Pearl inhaled slowly.“I was going through the stuff she left in her cabin and… Did you know she had a daughter?”
There was a pause.Not long.But long enough that even Prime tensed behind me.Her dad finally sighed.“Yeah.I knew.”
My breath caught.
Pearl blinked.“You… never told me?”
“Didn’t think it was my place.Bernice didn’t like talking about her daughter or her granddaughter.They had a falling out years ago.Nasty one.The granddaughter was just a toddler.It really tore Bernice apart.”
I swallowed hard.“Why?”
“Bernice got mixed up with a motorcycle guy,” he said.“Real trouble.Not your club, Anchor,” he added quickly.“Different one.Not Kings of Anarchy.Some smaller club, long gone now.Burned itself out.”
Anchor nodded once.
Pearl leaned forward.“So Bernice’s daughter didn’t like the guy she was with?”
Her dad exhaled.“Not at all.Said he was dangerous.Said he was dragging Bernice into bad shit and she didn’t want her daughter around it.They fought about it and then suddenly they just didn’t speak again.I tried to talk to her, but Bernice didn’t want to.You know how Bernice is.If she didn’t want to talk or do something, she wasn’t going to.”
My chest felt tight, like someone had wrapped it in steel wires.
“Ask him if he ever met her granddaughter?”I whispered.
Pearl parroted the question to her dad.
Another pause.
“A few times,” he said gently.“Cute little thing that followed Bernice around like she was the best thing since sliced bread.”
My throat closed.
Because that was me, it had to be.
“And then?”Pearl asked softly.
“Never saw her or the daughter again,” he said.“Bernice took off for a bit with the motorcycle guy, but she was back after not too long.”
“Was the motorcycle guy with her?”Pearl asked.
Her dad tsked.“Nope, he was never in the picture when she came back.I always thought it was a real shame that her daughter and she had fallen out over a guy who didn’t even stick around.Bernice loved that little girl more than anything.Anyone could see it.Whatever went down… it wasn’t simple.”
“Do you remember the motorcycle guy’s name?”Anchor asked.
Pearl’s dad sighed.“No, but I remember he wore a leather jacket with this weird symbol that was like a circle with a line slashed through it.”
Pearl glanced at Anchor, who shook his head.The symbol didn’t ring a bell with me, either.
“Okay, thanks, Dad.”
“Anytime, Pearl.I was going to call you today, anyway.Things have been slow, which I know is good for you since you’re getting to know Anchor, but we’ve got a big mural job coming up in two weeks.Think you can be here for it?Without Bernice…” he trailed off.
“I’ll be there, Dad.”
“Good, good,” he sighed.“I’ll call you when I’ve got more information.Bye, honey.”
“Bye, Dad,” Pearl said and ended the call.
“I don’t know if you’ll be able to help your dad, Pearl,” Anchor said.
