Page 39 of Crow
“I wanted to warn you,” she said in a wobbly voice. “But he caught me, and Michael, it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry.” She buried her face in her hands, shoulders shaking as she began to cry. I rubbed my hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her.
“Motherfuckers,” Vegas cursed, fists clenched so hard his knuckles were white. “This is the last fucking straw, man, I swear—”
“Vegas!” I snapped, finally looking away from the crying woman in my arms. “We don’t have time for this crap, we’ve got to get to the Tavern and warn everyone.”
“Crow’s right,” Maverick said, standing up and shoving Vegas toward the door. “We don’t know how much time we got ’til the bastards decide to strike.”
I tried to move Jade off my lap but she clung to my shoulders, shaking her head. I sighed and stood while still holding her, glaring at the two morons and daring them to say anything about it. Putting my shoes on without putting her down proved to be impossible though, so I handed her off to Maverick. She still refused to let go, even tightening her grip, and I had to try and pry her slim fingers off of my jacket.
“Jade, come on, darlin’, it’s only for a couple of seconds.”
“She’s got a strong grip for such a little thing,” Vegas mused, watching. Finally, I managed to pull her loose, shoving my feet into the shiny shoes that matched the rest of the monkey suit, and grabbed the keys to my bike.
***
We broke several traffic laws on the way to the Ironhead Tavern, making it there in record time. For the first time I could remember, the parking lot was packed with actual cars from the family members who drove in for the wedding. The soccer mom SUVs and four-door sedans served as reminders that civilians would be caught in the crossfire of whatever fuckery the Freeways wanted to pull today. We screeched to a stop right outside the Tavern’s front door, and after I lifted Jade off of my bike, I burst into the building, the others close behind. All eyes turned to us, the people milling about in suits and fancy dresses coming to a halt. I scanned the crowd, quickly locating Ripper talking to some redhead drinking a martini. I charged toward him, pulling Jade behind me.
“We need to talk,” I said across whatever the woman had been talking about. She huffed at me before walking off.
“Hey, wait!” Ripper called after her, but she didn’t look back. He rounded on me, scowling. “Crow!”
“Sorry, Rip, but this is more important,” I said firmly. I could feel Vegas and Maverick nodding on either side of me. Ripper looked between us, frowning, and then his gaze settled on Jade and his frown deepened. I followed his gaze to where Jade was looking around the Tavern with equal amounts of fear and awe on her face. I squeezed her hand gently, bringing her attention back to me, and gave her a reassuring nod. She nodded back, tucking her hair behind her ear with her free hand.
“Crow, is that the girl?” Ripper asked, squinting at her. “The one who was messing you around?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Not the point right now.”
“What the fuck’s she doing here? Didn’t you say she wasn’t going to leave Ray?”
“That’swhere I remember her from!” Vegas exclaimed. Maverick elbowed him, hissing for him to shut the fuck up, and a squabble broke out.
“Focus, morons!” I snapped at them. They broke apart, sheepish expressions on their faces, and I turned back to Ripper. “Where’s Tank?” I asked.
“He’s helping Archer with his tie upstairs. Crow, what the fuck is going on?”
“No time. Can you guys round up the rest of the Rebels and meet us upstairs?”
Ripper looked like he wanted to protest some more then nodded. He, Vegas, and Maverick dispersed into the crowd to round up the rest of the Rebels, and I made sure to keep Jade close to me as I guided her across the room and up the stairs. People stared at us as we passed. I glared at anyone who caught my eye, hoping that if anyone tried to bitch about us, I would be able to set the record straight with Rose and Archer later. But we needed to sort this shit out first, and quickly.
It wasn’t the first time I had walked up the stairs to where Tank and Evelyn lived, but it was a rare enough event that it felt a little wrong. Respect for Evelyn was the only thing that kept me from slamming the door open.
Ink opened the door, his tattooed face twitching in surprise when he saw me.
“Hey, Crow,” he said, his eyes drifting to Jade. “Who’s this?”
“Her name’s Jade. Move aside, Ink, I need to talk to Tank.”
“He’s a bit fucking busy,” Ink said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. “You know, with the wedding that’s about to happen?”
“Yeah, that’s why I need to talk to him.” I scowled back, shoving past him. Tank was a little way into the apartment, standing in the middle of the sitting room area and tying Archer’s bow tie for him while Evelyn was carrying things between the sitting room and the spare room where all the women seemed to be getting ready. All three stopped to look up at me when I walked in, dragging Jade behind me.
“Crow?” Archer frowned. “Why aren’t you downstairs with everyone else?”
“Because everyone else seems to be up here too,” Ink said dryly, walking into the room with the rest of the Rebels behind him.
“Now see here,” Tank started, stepping forward and looking furious. “You’re all welcome at the bar, but this is me and Ev’shome. What the fuck are you doing up here?”
“Ask Crow,” Ripper grumbled. “He’s the bastard that insisted we all come up here.”
