Page 76 of Pumpkin
“Harper says the money came through,” Bones said in a whisper as the three of them watched Keys’ back as he ascended the stairs.
Pumpkin’s eyebrows drew down. “Is he wearing pajamas?”
Bones and Starbucks looked around him to see Keys better, and then they both nodded. “Yup,” Starbucks said with a sigh. “I better go get him. He’s not even wearing his cut. Lucky and Bulldog are already on edge.”
Pumpkin grabbed Starbucks’ upper arm as he went to pass. “Idon’t care that you’re not happy about who won your auction bid. It was for fucking charity. Whether you take her on a date or you offer her the four hours of labor, you will show her some goddamn respect. And don’t ever let me hear you call her ‘the witch’ again. Do I make myself clear?”
Starbucks’ eyes narrowed and he lifted his chin defiantly. Both were club members, neither falling higher in the hierarchy than the other, though Pumpkin had been in the club longer. But Pumpkin saw Starbucks’ shoulders deflate.
“You’re right,” he conceded. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect. I’m just pissed that Kora didn’t win my bid.” Pumpkin guessed that Kora was one of Starbucks’ regular town girls. The guy had several he was seeing, never seriously. But if he’d been hoping one of them would win his auction, then maybe he was starting to have feelings for her over the others. Starbucks leaned in and whispered with a crooked smile, “It’s just she promised that I could fuck her in the ass on our date if she won.” He sighed dramatically, like he’d just lost his winning lottery ticket. “But you’re right that no woman deserves my disrespect, even if there is a possibility she’s going to turn me into a newt.”
Scoffing, Pumpkin let go of his brother’s arm. “Have you ever met Calliope? In person, I mean.”
“Nope,” Starbucks shook his head. “Just heard she once put a curse on a man for cutting in front of her at the bakery.”
Pumpkin shook his head, not sure how to respond to that. “Go get Keys. We only have ten minutes until the start.”
Starbucks headed off up the stairs, taking them three at a time. Show-off.
“You’re looking stiff,” Bones commented.
Pumpkin turned back to his other brother. “I might have overdone it yesterday.” He was just not divulging how. That was between him and hisfiancée.
“Well, think of it this way, if you’re too sore to come back down the stairs, we can always get a mattress and send you down that way.”
Pumpkin’s head perked up at that as a deep growl came from behind them, “For the love of God, donottell Scotty that.”
Pumpkin chuckled at Lucky’s words, which was cut short when he saw his VP’s tired face. Given the baby he had strapped to his chest, it seemed Lucky was burning the candle at both ends.
“You good, Lucky?” Pumpkin asked as Starbucks practically frog-marched Keys back down the stairs. The kid’s face was bright red.
Lucky waited until Keys and Starbucks were through the doorway that led to the apartments. “I’m not even going to ask,” he grumbled, rubbing one hand on his temple and the other on his daughter’s sleeping back. Stephanie was almost seven months now. Turning back to Pumpkin, Lucky answered, “I’ve barely slept since Friday, our President is in jail, and my oldest son is still upset about the fact that he didn’t get to go on a pirate ship with Uncle Jumper and Uncle Pirate.” Pirate and Jumper, who had been walking into the clubhouse at that exact moment, paused and then started to slink back out the double entry doors. “So no, Pumpkin, I am not ‘good’.”
Pumpkin cringed, and not just because he felt guilty that he wasn’t able to do more to help his VP out. He’d been in such a cloud of bliss yesterday that he’d barely thought about Steel’s predicament. Which was fucking awful of him and made him a terrible brother.
“Get your asses upstairs,” Lucky called out, and not in his usual good-natured way. It was a good thing his daughter could sleep through a nuclear strike. “And, Keys, you better be wearing your fucking cut!”
It feltwrong to be in Church without Steel at the head of the table. Pumpkin didn’t think the VDMC President had ever missed Church before. And the fact that he was now, because he was in jail, made his absence all the more egregious. A part of Pumpkin felt like none of them should be in there without Steel.
What would it feel like when someone else sat in that chair? Pumpkin understood Steel’s need to spend as much time with Jenna as possible, and not just to help take care of her. If Dosia was sick… No, Pumpkin couldn’t even think about that hypothetically. It was unbearable. Knowing it was reality for Steel was nearly as painful.
Scar had not left the jail cell since Steel had entered it. Pumpkin didn’t know if DEA Agent Dickhead was aware of his presence, or cared. Ghost had remained at the station with Jenna so Bulldog could attend the meeting.
Lucky was sitting in his normal seat, to the right of Steel’s. He wasn’t even touching Steel’s gavel, which had been a present from Jenna when the club had been formed and that was likely the only reason Steel even used it.
“Keys,” the VP groused. “What do you have?”
“Not much,” was not the answer any of them wanted to hear. “Even with the rush the DEA put on it, forensics takes a while. So I did a bit of digging on my own.”
The television screens on the walls came to life. A 3D computer model of a motel room appeared on the screens.
“I built a rendering of the motel room from the crime scene photos,” Keys explained. “Chip and Tom also headed over to get me some more accurate measurements.”
Many of them looked to Keys with raised eyebrows, because neither Tom nor Chip were club members and therefore shouldn’t have been told club business.
“It’s Steel,” Keys argued before anyone could say anything. “I didn’t give them details but I needed all the help I could get on such short notice.”
Lucky and Bulldog exchanged a look before Bulldog shrugged his shoulders. Lucky let out a long sigh. “I’ll allow it, but you should have informed me first before you did so.”
