Page 59 of Rascal

“Where Hallie goes, I go,” King stated, folding his arms.

Rascal looked over towards Chance, who suddenly laughed. “That scuppered you.”

King smirked. “Where are we staying? And I better be close to her,” he warned.

“Prospect, prepare the bunk next to Hallie’s,” Chance ordered, and Rascal appeared pissed. Yup, it was a good that King had accompanied me. Clearly, Rascal had ideas much different from mine.

“This way,” Rascal ground out, sending King an evil glance. He led us through a doorway and down a corridor, and up some stairs.

“King, you’ll be in here.” Rascal opened a door.

“Hope I get some bedding,” King muttered as he parked his suitcase in the bedroom.

“Hallie, yours is here,” Rascal stated, leading me into the adjoining room. It was adequate and nothing to write home about. I dumped my case and shooed Rascal out.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“No, we don’t!” I replied as I shut the door on him. Uneasy and uncomfortable, I sank onto the bed, relieved it had a decent mattress. Welcome to prison again. At least I had a window this time!

“Hi. I’m Clio, Chance’s old lady. Make yourself at home. If you need anything, shout. Mealtimes are on the board, and it’s a serve yourself to whatever is served.”

I blinked. “What?” I replied rudely.

Clio grinned. “We have cooks. The old ladies either have jobs, or we’re riding herd on the Holy Terrors. We don’t have time to cook. Chance hired a couple of cooks to support us. We can eat here or at home; it’s up to us. There’re three meals a day and help yourself to snacks in the kitchen.”

“Well, damn, it feels like mealtimes in prison.”

“The food is one hundred per cent better though,” another woman quipped. “I’m Kendara, Rooster’s old lady.”

“Hey Kenny. How did the court case go?” Clio inquired.

“Slam dunk. I’m a divorce lawyer,” Kenny explained. “I used to work for a company, and now I’m self-employed and support a charity.”

“Nice job to have,” I replied, a little bemused. A lawyer linked to a brother in a motorcycle club. That had to be a first.

“Yeah. Where are the kids?” Kenny asked.

“Lavender was getting rid of some…” A loud explosion interrupted Clio. Men rushed out, and I glanced around, alarmed.

“What on earth?”

“That had to be Brax,” Kenny sighed as she sat down.

I was completely confused. “Should we go investigate?”

“Nope.” Kenny shrugged.

“Brax?” Clio asked,

“I warned Rooster the boys were up to something. He didn’t listen.” Kenny shook her head.

“Are you saying kids just blew something up?” I rose to my feet.

“Hun, sit your ass down. Brax, Finn, Kit and Troy are often blowing shit up. They’ve got a fuckin’ affinity for explosives,” Kenny replied. “They blew me up once, too.”

I stared at the two women who appeared resigned. I was being drawn in despite wanting to keep my distance. “Like boom-boom?”

“Yup. Like boom. Then Brax thought the others had murdered me and was screaming, they killed Kenny! Which in turn became, “Who killed Kenny?” we both chorused the last few words.