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CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
It’s not often Seer pulls me off the bar. It’s my job and I’m very good at it. I’ve been serving the men of this club their drinks for years, and it brings me great joy to do my job well. But, when the Prez calls, you don’t say no. That’s a motto I’ve lived by for years, and it’s one I’ll continue to follow until I’m too old and frail to keep up with this life. Hopefully that day never comes.
“You know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important,” Seer whispers to me urgently as he hands me a phone and the keys to his spare bike. Mine probably doesn’t work anymore, it’s been so long since I rode it. “I’m worried about Bones. We’re all worried about him. His stubbornness is going to be the death of him.”
“You want me to babysit,” I guess, looking over the phone that I barely know how to use. It’s much too complicated for me.
“Not babysit, just . . .” Seer looks off, struggling to find the right words for the situation. He seems to forget that I hear about everything that happens with the men. Sometimes they have conversations like I’m not even there, and I keep their business to myself. That’s the sacred oath of a bartender. It’s not my business to share.
“Bones respects you,” he finally manages. “Everyone does, Buffy, and I think he’ll be able to keep his emotions in check a little better if you’re around. You know how he and Hex can be on their own. They tend to get carried away sometimes.”
“Babysitting,” I confirm, and he nods with a sigh. “Got it, Prez. Whatever you need.”
“Don’t crash my bike,” he warns. “I’d let you use Snake’s, but I’m not sure it’s in any better shape than yours.”
Snake breezes into the room with a large file for Seer. “Here’s all the info you need about your guy. His address, all known associates, place of business, you get the gist.”
“Not many associates in here,” Seer says, looking through the file. “And you’re sure the two men have no connection at all?”
Snake shakes his head and shrugs. “I went back ten years, there’s nothing between them. Maybe they went to high school together or something, but there’s no indication that they’ve even met each other.”
Seer nods and turns his attention back to me.
“Just keep those two out of trouble,” he asks wearily, tossing me his keys. “Don’t try to get in between them if they start throwing punches, but call me right away.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, shooting Snake a look. He knows my shortcomings with technology better than most. As I walk past him, he slips something large and heavy into my pocket. When I’m away from Seer’s watchful gaze, I see it’s an old cell phone with actual buttons. Hallelujah.
I meet Bones and Hex outside of the house, and I immediately see what Seer means. Bones sits on his bike, anxious and ready to go. He’s kicking at the driveway, unable to sit still, like a petulant child. When he sees me, he doesn’t even acknowledge me, he just throws on his helmet and revs his engine. Hex, at least, looks my way and shrugs. We’re on the road in seconds, the wind whipping against us as I follow the two men. I’m not exactly sure where we’re going, but it’s nice to feel the concrete beneath me again.
I don’t do this enough, don’t leave the clubhouse enough. Truthfully, this was as much a gift to me as it was a request. I usually only hear about the action after it’s happened. I almost never get to take part in it.
We drive into the city, into a rundown part of town. Bones pulls up short at an apartment building that’s definitely seen better days. It seems the residents may have seen better days too. There’s an old man with no teeth sitting on the stoop shooting up. It’s grim, to say the least.
Hex and Bones park their bikes and push past the old man, ignoring his pleas for money. Seeing him makes me think that maybe leaving the clubhouse isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s bleak out here. I follow them through a hallway and up a flight of stairs. The whole building smells of piss and alcohol. The light in the hallway keeps flickering out, casting the whole building in a dim, sickly glow.
“This is the one,” Bones says when he reaches the third apartment.
Hex’s hand reflexively moves to the hem of his pants where he’s stashed his gun. He’s ready for a fight, and I’m here to stop one. I wonder if Seer told him the real reason he asked me to come.
Bones pounds on the door and we wait awkwardly for any response. There’s no sign of life inside, though a baby cries through the walls of another apartment. Christ, I can’t even imagine bringing up a child in a dump like this. What kind of life is that child going to have?
“If he doesn’t answer, I’m breaking down the door,” Bones hisses through gritted teeth. “This asshole has five seconds.”
He pounds on the door again and I can almost hear him counting in his head.
“See if it’s open,” I say, trying to keep the situation as calm as possible. Bones is in the frame of mind to destroy something, but it isn’t always necessary.
Begrudgingly, he turns the knob to find that it is, in fact, unlocked. He turns to glare at me as he pushes the door open and steps across the threshold. Hex and I follow behind at a good distance.
The place is a mess, more or less exactly what I expected to find in a building like this. There’s trash littering the floor where there aren’t dirty clothes. I’d hate to have to mop these floors. I thought alcohol was hard to clean up, but there are probably organisms living under these trash piles.
The apartment is small, just a narrow living room and a hallway leading to the bathroom. It looks like he sleeps on the couch, and there’s not a kitchen so much as there’s a hot plate and a minifridge. What there isn’t, is any signs of human life. The place is empty, and it looks like it might have been recent.
“This is a dead end,” Bones says, his voice hard and angry. “He’s not here.”
“I’ll call Seer,” Hex calls after him as Bones breezes out of the small room and takes the stairs two at a time, like he can’t stand to be in the building for one more second. I don’t blame him. It’s not an uplifting place to be, especially when he’s already in a frantic state.
I follow behind him with Hex trailing us, trying to get through to Seer. They connect and I hear fragments of the conversation and more disappointment in Hex’s voice. So it’s not good news.
