Page 155 of Property of Whiskey

Royal is still looking at Cider.

“You think you’ve seen Kaylee?”

Cider studies the girl for a long moment. “No.”

Some of the tension leaves Royal’s shoulders.

Then Cider whispers, “Maybe.”

His head comes up.

“I don’t know.”

Kaylee pulls the blanket tighter around herself. “I’ve never seen her.”

Cider’s eyes fill. “I know.”

Bullet moves subtly until more of his body blocks Kaylee from the room.

“Enough.”

Legend nods. “Yeah.”

Sophie leads Cider away. Becki goes with them after squeezing Royal’s hand once.

Royal stays where he is.

For the first time since I met him, he doesn’t look like a dark biker with a smartass answer for everything. He looks like a brother who got his sister back without ever really getting her back at all.

Whiskey leans toward me. “Come on.”

“I want to talk to Kaylee.”

“Later.”

“I’m a deputy.”

“You’re also upsetting her.” That pisses me off because he’s right.

I look at Kaylee. “I’ll come back when you’re ready.”

She nods.

Bullet watches me. “Next time don’t bring a crowd.”

“Crowd’s been here. I didn’t bring them.”

Whiskey and I leave together.

The clubhouse seems louder after that office, though the jukebox still ain’t playing. Voices move around us, boots cross concrete, a pool ball clicks softly somewhere near the front. Everybody is pretending they didn’t just hear Kaylee independently corroborate something already buried in Cider’s missing years.

I stop near one of the old barred cells.

Whiskey stops beside me.

“You knew Cider remembered the wrong hymns before tonight.”

“Yeah.”