We leave Rider yelling to the gods outside, letting the door slam behind us, cutting off his wails.
Marx’s head snaps up, frown on his face. “Tell that fucker to hurry up.” Niko rushes out to pass on the message as Marx rolls his eyes as he heads toward Church.
I move to follow him, only stopping as the women come rushing past, all dropping the kids off to Niko, Sage and Mama Debs on their way into Church. Each and every one of them have earned their place behind that door, however they don’t usually all sit in. Well, not if it’s just business as usual. More often than not Chewy, Remy and Blanche will attend Church while Lovely, Nat, Vi and Ana opt to look after the kids. Mira will sit in if she’s not working on a new novel and Kaia, Judge’s woman, seems to be still finding her place. She’s got a temper and doesn’t take fools gladly, so I can see her making regular appearances as she settles into club life.
My mind drifts to Jazz and what she would want as I follow the women in. She’s strong and sassy, that I do know, but much like her sister they have a soft streak that runs through them. And a history of dating shitty men from what I’ve heard. Vi’s ex made her feel like shit and used her pretty much for her looks, and from the way Jazz behaves I wonder if the same has happened to her. Or maybe with her illness she ended up with some jackass that dumped her because of it. Judging from what she told us and what Fox read out in the car, lupus puts a strain on relationships. Especially if the man you’re with is actually a little boy who can’t take care of his woman.
Marx’s giant fist slams against the wall behind him and we all snap to attention. Well, all of us except Chewy who covers her ears with a frown. She’s not known for loving loud noises, and given Rhodie’s place next to his brother, and Chewy’s place on his lap, I’d say it’s a little loud over there.
“Sorry Chewy,” Marx grumbles before addressing us. “I’m sure you all heard what went down at the PD. Pops is still in holding while Miss Candice works her magic.”
“What the fuck they haul him in for anyway?” Savage asks, looking disgusted that the police would arrest a retiree. Even though Pops is probably the most dangerous retiree there is.
“It was a laundry list of bullshit charges,” Nitro answers before turning to Chewy. “Why does your grandfather impersonate people so often?”
“He’s a celebrity. Disguises are the best way to move around town without people stopping him for mind-numbing small talk about inconsequential matters.”
“No offence Chewy, but I think Willy Nelson is a much bigger celebrity than your grandfather,” Tank snorts.
“I have no idea who that is,” Chewy says with a completely straight face.
The whole room goes silent and I can’t tell if she’s fucking with us or not.
“Right. Anyway, Pops will be spending the night at RGPD and Moss has agreed to let Mad Dog stay with him.” Marx says, looking around the Church table.
“How did you managethat?” Blanche asks, looking impressed.
“Miss Candice told him Mad Dog was his carer,” Tav cracks up, his brothers joining him.
“It was the best way to make sure nobody fucks with him.”
I knock on the table, agreeing with Marx. “Until we know exactly how widespread the problem in RGPD is, we have to assume they’re all involved. Pops is a tough bastard, but he’s also an old man.”
Nods go around the table, and it’s not hard to see the concern on everyone’s faces. Well, other than Chewy’s who perks up all of a sudden. “Oh yeah, forgot to say, Pops managed to get me linked into the bug in your locker room. I know where they are.”
“Wait, what? How the fuck did he do that?” Savage asks, sitting forward a little.
Chewy turns her gaze to me and Nitro. “When he was in there did he do anything out of the ordinary?”
“Oh I dunno, I think pissing himself is probably out of the ordinary,” Nitro says.
“Not really. He pulled that stunt at the funeral home that one time,” Jules answers with a smirk.
“He showed us a mole shaped like Jesus,” I add.
Rider claps loudly and laughs before pointing at me. “It so does, it’s crazy how much it does.”
Marx closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as Gus slides a pack of antacids his way. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Gus share those things. Although I guess it’s also been a while since Church was like this, and I have to say, I missed it. We’ve been dealing with shit for so long now, it’s kinda nice to be this relaxed. Well aside from the fact Nitro and I are at the PD to flush out cops on the take and we have Pops in the cells.
“OK, I’ll take that as a yes,” Chewy says. “It’s proven that when people listen into devices like the Dropmire that they’ll speed past the random, mundane or gross to get to the good stuff. While he was showing you Jesus he was tapping into its frequency so I can run a reverse trace.”
She says this all like it’s a normal every day thing for her, and shit, I dunno, maybe it is. She’s a fucking genius and I sometimes forget that.
“So, do you wanna know where they’re at?” She looks up from her phone briefly.
“Safe to say the answer would be a fuck yes, thank you Chewy,” Marx replies, as if he needed to.
We need to know who these people are so we can shut them down, clean out the PD and then get back to our lives.
