One of the old ladies had sent out a prospect to get breakfast, and the bar was covered in bakery boxes. There were a lot of us in the clubhouse. Dragon hadn’t announced a lockdown, but most of the families were there anyway. We had no clue what we were dealing with yet.
I followed Casper to the room behind the bar, and stopped at the threshold.
“You comin’ in or what?” Dragon grumbled, his eyes bloodshot. He reached up and drug his hands through his hair.
“Got the baby this mornin’,” I said, staying where I was.
“Take her to your ma,” my dad ordered, dropping down into his seat.
“No,” I shot back. I scowled at the table of surprised faces turned my way. “She’s stayin’ with me until her mother wakes up.”
“Then wake the bitch up,” Samson said with a frown.
“She needs her sleep,” I ground out.
“Jesus Christ,” Dragon barked, waving his hand at me. “Bring the kid in with you. I don’t wanna be here all goddamn day.”
I nodded briskly, then stepped inside, closing the door behind me.
“First, we haven’t talked to Rock yet, but I’m not worried. He was headed up to the national forest and we all know cell reception is shit up there.”
“Rock!” Reb said seriously around a mouth full of donut. “Auntie. Rock.”
“It’s a fuckin’ daycare in here,” Samson grumbled.
“Second,” Dragon continued, ignoring them both. “Poet’s got feelers out for the Russians. ATF and DEA were workin’ through the ranks this week. I’m guessin’ the man Molly saw at Duncan’s was Rock’s father-in-law.”
“Ex,” Hulk reminded him as Rebel mumbled Rocky’s name again.
I tried not to be jealous that she was responding to another guy’s name the way she was.
“He’s pissed,” Dragon continued. “With good reason. Those names Rock gave pretty much made the DEA’s case for them.”
“Took ’em long enough,” Samson mumbled.
I silently agreed with him. Rock had given the Feds the list they wanted over a year ago, and they’d sat on that shit forever. Bureaucratic bullshit, if you asked me. Hurry up and wait.
“Russians got no idea who’s next on the list, and they’re scramblin’ to find out what the feds know,” my dad butt in. “Probably why they went to Duncan.”
“Molly said they were askin’ for a list,” I agreed as Reb’s sticky fingers found my beard.
“Dunc would’ve held out as long as he could with that list,” Dragon said quietly. “Givin’ the feds some time.”
“Should’ve told them what they wanted to know,” I snapped, wiping Rebel’s hair away from her maple frosting-covered mouth. “He held out when his daughter was gettin’ beat.”
“They would’ve beat the fuck outta her anyway,” Casper replied, using the same logic I’d fed Molly earlier. “She showed up. They weren’t just gonna let her bounce—had to put the fear a’ God into her first.”
“You think they’re gonna come here?” Hulk asked Dragon.
“Doubt it,” Dragon said. “They got what they wanted. Probably halfway outta the country by now. Musta knew we were comin’ if they left their man behind. Even Russians don’t leave their own dead for the cops to find.”
“How do you know they got what they wanted?” I asked.
“Killed him,” my dad said quietly. “If there was anything left to know, they woulda kept him alive. Took him with ’em.”
Dragon nodded.
A knock on the door interrupted us and I opened it up to find Trix’s face pressing into the opening.
“Cops called Molly. They’re on their way here.”
“Shit,” I grumbled as the men stood up from the table.
“You get that shit straightened out?” Dragon asked as I moved out from in front of the door.
“She knows what she’s supposed to say,” I assured him.
“Let’s hope she sticks to it.”
I nodded and left the room, searching for Molly. If she’d talked to the cops, that meant she was awake, and I wanted to see how she was feeling.
I found her sitting at a table with Farrah at the edge of the room. Lily and Rose were standing next to them, and I could tell by the way that my sister was standing that they were begging for something.
“He’s here now, you monsters,” Farrah said as I walked up to the table.
“What’s up?” I asked as Rebel dived for Molly. I barely caught her in time, then set her gently in Molly’s lap, being extra careful of her arm. They’d sent her home from the hospital in a soft cast because her arm was still too swollen to put in a hard cast, and she had to go back tomorrow so they could change it.
“We wanted to come get Rebel, but Mom wouldn’t let us,” Lily said, her hands on her hips.
“You know that room is off-limits,” Farrah said.
“I just wanted to get Rebel.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Why did Rebel get to be in there?” Rosie demanded, making Farrah raise one eyebrow.
“None of your business.”