Chapter 29

 

Jayce

 

 

I FINISHED WORK early again and headed to the clubhouse for a meeting.

“You all know that Tank, Raptor, and some of the others are coming down here for the party tonight, so it should be a kickass time. Even better, Doug’s Smokehouse is catering it for free, which is pretty fucking generous. Especially knowing how much you fuckers eat,” Phoenix said after calling the meeting to order.

Doug’s Smokehouse was some of the best barbecue in the state, so it put smiles on all of our faces.

“As far as booze goes, you want some, you bring your own bottle. There will be beer supplied, of course. I’ve ordered four kegs, which should be enough.” He looked at me. “I need someone to bring ’em out to the farm before the party starts. You up for it?”

I groaned inwardly but couldn’t refuse. “Yeah,” I said. “Can I deliver them around seven?”

He nodded. “That’s fine. Bring one of the other prospects, too.”

I sighed in relief. I wanted enough time to pick up Candi and already couldn’t wait to see her again. All day long she’d been on my mind. I thought it was cute how she’d started reading The Hobbit.

Knowing that she wasn’t sure about staying in Minnesota or traveling on, I pulled Tarot aside after the meeting about getting Candi a job. He owned Wild River Saloon and was always in need of good waitresses.

“I’ll hire her if you think she’d do well,” he said and then lowered his voice. “By the way, Peyton mentioned that Candi called her yesterday. She wants to look at some houses. She’s meeting her at five.”

That surprised me, especially since she hadn’t mentioned it. I was stoked, though. I definitely wanted to see more of her.

“Sweet. I hope she finds something. She’s staying at this shitty motel. Incidentally, I ran into Sharpy.” I told him about our conversation.

Tarot’s face darkened. “He’d better not be dealing his shit over here.”

“He said he wasn’t, but you never know.”

He leaned back and got that faraway look in his eyes. “I think he might be up to no good, regardless. I’m going to have a little talk with him next week. In the meantime, if you see him again, let me know.”

“Will do.”

“And, don’t tell Peyton or Candi that I mentioned anything about house-hunting. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything.”

“You like this chick a lot, don’t you?”

I nodded.

His face grew serious again. “Be careful with her.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know. I feel like she might be hiding something. Something big.”

“Like she might be married?”

He shook his head. “No, but I feel like it has to do with another man. Just… be careful.”

Knowing that she’d been sexually abused as a child, I wondered if was picking up on that, somehow.

“She had a bad childhood. With bad men, if you know what I mean,” I said in a low voice. “You think that might have something to do with it?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s possible. Regardless, you need to be careful.”

Fuck. That’s not what I wanted to hear.

I smiled grimly. “You think she’s dangerous?”

Thinking that he was going to tell me “no”, I was shocked when he nodded.

“How so?”

“That part is gray,” he replied. “But, my gut tells me that things aren’t exactly how they appear with her.”

I trusted Tarot. Especially after the incident the year before. Peyton had been attacked by a psychopath, who’d called himself Blade. He’d been hired by the Blood Angels to impersonate Tarot and cause a shitload of problems. The resemblance between the two had been pretty significant, at least from a distance. Fortunately, Blade didn’t have Tarot’s psychic skills, which in the end had been his downfall. If he thought there was something up with Candi, I had to take it seriously. Even if I didn’t want to.

“I’d better call Peyton and warn her, too,” he replied, reaching for his phone. “I might be wrong. Hell, I hope I’m wrong. But, if I’m not we all need to be wary of her.”