7. Black Hills Portend
When dawn came, it was wreathed in mist and fog leftover from the night's storm. Cassie set the pitiful little coffee pot to brew and then crept silently on her bare feet toward the door of the cabin. It was silent as a tomb; for once Koz was still asleep, snores were coming from the bunk room, and the door to the bedroom was shut. It felt cold and lonely being the only one awake, and she pulled Koz's sweatshirt down over her pajamas as she eased through the door. She had thought to enjoy the porch by herself, but was startled to see that someone had already beat her to it.
It was Juice, she realized, as her heart rate returned to normal. He was on his back, ankles hooked under the foot rail that supported the porch bannister, doing situps. He was listening to his iPod, but must have felt her footsteps through the floorboards, because he came to his feet in a series of quick moves that seemed more lithe than she would have thought him capable. He was in great shape, that became even more evident as he stood in front of her shirtless and popping the buds out of his ears, but there was something clumsy-looking about him. So the grace had been unexpected.
"Hey." He snagged his t-shirt off the porch rail and shrugged into it. His face was flushed from the exercise, the deep scar in his eyebrow looking white in contrast, and for a moment, just a tiny moment, with the morning air bringing a chill up her arms and with the whole world dead around them, Juice seemed almost…almost…dangerous. He at least didn't look like some dim-witted fool who Ava had married so that she could run rough shot over him.
"Hey." She decided not to play the guilty outsider and took a seat in the same plastic chair she had the night before. "Kind of a nice morning."
He nodded and leaned back against the rail, arms and ankles crossed. "Wish I'd had room to bring my sneaks." Juice glanced out at the misty grey landscape. "We jog at home."
Even if she was still reeling from the night before, Cassie felt a smile tug at her lips when she envisioned Juice and Ava in matching Nikes with the baby in one of those jogging strollers. "You two are really close," she ventured.
He nodded.
"Did you meet before or after you patched in?" She wanted to mentally slap herself for asking that question. What was she doing? The man's wife hated her. But when he turned toward her, an amused frown on his face, she found herself anticipating not the answer, but just the words themselves. He was from New York somewhere, and his accent, though dulled by California, reminded her of her father's. Luca Brigalia had been a quintessential guinea from Brooklyn before a stint in the US Marine Corps transplanted him on the other coast and he'd never lost his accent.
"How old do you think I am?" he asked, though kindly. Cassie was taken aback for a moment and he grinned. "After," he said, glancing away again.
There's a story there, she thought with certainty. And it brought to mind a conversation she'd had with Koz about the baby photo labeled Samuel James Morales Jr. in his wallet.
"Sam is a junior but Juice's last name is Ortiz…"
"Yeah, and he's 'Daddy' for all intents and purposes."
"I didn't mean to cause trouble," she said quietly.
"Neither did she," his tone was a blend of apology and warm, if not sad affection for his wife, flavored with the Yankee drawl she missed more with every word. "She just can't help it."
She was saved from asking any more dumb questions when the door creaked open and Koz emerged clad only in jeans. Cass had to grin as she watched him yawn and stretch, rub one sleepy eye with the heel of his palm. His fastidious hair spikes were in complete disarray. He mumbled a greeting to the both of them, yawned again, and then spied her outfit. "Thief," he said with a smile.
She smoothed her hands down the Sturgis 2017 hoodie he'd bought the day before. "Morning, baby. I put coffee on. You want some?"
He plucked a fresh cigarette from behind his ear. "Caffeine and nicotine…breakfast of champions."
She nodded and rose, getting up on her tiptoes for a kiss before she headed inside. She paused at the door though and turned back. "Juice? Coffee?"
"Nah. I'm good."
-O-
Janine was so not getting a Christmas card this year. Ava hadn't been able to eat breakfast; she'd been choking down a cup of coffee and wondering who she wanted to avoid the most that day, her husband, or Cassie, when Janine had come bursting in the front door of their cabin like she hadn't spent the whole previous day hugging the toilet and made the decision for her. The Tacoma queen bee still looked a little pale and it was obvious that her normal exuberance was forced, but Ava didn't feel much like inquiring after her health as she sullenly followed the cluster of Old Ladies down the sidewalk. "Girls' day!" Janine had nearly shouted, and Koz and Juice had of course thought that was a good plan, had practically shoved them out the door. And so here she was, walking beside Tara with her arms folded, two Tacoma prospects she didn't know with Phin and Rio from Redwood trailing them to some as-of-yet-to-be-determined location.
"Hey," Tara lowered her voice to just barely above a whisper. Janine was talking loudly enough to provide sufficient cover. "What went on yesterday with you and…" she pointed at Cassie in front of them.
Koz's girl was in a short denim skirt and black halter top number with little pink roses embroidered all the way around the hem, and Ava was not going to admit that the top was cute. She wrinkled her nose up and leaned toward Tara. They were the same height and wore shoes with similar heels, so it made for optimum gossiping. "We were coming out of the tattoo shop," Ava whispered ", and these guys – some wannabe riding club outta Cali – were waiting for us. One was her brother-in-law or something. If Florida hadn't just happened by…" she shook her head and held up her arm for inspection. The bruise was turning an angry, dark color, the shapes of fingers clearly visible around the delicate bones of her wrist.
Tara gasped silently, mouth falling open. "Jesus," she whispered. "They grabbed you? What'd they want with you?"
"Apparently, Cassie's just so much fun, they wanna get her 'friends' involved too."
"Did Koz know about these guys?"
"Who knows. He acted like it was no big deal."
Tara shook her head, scowling. "The last thing we need is for the club to get into some kinda beef with a civilian club at goddamn Sturgis."
Ava gave her a look of agreement. "That'll be my luck: we leave here with me knocked up and Juice locked up." She realized, almost too late, that Janine and Cassie had come to a halt in front of them. Ava staggered a step to keep from running into them.
"We're here," Janine announced, flinging her arms out to the side with a flourish.
"Is that a -," Tara started.
"Fortune teller," Ava finished. "Jesus Christ."
-O-
They were in their cuts today and the others in the miniature tent city, vendors and customers alike, were giving them curious glances. Tailpipes, handlebars, grips, dials and meters, customized fuel tanks, and ferrings hung on metal display screens. T-shirts, rags and any number of small accessories from key chains to ball caps were laid out on folding tables sporting the banners of each individual vendor. Koz walked alongside RJ with Jinx and Lazarus making an odd pair behind them. He spotted Jax up ahead talking to Ope, probably haggling over the handlebars in the SAMCRO President's hands. Suzy trailed along at the tail of their procession, looking slightly pale. He'd clearly taken Koz's threat of payback when he least expected it to heart.
"Take It Out And Play With It, " RJ chuckled as he read the long decal Koz held up.
"Yeah." Koz nodded. "I think it would look good on the Jeep," referring to his other mode of transportation for days , and there were quite a few in the Pacific Northwest, deemed too hazardous for bike travel.
"You got a kid to think 'bout now, bro. Gotta watch your double entendre."
"Shut up." He tucked the decal under his arm. "Hey, Burt get ahold of you?"
"Yeah, last night. Said Lil' Italy will only speak to you... apparently our paisan is having memory trouble."
"Great," Koz mumbled. Given the total clusterfuck this trip was becoming, the last thing he needed were employment issues when he returned home.
"Bochicchio makes a fuckin' mint off us. We kick back a third of our full sal to his ass for keepin' us on the books as contracted union guys. in exchange for job flexibility and taxable income to report to the IRS," RJ went on to state the obvious.
Koz was in no mood to get into an our mother-fuckin' career argument. "Have Burt find out Joe's schedule for next week; tell him to keep his inquiry on the downlow. Surprise visits work best." He realized, with a sigh, that his little window sticker was going to require him to wait in line, so he took his spot, resigning to wait.
"That all man?" he was greeted at the folding table that served as a checkout desk.
Koz eyed the tall skinny guy who looked like he had a dead ferret on his top lip. "Yeah…" but spotted two impulse purchases to the left of the register. "Take one of those too. And that one." He pulled out his wallet as his cell phone began to ring inside his cut, so he withdrew both, fumbling bills and cursing as he flipped open the phone.
"Yeah?"
"This Koz?" an unfamiliar male voice mispronounced his name.
"Yeah," the back of his neck prickled with wariness. In a fast move, he pulled the phone away and checked the ID display. It was Cassie's number. "Who the fuck is this?"
"Oh, so it's gonna be like that."
"Deacon?" Koz guessed, anger flaring. He gestured to RJ to wrap things up for him with the now-gaping, ferret-mustached vendor, and stepped around a trash can.
The guy on the other line chuckled. "Guess she's been talkin' about me. Bitch always did have a mouth on her."
He was being baited, and experience told him not to take it, to keep his cool. But his free hand curled into a fist. "Talkin' never hurt anybody. And last I checked, only bitches would threaten a kid."
As he'd anticipated, the asshole couldn't stomach an insult directed at him. "Hey! It doesn't have to come to that! I never said I wanted to hurt the kid. I'm just after what's mine."
"And what would that be?"
"Mike never could keep his little cunt in line. She stole from my club. And I dunno how you Sons deal with that kinda shit, but thievin' bitches ain't tolerated in Topanga Canyon."
Appealing to his MC reputation for keeping women on a tight leash. Smart. Koz turned in a slow circle, scanning the interior of the tent. If he could find the motherfucker, he'd put his thumbs through his eyes. "Cass is with me," he could hear the low, dangerous edge to his voice that meant he was close to losing control of his composure. "Whatever beef you got with her, you take up with me. We clear? So why don't you come outta your hole and let's straighten this shit out, bitch." He liked calling him that.
Deacon seethed unintelligibly on the other end for a moment. "Fuck you," he said. "You tell her the old man wants to see her. You'll get a call with details. She don't show up…Dinah-ma gets paid a visit."
The line went dead.
-O-
Juice turned over the beer cozy in his hand and pulled a disgusted face when he saw the price tag. "They're runnin' a goddamn racket up here," he grumbled, tossing the foam sleeve back into the bin at his feet.
"Aye," Chibs had been looking at sunglasses and had apparently come to the same conclusion. "Fuckin' ridiculous."
Though the tent was full to bursting with bike accessories, Juice knew none of them were in his price range. Souvenirs he could stomach, they were a given, but no way was he paying two-hundred above catalogue price for a set of handlebars he didn't need. The tourists were eating up the vendors' lies about "limited edition" and "only at Sturgis". But if he wanted to upgrade his bike, he'd do it at home.
As they moved to the next table, Juice glanced back over his shoulder at the group of Tacoma Sons and frowned. The longer the morning stretched, the more he started to regret letting Janine drag Ava off on a girls' day. They had four prospects with them, but it would only take one bullet…
"Hey, you wanna get outta here?"
Chibs shrugged. "Don't care." He looked up from above the rims of his shades. "Why?"
Reluctantly, Juice filled the Scot in on the previous day's events.
He whistled. "Christ. You tell Jax?"
"Yeah. And maybe I'm just being paranoid, but -,"
"Maybe not. Aye. Let's go find our girl."
-O-
Though Cassie had never been sure she wanted anyone telling her what her future held – for fear the news wouldn't be promising – she'd always been fascinated by places like this. They left the prospects on the sidewalk, and the moment they entered, Sturgis fell away and they were transported to an alternate universe of sorts. The standard issue, rectangular shop had been trussed up so thoroughly, they could have been inside a sultan's palace. Persian look-a-like carpets in deep russets, plums, oranges and lemon yellows overlapped across the floor, a messy patchwork that was still pleasing to the eye. No color was off limits. Slippery jade panels flanked the door and gave way to plum sheers and ivory swatches embellished with intricate beadwork. A circular, claw-foot table stood just inside the door. It held a sturdy wrought-iron candelabra and an assortment of mismatched crystal vases filled with colored glass beads and live orchids that seemed to thrive despite the lack of sunlight.
Overhead, a large lantern with golden glass panels hung from a chain with links large enough to encircle a person's wrist. The couches and chairs along the walls were an odd mix of tattered Victorian and far-east simplicity. There was a beautiful, jeweled hookah in one corner. The place had the air of the hold of a pirate ship that had been filled with the spoils of exploration. And something smelled lovely, incense probably, though the scent was thick and making Cassie feel suddenly light-headed.
Heavy wooden shelves filled with books, knick-knacks, ceramic pots and jars created a false wall and left room for a small door between. The curtain of hanging beads was thrust aside suddenly and a woman stepped out to greet them. She wasn't tall, but thick, with wide hips that swung side to side with each step. The cut of her skirt hid all but her bare feet, but the peasant top flaunted her large breasts and the delicate-by-contrast tattoo work over her collar bones. A dozen necklaces dangled to her stomach. Bangles ran up her arms and a jeweled belt ran around her plump waist. The yellow light enhanced the gold sheen of her already radiant skin: it was a deep copper color, shiny, smooth and blemish free. Her face was a perfect circle, her eyes huge and ringed with thick, jet black strokes of liner. And her hair might have been the most stunning: black and secured in a strange topknot held together by colored scarves and gold chains, the rest tumbling in a black wave down her back, all if it gleaming like it had been oiled.
"Welcome, welcome," her accent was thick and made Cassie think of the Caribbean. And when she smiled, her teeth were pearl-white. "I am Mama. Please come in, dark children, so I may show you the light within yourselves."
Janine turned around and gave them all a wide-eyed smile as "Mama" disappeared behind the beaded curtain once more. "Well?"
Cassie heard muttering and sighing from the Charming women behind them as they proceeded through the clacking beads and into a dark, cramped little space that was occupied by a round table sitting just six inches off the floor. A lantern with purple panes was sitting in the middle of the table, smoking incense sticks on either side of it, and the cloying scent of lavender, mint and spice was even stronger back here.
"Sit," Mama commanded them. She had already worked her way around behind the table and gestured to the embroidered cushions that ringed the table.
Janine slid in first, on purpose Cassie would wager, because she ended up sitting between the Tacoma queen and Ava. The Niece had a pinched, unpleasant expression on her face, and when she shot a dark look at Janine, her eyes raked over Cassie as well. Now, her anger was just being stoked by skepticism and annoyance. The Redwood queen, Tara, held her nose against the burning, sickly smell of the incense and glancing around at the scarlet walls with obvious distaste.
"Fun, huh girls?" Janine asked.
No one responded because Mama cleared her throat loudly. She produced a deck of cards from beneath the table and set them in a neat stack. "You," she pointed a purple lacquered fingernail at Ava ", you will be first."
She shook her head. "No. That's fine, I really don't wanna –,"
"You will go first," Mama repeated in a cheerful, but somehow commanding voice, moving the tarot cards within Ava's reach. "Cut the deck."
Ava sighed and raked her teeth over the corner of her bottom lip in a show of reluctance, but did as she was told. Mama took half the deck and fanned them before Ava, face-down. "Choose four. And choose wisely."
Ava rolled her eyes as she did so. Cassie could guess some of what she was thinking: choosing carefully when you couldn't see what you were choosing had no relevance.
Mama swept the rest of the cards away and lay the chosen out in a neat row, still face-down. Then she started turning them over one by one. "The Empress," she pointed at the first in a voice that had become deep and echoed strangely inside the small room. "The mother. The womb. The place where art and love and sex come to maturity. Fertile. Represented by Venus, goddess of all things beautiful, sensual and artful. You are creative. And you love deeply. You will be a splendid mother."
Ava huffed a rude little sigh but Mama ignored her, turning over the next card. "The Ace of Swords," her eyes seemed to sparkle in the candle light. "This foretells an awakening of mind or spirit. You have accepting something new in your life and embarked on a journey." This time, some of frown lines between Ava's brows melted away.
The next card depicted a naked child riding a white pony. "The Sun card. Your heart will multiply..." she closed her eyes. "Here," she reached a hand across the table. "Hand."
Ava hesitated. "What do you mean 'my heart will multiply'?"
Mama snapped her fingers. "You wish to have a child, no?"
Janine and Tara gasped in unison and Ava thrust her hand across the table, brows climbing her forehead, as Mama took it in her own. The big woman ran the tips of her fingers over Ava's palm a moment, eyes shut in concentration.
"Yes," she said. "In nine months, I foresee a son of a son."
"But how could you…?" Ava trailed off, all sounds of skepticism gone from her voice as she retracted her hand slowly. Cassie watched as she wet her lips and took a deep breath. "What…what about the last card?"
Mama flipped it over to reveal a knight on a horse, his standard a white rose on a black field. "Death."
Cassie felt the fine hairs standing up on the back of her neck, and one glance at Ava showed that she'd gone paler than pale, her face reflecting the red and purple light around them. Cassie lifted a hand and started to set it on the girl's shoulder, but retracted it at the last moment when she realized her comfort might not be well received.
"Hand again, please," Mama reached for Ava's and the girl was more than hesitant, her fingers looking stiff. "Death does not always mean death," Mama explained. "It is a change, a stripping away of the old to make way for the new. Transition. Humble you will be, grievous, but old things must die before new, better things can take their places."
When the woman's dark hand closed over Ava's white one, Ava closed her eyes and inhaled in a slow rattle. "Old things?" she said through her teeth, more to herself than to the room.
Mama ran her fingers over the girl's palm and then her almond eyes widened. "There was real death, wasn't there, child?" she said in a haunted whisper. When Ava didn't respond, Cassie saw her squeeze her hand. "This is not that kind of death," her voice softened. "This is better though it seems bad. Change is never easy."
As Ava withdrew her hand and settled it in her lap alongside her other, looking very much a ghost, Cassie suddenly dreaded her own reading. Tara reached up and touched the younger woman's shoulder, leaning in to whisper something the rest of them couldn't hear.
"You," Mama started shuffling her cards and turned to Janine. "Cut the deck."
-O-
"What was that about?" RJ wanted to know as Koz rejoined the regroup.
He slid his cell into his pocket and shook his head. "Nobody." His friend gave him a disbelieving look but he wasn't about to indulge his curiosity in front of all of his brothers like this. RJ knew the gist of what had happened the day before, but this was not the place for any new revelations.
RJ grunted in acquiescence – he wouldn't push for details. "You're missin' the show," he motioned to the Pan Head that was displayed a few feet from where they stood. There was a girl straddling the seat and curving her back in an evocative way, smiling and shaking her mane of shaggy blonde hair for the benefit of the guys who were standing around her. Jinx was, as expected, running his mouth, and even Lazarus was giving her a good visual once-over.
Cheap was Koz's first impression as he stepped up next to his friends. She had fake tits, though nice, a dark tan, unnaturally platinum hair. But all of that was cute. It was the way her makeup caked in the heavy creases around her eyes. The redness at the rims of her nostrils. She looked like a woman hard-used, probably in her twenties chronologically, but in junkie years, much older. As he stepped closer, he saw the mottled, unhealthy look of her skin beneath her tan. Her arms looked clean, which meant she probably shot up in the webs of her fingers and toes. She had been stunning once, beautiful in a rare way, he could tell, even before the implants. But now…she just seemed like another wannabe hangaround.
Even as he was assessing her, her big, bloodshot, cornflower blue eyes swung in his direction. Her lips curved in a practice smile. "Hey."
Jinx made a face – he realized that he and his half-eared friend, RJ too, had become yesterday's news.
Koz nodded at the blonde by way of a rote greeting. "Nice bike. You come with it?"
"I can." She winked at him. In a move that was a well thought out combination of a hair toss and a light caress of her own thigh, she extended a tan, pink-nailed hand toward him. "I'm Sarah."
He felt himself smile: an undeniable reaction to a pretty girl giving him that look. But it was hollow, kept at bay by his frustration and anger over the bullshit that had been heaped onto his plate in the past twenty-four hours. He didn't offer his name in return. "Yeah, well…sorry, Sarah, but now's just not the time, darlin'."
"Oh," she made a pouty little face and slid off the Fat Boy, following him as he started to turn away.
"C'mon, sweetheart," Jinx said. "That one's all borin' and tied down. Ya don't want him, luv."
"Tied down?" her smile was wicked and cute as hell, lines and caked makeup be damned. "I don't mind."
Koz didn't need the bother of her arm sliding through his…but he didn't exactly push her away either. He knew without question that he'd never sneak around while he was on vacation with Cass. But a little attention was always nice. And there was the added bonus of knowing he could shake her off when he got sick of her. Which he would; that he could tell by the way she was raking her nails up his arm through his sleeve.
-O-
Though Ava's reading had left her aghast, Janine plunged into her own nevertheless. Cassie felt some of her nerves dissolve as the Tacoma queen was offered a much less disturbing prophecy. Mama predicted that she'd live a long and healthy life, that she'd be a source of support for her family, and when the mystic demanded Janine's palm, she foresaw her surrounded by flowers.
"I ain't dead in your vision, am I? Ya know, surrounded by funeral flowers?"
"You are very much alive," Mama assured. "And invested."
Janine's eyes twinkled brightly in the purple light cast by the lantern, teeth looking eerily white as she smiled in obvious relief. "Okay, well, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean, I'll take it."
As Mama reshuffled her deck of tarot cards, Cassie's moment of peace proved fleeting. She knew she'd be called upon next, and felt goose bumps prickle up her arms as she watched the cards slide over one another. The psychic's eyes were two burning coals as she met them from across the table and Cassie was suddenly sure of two things: this fortune telling stuff might not be the innocent fun Janine had intended, and her reading wouldn't be one of health and flowers.
"There is a darkness over you," Mama's voice deepened again. "A cloud. I sense this even without seeing your cards. Let me show you the light, child," she fanned the cards out ", and free you from the shadows." As Cassie reached hesitantly toward the deck, she spoke again. "Your mother is very wise. But whatever will be, will be is not always the way."
Startled, Cassie's gaze shot to the woman's face. How could she have known of Dinah's love for que sera sera? Or that she was thinking of it now? She chose her cards carefully, lingering over them for painful moments before finally tapping the edges.
The dark woman's lacquered nails turned over the first and it began, the flickering taper in the lantern seeming to dim. "The Magician. Skillful, self-confident and powerful. Representative of Mercury: master of trickery and prince of thieves….but this is not you. The Magician is someone in your life. Caution, child, you must be cautious. Make sure those closest to you are genuine."
The next card depicted a tower on a rocky shore, foaming waves crashing against its base to welcome the two figures that were falling from the parapet. Lightning cleaved the dark sky behind the tower. "Great," Cassie sighed ", no long, healthy life for me?"
"The Tower card. A war card."
She groaned. A hand settled on her thigh in a comforting gesture and she knew it was Janine.
"A war against what is false, against lies and misguided beliefs that are destined to come crumbling down. Like on the card," she tapped the rectangular image, "the lightening. FLASH! Truth comes suddenly, Child… a truth that will leave you shaken, torn down, blown asunder. Nothing built on a lie, on falsehoods, can remain standing for long. Better for it to come down so that it can be rebuilt on truth, or not rebuilt at all, if that is best. This awakening is not going to be pleasant or painless or easy, but it will be what is right. "
Cassie's head hurt. She rested her elbow on Mama's table and pressed her index and pointer fingers into her throbbing temple. This had been a bad goddamn idea coming here. She could only imagine all the ways Mama's words were swirling around inside the heads of the women at the table. If her own interpretation was damning….
She blinked twice and sucked in a breath at the sight of the third card. "Are… are those people emerging from graves?"
"The Judgment card. It signals rebirth, resurrection. You can't hide any longer from your past," Mama's voice felt big and deep and as if it were coming from a speaker overhead instead of the woman across the table. It was making the headache worse. "All the coffins have opened, and all that you thought was buried is out in the open. There is no way to leave the past behind. Each step wears down the shoe just a bit, and so shapes the next step you take, and the next and the next after that…. your past is always under your feet. You cannot hide from it, run from it, or rid yourself of it. But you can call it up and come to terms with it."
Trickery, awakening, and judgment. She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. "Death," Cassie murmured in a fervent whisper. "You don't have to flip it over. I know what the last card is." Her eyes were stinging and she could barely draw her next breath. Without being asked, she shoved her arm across the table at the Mystic. The woman's eyes searched her face before focusing on her upturned palm.
"I foresee the loss of a son." The woman advised, solemnly.
Cassie retracted her hand as if she'd been bitten, and bolted up, rattling the table. She didn't care if it was rude, she fled the room.
-O-
Tara eyed the three remaining women around the table, and then glanced at the plump psychic who didn't seem surprised or offended that Cassie had nearly turned over her table full of cards and burning incense in her hasty departure. This whole idea had been ridiculous. She herself had been manipulated once upon a time by Gemma, had learned to cohabitate with the likes of porn stars, crow eaters and various hangers on, but Gem would not have felt the need to push women from different charters together. Janine had really dropped the ball on this one. Speaking of which…
The Tacoma Old Lady was digging into her purse and apologizing to "Mama". Ava was sitting like a little china doll, pale and still and, if Tara knew her at all, which she did, brooding internally.
"What about you?" Mama's heavily accented voice inquired, and Tara shook her head.
"No, thank you," she knew her tone was clipped and didn't care. Like hell did she believe in this bullshit.
But, as they stood to leave, she was struck by an odd impulse. She flipped over Cassie's fourth card. It was a knight on a horse, with a black banner bearing a white rose. Death. "Come on," she grabbed at Ava's arm. "This place gives me the creeps."
-O-
Oh sure, Ava thought sourly. We both get death omens but we all have to go running after her. She could feel the hard, sour set to her face and couldn't seem to force a smile when she realized that her husband and father were walking toward them down the sidewalk.
Janine was busy trying to talk to/console Cassie, which put Ava at the head of their little knot, she and Tara walking alongside Phin. Phineas was a big man, his shadow thrown over the both of them, and Juice gave the Prospect an appreciative nod as he approached.
"Hey, thanks man. Can you walk the doc back to Jax? I'll take mine."
"Sure thing."
Tara rolled her eyes. Here in Sturgis, they were precious jewels that needed guarding and escorting every moment.
Ava folded her arms. "What are you doing here?"
Juice cocked his head and gave her an exasperated half-smile. "You can't really still be mad."
Chibs laughed. "Oh, thought you knew better than that by now, Juicy-boy."
The truth was, she wasn't mad so much as frustrated, and not feeling especially lovey-dovey at the moment. She could hear the soft, reasonable tone of Dr. Fischer's voice echoing around in the back of her mind, reminding her that "Jean Carlos" was not a "dog" she could kick when life didn't go as planned. Then she took a deep, steadying breath and slid up under his arm, letting him steer her away from the queens' guards and across the street, Chibs on her other side. "I was behaving," she said as they crossed in front of an idle van.
"I know," Juice's response didn't indicate that he thought otherwise.
When they reached the opposite sidewalk, she turned and put her palm on his chest, bringing them both to a halt. Her eyes flicked to Chibs, and as she'd suspected, he fell into an alert stance, body facing the two of them, head turned toward the street, watching their surroundings. Juice's hand came up between her shoulder blades and that's when she knew. She sucked in a quick breath. "There's a problem, isn't there? With that club, they've -,"
"It's fine," Juice's smile would have been convincing…if she didn't know better. His hand slid up under her hair so he was cupping the back of her neck in a sweet way and grinned again for good measure. "I just wanted to spend some time with you."
She narrowed her eyes. Liar.
"Well I at least want your opinion on something."
-O-
Cassie was shaking so badly as they went down the sidewalk that she was thankful for Janine's steadying hand at her elbow. "It's all bullshit, baby," the Tacoma queen was saying, waving her free hand in casual dismissal. "It was just for fun. We all know that bitch was full of nothing but hot air…and well, boxes of Twinkies judging by her waist, but still…"
There was a steady throb taking up residence behind Cassie's eyes and it had its own rhythm: thump-thump-thump-THUMP-thump-thump. It made Janine's voice sound far-away. On top of yesterday's fucked up Top Cay twist, the prophesies of what may or may not have been a total fraud, were too much to take. "Koz," she said, and then shook her head, searching for the rest of the sentence.
One of their prospects, Leon, twisted toward her as they walked. "He checked in while you guys were inside the shop. He and the others are at a tent vendor 'bout four blocks away."
Cassie nodded, clinging to the knowledge. Shooting the figurative bird to her feminine pride, she wanted desperately to get to Koz. And Janine seemed to read her thoughts. "Let's head that way," she said as if it were her idea. "Glen's had his eye on new pipes and I'm tired of the neighbors calling the goddamn cops over the ones he has now." She hooked a strong, steadying arm through Cassie's and they set off down the sidewalk with Leon and Cappy in tow. To an outsider, it wouldn't have looked like she wanted to collapse.
"Leon," Janine instructed ", call Kozik again and make sure they're still there. I'm not in the mood for a wild fuckin' goose chase."
TBC
