“But I could have?—”
“Donenothing,” Ghost reiterated. “Unless you went to medical school and never told me, you would have been as useless as I was in that waiting room.”
Ranger scowled at his president, hating that logical response. “Even so, I should have been told. Bones was hurt. He almostdied, and you didn’t think that was something I should know? Were you planning on telling menow?”
“Of course! We were just waiting on you getting your footing first,” Ghost defended. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Ranger. We did it for your own good. Just as we did with Pumpkin when Scar went over that bridge. If I recall,yousided on the votenotto tell Pumpkin until he was in a better mental and physical state of mind.”
Ranger groaned, falling back on the tattoo bed. “This is different!”
“Always is when you’re on the other side,” Ghost told him without remorse.
Ranger studied Ghost for a second before asking, “And he’s really okay?”
Ghost nodded. “Really.”
Ranger took a moment to absorb all this information. “What happened to Deininger?”
“He’s being held up at county. They’re still in pre-trial, and given the evidence, he’s looking at ten to twenty for premeditated attempted murder. They’re looking to plea that down, playing the grieving widower and single father card, but we won’t know if the judge will accept that for several more weeks.”
Single father? That’s right, Ghost had said something about Dru and Jett having kids. “What about the kids? Were they put in foster care?”
As a foster kid himself, Ghost had very strong feelings towards the corrupted system. Ghost, though, shook his head. “Dru’s sister came down and is taking care of them. I think they’re staying in the area until his sentencing. After that, I’m not sure what’s happening or how that legally works, but I met Dinah at the courthouse. She seems like a good person.”
Shit. That was certainly a lot to process. Not liking how Angel and Ghost were staring at him, like they were waiting for another freak out, Ranger turned to Angel. “What? Are you napping over there? My tattoo is not going to tattoo itself.”
“I will leave you like this,” she threatened, indicating the unfinished tattoo.
Ranger pulled out his phone.
Ranger: Your mom is being mean to me.
A second later, Angel’s phone buzzed. Whatever it was Bree said to her made her laugh at the screen and then glare at Ranger. “Well played. My daughter is threatening to sic your mother on me if I don’t behave, and since I actually like that woman, IsupposeI’ll finish your tattoo.”
Ranger grinned down at her. “You just like her cookies.”
Angel snorted, dipping the gun back in the ink. “Damn right, I do. When it’s time for her to leave,I’mgoing to have to go to NA with you to get over missing those cookies.”
Though Ghost scowled at Angel for her joke, Ranger laughed, appreciating that Angel wasn’t dancing around the elephant in the room.
As Angel got back into position, Ranger settled himself against the cushion. “So when is someone going to bring up the blonde on the back of Keys’ bike?”
Angel and Ghost exchanged another look before Angel bent back over Ranger’s navel.
* * *
101 Days Sober
Several of the club members managed or worked at businesses that the club owned. When the idea of the VDMC was still just a group of veterans sitting around the diner thinking up ways to support the members they hoped to bring to Mount Grove, jobs had been a real concern. The VDMC wasn’t created for the veterans who fit into society, the ones who had support and family as they worked their way back into civilian life. So long as the veteran was honorably discharged, the VDMC was open to all, regardless of branch of service or financial/familial situations, but the founding idea was to create a home for veterans who had nowhere to go. Originally, before motorcycles were even brought into the conversation, the thought was more of a support group. But motorcycles or not, members still needed jobs.
Lucky, Bear, and Bulldog were the Mount Grove natives. They’d grown up here, had family here, and in Lucky’s case, raised his kids here. Having members who had contacts in the community was extremely important, but Steel still wanted something that was theirs.
The idea of a bar was thrown around, but none of the Original members—Steel, Lucky, Bulldog, Jumper, Demo, Bear,and Scar—knew anything about running a bar, and Steel wanted to steer clear of a stereotypical biker gang business. At least to start. Plus, no one could see Scar standing behind a bar listening to the woes of his patrons while cleaning glasses.
Lucky was a welding artist and owned a shop in town. While he had a couple part-time college students work for him during the touristy times, most of his business was online, so hiring a full-time employee wasn’t worth the payroll for him.
At the time, Bear was an RN who worked for the local hospice facility, doing inpatient and outpatient calls. That was no help to the club.
Jenna wanted to create a charity business. Now that Steel was retiring, one of their three kids was out of the house at college, and they weren’t at the military’s mercy for where they would be living, her dream of owning a children’s consignment store to help out struggling moms and families could now become a reality. But again, that wouldn’t open positions for new members. Maybe one or two could help out on occasion, but nothing long term would be required.
