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“And if he says jump?”
“Then somebody asks why. If the reason is good, you do it. If it isn’t, you say so.” I looked at Robin. “I’ve watched men argue with Dutch for years. He’d rather be challenged than blindly obeyed. But he has authority. If you can’t live with that, this isn’t for you.”
“Prospect period,” Nick said. “There’s a year, isn’t there. Running errands and cleaning bikes.”
“Not if I can persuade the table. You’d patch in as founding members. The five of you kept Wren’s location from me for a year. I’d defend your experience in front of any table in the country.”
“Dutch’ll go for that?”
“I don’t know. Some of the table is traditional. That will be the hardest part to sell.”
Robin had been quiet for a while. “Do you want a chair at Kettlewell’s table?”
“No.”
“You sure you don’t want to think about that?”
“I don’t. I already have a job. I’m Venom’s tech officer, and that doesn’t change when I transfer. But I don’t want one of your officer positions. This is your crew. It would be your chapter.”
“Who do you answer to?”
“You. Once I transfer, you’re my president.”
“And Dutch?”
“If something urgent affects the whole club and I can’t reach you, I go straight to him. Otherwise, I come through you.”
“You’re all right with that?”
“Yes.”
Robin put both hands flat on the table and looked to his men. Moff nodded first. Dion, Nick and Simon followed.
“Get Dutch up here if he’s interested,” Robin said. “That’s not a yes from us. Once we hear from him, all five of us vote. One no and it ends.”
I looked around the bench. Nobody objected to meeting Dutch. Nobody mistook it for a decision, either.
Simon hadn’t said a word through the meeting. When the others got up, I caught Robin by the door. “Is he still pissed about Wren and me?”
“Probably.” Robin waited until we were out on the pier. “But that’s not why he’s been quiet. It’s Sheryl.”
Sheryl—the woman I’d seen beside the blue hatchback when I rode into Kettlewell—had left Simon that same afternoon. Sent him a text and was gone. He knew where she was but hadn’t followed her. What was tearing him apart was not knowing why she’d left.
“Has he asked her?”
“He’s not asked her anything.” Robin looked out at the water. “He’s not going to. He says if she wanted him to know she’d have put it in the text.”
I looked through the boathouse window at Simon. He was listening to Nick, nodding in the right places. I wondered how much of it he was taking in.
I didn’t interfere. If Simon ever asked my advice, I’d tell him the truth: not asking was the most expensive mistake I’d ever made.
I called Dutch that night. He let me finish without interrupting. Then he said, “Can they take an order?”
“I don’t know. Robin has a president’s instincts and no experience answering to anybody. Moff will do what’s right and refuse what’s stupid. Dion will be fine. Simon looked to Robin before he nodded today. You’ll have to earn his trust. Nick might tell you where to go on any given day.” I sat back. “But when I explained your authority was real, nobody walked out. They asked how much authority, which is what professionals ask.”
“They’d be a handful.”
“They will. But we’re turning down good work because we don’t have anyone up here. Patch them in and Venom can keep growing without running Millfield into the ground.”
