Zack watched her leave with a passive gaze. He was too tired for confrontation and too agitated to chase after her. He kept thinking about his conversation with Jameson, how it had been all but confirmed that his little sister’s new boyfriend rode with the Skeleton Kings. Slowly, he got up and headed for the fridge, needing a fresh beer to take the edge off. As he pulled open the door the cell phone in his pocket starting buzzing.
With a groan, he kicked the fridge door shut and grabbed his cell. Nancy was calling. He released an even louder groan before answering.
“Hey,” he greeted curtly, his voice hoarse.
“Zack, it’s me, Nancy.”
“Uh huh.” She sounded pissed off. Zack wasn’t in the mood to argue with another woman. He wondered why he’d even bothered to take the call. He slumped against the fridge, realizing that he was too tired to even think straight anymore. He needed to rest.
“I hope you don’t mind me calling,” she said tentatively. He could picture her standing in her apartment, nervously twirling her hair around her fingers. Zack swallowed down the guilt which bubbled in his throat. He had too much going on to worry about hurting some girl’s feelings.
“What is it?” he narrowed his eyes as he asked the question, wedging his phone up between his shoulder and ear before opening the fridge once again. Some of his tension eased as his hand closed around a fresh bottle of beer and retrieved it.
“Hello to you too,” Nancy remarked sourly. Zack popped the cap off his beer and strolled back towards the sofa. He didn’t make eye contact with the half-packed game of Candy Land sitting beside it.
“Nancy, I’m tired,” Zack stated, loathing how he felt compelled to explain himself. “I’ve been up all night, so can we please just get to the point?”
“Fine,” on the other end of the line she gave a stiff sigh of agreement. “The other day some guys were here. They didn’t cause any trouble but…” there was a long pause. “I think they might have similar…interests to you.”
Zack’s eyes widened as he slowly lowered his beer from his lips.
“How many guys?”
“Two.”
That was one more than Max. Zack put down his beer altogether and glanced nervously in the direction of the bathroom. Brittany could return any minute and hear him talking and he didn’t want that.
“How much does she know?” he demanded tersely.
“Not enough,” Nancy scoffed. “Look, Zack. I know how this stuff tends to go down, and I don’t want any trouble. I’ve got a business to run. If you sent them my way then - ”
“I didn’t send them,” Zack swiftly interjected. He could feel his skin prickling and starting to get hot.
“But they asked for Brittany by name.”
Zack stood up which only added to the dizzy sensation he was feeling. “They asked for Brittany?” he uttered in disbelief.
“They said they’d heard of her. That they’d heard she was a good tattoo artist.”
“Shit,” Zack paced back and forth beside the sofa. He hadn’t sent anyone over to Nancy’s tattoo parlor which, meant that Max must have done it. Which meant that there were more Skeleton Kings members in Colridge. Were they gathering there like dark clouds before a storm? Had they asked for Brittany by name to send some sort of twisted message to Zack? Was she in danger?
“If they come back, don’t serve them,” Zack ordered sternly.
“I can’t do that,” he could hear the indignation in Nancy’s pitched voice. “Brittany is working on a sleeve for the one of them. He’s due to come back for a few appointments.”
“Cancel all of them.”
“Zack, I can’t, this is my business and - ”
“If they know who she is, that she’s my sister, they will hurt her,” Zack was hissing the words into his cell phone, his pulse racing. “And by hurt I don’t mean slap around. I mean maim, and maybe worse. Those guys being there puts her in danger.”
Nancy was silent.
“Please, make sure they don’t come back.”
“Did you bring trouble to my town?” Nancy asked sharply. It sounded like she was struggling not to cry.
“No,” Zack reassured her as softly as he could. “Trouble was already there long before I arrived.”