Page 15 (1/2)
Chapter One
Judge
“See Schmidthead has a neeet butt?” Jay Handfield says in a half whisper, half shout The kid is a new prospect but the likelihood of hi blackjack with the Death Lords’ other new prospect, Abel Drake The stakes ould have door duty at the monthly mash and by the look of the pile of peanuts in front of Drake it would be Handfield Again
“Whatup from his cards
“If she was anywhere nearher He had her in the front of his cruiser last week And so dinner”
“Sounds suspicious Eating at a diner,” Drake replies drolly Drake is an eight-year Marine vet with a low tolerance for bullshit and an easy ith the wrench
I share a rueful glance withis a noiance He’s a restless soul a few years older than me I first met him at a one percenter biker et away fro the president of the Death Lords I usually left with hter and now a favor for the nomad across from me
“She’s got red hair,” Handfield continues, not realizing Drake’s uninterested I don't require the ot to have soet fucked up
It used to be regular folks shied away from the leather vests with our profane patches Recent television shows have made us a curiosity and that increased interest erous…and I’ll ad But the new attention means the club has to be more intuitive or they’ll find theht with civilians trying to show off for their girlfriends
These days, I’ to offer other than blind loyalty
The Death Lords don’t need to be bigger, but we’ve got room in our family if there’s a hile civilian who needs a place to rest his boots
“Red hair, huh?”
This attribute appears to interest Drake but not for the reason Handfield thinks Drake eyes Chuck’s dark red hair, raises an eyebrow in ives his head a tiny shake
The little encourage “Creamiest skin Tons of freckles Kind of makes you wonder what she looks like downstairs”
“You gonna take care of the loudrowls
With a jerk of athers up the cards over Handfield’s protests and hustles the kid out of there before Chuck decides to defend his daughter’s honor
“This is why I’ you to keep an eye out for her” He points a hard finger at Handfield’s retreating back
“Because a s?” I’, Chuck’s daughter, is a babe and it’s not only the red hair and freckles that h and the confident way she moves At forty-two, I’ve little interest in the baby pussy that keeps showing up to club parties I want a wo Her red hair would look real fine spread across my pillow
“No,” he scowls “It’s that she couldn’t wait to hook up with your fucking chief of police He’s the bastard that got your son sent away and I don’t want him anywhere near Pips”
“How old is your daughter, Chuck?”
“Twenty-seven”
“She’s a little old for you to be telling her what to do and a helluva lot too old for so ho she dates”
“Shit, Judge, she’s ht by her runtled and I’ mood
“Not to be a shithead, Chuck, but about a year ago you were sitting at this very bar telling me your kid didn’t speak to you because you’d spent soaround”
The red of his face indicates he doesn’t like this reminder He clenches his fist and then releases his breath in a forcible rush, deflating like a popped balloon His anger is spent as quickly as it was roused “Yeah, fuck, you’re right But that’s even more of a reason I don’t want her with Schot the badge and I’ outlaw”
Lang did a stint down in an Arizona federal penitentiary fifteen or so years ago for so he’s never shared I could’ve looked it up but he’s due his privacy
“Guess she doesn’t realize she’s scraping the bottoer barrel with Schmidt”
My laht” He pushes to his feet “I need to get going Have so to ”
I walk hiranary that serves as our clubhouse
“I’ll keep an eye out for her but if your girl has any sense at all, she’ll show Schle because he wants to be but because he reeks of asshole Doesn’t take long for a shter some credit”
“Appreciate it though I’ to win any father of the year awards, but I love her all the same”
The following day I ride over to the town square As luck would have it Betty Car the already clean sidewalk as I park rowl of theout If there’s a town crier in Fortune, it’d be Betty Care of town, there’s enough of us who buy local to keep Betty’s grocery in business Because of that she thinks she knows everyone’s business and the shit she doesn’t know, she makes up
“Morning, Judge,” she calls out “What brings you to town?”
“Got a book at the library on hold Picking it up,” I reply, the lie sliding off ue with ease
“Library’s not open for another half hour,” she says
“Want to beat the rush” I wink at Mrs C’s openmouthed surprise and mount the three steps up into the library The library shares space with the only movie theater in town It seems like an odd coht but the shared space is the only way For
tune keeps a library at all
The forhty andposition reh town He’d toldlibrarian in Eau Claire and ht be interested I passed the word onto Councilman Daniel Montclair and the rest was history
Lang didn’t need to ask hter because fro into town in her cherry red convertible I knew she’d be in my bed Schmidthead is a tiny detour, a dry and sexless one from all accounts I’ve heard
The Hilltop Cafe dinner ended with her pushing hi to Easy who’d been idling down the road We keep tabs on Sch a lockdown on Pippa’s activities is a bonus for me
The library is two small stories with paperbacks upstairs and reference, hardcovers and movies downstairs
“Sorry, we’re not open yet,” Pippa calls out from the little room behind the circulation desk which I suppose is her office Looks like it’s no bigger than a closet
“Thought I’d coainst the counter and ad a pale pink silky shirt tucked into a straight skirt that is hitched up to about h a box of soht over her ass Jesus, I love skirts