“No offense, brother.” He chuckled at my action.
I blinked once at him.
“Thanks for calling. How much do I owe?”
“One fifty.”
“How long was he here?” Color drained from Suzie’s face.
Ka-Bar shrugged. “He bought a few rounds for the house.”
“Sounds like from the house.” Suzie squirmed and checked her pockets. “I think I have like twenty-eight. Can I—”
“Here.” I got out my wallet and handed over a few bills.
“Ford, I’ll pay you back.” Her eyes were full of embarrassment when she looked at me.
I shook my head once.
Ka-Bar took my cash, counted it, and thumbed toward the bar. “Wanna come in and have a drink? The guys would love to see you.”
“We’re leaving.” I realized my voice was at its lowest setting with no emotion behind it.
At the same time, Suzie snorted, saying, “I doubt that.”
“Why? I’m serious. Come in and say hi.” Ka-Bar flicked his cigarette and lifted his chin with a confused smile.
“I can’t.” Suzie shifted on her feet. “I don’t want to cause drama.”
“What drama can a pretty face cause? Your man can come too.” He seemed genuine.
Suzie looked at me confused and then back to Ka-Bar. “After how I left things, I’m not welcome here.” She looked pointedly at the bikes. “I’m probably not even supposed to be within a hundred yards of your bikes.”
The biker laughed. “Suzie, that’s all in the past. Nobody cares what you did to Jethro Winston. That guy’s dead to us now anyhow.”
Again, Suzie looked to me. I frowned. I didn’t like this. Maybe this was some sort of trap. I squeezed her arm and nodded my head toward the car. I could tell she wasn’t sure how to handle this news.
“Maybe next time,” Suzie settled on. “We gotta get Daddy to bed.”
“Alright, gorgeous, you have a good night. See y’all later.” Ka-Bar dropped his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out.
With that he strode back in the bar without another glance.
Suzie and I seemed to be in agreement that we should leave as fast as we could. Like it was too good to be true. We half-jogged to the car. In a blur, we got in, buckled up, and I pulled out. With each quick action, the seconds crawled. We kept checking to see if we were going to be followed or someone was going to run out shooting at us. But nobody came. Nothing happened.
It was only after a few miles of driving in silence, save for the louder-than-an-engine rumbling snore of her father, that her shoulders relaxed from her ears.
“Huh.” Suzie looked at my profile. “That was weird, right?”
“I have no frame of reference. ”
“The Wraiths hate me. But Ka-bar, he seemed genuinely surprised by me saying that stuff.”
“I agree.”
“Huh,” she said again, frowning out the window.
“Maybe they’ve moved on?” I said.
