Lexi

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Ghost arrived minutes after Bubbles’ text told me to expect him. I hugged him and introduced him to Mama.

Etta didn’t get up to hug him, but he gave her a gentle smile and asked how she was doing.

“I’m good. How’s Hailey?”

I’d been floored when I took Etta to the clubhouse and discovered she already knew Ghost’s wife because Hailey had worked for the MC as a workin’ girl. Hailey had dyed her hair bright red and gone by Ruby, and Etta told me Ghost had come to work one night, seen Ruby, and dragged her out.

“Hailey’s good. She’s at Will’s house, along with the other members of her band, and Aaron’s people are keeping them safe tonight.” He gave my mama an appraising look, and sat so he was facing her.

“You’ll need to spend the night here tonight, so we can keep you safe, too. Bubbles has a saferoom in the basement, and some of the women Etta works with are going to be brought here.” He looked at me. “Bubbles says you’ll know what to do. Slick will bring them, and we’ll have guards on the subdivision, but everyone’s gonna be in saferooms — here, Duke’s, and Gonzo’s. Gen is hosting those who are friends of the club, while most of the ol’ladies are with Connie. Brain’s already blocked the cell signal and shut Wi-Fi off, so no information comes or goes. The radio in the saferoom will let you listen in to emergency traffic, and I know Bubbles gave you the code so you can speak into it, but you shouldn’t unless it’s an emergency. Any questions while I’m here?”

“All night?”

“We’ll give the all clear when you can come out. Bubbles said to warn you he may want to keep you home from school tomorrow.”

I nodded. He’d warned me it might happen at some point in the future, and assured me he could get me a doctor’s note, so it would be excused. “Any of the women comin’ gonna have kids with them?”

He shook his head. “Slick’s figuring that part out, but those with kids are supposed to be sent somewhere else.”

“Ya’ll gonna hit El Atroz?” Mama spoke scary soft. Nothing much scares her, but I heard it in her voice.

“Plans were already set, we’ve just moved ’em up. Is there anything else we should know? More than you told Bubbles?”

“If I’m missin’ when ya’ll hit’em, it won’t look good.”

“You’ll say you went to dinner and were told you had to stay. Tell them we blocked it so you couldn’t get a cell signal, so there was no way to tell anyone, but you wouldn’t have known what to tell them if you’d been able to send a text or make a call, ’cause we didn’t tell you shit.”

She crossed her arms. “They send a black brother to talk to us ’cause I’m black?”

He grinned. “Did it work?”

Etta laughed. “Right up until the point she realized that’s what happened, but she can’t bitch about it after all the times she’s called Bubbles a white boy.” She took a breath and her expression grew serious. “How much should we worry?”

He shook his head. “We’re gettin’ everyone under our protection to safety. Abbott’s pulling as many workin’ girls off to private appointments as possible, and we’ll get the rest sent to various other spots — I think six are comin’ here, and I know ya’ll will make them feel welcome.”

“Of course we will,” I told him, “but how much should we worry about the club? About Bubbles, and you, and everyone else?”

“We know where they are and how to hit them. We’d have done this weeks ago, but…” He shook his head. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Ghost walked us into the saferoom with all the lights off downstairs. It’s so dark down there, you can’t see your hand right in front of your face, but I knew he did it so Mama wouldn’t be able to tell anyone where the saferoom is, or how to open the doors getting into it.

The lights came on once we were inside with the door closed, and Mama didn’t look pissed, thank goodness.