Page 15 of Rattler's Revelation
I leave her room and go searching. Elina calls out to me when I pass by the entertainment room. I backtrack and find her standing near the door, pointing at something on the shelf. I glance where she’s pointing to see several pieces of paper folded with Chill’s name scrawled on them. I reach up and snag it.
“Who left it?” Elina asks.
I shrug. “I don’t know.” But I have an idea. Gears is sitting at the table, helping Angel search through a coloring book. “Have you seen Bianca this morning?”
He nods. “That cop picked her up. She said she had to go to the police station so he could take her fingerprints. Something about needing them to eliminate hers from those they took at her apartment.” He looks at me with concern. “She said you knew and that she wanted to get it done while you were in Church. How was it? Your first Church?”
I force a grin. “It was interesting and didn’t feel as odd as I thought it would. I guess this is my life now, I’ll have to get used to it.”
“Lucky ba–, guy,” Gears corrects himself. It isn’t that the kids haven’t heard foul language, even though most of us try to keep it clean. Puma doesn’t seem to care, but of course, that’s probably because he’s the worst at controlling his language. Seeing Gears reigning it in is a positive sign. It means he’s aware of his responsibility toward the kids. That’s good.
I chuckle at his near slip before leaving the room and searching out Chill. Finding her, I hand her the folded sheets of paper. She reads through them, nodding as she goes. “Bianca has given us enough to work with, but I have a few questions. Where is she?”
“According ot Gears, she left,” I say, keeping my anger and worry contained. “Randy picked her up.”
My phone buzzes. I check the display, but I don’t recognize the number. “Hello,” I answer.
“It’s Randy. Bianca and I are at the Bet On Red Cafe. She called me this morning because she was upset, but she won’t tell me what happened. She’s in the restroom right now. Why don’t you join us?”
CHAPTER TEN: RANDY
I pocket my phone and focus my attention on the hallway as I wait for Bianca’s return. She isn’t likely to be happy with me for calling Rattler to meet us here, but she needs to face up to whatever drove her out of the clubhouse. She may be reluctant to tell me, so Rattler will have to drag it out of her. I’m walking a fine line here, but if I want to accomplish my goal, I need Bianca and Rattler to stick together.
Bianca exits the hallway and sends me a sheepish smile as she wanders through the tables until she reaches our booth. As she slides in, I hear the distinct roar of a motorcycle coming closer. Bianca doesn’t seem to notice. Good. I’m not sure how she’ll react when Rattler arrives.
“I’m sorry,” Bianca says softly. “I feel foolish about leaving the clubhouse now that I’ve had time to think about what happened.”
I want her to tell me what happened, but it can wait until Rattler joins us. “You have the right to feel what you feel,” I tell her. “If you didn’t feel comfortable at the clubhouse and needed some time away, you don’t need to apologize.”
“I should have stayed and spoken with Rattler. He’s been nothing but kind to me, but after what Jasmine said…” she trails off.
“You can tell him now,” I say as Rattler pulls up outside the diner. Bianca’s eyes go wide as she turns an accusatory look at me. I hold my hands up to stop her complaint. “It’s obvious you didn’t want to talk to me about what happened, and I figured it was really Rattler you should be speaking with, so I called him. He’s a good guy, you should trust him to do the right thing.”
Bianca frowns at me before she trains her eyes on Rattler and watches him walk inside the diner. I have my back to him, so I don’t see his expression until he slides in next to Bianca.
“What happened? Why did you leave? Why did you call him? I know he took your fingerprints last night, so don’t tell me that’s why he picked you up. Do you know how frightened I was when I found you’d left?”
I chuckle, which has them both glaring at me. “Bianca can’t answer your questions if you keep firing questions. Give her a chance to explain.”
The exasperated expression on Rattler’s face has me grinning, but he returns his attention to Bianca and waits quietly for her to speak.
“I’m sorry I left. I should have waited and spoken to you, but I was too upset,” Bianca says.
“Why were you upset? Who upset you?” Rattler asks as I roll my eyes. The man can’t seem to help himself from firing off multiple questions instead of limiting himself to one.
“Jasmine,” Bianca says.
“Is she the girl who came over to our table last night?” I ask. Bianca nods.
I sit back and search Rattler’s expression for a sign of guilt or understanding. Is Jasmine the person who upset Bianca, or is he the source? Had something happened between Rattler and Jasmine? Something that made Bianca want to flee the clubhouse? Unlike Rattler, I keep my questions to myself.
“What did she do?” Rattler asks.
Bianca’s expression would be comical if she didn’t look as if she were trying hard not to cry. “She told me what happened after you left my room last night.”
Rattler still looks confused, so I reach over and lay a finger on Bianca’s clenched fist. “Sweetheart, you need to tell us everything, or we can’t fix it.”
Rattler frowns at me, but returns his attention to Bianca. “He’s right. We need to know what she said or did. I’m not happy with her at the moment. When I went to change this morning, I found her in my bed without my permission.”
