t going to question it. The more people drank, the more the club had in its coffers to take care of business.
Cheyenne looked at the line of people waiting for a drink. She leaned up and kissed me quickly before ducking behind the bar to help Comet and Raven.
I found Phantom near the front door speaking with Animal, and when they saw me approach, they both turned to face me.
“How’s the crowd tonight? Any problems?” I asked Animal, and he shook his head.
“I had a few brothers and a couple locals waiting when I opened the doors at five, but so far, everyone just seems to be happy the weather passed over us,” Animal explained before turning back to check the IDs of the people walking up to the front door.
I gave Phantom a nod, and he followed me through the crowd of people. Jagger wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and I was curious if he was able to resurrect Pops’s computer. I agreed with him that it could be the thing holding all the clues to how he’d stumbled upon the missing girls and who was responsible.
When we got to my office, I used my key to unlock the door and stepped inside. Jagger was sitting on the couch with papers strewn across the leather. He lifted his head to me, and I gave him a look that silently asked why he was in my locked office.
“I came back here last night and got started on getting into Nitro’s computer. Sorry, I should’ve let you know,” Jagger explained as I glanced at Phantom and back at Jagger.
Walking behind my desk, I took a seat and asked, “What have you uncovered?”
“I was able to get the hard drive downloaded to my computer, and I’ve been going through every file since this morning. The only thing I’ve uncovered so far is a couple of saved newspaper articles in his online favorites about a couple of the missing girls.”
Phantom watched silently as Jagger stood from the couch and stretched his back. He walked over to the chair next to Phantom and took a seat.
“So, you think it was accidental that he uncovered this? Like he stumbled onto them and decided to find out who or why?” Phantom asked, and Jagger shook his head.
“Knowing Nitro, I think he had suspicions about someone and decided to start digging,” Jagger reasoned, but I wasn’t as sure.
“Who do you think he suspected?” I asked, but before he could speak, a knock sounded into the room.
Phantom stood and opened the door, knowing it was so loud in the bar that no one would hear me. Cheyenne stood outside the door with three shots and three beers on a tray. Walking in, she placed the tray onto my desk, slid the drinks to us, gave me a kiss, and whispered, “I love you,” before turning and walking out to leave us alone again.
“You’ve got a good ol’ lady, Roughstock,” Phantom said as we lifted our shots and drank them down.
“She’s one of a kind,” I remarked, and they both gave a simple nod.
For the next hour, we discussed the pre-purge brothers and prospects, either moving them into the category of potential suspects or casting away any doubt of their loyalty to the club and to Pops. There were five names that stood out, but Iwasn’t going to accuse a brother of killing Pops without concrete proof.
As the noise in the bar grew in volume, I decided we’d been holed away in my office for too long. I didn’t want Cheyenne thinking she needed to continue to tend bar, even though we all appreciated it, and I wanted to dance with my ol’ lady.
“Let’s meet again tomorrow and we’ll figure out how to question the five. I don’t want anyone tipped off until then, so keep this between us.”
Jagger and Phantom were two of my most trusted friends, and I knew they would have mine and the club’s back no matter what. I wasn’t so sure about the others, but that was my issue, not theirs. They followed me out and split off from me as I beelined to the bar.
Cheyenne was cutting up with a group of women waiting on their drinks, and when I walked up, I got a few hoots and hollers. She smiled and continued to make their lemon drops before taking a credit card from one of them and running the charges.
“Everything good, darlin’?” I asked, and she nodded before pushing a shot across to me.
“I told Comet to take a break, then I’ll turn everything over to him.” She pushed up and over the bar, and I met her halfway, kissing her quickly. “Why don’t you play a game of pool and I’ll join you when he gets back?”
“As soon as he’s back, find me,” I requested, and she wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I loved it when she was frisky, and after this morning and her pointing a gun at me, I was glad to see her happyand carefree. After throwing back my shot, I slid the glass back across the counter and she slid a beer back to me with a smile.
Walking away from the bar, I heard her ask someone for their order until the volume in the room grew too loud to hear her. The pool table was empty, so I slapped Warhol on the shoulder and motioned my head to the tables. He stood and followed me over, and I grabbed a stick from the holder on the wall as he pulled the pool balls out and got them in the rack.
Leaning forward, I struck the cue ball and watched the other colorful balls roll across the felt with two landing in a pocket. A few brothers came to the table, and we switched out players while I kept an eye out for Cheyenne. Another round of beers appeared, and she waved across the room as I lifted one to her in a silent toast.
The laughter grew in intensity as we continued to play, cutting up and ribbing each other over missed shots and scratched games. I’d lost track of what was happening until I looked up, trying to find Cheyenne.
