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“Then we’re taking the long way around and everyone is gonna be pissed,” Rusty said in between more grunts. “Come on, Roark, tell us a story while we work.”
“As long as you promise to give us a proper answer by the time I’m done.”
“Then you might want to make it a long one,” Rusty replied.
“Son of a…grrrrr,” Cor grumbled. “That is not what I wanted to hear.”
“I know, brutha, and I’m sorry,” Rusty said.
“Well, this comes from a reputable source,” Roark said, “which is the only reason I brought it up. But Mama G spent three years riding with Simon’s crew when they wore the colors.”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Cor said. “Awe shit, there’s some scraping under this one. It’s bad. Got fluid oozing from between a panel, too.”
“Now who’s the bearer of bad news?” Rusty said. “Things are still iffy over here. If I can just get this last...bolt…free.”
“We’re fucked,” Roark groaned.
“Please tell me there’s more to the story than that,” Cor said. “Like juicy details that are going to distract me from what I just uncovered over here.”
“Oh, there’s more,” Roark said. “She had a badass green and purple trike with Frankenstein’s face painted across the back. Not a cartoon one, either. The whole lab motif, with bolts of electricity and everything, was painted on the sides. Seriously kickass from the way Simon went on about it.”
“Back the fuck up,” Rusty said. “What the fuck did you give Simon to get him to share this story? Give the guy a cider and he barely shares a joke, let alone a story from the old days of the club.”
Chuckling, Roark crawled out from beneath the SUV, pleased that this one wasn’t fucked up like the other two. “Turns out he loves mutton.”
“Nice!”
“He was so pleased when I delivered it that he whipped up some cocoa, liberally dosed with Irish Cream, and told me to park my ass and stay awhile,” Roark said. “Like I was going to turn that down, especially when he was my last stop. Hell, he even broke out the gingerbread cookies he’d made and shared them with me.”
“How much mutton did you take him?” Cor asked before swearing under his breath. “Oh man, there is just no way we can do anything with this out here but tape it up and wait until we get back to the shop. I just gave Cage the bad news.”
“Fuck me,” Rusty groaned. “I was just about to give you good news and tell you I’d fixed this one.”
“Fuck us all,” Cor groaned, “unless you’ve got a magic wand in your pocket that you can wave to fix this shit.”
“Let me finish up over here and I’ll come see what we’re dealing with,” Rusty said.
“I took him enough to last all winter,” Roark admitted. “Out there alone the way he is and too crotchety to sign up for meal delivery, I wanted to make sure he had a full freezer. Stella mentioned not seeing him around the market as much as she used to, so when he asked if I could bring some out for him, I saw the opportunity to make sure he’d be set for a while.”
“Nicely played,” Rusty said.
“Did he fuss when he saw how much you’d carted out there?” Cor asked.
“Nope. Eyes got big, then he rubbed his chin and helped me bring it all to the pantry, where he’s got a deep-standing freezer. After we moved a few things to a smaller unit, we were able to pack everything in. Barely.”
“What else did he tell you about Mama G and her bike?” Rusty asked.
“Just that she and her brother built it,” Roark replied.
“Which one?”
“Her twin, Eli. When she decided to ride with them, he went too,” Roark explained.
“Did Simon ever explain why she did that?” Cor asked.
“Their old man was one of the original Howling Devils,” Roark explained. “He wasn’t able to ride anymore and was willing to pass down his colors.”
“Bet she was a great negotiator when they were out there forging treaties,” Rusty mused. “She’s always had a way of getting wolves to cool down and listen to one another instead of messing up the dining hall with their nonsense.”
